Thursday 19th March 2015 – Another day, another bed turned over.

Posted on March 19, 2015 by clairesallotment

The weather wasn’t what I’d call “Spring like” today, but still it was dry, but NOT sunny. Still off I went, armed with my flask of tea to my allotment. I’ve managed to dig over more of the soft fruit bed, and then started to turn over another bed where the Onions were in last year, and I think I may plant some Potatoes in this year. We’ll see when I come to plant my potatoes out in about 3 – 4 weeks time. They’re still very happy chitting away on top of my kitchen cupboards. Getting back into the routine of some hard forking down the allotment takes a little while. At the moment, I can only dig for about an hour and a half before my back says “That’s enough for today”. Give it a couple of weeks and I’ll build up those muscles again and be able to manage much more hard forking. I also took home some treats for the chickens. Firstly some Sprouting Broccoli that is just about finished. I’ve hung that up in their run and they seem to like it. Also a mound of grass. Now I know this may sound a bit strange, but they love pecking the grass on my lawn, but they leave such a mess, so I decided to bring some home from the allotment for them, and hopefully it’ll root in their run and start to grow. They seemed very happy when I put it in. I’m not sure if they were please with the grass, or all the little worms that were in the roots of the grass. I then looked in the nesting box and found 4 little presents for me. They are such good girls….most of the time. They don’t like pigeons though. For the last couple of days a pair have come into the garden, and the chickens get very defensive towards them. Maybe they want to know why the pigeons are allowed on the grass and they’re not.

Thank you my little ones.

Thank you my little ones.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Hello Allotment, are you ready for some fun?

Posted on March 18, 2015 by clairesallotment

First day back to the allotment today to do some preparation for this year. I have been up to my plots, but only to harvest various bits and pieces. But today the weather was about 12 degrees and lovely and sunny so up I went, armed with my wellingtons and a flask of tea. There were only another 4 plot holders about, and the whole site looks very naked and bare at the moment, but then what do you expect for this time of year. Give it 3 months, and there will be loads going on and the site will look very green and pretty. I spent just under 2 hours on my plot this morning, firstly digging over one bed that had potatoes in last year. I found a few that I’d missed and now they’re home with me and we’ll have them for dinner tonight. I then covered that bed with some horse manure and then moved onto the soft fruit bed. Last year this got left to go wild, and as I’ve got some new Raspberry canes to put in it needs a massive sort out. I’ve dug and weeded a substantial amount of it today, but still have lots more to dig over. Once it’s all weed free, I’m going to put some weed suppressant down and then some wood chips on top of that, so it’s then easier to look after and keep tidy. So that’s my next job to work through. Hopefully it won’t take too long to complete. The soil is a little damp, but very easy to dig at the moment, perfect really. A good workout this morning was had at the allotment, so my treat at lunch time was a homemade (would it be any other) coffee and walnut cup cake, a Mary Berry recipe. I think I’ve earned it today.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

TOO MANY EGGS!!!

Posted on March 17, 2015 by clairesallotment

Now I’m not complaining, but I have 19 eggs!! They usually lay 1 or 2 a day, but yesterday they laid 4 and today 5!! Would anyone like 6 for £1? You have to live close to me though, I’m not travelling to Scotland!!

Chick, chick, chick, chick chicken. Lay a little egg for me. Or 19 if you want!

Chick, chick, chick, chick chicken. Lay a little egg for me. Or 19 if you want!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

The Edible Garden Show, Alexander Palace 20th – 22nd March 2015

Posted on March 17, 2015 by clairesallotment

Are you looking for something to do this weekend? We are very nearly in Spring after all. Well if you are, why not come along to The Edible Garden Show! I’ll be there, but not shopping, I’ll be doing loads of readings of my book “Lottie and Dottie Sow Carrots”!! I know it’s so exciting. I’ll then be signing my books and having photos taken with those who would like them. I’ll be either in the Family Zone, see the times on the link when I’ll be there, or at Sean’s Shed reading, signing and having photos taken there. The times are on the link so you know. If you do find me wandering about and would like to buy a signed copy just ask and I’ll sort one out for you. The only time I won’t, is when I need to pop to the ladies (but then you understand that don’t you?). Well, I have everything ready for my super busy weekend, and if you see me on the Saturday just to let you know that it’s my birthday, so I might be extra excited. But don’t tell anyone it’s my birthday I don’t want the whole world to know. See you at the show!!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

What fantastic fun they had…with me of course.

