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<p class="has-drop-cap">Firstly I'm using a new way of editing my posts. This editor has been available within WordPress for a number of years and initially it was clunky so I reverted to the Classic editor</p>
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<p class="has-drop-cap has-text-align-left has-normal-font-size">I don't think I've had a suet pudding or dumplings for a very long time. I can recall ordering a steak and kidney suet pudding at a restaurant and what was delivered was a crusty pie, not suet. My mother used to make superb suet puddings - comfort food was very much her thing.</p>
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<p>With the arrival of my Crockpot I thought it would be  a good time to try my hand at using the steamer to make dumplings. And here we have the result - minted lamb, potatoes, carrots, green beans and of course dumplings. I was amazed that I managed to eat it all.</p>
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<p class="has-drop-cap has-normal-font-size">I need this (dumplings) huge input of energy when I'm spending so much time working in the garden. I've had a pile of small branches (bigger than a twig but smaller than a branch) accumulating over the past 12 months and been meaning to cut them up. At long last the pile is no more and I've added to my kindling store.</p>
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<p class="has-drop-cap has-normal-font-size">The vegetable plot looks very neat and tidy since I had the block paths laid. For this photo I'm standing in the back corner and I've just dug over the area where I shall be planting red cabbage in late April or early May. It was a beautiful spring morning. The frost had just burnt off and it was a clear blue sky. It felt very good.</p>
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<p class="has-drop-cap has-normal-font-size">Over the past 5 years I've accumulated a lot rubbish (stones, dead wood, etc.) around the garden and there are certain parts that look very scruffy. I decided that once spring was here and the hedgehogs had left their winter hibernation I would have a clear out.</p>
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<p>I've never hired a skip before because I usually make several trips to the recycling centre but I thought this would be easier. After an hour I had already made good progress but there's plenty more to shift.</p>
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<p class="has-drop-cap has-normal-font-size">Shortly after moving in 7 years ago Jane used a lot of the builders waste to make a bug hotel. As you can see it has disintegrated and is just a mess. There are plenty of places around the garden for creatures to make their homes. I've built a couple of rotting log piles.</p>
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<p>This bug hotel is being demolished and put into the skip. I don't know yet what I shall do with the space once it is cleared and I might store plant pots there. More on this once the job is done...</p>
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