Wednesday.

I had to go to work today so i did a load of washing and packed a salad for my lunch with a bottle of water. I had a bowl of porridge, made the bed, dressed in loads of layers and off I went. Everything was frozen so we couldn't get on with harvesting right away, instead we went into the greenhouse and pulled up all the tomato plants and dragged them outside. After that packed some turnips that Andy trimmed yesterday. It was then 10 o'clock so we had our break. By then things had thawed a bit so we  trimmed some celeriac and then I went to pick 120 bunches of carrots. The boss said I had to take my lunch with me so I sat on a box in the middle of the field eating a frosty salad washed down with icy water! I then walked to the leeks and trimmed them till I was picked up at 3 to go down to help wash and pack everything. I don't think I can face salad again tomorrow. I soaked in the bath until I had thawed out and then we had dinner. Sausages, fried onions, fried tomatoes 2 fried eggs and chips.

Cold day off.

When I got up it was -4 degrees and our grass was white. I stripped the bed and washed it all then did a second load. I had my bowl of porridge and as soon as the sun was up I hung out my washing. We had a coffee and got ready to go out on our mountain bikes. We rode to Aylsham along the track, it was lovely, cold and crisp, not a cloud in the sky and the track almost to ourselves. It was 32 miles. As soon as we arrived home I got the washing in and it was dry!! We had pilchards and beetroot for lunch and I cooked pork slices with mashed potato, cabbage and gravy for dinner. The track was in perfect condition, there were loads of icy places and when we stopped at the river to watch the swans there was a sudden breeze and all the oak leaves came down like confetti.

Monday.

It was work today so porridge for breakfast and a salad for lunch. It was a chilly day but the sun was lovely. I had to do 72 bunches of carrots, I had to dig them all up because the ground has dried out quite a bit. Then it was leeks till 12.15 when I was taken down to wash and pack them. In the afternoon we had to cover our bed of fennel with fleece because frost is forecast for the next few days. For dinner we had a steak pie with chips and a corn on the cob. Our youngest granddaughter rang up when I got home to have a chat and then passed the phone to her mum so we had a chat as well. No work tomorrow so H and I hope to go out on our bikes.

Sunday.

This morning I stayed in bed till 7.15 and when I came down H had already had his breakfast, made a pot of tea ect. I put on a load of washing and poured myself a cup. No sooner had I drunk it H brought me through a coffee. By that time my washing was done so I went to hang it out only to find it was raining. I came back in and carried on with my housework. When the rain stopped I hung out the washing, it got rained on twice but all got dry in the end. I worked on the garden for a couple of hours and refilled my garden rubbish bin. Well it was then around 11.40 and I realised I had forgotten to have any breakfast!! So I had a banana. I went outside again and carried on with my gardening till it was time to get lunch. We had a nice bowl of homemade soup. This afternoon I wrapped all the Christmas presents I have so far and made a beef casserole for dinner tonight. H rode 65 miles on his turbo trainer.

Panic day

It's been a strange day, we did our weekly shop first thing which came to over £ 100! Came back and had a coffee while I read my magazine and then I began to write my weekly email to my sister in law when the phone rang and it was our daughter who I knew was out on her bike. She rang to say that she and James were at Reepham and his bike had broken so could we go and pick them up. So off we went. When we arrived H, who is a genius, instead of putting the bike into the car to take him home sorted it all out and mended it on the spot. We let them go off, waited a few minutes and then followed them up to check it was still ok.( something to do with the crankshaft). On our way home 2 fallow deer jumped out of the hedge right in front of us and how H missed the second one I will never know. It's it's the closest I have ever been to a live one. When we got. back we had cheese and biscuits for lunch with a pickled onion and some chutney our daughter made. It's pear and raisin and very nice. Well after all this I thought I would write my blog only to find my blogs page had disappeared and as I am not computer literate I had no idea how to get it back. I was then really fed up because I love doing this even though I write a load of rubbish. We had coq au vin with potato croquettes and peas for dinner and then watched ' the 29 steps '. I went upstairs after that to watch Come dancing and Doc Martin. When H came up to bed I came back down and promptly fell asleep on the sofa. I had tried my blog page numerous times before all this to no avail. Well I woke up at 1.17 am cleaned my teeth, just checked once more and there it was!!

Black Friday.

