The two rows of Early Potatoes were finished a few weeks ago. Awful quality........nibbled by ants and hardly any on each root.
Then about 10 days ago I dug the first of the Second Early type Nadine and hooray at last, decent spuds.
The same day I had the first of the tomatoes from the greenhouse, they are meant to be small.........baby plum.
I've seen the hedgehog several times now, usually evening and always in the same place........because that's where I've been putting a bit of cat food! He/she loves it. and it gave me a chance for better photos.
I think it's now common knowledge that a dish of milk shouldn't be put out for them although in the past that was common. Maybe that's what led to a decrease in hedgehog numbers - killing by mistaken kindness.
Thank you for all the comments and reminiscences about books, reading and libraries.
Hello to Samantha who hadn't commented before but was also a library assistant and has got through bereavement and cancer.
Eileen T asked if I remembered Library Tickets - yes I've spent years of library time getting them in order in trays. They were sorted by the date they were due back and then by a 5 figure number, so when a book was returned it meant flicking through the trays to find the bit that went back in the book and then the little pocket bit went back to the reader. When I started work borrowers were only allowed 3 books at a time, so people were in and out of the library much more frequently than nowadays - we can have 20 at a time from the mobile library!
Jean in Winnepeg (hope your arm is healing) reminded me of Annuals, which we had from Grandma at Christmas, and the Annuals were usually the same title as a weekly comic, which we always had. Then I've remembered that Grandma and Mum called weekly magazines "books". So when we went to Stowmarket we would go into Durrants the newsagents and collect our "books" from a room at the back of the shop because they were ordered and kept for us. So maybe I learned to read from "Jack and Jill" comic- the first one I had, then I remember "Judy" and "Jackie" and "Fab 208" and they are all still available on ebay! and no I'm not tempted.
And thanks to Spade and Dagger I know that I'm not the only person who hasn't read all the children's classics. I can only remember having Black Beauty which made me cry, The Water Babies which I didn't understand and Heidi which I enjoyed.
Also thank you to Anon who suggested the Bookworm book a while back, I never remember where I've heard of books.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
What a lovely start to the day by seeing your photos of the hedgehog! Thank you!!Nice spuds and tomatoes you have there Sue.My tomatoes have only just started flowering,but they were only grown from slices of tomatoes from my fridge,so I am well chuffed.Its nice reading about the comics you used to have.I had Judy,Jackie and Fab aswell.Also Bunty.My cousin used to save hers for me so I had quite a good selection.Before those,it was Dandy,Beano and Beezer,if I remember rightly?Ive never read Black Beauty but I still have my Heidi book!.And my Hans Christian Anderson.I find it strange that people can read books..is it on kindle?..I havent got a clue if thats the right word,lol.For me nothing beats holding a book and turning the pages!.Hope that your back is still on the mend,xx
ReplyDeleteThose hedgie photos are lovely Sue - I am so pleased he/she is back.
ReplyDeleteI don't see them here - my garden is very steep and is stepped so it would be very hard for them here. But they are around on the estate
as one little girl has put out signs saying drive carefully as 'her' hedgehog might be crossing the road.
Those potatoes look absolute magic. What wouldn't I give for a potato in my mouth as good as that.
Hedgehog ramps required?!
DeleteLove the idea of the little girls sign
Tomatoes!! How fantastic! They look delicious. The potatoes look good too - I always manage to prang one or two as I dig them out which is a nuisance.
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the book you recommended - thank you so much. It's a complete dive back into my childhood. I'm looking forward to a reading session in the garden later on today. xx
Nice looking Nadine.
ReplyDeleteWe were alerted to a hedgehog in the garden one evening a few months ago by our dog's barking. No harm was done, but haven't seen it since.
ReplyDeleteI can't recall having many books as a child, but my grandparents bought me a children's classic book every Christmas. I remember two, Black Beauty which I still have and Lady and the Tramp which I lost in a house move some years ago. There were plenty of comics though as I had Bunty then Girl and later Jackie. My oldest brother had Beano or Dandy (I always get them mixed up) and Eagle and my youngest brother had Topper (I think) and Robin. We also got the Annuals for Christmas.
Loved seeing Mrs H. Hog!
ReplyDeleteAnnuals - loved 'em! As my parents had a newsagent's shop the annuals started to arrive around September time and customers would come in and have some of them 'put away' for Christmas, often saving for them in a Christmas Club, a few pence a week, what they could afford. I was able to read them all, but only had two for myself as Christmas (or birthday) presents: Girl annual and School Friend annual. I had outgrown annuals by the time Judy and Jackie were launched, I was 13 in 1957, and that is around the time I ceased having comics and annuals. I was never really keen on any of the other annuals apart from the Daily Mail Annual for Boys & Girls, and I quite liked Eagle, with Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future. I can remember Eagle and Girl being launched, also Topper, Beezer, Swift, Robin (Swift and Robin were from the same stable as Eagle and Girl) and many that followed. How children loved comics, and how they actually helped them to learn to read.
Margaret P
Those potatoes look lovely. I've planted all ours in large pots this year and we are eating our way through them a pot at a time. It's kept the slugs and nasties off them but we are beginning to see touches of the dreaded blight :-(
ReplyDeleteThe very first interview I went for when I left school was to be an assistant librarian, unfortunately there were people more qualified than me and I didn't get the job. I was gutted, as you know I am still a book-aholic.
