Monday

Good morning, gentle readers and welcome to the start of a new week.  I might be retired but weekends still feel different from weekdays.  Odd, but it is helpful to have some definition to the days and weeks, I think.  It's the last week before half term and I have two days of teaching this week which is rather nice.

What else is rather nice is that there's a whole new generation of littlies who say, shyly or noisily, 'hello, Mrs Clark' when they see me in Morrisons.  When I do the cover teaching, most of the day is with Foundation Stage and so a whole new cohort is getting to know me and I am getting to know them.  Sweet.

Yesterday Beth and I decided to do some more work on the allotment.  We didn't spend as long as Saturday but we still got plenty done although there's plenty more that still needs doing.  One problem is  finding a way of cutting the grass edges and pathways.  In the past, Beth has tried petrol mowers, electric mowers using a generator and push alongs but none have worked all that well and transporting them is a big issue.  As the pathways and edges seriously need doing, yesterday we invested in some long handled lawn trimmers and some edge trimmers.  It's not ideal but should keep the worst down while we work out what to do in the longer term.

When we got back we had a boot full of 'garden waste'.  While we are quite happy to put the vegetable stuff in the compost bin at the allotment, the many weeds are another matter so we bought some really strong rubble bags and the contents have gone into my brown bin (and the brown bins of my lovely, friendly neighbours too, bless them).  The bags will be used again and again and again, I hope; they weren't cheap!

We also had a fair old pile of spuds too.  I took some and Beth has the rest.  They are delicious and I need to ensure I use them soon.

It was just as well we had an early lunch (soup and I will post the recipe because it was nice) and went straight after that because later on it got very chilly and rained.  By that time we were both safely home and I was actually snuggled under the fleece and snoozing (surprise, surprise).  I did dodge the raindrops to pick the tomatoes - yes, I'm still getting tomatoes and the vision of countless pots of green tomato chutney has receded significantly.  I now have to decide when to pull up the tomato plants but while the fruit is still ripening it seems rather sad to do this.   Also my brown bin is full right now, of course!

Today is going to be busy.  I have to get the bread made before swimming and getting everything fitted into the rest of the day will be a bit of a challenge but, dear me, we will get there one way or another!  The dough is rising merrily and I am glad for the radiator in front of which it is currently sitting.  I have another two and a quarter hours so it should be OK.  I've done a tri-flour mix today - white, wholemeal and grain flours.  It makes for a lovely dough.

No allotment today!  No time.  Shame but there you go!

Food:
Breakfast:  toast, etc
Lunch:  not sure yet
Dinner:  more of that chicken with cashews and rice.  Last lot today!  It's been so tasty I haven't minded having it three days in a row.


Goodness, I don't half ramble on sometimes.  Thank you for bearing with me and coming back day after day for more!