I’m chuffed beyond belief to find out that I’ve been included in Waltons Amazing Allotment blogs. There are 19 that they’ve picked and Claire’s Allotment is one of them. Thank you Camilla for including my little ramblings in your article.
https://www.waltons.co.uk/blog/19-amazing-allotment-blogs
So many other gardening bloggers are there as well. Check them all out.
I just love this time of year when all that hard work is paying off. You go down the allotment with an empty box and come back with it completely full to the brim. This is what mischief I got up to this morning.
I’ve finally been able to get back down my allotment since getting back from our summer holiday. What with unpacking all our holiday stuff and then packing for George’s scout trip, I’ve just not had the time. But today was the day I manage to get back to my plot for about 2 hours. Here is what I got up to….
George has joined his sea scout troop down by the seaside for their summer camp. They all went down on Saturday, but we were still in Spain, so I took him down today and then he’ll come back with them this coming Saturday. He loves sea scouts as they get to do what kids love to do and go off on hikes, mess about in water, sail boats and generally have a great time. He’ll come back stinking, he always does! He’s been with them for 4 years now and has enjoyed every minute of it. So once Emily and I had dropped him off and then we both went on an adventure. We visited Hinton Ampner, which was on our route home. We’ve never visited this place before, and if you’re ever near, do go in and have a look. The gardens are to die for, especially the vegetable garden, and the house is lovely as well. We arrived at 1.30pm, and before we went exploring we both needed the loo. Then we found somewhere to sit down to have some lunch. Once we’d eaten enough we started to explore. The vegetable garden was the first thing, and it is set out so beautifully. All the produce was growing really well, and since returning from our holiday I’d not been able to get to my allotment, so I had a great longing to get back to playing in the soil. They had Sweet Peas growing over arches and they smelt so glorious.
The smell of the Sweet Peas as you walked under the arch was amazing.
They had loads of greenhouse where they were growing all sorts of delicate crops that need just that little bit more protection from Cucumbers, Grapes, Chillies and Sweet Peppers. You could only look in these from the door way as there was a rope to stop people going in. All the produce was amazing, and the Sweetcorn was over 6 foot tall with loads of cobs growing up them. I was amazed by the size of their Onions. Massive they were!! I must see if I can find the variety they were growing. They were called “Globo”. They seem to be easily available in the UK.
These onions were bigger than my hand!
All their produce was growing in perfect lines and in weed free soil. If only we all could keep our beds the same. I’m sure they have an army of workers keeping them looking that way. Where as we just have ourselves to do it all.
All in perfect line.
There is also a little church on the estate and it has 3 bells in the tower. The ropes were hanging down at the rear of the church, but being a good person I didn’t touch them. They are what we call “Unringable”. Which means that they’ve most probably not been maintained and are therefore unsafe to ring as normal church bells are rung. Maybe they’re chimed, but I don’t know. The church is tiny and very beautiful inside. There is also a cemetery round the back of the church and Emily and I went and had a look at some of the names on the grave stone. Emily found a wonderful name that she wants to use in one of her stories “Jane Eliza”.
Inside Hinton Ampner church.
We then went to look around the house. Some of the rooms upstairs were closed, as during stormy weather in 2014 some of the roof got ripped off and water started leaking into the house. They’re nearly finished with their repair works, but some rooms are used as storage at the moment. Still with only a few rooms open upstairs it didn’t matter. The downstairs was glorious and they had a chandelier that was as tall as Emily!! After we’d explored the house we went back out into the gardens and walked through the most perfectly manicured grass and beds that you’ve ever seen. The garden was so big that they have a “Temple” in the garden. Emily and I had a sit down in it for a while to have a look at the view.
The “Temple” in the gardens. The perfect place to sit and think.
