Clairesallotment's Blog

Thursday 23rd May 2013 – You couldn’t make this up even if you tried!

clairesallotment — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:32:05 +0000

Well I decided not to go down the allotment this morning as we kept getting heavy showers, it was a good thing really. Before I tell you the story, let me assure you that I wouldn’t send my kids to school if they are really poorly. So there I was waiting for a cake to finish cooking when I got a phone call from my daughter’s school saying she was in the sick bay very pale and with a tummy ache, and could I come and collect her asap. The cake had 30 minutes left, so that was just about enough time to go and collect her and be back before the buzzer went. So I parked the car and just got out when my phone went again, and this time it was my son’s school….Yesterday on the way home from school he fell out a tree, landed on his bottom and his right hand. His arm and hand still hurt this morning, but I gave him Ibuprofen and packed him off to school. He was in the school office asking for more medication. So I picked up Emily and took her home, gave her a hot water bottle and some medication, took the cake out the oven and went to pick up George, and take him to the A&E. If it was still hurting that much there must be something wrong with it. He’s right handed and it hurt to write and generally was painful. On saturday he’s going away with the scouts til wednesday, so I needed to know what, if anything was wrong. After 3 x-rays they’ve come to the conclusion that they can’t see any fractures, and the bone is just bruised. That’s the news I wanted to hear, but I’ll have to make sure he rests it as much as possible for the rest of the week, and hope I don’t get a phone call when he’s away at camp to say otherwise. After I’d made myself a well earned up of tea, I got the kids to look at my “To do list” for today, and commented that no where on it was an item saying “Go and pick kids up from school and take George to the A&E”. My life would be so boring without them….I love the really.

Wednesday 22nd May 2013 – A fun afternoon in the greenhouse.

clairesallotment — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:52:15 +0000

Well it’s just been gardening all day hasn’t it. I’ve done house work too, and other stuff, so I’m not neglecting those duties. I’ve been potting up loads, so here goes….Firstly, Melons “Ambrosia Cantaloupe” from Chuck and “Ogen“, then Fennel “Victoria” and finally Cucumber “Cuccino”. I made a few films, but Mark’s away all next week so I’m not sure when they’ll get done. The greenhouse is bursting at the seems, and I’m not sure if I can chance planting anything out yet. I’ll look at the 10 day forecast and go from there.

Birds do the strangest things.

clairesallotment — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:40:04 +0000

I’ve not watched my little birdies for a couple of days, but today I plugged them in and firstly made a little video on how they’ve grown. They’re now 7 or 8 days old, and they’ve changed a huge amount since they hatched. They now look like they’ve got fluff all over them, and feathers starting on their wings. I don’t think their eyes are open yet, and I can only see 6, so maybe 2 didn’t make it. They all vary in size and the largest one is the greediest. This morning one of the parents came in to feed them, and then 1 baby turned round, did a poo, the parent took it in their beak and fly away with it. Sound revolting, but I suppose that’s the way they do that sort of thing. Then later, one of the parents flew in with a worm, and passed it to the babies. One baby got hold of one end and another baby got hold of the other and they had a tug of war over this poor worm. The baby that finally won gobbled it down with a bit of difficulty, I don’t know what the other baby thought had happened.

Wednesday 22nd May 2013 – Picked a load of rhubarb, and tidied a load more.

clairesallotment — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:08:13 +0000

When I was watering the garden first thing this morning the weather was a little unhappy. It started to drizzle and I was wondering whether I’d get wet on the allotment. But to my surprise it stopped and the morning was cloudy but dry. I’m still working my way through each bed, and am half way up the second side of one of my plots, so I’m making steady progress. I got the strimmer going again, so more grass was obliterated. As I’m weeding the beds, I’m watering them to help the little seedlings along. They’re slow but coming up. My rhubarb is enjoying the weather, and I picked quite a substancial amount this morning. I don’t need it, but I know a man who does, so I’ll pass it onto him later. Had a very interesting chat with a fellow plot holder about growing marijuana. Not something I’ll be trying, just incase you’re wondering, especially as we’ve got an allotment holder who is a police man. I’m not that silly.

