Nine to Three Thirty

The wet weather has made life a bit dull this week and meant that I couldn’t get on with the jobs I wanted to.  I had a load of gardening planned, but couldn’t get on with it because of the rain.  The last few days have been a bit better though and I’ve harvested some of the black currants and done some weeding, but loads more to do.

One good thing about the rain was the chance to capture this picture of a frog enjoying the makeshift ponds that had formed on my garden furniture cover.  The amount of water that had collected in the folds was unbelievalable and this little fellow had clearly spotted a new place to hang out.

The other thing I have been doing a lot of recently is trying out new food.  I recently won £60 to spend at the Mindful Chef.  It didn’t go very far I have to say, but we did get three meals out of it.  The food provided was top quality and the recipes I’ll use again.  It was nice to have something a bit different to eat.  I’ve also been trying out some premium ready meals on my food blog – this Thai green curry was one of those.  Teenage boys aren’t always the most receptive creatures to new recipes sadly and I had about a 50% success rate with H. Thai green curry and a tofu dish proved unpopular, whilst the South African Beef Bobotie and the chicken and noodles stir fry were perfectly acceptable apparently.

My parasol arrived this week.  I decided to splash out a bit and get something to provide a bit of shade in the garden, but I wanted it to look attractive too.  I picked out this one online and it’s come from Germany this week.  I haven’t gone for the pink version, it’s a zingy lime green instead.  Next job is to assemble it and make sure it doesn’t fall over – it needs paving stones for the base which I may need to buy.  I just hope we have the sort of weather in July and August so I can get good use out of it.

I’ve grown lettuce in the conservatory for several years now.  It’s very handy to get a few leaves when I need them and it seems the best place to grow it as it does better there earlier in the season than the greenhouse.  This year I decided to try the spring onions inside too.  I’ve tried them outside without success and last year I tried the greenhouse, but didn’t do that well.  This year I have done so much better with them and they are nearly ready to harvest.  I have even planted up another container of both spring onions and lettuce, so that we can be completely self sufficient in these for a few months.

The veg patch is doing well too.  The sweetcorn really jumped ahead with the lovely weather last week, but this week they have been less keen.  Hoping for a good crop this year as never had so many plants in.  We’ve had home grown peas this week too and I don’t think the beans will be too far behind.  The potatoes are flowering too, so I think they will be ready before too long.   I look to be on course for my best ever year.  It’s a pity though that my squashes haven’t germinated – I may have to buy some plug plants.

I’ve not been out in the garden as much this week as the weather has been less good, but I’ve had more blog work coming in, so I’ve been cracking on with that.  I’ve also cleared a few long outstanding items off the to do list.

The reading continues.  I find I tend to read more when the weather is fine, as I tend to try to get my jobs done early in the day or in the evening, so I can enjoy sitting in the garden with a book in the afternoon. This week sitting out hasn’t really been a option, so I’ve mostly read in bed or taken a break in the afternoon for a cuppa and a book. The other thing that makes me read more is when I’m reading a good book.  I struggled with Noughts & Crosses: it was an interesting theme, but a bit clunky in the writing.  I struggled with it for about three-quarters of the way through and then it got better and I whizzed through the last bit.  I don’t think I’ll bother with the rest of the series though.  The Kin is by Peter Dickinson, whose book AK I’d recently read.  I really enjoyed AK, but The Kin was even better – I’m surprised I’d not heard of the author before because he’s won a couple of Carnegie Medals (very prestigious children’s book prize).  I might be reading more in the future because he won those medals for books I haven’t read yet.

I loved Goodnight Mister Tom.  If you haven’t read it, it’s well worth a go.  It’s a children’s book about a boy who is a wartime evacuee.  It’s a very positive story, although there are sad bits in it.  H said he might read it and I’m going to try to encourage that. H was surprised I’d not heard of Holes by Louis Sachar before, as he says it’s been made into a film and it’s a very famous book.  I’m really enjoying it and I expect I’ll finish later today. Twin Truths is the book I’m currently reading as my crime/thriller selection.  It’s one I won in a competition I think.  On the blurb it’s described as a thriller, but it’s not fast paced and a bit of a slow burner.  I can see why they have described it like that, but I wouldn’t do so.  I’ve quite enjoyed it though, although it hasn’t gripped me, and I think I’ll finish that one today too.

The two books on the right are the next ones up.  One is another children’s book from the stash we borrowed from a neighbour.  The other is one of my competition wins from a few years back. I’d been saving book wins to read on holiday, but I often take my kindle these days.  I’m getting through my stack though in lockdown and I’m glad I had them to hand.