Saturday 25 April 2020

Strange Times End of Week 6

This week.................

It's been a lovely sunny week in Suffolk................pity about the East wind early on, but we get used to that.

On Monday night  Small WI had a Zoom  'meeting'. Ruth the President had tried to get the speaker to do her presentation over the airwaves but that hadn't worked - poor connection - so instead 8 of us switched on and chatted for a while about the Strange Times.....it seems we are all getting through.  I was the only one to have gone crazy with the hair clippers! everyone else was either snipping fringes or putting up with their wayward locks.

The answer to the question asked on Monday............are fish and chip shops open? is NO - at least not the nearest one to the doctors/pharmacy in a nearby village. Oh well, something else to look forward to in a few weeks or months time or - heaven forbid - a year!.....that worries me, my grandchildren will have forgotten who I am.

I've sown more seeds, watered several times and done some weeding and at last my ride-on mower was collected, repaired and returned again so the long bits that I hadn't got done with the little battery mower are now looking better.
And my pepper plants arrived from Thompson and Morgan.   The email saying they had been dispatched appeared on Thursday of the week before last but the plants didn't arrive until yesterday. Knowing what poor specimens of tomato plants Joy had received from them I was beginning to get a bit worried but they look fine and have been potted into small pots to grow a good root system before moving them into their big pots on the greenhouse workbench. Added to the one I managed to grow  I will have peppers ......... better say 'fingers crossed' I suppose.


The wind disappeared on Thursday and I sat out for a while hoping to see Swallows or Housemartins,  Son - the archaeologist - who is back at work at the moment not many miles from me, has seen them as have so many bloggers. But here.............nothing!

So I sat out a while on Friday too and AT LAST some Housemartins checking out their last years nest. I do hope they move back in even though they leave such a mess on the conservatory roof which I can do nothing about.



This week I'm grateful for
  • Warmth and sunshine
  • Mower repaired
  • Some good books
  • Getting past a down blip
 
Have a good weekend
Back Monday
Sue

43 comments:

  1. They look good! I'm very glad they are healthy and look like they intend producing excellent fruit later on.
    Fingers crossed for my replacements now.
    xx

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    1. Hope your new tomato plants arrive safe and sound

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  2. A fish and Chip shop here is doing a bizarre drive thru service. You drive round the back, and call out the order to a hole in the dood. Then they push a broomstick at you which has a credit card machine tied on the end. You pay, then drive round the front and park (& roll down the window) There is a new door with a waist high sort of catflap. After an age, the flap lifts and a voice calls "Cod&chips twice plus battered sausage" or whatever, and a paper carrier appears for the customer to collect. We tried it a few days after we emerged from self isolation. It was OK, and we went when the shop was not busy. Now there are complaints on Facebook because of the constant stream of cars, traffic holdups, arguments etc etc. I doubt we will go back!

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    1. The power of social media is just amazing and very frightening.

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    2. I could get a takeaway from a local pub - doing curries and fish and chips, and other chip shops are open it was just the one near the doctors that are shut

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    3. Love this comment. I was in stitches imagining the broomstick coming out, hilarious. Thank you for a great laugh! A great idea from the chippy owners though good on them

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  3. Oooh PLANTS - rather than SEEDS! Nice to have something to grow a bit more quickly than seeds. They look quite chipper don't they? Postal service seems to have perked up here (after one letter taking 10 days to get to me 1st class - Easter got in the way, obviously). White Van deliveries still excellent as we are having to order things on line we would normally be able to shop for locally. I miss not being able to wander round a garden centre though and come out with a few plants for the garden. The big Primulas I bought back in late February are really rewarding me with knock-out colours.

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    1. It had to be plants after 3 lots of seeds failed!

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  4. The small garden centres and hardware shops are open here. My gardening friend goes once a week. The fish and chip shop is also open with easy social distancing. It operates almost as before COVID.

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    1. No garden centres open here at all - actually there are hardly any to be open!

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    2. Now that B&Q are open there will be gardeners out shopping for sure and DIY and queues.

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  5. We have a fish/chip van which is still operating, you order and then they give you a buzzer when they are ready. There is also a local pub which do phone in orders and then deliver. No garden centres are open but they will do a delivery service.

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    1. I found I can get fish and chips in other places

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  6. Pleased your plants arrived okay, my D gave he some Seeds yesterday, Sunflowers and Poppies which I want to plant beside the fence. Nice you had your meeting I have coffee this morning to chat with our singing group. Have a nice weekend everyone. Hazel c uk๐ŸŒˆ๐ŸŒˆ๐ŸŒˆ

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  7. I grew peppers when we moved to Devon the first time and they didn't amount to much. Only a few grew and they were small. I am always keen to sow seeds and start planting, but...... When I am in our local garden centre I feel the same enthusiasm I used to have and force myself not to look at the seeds or plants. There were a couple of times I couldn't resist and bought a few packets with peppers being one of them. They have all sat in a miniature bucket on the kitchen windowsill waiting. Apart from mowing the lawns or pruning bushes my husband hasn't had any interest in gardening until now when I persuaded him to sow some seeds. After a LOT of persuading he chose the pepper seeds. Since then he has been like a mother bird waiting for something to happen, lol. He was blaming the compost as being too 'gritty' for seeds, not getting enough light, heat (in this weather?) etc. He isn't the most patient of people, (I could tell you a story of a gooseberry bush). Anyway, they have started growing which he was over the moon about and we will see if they are a success or not.

