How Are You All Diddling?

Hi!

Its been just over two weeks since my last confession blog post! A lot has happened at home and in the outside world, too.

Here in Wales the schools have said they will open on June 29; my boys may not be going back until later in the proceedings or at all; we just don't know which children are going to go back in first. I think it would make more sense for the vulnerable ones to go and catch up with their teachers along with those choosing options and the ones who were expected to take their exams this year. Fortunately, neither of our boys fit into any of those categories and a lot can change from now until then as shown by the English primary schools no longer opening before the summer holidays.

Ooh, just have to say I am typing this post on my new laptop as the other one went caput at the weekend. It is lovely!!

Anyhow, where was I? 

Yes, changes in the outside world. With restrictions being lifted in England, which is all the 
P M talks about and pretty much ignores the rest of the UK, Wales has had some unwelcome visitors in various locations, there have been openings of certain places for the public to visit and some rules have been put in place for seeing family and friends. 

To be honest, we are not changing any of our habits really; I'm still happy to stay close to home generally. I remember thinking that when we get back to a sort of new normal people will have to be different, live their lives in a changed way with an altered mindset because of how we have been forced to live. However it doesn't seem to me that people are willing to "pause the system" as it is sometimes described. Seeing the queues a mile long and more  just for people to get a McDonald's takeaway does not fill me with hope that people have considered what they can or cannot really do without in the grand scheme of things.

Aaaaanyway, onto here at home and our little patch of paradise.

We've had a mixed bag of weather over the last couple of weeks - sunshine, showers, wind, hail! - which in the most part for our sowing and growing has helped bring on things which have been planted outside as well as those in the poly tunnel. I can't believe how different it looks. The first photo is me planting up the dwarf beans on May 9th and then today which is just about five weeks after that!

There are still trays and pots of things waiting to be potted on and planted inside and out.

These include more dwarf beans and peas, cabbages, PSB and peppers.

In the outside beds and tyres edibles including the courgettes, sweetcorn and broccoli are all coming along nicely, as are most of the potatoes.  

I've chosen not to make public the Heath Robinson-esque netted frame I have over the broccoli! 

We've been eating lots of salad leaves and had our first radishes this week. 

The carrots are looking healthy although Wednesday was meant to be the June day for last sowing but the weather was not too clever then, or for the rest of the week it seems, but hope to get those in by the weekend. (Not bothering with a photo as not too clear.) Recent new sowings have included radishes, khol rabi, marigolds, chives and garlic chives, parlsey plus two varieties of basil. I've planted out caulis, an established khol rabi I was given and potted on peppers.

In the poly tunnel I've been pinching out the tomatoes in the mornings, supposed to be the best time to do it, and there are flowers on the four biggest plants; I have some nettle feed soaking so when I sieve that next week I'll feed them with it, will need a mask for that! 

The peas, even though they're a dwarf variety, need supporting so held them up with some hazel sticks. The third and final kale plant has been put in as well as an aubergine; the whole of the poly tunnel is coming on really well and I just can't wait to see how it looks at the end of this month.

The onions are so close to coming up; 

needed to use one the other day, the top of which had completely fallen over. Can't wait to get the cabbage in here but need to sort our some netting to keep off the retched cabbage whites!

At the weekend we unfortunately lost the smallest of the orphan lambs we've been looking after. To be honest it was not right or well from the start, struggled to take any milk, had an issue with its back and front legs, seemed to have a couple of fits towards the end and we even think it may have been brain damaged. He spent his last hours, luckily, laying in the sun with the sound of the chooks in the back ground and drifted off to somewhere without pain we hope.

Today a lovely thing happened. I met a friend who lives about 20 minutes away from me; she was going to Tregaron to fetch a prescription so we socially distanced and had a lovely chat! She brought me some PSB and perpetual spinach - love that - which is now in the bed with the cauli,

and I swapped with a Jerusalem artichoke! 

I just HAVE to show you the fig tree now it has been in the poly tunnel a few weeks. I'm sooo chuffed it's doing this well!

So, I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings, but more importantly that you are all keeping well and safe but seeing family and friends when it is safe to do so. 

Bye for now, Lou.xx

Steadily Sowing And Gradually Growing.

Good morning.

I do hope you have some good weather you can be grateful for and enjoy if you are able to get outside. We have been very lucky recently and the forecast is good for the rest of the week so much so that our boys are camping out in the garden tonight.