Vegetable error on 30 Rock.

clairesallotment — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:53:18 +0000

Only I would notice that I suppose, but last night Mark and I were watching an episode of 30 Rock, “Leap Day”. Jack Donaghy (Baldwin) can be seen sitting on a chair eating a leaf. Kenneth Parcell (McBrayer) comes in and says “Oh Sir don’t each those rhubarb leaves they’re poisonous” or words to that effect. I said to Mark, “They’re not rhubarb leaves that’s chard”. If you get a chance to see that episode have a look. I guess it’s only something I’d notice.

Tuesday 21st May 2013 – Picked my first radish today!

clairesallotment — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:27:11 +0000

Today was a better day, still a little cloudy, but at least it was dry. So this morning I carried on with methodically going through each bed and weeding them. I’m still on the potatoes, so I’m earthing them up as I go. I’ve now done down 1 side, so that’s a quarter of my space perfect, just 3 quarters to go and I’ll be done. I got my petrol strimmer out of the shed and it worked first time, much to my surprise. I need to take more of the wire down tomorrow as there’s not much left on the spool. I had a wander round to see how it was all growing, and I picked my first radish. I was a good sized one, so I brought it home and had it with lunch. It was rather hot, but crisp and fresh. That’s the first bit of produce from my plot, hopefully they’ll be lots more to come.

Monday 20th May 2013 – Day spent tidying the front garden.

clairesallotment — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:19:10 +0000

Well the weather was a bit crap today, so going down the allotment would have been a disaster, so instead I had the wonderful job of giving the front garden a bit of a tidy up and put a few plants in. I’ve got a bare (not bear) spot on one side by the house. I’ve had plants in that spot before, and the robust ones have done well, but the delicates haven’t. One on the kids that side isn’t too careful when he throws a ball, so the prickly rose does well. So I got some Crocosmia a while back and they’ve been sitting on soil in 3 inch pots growing a bit before I put them out. So today I filled in all the bare gaps and had some left so planted the rest in a little space next to the greenhouse. Hopefully they’ll be able to cope with the balls that come over from next door, otherwise I’ll have to plant more roses with bigger prickles.

Race for Life Saturday 1st June 2013 in Clapham Common.

clairesallotment — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:07:26 +0000

Yes it’s that time of year again when I sweat it out by taking part in the 10k Race For Life. This year I’ll be doing the 10k on Saturday 1st of June in Clapham Common. Mark is most probably going to be away in Ireland, and the kids will have to stay with someone, so I’ll be walking on my own and trying to beat last years record of 87 minutes. If you would like to sponsor me I’d be very grateful, so please “click here” for the link that will take you straight to my page. I’m not sure which is more knackering, 2 hours on the allotment or a 10k very brisk walk. I’ll let you know afterwards. Suppose I’d better get some training in.

Friday 17th May 2013 – Make sure the fork is in the ground firmly, otherwise it’ll fall on your head!

clairesallotment — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:38:43 +0000

This happened to me this morning. The soil was a bit hard, and I thought the large fork was in enough, but as I bent down to do some weeding it fell towards me and donked the left hand side of my head. It didn’t hurt, but I felt very silly at the time. I’ve now finished turning over the final bed on one of my plots, so I’m meticulously weeding each bed, and then I’ll start turning over the remaining beds on the other plot. I’m earthing up my potatoes as I come to them, but I’ve got next week and then it’s half term. Hopefully I’ll get it all done next week, or as much as possible.

Thursday 16th May 2013 – Half and hour to spare

clairesallotment — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:26:39 +0000

When you’ve only got 30 minutes to spare in the greenhouse it’s necessary to set the timer. Not only because the dinner will burn, but just in case other reasons arise…. I had 30 minutes to sort out my Kale “Black Tuscany” most are for me, some are for my sister, and some are for my son’s school. The reception children are making a garden, so I’m giving them a few plants that they can look after, along with instructions on how and when to plant them out. Now that’s done, it’s time to get ready for a bath, and then bed. Another glass of wine is needed and I’ll be fine. Nighty night, and see you tomorrow.