Wet weather

The weather this last fortnight has been very poor. Today my neighbour shouted to me. "I thought the weather was supposed to be better today". I told him I had seen the weather forecast and although the weather had improved, in Lincolnshire it was mainly dull with occasional rain. They were right about that.
 With my garden being very wet, the other day I lifted a potato root up and as I feared a couple of potatoes had been attacked by eel worm(slugs to us), so today I decided to lift another potato root up, this time only one appeared to have been attacked and surprisingly enough the others although very muddy seemed to be alright. I managed to clean most of the mud off and weighed the potatoes, it came to about 5 1/2 lbs. I am  well satisfied with the yield.
 The onions are swelling up but I don't expect them to store at all, they certainly wont keep until Christmas.
 I feel sorry for any holiday makers this week for it has been a very poor week indeed. I also feel for the business people who are trying to make a living out of the trippers. I know what it is like.

I posted this photo of the cucumber plant my mate gave me. I guess it stands a little over 12" but looks healthy enough. I know my mate's Partner will give him the information as she visits my blog. My mate also told me that he was inundated with cucumbers as his had done exceptionally well. I gave him a few cucumbers last year and told him to save the seed as I was very happy the way it had performed. He saved the seeds and sure enough cucumbers have been produced at a healthy rate. I will have to be patient though, but I do expect to have a few on later in the year. More soon.  

Appointment

This morning I had to go to the Hospital in Louth to have my appointment with my Consultant's assistant. The last time she was on maternity leave and by the looks of things next time she will not be there for she is pregnant once more. She was satisfied with me and that is all that matters. On leaving I decided to call at my Italian friend who lives close to where I travel back home. He was in although when I rung the door bell there was no reply so I went to the side door.
 He told me his Wife had been causing a lot of problems with her mental state but these last 2 weeks had shown some improvement. Unfortunately I could not stay long as the proposed new ISP had called me yesterday to ask if I had requested my personal message on my current ISP had been removed and that he would call again this morning around Noon. With this in mind I soon had to go but not before I had a tour of his garden. I noticed he had a fig tree which had a few figs on it. His greenhouse was as usual full to capacity with loads of grapes and plenty of small plum tomatoes. He told me he didn't know what had happened to the large plum tomatoes. Incidentally his grapes were a lot larger than mine. I don't have many though as they are full of seeds.
 I managed to get home in time to get the call from SSE. He asked me if I would ring my ISP to confirm that my 1571 had been removed and he would call me an hour later. This I did and true to form he did ring an hour later so he informed me that he would start the ball rolling as to having me transfer to SSE. First would be the telephone then soon after hopefully the Internet. More soon.

Failing mind

Before I comment on the photos I have an apology to make.
 My mind is obviously going. With regard to Big N cash & carry, it was no such thing. It was called Rawlin Bros. They had 2 depots in Lincolnshire, one in Lincoln and the one I used which was at Humberstone near Grimsby. Big N. was their  goods that they sold a sort of trade mark. I did say that the Manager was good to me, so much so that one day he came over to see me and asked if I had tried their coffee. Big N. coffee was some 25p a tin cheaper than Nescafe. He assured me that it was good, so much so that he said that if I didn't like it I could bring the remaining tins back and he would refund me for all 4. They came in packs of 4. I think they were 1.5lb each and were 95 a tin.
 Anyway he was correct, the taste was as good as Nescafe. When I told him this he pulled me to one side and informed me that they had a contract with Lyons and they put the Big N. labels on the Lyons coffee before they sold it to Rawlins so you had no idea it was Lyons own coffee.
 Now to the photos, well not quite yet.
 I went to the Co-op yesterday and found the chocolate cake, I bought a few other items and walked to the check out. In front of me was a lady probably a little older than I am. When she came to pay, she asked the man who was on the check out if anyone had ever won anything. He told her not to his knowledge. She then said it was probably just a bit of kidology. With this I then showed her my winning ticket. She was surprised but also pleased. It was my turn to be served when the lady nudged me, it is hard to believe but she had a voucher for £2.79. she had won something.  As I had last week she had quite a few tickets from the check out and one informed her that she was a winner. What a coincidence.
Now to the photos. To be honest I couldn't help but laugh. They were so bad, well the first 2 anyway but I wanted to show what the cake looked like. The plate which it is on is just a side plate  so not a large cake at all. The cake itself is very moist and sickly but it is free. I certainly would not purchase one. I caught the young man this morning and gave him a slice. I kept in the fridge overnight as it is much better to handle that way.
 Late this morning I went to the retinopathy unit to have my eyes tested. I was amazed when the couple in front of me had the same surname as me and blow me, the one following me had the same surname too. The examiner told me that all three had the same surname as they had been booked that way. I am please that it is over for another year as the vision is affected for a couple of hours after the examination. They put drops in your eyes to enlarge the pupils. It stings but only for about 15 seconds after that all is well but gradually the vision gets a little hazy for  a while but eventually gets back to normal vision. More soon.

Rather ashamed

I was ashamed at my attempt of the last photos that today I took some more. I will be honest not all were acceptable but these 3 sort of passed muster. At least it does give one an idea as to how big the onions are. The last photo gives an idea as to the size of the shallots. The plum tomatoes are full of flesh, not much seed  and no juice at all. I definitely like them.
 The mug is there to give a proportionate size, it is a normal 1/2 pint mug. I didn't think to turn it round but on the reverse it says Mojo cash and carry. I got this from a Cash & Carry called Grice, there were 2 of them near Grimsby and the other was called Big N. I used to go there preferably but they closed down. The mug was on offer from Grice when purchasing a 1000 Typhoo tea bags. I used them when I was in catering and never had any complaints. It was the only bag with the offer, it was inside the catering bag of tea bags. Incidentally as I said I preferred Big N. and the Manager was good to me. I had been a few times and to be honest I only went there about 4 times a year but used to buy quite a lot of stuff. Well he came up to me one day and told me that they had a policy but didn't let everyone know about it. He said that if I spent over £100 in a single visit, I could ask for a 1% discount when I went to the check out to pay. The operator put in a key to access the discount. I never saw anyone else ask or get a discount. I know this doesn't sound much but this was either the late 70s or early 80s and the discount more than paid for the fuel to near Grimsby and back, a round journey of about 60 miles. Petrol was something like 37p a gallon in those days. I could easily spend more than £100 at a time because I used to buy their tinned stewing steak, the old 1lb tin. Of course they were in packs of 24 and they cost 95p each tin. They were perfect for me making my home made steak pies and the meat was very tasty with very little fat. My late Mother used to like the taste and if you could suit her then it was good enough for me.
 Tomorrow I go to collect my winnings, hopefully. That is the chocolate cake from the Co-op. Wednesday morning I go to have my eyes examined by the retinopathy unit, they come to the local surgery in a mobile unit. They put drops in your eyes to enlarge the pupils, it stings for a minute or so. You have your eyes photographed and have to read the usual letters to see if you are capable of driving etc. You are advised not to drive for at least 2 hours after the test but I only live about 3 miles and I have had the experience several times before so I will drive home. It does take about 3 hours before normal vision is restored. Enough of these ramblings More soon.

Good growing for some things

The first photo shows some of my shallots drying in the polytunnel. I also placed a couple of plum tomatoes. The 1/2 pint mug is to give you some idea as to the size of the shallots. Certainly I have never had such large shallots before. The tomatoes are obviously a plum type but are normally grown specifically to make pasta sauce for pizzas. I like them though, firstly they are not full  of seeds and juice also they are a meaty flavour. This is the first time I have grown this particular variety, hopefully I will grow them again next year. The other photos show the shallots drying off in the greenhouse. They have produced much more than I ever expected. Please excuse the poor quality of the photos, I really should have made a better job of showing the size of the shallots.
 I always thought I would try to show the different size of things due to some of the nature programmes on T.V. They never tell you how small or large the wildlife they are filming.
 I have set some more broad beans in the polytunnel and they are just poking through. The runner beans I set in the polytunnel are more or less finished. I am pleased with what I have had off them. If I can I will set a few seeds in about 2 weeks time, just to see if I can get nay runner beans into  late October.
 I picked a few cherries off my tree yesterday. I have not got many on this year but hopefully my apples look a little better than last year which they had apple scab. I will not know until nearer harvest time. More soon.

