Monday 31st August, Bank Holiday: Busy in the front area today, finishing planting bits in the front border, off to the garden centre to get a few more plants 😜 and then begin to dig out the plants in planters on the other side near the front of the house as that’s the next area to be done. Move all the pots out of the way (there are around forty of them I think 🤣) and time for a quick sit down mid afternoon!
Tuesday: September 1st, White Rabbits, A busy morning again today and by 10.30 I had put two loads of washing through, changed the bedcovers, cleaned the bathroom, cleaned out the ducks and the geese, picked berries and tomatoes, got the dinner sorted and chopped a load of veg for a soup batch, not bad going 😀 I had just made coffee when Mum and Ken called in so we had coffee in the garden. I still have plenty of jobs left on my list which is not actually a written list it’s one in my head 😜 I also need to go and get some shopping later as the whole ‘John can go with a list’ idea didn’t really work out so well, he came back with plenty that wasn’t on the list and a few things that definitely were he had forgotten to get 🙄 well I wouldn’t mind but my breakfast cereal was one of them, he did however buy hot cross buns and some muffins which he likes!
I needed a chocolate fix so I finally got round to making this avocado chocolate pudding and while it’s not going to make any ‘wow that’s amazing’ lists, it is chocolatey without the sugar and fat and it does feel like you have just had a treat 😀 Avocado, banana, maple syrup and unsweetened cocoa powder, blitz, eat, it’s as simple as that.
Wednesday: It’s definitely September 🙄 a chill in the air this morning but with the promise of sunshine warming things up. I haven’t done much but potter today, I love a pottering day, no agenda, no task list, just waft about and do whatever I think needs doing 😜 We had a bit of good news this morning, we invested in some premium bonds and we each have some. Johns idea was to have a competition and see who wins the most lol, this does not bother me as I do not have a competitive bone in my body, seriously I couldn’t care less if I win at monopoly or not 😜 We both won something which is great for our first ever draw but the funniest thing is that I won more than he did 😂 It must be terribly frustrating for a competitive person to come up against a non competitive one, it’s not that I don’t believe in it just that it’s not in me. From what I have read it means I have an inner peace, that I am comfortable with who I am and that I focus on bettering myself 🙄 on that note I’m off to meditate 😀
Thursday: It feels warmer this morning compared to yesterday, it’s grey and overcast but pleasant enough. I decided to get out and do some bits in the garden, a bit of picking first, it has all slowed down now which is good as I can focus on other things. Getting the beds ready for winter is what I decided to do, I have a few small raised beds that have now finished bearing crops. I weeded them, put a good layer of mushroom compost on them, covered them with the biodegradable covering and weighted that down with some mesh grids I have. The jury is still out on the biodegradable stuff, it’s not really for winter cover more for spring planting but as I have it and the life is six months I thought I ought to use it. It’s very flimsy and even a slight breeze makes it difficult to manage, then the drizzle started which made it stick to my hands but I got there in the end 🙄 I weeded round the leeks which are still pretty small but they have growing time left as they can be left in the ground all winter. My back started to ache so I figured that was enough of that but if I can get bits like that done every couple of days it shouldn’t take long to have it all back in order. You may remember I was going to do the whole chop and drop thing but I have decided that I can’t work with that, I found that there was no order to how I needed to work which may be fine for some but not for me. I think I have finally got to the age when I realise that if something doesn’t work for you give it up and change it, you can change it as many times as you like before you decide what is harmonious 😀
Mum called in to pick some elderberries and had a cuppa and a chat, we decided that it’s going to be a long winter this year lol, that’s a depressing thought and we are as always hopeful of an Indian summer but in all honesty I’ve only really known one year when that happened. It was Samantha’s 21st birthday which was mid September and it was glorious weather, we sat outside drinking bottles of champagne on Mums lawn, of course it may have only been that one day, I can’t really remember 😜
Friday: I had a bloods appointment this morning so shelley picked me up and took me and then we went to visit my niece for a cup of coffee, a quick trip into town to find Josh some trainers and then back home for the afternoon stuff.
Saturday: John went off to order wood for the front of the building as we are recladding it. It was done once about 8 or 9 years ago but it was never done properly, new cladding laid over old. This time the whole lot is coming off and it will have ply on in first and then the cladding. It’s a doubled edged sword really as all the birds nest in the bits that are hanging off as well as wasp nests lol but it has to be done. He came back from ordering and started the demolition, I did point out that there is still stuff lying around from the old fence he took down to replace, I’m hoping he spends a bit of time tidying up, I always say ‘it’s easy to make a mess’ not so easy to clear it all up 🙄 Meanwhile I have been weeding and pulling up old foliage in the veg garden again well I was until the sun came out then it was inside to wash up and organise lunch and tomorrow’s dinner. I am planning in advance as I am following a healthy eating regime and trying to keep on track which I find I can do better if everything is thought about well ahead of time. I did clean out the guineas as well first thing and pick a few hazelnuts. I am not going to collect as many as I did last year better to leave them for the wildlife as I can’t possibly use all of them.
I picked a few berries and a couple of courgettes but everything is beginning to slow down now, you have that manic few weeks when everything needs picking at once, even if you make successional sowings, and then calm returns and it is much more manageable. It is the time of year you will find my pockets full of nuts though as I tend to pick them up off the floor as I go round. I am thinking about what or if I want to winter plant, I have some things in like leeks, sprouting broccoli and the chard but do I want other things like winter salad leaves, hmm probably not but winter spinach would be a good idea I think and as the welsh onion are not doing particularly well I think onion sets and garlic would be a good idea.
In the end I ordered onion/garlic and shallot sets, some forcing carrots which will go in the tunnel and I should get some around Christmas time and also some cauliflower plants, I think brassicas do better overwinter the butterflies and pests are not so voracious 🤞
Sunday: After the morning routine John got on with the front of the building, it needs quite a bit of prep work before he can start to put it back together and by that I mean some of the timbers are rotten 😂 My morning was mostly spent picking, there was quite a lot which was surprising, French beans, runner beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, chillies, beetroot, swede, chard, cape gooseberries , sweetcorn and a couple of courgettes, still picking up nuts as I go 😜 Everything is now either out for sale or prepped for the freezer. Time for lunch and a quick sit down.
Ted is becoming a bit of a heartthrob with the ladies, Florence in particular loves Ted, everyone loves Ted, I think he may need his own Facebook page soon 😂 I have hopefully found him a mate though she needs to grow a bit first but watch this space.
We haven’t seen Diesel for a few days which is a worry, he is getting on a bit for a farm cat, hopefully he will appear soon.
frieslandfarm (flowers) 