Had a brilliant driving lesson yesterday, everything was pretty smooth. I did stall the car, but I know why (had a car up my arse, and then another car pulled out in front of me and then just stopped there. I stopped nicely but then tried to get started in a hurry and … stalled). I’m hoping that by the end of August, we’ll have started doing new things, as I’m starting to feel more and more comfortable with things like braking, turning left and right at junctions and roundabouts big and small. I even picked my own route home at the end of the lesson. I really love my lessons, I haven’t had an upsetting one yet, though there have been incidents obviously. I can’t wait to get a car, I’m really looking forward to it. I watch traffic all the time now, when I’m on a bus, or crossing the road. I wish I could have more lessons but it’s not really practical at the moment.
Am coming along with Gigi. I’ve started decreasing for the waist, and it was coming along luvverly, until a fellow traveller decided to fall asleep next to me. He snored, he wobbled, his head fell forwards and backwards…very off-putting so I’ve put it away for the day.
Today I received a bag full of knitting patterns from an ex-colleague. Some of them date back to 1962 ! They’re actually quite wearable except for a few of the 80s ones. What happened to knitting in the 80s ? It looks like it was all shoulder pads and mohair and geometric colour schemes. My ex-boss pointed out the socks with individual toes, which I am so tempted to make. They’d be horrible for wearing inside shoes, but I could wear them about the house, pretending I’m being photographed for a feature in “Jackie” circa 1978. Oh goodness, I could even make each toe a separate colour !
And back to reality… I got hit by another car in my driving lesson yesterday. I’ve never been in a car accident before, it was less intense than I thought. The other driver was very apologetic and my instructor was fine, not blaming me. Still, a horrible thing to happen. We then got caught up behind a lo-o-o-o-ng trail of taxis, on their way back to London after giving some children a trip to the seaside. I imagine it was a charity event, and they looked very cheerful, all the taxis were decorated. I got a chance to practice stopping and starting, cruising at very slow speeds, all valuable lessons for if I ever travel in London.
Much better driving lesson today, I was allowed to do right turns again, the really difficult roundabout near me and 40 mph along a bit of new road. And all because I had my trainers on. See, I knew the last lesson was all down to impractical shoes.
Tomatoes are coming along lovely. The plants are really thick, so much so that I can’t tell if there are weeds underneath. The Tumbler variety is ahead of the others, presumably because it’s a cherry tomato plant, and doesn’t have so far to grow. If the rain ever stops, it would be nice to see some of the tomatoes changing colour. Can tomatoes get too much water ? I know they need a lot, but how much is too much ? If I’d known we were going to get this much rain, I would have planted my watercress !
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.
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 !
