Visiting a Nursery :)

On Sunday we made the very darning decision to go out for an hour to a local nursery (ie I have been going bonkers with this cold and this blasted sofa!). As soon as we entered we saw this display of spuds and had to stop...had to peruse and consequently buy :) 'Kestrel' was the spud that caught the eye and, well Andrew gave in right away, haha.

British Potato Variety Database

Personally I felt amazed at being out and was more interested in seeing everything I could, including this beauties in the sunlight...

Of course I was coughing and shivering and generally showing the signs of someone too ill to be up and out so Hubby dearest took me for a coffee and scone. Really, I used to get annoyed that nurseries these days are about 40% plants and tools, 35% cafe and the rest, gift shop lovelies...to be honest, on Sunday I could have kissed the cafe people for their warm drinks and comfy seats. Basically, I'd found myself exhausted in no time and in need of rest.

Back home, before returning to the sofa and my blankie, I went out to the potting shed and saw the other potatoes chitting away = exciting times. Maggie came too, you know she likes to be involved :)

http://instagram.com/chrryblossomtat2

Back on the sofa and asleep in no time; Andrew planted the Celeriac seeds though there isn't anything to see yet but the soil in the little cells so I'll spare you any photos of that.

May your week be going delightfully, may the weather be getting better slowly but perceptibly and may you dear one, be feeling healthy and happy xxx

Hugs

Venturing plotwards

Andrew was lucky yesterday and unlike his pestilence ridden wife (me), he was able to visit the Lottie for the first time this year and get some work done. Yay!!!

I lay a-weeping on the sofa and blowing my nose, coughing and generally feeling the urge to paint a huge cross on the door to warn people to stay away....Maggie was very adorable and lay on my arm - it made doing anything practically impossible but I think that was the idea...'rest human, who will feed me biscuits if you are too ill?'

So, anywho, Andrew took a few photos for me and here they are...

Good bright day and look daffs well through in the right hand bed :)

Not the best photo but look really hard and there are garlic shoots poking through. 2 rows left .side of the bed

Lovely manure mulch on one back bed and the other all tidied, bar the leeks :)

There aren't pictures any of 14b, that would tip my sickness over the edge! But I am so thankful that Andrew took these for me - I was really devastated not to be there yesterday. The plot isn't always a great place for me, it doesn't always make me feel better but if it hadn't been for the man flu, I feel my depressed state would have lessened in seeing new signs of life and I do so love constructive destruction - ie. ripping out veggies that are 'past it' and weeding etc.

However, even though I wasn't able to go I do now feel that we have started on our long journey into happier times; a leave taking from the lows of winter, a moving on from the unhappy, unmotivated selves we have been... Come on spring!

Hugs and love (but only virtually as I don't want to smite you lovely people!)

Happy Valentines Day x

Loads of love from Maggie

And this is from Me...

Thank you for reading my blog and being a friend!

Hugs

Under the weather

Maggie and I are really feeling low, its terribly sad, I know. You want to make us cakes and biscuits and send chocolates? Or that is very kind, thank you :)

Yesterday we were both firmly ensconced on our own sofas, wrapped up in blankies and simply looking at each other and then out the rain splattered windows then sighing..

Forgive us, we aren't going through the terrible heart wrenching floods on TV, we aren't snowed in and really its not been that bad but the rain has been heavy and continuous. The sky all grey and darkness at 11.30am yesterday! I know I feel like the storm has got inside me :(

Today Maggie is brighter but my brain is still addled, I can't get warm, the bad cold is back and ohh I feel so confuddled. Thank goodness for coffee and a friend and a brighter sky or I think I would still be in bed; I look like and feel like poo but that just because it's a bad mental health day.

Desperately I look through gardening magazines, books and cookery websites. I so want a classic trug made of wood which Maggie and I will go and fill with our own cut flowers to celebrate the colour and joy of summer (if it ever comes). Oh simple dreams as we vegetate in this weather and mental fug..... Anyone know where a girl can get one of those trugs without taking out a second mortgage!??