Onions

I don't know if anyone can remember me setting these onion seeds. They were an old seed called Beacon. They are an F1 variety so even if they went to seed the seeds would not produce the same variety. Beacon onions are renowned for growing rather large, so far some are as large as a mug.
 The second picture is of the second earlies called Estima. They have been prolific and I am pleased with the results so far. I am still getting a few runner beans out of my polytunnel. I have picked the odd bean from outside too.
 I picked the rest of my broad beans but have left one root with broad beans on to save for seeds. I managed to get well over 14lb in weight so I did better than I had expected earlier.
 My Best Pal called yesterday so I was recovering the remainder of the day. I went to put my repeat prescription in then went to get my Pension. Called in the paper shop then went to the Co-op to do a little shopping. I prefer to go there for the skimmed milk as Lidl have it cheaper but the shelf life recently has been only a few days. I bought a few other items in the Co-op and as I am a member I take my card and most weeks I get a £1 coupon to spend if I spend either £5 or £10. I spent in total around £12 and when I went to the check out I was served by a nice lass called Bex. I remarked that it was a nice but unusual name, she told me it was short for Rebecca. I gave her my card to swipe and was surprised to see a load of paper come from the till. She gave them one at a time to me and told me I was lucky as I had won a £1. immediately she then stated that I was very lucky as I had won a prize, a ticket for £2.75 off a Co-operative Truly Irresistible Chocolate Cake
and in brackets (so it is free). I also received a coupon for a further £1 off my next shopping if I spent £10. What a fantastic day I have had at the Co-op. I must admit that I have won a £1 off voucher before. I have a week to collect my gift but the £1 voucher is valid until August 4th. More soon.

Good and bad

Really the title should be good and bad, bad. I know my ability of taking photos leaves an awful lot to be desired. If one enlarges this photo, it is possible to see several small tortoiseshell butterflies. Last year there was a report of a shortage of them but this year I have seen loads. I wonder what my American friend thinks about my photos. He is brilliant at taking photos, I am absolutely useless, but I just try to laugh it off stating my age as an excuse.
 The second bad thing was that I went to ASDA in Grantham to have my eyes tested, on the way there I took my time as I had plenty of time to spare. Well I thought I had plenty of spare time but when I arrived at the Ancaster crossing where the traffic lights were in operation, there the road was closed. I decided to try to go the High Dyke way but travelling around a mile I was met by an official who informed me that this road was also closed and I had to turn round and make my way to the A17 eventually turning off at Cranwell to get to Grantham. I travelled through Ancaster and looked out for a turning to a village called Sudbrook. I turned into the road, well a glorified dirt track really and found that several more motorists had the same idea, as did the School Buses. It took some time to get through and eventually found my way back on to the A153 to Grantham.
  I thought I might be late for my appointment but luckily I arrived about 5 minutes early.
 Now to the good news, I had a courtesy phone call last night to remind me of my appointment and luckily enough I met the guy who had phoned me. He took several details and then I went in to have a puffer test and soon after the Optician came out and asked me to accompany him to his office where the tests took place.
 He was very thorough and honest. I thought I would need stronger spectacles but he assured me that as far as he was concerned a new pair of glasses was not really necessary but it was up to me, incidentally he informed me that if it was he that was in my place he certainly wouldn't bother. He went on to explain that stronger spectacles would only improve my sight very slightly as I had cataracts and this was my main cause of my vision, well lack of perfect vision. He seemed very pleased at what I could read. Anyway I decided not to waste my money but he did tell me that if I had any problems I should contact him and he hoped he would see me in 12 months time.
  What a difference to most Opticians, they do their upmost to sell you the most expensive pair of spectacles but at ASDA he suggested to me that I should not waste my money. I will certainly recommend anyone who is thinking of having the eyes tested to go to ASDA. More soon.

Black Fly

As you can see I have broad beans, I have had to pick most of them because they have been attacked by black fly. I managed to freeze a 3kg. tub of beans, I never blanch them either as I have found they are perfect just cooking them from frozen. I do have enough for several meals and I intend to save the best plant with broad beans on for seed, therefore selecting the best ones to plant next year. I did pick about 10lb of beans.
 Incidentally I don't think I mentioned it but last week after my haircut I called at the Co-op and went to the check out there were a couple waiting and the lady in front noticed I had very little so offered to let me go in front of her. I declined thanking her and said we would have chat while we waited. I mentioned I had black fly on my beans, she immediately informed me that her Husband had bought a Plum tree, she then told me that he was asking for trouble as they are attacked by greenfly. Don't I know it!! mine once again have been inundated with greenfly, so much so that they have suffered badly this year.
 The young man came on Saturday morning for his meal. I saw the lady next door this afternoon enquiring how they got on at the week end with the pigeon racing. She told me they had won, it is the first race they have won this year. She went on to tell me that he had told her all he had. He did tell me that his favourite meal was steak pie. I had made a steak pie for my mate, I try to give him something different when he comes to see me. What was left I froze down. I also made a raspberry tart which I also froze. When he came I took them out of the freezer and put them in the oven to re-heat. Incidentally it was very nice. The neighbour told me the vegetables he had, garden peas, a few carrots out of his little piece of garden, runner beans out of the polytunnel and broad beans.. She finished off by saying she had BOUGHT a steak pie for tonight's meal. I wonder if the younger element know how to cook? Mind you I guess she is well into her 50s.
 We have had mixed weather, last Thursday it was so hot, in the 80s. muggy too the temperature according to my thermometer was 26.6c outdoors it was 25c inside. Thursday night Country wide was a thunderous night although we got away with it only having a little thunder and a steady rainfall, not enough to fill my water butts. Saturday was almost as hot, muggy once more but on Sunday morning, it rained and during the afternoon brightened up but late on we had a heavy downpour with plenty of thunder. This, thank goodness has cleared the air so it is once more bearable. More soon.

Lad called

Yesterday the young man from next door called. First thing he had to tell me was that his carers was going to buy another car, well a sort of converted van. He told me all about it, not that I was that interested but I had to pretend that I was. He knew everything about it and asked if he could go online and show me after we had been in the garden, I of course agreed.
 We went and I showed him some of the strawberries that were ripe, he ate them and told me they were very nice. He then looked at his runner beans , also the radish then looked at his potato. It was beginning to fall over so he asked me if we could dig it up. I told him to get the digging fork, showed him where to put the fork and dig. He did this and I went on my knees to pick the potatoes up. He was thrilled to see the potatoes, so much so that I told him we would weigh them up so that he could take them to his carers home.
 Whilst the computer was warming up we weighed the potatoes, just over 2.3kg. in old money about 2lb 8oz. I was well satisfied with the volume.
 I then had about 20 minutes of him showing me the car come van. I think it was a Vauxhall. He told me that they were having side windows fitted, they wanted a large vehicle as they have the 2 with learning difficulties, also they have her Son's 2 children from time to time. It is a 7 seater vehicle.
 Eventually we went round to look at his tomato plants, I must say he is looking after them perfectly and he is taking the side shoots off. All in all his Gardener's delight tomatoes are better than the ones I have. I am more interested in the large plum tomatoes as they have few seeds in them.
 His passing remark was that he would come round to fetch me on Thursday after he finished work to show me the new car. I will then have a running commentary as to what is the specifications. He loves vehicles and will often stay talking to me just to see the bus go by. He catches the bus the days he works.
On a different note, I wish to thank Ken for is kind comment. I really do appreciate it.  More soon.