Typical.

It has been typical Bank Holiday weather here on the East Coast, a strong Northerly cool wind and dull in general but no rain yet.
 I went to Lidl this morning to do my shopping and when I got back I was busy taking the goods out of my car when I heard my name called. It was the Man from next door, he is on his own because his Mother and her Partner had gone to Australia for almost a month. I asked hi if he had heard anything from them since they left, he told me he had been in contact and at this moment they were in Sidney. I suggested to him that it would be a lot warmer over there than here. He then told me that yesterday he mowed the field with his overcoat and hat on because it was so cold. This will let you know how cold it can be on the East Coast when the strong winds are off the sea and it is predominantly dull. For the second day we have not even had sign of the sun. Incidentally my Central heating has come 9on early and later I have had my gas fire on. Mind you it has not stopped my new potatoes in the polytunnel grow. I was surprised just ho big some of them are as you can see. This is just off one tubor. I also have several cauliflowers ready or just about ready. That is the trouble with vegetables, especially cauliflowers they all come more or less at the same time and with cauliflowers you can't leave them too long before they bolt. Still it saves me a little money for at this time vegetables are scarce and those available are expensive. More soon.

Weathermen

As usual the weathermen don't consider us on the east Coast. yesterday began sunny but soon the clouds rolled in and gradually it got worse, the temperature was hovering between 12 and 13c but according to the forecasters it would be 16c and mainly sunny. Today dawned very dull and clod, at least the weathermen did alter their forecast stating that it was possible the low cloud would persist right on the coast and the temperature would be about 13c a lot more than it is here for it is just 10c and my Central heating is on once more may be similar to today but on Friday we may have some rain and the week end is supposed to be nice, sunny and warm. I will believe that when it happens.
 yesterday morning the lad came round to plant the kidney beans, while we were planting them the Partner of his carer came to see to the pigeons. I asked him if he had any bamboo canes for if he did I would give him some runner bean plants. We talked about other things and eventually I told him that I had to go back home for I was frozen. To be honest I didn't get warm for the rest of the day.
 This morning I went for my haircut and found the assistant was there instead of the Proprietor, she had mentioned it before but she was a lot slower than the Proprietor but made a good job of my hair, I may well go once again on a Wednesday morning for she works on that day plus on a Saturday.
 As I had onl7y nne fairly large old potato I decided to boil it up so that I could have bubble and squeak, a thing that we had as children many many years ago. This was to save money by utilising any left overs. It was alright but I don't think I will be having it again soon.
 So now it will be new potato time. I want to dig up the potatoes first in the Greenhouse because if they get Potato Blight they will pass it on to the Tomatoes and I definitely don't want that to happen. The potatoes in the polytunnel are doing well so hopefully my potatoes will last me a few months or at least till the potatoes for sale will last. More soon.

Busy

The first picture was of the first taste of New Potatoes out of the greenhouse these were picked I think on Tuesday last week. I decided to see if the second potato in the greenhouse was any better for it looked as if it was. As you can see it was well packed with many potatoes. In fact I had the lad round on Saturday and there was plenty for us plus another meal for me yesterday.
 I had originally asked my mate if he could supply me with a base for the shed but as I hadn't heard from him I knew he was having difficulty in finding a supplier who would cut the formed wood to size so on Thursday I decided to go to the local Jewson. They were most helpful and when I told them what I wanted they let me know there was no problem. It cost me just over £41 which I though was reasonable especially as they had it cut for me to the size I wanted.
 I let my mate know by email and he told me that nobody in Skegness was interested. He rung me up yesterday afternoon just to let me know he was travelling to Mablethorpe with his Partner to visit some friends, asking me if I was in so that he could deliver the Flora Proactive which he bought from Tesco when it was on offer. I told him that he could see my handiwork when he arrived.
 On Saturday the lad came early but I had already more or less emptied the shed ready to put another floor on top of the existing floor which is not of wood but some composite.
 The first thing I did when the lad came round was to go and sort his garden out and whilst he dug the ground I weeded his garden and sprayed with weed killer in his greenhouse where the panes of glass have been damaged.
 Then it was off to mine taking the last couple of items out of the shed. The lad laid the first  plank of wood remarking that it was a perfect fit. When I came to nail it down I noticed that the floor was bowed so that the wood didn't lie flat. To overcome that I told him that we would nail the remaining wooden panels and as they were away from the front well over an inch. What we did next was to get the lad to cut  a length of wood so that it could fit under the planks that were raised. That did the trick for when I nailed the planks to the wood it fitted very well and it was solid to walk on.
 We had dinner and as a treat I bought an Strawberry Cheesecake for his pudding. To be honest I think I am going back to my childhood for I told him to close his eyes and I bought out the cheesecake. I do try to keep the pudding a secret if I can. needless to say he was very happy and he had a second helping which is normal for the puddings I make. In fact he had almost half of the cheesecake. I managed to finish it off today.
 This morning my mate came and I went out to see his Partner to see if she wanted to come inside but she told me she was not too good with trouble which I know a lot about. My mate gave me the Flora Proactive and then went out to see what I had done. I than asked him if it passed muster and he told me that the floor would probably outlast the rest of the shed. Anyway with him calling I had planned to go to get my haircut but it will be Wednesday now, tomorrow is Auction day and no room will be available at the Car Park which is FREE. More soon.

