It's just after 4pm and the rain has set in for the afternoon. I managed to finish the gardening I was doing out the front before it started and was glad of an excuse to come in and rest my weary bones. It's amazing how much work there can be to do in a small garden. Both front and back gardens are now fairly tidy. The veg garden is ready for seeds once the better weather comes, but the front garden could do with some plants that keep the weeds in check, and I'm not sure what to put there. I'm not really interested in the front garden so don't pay it much attention. That means it is harder work when I do decide it needs tidying.
I've done the ironing too, so I'm going to spend the rest of the day relaxing. b has gone off to join Neil Arlidge and gang on their journey in to Dublin. He will leave the car at Hazelhatch and meet them before they go on an early morning start tomorrow.
Right - off to relax...
Monday 24 March 2008
Sunday 23 March 2008
Nearly a week later
Happy Easter to all. I'm afraid that Easter to me means a nice long weekend, enabling a bit more catch-up time for the tired body.
My greenhouse arrived on Tuesday, and Ian and Brian helped a French guy to put it up. It is situated between the boiler shed and the oil tank, with the door facing in towards the back door of the house. This means that it is easy to get to from the house and gets remarkably good sun most of the day. It is quite large for the size of our garden - 6 x 10ft. It will enable me to grow things and to use it for drying washing on a rack on rainy days.
Yesterday I put together the remaining parts of the climbing frame for use as shelving in the greenhouse, making it colourful inside. The poles of the climbing frame are red and the flat parts are yellow, blue and black.
I spent most of yesterday afternoon in the garden, and felt the better for it. I had cut down a lot of vegetation the previous weekend and it was lying in heaps all over the place. It has been dry for the last week so I had a good bonfire. All that remains of the vegetation is ashes and a few sticks that missed the middle of the fire.
Today I will sow some seeds prepared by my mother and labelled by Carolan (I recognise the writing!). The tomato plants are already looking happy in the greenhouse, so these will join them. I'm hoping to acquire more goodies to plant at Yearly Meeting next week, as there are always good things available there.
Ian came into town with me yesterday briefly. He wasn't in good shape, but survived sitting in the car while it was jacked up and had all its tyres changed. Rob had done some work for a tyre place and they couldn't afford to pay him, so he negotiated a set of tyres for my car. That was nice, so my car looks very posh and safe now. The guy seemed to be very grateful to Rob for what he had done for him.
Ian bought a book on designing web pages. It is a serious book, so he is being ambitious about learning how to do it properly from a technical perspective.
It was great to see Carolan during the week, even if only briefly. She met my colleagues from the other J&J companies during a meal at Fitzers. I bet she is currently exhausted as she helps to run JYM.
b is off to Killaloe market this morning. The dogs are currently resting in anticipation of the good run they will have once he has been to the market! Leavy has learnt to stop pulling very quickly with her new lead, but yesteray managed to break it, so I'll try to mend it today.
My greenhouse arrived on Tuesday, and Ian and Brian helped a French guy to put it up. It is situated between the boiler shed and the oil tank, with the door facing in towards the back door of the house. This means that it is easy to get to from the house and gets remarkably good sun most of the day. It is quite large for the size of our garden - 6 x 10ft. It will enable me to grow things and to use it for drying washing on a rack on rainy days.
Yesterday I put together the remaining parts of the climbing frame for use as shelving in the greenhouse, making it colourful inside. The poles of the climbing frame are red and the flat parts are yellow, blue and black.
I spent most of yesterday afternoon in the garden, and felt the better for it. I had cut down a lot of vegetation the previous weekend and it was lying in heaps all over the place. It has been dry for the last week so I had a good bonfire. All that remains of the vegetation is ashes and a few sticks that missed the middle of the fire.
Today I will sow some seeds prepared by my mother and labelled by Carolan (I recognise the writing!). The tomato plants are already looking happy in the greenhouse, so these will join them. I'm hoping to acquire more goodies to plant at Yearly Meeting next week, as there are always good things available there.
Ian came into town with me yesterday briefly. He wasn't in good shape, but survived sitting in the car while it was jacked up and had all its tyres changed. Rob had done some work for a tyre place and they couldn't afford to pay him, so he negotiated a set of tyres for my car. That was nice, so my car looks very posh and safe now. The guy seemed to be very grateful to Rob for what he had done for him.
Ian bought a book on designing web pages. It is a serious book, so he is being ambitious about learning how to do it properly from a technical perspective.
It was great to see Carolan during the week, even if only briefly. She met my colleagues from the other J&J companies during a meal at Fitzers. I bet she is currently exhausted as she helps to run JYM.
b is off to Killaloe market this morning. The dogs are currently resting in anticipation of the good run they will have once he has been to the market! Leavy has learnt to stop pulling very quickly with her new lead, but yesteray managed to break it, so I'll try to mend it today.
Monday 17 March 2008
Happy St Patrick's Day
It's nearly a month since I last blogged and I probably have lots to catch up on. However, since Ian is now at home and Carolan has visited twice in that time, they should be well up to date so I'll stick with current happenings.
It's great to have a day off today, and another one next Monday. As it is too early in the year to go to the boat I'm taking the opportunity to tidy up the garden. The exciting news is that my greenhouse arrives tomorrow. Ian and Brian will have to spend the day helping "the man" to put it up, so I'm hoping to come home to something very fancy.
Last night B and I attended a Slow Food meal in Country Choice and one of our friends there gave me some tomato plants. That will be the first thing to go in the greenhouse, even though these ones have to go outside later in the year.
As usual, the Slow Food event was very enjoyable. We were seated opposite an American couple who have lived in Spain since the 1970s. They were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary and her 60th birthday. He is a food writer, and friend of the American food writer who helps to organise the event, so had his notebook out for the evening. They were good company.
The main meat dish of the day was burgers from Ladybird. It does seem strange to be eating burgers at an event like this, but these were definetly special, as we have experienced many times before when we have bought them. The pavlova for dessert had the most perfectly soft base I've ever come across, with the tiny hint of crispiness on the outside. It was made by Anne Byrne of Brocka-on-the-Water, and we need to find our her secret!
I'm off to do some gardening now, but may blog again later.
It's great to have a day off today, and another one next Monday. As it is too early in the year to go to the boat I'm taking the opportunity to tidy up the garden. The exciting news is that my greenhouse arrives tomorrow. Ian and Brian will have to spend the day helping "the man" to put it up, so I'm hoping to come home to something very fancy.
Last night B and I attended a Slow Food meal in Country Choice and one of our friends there gave me some tomato plants. That will be the first thing to go in the greenhouse, even though these ones have to go outside later in the year.
As usual, the Slow Food event was very enjoyable. We were seated opposite an American couple who have lived in Spain since the 1970s. They were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary and her 60th birthday. He is a food writer, and friend of the American food writer who helps to organise the event, so had his notebook out for the evening. They were good company.
The main meat dish of the day was burgers from Ladybird. It does seem strange to be eating burgers at an event like this, but these were definetly special, as we have experienced many times before when we have bought them. The pavlova for dessert had the most perfectly soft base I've ever come across, with the tiny hint of crispiness on the outside. It was made by Anne Byrne of Brocka-on-the-Water, and we need to find our her secret!
I'm off to do some gardening now, but may blog again later.
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