Get a grip woman!

themadvix

Happy Easter SL, enjoy the garden

Impressive skills Busy Mee!

trix-a-belle

congrats busy_mee that sounds very successful all round!
happy easter all
i've also been in the garden SL, it was almost like christmas finding the buried drain inspection cover while digging over a bed having weeded a million unwanted tree seedlings out, & got gifted lots of rubble from the neighbour to fill my bbq/pizza oven pond conversion (yet to have a completed retaining wall) so been lugging that over the road

Suffolk_lass

I know there is lots of advice online but do ask if you think we can help with your sourdough BusyMee1 - not that we are particularly experienced but reassurance is the greatest part of it - and persevering!

Wow trix, you will be fit! We have dealt with about 15 barrow loads of our own compost and we are mixing it with one bag per bed in the veg garden, and spreading it on our fruit beds as a soil improver. Loads more to go with only two bins and a tumbler down and a whole one to go - although at least half of that will just be moved to the new bin and mixed with spent compost and turves that came from where the greenhouse is. So less moving it round and muscle power. 

We have two beds with ground elder in that we must try to stop next - It's about fifth on my list... 

Yesterday I dug out a bulk-bag full of Spanish bluebells that have got to the point where nothing else can compete. Lots of my lovely little crocuses were MIA this year, thanks to the bluebells and the rabbits. We also dug out an area of leeks so I could prep the bed - half of the 8'x6' bed still had leeks. I trimmed some and left on my neighbour's doorstep and I have two large trug-buckets to prep and freeze after inspecting my very-brown seed trays.

At least the weather looks good again today, so will get back to it.

greent

Love the sourdough adventures I've still been managing to get (free) fresh yeast from Tesc0 bakery - if I get the 'right' member of staff they give me a huge lump (they know I get it all the time, not just during a pandemic!) Have had to resort to buying flour from a local small independent bakery (who gets it from the (localish) mill - who are now prioritising bakeries over retail - which I think is lovely) - thankfully I can buy it by the 16KG sack

We've also been spending a decent amount of time in the garden/ garden related here. HM compost supplies now very low, as most of it has been used to improve the soil. I don't normally compost many grass cuttings/ guinea pig waste, but I've started to - the green garden waste scheme is not a priority for the council at the mo (understandably!) so they've extended the end date (paid for scheme) in exchange. I'll just have to make sure it's all mixed in well together and hopefully the wood shavings/ hay/ straw will balance out the grass

Have a lovely Easter weekend, SL - and everyone else reading this  

Karmacat

Wonderful to hear of all the sourdough and the home made compost, I really admire all that

Suffolk_lass

Total stall in the garden yesterday for me, I think I overdid it on Saturday, so I let DH commence weeding the veg bed for the potatoes while I made jam (!) - well it got a bag each of garden grown damsons, gooseberries and raspberries out of the freezer, and I also made a sourdough loaf.

I made a bit too much for the tin I wanted to use so I experimented with a few sourdough not-cross buns (basically a sourdough leftover with some egg (from brushing pastry), two teaspoons of vanilla sugar, a handful of cashew nuts, a handful of mixed fruit, and some pine nut kernals and pumpkin seeds added. I glazed them with sugar-water and they were yummy with a bit of butter and good strong cheddar 

Karmacat

And that was a slow day?  Dear me - have another slow day, please

Suffolk_lass

Conscious that I have gone a little quiet - we are fit and well but really busy in the garden. I have planted more courgettes so I can share a couple with neighbours and lots of brassicas. Next I need to rig up my toilet rolls in a pot, filled with compost to start carrots and parsnips. I am hopeless a thinly sewing seeds so a few trays in the new greenhouse are working for us. The rest of the non consumable garden is a bit of a nightmare with rabbits chomping lots of new growth and my Canterbury bells ground cover is now just a stumpy wasteland.

DH has been doing our shopping and dare I suggest, he is quite enjoying it in these greater space times. He insisted he was less of a risk than bringing DS in from the next town to help, as he is working in a residential facility and is therefore exposed to the germs of everyone who lives or works there. He has a point but he does have the male in his sixties, blood group A risk thing going round in my head.

I cannot imagine what did it but I had a very upset tummy yesterday. I won't go into details but we ate the same but only I was affected.

Money is at that plodding point. So dull. I am resisting the urge to overpay the mortgage at the moment and letting the money build up a bit in the instant saver but I can't let that go on for too long. I might have to buy some premium bonds or something as the interest rate is less that 0.01 now. I can't put it in a long term option (as much as 0.8% woohoo) as it includes our emergency fund. I suppose I could put half in there... decisions, decisions

trix-a-belle

Suffolk_lass said:

I cannot imagine what did it but I had a very upset tummy yesterday. I won't go into details but we ate the same but only I was affected.

I hope you're feeling better now, you're not the first i've heard of having something like that from unknown source in recent days, housemates sister had it & its also progressively going round some of her work colleagues but they don't come into contact with each other

Suffolk_lass

DH had a gurgling tummy yesterday and maintains my metabolism is much faster then his - it must be something we eat as we have not been anywhere or seen anyone (except DS - but that was yesterday just to collect this week's food parcel). I was able to shut him and the (indoor) cat in my new greenhouse so he could give her a fuss, which made them both very happy. She became his when he cat-sat when she was a kitten - we came home to find he had both kittens bonded to him  and it has never changed. She is none or ten and behaves ike a complete trollop in his presence, hurling herself upside down on his lap so he can tickle her tummy. You can imagine how much he loves that - being normally shut up in the house with two young men who are both more self-absorbed than him.

We had our first morsel of asparagus from the garden yesterday. It does not get better than than - with egg salad we had it steamed with a dob of butter, grated cheese and a sprinkle of salt and pepper - only about four spears each but yummy