Once we’d looked round everything we then went into the cafe and Emily had an ice cream and I had a cup of tea. We started to make our way home about 4.15pm. The place closed at 4.30pm We avoided all motorways coming home, but instead took the fast A roads. We had no traffic problems and arrived at our local Fish and Chip shop at a little before 5.30pm. It was a fish and chip supper as George was camping and we’d been out all day. The perfect end to a perfect day. I was exhausted having driven over 200 miles that day. Early bed for all.
It’s been a couple of years since we’ve been to Spain, so here is an update of what Mum and Dad have been getting up to.
This holiday has been a long time coming. We’ve not had a holiday since Christmas 2014 so were in desperate need of getting away from it all and relax. It’s wonderful when we go to my parents, it’s like a home from home. We left our home in the UK at 3.30am on 25th July. It was very dark and a little on the chilly side. We crept out to the car very quietly so as not to wake our neighbours (we’re good like that), and set off to leave our car with Mark’s parents. We arrived at the airport around 4.30am ish and checked it at the British Airways desk. They are a lovely airline, and you get 23kg of hold luggage where as the rest are usually only 20kg. All our 4 cases (new cases) were way under and I think the heaviest was only 14kg. The plane was on time, so we were sitting by mum and dad’s pool at a little after 10am Spanish. As I unpacked the kids went straight in the pool. Emily walking down the steps delicately (later on she would jump in), and George would either bomb in or dive. Emily and I can’t dive, and to be honest, even jumping in freaks me out. I’m very tall you know and it’s a long way down.
The view round mum and dad’s. So quiet you can hear a pin drop.
Very soon we all got in the pool and messing around, either swimming, diving, or just floating about relaxing in the sun.
Nothing more relaxing than floating about in the pool.
There are lots of undercover areas around the pool, so if you want to get out the sun and find a bit of shade it’s no problem. The temperature was usually in the low 30’s, but a couple of days got incredibly hot and one day we hit 37 degrees!! That was too hot for everyone, and even sitting in the shade you were sweating uncontrollably. Fortunately those temperatures only lasted a couple of days and then it went down to something more acceptable. We visited the local market on both the Saturday mornings. They sell all sorts from clothes, plants, fruit, vegetables, fish and items for the home. Because where my parents are isn’t a tourist place the markets are full of useful things.
If only my herbs would grow like these ones.
We had a small problem with some wasps round the pool. When the weather gets really hot they come and take a drink from the pool. This can be a bit of a problem when you’re trying to have a swim. For the first few days we must have removed at least 200 drowned wasps from the pool each day. We were’t sure whether there was a nest nearby of what. But we suddenly discovered they had made one behind a light round by the pool. My dad constructed an ingenious contraption, where he blocked off their exit route and puffed a load of powder up into the next. The following morning we had success!! Most of them had died. Once we had sorted that nest out, our wasp problem seemed to practically vanish. All but one day was bright sunshine with the odd cloud. But one day we woke up to total cloud. We also a a couple of spots of rain? This was a welcome relief to be honest, but by the afternoon the cloud had all gone and we were back to blue sky once again. In the evening we went to the local village fiesta. The Spanish are Catholic, and it was a very solemn affair, but beautiful and glorious at the same time. I did feel very sorry for the men who had to carry either the Jesus statue or their Saint statue as they looked very heavy, and in that heat couldn’t have been fun.
The music sounded like something from the Godfather.
As the sun set the celebration lights came on. The church in the village is tiny, and was open, so we all went in to have a look. The bell on the church roof then started to ring, but not like a proper bell, like what I does, but there was a man who kept pushing it round and round. One single bell just going ding, ding, ding. The procession of people walked very slowly round the village and ended up walking over a beautifully laid out pattern on the road. It was made of leaves and different coloured petals. It looked so beautiful there on the road, but then the procession is then supposed to walk all over it, and within minutes the beauty was no more and there are petals and leaves strewn all over the road.
It took them ages to make that pretty pattern and now you gone and ruined it.