It looks like the hedgehog quite likes having his photo taken!
ReplyDeleteI loved your little bit about your grandma and mum calling their weekly magazines 'books'. It brought back wonderful memories of my gran who also called her weekly Woman's Weekly her book. She would read it from cover to cover but mainly the stories then pass it to mum who read the articles - the fashion and recipes, then it was passed to me and I read that short children's column about the robin and her family? (can't quite remember the title. My mum now gets the Womans Weekly and she is the one who reads all the stories and then passes it on to me and I look at the recipes and articles!
My mum and gran also called their magazines their “books”. They swapped when they met at the weekend. They also called the Co-op “the store”. I love new potatoes with butter and oatmeal and cheese- mouthwateringly yummy. Good crops, Sue, considering the weather.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere around here I have a very old copy of Water Babies...with cutouts in the pages to show through to the action on the next page. I think I also added my own 'artwork' (pencil scribbles) to the pages, if I'm remembering correctly. Also have a copy of 'Dick Whittington'.
ReplyDeleteI also remember reading the serials in my mother's magazines. It was only some years later, when I was reading some of Rosamund Pilcher books, that I recognized some of them from those magazine serials.
Hope the rest of your crops fare well.
Does a hedgehog have spines like a porcupine?
ReplyDeleteAny chance you could increase your font size? My aging eyes are straining to read.
Yes, hedgehogs are prickly probably not quite as spiny as a porcupine
DeleteThe font size is on normal, next is large which seems huge
Yes,we have to be careful what we feed our wild life. Sometimes our kindness can be be harmful. It looks like you have a happy little hedgehog.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest brother had Eagle, and the Eagle annuals. Then my youngest brother had Tiger and Beano, and Topper. I used to take Jack and Jill which had lots to do in it as well as stories to read and then June and later Jackie but didn't like Jackie so much. We also had Look and Learn which I liked a lot. One had to be careful at school as to what one would admit to reading in the way of comics so they never left my house. Then when I was a teenager there used to be something called Marilyn I think with graphics like graphic books that are popular now. Also popular were the Sunday evening serials for children on BBC which started at 5pm and were popular with all the family. I remember Great Expectations as being one of my favourite ever versions of it. Your potatoes and tomatoes are good. Lots of hedgehogs here.
ReplyDeleteI kept a few of my absolute favourite childhood books, including some of my Mum's from her childhood including her copy of Water Babies. They're tatty and so well-read and loved to bits.
ReplyDeleteYour little visitor is adorable, Sue! How nice you're using good china. Such a welcoming touch.
Just a plate with a chip in it, not used indoors
DeleteI am very jealous of your hedgehog. Haven’t seen any where I am and we live in the countryside with a garden that is not at all hog proof. Muntjacs masses of them. I guess they are more attracted by drawl beans than hedgehogs!
ReplyDeleteTraveller
Your potatoes are better than mine😊
ReplyDeleteYou should have seen the earlier ones - awful.
DeleteYour hedgehog photos are so lovely. I had Bunty and my sister had Judy when we were children. We were only allowed 2 library books each so would walk the mile there, pick our books then walk back and when read would read each others. We rarely could buy books so we were often at the library.
ReplyDeleteWe were told to give the hedgehogs a little plate / bowl of water since it is difficult for them to get some. Maybe an idea?
ReplyDeleteYour tomatoes and potatoes look fine.
Yes there is a bowl of water out for them and water for the birds
DeleteAn overload of memories - the first time I was taken to a public library and thought I was in Heaven; Jack & Jill - I was a proud member of Harold Hare's Pets Club; Bunty - my favourite, particularly the Four Marys (Mary Simpson, Mary Field, Mary Cotter and Mary Radleigh (I remembered!)); Look & Learn. Annuals were always the first thing to go on my Christmas list. And yes, my Mum and Grandma called their magazines books too. I've never actually worked in a library but I was a librarian at high school and took my duties very seriously - and I still like to date stamp my books rather than using the machine!
ReplyDeleteHedgehogs are suffering from dehydration in this hot weather, their milk is drying up and their babies are dying. It's important to put out a dish of water for them besides the food.
ReplyDeleteOh books, what a delight!
When I was getting over my cancer treatment a few years ago, I didn't have much get up and go, however one warm July evening the patio door was open and I heard some loud squeaking noises from the garden. I went outside there was a mother hedgehog and seven babies. It was fascinating to watch. She would call to them and they would all scurry towards her, I bought some hedgehog food from the petshop and saw them most evenings. We had to be really careful when we were outside as they were all over the garden. Then they were gone.
ReplyDeleteSince then I haven't seen anymore.
Good job on your garden produce! Have you read Jenny Colgan books? I've just plowed through three of them and have just taken a break to read a new one I just downloaded from iBooks on my iPad - "The Perfect Couple" by Elin Hilderbrand, set on the island of Nantucket, which one of my ancestors bought with 6 other men. I've visited there and I'm in love with the place. It's off the coast of Massachusetts, USA. Have a super week! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
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