Easter come and gone

I feel sorry for the Business people who rely on a good start for the year hoping that the weather at Easter will be kind. It certainly wasn't that this year although good Friday was a lovely day.
 Saturday was dull and the forecast for Sunday was poor but it turned out a little better than forecast. Easter Monday was a day to stay indoors. heavy rain and severe gales was forecast and that is what we had. I went to try to dig a little in the garden but the ground once more is saturated. Still at least the days are beginning to lengthen so hopefully with some sun and drying wind, that will help.
  I rung my mate up ao Saturday morning, he gave me the news that Iceland did not have any of the goods I required. He asked me how I had received the leaflet, he thought it had come to me by Royal Mail with it being addressed to me. I informed him that it was among several leaflets that we all get and most of it is put straight in the recycle bin. He then told me something that made me think. He let me know that his Partner, who is a vegetarian likes, I think cheese and onion pies and they advertise that they have an offer on them. Each time he has called in at Skegness store the staff inform him that they have not sent any to that store. He says it seems as if they only select certain store to promote these offers. He told me that he is thinking of contacting Iceland and complaining about the lack of promotions in Skegness. I told him that if he does, then mention that we get leaflets with the offers which are of no value whatsoever as they not available in this area. More soon.

Wrong and wrong again.

On Tuesday I had a few leaflets, included in these was a flyer for Iceland and on perusing I noticed that there were a few very good Easter offers. As I was going to Grantham the next day I naturally thought I would get the goodies while I was there.
 Yesterday I set off early and on my way I was surprised to see the odd schoolchild I had thought that the children had broken up for the Easter break. I was wrong, this was confirmed when I arrived at Grantham as the school run was in full swing and I did not get to the Morrison's complex much earlier than I would normally get there.
 I walked through to the High Street where I thought Iceland would be, it certainly was there several years earlier. I was wrong for the second time.
 I walked up and down the main High Street searching  for Iceland with no joy. Eventually I saw a woman peering in a shop front so I asked her if there was an Iceland in the town, she informed me that there used to be one but it closed some years ago but there was a Farm Shop but added that it was not as good as Iceland. I thanked her and made my way back to Morrison's where I did my shopping.
 On leaving I went to fill up with fuel from ASDA which was just under a £ a litre.
  I went to see my Sisters and took the children their cards and eventually made my way back home.
  This afternoon I caught the young lad from next door, I have had some plants for him for quite some time and as it was a little damp I told him that we would(me really) plant the young plants in his tiny garden.
 I also told him that he should get the garden ready so that he could set 4 shallots, mind you it was me that prepared the garden but I did give him the shallots to sow, I told him what to do and I know he will get them set.
 He was happy for he does not have to go to work for several days, the next time he has to go to work is next Wednesday. May those who bother to read y blog have a great Easter, incidentally I did buy the lad a small Easter egg. More soon.

Right this time

Yesterday I had an early phone call, it was from my Best mate who was down to open the caravan and said he would call to see me. I told him that in the afternoon would be fine as I was going to the Dentist just before Noon.
 At least I had the day and time right thank goodness although it is costly considering the time I am in the chair.
 My appointment was for 11.40am. and I arrived in the car park and left the car at 11.35am. I went to book in, had to sign a declaration to say I had to pay and then took a seat. I had only just made myself comfortable when I was invited to go to see the Dental Surgeon who is a great guy. We always shake hands and pass pleasantries then I sat in the chair. HE did say that for what I have done it is an expensive way to spend money as I have only 3 teeth left and one is very loose but we both agree that we should leave it in as long as we can as it helps the lower dentures to be a little more stable. He then asked his assistant how long it had been since I had any work done and she looked it up and I was surprised as it was 2011. 5 years ago. Anyway he wished me well and a great summer and would see me in September. I suggested that he should enjoy his golf but I was somewhat surprised when he told me he didn't play much anymore. He preferred to walk his dogs.
 By the time I got back in the car I noticed it had just been 6 minutes but one must go every 6 months because if you don't you could lose your position of being a NHS patient.
 About 2.30pm. my Pal called to see me, we hadn't been settled more than 10 minutes when the doorbell rang, it was the young Lad from next door, he likes to see my Pal because he talks to him. This time he stayed for a while and tole me to tell him about his scooter, he meant my Pal to see it and asked me to show the photo to him. I told him to turn on the computer and he then displayed the scooter on screen. I am sure I have posted the photo on my blog. My Pal had a good look, said the photo was a good shot  and the Lad was happy he had seen it.
 Eventually he left and we had a good old talk as it is the first time since October we had seen each other. Time flew and when he left he told me he had only come down to open the caravan and was going back to Chesterfield very soon so it will be a few weeks before I see him again.
 Tomorrow I am going to Grantham so expect to be tired when I get back home. More soon.

Error

I informed my mate that I was going to the Dentist this week however when I checked I found that it was Monday next week I go so with a visit to Grantham arranged I will have a busy week next week as also I have to stay in for I am due a repeat order of my prescriptions and as they are delivered I must be close at hand.
 As it was fine but cold and breezy I decided to try to do a little more digging, I am certainly getting older as I am finding it increasingly harder to fulfill the work I need to do. What I am finding is that I do about 20 minutes work then rest for a while then go out and do a bit more.
 I had an e-mail from the lad next door but it didn't make sense so I tried to catch him when he arrived home but missed him so naturally I thought he had got home early. Not a bit of it for tonight I went Online and had another mail from him. It stated that the bus broke down and he got home almost an hour later than he should have done, no wonder I had missed him.
 I am getting the netting fixed to my raised beds, this is because the local cats use my garden as a toilet and I don't like it at all.
 At least the weather is dry so hopefully the ground will improve, it needs to as it is the old saying for us old gardeners. That is to plant the new potatoes on Good Friday, you would see many in the garden planting their potatoes on that day. I doubt if I will even think of planting them this year. More soon.

