Thursday (long post alert)

Good morning.  It's stupid o'clock so I will be going back to bed at some point but, seeing as I am up, I may as well get this up and running.
Yesterday's weather was simply gorgeous.  It was fabulous to be out in the sunshine for longer than usual (at the moment) and, although the temperature was quite low, the air felt warm in the sunshine and with no wind at all.  I reckon I got my share of vitamin D yesterday!

Despite being busy, I still found the time to use the newly arrived shea butter to make some lotions bars.  My thanks to Cherie who spoke about them on her own blog here and again here.
It took longer to melt the mixture than it did to cool it afterwards and this is what I did (not my recipe).
50g coconut oil
50g shea butter
50g beeswax pellets
I weighed them out into a pyrex jug and popped the jug in a pan of boiling water and just waited for it all to melt.  The pellets took the longest and I just left it to do its own thing while I played on the computer.
Once it had all melted, I lifted the jug out using a tea towel for protection and simply poured it into the moulds.  Well, I poured half into moulds and then tried adding some Christmas Spice oil to the rest before pouring it.  I added what I thought was a lot but once they had cooled, I could hardly smell it so, obviously, I should have added more!
All you do is take a bar, rub it between your hands so it softens and melts slightly, then rub it where ever you want it.  I did my hands and arms and, although at first it did feel a trifle sticky, by the time it has been absorbed a bit, they felt lovely.  I tried it again after the allotment session and again, it did a great job - Beth thought so too!
The big test will be after pottery as the clay really does dry my hands out terribly!

I drove down to the allotment in some trepidation, wondering just how bad it was going to be.  Thankfully, it wasn't absolutely dreadful, probably because it's only February, but it was bad enough to be embarrassing.
Jeff set to clearing big stuff everywhere and pruning the trees while I went to the back to cut down the old raspberry canes and clear weeds from there, the rhubarb and the small raised beds.
By the time we'd finished, the two big beds still need forking over and de-weeding and the standing grass at the front needs cutting but it really doesn't look terrible any more.  Jeff reckons one more session from him and it will be done (for now).  I'm so glad he's helping out as it would take me days and days to do it.  Obviously, we're paying him but it's well worth it, just to get us back on the allotment routine again.

We have early rhubarb (and the weeds around it have now gone), plus three other rhubarbs that are later fruiting and showing signs of life too.
We reckon we can pull some in a couple of weeks.  Rhubarb gin, anyone?

It's a whole load neater.  You can see the two areas that need digging, but they will get done in the next fortnight.  You can't see the back third properly, but that's pretty much as it should be now .

The bark chippings we put down on the walkways and under the trees have now rotted down and should be good to move onto the soil to enrich it so we can put new chippings down.  You can't see in this photo but the big tree right in the background (a cherry plum) is starting to flower and will look a real picture soon.  It hardly ever gets to fruit because there's almost always more frosts to come and that kills the blossom.  I tried to take a photo close up but the phone camera wouldn't focus properly.  I must remember to take my proper camera next time

The two small raised beds that we cleared, Beth and I, are now perfect and ready for some broad beans that can go in soon.  I feel the sap rising again!
I'm so glad we've started it again.

After that I came home for a while before going off to personal training and had lunch.  It was good at Lindsey's and I wasn't as tired as I thought I would be, getting through everything reasonably well.  It was the last session of the current block of five so we discussed where to go next in terms of fitness.  So next week it will be a new block, new exercises and a bit of a change of focus.

I'm well pleased that my fitness is obviously improving significantly - a session at the allotment used to totally kill me and as for then going on to an hour of personal training - no way!  But this morning I am only slightly stiff with no significant aches.

By the evening, I was so tired.  I'd had a very early start - it looks as if I'm into a pattern of early waking again - so I took myself off to bed at eight (it was either that or falling asleep downstairs) which is why I'm awake now.  I'll go back up in a while and probably get a bit more sleep.

Today is nice.  I'm off to Val's for lunch and a good old chat and will take my knitting with me as Val always has knitting on the go too.  All we need is a guillotine close by and a bit of costume!!

Then it's home for tuition (must plan before I go to Val's) and the evening is pottery (yay!) so I can't go to bed early.  Hopefully that will break the pattern.  In pottery, I have the second candle stand to neaten up as it's been drying off all week and I have decided I will make a third one, taller than the others.  That will be a set of three, same sized base and top, different heights.  I've sourced some ball candles to go on them and just need to decide on the glaze.

Well, I can feel a bit of tiredness descending so I will shut up now and go back up.  Take care, everyone, and have a lovely day, whatever your plans.  xx