tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48514880670974124362024-02-19T23:30:03.410+00:00To the plot & back ...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-88111823615362822842016-08-07T16:19:00.000+01:002016-08-07T16:19:06.450+01:00Changes...dreams and schemes...<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I have officially finished work...it still hasn't quite sunk in that having worked every day for 12 years at the same place that at the end of the summer holidays I will not be going back...ever. I will never have to do that seemingly endless bus journey again. I have some lovely (garden related) presents and a card full of best wishes for my future from people I've worked with for years so it must be true...I have finished work...gulp.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So now what? </span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Well at the moment I'm giving myself some time off, it's been a bit of a tough few months with my very loved step mum passing away and excepting this redundancy all happening at the same time, my brain and body just seem to have gone a bit bleeegghhh on me. I decided to stop being very British about it all and just carrying on, stiff upper lip an all that. No actually that's enough, it's OK to stop, I have given myself permission to just stop and not feel guilty, just for now. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And it is the summer holidays after all and small boy is demanding to be entertained. My day starts (early) with, 'well what are we doing today that's a treat for me?'...when did children start to think the world revolves around them...oh yes forever! Money is tight, so we have to be inventive and selfishly enough I try to get as much allotment time in as possible without him working out he's been tricked! Lets make a scarecrow for the allotment...lets build a wildlife pond at the allotment....shall we see who can grow the tallest sunflower? plant a pot of carrots? play Star Wars with the weeds? So far so good, luckily for me he is a boy who needs to be outside and as long as he doesn't get stung by nettles and sees at least 1 frog on our allotment days he manages to last long enough for me to get some jobs done before the real whining starts.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Meanwhile my brain is buzzing with ideas and plans for what is to come. I have dreams of a poly tunnel which I'm planning to use to propagate my own plants eventually for my little germ of a gardening business idea, as well as finally be able to grow those vegetables that at the moment allude me...aubergines, peppers...poly tunnel dreams.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> But for now all I can hear is small boy bouncing off the walls...must get out of the house! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-24520818800140253142016-07-25T23:19:00.000+01:002016-07-25T23:19:32.151+01:00My poor shed...<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And so it has happened as it so sadly happens to many allotment holders at some point...the shed break in. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My lovely little purple shed, keeper of all plot essentials has been got at with a screwdriver (I'm guessing) and for god sake did it have to be my camping stove!! The one essential bit of kit...everyone knows how important it is to be able to make tea on an allotment!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm not, as you may have guessed, too upset...I've had my home broken into whilst I was asleep in bed and believe me THAT was upsetting! In the grand scheme of things a camping stove is not worth a huge amount of money and is easily replaceable. The sad thing is this burglar didn't just break into my shed but nearly every one on site...and what were they looking for?...well it seems to me like they might just have been hungry. They'd taken my camping stove...they'd opened a large plastic tub which had once had a catering amount of peanut butter in it (don't ask) but were probably gutted to find the picture had it all wrong and it only had very inedible fertiliser in it and from another ladies shed, a packet of biscuits. They must have been hungry... but as I stood looking around me, beans, salad, carrots, courgettes, asparagus, artichokes, strawberries, raspberries, cherries and the rest....it struck me that they were also either really dim or really faddy eaters that don't like their fruit and veg...in which case what were you doing on a bloody allotment!? </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I said I wasn't too upset by it and I'm not, stuff is just well stuff, but on the shed wall I have a sign that says on it, 'to you it may only be a shed but to me it's a sanctuary.' The shed and the allotment are just that to me, a sanctuary, a beautiful place to just 'be' and recently I have so needed it! So I just wish that hungry, finicky eating burglar had read, understood and cared about what they were doing....sadly I know that they didn't. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*Thankfully as you can see in the photo one of my leaving presents from work was that lovely little flask and matching cup so I shall still be able to drink tea!</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-37900497017449376632016-06-07T23:14:00.002+01:002016-06-07T23:14:59.104+01:00Life...sometimes.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I have been very quiet on my blog recently, sometimes life just stills you and for me writing anything has become almost impossible and that so includes this post.</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";"> But I hate to see my little blog become one of those abandoned blogs that scatter the internet and frustrate you with their long past used by dates. So I have decided to write this to explain and hopefully give me a new start on the other side...please bare with me, this is from a sore heart...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> My step mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer on New Years Eve and since then we have been caring for her so she can spend the time she has in the comfort of the home she has loved for many years. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Whilst I sit with her, the last 'grown up' in my world, (she has been my step mum for longer than either my mum or dad were alive to be my parents) she still has one last really important lesson for me. She is teaching me to live, I don't mean that to sound pretentious, I mean it in a humbling way...as death fades her quite literally before our eyes she is making me want to take the life I have and squeeze it like the precious thing it really is.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";">And so I have been taking a long hard look at my life and decided it needs shaking up a bit...now or never...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";">I know that we all have dreams and wishes that for many of us remain just that, something tucked away from the reality of life, to be escaped to when the need arises. My dream is not anything glamorous, it isn't about winning the lottery (hum), or about having a huge house, flash car or any of those things I stupidly thought mattered when I was young. For me it is now all about family, friends, surrounding myself with the people that matter and that pursuit of happiness or just that easy sense of contentment...to have the time to enjoy the simple things. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">With this thought very much in control of me I </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">accepted a voluntary redundancy from a job that I have had for 12 years. A job that has offered me the stability of a reliable monthly pay packet. It has kept the mortgage paid so quite literally a roof over our heads right from my days as a single mum to where I am now in a happy relationship with a young son, step children, a grandchild even... so quite literally a lifetime! It would have terrified me only a little while ago to give up this job, the fear of those bills... but it is not the job of my dreams it doesn't make me happy... </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";">So now is the time to take one of my long buried 'dreams' and run with it. The dream I have of 'gardening' for a living, taking that secret garden from my childhood and turning it into something real...and to make that idea into something viable, to pay the bills doing something I love.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";"> I have started a horticulture course with the RHS and have been organizing some voluntary posts in beautiful gardens with the idea of surrounding myself with professional people who know what they are doing and who I can learn from. I have so much to learn!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";"> I'm not a 20 something bright young thing just starting out, nor do I have a partner with a secure wage that can keep those bills paid whilst I risk being penniless, neither am I naïve enough to think it will be easy. I am just looking at my lovely step mum and feeling finally brave enough to try because as that awful cliché says, life is just too damn short...wish me luck...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-5698396796449687182016-02-09T21:11:00.000+00:002016-02-09T21:11:35.561+00:00Sweet pea dilemmas...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GtS-wSI484xcyPpIXhMkPpA1LPe5C0YzihyphenhyphenYb0_6Wy_VBDWOgI9aV91lZcTm1fIpnHt4_6BUlO_IyFCuayqGUyxPPGhVTb_IdRzS4GKQUmFdmPN8ZG4wuQkMo8G7cfSFNP4Qhsz8myk3/s1600/20151031_163922.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GtS-wSI484xcyPpIXhMkPpA1LPe5C0YzihyphenhyphenYb0_6Wy_VBDWOgI9aV91lZcTm1fIpnHt4_6BUlO_IyFCuayqGUyxPPGhVTb_IdRzS4GKQUmFdmPN8ZG4wuQkMo8G7cfSFNP4Qhsz8myk3/s320/20151031_163922.jpg" width="179" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60rJ0e0VpczWMyqIe6xRmaA7YJFfRmy4L-XPTVKwaU1vzHZcgFNTiXOoZFaBxbhbnk48jEd6CxvEpFTBAyqxQ7ebKgcIVkciOjC74viX4LerMQfKjEIy0Tem4vjixM5d17RNgxFc28bZA/s1600/20150917_123048.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60rJ0e0VpczWMyqIe6xRmaA7YJFfRmy4L-XPTVKwaU1vzHZcgFNTiXOoZFaBxbhbnk48jEd6CxvEpFTBAyqxQ7ebKgcIVkciOjC74viX4LerMQfKjEIy0Tem4vjixM5d17RNgxFc28bZA/s320/20150917_123048.jpg" width="179" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnsN9ZVJeG_JZtNrkdu9TzbgmR9V4cLa2m9JFFjBimDlWyy1fY_Ee1FySJWbymnHYT7QoZ8nkRqtQK1oNsEi9nNDb6DeRihXnH1Lcd2wseDOU2z4E9S2ptXno6oB9kP_Z51-QzTX_gmBY9/s1600/20150729_190634.