Spring Shopping: Seeds

What to do when you find that darling pair of new spring shoes, only to turn them over and quake at the price staring back at you? Can you break your carefully planned budget in the interests of beautifully shod feet? Don't. Put them back. Then walk out the door towards a far less expensive, but just as invigorating spring ritual: seed shopping.

If you're in need of something to perk you up from the gloom and mess of winter, seeds are Olive's suggestion. First of all, the colours of those little paper packets! A little puff of pink here, a breathe of blue there. And they are deceptively easy to tend. A pot, some soil, a bit of water, all aided by the long-hoped for sun and soon you'll have a garden no matter how small your plot.

Yet, the best part comes later. By the time those shoes would have been scuffed and hated for the way they pinch your third toe, little babies of green will be bursting forth from the soil. Leave them where they are, or give them a quick snip and freshen up the house with cut flowers (think of the savings!). Either way they are a guaranteed long term investment.