Posted on March 7, 2015 by clairesallotment

Today I was at yet another school, this time in Leatherhead doing gardening workshops and reading Lottie and Dottie. This time the school was a little larger, but that doesn’t worry me. Firstly I had to read my book in assembly in front of about 130 children aged 2-6 years, and then I did 4 gardening workshops during the day. The two in the morning were with the youngest children, and we looked at bugs that you may find in your garden, and talked about their shape and colour. How they live and what they do. We then went outside and found loads of them. Once I’d managed to catch some, I passed them round for the children who wanted to hold them. Some were a little apprehensive so they “stroked” them instead. Which is fine by me. Then we looked at where they lived and they made a bug home for them to live in. They ran round the field and gathered up all sorts of wonderful bits and pieces from sticks, twigs, large branches, leaves and stones. We spoke about where a good place to put our bug home would be and why. We all wore our coats and wrapped up warm as it was rather chilly outside, but sunny. Then in the afternoon with the older 2 years we planted seeds. We looked at the shape and size of the seeds and how they would grow and what they needed to grow. One year grew Peas and the other year grew a selection of Lettuce, Mustard and Cress. Hopefully they’ll look after them well and they’ll grow well. I signed 45 more copies of my book, which I managed to do during the lunch time as I ate my lunch. Hopefully some more will come in soon, but I’m signing at a show in a couple of weeks, but I’ll let you know all the information about that soon.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Kids are full of such wonderful ideas.

Posted on March 2, 2015 by clairesallotment

I did another Lottie and Dottie school event today. This time at a Pre Prep School in Ashtead. I was at the school all morning with 80 children, reading my book, and getting them to think about using as many “WOW” words as they could to describe something. For those who don’t know “WOW” words are any words you can come up with that describes a person, place, animal, or thing. So for example instead of saying “A dog”, you may say “A huge, brown dog”. Firstly I had 2-4 year olds, and we talked about vegetables, what did they know, have they ever grown anything. They were fabulous and very chatty. We then described a person using WOW words, and then I read them Lottie and Dottie Sow Carrots. I then had the 4-6 year olds and we made up a story. They came up with such imaginative ideas to describe the 2 characters in the story. What they looked like and what they wore. I think Gok Wan would have had a field day with their wardrobe choices. We talked about where they lived and described that. The kids decided that the 2 characters lived in a flat, which had lady birds painted on the inside walls and the flat had a giant pink cardigan wrapped around it!! Don’t ask!! The kids went on an adventure and found a spooky ghost and got chased by a bear. They then got lost (how did that make them feel), fell into a hole (how did that make them feel) and finally got rescued by the ghost who was called Jemima. The ghost showed them how to get home and they all had dinner together and became friends. To be honest that sounds perfect if you ask me. I would read that story any day. Afterwards I read them Lottie and Dottie Sow Carrots as well and they then went back to their classrooms to continue their stories. I then cleared up ad signed 48 books, which was amazing!! That was over half of the school that had bought a book I was thrilled. I’ve got another event on Wednesday, but all day that one. If you would like me to do a school event, library event, garden centre event, please get in contact. All the information is here. Or pass on this information to anyone you think will be interested.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

I’ve got a good stash of Seaweed Fertiliser.

Posted on February 28, 2015 by clairesallotment

It’s that time of year again when The Shropshire Seaweed Company have a special offer on their products. I got an email from them saying that if I used code WORM15 then I would get 15% off if I spent over £20. The offer ends Sunday 1st March, so get it today to make the most of the offer. I was very impressed with them, as I ordered it one afternoon, and then it arrived first thing the following morning. This year instead of ordering several of the 1 litre bottles, I ordered one 5 litre bottle. It works out much cheaper, and with my 15% discount I think it’s a bargain. I’m sure that it makes a huge difference to the size of everything, and yes I know that size is very important, especially if you’re a man. So here goes for huge potatoes, onions and everything else that I grow this year.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Saturday 21st February 2015 – Mark’s 42nd Birthday!

