Transition

Just before I head off for just over a week to admire my sister's as yet unborn child, some updates on my allotment. Not that there is anything to show, but I have done ever so much work to it, and it want to show it off!

First of all, there is what's going on inside. This is a picture taken a few days ago of the sprout seedlings desperate to get out of their shared tray:



I was putting off the potting process, as my mum had warned me that ten sprout plants were just too many, and I couldn't bring myself to discard any. Eventually I worked up the courage, though, and eight sprout seedlings made the transition successfully. Here they are, together with some tomatoes:



I was a bit worried about the tomatoes, as I seem to have hacked off quite a bit of their tiny little roots in the potting process, but they appear happy enough. Here is another bunch "toughening up" in the spring breeze:


Onto the garden itself, then. Now, it's been looking pretty dull and bleak, but yesterday I did enliven it considerably with the erection of a wigwam for future beans:



See? Now at least there is an expectation that something will be happening at some point. That dark line on the right marks the position of the rainbow chard, which I sowed this morning. I've also sown sweet pea around the wigwam, while we're waiting for the beans.



I hope there will be at least a few bits of green peeping out of the clay when I return!

Easter (belated)

Well, we weren't going to be doing much egghunting with the weather like this. Blizzard, sun, blizzard, sun, wind and biting cold.



I've been a bit annoyed about Easter, since I couldn't go out to do all that work on my plot that still needs doing, and Alan is away for ten days, so I'm a bit lonely, too! Luckily, I had invited some friends over for Easter brunch, which was extremely civilised. I made some rolls:



As well as cake and French toast, and I had all the usual Easter goodies. Here are my guests, Glenn, Simon and Sarah, about to embark on an epic Easter eating adventure. This was at 11am, and they didn't leave until 12 hours later!

Sprouts!

This was the surprise that greeted me this morning when I opened the curtains. The Brussels sprouts, which I sowed only a week ago, had shot up, seemingly overnight, and with such force! One had lifted a whole clod of earth in its eagerness to see the light:


And all this happened while my attention was fully fixed on the exciting goings on in the bathroom, where the tomatoes were also reaching for the light:


So exciting! Of a similar magnitude to the impending birth of my sister's baby! Well, it is March now, and I've received almost all of my seeds. Check out my riches:


I've been compiling lists of when to sow what, and where. Lots to do in March, and still so much digging and pulling up of grass roots to be done! I've also made a new plan:


By the time everything starts growing and ripening, I will be able to bring my harvest home in this fantastic and appropriate bag my mum sent me:


I can hardly wait. I just hope it stops raining so I can get on with it!

New avenues

Alan is in the process of buying a 1967 Riley. Stupidly, I offered to make some cushions to brighten up its interior (thinking of some nice quilted ones), and he agreed, but instead of quilted cushions he wanted me to make two headrest covers with the emblems of both our colleges on them! So he bought me this ready-to-stitch kit with the Balliol logo, and is currently designing the Wolfson one, as it's not available in the shops. So now I can add embroidery to my repertoire! I feel like quite the old lady sometimes.

In the same craft shop, I stumbled upon these wickedly cool cards:


Aren't they simply fabulous? And... the long awaited envelope from my mum finally arrived, with these very chique gardening gloves.


Thanks, mum! Now I must go and do a little bit of work, before we go off to watch the last day of Torpids rowing races! Go Wolfson and Balliol!

Keep on digging

The plot is beginning to become a little bit of an obsession. I've been working so hard at it! I've finally managed to dig it all over once, and now I'm on my second round, removing bucketsfull of tenacious grassroots by hand, and spreading compost over the newly clean bits.

I spent all of Friday night thinking about seeds. I found an organic seeds seller online, so I made a huge list of everything that seemed desirable. Now there is the difficulty of actually making decisions!


Do I want the sweet yellow tomatoes, or the high yielding ones with good disease resistance, or the pink ones with reputedly the best flavour, or the pear-shaped cocktail ones? The striped, tasty courgette or the most prolific ones? And how many herbs can I fit into my herb patch? One thing I really, really wanted though: crocosmias. Ever since I spent a summer in Ireland, surrounded by gorgeous bursts of orange flowers everywhere, they have been my favourites. However, the most readily available variety seems to be a red one, when I definitely wanted orange ones! Imagine my delight when I discovered these two packets of mixed crocosmias under a stack of Dahlias in Homebase:



So I will have orange ones after all! I can't want to plant them. I think I will try and order all my seeds today! So exciting!

Athenaze

I must admit I haven't been loving my job so much recently, what with it being ridiculously busy and demanding, but I'm a lot happier now, with half-term on the near horizon, and, more importantly, a trip to Athens! Yep, the school is sending me to Athens in the summer. We are going to start teaching the International Baccalaureate, and the training just happens to be taking place in Athens! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!! And apparently I am the only one in the department who actually wants to go on a free trip to Athens! I'm so excited; especially as I only made my first ever visit to Greece last summer and totally loved it. I've been so keen to go back, but Alan wasn't all that enthusiastic about it. But now I'm going to be going anyway! Woo woo!!

Birthday

I've been so ridiculously busy this past week that yesterday was literally the first day I could sit down and draw breath since celebrating my birthday well over a week ago.

The day itself was all work and no play, as I was making dinner for a number of friends. I spent the whole day shopping, chopping, slicing, grating, kneading, mixing, cooking, baking. I've never seen so much lasagna!


After all that hard work, the table of goodies did look very appetising, if I do say so myself!


My friends bought me some very lovely gifts. I was especially taken with the 'Quilting Techniques' book, which was very handy and full of good ideas.


But the best present came from Alan. Admittedly, I may have dropped the odd hint or two, since the school doesn't appear to have any working clocks:


I've been slaving away at the plot, and still haven't finished my first round of digging it up! It's such hard work, especially in the rather lovely weather we've been having (hot!!).
I did, however, procure some fetching gardening gloves in order to avoid any nasty infections.


That trowel is slightly optimistic at the moment, but maybe I'll actually get round to planting something soon!