Sunday

It had almost 3 hours sleep last night and I feel a bit like rubbish so I haven't done very much today. I did a load of washing and got it all dry, made some buns for H and sat in the garden for a while. I pulled a few things out of the garden and picked enough runner beans for dinner to go with our potatoes,carrots and pork chops. My nettle stings are still so painful! They have always affected me worse than most people, or H and I have both been stung on the same day he will be ok the next day but 3 days later I still have great welts where ever I was stung. My bruises are also coming out now so to add to all the huge red blotches I am black and blue as well. Our Daughter went out today and has bought a puppy, she is picking it up on Wednesday after it has had its last jabs and microchip etc, they are all so excited. 

Saturday

We got up and had our breakfast and then a coffee. I sat and read a few chapters of my book and H got my mountain bike out of the garage. We then got ready to go out along the track and decided to go all the way to Wroxham. It was a lovely morning and we got to the station without mishap. On the way back we had a bit of a shower and sheltered under a tree. The track was a bit slippery after that and me, being the awkward person I am fell off ! I am always falling off but today it was awful, I fell into a really huge patch of nettles and I had on shorts and a sleeveless top so I am stung from head to foot! I am shocked at how painful it is. I was also filthy when I got home so showered right away and then had lunch, pate and tomato sandwiches with a cup of coffee. Next a G & T while we watched ' ride London '. When it was over I cooked dinner, mackerel, potatoes, runner beans and peas with a cup of tea............ A few pictures of our ride.

Friday

At the moment I have a really bad back ( again ). We went shopping and  then we carried on to our butchers in Hevingham and I restocked the freezer. Their meat is lovely and their Cornish pasties, sausage rolls etc are out of this world. We had a Cornish pasties for our lunch and one of their beef and Guinness pies for dinner with new potatoes, carrots, runner and broard beans. Strawberries and cream for pud. I worked 2 days with this bad back and it's no better so today I just sat about resting but so far it's made no difference. Tomorrow I hope to go out on my bike which might sound strange when I am in such pain but when I am leaning forward on my bars my back is pain free. So I will hope for the best.

Thursday

It wasn't a bad day at work and went quite quickly. I had to do 11 bunches of beetroot, 25 bunches of onions and then pick the tomatoes. I only had to pick the very ripest ones but I still got 5 boxes. After that I twisted the cucumber plants up their strings before going weeding. I was weeding for the rest of the day. For dinner we had haddock, our first runner beans from our garden, orange and purple carrots and broard beans. It was nice. Asda tomorrow. 

Wednesday

I packed my lunch etc and went to work. I had to do carrots, beetroot, rhubarb and loads of Spring onions. My back was really painful when I got up this morning so before I left home I took 2 paracetamol which helped and a couple more at 12.30 which got me through the day. It's still bad so I hope it's better tomorrow because I have to go again. We had spaghetti bolognase for dinner tonight. H has made me a fruit and malt loaf and when it's cool I am going to have the crust with butter on.

Monday

It was work for me today so I was up at 5.45 did a load of washing, hung it out, had my breakfast packed my lunch and off I went. I had to pick 20 bunches of beetroot and then join Andrew on Spring onions, we had to have 200 bunches. When they were done I had to stay there and pick another 80 bunches.Andy joined me towards the end and then took me to turnips and we pulled and trimmed 4 boxes of them before lunch. After that I picked a box of tomatoes and twisted the rest of the plants round their strings, the ones I didn't have time to do last week. It was then 2.30 pm and I walked back up the field to where Andrew was pricking out lettuces and fennel. I finished the tray of fennel and started on a tray of lettuce when I suddenly got terrible stomach cramps. It was really painful and I just couldn't bend over to prick them out. So I came home. I don't know what it was but I am o k now. We had chicken curry for dinner . Tomorrow there is no work for me so I don't have to go again till tomorrow.

