Tyred and tired!

My M10 Tank Destroyer

The lighter mornings and evenings have meant that Coco has changed her clock and our day now starts at anything from 6.00am to 6.45am.

So when Uncle Robin came over for modelling club last night (not that kind of modelling, miniature military modelling! See right), we arranged to meet him at Listers Farm this morning and collect a tractor tyre to use in the play area of our garden as a sandpit. We thought it would make our morning go quicker.

So we got up nice and early, did our chores of letting the dogs out, feeding and watering the chooks and feeding the cats before getting our breakfast ready. Now at just over thirteen months old you will probably wonder what Coco's role in all this is, well, she strokes the dogs and cats, puts the chicken food in a cup for me, (some of it actually gets in the cup as well!) and tells Brutus the cockerel to be quiet by giving him a really loud "Ah!".

Waiting to go

After breakfast we set off in the van and went along a very bumpy dirt track to get onto the road to Uncle Robin's farm at Southery.  Coco was jolted about in her car seat like jelly on a plate and she laughed and chuckled all the way.

I need a cushion!

We got to the farm and had a look at and in all the tractors, Mr Bumble our Norwich terrier came with us and he was soon searching for rats around the farm buildings, he didn't find any though.

Coco had a sit in the cab of Uncle Robin's tractor and wasn't phased at all, even when Uncle Robin sounded the horn. When we look at Coco's books at bedtime we call every tractor Uncle Robin's so this probably prepared her for seeing them.

Piece of cake!

We didn't get to go in the biggest tractor because that had been used for spraying and we didn't want little fingers getting into contact with it.

We then went to choose a tractor tyre for the sandpit and found one that was nearly as tall as me. The tyre only just fitted in the back of our van and was very dirty but with a wash we are sure it will make a fine sandpit.

Once we got home we had toast and it was time for Coco's nap so I did a bit of potting-on in the potting shed and put my plants out to harden off.

My Morning Glory plants were a picture of health and vibrant green happiness and sitting there in the sun they made me feel very proud.

When I came back about an hour later there were fourteen leafless stems sitting in moist compost and one very smug looking chook! I explained the process of stuffing a chook prior to cooking and the smugness disappeared, she'll not do that again! I should add that no harm was done to the chook in any way what so ever, however that does not mean it wasn't thought!

With that I worked on the fence between the chook run and the front drive.

It's a real joy to be outside and again I thank the stars that I am lucky enough to be able to do it almost whenever I want, jobs for Nanny Southwellski permitting of course. Having said that as we are planning to increase our level of self sufficiency it is important that we get the work done outside.

Faster Grandpa

I mentioned our turf disaster well it's starting to come good, I think, or is it wishful thinking.

In the picture you can see the turf,  it looks worse on the photograph than it actually is, honest!

Coco and I had just come through the forest garden from the bottom veggie plot where we had just put the canes in for the runner beans and prepared some ground for our parsnips.

Our veggies are looking good and the seeds in the potting shed, which I also use as a greenhouse, are coming up nice and strong.

It's truly amazing to spend an hour or so in there of a morning and then return later in the day to find that the tray of compost that has sat there for two weeks is suddenly alive with green shoots.

I recently planted two plastic barrels with Charlotte potatoes, and they have since yesterday sent up strong dark green leaf clusters. Never tried this method of growing before and as the previous occupants here have left a number of tatty grey plastic barrels around  I thought recycle and re-use!

On the note of recycling, whilst Coco and I were at the farm this morning Uncle Robin said we could have some old car tyres as well, I said "No" initially but something he said last night about worm compostors and tyres being good for that purpose has made me rethink and I will be looking around the garden tomorrow to see where we could put them.

It's the Royal Wedding on Friday so we are having a few friends over for a wedding watching and a barbecue. It's almost beyond belief that some groups asked for permission to protest outside Westminster Abbey on the day of the wedding, how do they think that will help their cause? Ah well, it's a funny of world innit!

Hopefully it won't rain, although we desperately need some for the garden, especially the turf I laid this week.

Sunset over the weaves.

I took the dogs into the paddock this evening for a game of ball and found myself just watching the sun slowly sink and leave the most beautiful sunset, suddenly the Morning Glory plants weren't that important after all.

A day of rest? Says who?

Don't really know where today has gone, Great Little Nanny Mero came over today, we collected her at around noon. The curtain lady arrived and fitted our lounge curtains, and we did some shopping in Brandon. What's the relevance of all that I hear you ask, and a good question it is too.

