The Distancing Diaries - Day 162 & 163

On Saturday (day 162) the lads insisted that Jon got up first. He fed them, made mugs of tea and brought them back to bed where we stayed reading until 8.30am. 

Jon went downstairs and put the sausages in the oven while I stripped and changed the bed and loaded the washing machine. We had a dry day forecast so, for the first time in a week, it would be safe to peg everything out on the line. After we'd eaten I threw another load into the machine and gave the houseplants their fortnightly feed.

Jon went outside and fitted an extension to the existing irrigation system so the plants on the mirrored wall could also benefit if/when we go away. I got to work raking up the aftermath of Storm Francis.

Out of the sunshine it felt more like October than August so I mostly stayed in the suntrap that is our patio area, deadheading and sweeping.

I know I keep banging on about it but I'm still in awe of all the colour in the garden, I'm also beside myself with excitement over the Sicilian purple cauliflower which has been given a boost by last week's deluge. At this rate we might be eating it this year rather than next.

See the dusky purple flower in the top left hand corner of the collage below? That's one of my aubergine plants. We had no luck with them in the cloches or the veg bed so I decided to stick them in pots next to my perennials on the patio. I wish you could smell the Cosmos, its chocolate mocha scent is amazing.

 

Months ago Gardener's World had recommended cutting back the delphiniums once they'd flowered for a second, late summer showing. It worked!

How pretty is my Dusky Maiden delphinium? I thought my cornflowers had died off so moved them into the border to free up a few plant pots but they seem to have had a new lease of life.

 Saturday's outfit was the tomato dress although I had to wear my Indian quilted jacket when we went for a walk around the block, it was seriously cold!

A few years ago a lovely chap called Kev popped round with a ceramic VW egg cup for me (it's still in Gilbert's kitchen cupboard). Him & his wife read my blog and they knew Stonecroft as they live around the corner. He called round again today, he'd read that I'd been making masks and wondered if I could run a few up for him as he was struggling with the ones he'd bought online. I was more than happy to make him a supply in the colours of his choice and would have done it for free but he insisted that he give me a something in return, saying he had something in his car boot that might interest us...

Wow! A vintage doormat, Kev had rescued from a pub refurb many years ago. We live in the Highgate area of Walsall and Highgate Brewery sadly stands derelict at the end of the avenue. My Grandma rescued the Victorian lamp (above the front door) from a skip when the brewery was being redeveloped in the 1960s so the doormat could be a more appropriate addition to Stonecroft's frontage.

As I'd mentioned earlier, we went for a walk around the block. Tony is being plagued with spiders at the moment and we knew of a conker tree around the corner. There's an old wives tale that putting a conker in every corner of your room with deter spiders from coming in and there's definitely some truth in it as we used to be invade by the hateful things every year but since we followed the advice we've been spider-free for two years.

 Tea was a curry made with some Morrison's own vegetarian mince, dwarf french beans from the garden and the remains of a bag of frozen veg from the depths of the freezer served with a coriander nan.

The evening was spent drinking rum & cola and watching more Gone Fishing and Lady Bird, a rather lovely indie film currently on the BBC i-player.

SOURCE

I was the first up on Sunday (day 163). I saw to the lads, checked the extended irrigation system was working and managed to trip up the garden steps, snap my big toenail in half & skin my toes and then took mugs of tea, and my bloodied foot, back to bed where I made a start on my next book. It's a whopper, it should keep me out of trouble for a while.

Breakfast was eggs on toast, made in the new-to-us charity shop egg poaching pan. 

After watching Beechgrove Jon gave the hedge a radical trim whilst I followed behind with the garden waste bin and the rake.

At 100 metres long its a big task and we'd certainly earnt our noodles once it was done.

This week's nail paint is Barry M's Rock Pool....

And, as always, toes and fingernails match (Confession time: I photo shopped my injured foot).

 

Again it was a dry day, warm when the sun made a brief appearance and bastard freezing out of it. 

Inspired by Gardener's World, I planted a few sedum leaves in the hope of creating a few more plants.

The lads!

Jacob's hardly eaten a thing lately, it's too cold.

Jon spent the afternoon making some replacement thermal screens for Gilbert using some packaging from an Amazon delivery he knew would come in useful eventually.

I did some research for our Greek trip, deciding on the two places we'd like to stay. I'm sure it'll come as no surprise that we want not-too-touristy places with plenty of local culture, ancient history and interesting architecture. No purpose built "resorts", theme pubs or nightclubs and a peaceful beach without sunbeds or water sports. Next will be sorting some accommodation, most are offering free cancellations, which is a help. 

When we booked our flights back in February we were looking forward to some R&R on a beautiful Greek island after the chaotic festival season. Little did we know that we'd be in the midst of a worldwide pandemic just six weeks later & all festivals would be cancelled. 

Tea was individual quiches, veg pakora and vegetable gyoza with salad - made from some of our crop of crystal lemon cucumbers.

Tonight we'll be watching more Gone Fishing and George Clarke's National Trust Adventures. He's visiting Westbury Water Gardens tonight, a week behind us!

Stay safe & see you soon.