my happy-go-lucky Saturday

It's not often I have a happy post that is all joy and merriment. So allow me please, the pleasure of basking in it's glory. Also, if you wish to feel jealous at any point, feel free (really, I hardly ever have a GOOD day), I don't mind at all ;)

Saturday was a good day (I have already mentioned this I know but it's so fab to write it), let me take you through it.....

First we saw around our new house! Ahhhh, we had  to wear hard hats but the fashion faux pas was worth it. We have walls and windows and a roof and some wooden struts pretending to be internal walls and pipes of all sizes, oh and a front door and patio doors out back... etc. It's also completely rendered on the outside and by now it should have it's staircase in. Oh joy of joys. The 'gardens' front and back are a little less inspiring and a bit on the teeny tiny side - BUT still big grins all round.

Then we had a trip to good old Maud's cafe (they do the most fantabulous ice cream ever, in the world, ever - though I don't like ice cream at all) for coffee and homemade scones - yummy. The cafe looks out over the Lough and it was heaven sitting there watching people go by and seeing the water sparkle and shimmer in the sun :)

A quick trip to Tesco (not really a highlight) for some BBQ provisions including Dandelion and Burdock fizzy pop (WOW, how come we never tasted this before??), and off to the Lottie.

It was spring clean weekend at the lotties and we managed to get rid of a lot of rubbish. It's amazing what you gather up over the months that have no value at all to anyone; yet there it sits. So that was great. I took photos galore (you can see a couple on my other blog) once the suncream had settled into my skin and let Andy do the stinky rubbish work, 3 barrow loads of it. Then we put a brushwood cover over our porch so as we had a shady place to retire to throughout the day (remember Andy is ginger - the sun is his enemy - like he were a vampire, haha) and had a drink.

The afternoon pasted with lots of weeding and photographing and chatting and playing with Maggie. It was the most lovely of days, the sky so full of big lumps of blue and as far as the eye could see, there was not a dark cloud to be found. I swear plants were visably growing in front of our eyes and (though ulitmately annoying when their babies eat try to eat my food) cabbage whites were fliting all over the place and the birds were singing so hard and beautifully it was as though Mr Lloyd-Webber were there and they might be 'discovered'. I also got to watch the bluebirds feeding their babies on our shed, due to the shadows cast on the ground.

I cleared the pumpkin patch of poppy seedlings (a whole bucket full, oops) and Andrew placed his dad's old stepladder in the middle for the squashes to grow up - should look cute. (He planted them later when I went home). Everything else around the plots was looking much happier, perkier and greener in this lovely heat and anyone who went by was smiling.

We invited Mamma G down for our little BBQ, which was lovely, sausages with red pepper in them and of course the freshest salad ever, straight from the beds. Then I went home to have a lie down, expecting to go to the party down at the plots later....I woke up the next morning instead, haha. Boy I could sleep for the UK in the Olympics ;) So I missed that, but I heard it was good craic and went on until the wee hours.

So there was a lovely day, a truly fab day. I don't get them often but what a blessing when they do visit me! Spread to love xxxx

Homemade beer 'fridge' and a bbq

During the past weeks we had been blessed with some very nice days and on such occasions we love nothing more than a wee BBQ or picnic down the Lottie. I've mentioned this before but exciting news my friends we have a new little BBQ and Andrew worked out how to keep beer cold on a hot Lottie day...

First to the beer, it's more important. Andrew saw something about this on a science programme once and his brain is specially wired to remember important yet random pieces of information, so this idea came back to him rather quickly. For this fab foray into the world of beverages and their temperature you will need :

• 1 bucket


• some cold water from the outdoor tap


• 1 terracotta pot


• 1 large stone


• some beer

Now, you dip the pot in the bucket of cold water and totally soak it inside and outside upside and down. Let it sit a moment, it needs to be saturated. Then take the beverage of choice (we choose beer - Chinese in this case) and place it on the ground. Take your very damp pot, run it upside down and place it over the bottles, place the stone over the drainage hole. Leave the pot to dry in the shade.



