Pay day

Work yet again so I packed lettuce sandwiches, grapes, a tomato and a bottle of water, had my breakfast and offi went. First I had to finish de shooting the tomatoes and twist the cucumbers round their strings and then I had to seed 12 trays with lettuces each with 308 seeds. All this took till 12.20 and then I had to pick 50 bunches of spring onions. After that I had to join Andy and we bunched 50 bunches of beetroot and 108 bunches of carrots. He then went back to the yard to wash everything and I had to spend the rest of my day weeding. When I left off the boss paid me and I came home for a nice cup of tea. When I walked in I could smell paint and H had been busy painting the 2 radiators in the lounge, they look nice. For dinner we had eggs, bacon, chips, mushrooms and courgette's fried in butter, it was delish'. 

Wednesday

Work again so it started off the same as yesterday , washing, breakfast, hanging the washing out etc. etc. When I got there it was different, I had to pull and bunch spring onions  I did 253 bunches and then I had to go to the greenhouse to take the side shoots out of the tomato plants. We had a nice dinner, haddock, new potatoes, broard beans carrots and courgette fried in butter. I have to work again tomorrow, that's 4 days in a row, it's ages since I have done so much.

Tuesday

Work again so up at 5.45, put on a load of washing, had my breakfast, packed my lunch, hung out the washing and got ready to go to work. We were planting again, it was loads more greens including the purple sprouting broccoli. We had it all done by 2.45 so I had to weed for the last hour and a bit. I was glad to find my cup of tea waiting for me when I got home. We had a nice dinner, steak and onion pie, carrots, potatoes and broard beans. 

Monday

It was work for me today so I packed a couple of sandwiches and some fruit with my bottle of water, had my breakfast and off I went. I had to pick 30 bunches of radishes, 120 bunches of spring onions, 10 boxes of broard beans and 5 boxes of rhubarb. I spent the rest of the day weeding leeks and onions. I felt fine when I came home and sat down to drink my cup of tea and then H ran me a bath and I was so stiff I struggled to get up the stairs. I think I feel a bit better now. I have to work again tomorrow but we should be planting so that's a sitting down job.

Sunday

We got up at 6 am and I did a load of washing even though it was raining. We had our breakfast and I made some choc buns with choc chips. H put a second coat of paint on the 2 walls he did yesterday and the first coat on a third wall. It was then time for him to get ready for his turbo session and I got ready to cycle round to our daughters. She only lives 4 and a half miles away. I cycled down the road and past Taverham Church only to find an enormous flood. I thought if I took it steadily it would be fine but it was so deep it came half way up my wheels and I got my feet soaked. Anyway I had a nice cup of tea when I got there and stayed about an hour before biking home again. Both my Grandaughter's were there so it was nice to see them both. I decided to come back along the cycle track so I could miss the flood. The track was very muddy in places but not as bad as the road. When I got back H had just finished his virtual ride so we had egg sandwiches and a coffee and I hung my washing out. We then sat and watched a film.( the horse whisperer ) For dinner we had lasagne and grilled tomatoes, a cup of tea, some melon and a glass of wine.

Another good day

I put on a load of washing and had my breakfast. We had a coffee and then I hung my washing out. After that we got ready to go out on our mountain bikes. We thought we would try the track even though we have had so much rain and thought it would be pretty sticky. Well we were right, it was very muddy but great fun. There was a tree down and quite a wide stretch of the track was under water. We managed to get round in the dry and when we got back home I got my washing in all nice and dry. I washed and changed and we went to B & Q for some paint for the lounge. We had a hot dog with onions from the van on their car park for our lunch and it was lovely. As soon as we got home H began to put the first coat on the walls and I went out to pull more rubbish out of the garden. I spent over an hour out there before it began to rain and I had to come in. I then had a bath and washed my hair before cooking dinner.( pork chops, new potatoes, carrots and beans. For pudding we had millionaires cheesecake and a slice of melon. We opened a bottle of wine this afternoon, now I only have one left and when it's gone I am not going to buy any more till it is my birthday which is December. 

