Once Around the Block

Look what we woke up to this morning! Such big fluffy flakes!

Finally some snow reached Berkshire, after seeing so many beautiful snow photos from around the country.

Actually the weather forecast did predict it, so Jamie was doing a snow check every hour until it arrived at 7am 🙂 We couldn’t resist going for a little walk in it, just round the block, to hear and feel the crunch underfoot - it’s just so special.

The catkins were highlighted against the monochrome environment.

We weren’t fully convinced we were going to see the forecast snow but thought we’d better protect our broad beans from getting crushed, just in case, so we had a very quick late afternoon visit to the plot yesterday - a good job we did! The broad bean plants can handle the cold but damage from the weight of snow definitely causes a set-back and we do hope to get an early crop.

Our seed potatoes were delivered yesterday, so they’re now chitting in the hall - just a few Nicola and Kestrel.

We still need to check what seeds we have in our stocks, definitely getting the feel of Spring even in the cold and snow! I’m looking forward to cooking with our own home-grown harvests again. I made onion and butter bean soup with Ivan’s giant onion - it was lovely and creamy.

And had delicious halloumi with red onions and peppers in the week. Mmm, halloumi...

The snow has melted from the trees and roads but is remaining on the rooftops so it still looks pretty. I’m glad we were able to see it falling and have a walk.

And it meant I could use the great song title by Badly Drawn Boy from the amazing The Hour of Bewilderbeast album.

Blue Monday

Aah, the sky was blue this morning and the sun was shining - that made a welcome change. There are many fewer planes flying nowadays but the contrails were in full view this morning which shows the air was cold up there, but not so cold at ground level as it has been recently.

I was looking forward to being outside after pretty much sitting still all week inside. We drove to the allotment and were the only people on site for a while. I weeded the garlic in the raised bed.

Jamie took the covers off the broad beans and weeded that area and I dug the area behind, though I didn’t manage it all. It was nice to be outside and digging. Several of our plot neighbours arrived but we were all well socially distanced. We were pleased to hear that Ivan has had his first COVID-19 vaccination - I’m expecting mine in February if all goes to plan.

Jamie cleared the rhubarb and surrounded the huge plant with a ring of manure to give it a boost after it was left to its own devices last year. We really need to divide the plant later in the year.

The larger birds were active today mostly gulls from over the Marsh, magpies and buzzards being quite noisy overhead. We saw a couple of robins but they weren’t as busy or inquisitive as they usually are.

We left as the sunshine had gone and it started to get chilly. We’re expecting a lot of rain this week. The plot was already very wet. So the question is... do I read a book or carry on practising crochet before I embark on extending the sleeves of my beautiful cardigan..? Or maybe I’ll make some onion soup as Ivan gave us these lovely veg as we left the site. The onion is huge, it weighs 472grams!

The song is by New Order - I used to hate this song, but quite like it now. Tomorrow is known as ‘blue Monday’, but try not to feel blue - we’re moving closer to Spring and vaccination so it’s best to stay positive. Take care and stay safe x

Shield

Welcoming 2021 ... and I return to shielding as the whole of England is locked down with COVID infections and deaths hitting the not unexpected peaks as a result of at least one new strain, Christmas gatherings and general Winter health. Oh dear, not a great start to the new year 😔

That photo is from when we visited the plot last weekend to get some fresh (a bit too fresh for me) air, drop some green waste into the compost bin and feed the birds.

We haven’t had snow, but we’ve had plenty of frost and freezing temperatures. Look at the frozen rain gauge! We really need to buy a new one but that can wait. The anemone flowers aren’t meant to flower till May, I don’t think, so I don’t know what they’re up to!

I made a tasty chunky soup with swede, carrots, onion and Brussels sprouts - it made for a very tasty working-from-home lunchtime meal. Yes, I’ve been ‘back’ to work for a week after a most enjoyable Christmas break. It got busy rather quickly though!

Today we drove to site to put some COVID information signs up on the allotment notice board. We didn’t go to our plot as we had stuff to do at home and I’m not sure that sitting having a coffee in our polytunnel can really count as exercise! I had to do some HAHA (Hungerford Allotment Holders Association) admin yesterday; updating the allotment registers and waiting list before emailing all the plotholders to remind them of the restrictions. (I still need to update the website, but thought I’d write this instead). As per the previous lockdowns the site will stay open, unless the restrictions are tightened. I hope to have a bit more time on the allotment this year so that I get out of the flat a bit more - we’ll just need to time it to avoid busy times.