The pictures of Maggie above are from a new little venture we decided to try - we have started an Instagram account. I downloaded it when I got my newest phone but never used it until someone at the Culloden started to take photos of their friends for their account and I thought - 'oohh I can do that too'. The first photo on my account is that dessert from that night :) The rest, well it's all Maggie so far! It'll be fun I think when we are at the plot together to take little photos and videos and we are reaching a whole new audience of dog lovers and outdoorsy types :)

Click here if you would like to follow Maggie in her adventures - photos everyday. You can't have enough Maggie in your life!
(Don't fear I will make a super cute little button for the right hand bar later)




Hugs and love

Potato Selection 2014

A real odd ball fact about me is I don't enjoy eating potato but I do get way too over excited about growing them. Seriously, I am not a chip/mash/roastie or baked potato girl though I do eat them and heck I live in N. Ireland so it would be difficult not too. It's not that I have anything against them, they simply make me feel  as though I have been run over by the 'sleepy, bloaty' train.

Some of last year's earlies

But as I say, I do get inordinately excited about growing these starchy sleepy balls of yum. I think, no I know, it has to do with my memory of Papa out in his back garden when I was little and thinking him utterly magical when he lifted fresh spuds from the ground for dinner. I don't know, maybe everyone has someone from their past that just seems to have been a gentle giant, a can-do genius, an inspiration to your childish eyes and that has never changed.

Nana, Papa and Me

Somehow being a part of that magic back then still echoes within me each season when we pick our spuds, chit them, plant them, watch them grow and then dig up that hidden treasure for ourselves. I have been waiting for the weekend when we would go to get our seed potatoes since Christmas and last weekend (Sunday) was that day. Sadly I was extremely poorly and ended up only getting as far as the car park of the nursery and sat there in the midst of the most earth shattering panic attack of many years; I was about 300 meters away from the joy of picking our seeds, but a million light years away from my own sense of self.

So Andrew, he is wise and we trust him, picked the 2 types for 2014.
** First earlies Pentland Javelin

The British Potato Variety Database

** Saxon for our second earlies (these are new to us)

The British Potato Variety Database

So expect photos of chitted spuds and spuds being planted and what not - lets all share the magic of the humble potato, together :)

Hugs

Cactus Killer; Cookbook lover

I did the unthinkable - I killed Eduardo! He's gone, gone to the cactus heaven in the sky and he was so young...I loved him too much, I over watered him, I wanted him to be so stylish I neglected his environmental needs. I, my friends, am a murderer, though my tiny fake flamingo is awesome - right?.

Eduardo was only a couple of years old, I got him for my study as I thought, foolishly, that there was no way I could possibly kill a cactus, they live forever, right? But I put him in a room without good sunlight and certainly no direct sun at any time of the year; I really wanted to use this fabulous glass container Andrew has saved from the lab at work, I wanted to try and have at least one plant in the house. I failed, again. I have only ever owned 2 houseplants Eduardo and an ivy which I placed in direct sunlight, in a bathroom and never watered. Oh the shame of this is too much to bare - I have black thumbs!!

Rest in peace Eduardo, sorry Andrew ripped off your head to see just how stinky it was inside you. I promise never to get another houseplant again. Oh goodness this photo just says it all - look how brown he is and a gaping hole; 'I love you' ? How insulting...

If you're interested in how to care for a cactus in your home, ignore me and go to this page instead *blush*

**********

I received a wonderful gift earlier this week from Mamma G (yes I am quickly changing the subject) in the form of an old Cookbook. I'm sure everyone has something like this in their country - a recipe book of traditional fare with the recipes provided by everyday women (many farmers' wives) that tell you the right way of making those dishes your Granny used to make. It's a Federation of Women's Institutes of Northern Ireland book - they are still going and still making cookbooks but this one is from sometime in the 1960s.

I am planning on trying to recreate some of the dishes with the produce we grow on the plots - if there are any success stories I will share, though maybe it would be funny to share my disasters too :) My hubby is a better cook than me but I want to give it a try.

Hugs (and may you see a little blue sky over the weekend - we can dream, right?)

Fabulous Culloden Estate and Spa

a.k.a. A night away in utter luxury which saved our sanity!

So I told you Andrew had organised a little break for us last Friday night to a super posh hotel, well I didn't lie... We went to the utterly gobsmackingly gorgeous 5* Culloden Estate and Spa for drinks, dinner, one of the most wonderful sleeps ever and breakfast. Some people would term this B&B but this was so much more!