Good day

Well!! I have just done a colour, age test on Face book and it said my age was 25 !!! I am 77.  I feel younger already. When we got up this morning H put the tv on and much to our surprise the 'out vote ' won, we are so pleased but didn't expect it to happen. We went for our weekly shop as usual and after we had unpacked etc. we had a coffee and went to the City to sort out some banking and on the way home went to our butchers. I bought loads of lovely meat which I froze when we got back. We had a pork pie for lunch and for dinner we had duck legs in an orange and port sauce with rosemary potatoes and garden peas. It was English strawberries and cream for pud. I spent all afternoon in the garden and I have almost filled my brown bin again. It was only emptied this morning.

Thursday

Today at work was so humid, it was awful when it rained and we had to put our plastic gear on. First I had to pick 30 bunches of radishes then join Andrew on bunching spring onions. We had to pick 190 bunches. And then 3 of us each picked a box of rhubarb. After that I had to pick another 30 bunches of radishes, 70 more bunches of onions, 30 bunches of beetroot, 48 bunches of carrots and finally I was supposed to pick 7 boxes of broard beans but I only managed to fill 3 boxes and it was my hometime so one of the men will have to pick the other 4 boxes tomorrow! I have to work again on Monday. For dinner tonight we had chicken, potatoes, carrots and broard beans. 

Work at last

I went to work today so I was up at 5.40 and had a slice of toast and a cup of tea for my breakfast. I packed 2 cheese, cucumber and tomato sandwiches for my lunch and filled my flask with nice cold lemon squash. We went straight up to the top of the field to spend the day planting greens. We had 106 trays of plants each with 308 plants in, so we planted a lot of cabbages and caulies. ( you do the maths.) Howeverwe got on so well we finished them around 3.30 so I took a few side shoots out of the tomato plants till it was time for me to leave off. My cup of tea was waiting when I got home and then I soaked in the bath before dinner which was bacon, eggs, mushrooms and baked beans. I have to go again tommorow so I hope I am not too stiff.

Tuesday

This morning I did all my holiday ironing before it got too hot. Then I got on with a bit of housework. At 11 am we had somebody come round to measure up for some curtains for our patio doors. They emailed us the quote this afternoon. £ 1,434. H says that's ok and as he is paying I am happy. Now he will have to get stuck into the painting the room before they are made and hung.we had cheese and biscuits for lunch and then I worked in the garden all afternoon. I have filled my brown bin and have a huge pile of more rubbish on the patio waiting to go in next week. We had chicken curry for dinner and as I was about to dish up my boss rang. I thought, oh no not another day off but it was to ask if I could stay till 5 pm if we haven't finished. I, of course, said yes. It will be nice to see all my workmates again.

Wet Monday

Well my boss was right, it was too wet to plant, unfortunately after all today's rain it's now too wet for us to plant tomorrow so I have another day off. After breakfast and a coffee etc. we got ready and went out in the car to look for curtains. We found a place on the Rackheath industrial estate that had the material we wanted and they are coming round tomorrow to measure up. On our way home we popped round to our no 1 sons to give them their holiday present. We had a cup of tea there and our daughter in law gave me some lovely plants she had grown. We went from there to the chicken farm for eggs and then home for a fried egg sandwich and a banana. I've done very little this afternoon just read a bit and got dinner which was spaghetti bolognase. I hope it dries up soon I want to get back to work.

Sunday

How lucky was I today. I had masses of washing and it's been such a nice day I managed to get it all dry. My boss has just rung to say the land is too wet for us to plant tomorrow so now I will be able to get all my ironing done. Our daughter and son in law came round this afternoon to see H and to give him a Father's Day card and present. Both sons have spoken to him today too. I might have to work on Tuesday but boss says he will ring tomorrow evening to let me know. We had salmon, jacket potato and baked beans for dinner tonight and a cheese and tomato roll for lunch. When I got up this morning I weighed myself and I weigh about a pound less than I did before my holiday!!! H and I are going on a diet next week. We are going to follow the Paleo diet to see if it helps H and his stomach pains and also help me loose weight. It will give me something to blog about. Our youngest son wants to do it too and has tried one or two recipes but found it rather expensive. But that's because he doesn't often eat meat. I love meat so hopefully I will be able to stick to it. Our daughter has gone back to slimming world so I will try to loose more each week than her.

