Plenty of rain

I checked my greenhouse a few days ago and noticed that the first seed potatoes I set in early January was just poking through. A few days later the other seed potatoes I had set in tubs were also beginning to poke their heads through. So at least things are beginning to move albeit slowly. On saying that I do in fact have a few daffodils just breaking into flower which is rather early for me, those are facing South and are protected by the fence.
 I tried to dig a couple of raised beds, although I did manage with digging the raised beds from the outside so not treading on the earth at all but it will be some considerable time before the ground is dry and warm enough to start my sowing.
 With the heavy and consistent rain I have managed to have my main water butt refilled once more. I didn't expect this to happen for a couple of weeks. Last week I had one day where we had over 1.5" of rain and even yesterday with so many heavy showers we had just under 1/2" of rain, needless to say much of my garden is standing in water.
 I went for my Pension this morning, although it was cold at least it was sunny but I noticed that many of the fields that had been set by the Farmers had many pools of standing water. What we need is what we are not getting much of that is sun.
 I bought another apple tree digging up the Laxton Superb up, I bought it from a Garden Centre where the guy went bust. He sold it to me as a dwarf rooting stock but it certainly was not The new tree is of dwarf rooting stock growing to about 7' maximum over a number of years. The variety is Braeburn. It keeps well and is nice tasting too. I did buy with the apple tree another plum a Victoria which I have planted in a sort of tub. It is a canvas bag especially designed for trees so I will see what happens. This year will be a growing year but next year I should have fruit.
 Tomorrow is the first day of Spring according to the Weathermen but as far as I( am concerned it happens on the Spring equinox which is March 21st. More soon.

Gales and rain

I certainly looked forward to a little rain especially as my main water butt was low but I didn't look forward at all to the gale force winds. In fact yesterday was very windy as I tried to prepare a couple of raised beds ready to set in a couple of weeks time. I did find that the first one I dug was still very wet, heaven knows what it will be like today as my flower bed is under water.  I didn't try to do any other raised beds but instead did a little cleaning of my foot paths by hand, this is where the  hose pipe will not reach. I did manage to get a lot done but checked my guttering. I am pleased I did because there is a lot of dirt and debris that must be cleaned before the Spring. That is a job for tomorrow, weather permitting.
 Today has been a day of just watching to see if any damage has occurred, so far apart from buckets and plant pots being dispatched all over the garden, all seems to be coping well. Mind you there is supposed to be a few more hours of severe gales to come.
 Yesterday I did look in the Greenhouse and noticed the first seed potato had just popped up. I set 4 Arran Pilot seed potatoes in early January, so at least they have survived, all I can do now is protect them from any late frost and water them well.
 On Tuesday I wet to the Post Office to pay some off my credit card, the lass behind the counter mentioned the nice weather and then suggested that this might be the start of Spring. I bet she doesn't think that now although it is not exceptionally cold for late February.
 I checked once more the sell be date on the 1% skimmed milk, it was for March 3rd. which reminded me that we are almost at the end of this month. A colleague who we played golf together always told me that he didn't mind February at all as it was only a short Month. It is true that this month seems to have flown by.
 My Sister rung me up on Monday and told me she had not been too well, she is the youngest out of us four siblings. She told me she had to go in Hospital for a hysterectomy and my Eldest Sister who is nearly 84 has dizzy spells cause by an infection in her ear so she has difficulty in standing. My younger Sister who is almost 3 years younger than I am is suffering from some sort of dementia, she lives in Scotland but you can't seem to get that much information from her daughter, all she says is that Mum doesn't talk much but they are happy together. So all in all I must not complain as I can still get around and potter, make my own meals and keep my place reasonably clean. More soon.

