It’s funny how I’m always so easily side-tracked when out in the garden. As I’ve been cooped-up inside, not feeling very well these last few days, I decided to get a little fresh air and just have a quick wander outside. The weather was dull but mild and all I wanted to do was to make sure everything inside the little plastic greenhouse was OK.

An hour-and-a-half later, I finally got back inside. So what happened? Well, the chain of events goes as:

1. Open up the green house check that everything seems OK, and let a little air in
2. Notice the lavender cuttings — taken some time ago — are getting on well
3. Take a closer look and see that the roots are coming out of the bottom
4. Realise they really need potting on. Reach for the bag of compost, grab some pots…
5. Now there’s an empty cuttings tray. That’s a lost opportunity, reach for the bag of soil again…
6. Take cuttings from the hebe cuttings that are getting on well
7. Take cuttings from the pink and yellow osteospermum as they may not be so hardy
8. Plant up the dianthus stalks that have been left in a jar of water for weeks*
9. Try and cram everything back in the greenhouse, tidy up
10. Realise you’ve done all this in nothing but your dressing gown, be thankful the garden isn’t overlooked and no-one’s decided to take their dog for a walk along the fence.

*They were from someone’s flower arrangement so I took some of the stems, lopped the flowers off and put them in a jar of water. I only got round to dealing with them now. I’m not hopeful.