Oh, it’s all a blur. I’ve started my new job, and I’m so tired. I can’t even think about what I want to do. Even reading seems an effort.
I’ve potted on the chilli plants and picked just the best three. I’m hoping the pots are big enough. Goodness knows what’s been happening on the allotment – I haven’t had the time or energy to go round this week. I’ll need to go on the weekend, probably both days.
Terrible driving lesson yesterday. I forgot to indicate, I kept my foot on the brake, I gripped the wheel so tight that I crossed my arms, I stopped very unexpectedly, and in the end, I was glad we didn’t do any right-hand turns, which I’d started last week, but was obviously not capable of yesterday.
Made what I thought was a lovely pasta sauce but the Young Chap hated it. Plum tomatoes, garlic, celery, sun-dried tomatoes and a generous dollop of red wine, all simmered down into a gooey sauce. Delish.
Filed under: Allotment
I can barely speak, I’m so excited. My tomatoes are coming up ! I’ve got about 10 little green buds in the allotment, mostly from the bush-type cherry tomato (Tumbler ?). I even made my allotment neighbour come and have a look. And later on, his next door neighbour too…
I used the basil I’ve been growing in a meal and was rewarded by the Young Chap saying that he really liked the taste (he who doesn’t like herbs normally). In a few weeks’ time I’ll be able to use my own basil AND tomatoes to make a pasta sauce. Maybe next year, I’ll have grown my own onions and garlic ?
The excitement is too much, I may need to lie down…
Saw this :
It’s one of the web projects from the latest issues of Knitscene (link goes to the list of Fall 2007 projects). After my bad luck with tank tops, I obviously am not going to be knitting this for myself. The Young Chap and Step-pa don’t wear tank tops. I have a very nice uncle who seems as if he’d wear this sort of thing. Shall I ? He is VERY nice. And I’m going to make it anyway…
Filed under: Knitting
With the news that I’ll be starting my new job soon, I decided I needed to finish all those craft projects I had on the go. So, on Friday I went to The Sewing Box and bought some buttons for the Fairly Easy Fair Isle cardi. It’s miles away and it ended up taking me 10 times as long to travel there and back as I actually spent in the shop. But it’s a little treasure trove – they sell everything you’d expect of a decent haberdashery, and it’s all crammed in. They even sold 7mm double pointed needles, which was very tempting (I’d like to make one of my cousins some thick socks to go snowboarding in) but I decided against.
Anyway, I’ve sewn one of the buttons on and it makes the cardigan seem quite girly (the buttons are pink china/plaster roses) but it was going that way anyway, with the pastel colours. Today I also finished off the Lucky wrap. I am not happy with the way it falls off my shoulders, but I think I can resew the edging on and tighten it up a bit. I also finished the skirt I’ve been fretting about for weeks. Well, to be frank, I also only really just started it, the fretting involving nothing more than cutting out the material and then leaving it on the floor for three weeks. My first zip ! I could do it a lot better next time, and I used the wrong stitch to put the ribbon trimming on, but it’s a learning process. I might wear it tomorrow for my driving lesson. That way, it’ll be like dipping my toe into the water – I’m wearing it ‘out’ but not so that everyone can see it. I might even be brave enough to wear it to pick up the Young Chap from the station.
So, that’s all my nearly-finished pro…no, damnit, it isn’t. Have just remembered, I have a grey tank top I’ve been meaning to finish off for months.
It looks awful on me, so I haven’t been inspired to finish it, but it’s going to make a fabulous present for someone (or hey, I could lose weight and reduce the size of my chest by, ooh, eight inches). Oh, and there’s my stripy socks and the Gigi jumper… it never ends. Oh well, I’ll need something to do on my commute to work, I suppose.
ETA : that’s obviously not me in the photo, I just wanted to show how good the tank top is supposed to look. Mine looks very similar, as I used a grey tweedy wool for it.
