Saturday 20 June 2020

Not Quite So Strange Times Week 14

Slowly, slowly some things are getting back to normal. People who like buying new stuff in shops are happy, and I'm sure I saw on the news some even fighting to get in! and many queueing for hours and we're all being encouraged to go out and spend. I shan't say what I think about that.
But then a bit of news that was more exciting to me and that's the smaller more local-to-me car boot sale is hoping to re start in July - strict rules and I think it will be very busy because the big Needham Market boot sale is cancelled for the rest of the year.

This week was going well. At the weekend I had a socially distanced coffee with Col's sister, her husband and my niece. They have been seriously shielding as BiL has a debilitating condition that really wouldn't mix with Covid 19. It was so good to catch up. They've found their garden again after not having time to do much for several years, it's looking lovely and productive.

Then Monday  I went to visit the nearest Grandchildren, sat on the floor to play with Youngest Granddaughter but then moved wrong and the blasted knee went clunk and I was stuck on the floor. Poor DiL had to haul me up to the settee! I managed to drive home OK but it put paid to other plans (not that I had any!) for most of the week. I had been so careful not to twist it since the first time -  last December- but will now need to be even more careful.

On Tuesday I delivered Polly cat to the vets. Do you know how much it costs for a cat to have a tooth removed? BIG MONEY! They reckoned it might have set off an infection if it was left wobbly so was better out.

There's been a couple of spells of good rain during the week but not the thunderstorms some parts of the country have suffered. I hope the rain has helped the fruit trees as it looks like a bumper apple crop this year, it certainly plumped up the raspberries.


Food from the garden so far this year
  • 9 small lettuces (I now have a gap because the next sowing took ages to get going)
  • 5 Cucumbers - and 6 more given away
  • a few asparagus spears
  • lots of rhubarb
  • Few strawberries.
  • 2lb of gooseberries
  • First raspberries
  • 3 teeny courgettes, one had been pecked by birds so I took off these tiny ones and covered the plants with a net. Then one more decent size courgette later in the week.
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Then lots more raspberries and a few more strawberries

and
 

  • The first potatoes. I wouldn't normally have dug them up this early but two plants seemed to have died so I wanted to see if there was an ants nest underneath. No ants but so, so dry under the ground. Not many potatoes from 2 roots. I made potato salad.

One pound of gooseberries are in the freezer, ready to make Gooseberry and Date chutney sometime.

Oh, I found out where the Mystery Parcel came from - someone in the family - for research because they are planning to do something similar but better value and all ethically sourced. I was able to give an honest account of what I thought of it.

This week I'm grateful for
  1. My wonderful children and grandchildren
  2. Fruit from the garden
Hope you have a good weekend. Nothing planned here except for popping out for the Saturday local paper. I might go through books again to see what I can send off to sell and then there is more cross stitch to get done. I'm making the scissor keepers to to go with the two owl scissor cases made so far.

Back Monday
Sue




42 comments:

  1. So glad you could play with the grandchildren, but sorry about your knee (have you tried a support strap? I found one very helpful when I had a dodgy knee a few years back) Do post some pictures of your owl stitcheries. There was a bloke on Salisbury Market (I hope he's there again in the future) who sold small tools including embroidery scissors. Good quality, very good prices. After you posted about the pattern it occurred to me that they'd make great little gifts. Shame about the postponed Boot Fairs.

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    1. I asked the physio lady when I went earlier in the year about a support strap but she said no - not for what I've done - it won't help.

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  2. I daren't go to a car boot sale this year (missing them so too) because I am Shielding due to my Chronic Asthma and Keith is on age grounds. I hope you enjoy yours again.

    Sorry about your knee - what a damnty nuisance.

    We are having the first few raspberries here though not enough to put in a bowl yet, and I had a good picking of Rhubarb yesterday. The 3 puny plants have been fed with no end of sheep/donkey manure heap and watered mightily and NOW they are finally growing. We've had our first early potatoes too - two plants looking feeble, as the soil needed a damn good feed of muck. My daughter made Potato Salad with hers too.

