Yep, there's no doubt about it, we are on the cusp of Spring

Temperatures have risen, plants are in bud and i've eschewed the top coat on my last couple of rides!

The rides this week have been aimed at accruing the remaining distance for my sponsored effort. Thursday i set out to boost things with a burger run down to Clevedon, just shy of 87km taking in the Clifton Bridge and on the way back, a swoop past the airport. The early sunshine hid behind some cloud after the lunch stop but temperatures stayed just into double figures. That left something like 60 miles to complete the 200 target, a decent ride for Saturday.

Friday, well a short walk to buy some more veggie seeds, Lidl were doing an offer, five packs for essentially the cost of one pretty much everywhere else!

Saturday, with a stiff easterly blowing, i headed out to the south east, past Bath to Trowbridge where i stopped for egg 'n' beans on toast - a bit more suitable fuel than i've been having! Then it was a loop through Melksham and Lacock to pick up some wind assistance for the trip back across the Cotswolds. It was even warmer this time, all of 12c avg. which obviously inspired my legs to up my average speed by @ 2kph over the usual 21ish!

107 kilometres clocked, my 320km target surpassed, aving reached the target i'm not going to stop, how much further will i go this month? Well i'm thinking i could hit 500 miles i'd be very grateful if anyone could add to my fundraising total, i'm still a bit short of my £150 target, go here, to make that donation!

And so we come to today. I'm making an attempt to cut down on food waste, i'm sure i'm not alone in buying stuff then either forgetting i have it, only using part of a pack or simply just having too much in the fridge, as a result the local wildlife and the compost sees far too much stuff that is beyond human consumption. So, in that spirit, after getting a bargain on some mince during Friday's shop i decided to make a Cottage pie for today's dinner/lunch/tea - whatever you want to call it. I didn't have any fresh cottage so i utilised a bit of frozen and the result looks amazing. You need a dessert of course, crumble tends to be my go to but for a change, today its cheesecake, out of a packet i'm afraid but still yummy.

With food organised, it was time to hit the garden again, the dug over beds got a good raking over, a bit of debris removed, they are now ready for planting which i'll crack on with tomorrow. What am i growing? well potatoes of course, runner and broad beans, peas, carrots, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, i'll get some tomatoes and peppers going in the greenhouse. The new rhubarb stock is looking good, last years i'm experimenting with, trying Yorkshire style forcing - so far that's looking good. I'm having another go at Asparagus too, none of my previous attempts have taken, clearly i've been doing something wrong so fingers crossed.

It's Sunday so of course there is a new Gaby chapter for you to read, it's number 30 of Smell of the Crowd, And now, the Mainz Attraction.

So what am i up to this week? The aforementioned gardening of course, a bike ride or three and i have a lot of stuff to go on Ebay or otherwise be disposed of, stuff from my parents house, all those shoes i'm never gonna wear, frocks etc likewise. Why the sudden 'spring clean'? Space mainly and seriously, do i need 20 pairs of heels? (that's just the tip of the iceberg lol!) Given my recent experience with house 'clearance' i've decided, enough is enough.

So that's me, enjoy your week and i'll be back with an update on Wednesday,
Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid