Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2024

Evening all. A late finish in work but… a week off starts now!!



Nice surprise that’ll OH cut the grass today (after mending lawn mower - it’s an old petrol mower and years in the damp shed have not helped it age gracefully - for clarity - the machine, not the person). I had my post work cuppa outside, accompanied by the sound of other people’s lawn mowers and a few pics from people having bbqs or drinks outside. Everyone’s gone crazy!

Cheat curry tonight - I’m not too proud to have a frozen one now and then and the Iceland ones are pretty good. I do love a really good traditional curry though, when it’s on offer. I used to live right next to Brick Lane in London and I’ve had some superb ones over the years. Sri Lankan curries are my fond favourite. I had a friend who made awesome ones with a a secret spice mix from her Mum.

Have a lovely evening folks.

 

Hello folks … just popping in with Wonky Womble’s greetings to all … she has had a bit of a browse and a read around … she’s really busy at the moment with her new job plus her own clients .,, but wanted to send greetings/hugs/kindest wishes to all.

 

Thanks Dove, and best wishes to Wonky Womble.

 

Well today was lovely, managed as much gardening as my decrepitude allowed, and then finished the day with a G@T outside the summerhouse, bliss.

 

Tip Day again, so we’ve picked up and loaded up the stuff to go.
It’s taking us a while to feel ok about the cold weather, but as Tui said, it’s preferable to hot weather. We can always rug up.
Pixel is snoozing on her favourite chain on the veranda which is warmer than inside the house. Morning sun doing its job.

 

Good morning all
Hope everyone’s had a restful night.
It doesn’t seem five minutes since you were showing us pictures of your first spring flowers @PatE … time passes too quickly nowadays …
Remember the seeds I sowed last Thursday … the first courgettes germinated within four days, now they’re all up … as are the squash and tomatoes … I think there’s been 100% germination … and it look like more than that … I’d better sort out some pots … at this rate they’ll soon be ready to pot up … and the next job is to sow the runner beans in loo roll tubes and set them in the studio by the big glass wall … that’s proved to be the ideal place in the past.
I also need to clear out the coldframe/grow house thingummy that over the last two years has become a storage facility aka dumping ground for ‘stuff’. I’ll soon need the space for plants once they outgrow the windowsills.
Hmmm … I need another coffee …

 

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Good morning @PatE, @Dovefromabove and all arriving soon. I am looking forward to a good gardening day today. I'm glad I got my shopping done yesterday morning as a letter from Cadent yesterday inforned me that their latest 'project' is the upgrading the older gas mains in my area and starting from today, for the next 5 weeks we can expect disruption to our road journeys. More three way traffic lights! From past experience they seem to forget that people living in the 8 semis in my Crescent do need to have extra controls. Ho hum. Time will tell.

 

@AuntyRach, curries are always a favourite with my family. Dad was stationed in India during the war and he learned to make a mean curry whilst there. So much so that on Sundays, our main meal was always a proper curry - made by Dad - and we children grew up on those. It used to be a trial by taste buds when our boy and girlfriends joined us as we got older! I often find that when curries are described by supermarkets as '4 Chillies' hot I am disappointed as these are only medium to me!

 

@shiney I reckon you will have got on well with my Dad. He mixed all his own curry powders.
As an aside, I was interested to hear on Breakfast TV in the week that turmeric is a good ant deterrent and is used in India for that. Personally, I'd rather have it in my curry!

 

You curry fiends may be interested in this website of authentic tried and tested recipes collected by my friend Mamta from her own family members and those of friends from the subcontinent (and elsewhere).
Mamta's Kitchen

 

Just caught up with your news. It great to see what's happening in the day-to-day lives of gardeners from all over the globe.

Thanks for the lovely menus @Punkdoc and @shiney, lots of inspiration there.

Been a busy week, we've been back and forth to the hospital (8x 40 min trips), hubby's has/had a blood calcium overload (hypercalcemia), and to reduce the calcium he's been having saline drips. It's all part and parcel of his problems with lymphoma. He's been on what's called 'watchful waiting' but now as symptoms have raised their heads like hypercalcemia and horrendous itching, he's down to start immunotherapy treatment next Friday. He's the first one at the hospital to have this new treatment so we're especially lucky. Fingers crossed he can tolerate it and that it'll make a big difference.

Being on chauffeur duties hasn't left much time to get stuck into gardening much this week. But I've got three full days off from my duties, and I hope to make the most of them. Carrots are showing through which is a big deal seeing that I couldn't seem to get anything to sprout last year. This year all veg beds are netted which might turn out to be a success.

Enjoy your weekend everyone, I know we will.

 

Morning all.
Good day in the garden yesterday. Turned last season's compost bin into a recently emptied one, layering up with partially rotted autumn leaves and watering as I went and that can now be left to cook and produce more black gold. The bottom half of the bin (a good half cubic metre's worth) looked ready to use so that means yet more mulching over the next couple of weeks.
Then the grass was cut again (but this time to summer height) so everything looks much tidier.

Today I think I'll have a drive over to our very local but rather small nursery. Mainly to buy some new potting compost but t'would be rude not to have a mosey round. They specialise in bedding and basket plants (make up most of the baskets used by the LA to decorate local towns) but also do some vegetables and have a small stock of perennials, pots, obelisks etc.
Then I may plant the 3 roses delivered on Thurs.
Then I shall cook some chicken to have with Caesar, potato and tomato salads.

But first - another cuppa...

 

@shiney - love that!