At the beginning of the year, I doubt if anyone expected we’d have to spend the whole of May in lockdown… nor did we anticipate that it would be the driest May since records began. Life is full of surprises! The whole of lockdown has thrown many of us into a very different pattern of life and many people will no doubt be reflecting on what is really important in life. In many ways, many of us have been given a real opportunity to pause… But for others, this has been a very different and stressful experience, we pray for and give thanks for all those doctors, nurses and other NHS staff who have tended those in need during this Covid 19 lockdown.
For us at Tinhay Retreats, life has continued to be very quiet. The gardens and grounds have received more attention, but with the dry weather the grass hasn’t needed such regular mowing and we are now praying for rain! The bees have been busy making honey, last year we were unable to harvest any honey but this month we finally had a taste of home produced honey - twenty delicious jars and we look forward to more later in the year.
In the vegetable plot we have a number of crops doing well, despite the dry conditions. The potatoes are recovering, having been caught by a frost in early May. There are several rows of peas that are doing well, which is great as there is nothing as sweet as a pea straight from the plant. The sweetcorn are planted out and the butternut squash should be planted out this afternoon. We look forward to the harvest later in the year.