When we arrived we were greeted by a gentleman in a top hat that wanted so much to take my bag but as I refused (I felt funny about being treated so posh-like) he opened the door for us and bid us welcome. This welcome was extended and dare I say, improved upon by the receptionist who not only went and said those magical words...'ah I see you have been upgraded to the Troon suite, I hope that is to your liking' = internal giggles of utter pleasure but a calm response of 'oh, how delightful!'

Our room, sorry, suite was amazing and even had its very own turret, remote controlled gas fireplace, dining table, 2 sofas and the ultimate in comfy beds and macaroons!

We had cocktails - free! called 'Christmas Crackers' - I did flag this name up with the lovely barman and we decided that it needed changed right away. I think 'The Cheeky Bishop' would be good as the bar is in what was once a church ;) Yes Culloden House was at one time the home of the Bishop of the Church of Ireland and seriously, there is a church building within it, the stained glass of which is amazing! We lounged about there chatting, drinking coffees and then went up to our room to relax before dinner.

I put a dress on for dinner and we went down to find that we were listed as VIPs and were to have a free after dinner whisky each = happy days! Dinner was incredible (all locally sourced foodstuffs which goes down super well with us, the hotel group seems very passionate about that and has booklets explaining where everything comes from) with views over the Belfast Lough (which was all a-twinkle) and delicious wine. As I am so short I was perched at the edge of my chair so my feet touched the ground and would you believe it...a kind waiter brought over a cushion for my back - I could so get used to being a VIP :) 

It was a lingering affair and the staff were lovely, so attentive and friendly; but eventually we rolled ourselves to the elevator and went back to our room and the huge flat TV screen and fire. Cue complementary toweling robes and slippers, a bed turn down and a movie :)

We slept so good (on a 'cloud bed') and breakfast had so much to offer, oh yummy! I didn't have room for the porridge but I so wish I had of as you had the option to put Bushmills Honey flavoured whiskey in it :) 

Sadly there aren't many pictures of the grounds or any of the herb garden (regularly used by the chefs) as it was bloomin cold and raining and we didn't give ourselves enough time to visit the gym or spa....but there is always next time :) 

* Here's our turret again though - inside and out. Awesome! :)

********

All views are my own and I have not been given any incentive to write this bar from sharing the fabulous time I had.

Culloden Estate and Spa

Hugs and love

Stupid blasted weather

Arrrrghh and huumpph - I'm in a huff with Mother Nature and feel she really is being rather unfair and well, down right nasty. Look at this! and it's bloody cold and getting windy I can tell you! The only upside I can see is that unlike Maggie I don't have to go out there to use the bathroom. Ohhh but I feel so trapped, my immune system isn't strong enough to venture out anywhere in that *shakes fist at sky*.

Today -

So instead let us cast our minds back 6 months and rejoice in the sunshine...

Yes, she has a bark chip in her beard, that's how she rolls :)

I know Spring shall conquer but today it really can't come soon enough.

Goodbye January

Well it's been a rough old month of the flu and more of the flu and then a wee bit extra for luck! The weather has been appalling and quite frankly I am ready to embark on another month :)

However, this month has also brought some joy in the shape of getting back into my blogging with renewed vigour, being featured in the ever glorious Grow Your Own magazine under the Ecotherapy section, meeting loads of fellow allotmenteers on Twitter and most recently, doing a guest post over on the lovely Simon's blog spadeforkspoon.

Me in 'Grow you own' magazine

Screen grab of beginning of guest post :)

I read in The Guardian that 'the blog' is now 20 yrs old. Wow. Grow Our Own, my humble offering, is merely 5 and a half years old but the changes I have seen in those years are difficult to believe. I remember feeling completely lost and alone, not able to find other allotment bloggers for ages and now, it's possible to be hooked up to hundreds of people in no time via Twitter, allotment forums, blog directories, magazines and Pinterest to name a few. I love this virtual world and my small space within it though had I known the exposure I would have picked a bloody better name, hahaha :)

Nothing much has happened on the plots as they sodden and well, did I mention I have had the flu ;) But plans are formulating and we are just waiting for a break so we can get started.

I decided for the first time ever, to try and make a wee photo/quote poster for you, you can download it with impunity (if you want to) and stick it up in your shed :) A pressie from me to you xxx

Well I'm off later to have a lovely evening stay at a posh hotel with my hubby :) That's the best sort of thing to do on a very cold, windy, rainy Friday if you ask me :) Mine's a whisky, thanks!