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnsN9ZVJeG_JZtNrkdu9TzbgmR9V4cLa2m9JFFjBimDlWyy1fY_Ee1FySJWbymnHYT7QoZ8nkRqtQK1oNsEi9nNDb6DeRihXnH1Lcd2wseDOU2z4E9S2ptXno6oB9kP_Z51-QzTX_gmBY9/s320/20150729_190634.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm in a complete spin...a sweet pea spin...which sweetpeas?...do I want soft pastel shades or dark moody and dramatic...I just can't decide. I keep making lists then changing my mind and pretty soon if I don't get a move on it'll be too late! Arrgghhh.</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> I did sow a few left over seeds that I had before Christmas because apparently they do better from an autumn sowing. They are sat in root trainers in my little plastic greenhouse and seem to be doing ok, I've pinched them out and they have multiple shoots now. We shall see which do better for me this year, the early or later sown ones.</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I made the mistake last year of planting a few borage seeds around the sweet pea wigwams...those few seeds turned into a huge (quite beautiful) impenetrable wall that the poor little sweet peas couldn't even get a tendril over so this year I am planning to plant them mostly in their own glory well away from the borage anyway. However, I've seen deep purple sweet peas grown with purple podded peas and they looked amazing...so that might be at least one colour I can make a definite decision on as I'm growing Shiraz mangetout peas and Blauhilde climbing beans this year.</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I don't think I can go too wrong whatever colour combination I decide on, they are all very beautiful and in the grand scheme of things worrying about the colour of your sweet peas seems so trivial but it's a nice distraction to have. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";">I'm also trying to decide which potatoes to grow, last year I grew 6 different types of Albert Bartlett potatoes to see which ones we preferred. I'm definitely sold on Anya, they are absolutely delicious salad potatoes, simply cooked fresh from the ground (great roasted too!) they were a family favorite and very prolific from only 6 tubers! The other variety we really liked were Purple Majesty, they weren't quite as successful as Anya but the ones we did get were really tasty and quite novel looking, though I wouldn't recommend them mashed...they go a very fetching shade of grey! They were quite hard to dig up though because their dark purple skins are almost impossible to spot in the soil!</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";"> I might be about to learn a hard lesson though because this year it seems quite hard to find a source for the Purple Majesty as they seem to be very popular and have sold out on the sites I've looked at unless I want to buy a field full of them! The lesson being get in early for those more unusual things...especially if you see them popping up in celebrity chefs recipes!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";">Just realised from reading through this that I seem to have a bit of a purple theme running through my allotment this year...wonder if that means anything?</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-40032043974424380262015-12-18T11:54:00.001+00:002015-12-18T11:54:19.019+00:00A bit of printing and crafting...<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A long time ago when my hair was thick and didn't fall out, when I wasn't scared of a hangover, when I could function passed 10 o'clock at night and when I could be bothered to watch films that make no sense (with sub titles)...I also played at being an art student. I wasn't very good at it but I have an always had an urge to create things...I can hear my dad's snort of laughter here, 'yes, a mess'...well yes my creative urges have never been 'tidy.' Happier with clay and papier mache than neat palettes of water colours..I like getting my hands dirty. Probably one reason why I love gardening and my allotment, it's both creative an unavoidably filthy at the same time:)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well I've recently discovered a new love in my seeming quest to never have perfect nails (Chris has bought me a nail brush, I find painting my nails a dark colour helps:) I've found linocut printing through a short workshop run by <a href="http://jamesgreenprintworks.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">James Green</a>...it was great fun and even though I don't believe my efforts are worthy of a decent frame (a clip-frame maybe) I was quite proud of my 'finished' print. My sister suggested that I need more practice...she's right (we believe in keeping it real in our family) I do need to learn more, so it's given me the perfect excuse to sign myself up for some classes in January at this great place called <a href="http://www.arthousesheffield.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Art House</a> in Sheffield. It's nice to have something to look forward to whilst the evenings are still so dark...I can't get to the allotment after work so this seems like a good time to learn a new indoor skill.</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's the one form of printing I've never tried probably because I'm not so good with sharp objects but with practise I'm hoping to avoid any trips to A & E and to rediscover that long lost art student within...I won't be watching the Seventh Seal anytime soon though;)!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another little Christmas craft project.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Turned</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> into simple presents...the Rosemary smelt lovely too!</span></span></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-26618876980687782632015-12-04T12:28:00.000+00:002015-12-06T09:19:56.573+00:00Garlic loves...snow...really?<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When my garlic arrived very early in the morning in the post it felt like a sign (thank you lovely <a href="http://www.thegarlicfarm.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Garlic farm</a>!) then I looked outside. Snow...really?...did it have to be snow?! My free time ...I mean children, dog, work free time is barely in existence at the moment...my precious few hours to get to the allotment and it snows...of course it does...fine...I'll just get my gloves and hat, scarf...thermals.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Anyway I went, yes it had snowed and yes it was stupidly, nose numbingly cold but the ground wasn't frozen yet and the sun actually came out, I can't say I was exactly basking in its warmth but it helped. I wittered about the broad bean plants I'd brought to plant out and the garlic I had...should I risk it? I decided that the weather will only get worst, my free time, the closer we creep to christmas even rarer, so I raked the snowy covering off the perfectly fine soil beneath and dug. It felt great to be planting things again...I love the anticipation of what will happen...moles, slugs, snails...frost, snow...or will it actually grow? We shall see...oh please let the elephant garlic grow...the cloves were massive...I'm guessing the plant ( fingers crossed) will be too. There is a recipe (a nice simple one)...on the website that I bought the garlic from using elephant garlic to <a href="http://www.thegarlicfarm.co.uk/cooking/recipes/elephant-garlic-crisps-recipe" target="_blank">make crisps</a>, interesting idea:) It should keep a few blood suckers away...wonder if you eat them in the summer if it would keep the midges away? I feel an experiment coming on, I hate midges!...that is if it grows at all for me...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I really understand the idea of now being the beginning of the season rather than the end...even though things have definitely slowed down...the bindweed has gone to ground thankfully, though I know it's still there just waiting. The garlic and the beans are the first things I've planted for awhile and I was really happy with my fennel! I also bought some lovely garlic labels so have been able to mark the 4 different varieties properly in my quest to make sure that I label everything this year:) </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The whole time I was there I was under the close watch of a robin, he/she seemed very grateful for the bare ground I turned over and also for some strange reason my shed door being open. It kept flying inside I have no idea why perhaps to find somewhere slightly warmer...I had to double check when I locked up that it wasn't still in there.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So I had snow and a robin can't get much more seasonal than that!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana";"></span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-80163745215045646782015-11-02T21:53:00.000+00:002015-11-02T21:53:28.650+00:00My 'to do' list promises. ..<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ok possibly a dangerous thing to do but I'm taking a leaf from my dad's book and embracing the 'to do' list...actually my dad could make anything into a list or an IOU...wasn't so much about what he needed to remember more an affliction he suffered from...I still have the IOU he gave me when I was about 9 as a birthday present, a written IOU promise to open me a bank account...oh I so wish he'd done that...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anyway I'm getting distracted, this is my list of things I want/need to do differently in my allotment this coming year in no particular order or relevance...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1. Sow seeds of things I actually want to grow...not just because they came free with a magazine (I have a terrible problem with waste...I just have to use them...or find a seed swapping thing...or even start one myself perhaps..)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2. Don't buy any gardening magazines...they are full of good advice and pretty pictures but also seeds I don't want or need but have a compulsion to sow anyway. I really didn't want 30+ turnips...the slugs were happy with them though...