Once this was finished we went back to mum and dad’s to watch the fireworks and then went to bed. Another day we went to see my mum’s sister Chrissie and her husband Tony who live in the next village to my parents, they have 2 dogs Ollie who is about 12 now and has a white beard, and a new puppy called Wilson. Well to look at him you wouldn’t think he was a puppy because he’s so large. He’s about 9 months old and is going to be a very, very big boy when he stops growing. They have a garden where they’re growing chillies (hot ones), peppers, tomatoes, courgettes, squash.
Part of Chrissie and Tony’s vegetable patch.
We went to the beach twice. It’s a drive of about 45 minutes, so it’s not something that you can do every day. To be honest I wouldn’t want to go there every day. Sand gets everywhere!!! The waves were fairly rough, but not too much for me. We’d bought a couple of boogie boards so we could catch any decent waves and be pushed in land. The sea is the Med, so it’s very warm. We all went in, and although I’m a little apprehensive when first entering the water, only because the waves were a “bit pushy”, and the sea floor is a little uneven. But once you get past the breakers then it’s much better. It’s getting past the breakers that’s the problem. Some of the waves were large and several times they crashed over our heads. I’m please to report that even I went on the boogie boards. Yes I’m a cool mum and I join in with the fun.
Perfect waves for boogie boarding.
We went bowling, shopping and mum made a Paella. We had a couple of BBQ’s and I tried on a chicken onesie. Yes you heard me correctly, I really am a made chicken lady. Oh, and talking of the chickens, Mandy and Kath some lovely neighbours of mine offered to look after my girls for the whole 2 weeks. Michelle popped in occasionally to look after my plants. I bought them back some gifts each to say thank you for all their troubles. Mark and I went out for a romantic meal, just the 2 of us. Mum always insists we go out for at least one meal. While we were out, mum, dad and the kids had Mac and Cheese and then had a night time swim. We went to a local Medieval market which was very good. There were lots of local produce being sold and we bought some jams and some fresh bread that the lady had been cooking in a brick oven next to her. We ended the evening having crepes which were huge and the man who made them had such skill and they were made while you watched.
Huge crepes, and very tasty.
One evening we played “Cards Against Humanity”. If you’ve not heard about this game, it’s not for the faint hearted. It is a game that can easily offend, but if you’re in the right company it’s so funny, but very shocking at the same time. If you have played it before, you’ll known what I mean. It brings the worst out in people, but in a very funny way. I’ll stop talking about it now, but it’s best played when you’ve had a little too much to drink. On our very last day we went for a Menu del Dia (meal of the day). These can be of varying quality depending on where you go. Before we went to the restaurant we popped into the local Bodega (they sell wine, lots and lots of wine and other spirits as well). The smell when you enter is amazing. As we walked around a lady came up to mum and I with a couple of glasses of wine. “For the ladies” she said with a smile. One glass was Rose and the other was white wine. We tasted them both and decided which we preferred. I liked them both so bought a bottle of each to bring home. They’re now safely under the stairs and will be drunk for a special occasion.
I could only buy a couple of bottle because the barrel wouldn’t fit in the case.
The place that we’d booked to go to for our Menu del Dia had forgotten to book us a table and didn’t really seem to care, so we left that place and went up the road a little further to Veintiocho. We’d not booked, but they were very happy to find a suitable place for us to eat. We sat down about 2.30pm for a 3 course meal, tea/coffee and another drink was 13 Euros!! Bargain. We didn’t eat until we got to the airport at about 10pm that evening and that was only a croissant. When we got back to the villa we waited until our dinner had gone down, and then went in for one final swim before it was time to have a shower and pack the last of our bits.
Last swim before we go home.