Sunday

It's another lovely sunny day. Yesterday H and I went for a bike ride in the morning, the weather was perfect, we showered when we came back and had a cheese and tomato sandwich for lunch. We watched a bit of the ' Tour ' but then we got ready to go to our daughter and son in laws for a B B Q. We were greeted with a lovely long cold G & T ( and then another ) and relaxed in their garden which is like a green oasis and although it was hot felt quite cool. The men watched the rest of the ' tour ' while daughter and I sipped wine. Our meal was delicious, sausages,( nearly a foot long ), ribs, giant burgers, chicken, salad and every dressing you would wish for. Desert was millionaires cheesecake Yum. As the evening went on the temperature cooled slightly and it was perfect for sitting out. H says it's the first time he has sat outside till 9 pm in a T shirt for years. Both our Grandaughter's were there although the eldest was late because she didn't finish her police duty till 6. When I got home I was going to write my blog but I thought I would do it after I had watched a film on t v ( Spider-Man ). I watched till the first adds, fell asleep and woke up at 2.35 this morning! ! Cleaned my teeth and went to bed.

Fri

A day off !!! I was up at 5.10, put on a load of washing, stripped the bed so I could put on another load as soon as the first was finished. We had our breakfast and I put the second load on and we went to Asda. We unpacked as soon as we came back, I hung out all the washing out and we had a coffee. I did a bit of dusting etc and at 11am our new lounge curtains arrived and were fitted. They are dark green velvet and look very nice.( our daughter will hate them, she can't bare to touch velvet). This afternoon I went  to the hairdressers and had 10 centimetres cut off my hair and when I got home it looked longer than it did before I went.( it was past my waist ) For dinner we had mackerel, carrots, new potatoes and broard beans.

 

Thurs

I was busy at work today, I had to pick 45 bunches of beetroot, 70 bunches of Spring onions, then another 58 bunches of beetroot and 48 bunches of carrots with Andy. We finished it at one o'clock, had lunch and then I had to spend the rest of the day in the greenhouse. First I wound the cucumber plants up their strings, then I picked all the ripe tomatoes and finally began to de shoot the tomato plants and twist them round their strings. When I got home I had a bath and washed my hair. It was just eggs for tea and now I am going to watch my soaps.

Wed

Work again and it was a bit better than yesterday, just as warm but the breese made it bearable. I picked and bunched Spring onions first and when the rest of the planting team arrived at 9.30 we all went off planting. We finished the leeks, it took till 1 pm. I had my lunch and carried on with onions until Andy took me off to pick 5 and a half dozen bunches of carrots. We went back to the onions yet again and managed a few more bunches before hometime. I expect I will have to do more of them tomorrow, we have picked about 300 bunches so far. For dinner this evening I cooked fried chicken, broard beans and new potatoes,it was nice, it was yogurt and melon again for pud. I think tomorrow will be my last day at work this week so my weekend will be a bit longer. On Saturday we have been invited to our daughters for a B B Q so we are looking forward to that. 

Tues

Anoth34 hot day. We were both up by 5.30 and I put on a load of washing before breakfast. H put on a loaf of bread and shampooed the lounge carpet. I packed my marmite sandwiches again. It's the only thing I fancy in this heat, meat goes off and salad things go all limp and floppy.  We began planting leeks at 8.30 and planted all day finishing at 3.54. We still have some more leeks left to put in tomorrow. When I got home I was filthy, the soil was falling off the roots and the wind was strong too. I had a shower when I got home and a cup of tea and then cooked dinner. We had salmon, jacket potatoes, baked beans and courgette's with yogurt a nd melon to follow.. Here is a picture of our planter.