How is everybody? Well I hope and staying safe under the circumstances; we're ok with the odd wobble here and there. We were back in home-school mode yesterday so at times I needed to help the youngest with the writing of a theoretical business plan and then an imaginary diary of a sheep drover from the 1880's - in Welsh, suffice to say I was helping before translation. Today it is French, Science and Maths but the last one is Jon's domain if help's needed!

The chooks are laying well at the moment. We gave a box of eggs to each of our neighbours at the weekend and yesterday made use of a few more. It was a bit of a kitchen day so I managed to make chicken and tops-of-the-leeks soup, over-ripe fruit crumble, apple and cinnamon oat cookies with some shamefully slightly past best eating apples and two cakes - almond pound cake and chocolate.

In other kitchen news I was able to get some yeast from the catering company my sister uses so I am good to go with the bread making now!

I took a turn around the garden after tea last night and did the watering; some of the chickens were free ranging and quite happily shared the garden with the lambs. 

The red and green lettuce in the shallow sink is doing really well; hope it results in as good a crop as last year!

Arran Pilot first early spuds are coming along in all three of the tyres.

Even the lilac, which only flowers once every couple of years, made me smile.

The strawberry pots outside are looking very healthy after over wintering...

and they will, along with those from the large crate, VERY soon be transferred to the poly tunnel (PT) because I'm expecting it to be delivered TODAY or tomorrow.👏👏 Soooo excited. The plan is to get the frame up at the weekend and Jon is going to build beds each side with a middle walkway. We hope to have compost delivered at the end of the month when we share a big order with our neighbours so the supplier makes just one journey. We'll be looking at putting a good eight inches or so over the manure we have already laid on the area and then let the planting commence!

One slight nuisance I have in the large bed are the rogue spuds left over from last year; they have popped up here and there so I think I'll have to take them out so they don't bother the new planting out I'll be doing.

I checked the conservatory last night, too; things have been coming on gradually in there over the last few days, too. I did my first potting on the other day and that was the squash, Butterbush variety, which are suggested as a container plant but I'm actually putting them in the ground.

I've sown aubergine Black Beauty this year, again, and they are showing, not huge yet but...; really want to be able to have these in the PT.

This is the first year I have tried multi-sowing,  a la Charles Dowding, and these are my leeks!

Tomatoes are not very big yet but looking healthy.

One crop which will be ready to plant out soon, allowing for the last frost, are my dwarf beans; it should be safe to put these out by the end of the month.

Well, I'd better get a brew so I'm ready to start with the boys. 

I hope you are all managing, coping and maybe enjoying or at least making the best of this forced situation we've found ourselves in; we need to stick to the rules to protect everybody. I know it seems like it will never end but it will and when we come out the other side life will be different for sure, but we'll be able to reconnect with people again without the use of a screen and hopefully appreciate so much more who and what we are lucky enough to have in our lives.

Take care and stay safe.

Lou.xx

4 Years, Is That All?!

Good morning! Time for a little anniversary.

Four years ago, TODAY, we arrived in wonderful mid-Wales. We fell in love with Aberystwyth and the surrounding areas before we properly moved here and we still feel just the same.

The boys, and us, knew about 10 words of the Welsh language when we arrived, This week they are back in school after the summer break speaking Welsh regularly and my youngest has begun his year 7 at a Welsh medium secondary school. This means only a couple of his lessons are taught in English! Children are so adaptable and we are immensely proud of their progress.

The first of these two photos was taken the weekend we arrived, sorry a bit blurry, and the second was taken in May of this year. I have very few photos in roughly the same location.

For the first 4 months or so the garden was a jungle at the far end, 

 and at the house end, too, so there was a bit of work to be done there, too!

Now the garden, my little patch of paradise, our outside space looks a LOT different.

It has been a hell of a ride for me, Jon and the boys. We now have a beautiful outside space, a growing area for fruit and veg and chickens.

One of the highlights of this year have been Jon bringing back from the brink one of the lambs that was born on our neighbouring farm. We have enjoyed being involved with the lambs, helping out since the first year or two we were here. This little thing, born toward the end of lambing this year, was not expected to last the night....

but here he was strong as an ox at the end of April and in June and he continues to thrive.

Also this year our Airbnb listings have gone off the chart with the inclusion of our first self-catering unit. 

We look forward to increasing to four next year hoping to add to the bookings we already have for the Eisteddfod which comes to Ceredigion for the first time since 1992.