Filed under: Knitting
Forgot to mention – there’s a new issue of Knitty up. It’s the summer one, so not very interesting but if you like summer knits, go and look. They have socks…
Filed under: Allotment
Lots of activity recently. I weeded my two beds, and potted on two healthy celery plants. While I was weeding, one of my fellow plot holders came over (I’d said hello to her when I came in, as part of my new friendly approach. I feel silly saying hello to strangers but there are only 16 plots on our site, so I’d get to know these strangers eventually anyway). Not only did she give me some courgettes from her harvest, she pointed out that my carrots and my FENNEL was coming up ! I didn’t think the fennel would take, but it has, and it looks very green and healthy. So, Best Friend, your birthday gift is sprouting !
Just went into the back garden to clear up rubbish that a fox decided to, well, ‘bathe in’ isn’t too strong a word and checked on my seedlings. Eek ! The cucumber has been either nibbled on or beheaded – the leaves are gone from half of the seedlings. The chives have keeled over and the cauliflowers are Not Happy. I’d assume it’s because they don’t get much rain, being in the mini glasshouse (door is open) but the hanging basket tomatoes look the same. Hmm. Have watered them but am hoping this rain that’s been forecast will come along soon. The plot veg look fine, it’s just the stuff in the garden. And I know it rained in the garden because all the rubbish was soggy when I collected it up. Urgh.
Filed under: Allotment
No real gardening these last few days as it’s been raining and I’ve been busy with other things. However, the last of the seedlings at home have been coming along something lovely, and I finally managed to load my camera software, so I can edit the pics. I think the software isn’t all that – if there’s an option to do something to your pictures to make them look better, it should work. I’m not insecure that I can take comfort from the fact that the Magic Wand feature changed not an iota of the picture of the chillis. I KNOW it’s not so good that the feature thought “Oooh, I couldn’t improve on this fabulous photograph !”. Look :
Not that good a picture, is it ? Here’s some more :
Planted the last of my tomatoes on the allotment today so I’m all ready to start preparing that third bed. The second bed has root veg growing in it : swede, turnip, carrots, Florence fennel and parsnip. I’d like to add my celery and possibly the leeks, but there has been some advice regarding the leeks in this bed, so I might not do them just yet, while I ponder.There was a small snail on one of my tomato plants, as I removed the tray of seedlings from the mini glasshouse. I didn’t see it at first and then {insert title of post}. I then checked VERY carefully before I removed anything else, but it looks like there was just the one beastie. Something took a nibble at my cucumber seedlings, as there’s a leaf half-chewed in one of the pots, but one out of 12 isn’t bad, and the seedling itself still looks healthy. The chilli seeds MAY be sprouting (the second wave of celery seeds certainly are) but it’s a little early to tell. I hope I get at least one plant out of the six I’ve planted – it would be so cool to grow my own chilli peppers ! I’d have to hope for a pretty warm summer though.
Bought the yarn for the Fairly Easy Fair Isle cardigan and am about halfway through. Had to start the first sleeve almost from scratch again, as I’d forgotten to do the increases. I still managed to mess it up the second time, but I’ve seen how, and it’s not that big a deal, so I’ve written myself a set of directions, so that I can ‘mess up’ the second sleeve in the same way.
I read “Gods in Alabama” at the weekend, while ill in bed, and have also started “Sleeping Arrangements”. Both good, but unfortunately, I didn’t like “Fat Girl : A True Story”. It’s a pity, as I thought it would be absorbing, but it wasn’t. Maybe being on a diet that’s proving fairly successful has skewed my mindset a bit, but I didn’t like the main character/author and she seems really keen to show all the disgusting things about being fat, things that I find aren’t necessarily true, just those things you think when you’re in a really bad mood.
Toad in the hole for dinner again. It makes me so happy to know that that’s what I’m having, even on a day which is muggy, and even when the Young Chap is going to be home late. Mmm, toad in the hole with slightly undercooked batter, gravy and sweetcorn and broccoli. And a Fruit Pastille lolly (on special offer at the mo, even without Antoine de Caunes advertising it) for afters.
Driving lesson update – managed to confuse the accelerator and the brake pedals twice. But no-one died and my instructor says I’m doing very well. I even had a pedestrian wave thanks at me for slowing down at the zebra crossing – my first wave !