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    1. I'm glad your pepper seeds have germinated. I've been growing them for many years and never had such a poor start

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  8. We cannot get peppers in any of the supermarkets here at the moment - seems they are in short supply from the growers - so you are lucky to be growing your own - we may all have to - but there again there are no seeds to be had!!

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    1. There were plenty of peppers in asda last week - it will be a long time til I get to eat my own!

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  9. I put pepper seeds in a small pot and after 2 weeks they are finally sprouting. My Achilles heel is always cucumber and courgette. I think I'll have to send for some.

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    1. Cucumbers have been good germinating for many years now - Iused to have a problem with them.
      Courgettes are hit and miss but I got some going in the end

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  10. Enjoy your week end Sue - your week sounds much as mine. I am not down hearted and am finding plenty to do although it would be hard to say what.

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    1. I seem to be busy enough. Plenty of grass cutting now I have my mower back

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  11. Getting past the down blip is the hardest part, I've had one this week. I too worry about our grandsons, and missing them like mad.

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    1. It seems an age since I saw the grandchildren in person Zoom and Whats app are not quite the same

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  12. I took delivery of some plants yesterday, tiny little plugs which I've started potting on. I wasn't ready for them as I'd had no email telling me they've been sent. My big gardening problem is getting hold of compost. I have some ordered online but goodness knows when it will arrive. Our garden centre has opened up its website again but, annoyingly, is only selling compost as part of bundles, e.g. x number of bedding plants plus compost. I have so much which needs potting on and putting outside for summer!

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    1. Some of the supermarkets ghave compost and B&Q are open again now

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  13. They look nice healthy young plants. I've never had that much luck with peppers, but I kept trying until last year.

    Fish and chips from a chippy would be lovely wouldn't it ... something to look forward to.

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    1. I've been OK with peppers in poly tunnel and greenhouse as long as I can get them to germinate

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  14. Glad your plants arrived okay. I tried to place an order for three plants: 2 different cherry tomatoes and basil. When I got to check out they said one of the three - but not which one - was out of stock. So canceled order and started again. Same statement at checkout. Not sure why the site couldn't update itself and say the plants were out of stock. It said that for other items. I gave up. I'll purchase local when allowed out to do that type of shopping.

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    1. Hope you are allowed out for shopping for plants soon - it may be a long while here

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  15. Your pepper plants look good. I'm glad you finally received them. You know since all this isolating started I have had on and off down spells. I think considering the circumstances they are to be expected occasionally and the important thing is that we realize we are going through a difficult time but it will eventually get better. When I get in a down spell I look for a distraction or change in activities. Sometimes that helps. I always enjoy your blog Sue and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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    1. Thank you - it's just the thought of being locked down for such a long time that is worrying.
      I'm OK again now

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  16. There are vague noises being made about being able to choose a small group of people to see, but whether that will happen or not is to be seen. Plus if those people you want to see aren't self isolating I suppose it won't be the right thing to do for a lot of people anyway.

    I read your old posts about the caravans which made me laugh although the lady with the parcel would have driven me scatty. Hope you've had a lovely day. xx

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    1. Thank goodness most of the people who came to the campsite were nice and normal!

      We will be doing a family Zoom again this afternoon which will be good

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  17. I don't think we have any eateries open, and the few that hung on doing take away have stopped too. however, one place is now opening up to do a sort of upmarket Meals on Wheels for vulnerable, at a whopping £8 per meal. Good luck with the peppers, I have stopped buying from Thompson Morgan as it was just throwing good money after bad.

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    1. Speaking to my BiL he said his local pub were doing takeaway Fish and Chips £12!!!
      I was hoping for the pensioners cheapy which is only £3.50

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  18. There's a chippy near me doing deliveries, but I am OK to wait. The plants have me intrigued. I might take a look see and invest - despite me saying on my own post today I cannot be bothered with gardening!!

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    1. I would be lost without my garden and growing food, especially this year

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  19. I'm not a fan of zoom meetings. Some people have the kind of voices that seem to dominate everything, and aren't averse to overusing them.

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  20. I'm waiting to see swifts as they've been reported locally. No joy yet.

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  21. I started a few of my own plants this year. Not just flowers but veggies and herbs as well. Some are growing very well, others not so good. Your pepper plants look very healthy.

    God bless.

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