Playing

Before I start about the pressure washer I have posted a recipe for Lemon Dainty. I found this in an old book called Farmhouse Kitchen. It was in conjunction with Yorkshire Television which the programme was shown. This pudding I thought would be ideal for my mate's Partner, also my mate loves lemons. Anyone who reads this I do urge them to try it, I am quite prepared to accept adverse reactions.
 Now to pressure washing, as you can see the difference between what I had done and not is enormous. i carried on merrily without much thought to how much water I was using. Mind you my garden is large but my water butt too is large. By the time I had reached the limit of my hose pipe I was surprised that I had used over 50% of the water in the large butt. So now I am hoping for a little rain  to start to refill the butts.
 As it was a lovely week end I set a few seed potatoes, first earlies of course and covered with polycarbonate.
 The lad popped round on Saturday morning so I told him I would cook him a few chips. On that he told me that was good and he would go and tell his carer that he would not need anything to eat as he was eating at mine.
 I don't know if I had mentioned it before but my mate got me an Air Frier, not that I have many chips, I think I have had it well over a month and had a few chips three times, I was very impressed with the outcome. I do in fact cover the raw chips with a little more oil than most would and they are very nice indeed.
 Anyway my mate had told me when he bought it to me that I could do a lot of things also so I looked at the instruction book and saw as he had told me I could cook sausages not quite at the same time as chips but when they were about half cooked add the sausage. I than asked the lad if he would like beans or an egg. He chose egg, I did ask  him if he wished to have 2 but he said  1 would be alright. He also wanted a bread roll. Remember I was having roast pork with apple sauce, potatoes, carrots, cauliflower and cabbage so I had my hands full.
 The sausages were perfect and the chips which were not Maris Piper were very nice. Maris Piper is what the chip shops use as they are the best for making chips.
 I have ordered from Sainsbury's again but was a little disappointed for when I went Online I was informed that there were 41 Lamb selections but when I logged in to my account and to the Lamb selection I saw that there were only 11 selections available and not what I wanted that is boneless leg.
 I sent my order in but decided to inquire if I was ever likely to have boneless Lamb. I went on the chat line and didn't have to wait long for someone to come to my aid.
 To be honest I can't fault them at all. After going to check to see if they did boneless Lamb he then gave me  item number which he told me to put it in the search box and if it was available then I could then order it. I will try to access the boneless leg of Lamb next time I order. More soon.

Pressure washer

Yesterday my mate called he bought a new door bell and a Karcher pressure washer.
 It didn't take him long to replace the old door bell with a new one, the difference being huge. Now, at least I can hear the ringing in my sitting room. He then checked the washing machine and told me it was O.K but he did fit it in situ a little better than I had done. Then it was the installation of the pressure washer. If I had to assemble the washer I would never had managed it bu to him it was easy. He had to show me just how it worked and I had a little go. It shifted the dirt of the yard well but I only tried it for a few minutes.
We had chicken for dinner, one that I had ordered from Sainsbury's, that with the cauliflower and a few carrots and potatoes made a lovely meal.
 This morning I decided to try the washer out a little more so I did just in front of my back door facing South.After I had my dinner I then went and did some more this time outside the door facing North. The difference is huge, I am very pleased so far with the results. I do have lots more to do though. I get the water from one of my butts which is saving me quite an amount as it is from the roof and not direct from the water mains tap.
 Today has been a lot better, yesterday was sunny but still a little cool today has been not quite as sunny but somewhat milder. In fact I had soaked my Little Marvel peas yesterday and this morning set them in the polytunnel. It makes one feel better when the sun shines, also it brings Spring a little nearer. I do have my seed potatoes ready to sow in the garden. I do have a sheltered spot where I intend to sow them in about 3 weeks time hopefully. I will wait until Easter before sowing the remaining seed potatoes. More soon.