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">3. Attempt to grow quinoa...I have no idea if it will work but I'm on a healthy eating thing..quinoa is expensive to buy so if I can grow it surely it's a good idea...hmm...I'm buying the seed online from the <a href="http://www.realseeds.co.uk/grains.html" target="_blank">Real Seed Catalogue</a>, they seem very positive that its not only possible to grow in this country but get a decent crop as well...it's my 2016 experiment...besides it must be easier than trying to grow avocados!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">4. Not get too upset by neighbours perfect plot...they seem to have much more time and there's usually 2 of them doing the work...2 grown ups, not my usual set up...me, a small boy and a daft dog and half an hour before small boy or daft dog or both do something to make me scream.....give myself a break!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">5. Move my poor clematis from my tiny garden at home to the allotment fence to give it the freedom it needs...also hoping that it's a monster worthy opponent of the bindweed...I suspect it might be...I've been trying to contain it for years because it's just too big and the fence that was there for it to scramble up has gone...It just will not give in, within a day of me pruning it, it's back flexing its leafy muscles and just laughing at my attempts to tame it. Bindweed watch your back!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">6. Deal with the slugs and snails that seem to love my little plot of land...I'm going to experiment with 'Slug Gone'..it's made from sheeps wool...I have no idea why sheep wool should be so abhorrent to a slug but it's worth a try...I'd really love a beetroot next year that hasn't been sculptured into some mollusc work of art.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">7. Make an insect habitat, though my plot seems to be heaving in things that crawl, slither an fly that must already be living somewhere but it seems the right thing to do and they can look great. Saw this one in the garden of Eyam hall, I'd be happy with a slightly smaller one, this is a grand hall version..mine will be more of an end terrace kind of thing...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">8. Get the hang of lighting my Ghille kettle an use the thing!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">9. Try to grow sweetcorn (again)...the slugs got my seedlings this year (and last)...next year see note 6!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">10. Label all seeds sown properly...I have some plants that I've grown from seed this year but because the label wore off I have no idea what they are....They are pretty none descrip green leafy plants at the moment, they could be edible or some sort of perennial flower....I am playing a waiting game with them until they give me a clue...or the slugs get them...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">I have lots of other things that I should/could add but I don't want to end up with an IOU to myself to fulfil my 'to do' list!...My dad would be proud:)</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-48616996976649158362015-09-25T20:33:00.000+01:002015-09-25T20:33:52.404+01:00Being able to get where you are going...and allotment thoughts...<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had to get rid of my trusty little Clio a while ago now, we just couldn't afford or justify being a 2 car family. So my rusty bucket of a car that I got when I became a single mother and had beautifully trundled me and my 2 older boys about for a good 11 years had to go. New man, new life, bye car...it was hard to see it go it symbolized a bit of an era for me (in fact Chris had to watch it go I hid at work, pathetic girl!) Anyway I'm over it now, it's fine not having a car most of the time. I quite like the bus even though I spend a silly amount of time on it going to and from work, <a href="http://totheplotandback.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/bus-travel-thoughts.html" target="_blank">I wrote this little post about it a while ago</a>. When I miss my Clio the most though is when Chris is away (with car) and I have no way of getting to the allotment when I have small boy in tow, it's just slightly too far for his little legs.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But when I do have the car (or the <strike>freedom</strike> time to walk) the allotment is the first place I go, it's where I want to be most of the time if I'm honest. It has suffered a bit this year and I haven't had great crops of anything from it really, I've been a bit envious of all the Instagram and Twitter posts of other peoples beautiful veggie bounties. There have been times when I have wondered if I can actually cope with it at all, slugs have had a field day (what does that actually mean, 'field day'?) the bindweed has had a laugh and my turnips, beetroots and radishes have all come up looking like patterns in lace design. I have discovered there are actually things called flea beetles, really? I think sometimes nature is just having a bit of a laugh at our expense! Then I have sat and listened to the bees in the borage and picked my beautiful borlottis that haven't failed me (second time round!) and been slightly in awe of the artichokes and thought, 'well it could be worst and there is always next year'. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The seed catalogues are coming fast and furiously through the door tempting me with all kinds of things though I'm really not brave enough to try celery, for some reason it scares me;) I want to try sweet potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, salsify...and I will get squashes to work for me somehow! I'm going to save up for a greenhouse or would a poly tunnel be better? </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm planting a wildlife friendly flower patch with the bargains you can get from garden centres and B&Q at this time of year. I've just got a large Verbena plant for £3 which looked a bit sorry for itself but it will come back and be beautiful next year (I hope). I've got Foxglove seedlings that will be big enough to go in next year and I'm wanting to plant a Honeysuckle on the allotment fence next to my plot that will hopefully be rampant enough to do battle with the bindweed!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm not going to give up, I love my allotment and I will do my best to get it too love me too:) </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next year will be better...now I have to study my seed catalogues, there really are very few things that make me happier...I know I've said it before, I need to get out more...yes, to my allotment!! </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-72951883315156303002015-09-03T23:37:00.000+01:002015-09-03T23:37:19.185+01:00Holiday moments... <span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now that I am well an truly back at work and everyone has started to talk about the end of summer, which makes me a little sad, I thought it was a good time to sort through all the photos from our camping holiday in Norfolk and share a few of them as a bit of a lovely (sunny) memory. The rain has been pretty much consistent recently (I got rained off the allotment the other day...even with a shed to hide in!) and we had the heating on for the first time the other night. Chris is still resistant to getting any logs for our wood burner but I'm sure it won't be long before we have that lit and will be having to get daft dog to move from right in front of it! (for such a lithe dog he does manage to hog the heat some how)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Small boy is also back at school and already on only the second day he is very cross that he has to go again! I ran off this morning before he was told he was also at after school club, coward that I am...sorry Chris for leaving you with that one!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Things I really miss about our lovely canvas break...the huge skies, brilliant sunsets, the sea, the sand, the sound of the steam train, being outside, friendly camping folk, children playing, no screens (tv, computer) ice cream...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;">Things I really don't miss...er, this list is harder...washing up, always seems to be far more when you're camping! Wasps, searching for the toothpaste... </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span id="goog_1161157687"></span><span id="goog_1161157688"></span><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-17517884936224127032015-08-28T19:27:00.001+01:002015-08-28T19:27:47.875+01:00A holiday visit to Natural Surroundings...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whilst on holiday the other week in Norfolk we needed to find an alternative route to avoid the very beautiful village of Cley Next the Sea..I know that sounds stupid why avoid somewhere beautiful?...well because it becomes less beautiful in a boiling hot car stuck behind a bus that can't get passed the lorry coming in the opposite direction, with 3 hot an bothered children in the back not to mention poor Chris who was, 'just trying to b***** drive!'...The very beautiful village of Cley was not designed for so much traffic (sorry to be one of the summer tourists making it worst) so we needed to find another way to the coast avoiding the very beautiful village of Cley to save our sanity. We found the perfect route and even more perfectly for a girl who loves her flowers we discovered <a href="http://www.naturalsurroundings.info/" target="_blank">Natural Surroundings</a>...a wildflower centre. If you are ever in the area and need to avoid the busy coast road I would really recommend this lovely little place, it aims to promote wildlife friendly gardening with an emphasis on British wildlife and flowers and it does it beautifully within its 8 acres of gardens. Very importantly it also has a great cafe...we had to wrestle the plate from small boy when he'd finished his chocolate cake to stop him licking it clean (brought up in a barn!) There is a well stocked garden centre too which I had reluctantly to resist...we were camping so unless I could have got the dog to balance any plants on his head we just didn't have the room to take anything home. The dog isn't that talented sadly, oh and there were so many plants I would have quite happily buried daft dog under!