Tired

Yesterday I was too tired to go Online after helping the Lad next door yesterday afternoon.
 I told you about my Sisters visiting me recently but what I didn't mention was my younger Sister went to the Supermarket, I will not divulge the name but there was on offer at a reduced price some Stewing Steak, they were getting near the sell by date but had a couple of days before the sell by date was reached. She decided to get a couple of packs. I can't remember if it was 500 or 800 gramme packs, I think it was 800. When she got home she decided to split the packs into 3 so that she could freeze them. As my Sister is precise she got out the scales and worked out precisely how much each pack  would hold making them all equal. When she weighed the last pack she found that it was not the same as the other 2 so she checked the weight on the original cartons and weighed the combined meat and found that it was short. She decided to contact Customers Service and she explained the weight was short. At first the guy on the other end was apologetic and asked for all details which she gave. Then she let him know what had happened. She informed him that she had worked on an assembly line producing meals and let him know that the weight on the production line had been set too low. She told him that normally if the nett weight should be 500 grammes the weight on the line  should be a fraction higher and any that was below that weight would be rejected. He then said to her that someone would contact her.
 It was a couple of weeks later that she received a letter thanking her for the news and they had contacted the suppliers and had rectifed the discrepancy and if she took the letter to the Manager of the Store she would get a full refund.
 Off my Sister went to the Supermarket and asked to see the Manager, he was helpful and informed her that a full refund would be given to her but if she was shopping she should give the letter to the checkout girl where the sum would be deducted from the total and if it was more than the total, a refund would be given. She explained to the Manager that there was a 30% discount because the items were getting near the sell by date. He assured her that this made no difference and she would get the full refund on the original price.
 The outcome was that she spent a lot less than the refund so came out with more money than what she went in with. She was well satisfied so I guess the scales will be out regular.
 Finally I had a taste of New Potatoes yesterday, they were small but very nice and tasty, I will post the photos next time I go Online, I also have a couple of cauliflowers ready, my Best pal has just rung up so when he calls I will let him have one of them. More soon.

Hectic.

As expected my Sisters came to see me yesterday, they arrived just before 10.30.am. and left a little after 4.30.pm. We had a great time reminiscing but before that the first thing I did was make a few mince pies so that when they arrived they had a coffee and mince pie.
 I told them that I had done a rhubarb crumble and also I was going to give them a demonstration with the Phillips Air Fryer. I had told them that we would have a meal of sausage and chips. Before that though we had a tour of the garden, in  particular my potatoes look fine, mind you they are not in the garden for the soil is very poor. I did ask the guy next door how he had got on with the pigeon racing and he told me he had finished 9th, but had only lost one bird. He then mentioned the new raised bed he had done, putting his pigeon manure on but he told me that with the heavy rain we have had the soil had set like concrete. I mentioned to him that mine was like that too.
 After taking my Sisters round the garden I then showed them the easy way to cook chips. I had previously peeled the potatoes, sliced and cut them into chip shape, soaked them in water to get rid of the starch. I then drained the chips and put them in a cloth to dry a little then I took the chips and placed them in a bowl, took out some oil(extra virgin rape seed oil) and took a teaspoon and poured some iol and filled the teaspoon then poured it on the chips and moved the chips with my hand to make sure all the chips were covered in a little oil. I opened the Fryer and placed the chips in the container and set the timer for 25 minutes. I got the sausages ready to put on the George Foreman  Grill and got the plates ready to warm. I also got everything ready for the meal, after 15 minutes or so I opened the fryer container and gave them a good shake, this is done to make sure that the chips are cooking evenly. I then put the grill on and started to cook the sausages. It didn't take long before all was ready, my Sisters were impressed but my youngest Sister noticed that it wouldn't do a fresh fish in batter. I told her that it was not a deep fat fryer but it cooked by circulating air Mind you they both said the chips were very nice and the Air Fryer looked neat.
 After the meal we went to the sitting room and talked about old times. I am sure I have told you that my Sister, the eldest one went on the Farm for 2 weeks in I think October starting in 1946  and went for a second year. It must be remembered that this was 1948 and 1947. Most of the men serving in the Armed Forces were not demobbed until late 1946 or early 1947 so labour was very scarce. She told me one of the jobs was beet singling back aching but she said it was better than school.
 I don't know if I told you this but she asked me if I remembered the Orange saga. I told her I certainly did. I would be towards the end of the War and a troop train was waiting to enter Grantham Station and it was stationary on the bridge above the main road. An American shouted down and threw an Orange, there was a rush with my Sister winning the race. It must be remembered that fresh Oranges were like hens teeth. The Government used to issue us children with concentrated Orange Juice. Cod liver oil was another thing they used to supply us youngsters with but nobody liked the cod liver oil, however we had to take it.The long and short of it my Sister took the Orange to school with her, guarded it carefully and when she came home we had a taste of fresh Orange. To be honest I could not remember tasting a fresh Orange Bananas were another fruit that I didn't see until about 1947.
 It was a ritual that we had either stewed rhubarb or prunes. They came from America and were dried and had to be soaked in hot water to reconstitute them. In fact they were nice. My Mother used to buy tinned prunes well into her late 80s.
 We had laughs and the time went all to quickly and then it was time for them to leave.  We enjoyed the time together but a thought went out to my other Sister in Scotland for she has dementia. More soon.

