Peas

Just realised that this will be our 5th summer at our allotment. We are just getting the hang of things, sometimes it is successful and others not quite so good!
One thing we love to grow are peas! Frozen ones are fine, but nothing like ones straight from the pod at the allotment.  we usually share the first pod one or two peas each! 
I would like to try and gave a regular supply of peas all summer, so need to sow a new row every few weeks.
I sowed some seeds in guttering in the greenhouse about a month ago by last weekend the plants were about 6 cm tall and time to plant them out. The gutter is great, just dig a shallow trench hold it up and gently shake! The plants sort of slide out and just need firming in! A quick water and hey presto all done. As it is still a bit chilly I covered them with a fleece cloche.
Next step will be to put a net up for the peas to grow up.
One year I saved 5 pounds of pea pods (freezing them as I got them) to make pea pod wine. This year the pods will go on the compost heap!

Frogs

We have a small wildlife pond in the garden. A few frogs live in it, once I saw a newt!
On Monday we noticed some frog spawn and then loads more on Tuesday. Spotted 4 frogs

This is the earliest they have spawned since records began (my own records!!!) last year when March was absolutely freezing and spring was very late it didn't happen until 18th April around 4 weeks later than normal.
Funny - our weather!

Blackthorn

As I was driving through Ardleigh this morning I noticed a long hedgerow covered in white blossom. It looked amazing especially with the cloudless sky and the sun shining.  On the way back I had to stop and take a photo!
Just looked it up, this is Blackthorn, the bush that produces sloes. The sort that make sloe gin!
An old wives tale says that it won't warm up while the blossom is still on the bush - will have to keep an eye on it!

FEBRUARY 2014 SCAVENGER HUNT

This month has flown by, unlike January which dragged on and on and on, and so it was a bit of a surprise to find it was the end of the month and I hadn't found all my photos for this months challenge.  So stuck my wellies on and went out in the wind and rain to finish them off and here they are...............

F is for ..............

Fingers!  or finger nails to be precise - had a gel manicure last week before we went away for the weekend.

3 p.m.

At 3 p.m. today I walked (in the freezing cold pouring rain) to the post office to post a swap parcel to New Zealand.


Grain

 My chickens have a handful of mixed grain every afternoon.  It is funny they eat the corn, but leave the sweetcorn which they eat the next morning.

Lamp

 This desk lamp used to be in one of the bedrooms and was red.  I wanted it over my desk, so we sprayed it grey!  Fits right in now

Click

Click, click, clickerty click - as I type and and a double click now and then!


 Honey

Alice bought this jar of honey back from Russia at Christmas, it had a paper label tied with string and a wax seal on it.  I also noticed that our favourite cereal bars are oats and HONEY.  Had a talk about bee keeping at horticultural society last year, it's a right faff, they need lots of work.  Not just a case of getting the honey out once a year, not sure that bee keeping is for me, but glad it is for some people!!

Fountain

 Fountains have been a bit thin on the ground in my part of the world. So here is the rain overflowing from the water but into a bucket causing a bit of a fountain!

Round

Pompoms!  round woolly balls of delight!

Shadow

Just me in the garden, we managed one sunny day this month!


Clouds

I was trying to get a photo of "The House in the Clouds" but got a good photo of the clouds but not of the house.  You can just about see it on the horizon.  Apparently this was a water tower, but they made it look like a house.  Taken in Thorpeness on the Suffolk coast.


Group

Spotted this big group of crocuses on the side of the road as I walked back from the post office.

Repupose

I save up all the loo roll and kitchen roll innards all year round and use them to plant my broadbeans and runner beans.  I planted some broadbeans a couple of weeks ago, but one of the old boys at the allotment told me they would rot, so I came home and planted the rest of the seeds in these tubes in the greenhouse -  I won't be beaten!

Well that's it for another month, will start looking for the March photos.  Thanks to Greenthumb once again!

