So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

themadvix

Morning all,

@Greying_Pilgrim, thank you for sharing - that does indeed sound like a wonderful holiday! And I can just imagine LG's fascination with the novelty of a caravan - such precious memories D'Oyly Carte does have some connection as my Mum keeps mentioning it (she's been to Coleton Fishacre).

@redofromstart I can't take the credit - a friend had bought herself NT, EH and YHA life memberships with an inheritance she had received, and I thought it was a lovely thing to do too! It is really nice when the gardens are in flower as Nan was a great gardener and would have been admiring and naming everything as she went around, so I always think of her. 

The sun is out today, but I already have a flood of work on my desk and more promised, plus a physio appointment booked for 10.30. I'm also likely to be decamping to Urgent Care with Mr MV - he's had a chest infection and has got antibiotics for it since we got back but he seems to be getting worse and wants me to go with him if we go as he can barely talk without a coughing/wheezing fit - we resorted to him typing his half of the conversation at one point this morning. I may try to take laptop with me if I do that, although it's not ideal.

I did get the compost and get to the allotment yesterday - spent a lovely hour or so 'spreading muck', planting a few first earlies and tidying my strawberry bed. I've been putting the latter off as I don't really know if I want to keep it in its current state, but I decided that it would be better to do *something* with it than nothing. Runners planted properly, some elderly plants removed and unneeded runners shared with allotment friend and a random allotmenteer who happened to pass by! I also picked some spinach, which may be added to dinner tonight.

We had Irish stew in honour of St Patrick yesterday - trying some of the sunflower seed chunks which I ordered in mid-Jan and for various reasons didn't arrive until yesterday. It was delicious - both the chunks and the recipe - veggie's never seem to get the offer of an ale casserole (at least sans mushrooms), so this was a real treat. Plum crumble for pud, using some of my bottled plums. We watched Waking Ned, which was quite entertaining, and I did some more rugging.

MS things:
* Allotmenting - it all helps
* Eating said profits of the allotment
* The cloud was light enough that we didn't run out of power until I put the dishwasher on as we went to bed - we'll be able to reduce the amount the battery charges overnight soon
* Dug out my rags stash and have found a couple of nice bits to add into the rug

Gratitudes:
* The sun came out briefly while I was at the allotment
* The sunflower seed chunks arrived in time for Irish stew (we'd've had something else otherwise)
* The film, which was recommended by main client back when we met up in November

Have a good day all!

Cheery_Daff

Urgh,hope Mr MV is feeling better soon, sounds grim!

EssexHebridean

Oh that doesn't sound great for poor Mr MV - hopefully he will get seen fairly promptly and be feeling much better very soon!

Your trip sounds lovely! In spite of spending a fair bit of time down in South Devon and indeed just along the Dart from Greenway we've never been there either. No - that's probably not strictly true, I imagine that MrEH has albeit possibly many years ago. It's a lovely area though - not a great fan of Torquay, but Totnes is a nice little town (with probably the best station cafe anywhere!) 

That makes far more sense about the cutting of the bits for the rag rugging as well - otherwise I would think everybody would get bored with the process before they ever got to actually making anything! You're certainly right that proper dressmaking scissors make the world of difference though! 

newgirly

Glad you had an enjoyable trip Vix, it brought back memories for me too, we used to stay in Salcombe  every year when the kids were younger and always went to Totnes 🙂 
I hope MV gets sorted and feels better soon. 

themadvix

EssexHebridean said:

Your trip sounds lovely! In spite of spending a fair bit of time down in South Devon and indeed just along the Dart from Greenway we've never been there either. No - that's probably not strictly true, I imagine that MrEH has albeit possibly many years ago. It's a lovely area though - not a great fan of Torquay, but Totnes is a nice little town (with probably the best station cafe anywhere!) 

We weren't fans of Torquay either (especially in the rain!), but it was worth a look at least. They are doing some extensive reworking of the road access to the town centre, which when its finished will make it more pedestrian and cycle friendly, so expect that will make a difference. Totnes was lovely, as I knew it would be - lots of eco, local shops and the pub (The Bull) owned by Riverford founder Guy Watson-Singh's wife, Geetie - we had a drink and some bread and oil in there as an opportunity to get out of the rain! We didn't see anything of Teignmouth this time as we went straight to our friend's house and stayed there (because of the rain), but it was quite nice last time we were there.

