Life in my garden seems most confused. Some plants are nicely tucked up as they should be whilst others think Spring has sprung and are showing definite signs of sprouting.
I grow a lot of soft fruit. My loganberry is already thinking of opening it's fragile buds.
My hyacinths are showing their flower crown and my bulb irises are already in full leaf ready to send up their flower spikes.
I noted a queen bumble bee up and about, but with nothing to eat, she will have woken early and hopefully not died as a result.
Changing weather patterns are certainly starting to show everywhere, not to mention on farm land which seems to spend more time flooded during the winter than it has done in the past.
Country lanes are almost impassable due to excessive flooding and even the 3 m deep ditches along the edges resemble ponds.
I must admit I was travelling along a lane the other day to be greeted by a pair of mallards happily ensconced in the flooded ditches.
So, how is my part of Kent holding up?
Poorly is the answer.
We were considered the market garden of UK. Not any more. Vegetables from overseas are cheaper in the supermarket than farmers can grow them for. Weather is so unreliable too, it makes for expensive outlays not experienced in the past.
So most are getting out.
Solar farms are springing up as are new housing estates, neither of which seem to help the land drain well.
The tree surgeons are out virtually 365 days of the year attempting to keep our ancient trees going or removing those which have given up the fight.
It's a sad story but not unexpected.
Me thinks we are in for hotter, drier summers where droughts are commonplace and fires spread across fields and estates as we saw the year before last.
Winters will be mild but very wet, stripping the soil and dumping it in the rivers and streams, flooding homes and villages and as this year, cutting some places off from surrounding towns.
Already we've had guidance on preparing for floods; what to do as preparation in advance, what to do in case or when it happens, what to expect from local authorities and 999 services.
Sounds almost dystopian.
Me? I'm going green as much as I can. I eat local to support our community and travel by bus much of the time.
Now it's the future proofing of the garden.
Almost there but the remaining plants which are struggling with soggy roots in winter and rock hard clay in the summer are giving way to shrubs. Once that's done it's time to sit back and enjoy.