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The centre has the most thoughtful wildlife gardens and grounds to wander through, with things for the kids to spot on the way and a herb garden with the plants indentified for you (useful, if like me you can confuse your balms with your mints!) </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of my favorite things was a little hut with tanks of field mice inside...I'm a city girl what can I say?...field mice are always going to be a winner for me;) There were also bookcases full of natural history books to read. I would have quite happily curled up in there with the books an the mice, but the outdoors called and so did Chris who for some reason didn't share my love of the mice...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We wandered down through the gardens to the river where there was a brand new bird watching hut, someone had written on the board inside that they had spotted a Kingfisher only a few days before. I have never seen a Kingfisher, I really want to see one so I sat on the bench and stared intently at what looked to me like the most perfect Kingfisher perch...sadly the Kingfisher was obviously sitting on a more perfect perch somewhere else and 3 children, a dog an the call of cake does not allow for the time you must have in order for that Kingfisher to pass by! They even leave bird books around so you could look up any unfamilar ones you might see. I didn't have the heart to tell the younger 2 that there was no way they would see a Bee-eater or a Fish eagle in rural Norfolk...we did look though;)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> There was a little vegetable garden up by the cafe where I got veg envy...as my allotment this year hasn't been at its best I get jealous very easily...their apple trees were heaving with fruit...grrr...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We spent a lovely afternoon there, it was for me one of the highlights of our holiday...if only that Fish eagle (with his friend the Kingfisher of course) could have sat on that perch just for a second;) </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-80151341365110386122015-08-17T20:31:00.000+01:002015-08-17T20:31:42.902+01:00Borage blue...<br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Borage...without doubt the most successful thing I have grown this year. I can take no credit for it though...I planted the seeds, suspect I won't need to next year it will find its own way...it is terrifingly healthy, literally buzzing with life. The Sweetpeas that I dreamt of curling their way up through it didn't stand a chance, they stalled and the borage leapt sensing their weakness. I found some little white flowers peeking terrified from under the borage canopy. I've rescued them and they are now in their full sweetpea glory in a jar in my kitchen getting over their ordeal. Even the bindweed that is happy to try and strangle everything else on the allotment stays clear of the Borage!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is a bit of a monster, a beautifully prickly, hairy monster...but I love it almost as much as the bees that swarm constantly over it. I sat and watched it yesterday, (really...better than tv) it is a very busy plant feeding all manner of insect life, the noise from the bees is almost hypnotic. I scatter the flowers in my hens nest box along with lavender, rosemary, oregano and mint...makes it smell nice and look pretty, the hens seem happy with their nest box potpourri anyway...until they eat it!;) Borage is of course edible to us too...the flowers make a Pimm's an event, and very photogenic. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I have this lovely book, <i>The Scented Kitchen</i> by Frances Bissell, it has a recipe for Borage pesto, you just replace the basil with the flowers. I will try it when I get over my suspicion of blue food and when I dare deprive the bees of some of its flowers. The book tells the story of how Borage was once thought to give courage and the flowers were put into the departing Crusaders wine, I kind of suspect the alcohol had more of an effect than the Borage but it's a nice thought:) </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I will always have a place for Borage in my allotment and at home but I might just keep the Sweetpeas well away from it next year!...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-2926249145539051022015-08-01T15:27:00.001+01:002015-08-01T15:27:48.476+01:00And this is what little boys are made of?..<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ah the holidays...I practically ran at my 6 weeks off, I've never had so much time off work (we won't go into why I do now...lets just say I'm enjoying the time if not so much the finances.) My small boy started school in January and he's never had such a long holiday either having been a nursery boy since he was 10 months old. The holidays are confusing him, he keeps asking if it's school tomorrow, it interrupts his constant stream of 'why' questions and the count down to his birthday (we are finally on the fingers of one hand!) </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">School worries him, it hasn't been the easiest start for him, in my humble opinion because he is far too young and even though we were able to hold him back for a few months the pressure to get him into school was ridiculous. We will get there but until I know he is completely ready the homework (homework!!) sheets will continue to be thrown in the bin, and I will let him play.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He is an exhausting bundle of energy, one minute completely joyous in his infectious love of life... the next an angry, fury driven creature bent on distruction that I can hardly recognise. Always loud or louder...he isn't a surprise to me being my third boy but it always amazes me quite how emotionally driven boys are, how did they cope in the days when they were told that little boys shouldn't cry? I know that he is going through a hormonally driven phase and it will pass and I will survive it with my sanity just about intact, but there have been some moments during this holiday so far when I have (almost) wished I'd been at work...confessions of a terrible mother!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He tore up a favorite book in a fit of fury and hid it under his bed...he helped a little girl in the park because she couldn't reach the sides of a rope bridge...he pulled the dogs hair and squeezed him too hard...he told me he loved me so much...he nipped me as hard as he could and told me he hated me...he gave his last piece of chocolate to his brother (who kindly gave it back!) He slammed the door so hard the room shook during a random temper tantrum...A boy of contradictions. </span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The other night he fell asleep with his bear over his face and his gentle, childish snoring reminded me what it is to love...completely. </span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-49588581097663496512015-07-16T20:11:00.000+01:002015-07-16T20:11:09.505+01:00An allotment wonder list...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I got to spend some quality time on the plot today and spent most of it just staring at things with a mix of awe and bemusement. The autumn flowering raspberries confused me because I'm pretty sure it's only July but there's definitely fruit on it already...not that I'm complaining!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I have no idea how my borlotti beans that only a few days ago looked like they just might not bother, have suddenly shot to the top of their supports and now look pretty annoyed that there's nothing for them to get to the moon on...</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My pea plants have literally fallen over themselves with the number of pods. It's been lovely to be able to give them straight to small boy to eat like sweets though I'm still not sure he'd choose them over chocolate:)(what am I saying.. of course he wouldn't, he's 4 and he's my son!)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I got very excited when I saw this beautiful thing...it's quite small still and the leaves have been got at so it's not perfect, but to me it is...my very first Romanesco broccoli. Think I might be growing it for the wrong reasons...I don't want to eat it....just to admire it's spiralling symmetry;)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is also a first for me...my first artichoke starting to form on a plant that I grew from seed last year. I have 4 plants and they are all getting huge. I knew they were big plants so I've given them plenty of room but it's like when you realise your children aren't little any more when they invite their friends round and suddenly your house is filled with teens, they take over and their shoes in the hall are just enormous. My artichokes have become teenagers, they just don't talk to me any more!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My asparagus peas which I have brought home proudly then realised quite quickly that I haven't a clue how to cook them and neither has any of our vast collection of recipe books! If you look up recipes online for them you get recipes for asparagus and peas...not helpful! I'm just going to simply steam them I think and have them with a tiny amount of butter.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ladybirds...so many ladybirds! I can only think it's why the blackfly that had just discovered my broad beans suddenly, mysteriously disappeared. It's like when I was little in the summer of '76...sounds like the start of a song...don't worry it isn't;)...all I can remember (because I was quite young...honestly) were the ladybirds, they were everywhere, literally because I loved to collect them in jars (to the horror of my grandmother) so they were in the house, my bedroom at school...everywhere....I sometimes forgot to put the lids back on. I'm really happy to see them on my plot and they are the ladybirds from my childhood...little black legged, 7 spotted ones, not those enormous harlequin ones with the brown legs. It amazes me how those funny ugly little juvenile bugs become the instantly recognisable adults. Every time I lifted a leaf today I found the remains of the pupae sometimes with the adult newly emerged right by. I still find them fascinating but I might just keep my empty jars for jam;) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My beautiful but spikey Borage...I wouldn't be without it, even though brushing passed it to get to the peas is not such a lovely experience! You can eat the flowers, I'm quite tempted to freeze them into ice cubes...they'd look great in a mojito;) Lots of flowers, lots of ice, lots of mojito...what's not to love?