Sunny

As today was the first day in a while that the sun shone, I decided to set the broad beans from their pots which I sown in early January. Whether I will do that again is doubtful for when I tried to plant them out I kept losing my balance and found it increasingly difficult to get them planted. I did manage it though so they are now in the ground.
 later the lad came round and I told him that we would go round and sow some seeds in pots. Before I went on to get the seeds in pots I had a look at his little garden and noticed that he had made an effort to get some of the weeds up. I asked him to get the garden fork, I then gave the ground a good dig so that he could get the small fork and trowel which he tried and found it easy. I showed him what to do and set the first broad been seed then I let him set the remaining seeds in pots. I told him we would look for some wood so that we could stake them as they grew taller just to stop them from blowing over. He was pleased with what we had done and I told him that as his flower garden was now rid of weed I would give him a few more flowers. I intend to give him pink some more polyanthus and a snap dragon , he can't say antirrhinum which is not easy to say.
 My best Pal rang up a couple of days ago so I gave him all the details for the Sainsbury's offer. I did tell him that there was nothing on the web but it was still in force, this I told him was probably because they had such a large take up on the offer. He took all the details down and told me that Sainsbury's did deliver in their area as he had seen their van on their Estate. As there are a few in his Family he told me he would be contacting the others and would pass the message on. I did tell him that I was delighted with the delivery, on that he told me that Sainsbury's always had a good name for decent value.
 My mate is coming tomorrow but to be candid I will be a little surprised if he does proceed with the offer from Sainsbury's. As his Partner is a vegetarian, he doesn't buy meat as I buy it. The only time he has a joint of meat is here which is natural for he has more modern tastes, not like me I dislike Pizza and beefburgers, dislike immensely garlic and most sauces. At my time of life I will not try anything new. I like my beef lamb pork mince chicken and duckling. By the way we are having roast chicken from Sainsbury's. The funny thing is that on nearly all their meats  is a cooking time, I think this said cook for 1 hour and 35 minutes. More soon.

Correction

I thought I had made a terrible error yesterday when I said I had saved 75% on the regular savings at sainsbury's. It should have sadi 27% which is still good considering most retailers don't have that mark up on groceries.
 Years ago it was something of 25% on fresh meat and less than 20% on general groceries.
 I of course apologise for any mistakes I make and as I get older they become more regular.
 Today we have had some snow, not a lot but I think inland it may settle a little, tomorrow it is forecast a lot more showers but mainly of rain. I think this Winter so far has been colder and a lot duller than usual. Although the forecasters said January was a dry month, it certainly wasn't here. Roll on Spring, at least the mornings and evenings are beginning to be a little lighter. More soon.

Order.

Yesterday I waited for my order from Sainsbury's to arrive. Just before 11.30.am. the van arrived.I had opened my front gates so he could pull on my drive. He had stopped outside so I gestured for him to come on the driveway which he duly did backing in and up more or less to my front door. He told me that Sainsbury's did not allow their vehicles to enter private properties unless invited to do so. I then informed him that if my gates were open he would have permission to enter my property as I only opened my gates when someone was going to visit me.
 He introduced himself to me and said as I was a new customer he would explain the system which was straight forward. He also mentioned the cold weather, I then suggested to him that if he filled a box I could then take it inside and empty it on my table and work surfaces while he filled the second. He readily agreed and after 4 boxes I had my delivery and he had the 4 empty boxes. He thanked me and told me he hoped to see me soon. I told him I too hoped so too and after he had left I would then shut the gates.
 So in I went to inspect the goods. The first thing I looked at was the Lambs Liver, what I saw was disappointing as it was New Zealand. I then checked the other Lamb, sure enough the leg of Lamb was also New Zealand but the boneless shoulder was English.
 As I had decided to have liver for my dinner, which I had prepared my potatoes and vegetables I opened the vacuum packed liver.  Although it look ed nice there was an awful lot of it but not to be daunted I selected the best slices and cooked them, at the same time cooking the rest of my dinner. To be honest I was amazed at the taste of the liver, it was equally as good as any English liver I had tasted and if anyone had asked me I would have told them it was in fact English.
 I then checked the remaining goods and found them to be very good. The skimmed milk had a 9 day shelf life and other items had a good shelf life too. The cauliflower was in excellent condition, the savoy was perfectly acceptable. In fact I found everything to be in very good condition.
 This morning I decided to try the leg of lamb being as it was New Zealand. It was vacuum packed so it was nice, I cooked it and to be honest it was very nice indeed. So now at least I know first hand that Sainsbury's goods are not bad at all.
 I worked it out and as I had the bill for a little over £64 + £2 delivery charge. With the £18 discount I had saved about 75% on the regular price. I was well satisfied and would recommend them to anyone. More soon.

Rather busy.