This is the third year my daughter and I have been shopping on this day. I love it, all the hustle and bustle, and everyone seems to have the Christmas spirit. We had a lovely drink, Black Forest chocolate and we shared a mince pie. We then shopped and bought loads of presents it was all fun. We just had sandwiches for lunch with a coke from M & S, finished our shopping and went back to my daughters for a welcome cup of tea, a play with the puppy and to sort our shopping. I waited for my granddaughter to come home from school,saw her homework ect. and then I went home. I left home at 8.16 this morning and arrived back at 4.21 this afternoon,! We walked over 4 miles. For dinner tonight we had spaghetti bolognase and garlic mushrooms with millionaires cheesecake for pud with a bottle of red wine.

Pay day again.

I put on a load of washing,had porridge for breakfast, packed a salad for lunch and went to work. After packing up leeks i went with Andrew and we harvested 2 boxes of parsnips, 5 boxes of carrots and 2 boxes of swedes, we took them to the yard so we could wash and pack them. After that I had to walk back to the top of the field to pick the first sprouts of the season. I had to pick 2 large sacks. From there I walked back to the leeks and trimmed them for the rest of the day. I don't have to go again till Monday. Tomorrow I am going Christmas shopping with my daughter which I am looking forward to, we do it every year and we are ladies who lunch! I forgot to get anything out of the freezer for dinner tonight so we had to have jacket potatoes, baked beans and a fried egg.

Back to the grind stone.

Today I took 2 hard boiled eggs and 2 bananas for my eats at work. I had porridge for my breakfast and after making the bed etc. I went to work. I had to pick 48 bunches of carrots and then go to leeks. I trimmed leeks till 12.15 when I was taken down to wash and pack everything. I had my lunch and Andy who is on holiday this week came in to show us his puppy. Its really small. Then I had to go back to the top of the field to pick another 48 bunches of carrots. It was back on leeks after that for the rest of the day. I have to go again tomorrow but the boss said it might only be half a day. For dinner tonight we had pizza and chips.

Day off.

It was nice not to have to get up early and we both managed to stay in bed till gone 6.45. I put on a load of washing and made a bowl of porridge for my breakfast. H had a crumpet and a slice of toast. We had a coffee, I hung out the washing and then we got ready to go out. The reason we had to go was because we needed a new tyre on the front left wheel of our car. Our son noticed a bulge in the wall of it on Saturday after we had been out. So while H was getting it fitted I went into the City to do a bit of Christmas shopping. I did well because I bought 7 presents. I also went to the bank and to Holland and Barratt for a few bits and pieces. When I had finished I went to the bus stop to get the bus home. Well I walked up to the stop where I caught the bus last time ( the number is still on the board). I waited for a while but no number 28 ! In the end I asked the queue of people, ' anybody waiting for the 28?' No! So when the next bus came along I asked the driver and he said they have moved it to another place!! So I hurried round to where he said and I was lucky because one had just turned up. We had the rest of the chicken for lunch and I went into m garden to fill my garden rubbish bin. When I came in we had a coffee and I had a shower. For dinner tonight we are having lasagne with grilled tomatoes stuffed with cheese. It's work for me tomorrow,I hope it's less sticky underfoot. My aches and pains have improved quite a bit so I hope I will be fit to walk all day on Friday when my daughter and I do our big Christmas shop. I am looking forward to it, we have a drink and a mince pie almost as soon as we get there and lunch before we come home. That's the best bit.

Monday.

I have not had a very good day. I have a sore leg ( fell over at the weekend.) and working in the mud was really hard work, I was stuck every time I tried to take a step which made it upset my sore ankle even more. The other things that hurt are my arms, I don't know if it's when I smacked them on the floor or if it's when my son and husband took one each and hauled me up! At one point this morning my boss had to haul my leg out of the mud I couldn't move. Then when I went to eat my salad I realised I had forgotten to pack a fork so I had to eat it with my fingers. It poured with rain all morning and at 2.20 the boss said I might as well go home, we had harvested enough of everything and the land is just too wet to walk on. I drove through several floods on the way home.
For dinner tonight we will have left over chicken and some veg. H is just running me a bath because I am cold and wet.
Our son has gone back to London, it must be a horrible wet ride for him. While he was here we played 2 lots of cribbage, we always play the best out of 3. Well we only had to play 2 games each time he really trashed me . I have never had such poor hands and he has never had such good ones.

Sunday.