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My celeriac was a bit of a disaster last year, they just never formed the bulbs and I left them for such a long time ever hopeful. In fact I've left them so long that they have turned into celery...no, not really but they look very similar and now they have flowered. They look quite spectacular actually and they are buzzing with all kinds of insect life so I will leave them until the flowers fade. They might not have fed me but they are now feeding plenty of others, not such a disaster after all;)</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-9870467605299993212015-07-11T16:32:00.000+01:002015-07-11T16:32:00.255+01:00Picnics with tea and...frogs...<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had one of those days yesterday which just make you happy. It started with a picnic on my allotment with all the people I work with. I'm very lucky to work with a great team with the added bonus that they can all cook really well too:) so we had some great food, not a dry cheese sandwich in sight! Must admit I was a bit worried when the idea was first suggested about having a picnic on the allotment...where are they going to sit without getting stung by nettles or throttled by bindweed? Shouldn't have worried, we smothered the weeds with Chelle's beautiful quilt (there's no way if it was mine that I'd let it out into the dirty outdoors!) They were also lovely enough to be very complimentary about my little plot that has been quite seriously neglected lately (it needs more than the few snatched hours I've had recently). It is bursting with peas an beans though which made me very happy, they obviously don't mind a bit of neglect...and my first asparagus pea pods are forming which I'm ridiculously excited about trying. There is one bonus of having a bit of a wilder plot...the wildlife, in <a href="http://totheplotandback.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/celebrating-weeds.html" target="_blank">a past post</a> I excused my long grass as being a haven for frogs, and what should I find today in my long grass but...baby frogs!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We went from our picnic to a tea tasting session at the truly fabulous <a href="http://www.birdhouseteacompany.com/" target="_blank">Birdhouse Tea Company</a> in Nether Edge and had a great time tasting some loose leafed teas I would never have considered trying, I'm just ever so slightly suspicious of flower petals in tea. It's a lovely shop and Rebecca knows her tea...she's got me drinking something called Milk Oolong, pretty sure not many people could do that and it's delicious;)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As we were leaving Amy just happened to look into her bag...and found...a baby frog! He must have crawled in thinking it was a great place to hide out of the sun, not sure he was as impressed with his unexpected journey and ending up miles from home in a shop of tea. So me and daft dog had a great excuse to go back to the allotment and release him by his pond. He jumped so quickly out of sight I never got a photo of him but I'm glad to know that there are most definitely frogs on my plot even though they've got a bit of growing to do before they can help tackle the slugs!</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-40113370196020564472015-06-29T00:01:00.001+01:002015-06-29T00:01:17.835+01:00Lessons from a Botanical Garden rediscovered...<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On Father's day we ended up walking through Sheffield's Botanical Gardens, probably more of a pleasure for me than Chris:) I haven't been for ages and was happy to find it in absolutely beautiful top flowering form, the sun being out helped too:)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I remember this place from being very young, it wasn't the garden that it is today. When I was little the glasshouses were in dire need of renovation, I remember vividly that one housed an aquarium whilst the main part was a birdhouse. The aquarium was the stuff of nightmares for me, it was pitch black inside and the fish would loom at you from their various tanks like the creatures of the deep that some of them were, prehistoric and scary. I still remember the sound of the various pumps bubbling away and (worryingly) how the ground was always wet and how I would leave the piranhas until last for that moment of pure, joyous horror that all children seem to love. Fish with teeth, all kinds of wrong surely?..I would run screaming from them into the daylight every time...my dad no doubt following behind me shaking his head.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The birdhouse was pure joy for me, it was full of noise and colour. I was fascinated by the various shades of the raucous budgie flock and trying to get the mynah bird to speak to me (never managed a meaningful conversation with it!). I still don't quite understand whose idea it was to place 2 large macaws on stands on either side of the doors as you entered, they were terrifying and would reach out to peck at you as you tried to pass unless they were distracted by food.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The fish and the birds are long gone...who knows, those macaws could still be around today somewhere else terrorising someone in their old age...I kind of hope so;) Anyway, the glasshouses have been beautifully restored and returned to their former glory to show off plants from around the world. Small boy loved the huge cacti but strangely enough didn't want to try and sit on one...as his evil mother suggested;)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Walking down the main path from the glasshouses, the herbaceous borders were rich with colour, shapes and scents. I got quite lost in the beauty of it all...quite literally, Chris and the kids had to wait ages for me to catch them up;). I've never seen a </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">gypsophila</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> so huge and it looked stunning next to the apricot foxgloves. The allium, I think it's '<i>Summerbells</i>' looked like little clusters of fairy turrets (yes, it's exactly what they <i>would</i> look like) amongst the backdrop of the seedheads of <i>'Purple Sensation.</i>' The colour combination was so perfect, it wouldn't have worked as well had they been in flower together but the muted colour of the seedheads made for a perfect mix. Bees were going mad for the catmint...I think it was catmint anyway, it was one of the plants not labeled frustratingly, probably because they expect people to know what it is! There are so many ideas for planting combinations to borrow, and I for one need all the help I can get on that one:) I somehow forgot that that's one of the joys of botanical gardens, it's like walking through the pages of a very lovely gardening book. I have promised myself to visit more regularly from now on even though I still really miss the fish! </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-18734445992692071292015-06-24T22:05:00.000+01:002015-06-24T22:05:32.419+01:00Magical musical moments...<br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My sister lives on one of those rare streets where neighbours actually know each other by name and also seem to genuinely like each other too:) They have street parties where the road gets blocked off and the children can come out to play safely without the worry of traffic. Cakes are baked, photos taken, outdoor games and toys are scattered (much to small boys delight) and the musicians of the road play through the smoke machines of the BBQ's. The band that was playing kindly allowed my Chris to play with them even though we were interlopers on the street;) It's not a widely known thing that Chris is a great guitar player (yes I'm biased, but he really is..) he just doesn't get the chance to play and his children have never seen him play properly, plugged in and loud! It was actually quite a special moment watching them watch their dad for the first time. I am a hormonally driven girl at the best of times (it's an age thing) but it was enough to make anyone cry...it was the scene from that film where you know you are being emotionally manipulated but you just can't help yourself;) </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am in awe of musicians generally, I haven't got a musical bone in my body...I can play a passable rendition of London's Burning on the recorder if pressed (who on earth is going to demand I do that!) but that's about it. I do however know good music when I hear it, music that makes you completely forget what's around you and just stop dead. A man with a violin began to set up quietly as we were still hugging Chris and generally behaving like he was some sort of rock god...ha! </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Usually when I see a violin my heart sinks, I have memories of my middle son learning to play it at school (why do they torture us parents!) his rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is still scratched painfully into my subconscious...sorry darling but it was awful, think you're old enough now to face the truth:) This violin music was so removed from that it might as well have come from another planet. His name is <a href="http://www.matthowden.com/" target="_blank">Matt Howden</a> and if you ever get the chance to see him play please, please do he is completely mesmerising. There is something amazing about having a talent that allows you to express yourself so honestly and so beautifully and I felt (embarrassingly enough) compelled to thank him afterwards for being so...well... great. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A little street party with drizzling rain and an hysterical broken tug of war rope (there are few funnier sights than lots of people falling over at the same time!) and music to make you cry... turned out to be a very special Sunday, just a shame I was too busy enjoying the moment to take any decent photos!...sorry.</span><br />