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks for the good wishes for Mr MV. We didn't end up in Urgent Care as it appears that he is worst first thing in the morning, so he did improve during the day. I think he is slowly, very slowly, getting better. Off work again today though and won't be away overnight tomorrow (or in the office at all  this week, I imagine).

I popped down to the allotment yesterday afternoon and sowed two rows of carrots and two of spring onions. I've popped a mini polytunnel over them to hopefully speed up germination - tunnel inherited from previous allotment owner, although only used once before and then not successfully! Hopefully it'll be good this time. In exciting (to me) news, you can now buy plastic-free fleece, which I may invest in for later in the season/next spring. Dinner last night was soupy leeky rice - picked up two lovely leeks from the veg plot at RHS Rosemoor - they have a stall with an honestly box for surplus veg - an absolute bargain at £1 for two lovely (organic?) leeks.

I plan on clearing the freezer a bit this week - it's got a lot of random stuff in it (the two mackerel for starters) and it would be useful to have some space cleared for forthcoming harvests. Tonight we've got curries - parsnip dal for me and turkey for Mr MV. I think there's a couple of flatbreads in there too, so we'll add these in.

Workwise, I'm still busy, although beginning to think that some of the work for my main client is easing up a bit (not a lot, mind you). However, as I've been given a whole lot of projects from my second Cambridge boss (report writing) and have some data entry to do for them too, I don't think I'll be bored any time soon. Project for UK client may also be starting in April, so any gap is going to be short-lived.

MS things:
* Clicks and HW done
* Am making a more concerted effort to separate home compostable stuff and put it on our compost heap (after the worms have had the choicest bits) rather than chuck it all in the council garden/food waste bin - it's a tiny thing, but our hm compost is great and the more, the better. Now the weather is marginally better, walking it down the garden everyday is less of a chore!
* Freezer dinner
* 50p YG survey last night (this is all I have done in the way of surveys since before we went away - I need to get back to them, but not while work is so busy)

Gratitudes:
* Mr MV is gradually improving
* Basil seeds have germinated, as has the cress I sowed at the weekend
* Time at the allotment - everything is so full of promise at this time of year (and the mare's tail hasn't taken over yet - it all looks neat and tidy!)

Have a good day all!

themadvix

Morning all,

Yesterday felt like a long day, but I kept going and wasn't exhausted by the end, which I definitely think can be put down to improved iron levels. After work I went for a walk for some fresh air and visited the natural pond that is tucked away in the middle of our housing estate. It was a hive of spring activity - 5 mallards (I've only ever seen one or two before), a squirrel and the local hotspot for dating frogs! Loads of frogspawn and lots of activity going on there. The noise was amazing - like a constant loud cat purr from all the frogs! Spring has most definitely sprung!

When I got back, I decided to take advantage of the unexpected dry day and mowed the lawn, which was extremely satisfying. Glad I did as it's wet again today. Did a couple of other tidying jobs in the garden, which was good too. Did my evening class homework and class was good - I felt relatively on top of things. And, get me, I've already done next week's homework! We're meeting in person next week, which will be nice.

Workwise I managed to get everything done for main client and do a good hour or so for Cambridge, which got me a bit caught up there. I've got a lot more to do and meetings today, but only a couple of small bits from main client, so hoping to make some headway.

Mr MV is slowly improving, and has decided to do some work today - he's bored out of his mind. Not sure how much he'll manage in terms of talking to people, but after a week off he's keen to get a bit caught up.

MS things:
* Clicks and HW done - haven't won anything on the HW in months, but had a 'big' win of £9 today, so £8 withdrawn to my account
* Dinner was indeed the freezer curries. Today I think we'll have pizza - need to go and pop the dough on. This will use up the end of a bottle of passata from the freezer and one of the bonus mozzarellas that arrived in my supermarket delivery a while ago
* My tomatoes are showing their little green heads, baby basils are doing well and the cress in the kitchen has grown every time I go to make a cup of tea Peppers, after stalling, are now producing their first sets of true leaves, so hoping I'll be able to pot them on at the weekend. With no summer holiday booked this year, I'm hoping to be able to nurture all the plants really well and have an excellent harvest.

Gratitudes:
* A walk in the fresh air and the signs of spring!
* Freshly cut grass - both the smell and the fact it makes the garden seem so much bigger
* A good evening class

Have a good day all!

EssexHebridean

We are pretty good with compost at home - anything that can go in, does. You have just made me realise though that I could bring home peel and cores from lunchtime fruit eaten at work. I used to do that, no idea why I've stopped to be honest! That would definitely have an impact on the amount we end up with, and if I start doing it again it may prompt MrEH to do the same. 