    First spring onions ready now, and Gooseberries close to being ripe, ditto Blackcurrants. I will make wine with the latter.

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    1. The rain we had has made a huge difference to the raspberry crop, doing really well despite neglect!

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  3. I have started digging my new Potatoes; Lovely. Otherwise My Tayberries/Raspberries are almost over, I have made about 10 pots jam. I'm now waiting for the rest. Tomatoes a disaster, that makes 4 years in a row. I shall find a new home for them next year.

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    1. Looked at your tomato photo - very strange where the rot has set in, not seen anything like that before

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  4. After the monsoon like rain we’ve had this past week, our rhubarb is now doing brilliantly! My beetroot is looking very good, but my spring onions are looking very sad for some reason. I’m hoping they’re going to perk up and start doing their thing soon! The salad leaves have been cut and returned to, again (and again) The carrots and leeks appear to be doing well too.
    I hope your knee is starting to get stronger and less painful soon. :)

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    1. Thank you - yes knee tons better must remember the exercises I was shown last time.
      The rain has really helped the garden - just in time before the heat of next week

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  5. I am so sorry about the poor knee. Thank goodness you managed to get home again. Wish I lived close - I could come over and help out, maybe.
    Someone suggested some sort of knee support for a while - worth considering, maybe?
    Take care and lots of love
    xx

    Your garden is doing wonderfully. There's something very grounding and hopeful about using ones own garden produce, whether it be fruit, veg or flopwers.

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    1. I just love to go out and pick my own stuff - I'll keep growing as long as I can

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  6. I love the way you have a 'grateful for' list each week Sue. It is so easy to get centred on what you miss and are fed up with and there is always something to be pleased about even if one has to search for it. Have a good week end. x

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    1. It wasn't a good week for being grateful! With an injured knee and huge vet bill!

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  7. I ditched most of my very old summer clothes last year, thinking I would be able to get some more this year. I am currently wearing a very shabby pair of 10 year old shorts, and a five year old, with holes in it, blouse. My jeans hardly fit - opps! I really don't want to go into the shops but might think about it otherwise I would have to order way too much online.

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    1. Have to queue to get out of Morrisons and Asda through their clothes aisles - Morrisons have some lovely dresses but I was very good and avoided looking too closely.

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  8. I wondered if the mystery parcel came from someone in the family, glad you have solved it. Looks like a good day here, sunny and blue sky and not a cloud in sight. Walk then jigsaw. Enjoy your day and hope the knee behaves.

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    1. Its going to be HOT next week - lots of watering will be needed I think.

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  9. Sorry to hear your knee was painful but it was so good that you enjoyed time with the family. Pleased you found out where the parcel came from. Try and rest your knee thus weekend. Enjoy you day, Hazel c uk 🌈🌈🌈

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    1. The nearest family are my "bubble" so I can see more of them at last

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  10. It sounds like a rough week, What with your knee and Polly's tooth. Hope you are both feeling better soon.

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  11. Our blackbirds would love those raspberries. We pronounce them rasp-berrys with a short 'a', a voiced 'p' and hissed 's's, but I bet you Suffolk people are like my late mother-in-law from Hertfordshire and call them rarzbriz.

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    1. Rarzbreeze would be the right spelling for Suffolk I reckon!

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  12. Ouch your poor knee ... again!!

    I bet it was so nice to see the grandchildren again and have a couple of meet ups with family. It would be wonderful if we could manage to do a car boot sale in the near future to get rid of the shed full of things we have sorted out that we really need to get rid of before moving.

    I cannot think of a single thing other than food I would want to buy from any shops at the moment, I don't think I'm going to be very good at helping to rebuild the economy!!

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    1. I looked at lovely clothes in Morrisons - but not exactly going anywhere to need new clothes!
      I'd rather spend on ebay where the money goes direct to a person - no help for the economy unless they then go out and buy new.