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-42958914768695899032015-06-23T19:25:00.000+01:002015-06-23T19:25:03.696+01:00Murder and empty trugs...<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've only been able to grab a very few short moments on the allotment recently due to work, children, dog commitments (in no particular order). Happy to see that the grass and weeds are still partying...actually not that happy about that at all, it's about time they got the black bin bags out and cleared themselves up! I've got a long summer holiday coming up soon (hooray!) so their days are numbered.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;">There had been a terrible murder at the plot (can you tell I've been reading Agatha Christie)</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;"> though the only sign of the body was the piles of feathers blowing around my cabbages, I don't think any pigeon could have survived losing quite so many feathers. I'm wondering if it was a hawk, we see quite a few flying over. I once watched as a hawk took a pigeon right in front of my car when I was stuck in traffic on a busy main road. It was horribly fascinating how it held the doomed bird down with its claws, sheltered it with its wings and plucked the feathers from its dinner as a queue of traffic passed it by, it was so focused it just didn't seem to care...a BBC camera crew couldn't have got as close as I was! I'll put the feathers onto the compost heap, I listened to a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/audio/2015/may/29/compost-sow-grow-repeat-gardening-podcast" target="_blank">sow,grow,repeat gardening podcast</a> on composting and I'm sure someone said feathers were fine to add, poor pigeon was probably hoping to eat the cabbages not end up feeding them!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;">I'm getting a bit envious...ok if I'm truly honest...I'm completely consumed with jealously at all the posts and photos of heaving trugs and harvests that people are having now. My trug remains pathetically empty, I did harvest some broad beans but when I opened them there wasn't so much of a bean as an insignificant pimple inside. I have quite a few more coming on the plants but I'm a bit wary of harvesting them too young as I obviously have done or perhaps I just need to find a recipe that uses the whole pod (any suggestions, gratefully received).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;">My asparagus peas are making me very happy scrambling along the ground, and they are starting to flower with the most beautiful deep red flowers (if only I could find that colour lipstick!). I had put twiggy stems around them thinking they would eventually head upwards but apparently they hug the soil...I should remove the twigs so I don't look so glaringly naïve!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;">My strawberries are coming on too, should I whisper this, but I'm one of those strange creatures that loves the look and smell of strawberries and strawberry jam but have never actually liked them as a fruit to eat. All the children love them though and if I get enough I can always make myself some jam (ha...I am the only person I know that has managed to make 'black' Seville orange marmalade...best not to ask) I will try one when they are ready though just to double check, I'm hoping that my theory of growing things I'm not so fond of might encourage me to like them, and if not it just means there will be more purple sprouts for Chris come Christmas!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;">I have heaps of black currants coming at the moment but they aren't protected from the birds so we shall see who wins that particular race (yes, I know, unless that hawk is still about). I don't mind sharing but I'd appreciate being left a few of them at least:)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;"></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The onions I planted that the mole duly unplanted have all started to sprout up seemingly no worst for their rude interruption so we shall see what they will produce eventually (hopefully...onions...). </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;">I'm very proud of my cabbages too at the moment, (after I had cleared the feathers from them) they are all looking quite...well cabbage like, the colour of the purple ones is quite lovely. So I may not yet have the trug of plenty but I'm ever hopeful that I will soon:)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-22746291645815049512015-06-17T21:22:00.000+01:002015-06-17T21:22:29.454+01:00Allotment revisited...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Before small boy (and Chris) when my 2 older boys were younger we lived in a house near these beautiful allotments. I would walk the dog we had then at ungodly hours trying desperately not to meet anyone because he was a rescue dog with serious issues. There would be owls in the branches above me (I wasn't joking about the hours, the dog was a nightmare) and it was a truly magical place to be all on my own, just as the sun was coming up (or going down). It was and still is the most lovely allotment site, a tiny patch of countryside in the middle of the city. Unlike my own allotment site it is well established and the plots have huge mature hedges around them, making them more into private gardens. I was always quite envious of them as the hell hound dragged me round, there was one in particular I couldn't resist peeping at through the hedge (I know it was wrong...sorry) to have a moment dreaming of what it would be like to have a space like it. It had a mature tree with a bench round it set in a small patch of lawn, the rest given to a wild mix of flowers, fruit and vegetables. It was for me, the secret garden I had read about as a child, completely perfect and probably what I'm striving to achieve subconsciously with my own plot now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;">I took small boy and daft dog there the other day, in broad daylight (daft dog quite likes his own species thankfully) and it was lovely to see not much has changed, that's one of the things I love about allotments, a sense of time standing still. I didn't peek through any hedges so missed a chance to see my dream secret garden but was really happy to see the eclectic mix of gates was still very much there, they add an certain eccentric originality to the place that I really like.</span> <span style="color: #666666;">I can only dream that one day my plot might be established enough to warrant it's own gate, wonder if I should get one now, it'll need a good few years of wear to look right;)</span></span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-70957099147599193232015-06-05T22:09:00.000+01:002015-06-05T22:09:35.566+01:00Mole magic...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had a couple of stolen hours on the allotment last night after work, it was such a beautiful evening and having been stuck indoors all day it was such a relief to be outside rather than just staring at it through the window over the top of a computer screen...</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;">I'd planted a few rows of shallots the other day, I know it was a bit late for them but they were one of those bargains from B&Q (a whole £1!)I couldn't resist and as my onion seed planting this year hasn't quite worked out for me, as in failed completely (such an amateur), I thought I'd risk them. The allotment mole had other ideas though, he doesn't like them at all, at least that's what I understand by the massive mountain he's managed to erupt right in the middle of the rows scattering the shallots all over the place! I'm afraid it just made laugh, he's so random in his appearances that he's never done any real harm (well I could blame him for the demise of the rhubarb but secretly I know that was more down to me) and even if he did I hope I'd be understanding. We are surrounded by golf courses and they are seriously not mole friendly places so where else is he (could be a she I guess) suppose to hide out, and he/she was definitely here before me. I've also read that Sarah Raven goes out with a bucket and collects molehill soil on purpose because it is so good...well my mole makes sure I don't need to worry about the extra work he puts them right where I need them usually in the middle of a bed:)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;">I'd watched an episode of Monty Don's French Gardens the other day on gourmet gardens and there was a man with an amazing garden that he grew for the café/restaurant he ran, he had put snail shells on the tops of all his canes, it looked quite lovely. I guess if you're a snail it would look more like a scene that Vlad the Impaler would dream of, but as I (luckily...hum) seem to have so many empty snail shells scattered around the allotment I thought I might borrow his idea...sorry snails.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;">My pea plants are looking quite good with pods already forming on them and lovely white flowers. I'm quite excited about my asparagus pea plants as well, I've never grown or eaten them before but they look really healthy...perhaps whatever is having a bit of a go at my pea plants (leaf miner?) has never seen an asparagus pea either so daren't touch them:)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;">Must admit I spent most of my time last night just being happy to be there, I was pulling up the bindweed by the bucketful. I swear that stuff grows back as soon as you turn your back, I can imagine it popping up like comedy rabbits defiantly behind you as you go along, laughing down to its roots at your inadequacy.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;">I took a photo of a massive winged beast that sat watching me battle the bindweed, I noticed it because it had ridiculously huge eyes. I have no idea what it was but it intrigued me, there is so much of this world that we are totally unaware of, creatures and plants that exist without us ever knowing of their presence. In a couple of hours at the allotment I spot so many of these little things (some scarily not so little!) that crawl, fly, creep about me that it's quite an eye opener to quite how much I don't know. Something else my allotment has given me... a desire to learn more about these creatures, if only to learn which ones are friendly! There is a lovely blog I follow called <a href="http://plot7wildlife.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank"> wildlife on our allotment</a> They have some great photos and it's a really useful site too:)</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-22729804551448016732015-05-31T16:25:00.000+01:002015-05-31T16:25:19.275+01:00Holiday walks and wellies...