Saturday

Well we are home again. We were in bed before the boat sailed last night, never heard or felt a thing and when we got up this morning we had already docked at Harwich. We had a fantastic breakfast, I had eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes and s hash brown. To drink I had an OJ and a cup of tea.H had the same as me but he also had a roll with his and then another roll with jam and a coffee. On the way home we went shopping for milk and meat etc. so I hope we have enough for the week. My garden is like a jungle so I will be busy for a few weeks, but thanks to our house sitter who has kept the house lovely and tidy. We had pizza and salad for dinner tonight followed by English strawberries with a dollop of Greek yogurt on top. I have done 2 loads of washing so far gut it was too damp and nasty to hang it out. We enjoyed our holiday, we have never been to Holland before but we would go again. The food is lovely and the people are so friendly. It's easy to bike on our small wheeled bikes because it's so flat. It was much hotter than we thought it would be and both got burnt.

Thursday

Yesterday I forgot to blog and I had forgotten to blog again this evening but one of my fans reminded me. Ha! Ha! We had a good day yesterday, got lost a few times on our cycle ride because H has no Sence of direction and doesn't like to listen to me ( I have ) but it was all good fun. Today was lovely, sunny with no wind. We went to yet another town and sat in the town square for a nice cool drink and lunch. It's the first day we have gone straight to the place we wanted to and not got lost at all there or back. We had such a big lunch we decided not to have an evening meal but just a snack. We went to a local baker and bought 2 sausage rolls and 2 wonderful 'things' that were puff pastry filled with cubed beef, potato and ground beans in a mild curry sauce. They went well with a nice glass of red wine.( probably why I forgot to blog ). Tomorrow is our last day so we have packed out bikes away and will use the car tomorrow. We don't have to leave till 6 pm to drive to the ferry so we still have another day here but the weather forecast is for rain. Our house sitter tells told us there has been several downpours at home so I know our garden will have enjoyed a good soaking and he hasn't had to spend any time with the hosepipe. 

Better Tuesday

It was a bit dull when we got up and there had been more rain in the night. We enjoyed our breakfast of cheese and ham omelette with toast, OJ coffee and tea followed by a tea cake spread with strawberry jam. Then it was back to our room for a freshen up. I sat and read a book for a while and H watched T V. At 9.30 it brightened up nicely so we changed into our cycle gear, assembled our folding bikes and went out for a ride. We found a nice place to lunch sitting outside in the sun. We wandered round the town pushing our bikes and then returned to our hotel for a shower and a welcome glass of beer. In Holland the bird life is amazing, wherever we go there is fantastic birdsong. Every dyke and river is heaving with water fowl and all have young.

Wet Monday

We have had a nice relaxing day. This morning it was pouring with rain so instead of going out on our bikes we went for a ride round the countryside in the car. We had lunch out and when we came back and parked we went for a walk. It began to rain again so we came back to our hotel, had a drink at the bar and then came to our room and I dead my book. We will shortly be having a shower and we will have an early dinner and an early night and hopefully it will be dry tomorrow.

Sunday

A lovely day. We had omeletes for breakfast, mine was cheese and ham, we also had toast etc. tea, coffee and O J.we went back to our room till 9.30 when we got ready to go out on our bikes. We had a lovely ride, finding a windmill to have our lunch in. We rode 37 miles. When we got back to our hotel we had a coffee and a shower and then we watched the triathlon in Leeds where the Brownlee brothers came first and second. When it was over we got ready and went to our hotel restaurant for our evening meal,( we booked this morning because it gets full each night. I had the same as I have had earlier in the holiday because it is so nice. We also had a pudding, warm chocolate pudding with cream and ice cream decorated with a sprig of fresh mint. It looked so good I tucked in before I remembered I wanted to take a photo of it so I will have to have it again.! ( any excuse ). H had the same as me and we also had a bottle of wine. ........ A few photos from this story. 