As usual I could go on and on and one with before and after photos. I burst with pride really at how far we have come in just four years. Just the other day Jon asked me if it wasn't five years and I said nope, and look what we've done.

We look forward to the future and all it may bring us all.

Bye for now.

Lou.xx

Phew! What Didn't We Get Done?

Good evening.

Today is Mothers' Day and I've had a couple of lovely pressies.

We are big fans of Meet The Goldberg's!

Also got these!

and we went for coffee and cake in town.

Today's post is a catch up of a number of days which I've really enjoyed. I hope I'm not think repeating myself, which happens now and again at my age! Settle in with a brew as this could take some time!

Ok, been quite busy outside and so far I've planted out:
- sweet peas Mixed Old Spice in the bed outside the poly house, after topping it up with some of my compost, and a few in a container, too
- 5 strawberry plants including Elsanta in various containers (all plants on now on the outside bench where the greenhouse was)

1st early spuds Swift

Potting on consisted of:
1 sunflower Pacino
6 Sweet Romano Peppers (very pleased and hopeful these do a lot better this year.

I've been quite busy sowing edibles including herbs, too:
8 All Year Round cauliflower
spring onions Evergreen Bunching plus All The Year Round lettuce in the sink
4 courgette Buckingham F1
4 courgette Tondo di Piacnenza
4 tomato Ailsa Craig
8 cabbage Golden Acre

Thought I'd pop in a photo showing how some of my cabbages are currently growing.

garlic chives and red basil
re-sowed lemon balm in a pot and sunk into herb sink
radishes between 1st early spuds
4 tomato Red Alert
12 dwarf bean Ferrari
dwarf pea Hurst Green Shaft direct into bed outside the poly house (sweet peas at the top)

carrots Autumn King 2 in the main bed next to the onions so hope this will help 

4 tomato Red Pear

I don't do flowers that much but this year I'm making an effort so I currently have sown:
- Nigella Persian Jewels in the small rose bed at the front of the house
- Mr Fothergill free trial seeds of Marigold Alumia
- Field Poppies, Nigella and Cornflowers in two small beds I've created near the veg beds and some poppies near the wild garlic and rhubarb.
- Freesias in two planters and a few in the new beds with the wild flowers - I love freesias and can't wait to be able to cut them for inside the house.

So the poly house is starting to look really busy.

I've been having a really good tidy up, too, along with other jobs around the place.
- put slow release compost on the beds ready for the tomatoes
- top dressed my lilac, which will probably need re-homing next year in a bigger container as I've had it for a good 10 years or more
- finally pruned the front climbing rose, the other wall climber, weeded all along the front        wall, cleared the rose bed, top dressed it with compost AND weeded inside the front wall...

....and put down chippings as weed deterrent. Much tidier.

All the greenhouse glass and bags of garden waste have been removed which I'm sooo pleased as it looked super untidy, and I discovered these left over wool shearings and hope to remember to use it as a barrier against slugs!

I've covered the rhubarb to hopefully force it on a bit and it seems to be working.

Phew, that has been a busy 10 days or so!

As the chicken and duck enclosures have now been finished, super super happy with these,

one job I did on Friday was to give the hen house a good going over because yesterday the new chooks arrived! Yay!!! I just love hearing them in the background as I go about doing stuff outside or in the house. We put them away to bed and this morning took a look at them and very gratefully today collected 9, yes you read that correct, 9 eggs. They seem happy.

On Friday after school Alf and I went to check on the sheep and I took this photo of him yomping down the hill and this lovely one of some of the lambs in dappled light.

On Saturday morning Jon was busy chopping logs and he had also acquired something which is now Alf's favourite toy - a log splitter!

Jon and I have had various conversations about what to use the space for since the demise of the greenhouse. We've thought about building a bigger poly house over the main veg bed but now we are set on making the base of the greenhouse into another raised bed and have moved the beds off that base and placed them at the side.

This already has membrane down so we'll just add more compost...

then the ground here will have to be leveled a bit, new membrane in to line them (bought today), filled with compost and we are good to go; these are still going to be for the outside tomatoes.

Right, that is me DONE, and you probably. Well done if you sat through all of that. Its a good record for me as well as letting you know where we are up to.

Look forward to seeing what everybody gets up to in the coming week. Weather is supposed to be a little wetter and colder at times.

Bye for now.

Lou.xx