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The h</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">alf term holiday is nearly over, far too quickly for my liking:( Small boy, daft dog and I have being doing plenty of walking in all weathers, luckily (for the dog) small boy is a happy walker as long as there is the promise of a treat (bribe) at the end of it, preferably some form of chocolate...oh, he is so my boy!:) Plenty of baking has been done during the holiday too, this mornings indulgence was chocolate and banana muffins. I am fooling myself in thinking that the fruit balances the chocolate out and that they are actually good for you aren't I?...hum...</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The blossom was falling from the hawthorns today and small boy thought it was snowing, so we've walked in sun, rain, wind and...snow, certainly felt cold enough! W</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">e've just come in from a walk to visit the allotments near where I used to live when my two big boys were younger. I'll have to sort through the photos I've taken and get something written about it soon. It's a beautiful old established site and as much as I love my allotment, I did have allotment envy.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chris has been away for quite a lot of the holiday (hence the walking, he's also got the car!) and I've been able to take advantage of his absence in the evenings, when small boy is in bed to indulge in another of my favourite things, old films. It can't get much better for me than Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief...no one could wear a cravat quite like Cary Grant (and get away with it!) I used to love watching the Sunday afternoon film with my dad when I was little, it was always a Western or a war film, perhaps I was a bit of an odd child but I'd be perfectly happy watching Zulu or The Good the Bad and the Ugly and still am! Wonder if I can get small boy to watch The Philadelphia Story with me now?...</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-35985996247859929252015-05-28T17:53:00.000+01:002015-05-29T15:05:01.828+01:00Celebrating the weeds...<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A little while ago I added a comment on blog post I was reading because she was saying that her allotment was getting too much for her...weeds do not wait for a busy working mum...and the only thing that kept her going was her little boy who was sweetly enthusiastic about growing things. I added a comment as many others did to offer support and to let her know she wasn't alone. That's one lovely thing about the blogging world which I am learning...it gives you the opportunity to be nice to strangers, and hopefully make them feel a little better if they sound like they need it (and sometimes even if they don't). </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, my words of support to her came back to slap me across the face when I got the chance to spend a day on my own allotment this week, my heart sank as low as the weeds were high when I saw it...small boy was not with me to make me smile. I haven't had the chance to get to it as much as I would like/need to recently and the weeds have had a party in my absence, invited all their friends and generally behaved like teenagers in an empty house...badly!</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I sat and stared at it for along time trying to find my love for it and the energy to start to tackle it. Then I noticed that the grasses that had grown were actually quite pretty, not unlike the ones I'm growing from seed at home. There were buttercups in flower that the bees were going mad for...purple flowers which I must look up in my wildflower book amongst the nettles, bindweed, docks and thistles (oh yes I have a lovely full range). My kale and purple sprouting broccoli have gone to flower and the butterflies were lining up, I'm loath to pull it up yet, I will wait til the butterflies are finished. It looks wild and untamed in parts and the more I looked the more I actually started to like what I saw. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have the perfect allotment neighbours on one side of me, their plot is immaculate I have no idea how they do it..perhaps sneaky night time weeding when no one is around. I was deeply envious of their perfect raised beds (allotments can bring out the strangest things in you!) I was really concerned that my plot would be a worry to them, though I do try to keep the edges clear so there is a 'weed' barrier. Whilst I was looking at my plot...I looked across to theirs and for once I didn't feel that usual envy (or guilt), or the childish feeling of 'they are better at this than me'...I just saw a different idea. They obviously like a very ordered space...I like gentle chaos and I am going to stop beating myself up for it! I will never have a completely weed free allotment, I don't want one...if weeds are only flowers </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">in the wrong place then my weeds will be in the right place and not be considered to be weeds at all:) I would rather a patch of nettles than bare soil probably as much as nature does, as long as I don't accidentally touch them!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My raised beds will be weeded, my veg and fruit cared for as best I can, but around them I will let the buttercups flower. I'm doing it for the bees and quite honestly for myself too, waging war against nature is not why I got an allotment in the first place there is room for all of us I think. I need to learn to think differently in order for it not to feel too overwhelming, remember that I am not in any part of my life a perfection freak (friends and family are now crying with laughter at the thought) and my allotment is no exception. I am quite new to this allotment game and have a lot to learn, perhaps I am being naive and it will come back to bite me, perhaps not:) I know I must keep on top of the bindweed at least and that my asparagus will not live happily with anything sprouting up around its delicate roots, but as for the long grass that has magically appeared everywhere, well I'm hoping that the toads and frogs from the nearby ponds will thank me for it and in return will deal with the slugs and snails for me;)</span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Perhaps I can get nature to help me a bit, if I help it...that's the theory anyway, it's called, 'It will all be fine, even if you let the weeds live!'</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-50253336156573704702015-05-22T19:05:00.000+01:002015-05-22T19:05:22.902+01:00Chelsea wanderings...<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is so much on the Chelsea Flower show at the moment that I hardly dare throw in my little ruminations on it but I've never been before and I felt like my small boy does when he gets a present, over come with the giddiness of it all:)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You are first hit by the vastness of it, I've done trade fairs in my past for various things and I probably won't be very popular for comparing parts of Chelsea to a glorified trade fair (but with Champagne and Pimms). Don't get me wrong I love a trade fair but they are tiring and the numbers of people never fail to amaze me. It was very, very busy, though a lady we talked to who had been many times said it wasn't at all! Someone should have told that to the woman who took exception to my friends rucksack, hitting it with her cane and getting very irate. I being very British didn't say a word to her, but really you're in a beautiful place surrounded by (at the time) vast swathes of heavily scented roses, if you can't be relaxed and happy there then where? Don't bother going to Chelsea Flower show if people and rucksacks annoy you!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;">Everything you could ever want for your garden was there...and lets be honest a few things you really wouldn't/shouldn't want as well;) Spinning summer houses in lovely subtle shades, the greenhouses dreams are made of...oh what I could sow and grow in some of those! Massive sculptures of driftwood animals...they took your breath away with the amount of work and talent involved but realistically not something someone like me in a typical terrace would ever consider...life-size driftwood horse madam?...er no thank you, do you have anything smaller...a sparrow perhaps? I'm much more a simple and practical kind of girl, I wish I had bought the wire hoops for a plant tunnel from <a href="http://www.plantbelleshop.co.uk/" target="_blank">Plant Belles</a> (thank goodness for the internet!) and I loved <a href="http://www.loisanderson.co.uk/" target="_blank">Lois Anderson's</a> stone carving...ok, she's a friend but her work is truly lovely and i'm not just saying that;) </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The gardens were all beautiful of course, some more so than others. White foxtail lilies were everywhere which I was quite pleased about as I planted some in my garden at home last year and if they end up looking anything like the ones we saw I'll be ecstatic! (and slightly surprised) Lupins, iris and foxgloves all seemed to be very popular too. I'm not a plant expert so I'm not even going to try to sound like I know what I'm talking about, other people do that so much better than I...and they were all at Chelsea. Another fun game we played, spot the celebrity gardener, designer, chef...the huge cameras usually gave the game away;)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;">The Chatsworth garden that has won the Chelsea Best in Show award is quite spectacular and as Chatsworth house is just up the road from me and I'm very familiar with it, it felt like a little piece of home. I overheard someone say, 'but it's not a garden is it?' Well no I'd have to agree, unless you are the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire who do have something similar in their garden:) I'm pretty sure not many of us have gardens on a scale to take the huge stones that formed the backbone of the design...or for that matter the quarry from which to source them:) It doesn't have anywhere that you could image your patio could go but it's spectacular and it makes you happy to see it there in it's enormity...and if I learnt anything from my first trip to Chelsea...it's all about the show! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;">The gardens that made me really smile and could potentially take ideas home from were in the Artisan Gardens. A Trugmaker's garden designed by <span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Serena Fremantle and Tina Vallis, </span>was</span> like seeing a real life photo from the past in full glorious colour, gentle and dare I say it...sweet. I think I might be a girl who loves a cottage garden but with a bit of formal and Piet Oudolf thrown in for good measure. If you take ideas for planting from all the gardens at Chelsea you would have something quite special. It's made me re think my negative view of lupins anyway, they look great with climbing beans:)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;">In the end we couldn't wait to leave...not because we didn't enjoy it (I couldn't stop smiling the whole time I was there!) but because we were itching to get home to our own gardens and to my allotment and use the inspiration that the day at Chelsea had given us.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;"> Even on the way home the flower and plant assault continued as many of the shops in the area had elaborate displays spilling out onto the pavements, and just look at that building I took a very quick photo of as we went passed on the bus! I so wish more designers would try to use vertical planting on their new buildings, it just makes everything look...better? Perhaps I'm just a little biased... </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-25023480376998973032015-05-15T23:41:00.000+01:002015-05-15T23:41:15.165+01:00A short excited Chelsea squeak...<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've always wanted to go to the Chelsea Flower Show, just once, just to see if it really is as great as it looks. Cameras on TV programmes always turn away from the avenues I want to wander down, photos are never enough and I'm really not interested in what hat the Queen is wearing (sorry probably treason). </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gardens/plants/flowers are sensory things to me, I need to be able to touch and smell them, I want to be able to stop and stare and discover it all for myself. For so many reasons I've never been able to go and this year wasn't going to be any different, until...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Until today when my phone rings whilst I'm on the bus on my way home from work. My heart sinks....you hear so many inane phone conversations you wished you hadn't whilst trapped on a bus...I don't want to be another phone bore. I see it's a call from a really good friend so I sink down in my seat and answer it...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">'You need to get the day off work...I've got tickets to Chelsea...' </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What can I say? I have a great friend, a nice boss who would rather let me have the day off than listen any more to my pleading;) and Chris who I am leaving with all the lovely children to sort out on a school day. So I can go to Chelsea...just once...wonder if I should wear a hat?</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-22468636458381055852015-05-11T16:17:00.000+01:002015-05-11T16:17:11.661+01:00From bluebells to asparagus...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just daft dog and me this weekend on a sneaky afternoon up to the allotment, thanks Chris for taking small boy to the library;) The woods were beautiful on the walk there. I tried to take an 'arty' photo of daft dog, a blue Beddlington in a sea of bluebells...he being a very fast, typical terrier with a complete lack of understanding for my poetic nonsense had a different idea...not a chance, hence the blurry Beddlington shot! (nothing at all to do with having a terrible camera phone and no photography talent)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When we got to the plot, I finally had to admit to myself that the sticks I'd been lovingly watering were going to stay sticks and not miraculously spring into life, willing them to live just wasn't going to be enough. So, sadly but without any great surprise I pulled up over half of the raspberry canes that I had planted in autumn. I had planted them with snow on the ground, small boy had built a snowman next to me as I had scrapped the snow back with frozen fingers to put them in. I had made the fatal mistake of thinking just because there wasn't any snow in my garden at home that a 5 minute drive to the allotment up a hill it would be the same, it wasn't. I'd had them planted temporarily at home in a container with a straw mulch and made the decision that it would be worst to take them home to have to dig them up a second time, so I scrapped the snow away and risked it. There is a reason why you never see Monty Don planting raspberries in snow...it kills them! I suppose the actual miracle is the 2 plants that have survived, both Joan J's. Obviously tough little plants, I like to think that it's because they share a name with my aunt, she wouldn't let a bit of snow stop her...talking at least;) (pretty sure she'll never read this!)They even have the beginnings of little flower buds on them.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've also lost my borlotti beans to frost and my inexperience. I was lulled by the beautiful spring weather into a false sense of security completely forgetting I live in the north! The sun beat down as I happily built them a twiggy wigwam, the birds sang...lambs were definitely skipping about somewhere, there was a scent of BBQs in the air. That night the temperature plunged, the BBQs were quickly put away and my poor borlottis keeled over immediately. A bit like that great Peter Kay sketch when he's impersonating a rich tea biscuit dipped into tea, 'it's too hot, it's too hot'...my borlottis were crying, 'it's too cold, it's too cold!' (please try an watch that sketch it's a classic!)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I've learnt a few lessons the hard way...do not plant raspberries in the snow and last frost dates must be learnt and abided by even if the lambs are dancing the Tango!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But there were things that made me smile too. The broad beans I planted last year are looking very happy the flowers are just so pretty and I've noticed that they are scented as well, so hopefully we'll get some beans from them. <span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had to take a photo of the snails I found near my compost bin too, I know they are a gardeners nemesis but these are particularly well dressed snails...snail fashionistas who'd have thought? they match the broad bean flowers perfectly;) but as much as I could admire the atheistic of that I wouldn't be too impressed if I found them there!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The peas I planted, Early Onward and Douce Provence, at the same time as the borlottis thankfully didn't go all Mediterranean on me and just brushed the frost off. I noticed they are getting flowers on them already...woo hoo!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My most exciting moment though was seeing the first spears of my asparagus coming through. My excitement was tempered a bit when I looked up and saw that the plot directly behind me (that has just been taken over) is slowly turning yellow, which I'm guessing means they've just put weed killer on the whole lot. Oh please, please, please let my asparagus be ok, its right next to the tide of yellow that is descending. I have no idea what they've used, they weren't about to ask. Bit cross if I'm honest, I have a sea of weeds to battle but I fight with them fair and square with a fork and the occasional bad back...using chemicals just seems like cheating, not to mention using chemicals so close to someone who just wants her asparagus to survive seems a bit cruel! I guess that's one of the drawbacks of an allotment, you really have no control over what people right next to you can do.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00867159949504159452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4851488067097412436.post-71363524994895439622015-05-05T17:36:00.000+01:002015-05-05T17:36:32.639+01:00A Spring green Monday...<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What's not to love about a 3 day weekend? On our bonus day we ended up walking somewhere I used to walk a lot when my big boys were small, I thought I knew it quite well, but we turned off the main path and I realised that I didn't know it at all. We had always followed the main path all those years ago and I would have to not look whilst the boys clambered over the rocks in the river with their dad, they would be having a great time...I would be having the minor heart palpitations of an hysterical mother!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, off the main path yesterday, it was all beautifully new to me which was lovely to rediscover with Chris and Small boy, Chris had never been there himself and the sun was shining which made it all the better...and warmer! I would always recommend going off the main path wherever you are...unless on a cliff edge of course:)...you might just find something you never knew was there. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Small boy discovered the ruins of a giant's castle whilst we were walking. Oh to have the imagination of a 4 year old...that can make a pile of old stones seem so magical! There's Chris and I trying to think what they were once part of in a very grown up (boring) way, Small boy just saw a really exciting climbing frame (the heart palpitations were back in a second...)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana;"> I was really happy to see the same bonkers cafe at the end of our walk where a chip butty and a barking dog are compulsory. You can buy your tea by the pint...honestly...borrow a dog or 3 (make sure they can bark) forget the diet and find the Grindleford station café. It's not fine dining but when you've climbed a few hills who needs salad? It's not a very well kept secret either, so when the sun is shining be prepared to join that great British queue:)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The blue sky made the fresh springtime green even more vivid if that was possible...it has to truly be one of natures happiest colours...I thought I was an Autumn season lover but I'm starting to really appreciate the colours of Spring now...perhaps it's an age thing;) </span><br />
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