Fuel Increase

As you can see my Potatoes are doing well in the polytunnel, also the strawberry plants are in flower but they are not as sweet when grown in the polytunnel. You will also notice the broad beans which is called The Sutton, they are supposed to be small but all the plants seem to grow a lot taller when grown under glass or polythene.
 Tomorrow I will go round with the Lad to get his strawberry bed covered in straw. This, hopefully will deter the slugs. Naturally they will be protected from the Blackbirds which really are a menace to most gardeners. The Lad will be staying for dinner so I will get him to do the odd job after we have done his strawberry patch. I intend to let him play once again with the steam cleaner which he enjoyed using it. Later I will allow him to water my polytunnel. I have an old pressure washer and I also have a piece of hose leading from one of my water butts, the largest as it happens. I am sure he will also enjoy doing that.
 The Carer next door came to see me the other day and told me she had asked Social Services if it was alright for the lad to visit me and also take an interest in his little garden. Social Services were all for that saying it was a very good idea for him to have an interest. He certainly is interested especially when things begin to grow. I encourage him to do as much as he can to his garden, but as with most youngsters he is impatient and wants things to be ready today. Anyway tomorrow morning and into the afternoon is spoken for.
 My Sisters are supposed to be visiting me next week. I have been here for over 25 years and my eldest Sister has never been to see me so it will be nice to see them
 I had to go once more to the Surgery this morning. I have never seen anything like it, naturally he was a foreign coloured Doctor but when he greeted each Patient he greeted them with a high hand in the air. He came out of his Consulting Room and pointed to his eyes at the Receptionist so she went to see him. It was so refreshing to see a G.P. with a smile on his face. Lwt us hope that everyone has a nice rain free bank Holiday. More soon.

Change in weather

The forecast for yesterday was dreadful with heavy rain a d gale force N/E winds. Although it was bitter cold with the temperature hovering between 6c and 8c maximum the rain stayed away
 This morning dawned sunny and I had decided to go to the shops prior to the sunshine. I called at the Newsagent then off to Lidl where it was dreadful getting out because there was no person on any checkouts and this was about 9.10.am. There must have been between 12 and 20 waiting so eventually a Supervisor called for someone to go to the checkout. As one who has seen this happen many times it takes about 5 minutes for anyone to get the checkout working. This Lady who was waiting next to me was complaining as most were. I told her that I had heard on the radio this morning that it was the aim of ALL Supermarkets to eventually go without any checkouts. All I told her that us older folk would not use the Supermarkets that will go that way.
 Eventually I managed to get and pay for my goods then it was off to Lords the warehouse where they often have vegetables cheaper and better than Lidl. True to form, I was lucky for they had just delivered cauliflowers, they were great and at 89p  good value for money. They were still a little wet for obviously they had just been delivered. I guess there were about 2 dozen an all. Naturally I only picked one, then it was off back home.
 I had only been in my home about 15 minutes, just enough time to get my goods put away when the doorbell rang. It was the lad with his scooter. He told me that as it was a nice day he had decided to play on his scooter. He asked me if I would like to go next door for a coffee but I let him know that I had just made one but would come round for a chat about 15 minutes later. We had a quick look at the garden and he wished me to see his garden so we went to the fence where we had a plank fitted so we could look over. IT is about 6' in height. His garden looked well so I told him that I would look at his garden when we went round. I then showed him where the next doors tree was felled. They made light work of it taking the tree down in parts, it took less than 3 hours. The logs and branches are safely next door and will take a little while to shift.
 It was off next door, the Lass with severe learning difficulties was talkative, I can understand her. It is a credit to the Carer for when she first came she said nothing at all but has improved beyond recognition. Mind you she will never he able to look after herself.
 After about 30 minute talking I told the Lad that we would go and weed the strawberry bed prior to putting straw down. I first went to the greenhouse and immediately noticed the polythene had been blown down, not surprising as we have had a few days of gales. I saw a bit of wood and the lad went for a saw which I cut to size. It fitted perfectly and I managed to wedge the polythene between the glass and the piece of wood. Hopefully that will do the trick. Mind you his tomatoes look fine in the greenhouse.
 We then went to the strawberry bed firstly looking at his garden and noticing his radish. I then dug his strawberry bed making him take most of the weeds out. I then told him I would put a few slug pellets down for as it came warmer the slugs would get more active. By the time we had finished it was near Noon so I told him that I must go and get my dinner cooked. I had had a busy morning so I will take it a little easy this afternoon. More soon.