I have had a really lazy day. I had porridge for breakfast, and salad for lunch. I didn't have enough washing to make a load so I will do one tomorrow. Son and I went out in the rain to look for chestnuts, I picked several up a few weeks ago and I was sure it was too late and they would all be gone. Well how wrong I was!there were loads. I think I must be the only one picking them up. I put the chicken in the oven, after it had been in for an hour I put some potatoes and sweet potatoes in to roast, I prepared some carrots, cauliflower and broccoli for the top of my pressure cooker and potato and a turnip for the bottom. When they were done I mashed the potatoes and turnip together with a bit of butter and cheated with the batter puddings, I used Aunt Bessie's. Anyway it was all delicious. We had fresh pineapple for pudding. The 2 men are watching Star Trek in 3 D downstairs so I have come upstairs to watch strictly come dancing results.

Saturday 19th

We had a busy day yesterday,first the weekly shop on from there to my butcher where I ordered the Christmas turkey,sausages, sausage meat,fillet steaks etc etc. before buying loads or meat and pies to fill up the freezer. When we got home I sorted everything out and we had a coffee. No 2 son arrived home safely on Thursday evening so we sat and caught up with him and saw all his lovely photos of Rome and Spain before I made a nice salad for lunch. In the afternoon I started a new book and read a couple of chapters before showering ready to go to the dentist for my six monthly check up. All was ok 👌🏻. When I got home I made us all a cup of tea, H had lemon, son had earl grey and I had a nice strong cup of proper tea! We then all got ready to go out for dinner. We met all the rest of our family at the Marsham arms at 6.45 and all had a lovely meal.it was a lovely evening and the time flew by. We left there at just past 10 pm.
Today has also been good, we all laid in till quite late, had our breakfast and then did nothing much till lunch time. I made soup which was nice ,I put a kale leaf in and it came out a really dark green. As soon as we had finished we went straight off to Cley for a walk, it was great and blew away the cobwebs. We had a coffee before returning home and then it was time for me to cook dinner. We had gammon steak, chips, peas and sweet corn. The gammon was delish! I bought 3 steaks yesterday from my butcher and they were enormous, altogether they weighed 2 lbs 12 ozs. I cut them all in half and they were still big enough. We will be able to have them again.

Pay day again.

I packed a salad and a bottle of tap water, put on a load of washing, made porridge for breakfast and got ready to go to work. First I had to go with Andy and we got 3 boxes of turnips, 20 pieces of celeriac and then he dropped me off on the leeks. I trimmed leeks till he picked me up at 12.15 so I was able to have my lunch in the dry. We washed and packed all we had done and then went back to the top of the


field for 3 boxes of parsnips, 3 boxes of loose carrots, 30 bunches of carrots and then back onto leeks until 3.30 when we went back down to wash it all. We had an awful storm around 2.50 pm with masses of thunder and lightning, and enough hail stones for Andy to build a snowman. For dinner we had a sausage pasta bake which was very tasty. Our no 2 son is coming home this evening,we haven't seen him for ages so we are looking forward to seeing him.

Wednesday 16 th

i was busy at work so the day flew by. I had a bowl of porridge for breakfast and packed a salad for coffee break and lunch with my bottle of water. First I had to pick and bunch 4 dozen carrots and then trim leeks. I did 5 boxes when one of the men came to take me down to wash and pack all he and I had done. So we washed turnips, parsnips, fennel, leeks and carrots. Then I had to walk back to the top of the field for a box of beetroot and a box of golden beetroot, another box of leeks and then more bunched carrots. I managed to pick 12 dozen bunches before Andy picked me and all my produce up so we could wash everything and we just managed to get it done by 4 pm which is when I leave off. For dinner tonight we had jacket potatoes, baked beans and some smoked fish. It was a fish I have never heard of before, Basa fillets, but it was very nice. It stayed dry all day in the field but poured all the way home so I was lucky to get away with it.

Still Tuesday.

I am so happy with my blog being back that I am writing another. After all my housework I made some flapjack with choc chips ( it's very nice ) and then some vegetable soup for lunch. At 2 pm I went up to have a bit of a workout on the turbo trainer. What a nightmare!! H told me he had put me on a flat course,which I like. I can normally ride about 17/ 18 miles in an hour ( not bad for an old girl of almost 78 ). Well I was working away and it was getting harder and harder when I realised I was climbing a mountain! I was halfway up before H came back in and showed how to turn round! So to cut a long story short I only managed 15.3 miles in my hour and I was too exhausted to go any further. I had a bath waiting for me when I had done and a nice cup of coffee. For dinner tonight we had fish pie with cauliflower and stewed apple and cream for pudding. It's work tomorrow so I will be playing in the mud again.

