HOME GROWN IS BEST!

Mr. HCB didn’t feel like chipping away at the cherry tree stump this morning, so after we had both had a shower, he suggested we go up to Jack’s for a coffee, which we did.

We were pleased to see our friend, Margaret, sitting outside at one of the tables, “warming her nose” as she calls it when she is having a cigarette.  We hadn’t see her for sometime, in fact, since the start of the lockdown in March, but I had sent her a card and some of her favourite dark chocolate, which she thanked me for this morning.  I think she is feeling the effects of this pandemic, because she is not in very good health and lives alone, so it’s good that she still goes to sit outside Jack’s and can at least see people going past.

Whilst we were in having our coffee, we chatted with Dave and Gill, some other friends we haven’t seen for a few weeks, so it as good to catch up with them too, although sadly we still haven’t seen Trevor for a while - I think I need to give him a ring to make sure he and his wife, Louise, are both OK.  

When we got home I went out to do trim some rather large laurel bushes outside our new fence and to spray the ivy roots - we certainly don’t want ivy growing on the fence and even through onto our new gravel when it’s eventually laid.

Mr. HCB had picked more tomatoes and they are certainly ripening much quicker now that he has taken the greenhouse shading off so I decided to make bruschetta with some lovely sweet tomatoes and home grown basil for our lunch today.  I also made tzatziki with Mr. HCB’s home grown cucumber, Greek yoghourt and plenty of garlic - and decided that it would make a good Blip for today, so here it is ready to be eaten, with some rosemary and sea salt crispy flatbread biscuits. 

As it was so hot in the garden, and our blue corner isn’t yet ready, we decided to sit under the carport because it was much cooler - we live in a cul de sac so don’t have passing traffic, so we were happy to sit there.  Our lovely next door neighbour, Lynn, was just going to see her Mum to take her some lunch, so gave us some of her delicious “bubble and squeak” - but this wasn’t just any old bubble and squeak, it was a luxury one with lots of potatoes, cauliflower, peas, carrots and crispy bacon, all fried up - and it even had cheese on the top!  So all in all, a delicious lunch - so not sure I will bother to cook this evening.

A lazy afternoon is called for, so I might just do some knitting and try to finish my book - it’s certainly too hot to be working in our garden - shhhhh Mr. HCB is already nodding! 

“Knowledge is knowing that
     a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it
     in a fruit salad.
Miles Kington