The Birthday Boy!

He was 5 on Friday!!

He had a birthday tea on the day and a party with his best friend the day after (their birthdays are quite conveniently only 2 days apart). His main present was his 'very own' kitchen - he has decided he wants to be a chef when he grows up!

So for mum, that required 2 cakes:

The choccy birthday tea one, and the big party one. I have to admit that I totally stole the idea for this one (below) from Soule Mama who made an identical one for one of her brood recently.

The party was at his friend's house - well, barn really - because we crossed our fingers and plumpt for an outside barbeque. Luckily, the weather was glorious - at first - their was a dodgy moment when the sky when very black, but then it must has passed around us because the sun came out again!

We gave them a good run around outside over the horse jumps first, before some inside games and food. They each left with a balloon (I don't know about you, but I think party bags are a waste of money) and cake.

So a good time was had by all. I came home and had a lovely hot bath to relax. And nearly fell asleep in it. So I thought, may as well have a lie down. At 5.30pm. And I stayed there - all night! Not that it's a sign of age or anything.

The next day we had to tend to our allotment. Can you see some tinsy tiny green things poking through (above)? That's the spinach.

And this (above) is my newly planted out courgettes. Grown from seed in the greenhouse, they are now very sturdy little plants indeed.

Now, if any of you just happen to be near a radio at 1745 tonight and just happen to be listening to Radio Cumbria, you might just hear me doing my diary thingy that they asked me to do recently. I think it's on twice tonight (to make up for the Bank Hol yesterday) and then every night this week at the same time - 1745. You will find me cringing behind a cushion somewhere.

Tomorrow - I promise - some actual sewing!

Growing Pains

Do you remember this? This was our veg plot about a month ago.


And here it is today.

Unfortunately, you can't see the plants in the bed nearest to the camera! They are so small at the moment, but this weekend I've been able to plant out the sweetcorn, broccoli, spinach and onions. It's very exciting and I am really getting into this gardening lark! I'm even going to try growing some flowers for our garden - shock, horror!

Meanwhile, at Crochet Headquarters - the granny squares are multiplying:

I don't even know how big I want this blanket to be, but quite a decent size I should imagine. I am loving working with all this colour - so much more fun than knitting a jumper in one boring old colour.

Oh, by the way, the piglets are growing!

Poor mum - imagine feeding 12 at once!

And I must show you this little ingenious flask which I have taken to carrying around with me practically everywhere I go. It holds just one cuppa, but it's great to take with you in the car if you're going shopping, or to the allotment (of course). Pretty much any time you're going to be away from a kettle for more than an hour or two! It's from Lakeland and was quite pricey at £12.99, but I think it's going to be worth every penny. It keeps it hot for a good 3 hours.

Reaping what you sow

... well, not quite reaping yet, but some progress has been made. You remember that 3 weeks ago I did this:


sowed some seeds. Well, this weekend they looked like this:



this is the spinach we planted. So, yesterday, I had to split them into individual, larger planters. I was able to do this with the courgettes too. They will now go outside, but covered, before they are ready to be actually planted into the ground.

They are such delicate little things, it's amazing to think that they will grow into something you can actually eat.

And this is Mildred - mummy to 12 piglets! See what I mean when I say she's MASSIVE?

And these are the ever-growing piglets, all cutched up together, having an afternoon nap!

And here we have 2 brooding hens, sitting atop some eggs which will not become scrambled or fried, but actual little chicks. If, like my hubby, you were to try to steal an egg, you will received a rather nasty peck!

Yes, I do feel a bit like I'm turning into Barbara Goode (from The Goode Life). But I have to say I'm really enjoying it all so far. It's nice to be part of the whole animal/small holding thing, but not actually be responsible for it all (we have a 'share' in it).

I managed to make this apron for my brother's birthday last week - the things on the front are meant to be chillies, not carrots - at my sewing class. I have to admit to having lost a little of my sewing mojo at the moment, probably because the weather has been tempting me outside and I seem to have a lot of jobs to do out there. But that's okay - this happens sometimes, and I know the urge will return sooner or later. Who can figure the creative mind?

The Allotment

So here we are on our new allotment. It's actually a piece of land that a friend has let us have, in his garden, next to his turkeys, chickens, ducks, bees and pigs ... here's George ...

His 'partner' Mildred is expecting their first litter of piglets on Easter Saturday. Ahhh. Actually, we also have a half share in all these animals.

And here is me, planting up my seeds for the very first time ever. I have to say that, for years, I've fancied growing my own veg and living the 'good life' but have been completely clueless as to how to start out on this mission. However, now that we have managed to secure a plot with our friends - who actually know what they're doing (she grew up on a farm) - it turns out to be easy peasy!!

All you do is buy some compost and some trays, like these (below), then get some seeds and put them in! And water them. We splashed out 20 quid on a pop-up greenhouse too. You just keep them in there until the little sprigs appear and then you can take them out for a week or two to 'harden' them off before putting them in the ground.

I sowed (no, not that kind!) leeks, parsnips, courgettes, cucumbers, pumpkins (the boy insisted), purple sprouting broccoli, spinach, onions, sweetcorn - think that's it - oh and the carrots and potatoes go straight in the ground. I've also got some pots to put some herbs in, for the back garden.

And this is our patch (the one at the back).

This was yesterday, but today we started digging it over and preparing it for the seedlings. Ooooh - it's quite exciting really and has made me all of a sudden want to cook! Just imagine, cycling down to the plot in the summer, picking some veg and then coming home and cooking with it! Just call me Jamie Oliver ;)

Now, I would just like to say that my computer asked me if I'd like to change browser, and stupidly I said yes, and now I can't do all the things I used to do. Arrggggh! I don't know how to move my pictures around my blog anymore. MOST annoying. Do not ask me why this picture is to the left. I do not know. But anyway, it's the pop-up greenhouse, full of our seed trays.

I shall try to figure out what is going on in my corner of cyberspace before I return. Honestly. WHY can't they just leave things as they are?