Rainy Saturday

It was raining when we woke up this morning to the song of the cuckoo. We went down for breakfast and then we came back to get ready to walk to the supermarket. We bought one or two holiday treats and also a bottle of wine for Linda, the girl in the florists who was so kind and helpful when I lost my bag. It was still raining when we got back so we decided to take a chance on going out in the car and hope there was a space when we came back ( parking spaces are at a premium ). Much to our amazement we managed to find the shop only to find 2 different women in there. I spoke to the older lady who said 'she had no English' so I then asked the young girl about Linda and she, in Dutch, told the old woman who I was. Well great excitement, she got straight on her phone and rang Linda, who turned out to be her daughter. Linda was so excited, ' did you see it? ' she asked me, see what? Your bag on the news on T V she said!!! Her friend had rung her to tell her so she went on line and saw it, she then rang our hotel to tell them but they said the police had already been in touch. She was so excited about it all she wouldn't stop talking. It said on tele that the bag contained an iPad money and documents. Although my poor bag which has been on holiday with me for around 9 years is no more, it sure went out with a bang. Linda's mum was thrilled to bits to meet me, I felt quite famous. We then went into the coffee shop next door for a coffee and an apple turnover ( yummy ) in came Linda's mum  ran on to the two women in there and went out again. The next thing they came over to our table to say they had seen the bomb squad and my bag on T V. so I had to go through it all again. We won't forget this holiday in a hurry. We drove back to our hotel had a freshen up and went down to lunch. We had a beer and I had this fabulous king crab roll. It was king crab with egg mayo, salad and Granny Smith Apple sticks. I chose a dark brown roll and when it was all put together it was one of the best things I gave ever tasted. H had a mushroom and bacon omelette with salad on brown bread and a large beer. When we had finished that the rain hah stopped, the sun had come out and the roads had dried up but we decided not to cycle today so we found a nice spot in the shade and read our books.

Friday

Well after yesterday my blog is a bit dull. My daughter laughed till she cried and couldn't see to text me!!! She will get another laugh tonight because H has just sent her a disgusting photo of me, sunburnt to glory and stuffing my face! Mind you I don't care, when you get to 77 like me you can look how you want ant and nobody notices!! I am enjoying my holiday and my life. We cycled this morning after breakfast but only 21 miles instead of 64. I bought a new holiday bag large enough to hold my iPad, passports etc.H just took me out for a wonderful meal, bread with oils etc. And then I had chicken pasta and 2 glasses of wine. We were both too full for anything else. Here are photos of old and new bags and my sunburnt face stuffing pasta.

Thursday

Today has been a day I will remember for the rest of my life!!!! We got up at 6 am and at 7 went down and had a nice breakfast of scrambled egg, rolls and cold meats, followed by toast, butter and jam or chocolate spread. Coffee and o j for H and tea and o j for me. We then went back to our room, cleaned our teeth and got ready to go out on our bikes. We took them out of the boot of the car, unfolded them put the seats in etc. and strapped our bags on the back and off we went. We visited several lovely towns and villages, each with a wonderful church. Here are a few of the names........ Fijnaart, Standdaarbuiten,Oudanbosch, Ettenleur and Zevenberger. On the way from there to Klundert I noticed my Bag had fallen off my rack on the back of my bike!!!! It contained our passports, return ferry tickets, £260 sterling, my heart tablets,my iPad my car key, my brand new rain top, the list goes on........ Before we lost it we had been ot a wonderful Arbouretum in Oudenbosh and also for a nice ice cold beer, ( it's been a scorching hot day ). We then turned round and rushed back in the vain hope of finding it lying on the path. When we got all the way back to Oudanbosch, where I last had it we gave up hope. We called into a cafe to ask how to get in touch with the police, the kind lady took us next door to a florist and the two girls in there were wonderful. They rang the police, got several numbers and addresses for us to visit in the morning to sort out passport s and ferry tickets etc. We then cycled back to our hotel. Altogether today I have ridden 64.28 miles on a small wheeled bike!! We were almost back to our hotel when H had a call on his mobile phone, it was the police, somebody had dumped my bag on their steps and gone off. They thought it was a suspicious package and rang their bomb squad.!!! They arrived and cut my bag in half because they thought unzipping it might trigger an explosion. They found inside the address of our hotel who gave them H's number. They brought the bag back to the hotel and handed it to me fully intact. It gives one their faith in human

nature back... We are both burnt to a cinder after spending around 9 hours in baking sun. We had planned a nice quiet day and a ride of around 30 miles.

Work day

 I had a busy day at work, I had to pick 25 bunches of radishes and then weed one row of leeks. It took till 5 to10. I had my coffee break and then had to go into the greenhouse ( which was like an oven ) take all the side shoots out of the tomatoes and winde them round their string. That took till 12.05 so I planted a row of sweetcorn and it was lunch time. As soon as that was over I went back to the sweetcorn and planted loads more rows. There were 10,000 sweetcorn seeds ! There was a bit of land left at the end so we filled it with peas. It was time for me to leave off but getting home took ages,I had to go through so many traffic lights due to the northern distributer road. My cup of tea was waiting for me and after a nice soak in the bath I am beginning to feel human again. We had chicken curry for dinner.

Sunday

I forgot to blog yesterday!. In the morning I made a cake and had 2 games of cribbage with my son, he won both games!. Then, all of a sudden the sun came out, we haven't seen it for ages so we dropped everything and went straight out to sit in it. Son went climbing at 3 pm,he had intended to go at 2 but spent another hour in the sun instead. When he came home we had our dinner, gammon steaks, home made chips and peas. Later we all had a game of scrabble and joy of joys I won. I think it was the first time ever!! 

Today son and I got ready and went out for a bike ride we went ' off road ' and it was really hard work in places, soft sand halfway up our wheels and in the wood several of the paths were either under water or bogs. I fell off once in the sand and cut my leg on the only Flint in the field and also my chain jumped, my foot shot off my pedal and cut right down my shin. My legs will look great for my holiday!! . We just got home and our daughter, son in law and no 1 Grandaughter all came round. It was lovely to see them after their holiday, looking lovely and tanned. We all sat in the garden with tea and cake. It was a cheese, mushroom and red pepper omelette for lunch and tonight's dinner was chicken, batter puddings, mashed potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, leek and asparagus with gravy.

 

Friday

I have had a lovely day. First I went for my weekly shop, came home, put everything away and had a coffee. Then when our son got up and had his breakfast we got ready and went to Cromer. We went to Mary Janes for fish and chips. After that we went for a walk along the beach and then back to the car and on to Sheringham park for a walk round the beautiful rhododendron's. When we got home we had a cup of tea, and a salad with English strawberries and a nice glass of red wine. Our daughter, son in law and youngest Grandaughter have all arrived safely back from America I am pleased to say and just in time for our eldest Grandaughter's birthday. She is 26 which is as old as I feel so it's a terrible shock each time I look in a mirror.

Workday

I finally managed to get a day at work. It was freezing! I had more clothes on today than I did in the winter. I picked 60 bunches of radishes first then I went weeding, at first I was told I would be weeding for the rest of the day but at 12.15 there was an order come in for 15 boxes of rhubarb so I went to pick that plus 2 more boxes for somebody else. It took me till 3.30 and my boss said I could go home. H was surprised to see me,he was just making the pot of tea. We had eggs, bacon, tomatoes and chips for dinner which was nice. No1 son just rang to see how we are and tonight no 2 son is coming home for his annual house sitting duties. 

Wednesday

Last evening, after I had written my blog, my boss rang to say I couldn't go to work today after all because the fields were too waterlogged. Hopefully I will be able to go tomorrow. We have had even more rain this morning! We had a nice cheese and tomato sandwich for lunch and for dinner we are having salmon, jacket potato and baked beans. We went out this morning to get breakdown insurance for our car for when we are in Holland. It was £50 for a month or £80 for a year so H did it for a year in case we want to go again. We also posted a letter to our no 1 son through his door on the way out and then posted a birthday card to our no1 grandaughter through her door on our way back, she is going to be 26 on Friday. No 2 son says he will ring us this evening to let us know when he is coming home.( either tommorow evening or Friday ) He will be our house sitter again. He won't have much work to do in the garden, the rain we have had means he will only have to water my pots once in the middle of the week and the hanging basket a couple of times. I will leave my ' mister spray' out for him to use on my orchids......... One of my pots