Posted on February 24, 2015 by clairesallotment

What is the answer to “The Ultimate question of Life, the Universe and Everything?”….42!  Mark has been looking forward to turning this magical age for quite some time…..42 years in fact. So for his birthday (being that it fell on a weekend) he wanted to go to London for the day. Now I know that he works in London, but doesn’t really see much of it because he’s in an office for most of the day, and then crammed into a train. So today we were tourists. In our house when it’s your birthday you get to choose what you’d like for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s a tradition, and doesn’t matter how old you are. So after a “Fry up” for breakfast, we headed to the train station. When we arrived up in our big capital city we headed for Westminster Abbey. None of us have every been here before, I don’t know why but there you go. You have to pay to get in, but we had 2 for 1 tickets so it didn’t work out that expensive. For some reason (we’re not sure why) you’re not allowed to take any photos or film anything. There was no service going on, just a lot of tourists wandering round listening to their little information phones. Can anyone answer this question for me? If you did try, then you were very sternly told not to. I would like to say that I didn’t get told off, or even try to take any photos…I was a good girl. Mark on the other hand took a sneaky photo of the “Oldest Door in Britain” which was made in the Anglo-Saxon times and built in about 1050. He didn’t get caught.

Outside Westminster Abbey because you're not allowed to take any inside!!

Outside Westminster Abbey because you’re not allowed to take any inside!!

There are lots of dead people in the church, and we were forever standing on tomb stones or memorial stones. Poor dead people must be fed up of tourists wandering over them, there they are trying to lie down for a bit of peace and quiet. After we left the Abbey we sat down outside for a little snack, and then wandered over one of London’s many bridges to our next destination.

On one of London's many bridges. The cross wind was rather brisk.

On one of London’s many bridges. The cross wind was rather brisk.

Our next stop was The London Dungeons. This is now in it’s new home on the Southbank near the Aquarium and the Big Wheel thing (again I’ve never been on this). Mark has been to the Dungeons before, but in it’s old home in Tooley Street, but a long time ago. Now I like scary things, like horror films, but not scary things like roller coasters (see our Florida trip for more information on THAT!). It was really good inside the Dungeons, you were in groups and moved from room to room being told information about various killers and historical gore from various times. It was done very well. We were in for a good 2 hours and they had group participation whether you wanted to or not. It was great fun. At the very end of the tour, you get strapped into a chair and dropped the height of a house TWICE!! I was not sure about this, but was convinced that it would be ok by the rest of my loving family, but when I heard the screams from the previous group and I made my choice NOT to go on it. Apparently I would have hated it!!

We had a little time to spare before our dinner reservations, so firstly we went to Forbidden Planet. It’s a geek store, and we’re all geeks in our own little way. Emily is into Japanese stuff, Mark is Sci-Fi mainly Star Wars (the original ones episode 4, 5 and 6), George is into Marvel and stuff, and I love various things, like The Big Bang Theory. The kids bought some things, and I treated Mark to a Star Wars T-Shirt and I bought myself one as well. Mark saw his book on sale which was a little surreal.

Oh no, it's that author again!!

Oh no, it’s that author again!!

Afterwards we went wandering through China Town. It’s beautiful at the moment as they’re celebrating their New Year and the town is decorated beautifully. If you get a chance, pop up to see it very soon as it’ll all be over in about a week. The year of the Goat started on 19th February, just incase you were wondering. They had some wonderful fruit and vegetable for sale. I wonder if I’ll be able to grown this spiky Thai Durian.

Do you think I can grow this on my allotment?

Do you think I can grow this on my allotment?

