Monday: first proper day of the holidays

Good morning everyone!  It's a lovely, sunny but still cool early morning here and I've already done a bit of garden pottering.  Unfortunately, the weather forecast products very humid conditions this afternoon with possible thundery showers.  Darn it!  I can manage the heat, swollen feet and ankles not withstanding, but humidity is unpleasant.  if I had the odd three hundred spare I would invest in a dehumidifier, but as I don't it's a question of grin and bear it, I guess.  Fortunately I CAN stay indoors, I CAN rest, I CAN take things slowly.  I can because today is the first proper day of the holidays.  YESSSSSSS

Ok, so, back to being an adult again now.  Yesterday morning I went shopping.  Firstly it was a good potter around Wyvale.  Into my trolley jumped a chocolate mint (smells gorgeous), a curry plant (smells delicious) and, find of the day, a tray of parsley plants for just one pound.  Yes, there were some dead bits but there was also still plenty of green and twelve for a pound - even if one survived it would be good value!  This morning I planted six of them after taking off the dead stems and the other six are for Beth.  I also bought a few bits and bobs such as labels, feeding granules, etc, and headed for the checkout to present one of my voucher cards, only to be told Wyvale don't take them.  Darn it!  When I got home I did what I should have done and checked the web site to discover that Abercorn over the other side of town takes them.  And guess what is opposite that garden centre - Lathcoats Farm.  Good-oh!  Guess where I am going this morning too, unless it gets too hot too quickly!

Here they are, just in, just watered and looking a bit flat at the moment, but they will perk up during the day.

After that I popped into Lidl and stocked up with strong bread flour which was 6p a bag cheaper than the last time I got some, so that's good.  79p for a 1.5k bag isn't bad at all, is it?  And I got the fence paint from B&Q too.

Then it was home by which time the sun was burning through and it was becoming pretty hot.  It was a bit of a rush to get the pizza dough made (see Teacher's Recipes for the details of the recipe) but we got there in the end, sitting down to eat just before 1:30.  Today I am going to make a double batch (enough for six single pizza bases) and freeze them after the rising and knocking back down, as suggested in the recipe.  Rather than making pizza, I might use some for making a calzone which I have always liked.  Basically, it is the Italian version of a Cornish pasty and dead easy to make!  The filling will not be authentic though.

I've kept the best news for the end - I have a tomato!!  More accurately, I have a ripening tomato.  It's one of the tumbling toms and I shall resist the temptation to pick and eat so it can send the 'come on chaps, keep up' message to all the other tomatoes.  I might even take the basket down and pop it in the grow house for a while, to spread the word.

Doesn't it look good?

Well, I'd better get going.  I found an old Debenhams giftcard.  When I checked on the web site it was still valid but it must be coming to the end of its life and I need to spend it, quickly.  So I'm off into town to do just that!  I will also spend my Waterstone money and my Boots money (on hearing aid batteries, which I always need, and will use the value of them elsewhere) and then potter around M&S because, guess what, I have a gift card for there as well.  After that it's strawberry picking at Lathcoats (if it's not ridiculously hot) followed by a trawl around the garden centre!

A nice way to spend the very first proper day of the holiday, don't you think?