Mon

I was up early because it was too hot in bed. I had my breakfast, packed my marmite sandwiches, 2 nectarines and a bottle of water, slopped on some sun lotion and went to work. I had to pick just 27 bunches of beetroot and then join the men on onions. We had to have 200 bunches and they took till 10.35 to finish. After that I sat on a box and ate one of my sandwiches and a fruit and began to pull-up leeks ready to plant tomorrow. Apart from pulling a dozen bunches of carrots I just pulled up leek plants for the rest of the day. I ate my other sandwich and nectarine at 12.30 with a slug of my water but my bottle was empty by 3 pm and I was so thirsty. I am going to take two bottles tomorrow. When I got home my huge mug of tea was waiting for me. I had a nice cool shower and when I felt human again I cooked dinner. We had quiche, grilled tomatoes and chips, yogurt and melon. I have to work again tomorrow and it's supposed to be even hotter.

H went out on his M T B this morning and got 2 punctures.

Sunday

We were both up before 6 am and had our breakfast. I put on a load of washing and H put on the dishwasher and also the bread maker. I hung out the washing and made some chocolate buns. I cleared out 2 cupboards and threw a lot of rubbish away. H went up to ride a virtual race on his turbo trainer while I cleared some more rubbish out of the garden. I put our sun loungers up on the lawn and made salads for our lunch. I sat in the garden for a while but it was so hot I went in and watched the Tour de France. It was a mountain stage and the scenery was stunning. We both sat in the garden again and had a beer while we were watching a huge dragon fly going back and fourth across our garden catching flies. We have very few bees in our garden this summer. I grow flowers that are specially for bees, lavender, runner beans, hollyhocks globe thistles etc etc. Last year there were 3 or 4  bees on each flower and when we sat in the garden there was a constant hum. We had loads earlier in the year, our forget me nots were covered with them. For dinner we had baked liver, bacon and kidneys with new potatoes, broard beans, carrots and gravy. It's work again for me tomorrow so I am glad I made the effort to do all the ironing this morning even though it was so hot. 

Saturday

It's been a good day for me. I put on a load of washing, had my breakfast and we went to Asda. After that we went to M & S because it's a ' meal deal ' week and we like it. I got duck legs in port and orange sauce, new minted potatoes and millionares cheesecake, also a bottle of white wine. When we got back we put everything away, I hung out the washing while H made us a cup of coffee and then we got ready to go out on our bikes. We rode 28 and a bit miles at nearly 16 m p h. It's the first time I have been out on my road bike and done a proper ride since the 11 th of May to I am really pleased with the result specially after working a 4 day week. When we got home we had another coffee and for lunch we had a corned beef sandwich with brown sauce and a bowl of black cherries. We sat with a glass of wine and watched the ' tour '. When it was over I had a shower and a cup of tea before I cooked dinner. We are going to have strawberries for desert tonight because the Marks puds will keep better for tomorrow. Dinner was really tasty and after it I watched the film You've Got Mail. 

Friday

Today has been better than I expected. I packed my marmite sarnies and my bottle of water and went to work. I hah to pick 34 bunches of radishes, then join Andy and the boss to do 10 dozen bunches of carrots. Then I picked 10 bunches of beetroot and after that joined the men again to pick 4 boxes of broard beans. This all took till 10.20 and we had our coffee break after which I had to spend the rest of the day weeding leeks. It was a lovely sunny day and the time flew by. I leave off at 2 no Friday's so that's a bonus, my ' cuppa ' was waiting for me and I was at home in time to see the the end of today's stage of the 'tour'. We had haddock, chips, courgette's and mushey peas for dinner. Hopefully I will be able to go out on my bike tomorrow after doing the weekly shop.

Thursday

I was up just after 3 am with dreadful stomach ache and I feel worn out now! I still went to work and as the day went on I felt better. I took marmite sandwiches and nothing else but my water. I had to pick 130 bunches of beetroot and 80 bunches of Spring onions. The boss has asked me to go in again tomorrow, it's ages since I worked on a Friday, and the first time this year I think. After the onions I had to walk to the greenhouse and put in 1.232 lettuce seeds then I spent the last hour weeding. When I got home H had forgotten to make the pot of tea!! I had been dreaming about it for  the last hour and a half! However he soon sorted it out and then ran my bath so I could soak my aching back. For dinner we had new potatoes, broard beans, an apple and pork burger and a fried egg. We will have to go shopping on Saturday for a change. 

Wednesday

After breakfast I hung out the usual load of washing packed my cheese and tomato sandwiches and went to work. I had to go with Andy to pick 5 boxes of rhubarb and 5 boxes of beetroot. It was handy that I had to work with him because it meant that I got a lift up the field on the tractor and trailer. We then had to do 10 bunches of onions and 14 bunches of carrots. Andy then went back to the yard and I had to stay on Spring onions till further notice. At 1.15 the planter came to the top of the field and we all had to go planting. We slowly went to the very top of the field, the sky went black and it poured with rain. We got off the planter ran all the way back to where we had all left our wet weather gear and by the time we got there we were wet through. We put our coats on and the rain stopped and the sun came out. We then walked all the back to the planter and finished the job. Three of us finished the last few minuites of the day back on Spring onions and the total for the day was 218. We just had beans, eggs and chips for dinner and it was lovely.

Tuesday

No work today but we were both still up before 6 am. I did 2 loads of washing and managed to get it all dry before the rain came. I somehow twisted my knee, don't know how but it's very painful. Because of this I didn't want to go out on my bike. H painted 2 more sides of doors and then rode an hour on his turbo. I biked as far as the chicken farm slowly, really using only one leg. I think it's feeling less painful than it was when I first did it. We had chicken mayo' sandwiches for lunch, watched the Tour de France and I made spaghetti bolognase for dinner. I have to go to work tomorrow so I hope it's not too wet.

Monday

I did not blog yesterday because we were playing scrabble. I lost. It was work today and I had to pick onions with Andrew, when we had done 160 bunches he left and I had to do another 84 bunches and then 50 bunches of beetroot. Before I had finished the men came back and joined me. After that I spent the rest of the day in the greenhouse stringing up cucumber plants and weeding. I don't have to go back till Wednesday. No 2 son went back home this morning and is back safely and H did a bit more painting. I took cheese and tomato sandwiches for my lunch and for dinner tonight we had chicken, potatoes, carrots and baked beans. 

Ruby

Saturday

I am writing my blog early today because I might be playing scrabble this evening. I did a load of washing this morning but didn't hang it out till after lunch because it poured with rain. No 2 son arrived home safely last evening so this morning we played our 3 games of cribbage and I won 2 1. We had lovely salad for lunch full of good things, spinach, kale, avocado, lettuce,cucumber, celery, tomatoes, beetroot, onions, bacon and grated cheese. H and I also had hard boiled eggs but son doesn't like them. For dinner tonight we have sirloin steaks, mushrooms, corn on the cob and home made chips, followed by English strawberries and cream. As the moment we are drinking wine and eating chocolate.! Out daughter and family lost one of their little dogs today, Ruby. She was 14 years old so they are all very sad. She was a lovely little dog and she had a good life. 

Fri

We were both up early because it was too hot and humid to sleep.( 5.25 ) we had our breakfast and I put on a load of washing while H stacked and started the dishwasher. We then got ready and went to Asda. When we left there we called at B & Q for another pot of paint . On our way to Asda it began to rain and by the time we came out it was raining quite heavily and all the roads were wet again. We were going out on our bikes but changed our minds. We had a coffee and H rubbed down a door ready to paint. Then out came the sun so we dropped everything, changed into our cycle gear and went for a ride.we decided against road bikes because it was so windy and went along the track instead. It was a nice ride and we went a bit faster than we usually do because H wanted to get back and paint his door. I got lunch, pilchards and beetroot with bread and butter. This afternoon I did a bit of clearing up and we watched the Tour de France which was good. We just had poached eggs on toast for tea because we weren't that hungry. This afternoon our daughter rang on ' face time' she didn't give me time to get a bag over my head!!!