Now, if you're expecting a profound and sage like answer, then prepare to be disappointed because I don't know.

I am sure though, that if young Coco could talk she would say that every visit with Great Little Nanny Mero is an experience, yep, have to agree with that, seeing hailstones for the first time was exciting too, mmm another agreeable statement although didn't think much of the one that went down my back brrrrrr, building compost castles in the potting shed with Mummy and I, another first, even for me.

Maybe I am looking at this whole life thing through the wrong set of eyes, if I look at everything as if I have only just seen it for the first time then it brings up a whole new exciting and forgiving world, every day!  Coco doesn't bear a grudge today because the Rich Tea biscuits ran out yesterday, (she has one for supper with warm milk) because someone ate them all.  No names but, Nanny Southwellski and Nicky Perkins you know who you are!!!!

Nope, no blame from Coco just excitement because she had something else.  In fact she had a fortune cookie, I know call me a bad Grandpa but she really enjoyed it and she had not long eaten a huge portion of Nanny Southwellski's Toad in the hole, minus toad!

Anyway to get to the chase, the fortune cookie had its little piece of paper in it and it read 'If you love and are loved back its like the sun shining on you from both sides'.

I look at my family, and realise that the sun is not only shining on me from both sides, but front, back, top, bottom and inside as well. How rich am I?

Anyway, we finished digging the first plot today and sowed our sunflower seeds, morning glory and sweetpeas in the potting shed as well, and a few minutes ago when I went over to turn the heater on in the potting shed I looked up at the stars and stood in wonder at how small and unimportant we really are.

A lovely day to be outside

It rained all day yesterday so we didn't actually manage to get outside, so Nanny Southwellski found us jobs to do indoors. Today was a completely different story with blue skies and sunshine although we didn't really get started until late in the day. You see Coco has new curtains and didn't wake up until 8.30 this morning, then there was breakfast, playtime, toast at 11.00 and then chores to do before lunch and then outside. 

Can I have a go too?

While Coco had her afternoon nap I prepared the new path around the dog run ready for concreting and put a hammock up near the apple tree.  When she woke up, Coco and I gave it a test run along with Blossom, one of our four terriers, she wasn't invited by the way. 

Mr Bumble, our Norwich Terrier just couldn't quite get onto the hammock with us.

You will remember the little bird we rescued, well he left us today and headed straight to the nearby hedge.  He wasn't flying as well as we would have liked but he found a gap and off he went so we reckon he thought he was ready.  We finally identified him as a Dunnock.

See, what you do Grandpa is......

We planted the rest of the privet hedging and started to prepare the beds for the strawberries, here you can see Coco giving them a very close examination in the potting shed.

If it stays dry tomorrow we should get the path concreted and the beds finished.

Great 'Little' Nanny Mero bought us a very special packet of seeds which we are going to plant in our 'Forest Garden'.  They are 'Forget-Me-Nots', to help remind us of Great 'Little' Nanny although everyone who knows her will tell you she will never ever be forgotten!  We all love you 'Little Nanny'.

New for the garden

Coco, Nanny Southwellski and I had a bit of a spend up today. We wanted some plants that Coco and I could grow and some herbs for the kitchen so a trip into Brandon saw us return with a load of seed packets, including Radishes, Lettuce, Beetroot, Sweet Peas, Nasturtiums and other bits and bobs.

Tomorrow, Saturday, well its today really because I am up very late (Coco is fast asleep) is going to be a busy day outside.  Nanny Southwellski and I are going to have a tidy up in the orchard before Coco and I start preparing the beds in the garden.

You will remember we found a 'treasure', well we contacted the Norfolk finds liaison officer, Erica, who said it could be a livery badge of some sort dating back to the late 1800's to early 1900's.  A friend of our, Mark the mechanic said there were Prisoner of War camps nearby and it could be a badge from a foreign uniform so we are going to investigate that too.

We must remember to take before and after pictures of the garden today so everyone can see what we are doing.

Coco and I forgot to mention that last week we saw a small bird get hit by a car and land on the road in front of us. It was still alive when we stopped and picked it up. We put it in a box with some warm bedding and some food and water because it couldn't fly. It has been living in our potting shed and can now fly up to the stool we use to sit on but that's as far as it can go so we are feeding it lots of good food and fresh water and we think it will be able to go soon. Watch this space.