I checked our stuff in the mini greenhouse last night and while we have thyme showing well, parsley is a bit behind and the basil is being VERY tardy, right now. I need to put a reminder in my garden book to plant another lot of basil next month, too. We have got lots of mini carrots though (in a pot rather than direct sewn) and the salad leaves and spinach are also looking really hopeful.  Once things are ready to get transplanted out into the main beds we'll be bringing our old mini polytunnel into use as well - we have one which I don't think every got used when we had the allotment - it was rescued from the back of a storage cupboard when we moved, on the basis that it would hopefully still be useable...fingers crossed as it is extremely old! 

Your mention of holiday is very relevant to us - allowing for when we are away I get the sneaking feeling that as in previous years we may well lose a lot at that stage - hopefully not though! 

themadvix

EssexHebridean said:

We are pretty good with compost at home - anything that can go in, does. You have just made me realise though that I could bring home peel and cores from lunchtime fruit eaten at work. I used to do that, no idea why I've stopped to be honest! That would definitely have an impact on the amount we end up with, and if I start doing it again it may prompt MrEH to do the same. 

I checked our stuff in the mini greenhouse last night and while we have thyme showing well, parsley is a bit behind and the basil is being VERY tardy, right now. I need to put a reminder in my garden book to plant another lot of basil next month, too. We have got lots of mini carrots though (in a pot rather than direct sewn) and the salad leaves and spinach are also looking really hopeful.  Once things are ready to get transplanted out into the main beds we'll be bringing our old mini polytunnel into use as well - we have one which I don't think every got used when we had the allotment - it was rescued from the back of a storage cupboard when we moved, on the basis that it would hopefully still be useable...fingers crossed as it is extremely old! 

Your mention of holiday is very relevant to us - allowing for when we are away I get the sneaking feeling that as in previous years we may well lose a lot at that stage - hopefully not though! 

My only issue is laziness - it's easier not to separate the council compostable (i.e. egg shells, dairy, tea bags - decaff only, I use loose otherwise) from the home compostable. The worms do alright though!

My basil is in my heated propagator - I've never had a lot of success with it previously, but know it likes humid conditions, so figured this would be perfect. 

I think it all depends on the weather when you're away - and/or if you can sweet-talk someone into the odd spot of watering in exchange for picking what's ready. No-dig definitely helps - the soil retains the moisture better because of the improved structure - even in the heatwave of 2022 my allotment thrived, despite neglect due to an extended recovery time with Covid.

themadvix

Evening all,

Have had a bit of a lacklustre day today - I did make progress with work but not as much as I'd've liked. I've been down to the allotment this afternoon for a bit though and did a bit more work. Excited to see carrot and spring onion seedlings appearing already (under the polytunnel). Have ordered some seeds today - cabbage, calabrese, summer savoury, borage and celery.

Yesterday was a good and productive day however, with several hours of Cambridge work (feeling much more caught up there now) plus some bits for main client. Main client sent something through I was expecting at the end of yesterday and that's what I've slowly been working on today. UK client has just sent something through too - although with a deadline of 10th April, so a bit of time to get that done, which is nice. 

Popped to Sains last night for a few bits and used last of my £50 giftcard - so only paid £1.95 in real money.

Dinner tonight is going to be mattar paneer - using up peas, but probably also some French beans - all homegrown. Had to buy some cream for it at the Coop (as hadn't thought about it yesterday) - popped to Coop - also got more eggs and some yoghurt there - saved 90p using the member offers though, so probably comparable to a bigger store. Have had the paneer in since I stocked up on cheese a couple of months ago.

MS things:
* Currently on a DFS half hour - battery is discharging, but we'll probably only make pence as they've dropped the kW charges
* HW and clicks - had a £5 bonus from one bookie, so won a £1 or so there - have withdrawn another £5. Both today's and yesterday's have gone to the allotment fund rather than car savings though.
* Pleasantly surprised to discover that despite inflation, we can buy the fence paint we need at the same price as we bought it two years ago (next door's fence was damaged in the wind, so it's been replaced - and I need to paint my allotment shed too). Will buy from W1ckes (where it's cheapest) and get Mr MV's scheme discount too.

Gratitudes:
* The blossom on my plum tree is looking beautiful and it's only in bud at the moment
*Something in a neighbour's garden that I can see from my office that is blossoming bright yellow
* Seedlings

Have a lovely evening all!