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  13. I'm still shielding, but I'm getting out for walks twice a day where it's quiet. Being on the coast we get lots of day trippers, so I can't get down to the beach or prom very much. We get food deliveries, but the shops will have to wait for our patronage for a while longer yet. Your harvest is wonderful! Our veg are doing well, but we haven't grown as much as we normally do. Best, Jane x

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    1. It must be very frustrating to live by the sea and not be able to go and see it!

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  14. It only takes one moment of forgetting the knee or back and it goes again, hope it recovers soon. Had a little giggle about you not getting back up, I can't get up from the floor now and for the life of me I can't work out why, the muscles must have packed up, lol
    As for vets fees, well we've had a few in the past couple of years and again I can't understand why they are so expensive, but they know we need them and can't complain.
    Have a lovely weekend and show the goodies if you do the car boot.
    Briony
    x

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    1. I can usually get up off the floor - not elegantly! but when the knee won't bend it's a bit of a problem

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  15. Take care to strengthen that knee -carefully - joints take so much longer to repair themselves as we age don't they? Tigger has had several teeth out so we sympathize with you on cost (!!!) - he now has special toothpaste to administer daily - which appears to have reduced his oral infections to nil for the last couple of years. Long may that last. Those raspberries - oh can almost smell them (my absolute favorite fruit). Keep on blogging - F.

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    1. I can never decide which I prefer out of raspberries and strawberries but certainly missed them in the year we lived in a town

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  16. I'm sorry about your knee, and I hope it's feeling much better now.
    I've been getting plenty of strawberries from the garden these last few weeks too. I've been eating them with some yoghurt for my breakfast each morning. X

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    1. Yes thanks the knee is much better - just need to do the exercises I learned in January

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  17. Hope the knee feels better soon! It's the one grumble I have about getting older - my body doesn't always want to act the way I think it should.

    I'm so glad you got to play with the grandchildren. I've been finding the hardest thing about all this is not being able to see and hug the ones we love. I can do without the crowds - not a fan - or the shopping (okay I do miss the bookshop lol).

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    1. It's lovely to be able to see the closest bit of the family often. Hope I'll be able to see all of them soon

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  18. How nice that you got to visit with family but I'm sorry about your knee. It's easy to forget about a knee problem and move the wrong way bringing it back. I hope the local car boot sale is able to start back soon. I know you've been missing them. Enjoy your weekend!

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    1. I think the local boot sale will be so busy that I will be put off going

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  19. Lovely to see you have been able to catch up with family.
    Our numbers here are good so the charity shops have been inundated over the past few weeks with people having clean outs during lock down, you may find some good bargains when yours are open again.
    Hope your knee feels better soon, could you use a strong crepe bandage or knee support for a while to help it heal.

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    1. The physio lady said a knee support wouldn't help. Hope our charity shops all open soon

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  20. There'll be lots of smiling faces I think after some are now able to spend time with family. We too have been shielding and with a hospital visit later this week are still not allowed to 'bubble' yet.
    Hope the knee is not too sore and don't get me started on the folks who just had to go shopping....

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  21. Oh Sue...sorry to read you are suffering knee issues again...what a pain...literally.Glad you are back seeing at least some of the grandchildren. x

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  22. ouch! Sorry to read your knee gave you trouble. I pray that you will heal and feel better soon! I enjoy seeing your delicious berries in the nice bowls. I think I saw some of those bowls when I lived in UK years ago. Our county has opened up in 2nd phase, so more people allowed at church but must wear masks and six feet apart. Every other pew was open for people to sit in sanctuary this a.m. More people in balcony! I try to stay away from a flock of people, even outdoors. Too many on the beaches Friday before I left the coast after staying 2 nights. I will write about that on my blog this week. Glad you got to see your grandchildren. Hopefully we will as well, in July! Take care. Be happy! ;=}

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  23. How lovely that you get to see your grandchildren. When I go out and about I still wear a mask and stay as far away from others as is possible.

    Hope the knee feels better very soon.

    God bless.

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