Cambridge

I popped up to Cambridge yesterday to see my lad.

I love going there, it is a lovely city to walk around, so long as you keep your eyes open for the cyclists, they seem to zoom up behind you from nowhere, ringing their bells and shouting at you if you happen to stray just a few inches into a cycle lane.
Anyway I drove up, takes about one and half hours, quite a nice drive, head towards Ipswich and then pick up the A14, past Stowmarket, Bury st Edmunds, Newmarket and then off into Cambridge.  Jared has found a tiny, free parking space right near his house and I managed to squeeze in, which was good luck.
We started with a trip to Tesco, to stock him up on all his essentials and a few treats too!
Then into town for lunch

We walked past all the chain restaurants and some strange little sandwich shops until we found Fitzbillies, near the Fitzwilliam Musuem.  We have very different tastes so it is quite a challenge to find something to suit.  Jared had a steak sandwich with lettuce and NO horseradish mayo!  I had a cheese and celery tart with a massive pile of delicious coleslaw, it was very pink, lots of red cabbage I think.  Cups of tea too, to warm us up!

 We had a walk around the town.  The market was quiet and there was nothing that caught my eye.  Cath Kidston is a must and my £4 voucher was burning a hole in my pocket, but didn't see anything that I really wanted.  Then went into a shop called Tiger, went there before Christmas and picked up load of bits and pieces.  I found some small paper Easter egg decorations, some tin plant pots and some dishcloths - yellow with chicks on, will make washing up fun (not!!)

Then on to the river, where we declined a ride in a punt, it was a bit too chilly!
Time for tea and cake, we looked in some shops and then found Patisserie Valerie and my goodness they do big cakes, Jared ended up with a doggie bag!

 I had a custard pastry and Jared had a chocolate cake with a profiterole on top! yummy!

There is a shop at the end of his road which is a sort of farm shop, but always has flowers for sale, today they had loads of Polyanthus, 3 for £2, such a bargain so I had 6!   Here they are in the tin cans I bought.

After all that a long drive home in the rush hour! 

SWISH....

Just spent a wonderful weekend away in Norfolk. Got back yesterday afternoon exhausted! 

We set off on Friday morning for a journey that should take just under 2 hours, it's not far and decided to to a detour and stop for lunch on the way.  For some reason we decided to stop in Aldeburgh.  I have been before and wasn't that keen then and not that keen this time.  Sorry to those of you that live there, but I don't really see what the fuss is about.  Ok, I know we went on a chilly February day, and I am sure it is better on a sunny summers day, but well............  We drove along the main road and there looked like there were some interesting shops.  There are two fish and chip shops, apparently they are wonderful and the thing to do is to get your chips and sit on a stony, windy beach and eat them.  But the queues!  There were at least 25 people queueing down the street outside both of them, so we didn't bother and I don't even like fish and chips.  We tried the Prezzo, but it was fully booked!!!!  Ended up with a sandwich in a small tea shop which was very nice.  Looked around the shops - Jack Wills ( yes Jack Wills in a tiny seaside town), Jooles and some other clothes shops. 
We drove along the coast road and a great big rat ran across the road in front of us, well, I am not keen on rats at all!!

Not a very good photo of the seashell statue, it is quite impressive standing in the middle of the stony beach, but I was a bit worried about the rat and hurried back to the car.
We then drove through Thorpeness, an interesting little village with a lake, which we might have walked around if it had been warmer, tried to get a photo of the house in the clouds -  very odd, I am not sure what it is supposed to be.

 Perhaps we should have gone to Southwold instead.
We then drove on to our destination, Potters Holiday Resort in Hopton-on-sea!!  

It was a Ceroc dance weekend.  We go to a Ceroc dance class every week.  Ceroc is a style of dance known as modern jive, not really Jive like they do on Strictly, more a mix of salsa, waltz and slow jive, anyway I like it.