We had dinner at Ceviche, which is a little Peruvian restaurant. The food was amazing!! Go if you can, it’s well worth it. It’s fairly spicy, and all the dishes are for sharing, which is great for the kids as they can try all sorts of different foods. George liked the octopus, and Emily found that she now likes beetroot. The sea bass is out of this world!! You must try the cocktails as well, I had 2 Pasion de Ceviches which has ginger, apricot brandy, passion fruit and cinnamon in it. You could drink a lot of these if you weren’t careful because they don’t taste alcoholic. Once we’d finished we got the train back home and once back home it was time to sing Happy Birthday and have a bit of cake before we all went to bed exhausted.

Happy Birthday my love xxxx

Happy Birthday my love xxxx

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Triple chocolate cookies!!

Posted on February 18, 2015 by clairesallotment

Now I would like to say that this is my own recipe, so if you want to make them yourself you are making a “Claire’s Original”. It goes as follows:

Heat oven to Gas mark 4. Beat together 9oz Margarine and 9 oz Sugar (whatever you have, a mixture is fine. But not Caster as it’s too fine). Melt 150 grams of good chocolate and set aside. Combine 10oz of Self Raising Flour, 2oz plus 2 tablespoons of Cocoa Powder and a large pinch of Salt together. With the mixer on slow speed, slowly add the Flour, Cocoa and Salt mixture, then the melted Chocolate. Mix til it has all combined. Finally add some white chocolate chips (a small packet is good). Using an ice cream scoop space out on baking trays and bake for exactly 15 minutes.

They are very yummy and should be soft in the middle and melt in the mouth. Enjoy xx

They're soooo good!!

They’re soooo good!!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Half Term fun.

Posted on February 18, 2015 by clairesallotment

Both my 2 are on half term this week, and as it was such a gloriously sunny day we went out to Winkworth Arboretum. Now I know that we’ve been to this place quite a few times before, but we really enjoy it, and we always see something new. The kids wondered if we really needed our wellingtons, and knowing that they are both magnets towards mud and puddles I insisted. Lucky I did as you’ll find out a bit later. Now at this time of year Winkworth looks very bare, but there were plenty of Daffodils coming out and Snow drops. There were several trees that had blown down over the winter and some were made into wonderful carvings like this one, that they’d attached to a tree.

What a perfect little house.

What a perfect little house.

As we walked round by the lake the geese came over to honk at us. We didn’t have any food for them, just our lunch and I wasn’t going to share my soup and salad with them. They were clearly very used to people as they had no fear what so ever. As we were walking along, I very sensibly stuck to the paths, but the kids walked near the stream (well of course they would). Now George is the one that always falls in the water or slips in the mud at some point. However, this time Emily decided to have a go instead. She was walking back to me when all of a sudden she dropped about a foot into the mud. It came up to the very top of her wellingtons. I’m afraid I burst into laughter (not very helpful I know). She stood there rather miffed and said in a stern tone, “Well is anyone going to help me?”, by which I remarked, “George is closer.” Good on George he helped her the best he could. You may be wondering what that blue thing on his left arm is, well it’s a plaster cast! Yes he’s done it again, but playing Dodgeball at school this time. But this time he’s fractured the scaphoid bone in his wrist. The plaster has to stay on for 6 weeks, but unlike when he broke his ankle (he’s done that twice) he can walk with a plastered wrist. He’s right handed so that also helps. Emily had very muddy knees when he finally got back up, and a little while later saw the funny side of what had happened.

"Emily's turn to fall in the mud...it's usually George.

“Emily’s turn to fall in the mud…it’s usually George.

We sat down on a fallen tree and had our lunch and looked at the view, it was very peaceful and quiet. Then after exploring a little bit more we went to the cafe and I had a cup of tea and the kids had an ice cream. It doesn’t matter how cold it is they always want an ice cream. But I don’t mind buying them one as I’ve not paid anything to get in as we’re members.

There's always time for ice cream.

There’s always time for ice cream.

Then it was back home to let the chicken out in their big run. They laid another egg today, they’re doing really well and seem very happy. Their feathers are growing well and they’re not as frightened of all the noises that they hear. They’re still very silly though, but then they’re mine, so what would you expect!!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment