Today is another very hot day, actually warmer than yesterday (the car said 26.5), but still with a very pleasant breeze which really helps. So this morning I weeded and watered several beds very thoroughly. I’m able to get through them really quickly now as there aren’t many weeds that have taken hold since I last weeded. I feel right on top of my allotment at the moment, which is a great feeling. Usually I’m chasing my tail with it. I then stopped to have a bit of lunch. Then I started again from where I’d stopped and weeded and watered a bit more. I looked at what I’d watered only a couple of hours previous, but it looked like I’d not watered at all! Hopefully most of the water has gone down to the plants roots, but anything that was on top of the soil has either been evaporated by the sun or the breeze. It’s amazing that this has happened so quickly. I know that the best time to water is just as the sun is going down, but for me that’s not possible as I’m in my pj’s by then and occasionally fast asleep. Just another couple of beds to go through before I have to tackle the Jerusalem Artichoke bed and the fruit bed. Hopefully I’ll get those completed by the end of next week. Time to tidy the front garden now before I have to start dinner, and if I get chance, to sort out some more Tomatoes. But a cool drink is needed first.
Oh, and just incase you’re wondering, yes I did pick Mark up from the airport in my pj’s. And no, I didn’t break down or get stopped by the police. But, I did have to get out the car and get a duck out the road as it kept walking in front of the car. Silly thing. It was only when I got back in the car that I realised that I had my pj’s on, and there were a couple of cars behind me. Never mind, I doubt if they even noticed.
And it was true. Where I live, according to the car when I came home from the allotment this afternoon it was 26 degrees. But because we had a very pleasant breeze it didn’t seem that hot. Which was rather good as I was up the allotment for just over 4 hours today doing lots and lots. The obligatory weeding and watering was done. I had to fill up my butt first thing though, as I tend to use the entire contents in one watering session. It’s quite a large butt, but I’m not sure how much it holds. I give my plants a good water approximately every 4 days, which is more than enough to keep them going through the hot weather. I’ve had a couple of requests to show how my allotment is getting on this year, so I’ve made a little video showing you all the beds on both my plots. I hope you find it interesting, it’s quite a fiddly thing to do, especially to make it interesting. Then this afternoon I did some filming in the greenhouse as I was potting on various plants: Sweet Peppers, Okra, Sorrel and Tomatoes. I’m not sure when Mark will be able to get these film sorted, maybe some this weekend, but I’ll have to see how busy he gets. I also started to tie in some of the Tomatoes but had to stop as it was time to start dinner. I couldn’t stay in the greenhouse for long as it was getting fairly uncomfortable with the heat. I’m not complaining though. So after a fun day getting dirty in the garden and on the allotment the best thing to have is a hot bath, put on your pj’s and a bit later go and pick Mark up from Gatwick (in my pj’s of course). I hope I don’t break down or get pulled over by the police. Not sure how I’d explain that one. See you the same time tomorrow. Nighty night!!
Very proud!!
The mighty Kevin Lehane (who also celebrates his birthday today) nominated me for a writers’ blog tour that’s doing the rounds.
The idea is to answer four simple questions, then pass it on to another writer.
For Kevin’s wisdom click here.
Here’s my waffle…
Words, words, words…
1. What are you working on?
Currently, Jon Wright and I are working on the sequel to ROBOT OVERLORDS. Having been one of those pub bores who will tell you how brilliant THE GODFATHER: Part II and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK are, and how GHOSTBUSTERS II is an appalling travesty, I suddenly find myself sympathising with Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis… sequels are hard!
But it’s a great problem to have. I know plenty of writers who would gnaw their right arm off for an opportunity like this. Though writing without a right arm is surely more difficult than writing with both…
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There was a rather strange woman on our allotment site this morning. She’s up there quite a lot, but I’ve never noticed her doing this before today, but though that I would mention it to you. What she spent doing today was systematically walking up and down one of her vegetable beds very, very slowly. She shuffled very slowly on her feet, not taking any big steps at all. Then rather frequently she would bend down, digging for a bit and then moving on again. She then watered and then once she’d finished one bed, she then moved onto the next one, and so on until she left. A rather strange woman I have to admit, maybe I should stay away from her……oh hang on a minute, that was me!!
Gosh is it really July already? Where did June go? Yesterday was a bit tricky to get up the allotment as it was on and off showers for most of the day. So today was back to normal up there. I’ve now finished the first thorough weed of my plots, and now it’s time to start back at the beginning again and go through each bed again and take out any weeds that have started to grow again. Even though we had a fair amount of rain it’s not gone down very far, so once a bed had been weeded then it was watered. Now it’s much easier, and quicker to get through the beds as there are fewer weeds to find. I still have the fruit patch to contend with and the Jerusalem Artichoke bed to blitz, so when I get to them, then I’ll sort those out. To be honest I’m not looking forward to that as they’re going to take a rather long time. But hey ho it’s got to be done. My strawberries have practically finished now, only the last few stragglers to pick. Lucky I don’t supply them for Wimbledon otherwise they wouldn’t have any. Still they did fabulously this year and the runners are starting to grow, so I’ll have to sort them out as and when they appear. I got another review from The Brick Castle which I thought I’d share with you.
Back on track with my walking training for my Shine Night walk in September. Today I decided to walk from home to Hatchlands Park. According to my Google Maps app on my phone it should take 4 and a half hours to walk there, but to me that seemed rather a long time, so I reckoned I could do it in less time. So off I set at 9.45am with instructions on how to get there. It’s 14 miles from my house, which is quite a long way to walk. But I had my music plugged in, a big bottle of water and some food to eat on the way. I guessed that it would take me about 4 hours to walk there, so Mark and Emily got there earlier to have lunch, and then I would find them when I arrived. George wasn’t there, as he’s at Scoutabout, I hope he’s having the most amazing time. My big question is, will he use his soap and flannel at all? Most probably not!! Anyway, I was walking very happily, keeping a good pace and not getting lost. I finally saw a sign for Hatchlands, which is such a relief, as I was getting rather tired by this point. I finally arrive at the entrance and it didn’t take me 4 hours, but took me 3 and a half!! This I was really pleased with. Once I’d found Mark and Emily I had a well deserved ice cream and then we went for a slow stroll round the park and into the house. Mark then drove home which only took about half and hour. I’ve now got to look for somewhere to venture of to next week.
Well what a surprise this was on saturday morning. Mark saw on Twitter or Facebook from a friend of his that my little book “Lottie and Dottie Sow Carrots” was one of those reviewed in The Guardian’s supplement on saturday. So I rushed out to get a copy and read it. It’s still sinking in that it’s on the same page as books written by Dick King-Smith, Sandi Toksvig, Tony Ross, Enid Blyton and Malorie Blackman to name but a few. My little words would be nothing without the most amazing pictures drawn by Marijke Van Veldhoven. She’s absolutely brilliant, thank you for being my illustrator. I was so excited, that I wanted to share this with you.
I’ve got a review in The Guardian…not my local one, but the national paper!!
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