Christmas now feels like an age ago.  We spend so much time getting ready for it and then it is gone. Despite the bitingly cold weather we have had I see that things are moving in the garden.  The Wedding Cake Tree is in bud and daffs are pushing their way up through the soil.  I have just cut down everything in the gravel garden and it looks very tidy.  The under gardener has been busy painting the gates at the entrance to the garden and they have gone from brown to black and are looking very good.  It was so cold that the paint would not have taken properly if the job had been done outside, so he painted them in the utility room!  I have started to process all the turf that was taken up for the rose walk.  This will take a long time.  I knock off all the soil and put it in bags to be later mixed with compost to make a good potting mix and then the remained of the turf ie the green bit goes to the local tip.  It is a pretty mind numbing job and each time I do it I say never again.