Allotment news

On Monday I paid my my first visit of the year to the allotment. Various things have prevented me from going until now. Weather, foot, foot weather. There has been an awful lot of work done since I was last there back in the late autumn.

newly marked out beds

planted seeds

sprouting in the green house









a new thermometer to check inside and out











Biddle and Gardiner Bunny came too



we had lunch using our "slate topped table"


and we kept an eye on the bird feeders









Before we left we picked the first crop of rhubarb which yesterday I made into a crumble for tea.


It is all very exciting and hopefully there will be more produce over the coming months.

springing into ...

.... Summer unless of course the last few days were summer, it reached 18 C yesterday. I shall remember it fondly when it rains in August.
On Wednesday Biddle and I had coffee sitting on the bench

There are various kinds of plants flowering
I can't remember the name of this one
But a huge bumble bee liked it

The daffodils and narcissus are finally out

The hyacinth are in bud. But you will not see any tulips as I am not a fan.
I was very pleased to see this

pussy willow


I have not seen any for years. It immediately took me back to the school nature table in junior school.
Of course the sun and pollen have brought on the sneezing and the sinus headaches but I'll suffer gladly (for the moment).

Tomorrow John is off to the great metropolis and the march. We have not marched against any thing since the coal not dole march in the 90s. I hope the weather is better than it was then. I am not going because of the foot. I shall be there in spirit. Talking of the foot because I have been walking strangely it has put the back out of alignment and the other night turning over in bed went ping. Nothing too bad however putting my socks on this morning it hit me with a greater ping and now the sciatic nerve is protesting. Oh well just another of life's little trials.

Tia has been playing put the mouse in the dish


No sign of purple mousie. I think she has run away!

This week end we alter the clocks it will be lighter in the evenings which mean visits to the allotment.

Thanks for coming

Good news...

...on the test result. It came back as normal so I am pleased about that.

Here is a little hint of spring. But the weather has been horrible with fog and a visibility of less than 100m at times. However the sun came out yesterday and today looks much better although we had a sharp frost over night.
The creativity is going well


She has a head although it is not yet attached permanently to her body.



There are more and more flowers

to add and I think I shall need more leaves too.

Yesterday was St Patrick's Day a sadder date in our calendar these past years. I cannot believe it is seven years since Haydn crossed the rainbow bridge


He was a wonderful puss.

Thanks for visiting

health stuff and sewing

Well I went for my results last Friday cholesterol was OK but query blood sugar. My practice err on the side of caution so Wednesday morning saw me breakfast free taking a trip to the surgery for a 9 30 appointment. I had a blood sample taken and then drank a bottle of lucazade (My mum has had the same test and she had to drink a solution that could only be described as liquid icing sugar she hated it)
and went and sat in the building reception area for two hours. I was armed with book magazines and word puzzle book. The time past quickly and i did not realise what a busy building it is. Then I went back for the second blood sample to be taken. The result will be back later today. I hope it is OK it is more or less viewed as a criminal offence to be diagnosed with diabetes these days. A strain on the NHS and how dare you not have looked after your health and diet. I think I do pretty well really although the exercise has gone to pot because of the foot.

The sewing is coming along nicely there are plenty of these


Arms and hands


One of these


A rather sumptuous body


Now more modestly covered


with leaves and flowers



Her face is now sculpted and she is waiting patiently for eyes and lashes. Nothing is definitely in its final place at the moment. The leaves, flowers and skirt are pinned in place.

Tia has been doing her usual thing


We have had sun rain frost high winds and a bit of sleet over the last week. At the moment it is cold but the sun is shining. I'll settle for that having woken up to the news of earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan.

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr again

after a few warmish days the temperature has fallen once more, today it has not risen above 3.5C and it is due to go below zero again tonight. We have had very little sun either. I have just read on the BBC site about the temperature houses should be heated to, thermostats set set much lower than mine ever is. Although we have double glazing out house is still draughty and we seldom feel all that warm. When the children were small I had to heat the house we lived because of Shaun's disability now I have to be careful not to get too cold because of my back. Yesterday the bill (estimated) arrived almost £200 and on the those really cold December days we did not really feel warm at all. Usually we phone in a new reading but this time we have not. It would be higher. I last out as long as I can before it goes on in winter. And by May we turn it off completely. Gas prices are increasing so much and carbon emissions have to come down. Perhaps they are trying to price us out of ever turning it on. The article makes the point that we heat our rooms much more than in the "olden days" are we heading back to the days of chilblains and scraping the frost off the windows?

Yesterday I had a visitor. He popped over the wall, miaowed because I took no noticed, intimated that he was waiting for something. Not a stroke because he does not like being stroked and usually lashes out. So I found him some biscuits which he ate then strolled off. Magic (aka Sparky) is looking old, he has grey in his black/brown fur and his joints are stiff. I am not sure exactly how old he is but he must be at least 15 now and I am wondering how much longer he will be around.

Despite the chill the bulbs continue to appear

We seem to have rather a lot of purple crocus.

The honey suckle is coming along nicely


Some of these are cheap bulbs that we bought just before Christmas they all got stuck in where ever I thought there might be a space. They may be hidden later by the bluebells that appear every year
There are buds on the daffodils and look what we have here

rhubarb, there was not enough room at the allotment for this one.

The birds' favourite bush has flowers.


Spring must be around the corner. This will be lovely but the headaches and hay fever will be back too.

No sewing to show. I have done some but no photographs to prove it.

Thanks for coming