Through the magic of science which I am sure you can look up somewhere (something to do with condensation etc) the bottles are cold once the pot is dry!!!!! Ta Da ..."Whoa!!", I hear you declare in awe.

Then we move onto the new BBQ, a bucket shaped one that only cost about £6. I really need to get a photo of it all collapsed down; it folds up and just hangs on a hook in the shed. Here it is in this fiery glory and again when it was HOT!!! The heat from the wee thing was exceptional and we could have cooked enough for a small army, as it was there was only us and the lovely Mamma G present.



Also, there seems to be some love in the air - Maggie and Gus like each other, ooohhhhh!!!

Booze, Bloody Battles, Beans, a BBQ and Bugs

I'm not coping very well with reality at the moment (though a nice Merlot is helping). Today has been one big sleep, with some awake breaks for water and phone calls. Yes, as Andrew says I am better than I was when we came back from Italy but I am taking a lot of medication and pushing myself so hard everyday that I'm exhausted and as a side effect am too tried to think. When I have a minute alone it has to be filled with something and apart from reading incessantly that is generally sleep.

But now Andrew is home and we're just in front of the TV (after checking on the Lottie but the weather, oh god, do not mention the weather - horrendous!), he's watching some historic-drama thing and I can't be bothered so I have turned to my blog, which I feel has been neglected rather and am going to tell you about our (quite impressive) progress from last week/weekend.

First though ~ RHS Chelsea!!!! Other Bloggers will be covering it wonderfully so I'll leave to them, however a quick note - It's so Fabulous! I am in awe of all those 'proper' gardeners and that guy from Top Gear (with the flowing locks) and his Plasticine garden piece. I'd love to visit one day, though the crowds are daunting looking, I'd need a wee behind the scenes tour before opening time. Maybe in the delightful company of Joe Swift or Mr Titchmarsh, now that would be nice. Darn it, all those amazing RHS shows are in England and Wales, what about us poor Northern Irish folk?!

Goodness this TV show is bloody and gruesome, going to have Andy to turn it down a little!

The sky is uninterrupted blue and the wind seems to gone, it's lovely; Mother Nature can be a b*tch sometimes. Why now, why have good weather now when the Lottie day is over? We've been suffering from poor weather for weeks now and our plants look rather sorry for themselves. The French Beans in particular are sulking, I don't blame them, I certainly wouldn't enjoy having my feet buried in cold wet soil and being blown about all over the show. I hope they cope, can plants have nervous breakdowns?!

So to the work we've been up to, there are a couple of stories that will make wee bloggettes in the next few days, but here's some bits and bobs...

A Barbecue!!!

We had a lovely evening on the 12th May (Okay so Mother Nature isn't that nasty); a super wee BBQ on the plot. Sausages and baps and a mixed bean salad. YUM! Other's around us were jealous, which (admit it yourself) made it all the more enjoyable, hehe. We did offer some around but luckily everyone had had dinner already, shame. Oh and we had a beer with it; living the dream alright!

I suppose it was only fair after my cheek, that we found the redcurrant was infested with greenfly. Horrible, gross little beings. Andrew got in there with his fingers and squished them, I prefer the soapy water spray technique myself. But on the up side another insect turned up that was lovely, some sort of fab Beetle. I like to think it's a goody, anyway Andrew deemed it fit to live. Plus, not our fault, but the shed has 3 dead cabbage white butterflies inside it by the window. If it's any consolation to you animal lovers out there I was eaten by lots of midges so in a way nature got her own back. I'm still itchy all over my scalp and now that I've thought about it, I'm scratching away, damn it.

I think I'll leave it there for tonight, I could go on and write a book the way my mind has become engaged in this but I don't think you'd be interested, I've probably lost you already, ha.

I shall leave you with this lovely pic of a rhubarb leaf, I think the colour is amazing, too good to cut and eat! Plus ~ tomorrow WILL be better x