Tuesday.15th Nov

no work today, great😊I can get on with a bit of housework. I think my blog page has returned,I don't know how or why it went in the first place. I have already done a load of washing and stacked and started the dishwasher. Then I had my porridge for breakfast with a huge mug of tea. Last Tuesday H and I went out to lunch, it was to make us feel better after paying out for our car insurance for the year, today won't be such a nice lunch, salad for me and cheese and pickle sandwich for H. As our weather has been rather wet of late I have been riding on the turbo trainer and it looks as if I will be doing the same this afternoon. I have my Walkman on and listen to the Archers and the afternoon play while I am riding. So the hour goes quickly.

Saturday.

We both managed to stay in bed till 6 this morning so a nice lay in. After my breakfast of porridge and a huge mug of tea I made the bed, cleaned the kitchen and the downstairs toilet. We had a coffee and I did a load of washing. We then changed into our cycle gear and got ready to meet our daughter and son in law to go for a ride. We were all on our mountain bikes and went " off road " to Reepham station for a coffee and a plate of cheese straws. It was a gloomy morning and when we arrived at the station it poured with rain. We sat inside until it stopped and then rode home again. We were caught in several showers on the way back but were quite sheltered by the trees. We were pleased we went, it's all good exercise and helps to burn calories. When we got home we had a salmon and beetroot sandwich with a cup of soup. This afternoon we sat and watched a cycle race with a glass of wine. For dinner I did a roast chicken with Yorkshire pudding, mashed and roast potatoes,cauliflower, and carrots. I had a bath and read some of my book till it was time for strictly come dancing.

Good news

i weighed myself last Friday just out of interest, because my diet I began last Friday wasn't about loosing weight it is about bringing down my colesterol. Well I weighed myself again this morning after a week of porridge and salads and to my surprise I found I have lost two and a half pounds. I am well pleased. We went shopping this morning but apart from that I don't seem to have done much. I made some vegetable soup for lunch and for dinner tonight we had salmon in puff pastry with chips and peas and for pudding we had a chocolate tart. I hope the weather is better tomorrow because I want to go out on my bike.

Pay day.

I packed another salad for lunch, did a load of washing and went to work. First I had to pick a box of loose beetroot then 8 dozen bunches of carrots. After that I had to go back to the greenhouse to pick the tomatoes. There were only two boxes. It was leeks then right up till 3.15 when I went down to wash and pack them. I trimmed 9 boxes. When I left off the boss paid me and said he wouldn't need me any more till Monday. When I got home H said he wanted to show me something and to cut a long story short our son in law had been round and laid a new floor in his ' pain cave ', his name for the bedroom that the turbo trainer is in. It looks fabulous and he's made a really good job of it. My washing all got dry so that's a bonus. For dinner tonight we had sausages, liver, fried onions, eggs and chips.

Wednesday.

I had to work today so I made myself a salad last night to save myself time this morning I just added some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I trimmed leeks all morning and then after lunch I washed and packed them, when that was done I had to pick 28 bunches of beetroot and 12 bunches of carrots. I then went back to leeks and managed to trim a couple more boxes before Andy came to pick me up. I did 16 boxes of them all together. We washed and packed the rest of the stuff and it was time for me to go home. For dinner tonight we had chicken curry but I have mine with pasta because I don't like rice. I have to work again tomorrow so I will make myself another salad but not until I have watched Emmerdale.

Tuesday off.

It was quite damp this morning so I hung on before hanging out my washing. I had porridge for breakfast with a mug of tea. I did a bit of clearing up and we had a coffee. H ordered a pair of cycle tights from wiggle for me for my birthday next month and had them delivered to a local store, we had a text to say they had arrived so we went to collect them. It was quite a heavy drizzle on the way back and we thought we wouldn't be able to go out on our mountain bikes, but it cleared up a bit so we decided to do a short ride. As we went along it got better so we decided to go a bit further. We got just over 3 miles from home and I got a puncture in my rear wheel so H put my spare tube. On the way back I went chestnutting while H went home for cheese and crackers. When I got back I made some vegetable soup, had a shower and started a new book. For dinner tonight we are having cod in parsley sauce with potato wedges and corn on the cob. Tomorrow I have to work again. I rode 24 miles and when I got home my washing was dry which surprised me because when we were mending my puncture it poured with rain.