All the herbs are in the ground now. There still seems the odd gap, but I know Basil Bush has yet to go out & I want to scatter some gaily coloured marigolds & nasturtiums around. I'm also aware it is still very cold at night. Any further planting can wait until we're back from France when I'm here to keep an eye on them, to water them when necessary, to pick them to stop them bolting if it should be warm. I'll wait & see how these go before I add more. I know there are some things as yet still underground. By May they should have appeared if they're going to appear.
While I was doing that, I met our new neighbour. On first acquaintance he seems agreeable enough. Although he is English of Ukrainian parentage - a man indeed who grew up around here - his wife is apparently Latvian. I gather her English is not brilliant, Russian being the language spoken in their home. He is obviously worried how welcome she will be here. I assured him that's no problem as far as we're concerned. Another neighbour came over to join us & he, too, said he was happy to meet a Latvian, the more nationals the better.
So now I'm wondering if I should hastily revise my Russian. I did do Russian O Level many moons ago. It is very rusty now, 40 years on. Even so I am surprised to find I can still usually follow the first few words of Putin's speeches even before the translation appears. I even remember exchanging a few words with a girl from Belarus who worked in Cyprus the first time we visited there in the 1990s. The language is obviously lurking somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind. Maybe the time has come to bring it forward into the light of day once more.
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