Stuff and Such.

Hi!

I don't seem to have had time to write a post since Tuesday but let's see what has been going on. (Sorry no photos.)

On Wednesday I pruned the rose bush at the front door. It flowers all the way until the end of October but now was the time for a tidy up; next one is the apple tree. I haven't done much baking for the biscuit tin lately as I had cookies in the freezer to use up, so I made a chocolate brownie which went down well with the boys after school as it has been a while. 

The weather was really good again so I galvanised myself and got outside; I had made a list of lots of little jobs to do. I brushed off the compost etc from all of the bamboo canes in the Poly House and tied them to the side of the bench to stop them sliding everywhere. I swept out the Poly House and gave it a good tidy. I sat outside and brushed out all the plant pots and trays and weeded the last part of the veg patch where the onions will go. 

In the evening I sat looking for varieties of heritage tomatoes. Does anybody have any experience of growing these? I fancy some yellow and red stripey ones to look great in a salad. I've picked out a couple I like the look of which includes Tigerella but would appreciate any advice. My first tomato growing experience was quite a disappointment, seeing as we eat quite a lot of them. I have got some seeds to grow just for toms only for bottling and I really want some beef tomatoes as mine failed completely to set in the summer. 

Yesterday, Thursday, I made bread inbetween starting the painting in the cellar store room, which was interesting, but both jobs came out well. The cellar needs another coat, especially on the beam and its supports, which Jon will do on Saturday morning I think. It would have been outside jobs that day but we received a text at tea time with a weekend booking for the room. Fab! (I am getting closer to being able to make the ginham curtains to cover the underneath storage in the cellar so will take my measurements to Aber tomorrow and see how the price compares to the internet.)

Therefore today I went to Aber to buy fruit and flowers, local paper, biscuits like you get with your coffee in cafes - after I saw them in Poundland for, £1! - and did our regualr food shop, too, instead of doing it tomorrow whilst Alfie is at his Stage School session. This means we can have a little mooch around town as well as taking a look around the new, big Charlies that has opened. I took a little look today whilst looking for a tea pot for the room.

Our guests should be with us between 4 and 5pm so I have made up the bed, cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed n dusted and prettied it up ready for their arrival. In the middle of all of this I realised that Jake has caught his food on something and was really bleeding, luckily only on the kitchen floor. He wouldn't really let me get too close to it, even when I bribed him with some cheese, so I have put his sleeping blanket in the cellar with his food because I can't have him getting blood on the TV room carpet or upstairs; since starting this post it has stopped bleeding and he is haooy to go outside.

I am writing this with the Rayburn crackling in the background. It is a little chilly today but the blue sky is still trying to peek through. We didn't light it yesterday but had the log burner in the living room going since breakfast; in the evening we had forgotten how fab it is at warming the whole of downstairs and half way up the stairs, too! I read and submitted the meter reading on Tuesday, as I do on the first of each month, so look forward to seeing how the bill is affected now the Rayburn heats the house, the water and takes care of most of the cooking, apart from the odd day here and there.

Right, guests will be here in a little while so will sign off.

Bye for now.

Lou.xx