Buds and Spuds

Hello my lovelies, hope you are all well and have a nice weekend planned --- Hurrah for Fridays!

Today is actually a quite nice and bright day here, so I went outside with Toby and looked about the back garden. I LOVE it when the Beech buds open up, they are so beautiful, definitely one of my most favourite trees. Then I was surprised to find the Acer I had been worried about is looking heavenly = two sights that have put a smile on my face 😀

I checked in on the seedlings Andrew planted up a while back and the Sugar Snaps are now too far ahead, oh this weather is so changeable! It's sad to compost new life but we will simply have to plant more seeds direct when we get back from our walking holiday. The leeks and spring onions seem to be in a good position though which is nice. I think most things are simply going to be later this year.

But let me tell you about last weekend. We finally planted our beautiful Sharps' Express potatoes spuds); after my accident I guess I forgot all about it. This year we are yet again doing them in large tubs as it's just so darned easy to tend to and takes up much less space. Plus the harvesting has proven itself to be so simple and cleaner. Fingers crossed for a good batch again.

Lastly, after the silliest and most cliched of allotment related injures to myself last Saturday... I stood (twice, for good measure) on a rusty nail that was poking up from a rotten plank. *Blush*  I am glad to report I have healed up pretty well. The hiking holiday is still on 👍

Hugs and love
Carrie x

Allotment celebration

 Me : Now we are ten.

You : Who's ten; what do you mean?

 Me : Our allotment is 10 years old today.

You : Oh my goodness, where has the time gone? You don't look old enough to have a 10 year old!

 Me : *blush* Thank you...

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Oh my good grief friends, I can't quite believe I am writing this post. Andrew and I were talking about going to the allotment for the afternoon and suddenly I was reminded that it's the plot's anniversary. 

Back them I didn't know what a blog was and so we had a scrapbook - old school style. Here are some never before shared photos from that happy book...

Gosh it really seems like yesterday when I think back to the day we visited our marked out rectangle of land with Maggie. We were the first in the field to dig a square and look at the soil below, I took pictures of a strip of green grass and Maggie had a pee = it was ours, we had claimed it in person and via the paperwork, haha.

Simultaneously it feels like forever ago, haha. We have worked so hard on that little patch of land and had so many triumphs and 'learning experiences'. We made good friends who sadly have left the site by now, mainly through illness or shear disheartenment. But still we battle on...(sometimes we do wonder why though)

Have a look at the plan for 2018 - It's rough and unattractive but still, it is what it is...

I LOVE you all, we're off to the plot

Carrie xxx

Later.... For the very first time in 10 years I suffered an allotment related incident today - I stood, twice, on a rusty nail that went nice and deep into my foot = a wonderful few hours waiting in A&E for a tetanus injection and wound dressing. We're only home now at 8pm. What a wick birthday celebration. 
Bring on the wine! 🍷

Actions and Consequences

At what point does challenging yourself turn into a destructive act?

It's been a while since I could even venture near this blog; a good while since I could write or even think a sentence of coherent words that might try to explain what's been happening with me. For some weeks now I have been a wreck, physically and sadly, mentally too. I have done a few good long weekend walks (in the freezing cold) but the effort has l taken it's toll and my week days have been a muddle of sleep and trying to stay sane.

Without giving my private issues air, things are really not good and I have had to visit my GP, my mental health team and get blood tests done. New medications have been added to my regimen and I could basically open a chemists shop!

Don't get me wrong - the walks have been good, I have managed them well and visited some beautiful places off the beaten track that have been glorious. However, with the Hadrian's Wall Challenge coming up we have decided to augment our route and make it a more rounded experience - less of the boring bits of the trail (by the highways etc) and more lingering in beautiful historic villages and the many museums along the way.

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To keep you up to date here are the practise walks we have been doing every weekend. They've all been between 10 - 12 miles and in very sort of weather, bar warm and pleasant, haha.

1. The extended version of the Dungonnell Way which we did in -2 degrees with a wind chill of - 8 = is wasn't very pleasant! I took one photo, just one.

2. Section 2 of the Moyle Way which is in the middle of nowhere; we couldn't even hire a taxi to take us up there. Pure BOG = one very mucky pup!

3. The much more civilised North Down Coastal Path with toilets and cafes and towns. An easy walk but hard on the feet.

And 4. A section of the Causeway Coastal Path from Ballintoy to the Giant's Causeway which included some bouldering action that was fun.

In all cases I would recommend my Hubby's Instagram account to be fair, he was much more into the 'memory capturing' than I was - https://www.instagram.com/andrewgault_/

Lots of Love
Carrie x