On Saturday morning I rung my mate up as usual but had no reply so I decided to have a go at connecting the new washer. First I took out the transportation bolts out then struggled to get under the worksurface where the washer is to be fitted. the same place as the old one. I eventually managed to get all fitted and then decided to wait for a couple of hours, first to see if my mate would contact me and second to see if there were any leaks.
 As my mate didn't ring up I though I would try to get the washer in a more convenient place so that it would not be a hazard to me. After some time I managed to get the washer into the space and luckily for me also managed to rehang the cupboard door. So it was now in some sort of situ.
 I e-mailed my mate with the news and as I had expected he rung me up the following day. I had done some washing and was very pleased with the outcome.
 My mate was pleasantly surprised with the news but at least it didn't put pressure on him to make a special visit to fit the washer. Hopefully he will be here some time next week.
 Yes!! I have finally done it, registered and bought groceries Online from Sainsbury's.
 It was reasonably straight forward, the only snag was when they wanted to know a little more about where I lived, also they asked for a nickname. That said all is well. I did have a little difficulty finding where the discount was but it is I think called e-voucher.
 I entered my details and followed procedures and I only noticed at the last moment the e-voucher code. When I entered SAVE18 immediately came a red note stating that I was entitled to a one off discount being a new customer using the service for the first time. I had placed an order for a total of £64 that reduced it to £46.  I then went to book a timeslot but there were only a few timeslots available. They were generally from £2 to £3 a delivery but if one wished a delivery at 10.00pm or a little later it was just £1.  All afternoon there was nothing but there were a couple of hours from 11.00.am to 1.00.pm. I chose the 11.00.am to Noon for £2. This meant a total of £48. I was also given the option of having bags which would cost 40p per order but I decided to decline the offer.
 So it works out that a discount of over 25% is given for a first order. According to the leaflet I received there will be sent via e-mail another 4 discount offers for a £10 discount on a the next 4 orders of £50 or more. There is obviously a time limit on these discounts. We will wait and see what transpires. By the way, the offer is open to all new customers providing they deliver to the area where one lives. I gave the leaflet to the Woman next door, but I don't suppose she will use it. The offer runs out on March 11th. this year I think. More soon.

Disconnecting

As promised my mate came yesterday not only to dosconnect the washer but to have a meal too. He is very good at DIY not like me at all.
 I had told him that I thought the cables carrying water to the washer did not close completely and when I had a new carpet fitted the guy laying the carpet told me to get a bowl to catch the water. This must have been about 10 years ago.
 Anyway my mate pulled out the washer then started to disconnect the pipes from the hot and cold water supply. that was so old that the modern washers only have a cold refill but this was well over 22 years old. He told me that they were leaking and as I had a sure stop fitted, the cold water was not a problem, unfortunately for us no such thing was available for the hot water supply. He told me that we would need some new fittings. I told him that a local supply shop was about 5 miles away so we went in his car off to the suppliers. It was raining very hard, I told him that the weather people said it had been a dry January but not here. He concurred and said he had noticed on his way to Boston the other day that the fields standing water was there in abundance.
 We got the fittings and got back to mine, I then started to get the dinner ready while he fitted the cold supply pipe. Then he started to work on the hot water supply only to blank it off. Suddenly he asked me if I had a penny coin, I told him that I had and gave him one. He fitted it in the pipe and then told me that it been fixed. He really is good.
 last night I went Online to see when the delivery would approximately be, I was given a time of 10.10.am. to 14.10.pm. So I went to bed knowing that the delivery would be before late afternoon.
 This morning soon after 9.00.am. the telephone rang. It was KnowHow the delivery man, he told me it was a courtesy call informing me that they would be about 30 minutes. About 30 minutes later I had another call, first asking where I was and second telling me they would be at mine in about 10 minutes.
 I was outside talking to my Neighbour when they arrived. It was just before 10.00.am. They soon had the old washer removed but the guy who came inside told his partner that it was very heavy, then in came the new washer they took all the packaging away with them and was gone within 5 minutes. So just after 10.00.am. the delivery was completed. Needless to say I was very satisfied as one gets fed up waiting. Now I wait for my mate to install the washer. More soon.