Really quite tired right now. Went to a good friends house last night for the evening and stayed up past my bedtime. I don’t know about you, but if I try to go to sleep straight away when I get in, I just lay there thinking about the day and what I have to do the next day. So I still had to read for a bit to empty all those thoughts out from my head.

And today, DP and I have been humping bits of plywood about and bashing insulation inbetween the noggins (that’s a builder term you know, clever aint I! It means the small bits of wood between the rafters) of the extension roof. You might not be able to see from the picture, but he is covered in little white bits form the insulation. Plus I have been filling rubble sacks with rubble to go to the tip and humping those about. I am so lucky. DP can turn his hand to most things practical. He has saved us a small fortune over the years and enabled us to do things that we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford.

Tidied the garden a bit, and my goodness it needs it too. But isn’t it lovely to be able to get outside in bright sunshine, so uplifting. Was actually able to sweep some of the paths a bit because things have dried out a little. Lots of mud and so forth stuck to the paths, but it will come up easier now. It’s the blackbirds mainly. They get in the garden and enthusiastically chuck it about in their search for worms and bugs. They can’t half throw a lot of soil about for a little bird.

Sowed some tomato seeds today and have them on the window cill in heated trays. They will be reluctant to sprout otherwise, they like a steady temperature of 18-21C, which is warmer than we keep ourselves!  Had to wash the window in the 2nd bedroom where they are, it was so disgusting, they probably wouldn’t have got enough light through to grow otherwise – blush.  I sowed three different types of tomato. Tigerella, which is a stripy tomato, recommended to me last year by a friend for its excellent flavour. I tried it last year for the first time and the flavour is indeed exceptional.  Second to go in was a variety called BrandyWine. This is one I have grown for a few years now. Again chosen for its exceptional flavour, it is a huge beefsteak type. Then thirdly, I grow a variety that produces lots of small cherry tomatoes. This year I am trying Million Bells.

Harvested a few very small parsnips that I had forgotten about. They didn’t grow very big and I’m not too sure why. But I shall have another go this year. They are beautifully fresh, so I shall do something or other with them this evening. Maybe roast them with some other root veg, a bit of oil and some rosemary sprigs tucked in. I love how the rosemary goes all crispy and delicious when it  has been oiled and roasted.

Went to the garden centre during the week and got some ground cover type stuff. I have a long narrow bed for raspberries and the plants have decided they like it much better in the raised vegetable bed the other side of the path, or in the next door neighbours garden the other side of the fence. So I now have to dig out the entire bed, line it both sides with the ground cover fabric, and put it all back again. I shall mix in a lot of good stuff from the compost heap at the same time to improve the soil, then re-plant. The garden centre staff assure me that the fabric should keep in the raspberry runners. We shall see. I’ll report back in due course.

It’s dropped down really quite cold now the sun has gone over the horizon. So we are indoors now contemplating a nice hot shower, with the fire lit and something nice to eat on the horizon. Simple pleasures