A rant and calming pretty pictures

Today is La Tomatina in Valencia, Spain and, as with every year, I feel my heart breaking at the wastage of all those beautiful red tomatoes in a world were we had an aphid apocalypse in our greenhouse and too many people are truly starving to death or have illnesses like scurvy.

Yep, I'm a spoil sport and I hope everyone who takes part in the festivities today gets hit - whack bang!, in the bum at least once. Damn it.

Deep breath

So I've been ill again for a while and to be honest I still am and the exhaustion accompanying it has had me sleeping whole days away. For you though, I have imbibed much coffee and here we go with a calming post of all those photos I just haven't got around to sharing; I'm also hoping that this will wake up my resolve to get the lottie and use my new Fiskers SmartFit pruners and bring some more flowers home ..... I also have a new book to review on flower arranging crafts so...

forget-me-not

mushroom

climbing french beans

Blackberry bush is covered in fruits = fingers crossed; it's us against the birds!

White Cosmos - I love them so

last handful of mangetout

white cosmos, white dahlia, yellow dahlia, pink rose, yellow poppies, red poppies

little red peppers (some have dried tomato flowers petals on them)

Right, I did it, I wrote a wee post and now the whole idea isn't so daunting! I shall be back soon with more photos (I hope to go to the plots this evening) and reviews :)

Much love
Carrie

I built a storage bench

During the winter months some nasty little pilferers took our lovely kidney shaped wooden bench from right off our plot, gah! What with that and the fact that our storage box looked to be falling apart, I was utterly delighted when Keter asked me if I would like to review their Eden Storage Bench. That it was called Eden (like our Allotments and the village they are in) tickled me pink and you just know the answer I gave, with much gratitude.

*** A few weeks later ***

I was really glad Andrew happened to be home when the most massive of delivery lorries pulled up outside our home, blocking the light like a solar eclipse! And voilà - there it was, on a free pallet too :) (Andrew has since made some use of this free wood - there is no stopping him and his DIY ways)

It was expertly packaged up and oh what joy I had unwrapping it, so much bubble wrap to stomp on!

So we loaded all the parts up into the car and drove right down to the back of the lottie shed. Off loaded here, we were able to get the instruction booklet out and place everything neatly in order of assembly; the only tool needed was a star headed screwdriver = awesome.

Keter had designed this so well that once the basic framework was made (note: frame re-enforced by steel), there was a lot of simple assembly by clicking into place. In many cases it was great to have a helper, especially as I'm not that tall, only have 2 hands and the wind was making the whole experience that wee bit wobblier to begin with.

However sometimes my helper got a little carried away and the DIY King within him broke free. It was not a bad thing at all, with my double vision there were times when the assembly was painfully slow and I was driving myself bonkers with trying to put 10 small screws in to secure the base.

But I loved making it and as I did so it was easy to sense the strength of the piece and know that it was well designed and sturdy. These are feelings you may not get when you think it's plastic and not solid wood. This is going to be a fabulous asset on the plot, with lots of lockable storage space, long lasting plastic material, strength enough to comfortably hold 2 people, their dog, plus picnic and a nice finish without painting every season.

10 out of 10.

Now we just have to hope that no one steals it *rolls eyes*

Hugs
Carrie

The Cape Aloe

Are you like me, do you need to know about your plants in detail once they are in your loving embrace? Well, yesterday's delivery of (excuse me but my plant is a girl *blush*) Rosie led me to do some research; I'm sharing most of it here so you too can feel like a professional ;)

*  First I went to the RHS, naturally. They had virtually no information at all, in fact I was so shocked (it was like getting a googleplex) that here is the information they had. 

"What?!" I hear you scream.

"I know" say's I.

I mean even I have known since forever that it exudes a clear gel that eases minor burns, insect bite and rashes. I've heard it alluded about in face care products as great for re-hydration and toning! Come on RHS, look up Google images, Wikipedia even and write something!

*  So next on to the Kew gardens website and lo and behold we have some information..

Cape Aloe is pretty common then and grows in South Africa and Lesotho, though also very common in cultivation like Rosie. It is used for its colourless leaf gel in 'cosmetics, herbal remedies and food supplements' but also, and I didn't know this, for 'a bitter brown leaf exudate'. 

This bitter brown exudate is prepared from the cut area of mature leaves which are stacked and allowed to drip into a central well. This goop is then concentrated and dried to achieve a dark shiny crystalline form, referred to as 'Cape Aloes' It is taken as a laxative and purgative and may ease arthritis. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME

*  The Eden Project tells us that in it's natural state the single stemmed plant can grow up to 3.5 meters tall! I really don't think my little one will ever get there. The leaves are generally smooth in the centre (though there may be some spikes especially on the undersides) and go out to spikes along the edges, which is where is gets the name Latin name ferox (fierce).

*  So here is Rosie all settled in her new home and loving the camera for me....

And here are the flowers that would be produced been half a chance - pretty spectacular!

Google image 

I lastly leave you a photo of Rosie with her new friend Claude (yes he is a handblown glass snail) and a reminder that my Cape Aloe came as a gift from Jersey Plants Direct.

Hugs
Carrie

pink mini roses to review

It doesn't happen that often (or indeed ever) that a man other than my hubby sends me gorgeous flowers in the post. But on Friday last that's exactly what did happen to me. Fancy that! OK, so I knew they were coming; I had agreed to do a review for the flower delivery company serenataflowers.com. So calm those romantic, and intrigued hearts my dear reader.

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First off this company has promised me £30 worth of flowers for my readers (who live in mainland GB) and as my 6th blog anniversary is in 3 weeks I couldn't turn that down! I have other personal giveaways lined up too - it's time to say thank you to all who read, comment and keep me motivated to write xxx

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But anyway back to my own good fortune.... My flowers arrived by courier, a lady courier who smiled a special smile handing over this huge box. The box is bigger than this photo suggests, imagine I was on my knees when I took this. Sorry for unprofessionalism but I was aching to rip that sellotape off :)

Opening the box I was really surprised at the quality of the packaging, tailor made for my product. It hadn't moved an inch in transit and believe me - that is rare.

Ohhh look at it! Two mini rose plants in a gorgeous reusable metal trough. I am not joking, I was a giddy little girl when I saw this and the moss on top of the soil makes all the difference.

They even sent a sweet little card...

After some nice sunlight and a good drink they really perked up even more.

I couldn't recommend their service and my particular product highly enough. Everything about it from packaging to each leaf and bud was/is in perfect condition. It looks even better now it's a few days on and I desperately hope I can keep these babies alive for a while.

Thank you serenataflowers.com!

More on how you can win £30 worth of flowers or a plant from me later in the week!! Stay tuned ;)

Love and Hugs
Carrie x