a pottering kind of weekend.

I have loved this weekend, it has been very calming. Friday night was a meal and a few drinks for the end of term as 1 is off to China and another Chicago. A great time was had by all.
Then up early Saturday morning to help decorate the school float for the village carnival. It was good fun and fantastic to see how it all comes together. I remember riding on the float in the village when I was a child and loved it. I ended up riding on the float as well, I loved it as much as I did as a child- I'm such a big kid! I am definitely doing it again next year and sneaking Stephanie on with me as I think she will love it too.

Today Dylan and I spent some time trying to fix my bike as we plan in cycling much more this summer. We couldn't do it, we had to call in the big guns AKA granddad. He has shown us what is wrong but by the time he managed to get here and figure it out the shops were shut. Still as Dylan is not in school tomorrow he is going to run some errands for me as I have been selling on Amazon again, so while he is posting things he'll pop into Wilkinsons and get the part I need. Expect lots of cycling posts very soon!

I have also spent time pottering in the garden. We have made the hard decision to give up our allotment we just don't have time for it now I am working full time. So we will be clearing out my shed over the next week and handing back the keys. I am a little saddened by this, but we have plans to make our small garden much more productive to try and compensate a little. I had a tidy up and then Dylan and I planted some more seeds. Have a peek how it is going now;

Up by the back gate I'd love to have some plants growing up in a kind of arch here, I need to look into this more.

Lots of strawberries and peas growing here at the moment.

this is the right hand fence if I stand with the house behind me. Growing in the containers you can see here are carrots, salad leaves, potatoes, dwarf beans, plum tomatoes and cherry tomatoes.

this is the left hand side by the back door, we have peas and strawberries in the baskets, my lovely large raspberry bush and our greenhouse that has lost its cover. At the moment not a problem as it is the sunniest part of the garden, hence the frazzled plants!

We have planted lots into the greenhouse today.

This is 'Stephanie's garden' she has mixed flowers and strawberries growing in her containers.

The greenhouse looking slightly more organised.

 

Then finally what do you do with some over ripe bananas?? Make cake of course! Today I experimented and made chocolate and banana cake, it tastes more of bananas than chocolate and is very yummy. I might have a little with some cream I bought reduced earlier soon.

Saturday

A busy day has been had here.
We have been fro swimming lesson, been to the library, done our Saturday whole house tidy, been for the children's haircuts, seen family, walked 4 miles or so with the dog and found another geocache whilst there. visited the allotment for the first time in far too long! I have spent this evening watching Harry Potter with Stephanie whilst writing school reports. I have 6 left to go but my eyes are hardly staying open so I will have to complete them tomorrow. Have a peek at some of our pictures from the day;

proof housework has happened.

 

Pretty hair done by great aunt Sharon;

 

 

Dog walking/ geocache hunting fun;

 

We found the geocache we couldn't find last time we went! YAY

 

Disgraceful allotment!! it has clearly been longer than I thought since we visited.

 

The potatoes/onions/garlic are growing well amongst the grass/weeds. I need to make more time to sort this out. I have potentially found someone who may be interested in sharing the space with me to make it more manageable. I think I need to get it looking lots better before he runs fast!

 

 

 

sunny saturday!

Yes you did read that correctly. We have had a lovely sunny day.
I decided to make the most of it by taking the boys to the allotment and putting them both to work.
We emptied the 2 compost bins, dismantled them and resited them at the other side of the plot. Dug potato trenches, put in ash and fresh compost then planted the potatoes.
It took the 3 of us all day but we didn't mind as it was such a lovely day.
K was very fascinated by these little guys. We found 2 whilst digging in the new compost bins

diy

I began today by painting the hallway and stairs this is a job I have had on my todo list for several months. I am pleased that I have finally done it as it looks much better now- Kitchen next!

After painting next we did some weeding down at the allotment I weeded under the apple and pear trees and the raspberry bush, Dylan weeded the potato bed. Dylan also finished fixing the compost bins while we were there. They had collapsed we have spent the past few weeks working to empty them so that they can stand up properly and be used again.

Whilst there I admired the neighbouring allotmenteer rich green foliage of his potatos they are really thick and leafy. Mine are looking bedraggled and slug eaten. I was feeling rather downhearted and wondering what I am doing wrong when he arrived with a large pot of chemical fertiliser, this has got me thinking. I don't want to put chemicals on my vegetables so is there something I can fertilise with? A quick internet search found me this nettle fertiliser what a better thing to use these things for? I will be going to give this a go.

After we had finished at the allotment we made a picnic and went to a local park for a walk through the fields and woods.

Mr frog came to visit us!

you're never to old to enjoy a slide!

Stephanie chanted "scary scary scary" as she climbed to the top!