What a weekend! There were lessons all day, for beginners, improver's and advanced dancers and some covering other styles, I was desperate to do the Tango class, but it was so hard!  I learnt to walk backwards and slide my leg to the side.  Each evening there was dancing until 4 am, although I only managed to stay up until 1.30 - 3 nights in a row!
All the food was included, a bit regimented, but it had to be to fit in with the class schedule.  Breakfast was a help your self affair, lunch soon followed at 12.30 which could be a 3 course meal, I couldn't eat that much and then dance again after, so stuck with the salad.
Dinner was again a massive 3 course meal, with lots of choices and some nice puddings!  Then for those who were really greedy there was a midnight snack!!  We went to have a look on the first night and it was chilli and rice -  how can people eat that at that time of night?  Anyway the food was tasty, not the most wonderful I have ever had but more than ok.

We stayed in a chalet and ours was the one fattest from the main buildings, almost in the sea!  Still it does you good to have a nice walk!

Watch out for the cliff edge.

On Sunday afternoon we took a walk down to the beach, it was a bit breezy! We didn't stay out long!

It was non stop all weekend and my mind was a bit frazzled with all the different classes, trying to remember the new moves that we learnt.  Today my legs ache, my arms and shoulders ache and most strangely my wrist aches.  I think it was because I learnt to flick my wrist up at the end of a move and did it so much I have worn it out!

 
 
 

Hearts, love and flowers

 

Yes! you might be thinking that I am a week early for Valentines, but today is my wedding anniversary, 27 years today.
And I also got a very special parcel in the post too.

 Managed to finish work an hour early today, which gave me time to have a good tidy up and faff around with the dresser.  Working from the top I have added some tiny heart shaped lights, 3 large pillar candles with red hearts on from Ikea, a home made felt heart and felt ball garland, more candles and a decoupage word LOVE.  Later I added a plate of heart shaped biscuits and the flowers my husband gave me when he came home from work. On the curtain rail is a paper heart garland - cool?

 

My husband has very good taste in flowers, he has learnt (over the last 27 and a half years) what I like and the colours that don't clash with the walls.  Tonight he came home with a lovely bouquet, which I arranged in a small wicker basket.  Cream roses, carnations and some purple bell shaped flowers, I am not sure of their name, but very pleased with my arranging.

I gave him a bag of heart shaped jelly sweets, he loves jellies and made some heart shaped biscuits drizzled with chocolate.

We don't tend to go for meals very often, or make a big deal of anniversaries, flowers and sweets do the trick.  For dinner I cooked sweet and sour steak for him and Thia curry quorn for me with rice and stirfry vegies, very tasty!

A few weeks ago I decided to join in with a swap, "Send a little love" ,organised by Tracy

 

I was linked with Amanda at Grahams Landing, she lives and works in Malaysia, i love to read her blog, it takes me to the other side of the world to a country I know nothing about. 

Anyway, addresses were swapped, items collected and parcels posted.  I am not sure if she has mine yet, but mine has arrived.  I was so excited to see my parcel and couldn't wait to see what was inside.  Sometimes swaps can be a bit hit and miss, you never know what you might get, but I was not disappointed this time.

Quite a big parcel, with a big customs label, I soon knew who it was from.  Inside wrapped in pink paper and tied with a red ribbon was

 

Something heart shaped or themed

Something deliciously edible

Something handmade

Something red

 Some heart shaped stickers

Heart and love sticky tape

Some little felt hearts, I can see another garland coming on.....

 Something I am not too sure what it is, but I think it is origami paper, need to investigate further later.

A note book and pink pen

A box of 30 postcards, all with a love theme

A box of heart shaped Borneo biscuits -  very exotic!!

A lovely red t-shirt with blue hearts, just the right size too!!  

And lastly a special gift 

This lovely bead bracelet, just my style and fits so well, not too big, just right.

So thank you Amanda for a lovely swap, just hope my parcel arrives with you soon and you like what's in it!