Hugs

Expert No-Dig Advice - A book review

Charles Dowding's Veg Journal

(published by Frances Lincoln (www.franceslincoln.com | @Frances_Lincoln) 

The hype about this book by Charles Dowding has been hitting the web-asphere for a little while now and I think the praise is well deserved. I received my own copy a good while back from the lovely people at The Aurum Publishing Group but having double vision means reading is slow, plus the flu = I simply couldn't find the energy to write a review before now. But never fear dear reader, the release date isn't until February 6th so this is still a valid pre-release review :) Plus I have a coupon code for you..

So what's it like? 

Well anything that purports to make growing your own easier, helping you 'become an expert mulcher and weeder', 'produce the sweetest-smelling compost', tackle those pesky enemies and 'understand..intercropping, companion planting...and crop succession' to say the least, is good by me. Plus it has great quality photography, colourful pages, authoritative writing and feels lovely in the hand.

Shame on me, I didn't know who Mr Dowding was before this book but seems he is rather famous in the organic gardening world and is actually a pretty darn respected. The work is condensed down into a very easy to use monthly journal with checklists and step by step guides. The concept behind it all is little and often and saving yourself unnecessary and ultimately unproductive work. All of this can't be bad, right? 

Being a journal it naturally has pages left for your own notes, as many allotment books do these days, and this is great for those of us who do things and forget the details such a seed names and dates planted. Being hardback it is sturdy enough to be thrown in with the wellies etc and taken to the plot each time. However, if you're like me and have a blog for all that and a camera constantly attached to your hand you  may not need this part, hehehe.

An utter delight of a book I am happy to say :)

To order Charles Dowding's Veg Journal at the discounted price of £12.00 including p&p* (RRP: £14.99), telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote the offer code APG69. 

Alternatively, send a cheque made payable to: 

Littlehampton Book Services Mail Order Department, 

Littlehampton Book Services, 

PO Box 4264, 

Worthing, West Sussex 

BN13 3RB. 

Please quote the offer code APG69 and include your name and address details. 

*UK ONLY - Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.

Hugs and Love

Big Garden Birdwatch - Live!

*a tongue in cheek, fun, survey write up*

We are bird lovers in this household :) Though they may steal some of our finest produce at the lottie and always got the strawberries before us (we don't grow them anymore) we have ample feeders and trees/bushes for cover in our garden, not forgetting the little fountain for water and a bath at times.

Today, as we have for the last 7 years, we are partaking in the RSPBs Big Garden Birdwatch and trying to count the number of the various species that visit our back garden for a little something to nibble on. The time period is one whole hour and you have joined us after a hearty breakfast, Maggie out of the way, the seed, fat balls and peanuts topped up and coffee to hand....

It has been 11 mins and after a feeding frenzy from the Sparrows and Tits, it has started pour down which is affecting visibility. Mamma G has just arrived and is now distracting us at the perfect moment - nothing is happening out there - plus we now have boiled cake, sausage rolls, sweet mince pies and wheaten. Mamma did her survey yesterday and it's funny to see both her and Andrew getting so excited at the great tits coming to see the egg seed feeder.

Our Robin is here - 28 mins late! He's here everyday all day but seems to be shy today...must be because I have my camera, birds and I don't get on.

Oh the rain has stopped and the sun is shining...umm shining right in my eyes and making it almost impossible to see the laptop screen - plus I'm in my dressing gown, it's white and reflecting - arrgh. We've decided to take a break for 15 mins anyway as Mamma has has her arm twisted and is going to have a cuppa with us :) I hope taking a break isn't against the rules!

Maggie has sneaked in and the birds don't even care in the slightest - I guess she isn't seen as a threat, haha.

Blackbird - oh goodness how I love that gorgeous yellow break in contrast to the black; they love the seed feeder that is low in the garden hidden behind the Winter Box. There's only ever one at a time in the garden, I wonder if that's normal.

Sadly we are at the end of the hour and no really exciting finds, no peregrine falcon (a pair live nearby) and no pheasants (from the big estate) nor did we have a visit from the long tailed tits, they will probably come now, such is our luck.

So, Andrew is now filling in the online form - the RSPB is awesome and fully embraces technology so there are no goodly reasons not to take part! They are on twitter @Natures_Voice and this is the birdwatch webpage.. https://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/

 I shall simply list the results here...

Did you take part, were you one of the 136,000+ people who did (so far)?? Any interesting results?

Hugs and love