Sunday

Another busy day here, Sundays always seem quite busy for some reason. I began the day by collecting both children and their Nan to come and watch me run the race for life. I have raised £13 in sponsor money. I haven't asked many people for sponsor money as everyone knows someone who does it now as it is becoming increasingly popular. I like to think if everyone who was there today raised that amount there is a huge amount to help someone like my Nan and Mum who both lost their fights to cancer in the past 18 months. I managed to run the race in 26 minutes not too bad a time, Stephanie ran the last 100m or so with me, it was a lovely moment. She has asked if next year she can do it with me, I can see me signing up for 2 different events as I will do it with Stephanie but I also like to try and improve my time. Today I knocked 2 Min's 30 seconds off my last time.
After lunch we went to the allotment for some more compost organising (Dylan and Stephanie) and weeding and digging (me). Before we left I took pictures of how things are coming along;

Allotmenteering

For a weekend off I haven't stopped! Today was much more interesting but physically  more work. I spent the afternoon at the allotment, Dylan sifted compost off the heap,

I dug over part of the bed where I am planning to put the peas this year

This muddy patch was thick grass when I arrived, I have a lot more to dig out but I am happy with this start. Whilst digging the grass out I had to keep digging these out;

they had been used by the previous tenants as borders but I don't want it laid out that way. They aren't going to waste as the gentleman with the plot next to mine has asked if he can have them. I pulled somewhere between 30 and 40 out today I'm not sure how many he wants but I am pleased that at least some of them will be re-homed.

 whilst Stephanie harvested rather a lot of veg given the little we planted and the time of year.

She harvested 1540g in total broken down as;

• 290g red cabbage
• 86g bay leaves
• 380g Curly kale
• 70g Rosemary
• 714g savoy cabbage

There is slightly more curly Kale than planned as whilst there I was chatting to a couple with a neighbouring plot who told me my tall lanky kale plants will fill out if I cut the tops off. So I have done that- I hope it works as the kale has kept going all through the winter I had 5 plants that survived and they have provided for us for the past few months.

When we got back we planted seeds together using the compost we brought back with us;

• peas
• aubergine
• leek
• pepper- 2 varieties
• tomato
• parsnip
• cauliflower
• broccoli
• green beans
• sweetpea
• lobelia
• begonia

I hope some of them work. I am planning on sorting the home compost bin this week and then I can plant more seeds, successional planting is what I am aiming for this year.

our weekend

Take a peek at our weekend; Saturday we went to Knole park for a walk and to see the deer. Then today we went to the allotment.

What is it that makes sticks appeal so much to children?

Now I must admit I get the walking along a log thing- I like to have a go too

Both children were amazed at the amount of Deer we saw and just how close we got.

My little poser

They were entranced by this magpie trying to eat an apple

I decided that I would make a special breakfast to start our Sunday. I made waffles- Jamie Oliver style. Then we headed off to the allotment. The potato bed is almost ready. You can see where we are planning the potatoes to go in the background of this picture of our hot choc break. Boy were we glad of it today was rather nippy.

While we were having our break we were amused by watching this little robin hopping about. Not a very clear picture but I couldn't get any closer without frightening him.

allotment update

Today Dylan and I spent all afternoon at the allotment. It was a lovely peaceful afternoon there, and only rained a little.

We sorted out one of the compost bins, and I am very pleased with the amount of compost we have made. The compost bin we emptied today produced 4 wheel barrows, and it was one of the smallest bins on the site. I should have plenty of compost for the year once I have sorted the other 3....

We are reorganising the bed system on the plot. Last year we used the existing system due to the timing on getting the plot. Today we have used wood chipping to map out the boundary of what will become this years potato bed.

Dylan laid the wood chips after we marked out where the path would go. We also laid wood chips under the apple and pear trees in an effort to suppress the weeds this year.

Have you noticed a theme of late, hot choc is becoming a very regular feature at the moment.

Expect lots more allotment posts in the next few weeks as we get it organised.

update

I haven't managed to get on a blog as much as I would like as I have had massive problems with my laptop, my sisters husband fiddled with it, in that blokey way. It seems to be working alright tonight so I can blog (hopefully!)


I have been busy the past couple of weeks making things for Christmas, school and family as well as some home improvements. Some items have been photographed already, some will be photographed in the next few days.

allotment goodies

firework fun

My first pair of knitted socks

My current reading material and knitting project.

As well as these things I have also been busy boarding the flooring in the loft so that I can use it, swapping the children's bedrooms round and painting them at the same time. I then painted the downstairs bathroom. I need to finish sorting Stephanie's things which are still int he living room/my bedrooms

I have so many things I am doing/ need to do. Some of the things that I want to get finished (or at least started) in the next week are;

1. Stephanie's bedroom organised
2. Bedroom curtains made for Dylan
3. bedroom curtains made for Stephanie
4. blind for downstairs bathroom
5. gloves for Stephanie
6. decorate kitchen
7. curtains for the kitchen
8. Sophie's top.
9. Stephanie's heart decoration for her bedroom
10. Stephanie's bunting
11. Christmas bunting

As you can see it's ambitious list, I know that I am never going to achieve all of these in the next week I would be pushing it to achieve those things without working full time, but a girl can dream right??