bloomin' bloomin'

The flowers at the allotment are looking many times better than those in the garden, probably due to being just left to get on with it instead of constant fussing and watching for those in the garden (well that and a lack of foraging poultry which the garden is now filled with).

This is a very good thing as I imagine that passers by will find their eyes drawn to the glorious blooms rather than the very spiky weeds that I'm too scared to tackle (this is probably wishful thinking as most seasoned vegetable growers have weed detecting radar and several of my allotment neighbours spend all day, everyday mooching about on their plots...)

We've also been making good use of our 'Cobb' oven now that the days are warmer and lighter and having a hot, filling lunch/dinner after a day of thistle menacing is proving vital.  You are meant to be able to roast a whole chicken in one, although we haven't tried that yet, but we did cook some of our christmas dinner in it last year...

things for folksy, but...

I've got a big pile of prints which I'm going to list on Folksy (let's be realistic and say 'in the next two weeks') but there is just one thing stopping me - the ironing.  I know I can crop the pictures, but if I just did some ironing (ever) then the photos would be a whole lot better, especially when it comes to tea towels and canvas bags.  Maybe this post will encourage a friend or relative to rush round, exasperated at the feebleness of a non-ironer, in-order to sort out the sorry state of my tablecloths, tea towels and bags.  I don't iron anything, ever - just imagine how scruffy my family are...

My excuses this week include chicks, quails, shallots needed harvesting, glorious sunshine and really glorious sunshine...

weekend plans...

We're having an 'at home' day today - there's so much going on at school that we can't take the pace today and are delighting in doing nothing and watching films before lunch!!  What decadence!! 

...and after all, we need to get our strength up for a busy weekend - the school chickens are coming to our house this weekend (including Naughty Nigel) so we are going to be spending a lot of time in the garden watching their every move - and someone has a trip to Horseworld in mind too...

my bottom drawer...

Would you post a picture of your bottom drawer on a blog??  If it was any other drawer in the house I would ensure that no one even peeked inside for a second - years have passed without a single spring clean or a good clearout...

But this is my favourite drawer, filled with random bits of printing stuff, in a muddle, but a working muddle where I can put my hands on whatever I want in seconds and with a lovely inky smell...

jam

Wet day hobbies this week included jam making (strawberries and blackcurrants) and jam label making...what a happy coincidence that they both happened on the same day, otherwise jam with no labels or labels with no jam.

We eat a lot more jam than is good for us in this house, but if you make it yourself it suddenly becomes that little bit healthier...

showers and sunshine...

We're having such 'April' weather here and it's good because we need the rain and it's making me stay in to do some work instead of being enticed outside by lovely sunshine.  

Us easily distracted types need all things in exactly the right place to actually get to work and stick at it for a whole day - I'm doing a logo for a green building store at the moment and have really been promising it will be ready for far too long!

guess where I've been today...

...not too hard to guess on a sunny day in the middle of the growing season...

Today was a good picking day - lots of raspberries, although none made it home, radishes, salad, one giant onion, some herbs and the very first broad bean pod (although I probably should have waited a few days as they really were baby beans).

I also gave the gooseberries a good squeeze.

Maybe by Wednesday...