The good news is that the plants I had MOH saw in half last weekend have survived, and so my request has been seen as slightly less mad, which is good news. I think it’s a family thing as talking to my dad he told me he’d done the same with is dahlias, and they were growing too.
This week, even though the lockdown advice has changed to stay alert from stay home, we haven’t really changed our routine much. In fact, I think we’ve been out less, we’ve definitely avoided the local M&S. I did pop to the local parade of shops on Saturday and worryingly the chemist had one of the longest queues, second only to the local supermarket. So my trip focussed on the butchers, the greengrocers and the bakers - which definitely makes me sound like a 1950s housewife. Though if anything does come out of this, whether it’s making much more use of our local shops, or noticing our environment more then that can only be a good thing.
I think I’m usually quite an observant person, but even I’m noticing more of my surroundings. Saturday I walked the quieter, and slightly longer way back from the shops, pausing briefly to snap this picture of a yellow rose I’d noticed. I think it’s important to note down how things have changed for us, and what we’re noticing, and being a lover of lists I’ve been keeping one of my own observations. I hope to start to share them here soon, there’s nothing profound, I mean one of the entries is learning that husbands and pulses don’t mix so well, but they our experiences and as frustrating as lockdown can be, I don’t want to lose those thoughts.
This week Facebook scrolling threw up one of those weird things that only social media can. As i was scrolling through my timeline, I spotted a street scene that was all too familiar, the road of our childhood home. Looking more closely, the wall of the house looked oh-so-familiar too, reading the post it had been posted by one of the children who’d lived in our house (though obviously theirs at the time) before us. How peculiar was that?
That prompted a flurry of memories for, not only me, but mum and dad and my brother too. I looked through my photos of photos from mum and dad’s photo albums, but could only find this one of me outside the front door. Clearly before photos in your school uniform became the norm. Here I’m in my bridesmaid outfit for my aunt’s wedding, in Bristol. No idea why, but it must have been after the actual wedding as I have my bouquet, and that red pinafore was floor length and red velvet. I told you it was the 1970s.
I looked our old house up on Google Maps, and it seems they still have the same front door, and i’m sad to say the house looked a little worse for wear.
But the memories in our family Facebook chat were priceless.
We remembered building work to make the downstairs a ‘through room’ which was so very modern, the tortoise that kept escaping and who was once found in the middle of a neighbour’s manicured lawn, and no dandelion was going to tempt him to move. The tortoise, called Joey, was mine - but I didn’t like to pick him up - so our neighbour carried him home for me. I guess if you had a manicured lawn and a rogue tortoise in the middle of it, you would carry it home.
Joey was always the adventurer, and many years later learnt that swimming wasn’t his thing. We remembered dad painting the terracotta tiles in the porch, and having to leave the house via a plank while they dried, which my brother remembered as us being pirates. I’ve no idea what my nieces thought of it all. Though I suspect they saw a different side of their grandparents when they shared that when they moved in (in 1963) they didn’t have a back door key, so to start with had to access the back garden by climbing out the window!
Even though I’m close to finishing my Vintage Hearts blanket, I wanted a new project and one that (I hope) will finish more quickly. I was also keen to see how the colour combination would work. I bought this mint and pale blue cotton a while back, and didn’t use it as I’d expected. In fact, I didn’t use it at all. Taking a strand of each colour, and a much chunkier than usual hook, I’ve completed two squares for what will be a protective sleeve for my laptop. Yes, I’m already hoping that at some point I’ll be able to take my laptop out of the house again!
It works up quickly, and the colour combination is pleasing. MOH thinks it’s bright, i think it’s pastel and can’t help but think that the coral and bright pink combo I’d also thought of, might actually be bright.
We’ve spent a fair amount of time in the garden again this weekend. Working at home has given us insight into what goes on in our garden during the day, and during the week. We’ve learnt it’s cat central, with them boldly heading for a closer look through the patio doors. As soon as we move, our feline visitors scarper. Though it seems they’re getting more used to us, as I looked up after lunch today, this was my view - my very own cat traffic jam, but both of these are #NotMyCat
A TRAFFIC JAM OF #NOTMYCATS
Our gardening this weekend has been less frenetic, and our bins are less full, but that’s ok. The greenhouse seedlings needed some attention, and now the beans are planted out. Some of have joined the two broad beans tied into the canes with the toadstools on. The borlotti/runner bean mix (I can’t remember which are which) are already taller, or as tall as the broad beans. There’s another couple of pots too, as well as nasturtiums in a couple more. I’ve sown some more basil and lettuce, to replace those that got munched, and tried some spring onions again - I’m hoping for some to germinate this time round!
Another gin box arrived this month and we’ve broken into it this weekend. MOH cooked paella Saturday evening, and so that seemed the perfect accompaniment to cooking. Both were very good, and while we’ll have paella for lunch a couple of times this week, we’ll skip the gin, well until later in the day anyway!
So another busy week, a busy weekend, and still in lockdown - I think we’ll be here for a while yet, and thankfully the gin isn’t about the run out anytime soon!