Tales from The Shire

greent

brizzlegirl said:

I am using OOD tomato seeds as nine left in usual shops...no joy as yet but salad leaves doing ok, their BB date was 2014 😀

Going to try for a relaxing week here too, have booked some leave and plan to do a few tidying and sorting jobs  

x

I'm trying some nasturtiums with sow by days of 2010 and 2011!!   I'm not really expecting anything! The cress seeds from 2011 and 2013 were a non-starter - they just ended up smelling funny and went all slimy I've also sown 2 packs of poppy seeds and 1 of eschizolza (something vaguely like that!) - all years out of date, but I thought I'd give them a go!! It's decluttering of sorts, I guess! I'd really like some salad leaves (used all mine up last year) but will try and buy some living salad from the s/mkt and split and plant that up - have seen others have good success doing that

Fortune_Smiles

greent said:

I've grown tomatoes from shop-bought ones (the squishy ones ) - they've never been the most bountiful plants, but I figure they're free seeds, so almost a bonus

brizzlegirl said:

I am using OOD tomato seeds as nine left in usual shops...no joy as yet but salad leaves doing ok, their BB date was 2014 😀

Going to try for a relaxing week here too, have booked some leave and plan to do a few tidying and sorting jobs  

x

I was shocked at how few seeds you got in a packet.  Next time I'll pay closer attention to the description.  If the packet seeds don't germinate I'll try some seeds from the tomatoes in my veg box.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

PurpleFairy26 said:

Thanks for the advice on the link. I’ll give it a whirl. Think it’s important to differentiate between days otherwise its all just a blur 😊 my friend who is retired (to a warm country) told me this a couple of years ago. As she said otherwise it’s easy to treat every day like a weekend, which isn’t always good for ones liver or waistline! 

We're on holiday this week Purp - Mr F has booked annual leave.  He's been working from home up until now and is very disciplined so that usually gives us a bit of structure.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

greent said:

I'm trying some nasturtiums with sow by days of 2010 and 2011!!   I'm not really expecting anything! The cress seeds from 2011 and 2013 were a non-starter - they just ended up smelling funny and went all slimy I've also sown 2 packs of poppy seeds and 1 of eschizolza (something vaguely like that!) - all years out of date, but I thought I'd give them a go!! It's decluttering of sorts, I guess! I'd really like some salad leaves (used all mine up last year) but will try and buy some living salad from the s/mkt and split and plant that up - have seen others have good success doing that

I think I must have got my seed order in just before the rush.  Everything came through quite quickly although a later order is taking ages.  I had broad bean, spinach and chard seeds leftover from last year so I've put those in and crossed my fingers.

I often buy potted herbs from the supermarket and plant them in the garden after I've used the leaves.  Parsley seems to do particularly well.  My lettuce seeds were in the later order so haven't arrived yet.  My neighbours may have some seedlings they can give us but, if not, I'll try the living salad too.  Thanks for the idea 😁

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Art Therapy

It's been another productive day.  Farmer Giles collected the Tups yesterday and came back this morning to harrow the bottom field for us.  Mr F has been pottering in the garden and washing the cars.  I gave the house a bit of a tidy, made some video calls and spent a lovely afternoon painting some more artwork for the bathroom.  I also painted two pebbles for $hrop$hir£ Rock$.  You leave them for people to find or to re-hide after posting them on Fac£b00k.  I need to varnish them and obviously won't leave them anywhere until any danger from the virus is over.

Lunch today was Chunky Minestrone.  Supper is currently in the oven - Creamy Garlic, Lemon & Spinach Salmon with parmentier potatoes.  There may even be a cheeky glass of prosecco left in the fridge 🥂

Happy Easter all.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Highs and Lows

I felt very low yesterday.  We heard that a friend is in hospital with the virus, unresponsive and unlikely to recover.  The news was full of stories about how long social distancing was likely to last - 2 years according to one expert 😮  It all felt overwhelming and never ending.  Then there was Captain Tom Moore, 99 year old veteran, tottering around his garden on his walking frame, raising 12 million for the NHS.  He just kept putting one foot in front of the other.  So that's what I shall do.

Today has been better.  I've spent time outside in the glorious sunshine pottering in the veg patch.  My cold frame is working!  I have butternut squash, courgette, green bean and cauliflower seedlings emerging.  White onions, red onions, garlic and radishes are popping their heads up in the veg beds.  There may even be signs of chard and spinach... or weeds... too early to say yet 😂  My lovely neighbour left some sweetpea and lettuce seedlings by the front gate so I've potted those on and put them in the cold frame.  Mr F has finished digging the new veg beds and all is looking neat and tidy.  We may make gardeners yet.  Although the proof of the pudding...

T£$co have delivered and everything I ordered arrived.  First time that's happened in weeks.  There were a couple of substitutions but sensible ones.  And I even got some self-raising flour and wholewheat pasta this time.  I've managed to get delivery slots for the next couple of weeks although the timing is a bit skew-whiff.  There are 10 days now before the next delivery and then 4 days between that and the second.  I shall have to do some clever planning.

We've been having Creamy Cider & Sausage Braise with apples and mash for supper for the last few days - I made more than I'd intended 😆  Lunch has been based around whatever needed using up in the fridge.

I have painted some more stones for $hrop$hir£ Rock$.  I am thinking of leaving a bowl of them in the Annex so that guests can take one and hide it somewhere when out sightseeing.  I may also do some with images on that are relevant to their stay so they can have one as a souvenir.  It's a good way of using up leftover paint.

I have finished all the artwork I'm intending for the bathroom now (photo in progress).  I've had some ideas for paintings for the annex which I can use to decorate but also sell if anyone is interested.  That's if we ever get back to normal.

This too shall pass.  It might pass like a kidney stone but it will pass 😂

Hope everyone is safe and well.

Fortune x

rtandon27

Fortune_Smiles said:

...This too shall pass.  It might pass like a kidney stone but it will pass 😂

🤣🤣🤣 Thanks for the laugh Fortune - that was much needed!

PurpleFairy26

Those stones sound like a lovely idea. 

I’m sorry about your friend 😢 keep praying and hoping. 

beanielou

Sorry to read about your friend 
Take care of you  x

Fortune_Smiles

rtandon27 said:

Fortune_Smiles said:

...This too shall pass.  It might pass like a kidney stone but it will pass 😂

🤣🤣🤣 Thanks for the laugh Fortune - that was much needed!

PurpleFairy26 said:

Those stones sound like a lovely idea. 

I’m sorry about your friend 😢 keep praying and hoping. 

beanielou said:

Sorry to read about your friend 
Take care of you  x

Thank you lovely peeps.  I think it's just a matter of time.  He lost consciousness whilst asleep so I am hoping he is unaware and peaceful.

I loved the idea of the stones when I heard about them.  You could be out on a walk, or having an adventure somewhere, and discover a piece of art that you could keep or hide again for someone else to find.  I've painted some that would appeal to adults and some for children.  I may leave one anonymously on my neighbours' doorsteps.  Thoroughly disinfected first of course.

Fortune x