Thurs

Work again, I did a load of washing, hung it out, packed my lunch ( 6 cream crackers,a peach, some grapes and some little tomatoes with my bottle of water.) then I went to work. First I had to pick 70 bunches of Spring onions and then I went weeding till 12.15 when I had to go to the greenhouse to side shoot the tomato plants, twist the cucumber plants up their strings and then tie some more cucumbers on to strings. I left off at 4 as usual and my mug of tea was ready when I got home. For dinner we had new potatoes, broard beans, carrots and sausages, it was very nice. I don't have to go to work tomorrow and I must say I am not sorry, I feel pretty shattered. I am looking forward to 3 days off. My youngest Grandaughter sent me a picture of some cheese straws she made today, she is only 13 and they looked better than mine!!!!

Wed

Work again, I took ryvita biscuits spread with butter and marmite for my lunch with a peach and some grapes. I had to work with Andy first thing and we had to pick 10 boxes of broard beans, 50 bunches of beetroot, 15 bunches of Spring onions and 15 bunches of carrots. He then left and I had to carry on with more onions. I had to have another 210 bunches. Andy came back after lunch and helped me finish them off. We then had to pick another 62 bunches of beetroot and 60 bunches of carrots. By the time we had finished it was 3.40 so I just had time to lay the carrots out on the washing rack before I went home. As I left off the boss said ' bye Jean see you tomorrow' so that will be 4 days in a row again.

When I got home I sat and drank my mug of tea while H ran me a bath but when it was ready I had a job to get out of the chair I am so stiff. I had a long soak which has helped a lot but when I have finished my blog I think I will take a couple of paracetamol so I am fit to go again in the morning. Dinner was nice, tomatoes, mushrooms, courgette's, bacon and eggs. Yummy, really it was like an all day breakfast.

Tues

I was right yesterday, I planted greens all morning and did a bit of weeding while the men went to load up the leeks and this afternoon we planted them. I just had a little time left at the end of the day to do a bit more weeding. We had a nice chicken curry for dinner. H had rubbed down and painted another door. Last night no 2 son rang to say he is coming home for the weekend. The boss wants me to work tomorrow! So that's 3 days in a row again.

Sunday

It's been a lovely day at last, it's still 20 degrees and it's gone 7 pm. When I went to get my washing in from the line there was a very strong smell of B B Qs. This morning after I had done my clearing up etc. I got on my mountain bike and cycled ot the ' crab house ' where I bought 2 crabs, one each for our lunch, they were lovely. I did a little detour on the way there so I could get a few more miles in but came back the short way so I rode 10 and a half miles. Next time I go I will try to do more. After lunch we watched the ' Tour de France ' and then I cooked dinner, roast chicken, roast and mashed potatoes, broard beans and carrots with gravy. Tomorrow I have to go to work so I will have to make sure I don't oversleep.

Saturday

I got up at 5.30 and did the usual load of washing. We had our breakfast, the usual slice of toast for me and 2 slices for H. We washed it down with a large mug of tea and later a coffee. I hung out the washing and then we got ready to go out on our mountain bikes. We did our usual track ride and the track is in a bit of a state, it was far less wet than last week but much muddier. Anyway it made it hard work. We had a cheese and beetroot sandwich for lunch, a glass of wine later and I got the washing in again. For dinner I made a nice pasta dish. I fried an onion, some chopped mushrooms, some bacon, frozen peas and a courgette. I added a tin of chopped tomatoes and some cooked pasta shells. I spent a bit of time working in the garden this afternoon and it was really windy. 

Friday

This morning I got up and put on a load of washing. We had our breakfast, got ready and went to Asda. When we got back we had a coffee and then I hung out the washing and H cleaned and polished the car. As soon as he had finished that he mowed the front and back grass. He then came in and masked and sanded the skirting board, door frame and door of the lounge and then painted them all. I put the pictures back on the walls and cleaned up. I worked in the garden till lunch and we cheese, biscuits and pickles with a cup of hot chocolate. My washing came in nice and dry and I dead headed all my roses but had to come in when it began to rain. For dinner we had quiche, roast potatoes and courgette's followed by strawberries and cream.