Spring?

Although it has been sunny at times recently it has been very cold. Today has been particularly poor with a strong wind off the sea and earlier some drizzle. We haven't seen any sun today and the forecast is not encouraging for the next few days.
 yesterday I tried and succeeded somewhat in digging some parts of the garden, really trying to aerate the soil as in places it is still very wet indeed.
 As it is mid March it is high time I prepared the ground for it is time I set some seeds but this will not happen this year. I guess the ground will not be suitable for sowing seeds for at least 2 weeks. Still I have covered the plots with netting as I noticed a cat had made a deposit, hopefully this won't happen again this year.
 I have just ordered some edging for my garden. This is because my wooden edging has rotted and hoping or waiting for someone to get me something is not really my style. I had originally wished to have some PVC about 6" high because it will not rot so hopefully this will serve it's purpose.
 I plan to go to see my Sister's next week so I hope that the fog, which has been around for the last few days will have moved on. Also I hope the old saying does not come true. "As many fogs there are in March is as many frosts there are in May.  More soon.

Waterlogged

 

 

These photos were taken yesterday morning. You can perhaps have some idea as to the state of my garden at dusk yesterday as it didn't stop raining at all.
 The trouble was that on Monday whist most were having some sunny intervals, here along the East Coast we had nothing but heavy rain/sleet showers on and off for most of the day.
 Today my garden is still standing in water although we have had a little sun. Let us hope that we get a prolonged dry warm spell so that I can think of getting into my garden.
 I saw the lad from next door. He had informed me on Sunday that he was going to the Chinese on Monday to have a meal, a belated Birthday present. I asked him how he had got on but he told me he didn't get his Chinese as it was closed so he was somewhat disappointed.
 I have been checking the latest offer from First Utility, the Company which supplies me with Electricity, unfortunately we have no mains gas in our area so we are penalized for all who have only one fuel get a worse deal than those with dual fuels. I can save about £10 a year by going on to a different tariff for a fixed term of 1 year. This I will do as it is better than an increase and this one was fixed for 2 years so it means that there has been no increase in 3 years which is satisfactory. More soon.

Blood tests.

Last Friday morning I had to call at the local Surgery for Blood tests. One which was for Diabetes and the other for my 3 monthly check for the hospital. It is one type of drug I am on which means I have to have regular Blood Tests.
 It was the young man's Birthday on Sunday and he informed me that he would call round on Saturday to pick up his Birthday card but this didn't happen. So late on Saturday I took the card round and posted it. On Sunday morning he called to see me to thank me also for his card. He told me that his Carer and all of them had gone over to Lincoln to see her Mother. Incidentally they had just moved over to Lincoln about a week ago. He told me he was going swimming which he loves and on Monday he would go out for a Chinese. He looked in the garden for a few minutes, selected a couple of polyanthus plants that he wished to have in his small garden. Soon after he left.
 Yesterday was a poor day with rain and sleet on and off all day. So much so that my garden is standing in water in many places so today, after going shopping I decided to lay the poly-carbonate panels over parts of the garden to help dry the ground up. This originally was on my extension which I later had it built of brick and tile.
 It sounds silly but I did quite a lot of watering, I first watered the polytunnel thoroughly and later did similar to the greenhouse. I do have some early potatoes just poking through in the polytunnel and although this morning was quite dull there was a frost but it was not hard enough to catch the potatoes.
 One thing I did buy when shopping was another apple tree the variety is Jonathon, it is in a pot but obviously will not bear fruit this year, perhaps not next year either but here's hoping I will taste the apples. More soon.

Barbers

These photos were taken on the last day of February, so you can see that the daffodils are not early round here especially as they are south facing. The other two photos are of my broad beans. At least they had a good watering although the weather is very cold.
 yesterday I went to have my hair cut. The Barber has told me many times that he is leaving the country. Yesterday he told me it would be in January next year. When I walked in there was one person in the chair and whilst I was waiting another gent walked in and immediately remarked ."A 7 day working then?". I then looked at his opening times. I was somewhat surprised to see that he had decided to open longer hours. It used to be a  5 day working only 7 hours maximum a day. Now he was open every day from 9.00am to 4.00pm. but also from 6.00pm. to 8.00pm. a couple of nights a week. On Sunday from 9.00am till Noon.
 When it was my turn I asked him the reason why all  of a sudden  a 7 day week. He then informed me that he had to save up as much as he could so to be able to move and have some spare money when he got to Spain. He did tell me where he was moving to and it was not far from Malaga.  I asked him if there were plenty of Ex Pats. there he confirmed there were plenty in that area.
 When I finally arrived back home I thought to myself it would be time to think about looking for a new Hairdresser. More soon.

Trouble

This afternoon I was going to write on my blog when I noticed that my security which I purchased showed that I was in trouble as something was not turned on. I tried several times but no joy so I went on to my computer but all this said was that I made sure I had an Internet connection which of course I had so I did no more that go back and ask the Computer to go and reset the system.
 Naturally this took ages but once it was restored I found that I had lost 99% of my downloads, this included Google Chrome which controls my email.
 needless to say I have spent a couple of hours trying to restore some of my downloads, the most awkward was to re-install my security programme. However when I did eventually manage to get tit working I found that I had managed to get my computer safely working so I was not in danger of a virus so at least I managed to do something right.
 Hopefully tomorrow I will write a little longer. More soon.