We arrived at the airport a little before the check in desk had opened, but didn’t have to wait long. We’d already checked in online, but needed them to print out our boarding passes. We then lined up to go through security. We that was the most complicated security check we’ve ever had. George got pulled over for a “Random Search”. First time that’s happened to him. They put on special gloves and patted him down very thoroughly, then took a drugs swab from the band of his trousers. Obviously it came up negative. In our hand luggage we carried dad’s old car A/C compressor because he needs a new one and the Spanish can’t get them, but we know someone in the UK who can, so we had to bring that back to make sure we get the right one. It was all well labels, but a couple of security officers had a chat as to whether it could be taken on board. They let us take it. I’m sure they’ve seem other odd things before. It’s now down to dad to take the new one back through security. We’ve done our bit, now it’s his turn. Emily whizzed through, and I had to stand with both George (he’s under 18) and Mark to make sure both things got done without any problems. We can only think that because George was wearing a Jake the Dog hat that they clocked him on CCTV as soon as he’d entered the airport. Once all that was done we bought a drink and a small snack while we waited for our gate to open.
A little snack at the airport before we board out plane.
Our flight was on time, and we were airborne very quickly. Again we flew British Airways and they were fabulous. All the cabin crew especially a wonderful lady who gave me a little treat. Thank you. We arrived home at 2.45am UK time. All exhausted and tired. I said a quick “Hello babies” to the chickens. I think they thought I’d left them. Then it was to bed. THANK YOU Mum and Dad for such a wonderful holiday!!!! It was exactly what we needed to relax and recharge our batteries. You’ll have piece and quiet now, and won’t get splashed on when you’re taking a leisurely swim and George decides to dive bomb in the pool.
My Jury Duty has finally finished. They’ll have to find some other people to sort out the criminals. I can’t be called for another 2 years at least. I may never be called again! It was a very interesting thing to do, and I learnt a lot. I had 2 cases and neither of which were gruesome, which was something I wasn’t looking forward to. So now I’m back where I belong, where the pigeons fly, to the trees so high! I had a great 3 hours on my plots today and harvested the first of my Potatoes, Sugar Snap Peas, Lettuce, Cucumber and Beetroot. Plus I did a load more weeding, watering a feeding. So all in all a very pleasant time. Plus a little update on my Squash, Pumpkins and how everything is growing in the greenhouse.
Because I’m in the middle of my Jury Duty, I’ve been unable to go down to my allotment at all this week. Emily, bless her, has been going down and watered my greenhouse. I leave early and get back late, and am totally knackered! So I made the most of this morning and after bell ringing I went and had a play for a couple of hours. My allotment seems to think that just because I’m busy that it can do what it likes and all the grass can grow really fast and the weeds think that they can have free run of everything. I soon put some of them back in their right place (or the green waste area). I weeded, watered and fed a couple more beds that contained my other variety of Sweet corn “Swift F1”, and some brassicas that I planted in between them.
Swift F1 Sweet corn. All fed and watered.
The brassicas have been nibbled by the birds, but the centres are still in, so I’m hoping that they’ll recover to some degree. I also watered and fed everything that is in the greenhouse. Like the greenhouse at home all the plants are growing really well and I may have a Cucumber to harvest very soon!! Before I came home I harvested some more Spring Onions, Radish and a Lettuce. It’s all growing well, and hopefully it’ll continue to grow well and I’ll be harvesting masses very soon.
I’m very proud of this lettuce. I’ve got more nearly ready.
Sorry I’ve not been blogging for a while, but I had Jury Duty last week and also this coming week. Hopefully I’ll finish early this week, so I can get back to normal. But the greenhouse at home is growing well. Well, not the greenhouse itself is growing, but the plants in it are. The Cucamelons are trying to take over and if I don’t keep an eye on them I have a feeling that in a few weeks they would have crept their way everywhere. Still the little fruits are starting to form which is really exciting. The Tomatoes are in need of some side shooting and tying in, and the flowers are appearing on my Sweet Peppers and Chillies. Here is a little update on how it’s all doing.
Another very busy 4 hours on my allotment today. I’m now systematically working my way through each bed. I harvest, weed, then water, then move onto the next bed and do exactly the same. If I find any spare space, then I sow some fast growing crops. I’m not going to waste the space once it’s been vacated by one plant. Are you ready for this video? I got a lot done.
Clairesallotment's Blog 