I had some good news in the week. Thompson & Morgan listed my little blog as one of their Vibrant Veg Growing Blogs 😊 I hope to include much more growing in it this year! We ordered some seed potatoes, tomato and pepper plants this weekend, so that’s a start... but we got that far last year...We need to work out which of the unused seeds from last year will still be viable and then we can start planning...

So that’s how the year has begun. I hope soon these posts will include more good news - like a vaccine date and our next site gathering - won’t that be great when the day comes!! In the meantime, here’s the title song by Deep Purple to enjoy.

Say Hello Wave Goodbye

This is the obligatory look back over the year - a year that certainly didn’t follow any plan and I don’t suppose there are many who aren’t happy to see the back of 2020 with high hopes for 2021. Even though the year has obviously been dominated by COVID-19, horrible statistics, social distancing, lockdown tiers and face masks this post is only covering my highlights. 

I read more books than usual and I think I’ll continue to do so, rather than just reading on holiday which is how our year started (little did we realise how lucky we were with our timing). 

Aah, those costumes and fabulous drummers! Carnivalesque - Such a fabulous time to visit Tenerife. 

Shielding and lockdown kept me indoors for more than 70 days, working from home was enough to drive anyone stir crazy... my hair bore the brunt of the boredom.

My first trip outside was at 4am in June to see the sun rise over Freeman’s Marsh. It was worth getting up so early.

The poppy fields just up the road were well worth another walk outside and the weather was beautiful.

It seems that 2020 was a good year for flowers in and around Hungerford.

Birthday trip to Chalk Hill

I was inspired to do some embroidery - the first time in decades. Loved doing it and love my sewn Plot7 but it seems that isn’t a hobby I’m going to keep doing.

Feeling creative I also did some decorative baking (after seeing it on the Veg Hog’s blog) - focaccia will definitely be made again.

I made a foraged blackberry and apple crumble. (Bear with me, I don’t cook much)

And even baked a cake, with a tromboncino squash donated by a fellow plotholder.

We did get to the allotment and enjoyed some lovely hot days, or lunch hours, up there. We even did a bit of clearing, but didn’t get much planted. Our generous allotment friends and my sister made sure we got fresh fruit and veg though.

Our sad overgrown plot

The allotments got a flurry of new plotholders and a substantial waiting list, as recognised by the local paper. (That’s our plot in the photo 😊)

2020 was also a good year for wildlife, particularly when the traffic was so reduced in the Spring and with the reduced air pollution because so few planes were flying. On the allotment we saw these great caterpillars - I was so pleased to find my first hawk moth and then found a second one!

Elephant hawk moth

Elephant hawk moth

Pale tussock moth

So, my blog was much more of a lifestyle blog, I hope it features much more of the allotment next year. This morning, for the last time this year, I hung around by the canal while Jamie went shopping. It was cold and frosty with just a couple of men working on their narrow boats and a family feeding the ducks.

So it’s goodbye to 2020 and hello to 2021, song title provided by Soft Cell.

Thankyou for visiting and we wish you all a Happy New Year 🥳 

Next

 Halfway through the Christmas break and what a lovely relaxing time we’ve had so far.

Snow was threatened yesterday and we walked up the High Street through slushy ice. We saw some cars with white roofs but we didn’t see any snowfall, just cold, sleety rain.

We received some lovely presents - there’s my fabulous crocheted cardigan from my sister, which I’m living in because it’s so cosy and such beautiful colours.

We’ve eaten lots of food. We had our Christmas roast on the night of Christmas Eve, so Christmas Day’s lunch was a delicious buffet... mmm, so many tasty morsels!

It’s so great having the freedom to do nothing for a week! We watched the extended editions of Lord of the Rings across three evenings (over 10 hours! It didn’t feel like a marathon as it’s just so beautiful). 

Jamie stocked our crackers with Lego figures this year, so Santa has some friends (you’re never too old for Lego, surely 😄). I made this puff pastry tart-thing, with sprouts, tomatoes, Quorn ham and cheese - so delicious.

We visited the allotment to cover the broad beans, to prevent them getting squashed under the forecast snow. It’s so soggy but it was nice to be out of the flat, we’re only wearing the masks for effect, we had the site to ourselves most of the time. We saw two egrets fly along the canal as well as long-tailed tits and the usual robins and magpies on site. The weeds are still growing well 😒

So, now I’m wondering what day it is and what can I eat next.... hmm, here’s a rather dubious song by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band... er, it’s not exactly Christmassy so don’t listen too closely!