What colour was your week?

A friend I clothes shop with often tells me she needs something in a certain colour. Not 'needs' in the sense of co-ordinating with the rest of her wardrobe. More 'needs' in that she just has to have that colour around her, as though it reflects how she is feeling or how she wants to feel. I know what she means. If I'm going into a situation where I want to be more confident I will wear red. Black is practical for work, but it drags me down. I am not buying anything new in black. For some reason lately I fancy something lilac, though it will clash with almost everything else I own. It's a shame yellow makes me look ill, because this week has definitely had a yellow theme.

This laburnum tree in my garden always has a good year followed by a bad one. Right now its long waterfalls of yellow flowers promise that this year will be spectacular.

My writing goes through good years and bad years too. 2009 was patchy, but 2010 has been pretty successful so far. Last week I was shortlisted in The Yellow Room magazine's spring competition, which was jolly nice. Not quite as nice as winning, but congratulations to those awarded prizes.

Around the garden two other plants have also caught my eye. Or should I say weeds? These splashy yellow poppies (left) come up everywhere.

And I probably shouldn't mention it with the Chelsea Flower Show starting next week, but I also have a healthy crop of dandelions. I do love their delicate seedheads, and can't bring myself to banish them completely from the garden. Beautiful, aren't they?