IT has been a bit of a hectic week this week. I have been zipping up and down the region visiting horticultural shows, hotels and May Day events. My world has been filled with herbs, Hostas and home-cooked food.

Memorable moments range from the sheer wonderment of swimming in an outdoor open air pool, watching swallows dipping in and out of the water, to the beguiling puzzlement of being asked if I minded if a woman's husband could come into the ladies convenience to wipe his make-up off.

It all started on Wednesday. I went to visit a newly-opened hotel up in Newcastle.

It wasn't actually the hotel that attracted me, but the fact that they had recently appointed a gardener to revamp and rejuvenate the gardens.

Jesmond Dene House was a large Georgian built mansion, built by John Dobson, who also created most of Newcastle's upmarket areas. It belonged to Sir Andrew Noble (Tyneside shipping), who gradually expanded the building, adding Gothic wings and grand bedroom.

When he died though, it gradually fell from grace, turning first into a college, then a residential school.

An acquaintance of mine remembers it as a place for Guides and Scouts. It lay empty and unused for many years until the current owners completed a compassionate refurbishment, culminating in a grand opening last September.

As much as I love investigating hotel rooms, it was the garden that really interested me. The newlyappointed gardener, Cath, hasn't always been into horticulture. She gained a degree in electronics and knows the ins and outs of more computer systems than the average matrix fanatic.

Like most of us, she became interested in horticulture soon after moving into a house which had a garden that needed redesigning and some tender loving care. She now works part time in the gardens at Jesmond Dene House, as well as undertaking a professional horticultural qualification at Newcastle University.

The efforts of her labours at the hotel are just beginning to show. It was a hard task trying to marry the grand Georgian frontage with practical planting, but she has pulled it off with large sweeping borders, filled with a mix of herbs, fruit and flowering shrubs.

Jesmond Dene runs along the ravine right next to the hotel, and Cath has used this to borrow colour from the rhododendrons as well as woodland greenery. The coup-degrace though must be the car park.

These are usually the most sterile of places, but Cath has very creatively turned the spaces in between the parking bays into an orchard. Apples, plums and pears now provide shade, flowers and fruit as well as somewhere to leave your vehicle.

The restaurant is building up a reputation for providing top quality meals made from the finest local ingredients such as Holy Island oysters, Tyne Valley beef and County Durham game.

Closer to home though, it can now boast home grown herbs, picked straight from the hotel garden, salads raised in the hotel's hot beds, as well as fruit, ripened in the hotel car park.

The other hotel I visited was the Feversham Arms in Helmsley. This is a favourite of mine, somewhere that I am willing to take the dog after a muddy day's walk, and which provides a top class service. In this case it followed a very busy day at the Harrogate Spring Flower Show (heavier on the wallet than the feet; too many temptingly gorgeous plants).

The pool is open after Easter, but I have never ever been tempted to dip a toe in. On Thursday though, the sun had been warming the waters all day and I wallowed around in the lukewarm liquid, taking in the beautiful spring displays of aubrietia, tulip and daffodils that sparkled in the evening sunshine.

This contrasted enormously with the events of the following day. This was the Spring Thrash in Barnard Castle, a traditional English May Day celebration. Morris dancing teams from around the country gather to show off their costumes, routines and make-up (hence the reference to the comments made in the ladies' public convenience).

Bank Holiday Monday was the final day of the Raby Castle Orchid Show.

This is an annual event where clubs from around the country come to show off their colours, practices and petal formations. Make-up doesn't seem to be such a big issue with orchids as with morris dancing.

I have to admit that after all the rushing around during my spare and holiday time, and despite enjoying and learning from every minute, it was quite a relief to get back to work.

Brigid presents Ask About Gardening every Sunday on BBC Radio Cleveland 95FM from 1-2pm.

Questions will be answered on the day by e-mailing Cleveland. studios@bbc. co. uk, texting 07786200995 or phoning (01642) 225511.

Alternatively, send questions to brigidpress@hotmail. com or The Clow Beck Centre, Old Spa Farm, Croft-onTees, Darlington, DL2 2TQ JOBS TO DO THIS WEEK The First of the asparagus spears should just be starting to poke their heads through the soil. Enjoy them whilst they are young and tender; you need a lot of plants to get huge crop.

Crowns should crop right through until the end of July.

Cuttings can be taken from herbs in the garden at this time of year.

Three inch shoots from Rosemary, thyme and sage can be snipped off and popped into well drained compost. They should show signs of taking in six weeks time.

Temperatures will be rising in the garden pond. Watch out for fish waking up from their winter slumbers, and begin feeding, but with a reduced amount.