Sunday

Good morning, gentle readers, and welcome to a comparatively chilly, dull and damp Sunday morning here in mid-Essex.  The French window is open but I'm thinking of closing it soon as I'm feeling cold.  No complaints - I'd rather be cold than too hot because I can do something about the former!

Yesterday was always going to be a busy day.  Beth, Alex and I meandered through the library into school where we set to sorting out the remaining mess and wiping shelves down, etc.  Five or six hours later and one lunch at the Flyer and one teenager down we were sorting out the finished books and getting the internal record folder into some sort of order.  It's more or less all done now, thank goodness, so I can tick several things off my list!  Yay! 

Thanks so much Beth and Alex.  It made such a difference to have someone to talk to as we worked. 

I do have a problem though.  While I have been able to chuck quite a lot away, I have brought quite a lot of stuff home.  You don't work in a place for nearly 30 years one way or another without collecting stuff.  The problem is where to put it all!  At the moment it is stacked up (sort of) on the sofa in the living room looking horribly messy.

I think that for now it will have to be stacked up in the small bedroom until I can decide what to do with it all.  Maybe more will get chucked away today!

One good thing though - I found some lengths of fabric (bought on the market) in one cupboard that date back to the days when you were considered a Good School if you used 'drapes' for your displays.  Anyone remember that?  A decade before that it was using black italic handwriting on displays, I seem to remember.  Fads and fashions are endemic in education!

Anyway - the fabric.  It's rather nice stuff and I know exactly where to put it after giving it a good wash.  With the quilting stash, of course! 

There's no need to water the garden this morning after the rain overnight and I remembered to feed the tomatoes yesterday.  They are showing proper gratitude for being well fed by sending out loads of baby tomatoes, enough to keep Beth, Alex and me in fruit once they start ripening.  The freebie-accidental plant is also growing well and I must remember to feed that too as soon as the fruits start coming.

The accidental Hundreds and Thousands tomato plant

Actually - thinking about it - I will throw over a handful of general fertiliser today.  The soil in that container can't be all that nutritious by now.

What isn't doing so well is the tayberry.  Poor thing, it has had a rough time in its short life.  It stayed in its small delivery pot for much longer than it should have done before I planted it into a larger pot.  Then it was moved to its forever place and got thoroughly weeded by an over-enthusiastic young gardener.  I really thought that was the end but no, up it has come again, although it's not sending out long stems - yet.  I talk to it nicely and live in hope that in five years' time there will be fruit!  After all, most of gardening is based on faith, hope and love, isn't it - except for weeds, of course.  They seem to manage far too well without any encouragement whatsoever!

Hmmm - I've just taken the photo above and look, there are some stems coming up after all.  Maybe there will be a little fruit next year: that would be fantastic!  Three cheers.

The runner beans have also decided to make a go of it after being nearly nibbled to death by goodness knows what.  They will be climbing the supports soon and then there will be no stopping them!

These are self pollinating.  Dad grew them last year and found them excellent so he gave me some seeds.  Thanks, Dad.

Well, I had better go and do some work.  It won't get done by itself, that's for sure!  But first - another coffee, I think.  After all, it is the weekend, isn't it?