"Ring for Jane"

Grandma used to joke, when there was a job needed doing, like clearing the table after a meal, or doing  the washing up. I looked up when in the kitchen at Millie's (my charge for the next 8 days in Torquay) this afternoon  and spotted this obsolete bell board. I could have done with Jane this evening, she could have cooked my dinner, & cleared up afterwards, but she does'nt work Sundays. I wish!

Woke up really early this morning after a horrible nights broken sleep so there was no way I'd sleep on this morning, the allotment was calling me anyway,  made a flask of coffee, could'nt wait long enough for it to cool down and drink, loaded up the car with borlotti, white runner, & leggy broad bean plants and headed off. On the plot just before 7am, bit mizzly & damp but not so heavy to make gardening difficult. A skip was on site so had a quick rummage to see what I could re-purpose, found a water butt, just needs a new tap, a wonky metal colander , a length of white plastic down pipe, (ideal for keeping bean canes tidy & dry when not in use), plus a length of flexible plastic pipe which can be bent to make netted crop protection. Well that WAS a good start. Got the three beds planted up with the bean plants, canes erected for the white runners, & as I rescued the borlotti bean seed from the  plot compost heap last year I'm not sure if they are climbers so will just have to keep an eye on them. Will need to coppice more hazel if they  need support.
Dartmoor disappeared away in the distance, then the heavens opened. Time to take cover in the shed, & have a cuppa. Ahhh! Did'nt bring a mug. Right o! What can I use. A jam jar did perfectly after a quick swill out, so made myself comfy, had my caffeine fix and waited for the rain to pass which it did fairly quickly. Put more support around the first block of broad bean plants which are full of flower, with pods forming, & no sign of black fly. :) Onion sets I planted before we went away all looking happy, runner beans have done their own "thing" deciding that the next pole is more attractive, so I had to unwind, rewind, and ties in the blighters .. The bindweed  is rampant in the fruit beds so attacked that, tied in new growth on the ?? Have'nt identified what it is, sadly not a thornless blackberry as it's particularly vicious. Emma, a plot neighbour arrived with one of her sons. She's gardening organically, no pesticides. She did apply nematodes to the plot backalong but she's lost her courgette plants,& parsnips so far. I must admit I do use slug pellets, as few as I think will stop the munchers, & I have had little slug damage luckily. To be honest I have'nt seen much sign of slugs on my plot but that's probably cos there are juicier snacks elsewhere. She says with her fingers crossed.
Weeded most of the veg patch by which time it was 10am, time to scrape all the mud off the bottom of my wellies, I must have been carrying an extra lb per foot, good exercise I suppose, but a devil to remove, fetch the newspaper & a birthday card for hubby. 75 years young today. I know I left the card a bit late, although I don't know why I bother, he's not exactly thrilled about getting older, & did'nt open his birthday cards. My dad was just the same ..he  never got excited about birthdays either. Cooked brekkers for the birthday boy, then pot up my salvaged Turkish pelargonium cuttings, I hope they take, it would be lovely to have them as a lasting momento of our holiday. Whizzed the iron over the laundry from yesterday, packed my bag and headed off down here. J & V are off to Cyprus early tomorrow morning, so we had a quick run through the format, before the set off for Bristol. Lots of plants to water this time, IF we don't get rain........ Ha ha!! Roses to dead head etc. Millie & I were planning to park on the roadside down in Cockington, go for a nice walk through the park and then top up with provisions at the local Coop.. No parking from Good Friday - Sept. ARGH!!! Plan B ... We went to the local park instead. Millie loves fetching the ball but is rather reluctant to give it back, even when I tempted her with a treat.  
Came back, dead headed the roses of which there are many. One that I really love but have never grown myself is  'Veilchenblau', it's a multiflora rambler, the flowers are violet/ mauve fading to grey, & they have a fine specimen growing up through an apple tree. Just thinking where I could put one in our garden. That done it was time for a coffee & crossword half hour.  Time to prepare dinner. Easy one tonight. I bought a pack of chilled chicken & pancetta tortelloni so just needed to heat them through & make a mushroom, spinach & cream sauce. Not sure I like tortelloni, well this filling anyway. It was as I imagine meat paste sold in jars would be. YUCKY texture. :(



It's actually quite chilly sat here. It's flaming June for goodness sake, the 21st is the longest day. More rain forecast for the coming week. Great!


Thanks to 60plus for hosting Derelict Sunday