More poppies

The poppies are fabulous this year. 

It’s been a very busy day (too busy for keeping up with Blip I’m afraid) which was made more so by #2 brother Skyping unexpectedly this morning. My first thought when I saw he was trying to contact me was ”Oh no, something must have happened to Bill.” Then I remembered…

Instead we had a long (and frustrating) conversation, largely at cross purposes about what we have to do as co-Executors of Bill’s estate. I’ve done some homework about it. #2 hasn’t. I assumed he had. This led to all sorts of confusion and a bit of shirtiness on my part! It’s just as well he loves me.

The rest of the day I tried to catch up the hour and a half wasted spent on that Skype. I failed, and the mowing will have to be done tomorrow. It’s hardly a disaster.

We had  another warm, blue-sky day, after a 2C start. Once again Bean lay about in the sun as I pottered about line-trimming, picking artichokes and cardoons, watering everything in the tunnel, and planting out the beans I was given a few weeks ago.

The spiky fruit in yesterday’s blip are cardoons: a cousin of globe artichokes. They are smaller but tastier. I picked 6 cardoons and 7 artichokes this afternoon which are now bubbling away on the stove. I will remove their leaves tomorrow when they are cool and keep the hearts, which I’ll put in an oil and vinegar dressing. They are a fabulous snack, or to eat with salads.