Sunday 29 April 2012

Heave A Sigh of Sadness & Breathe in A Breath of Hope?

You know when you wake up some days and you feel brilliant? and others when your whole world has just collapsed around you?  Or maybe you've never been there....
Well that happened to the person who jumped from our local Chepstow Bridge the other week, to their death.

There, but for the grace of God go all of us, and I'm not here to spread gloom or doom to bring your world crashing down, but everyone is A Very Valuable 'Someone' to me, and if you feel able to be of ANY help to anyone that you know who could do with 5 minutes of your valuable time, physically, emotionally or mentally - would you go have a chat or a cuddle with that person this week?

It's impossible to describe to you the emotion of The Bouquets of Flowers along the bridge growing in strength each and every day now, but you can tell that they were truly, truly loved by everyone that knew them.
And I hope that the people they've left behind will find comfort in knowing that at least.

X


Sunday 22 April 2012

Go On... Get Growing!

Trousers told me that I'd not written properly on the blog since about 10th April... SO! Dead 'tardy' with the blog updates, for which I humbly apologise, but I've been busy growing our veg, Dahlias, Gladdies,  and a multitude of annual flowers from seed as well, because I thought I might just open our garden up again this year.
The above photo isn't a 'tenth' of what's growing in the other greenhouses as well, and I'm 'rather proud of myself' to admit to you, that I've somewhat inspired my friend Medina, to 'Get Going/Growing/Sowing'.....?!

Instead of raising funds for The Village Hall specifically, as I did last June, I thought it'd be nice to open the garden to raise funds for our Village Show, so that Medina and I don't feel quite so guilty about 'speculating to accumulate'.  A phrase that my father was fond of, and one that I'm incredibly fond of myself.

Of course, your own food doesn't happen to 'grow itself'.  AND I've got my friend Emma's Veg to grow in her Kitchen Garden this year too, which I didn't 'this time last year'..... and the two of us are having an enormous amount of fun....I'm therefore trying to grow what her kitchen requires, as well as my own, AND possibly for The Show end August, if I can get my act together.

 I've been true to my word this year, and labelled every single sodding tomato plant.  Every year up until now, I only label one of them in the tray, and then get them all muggled up when I water and pot them on.  So "well done wellie.X"
And I'm about to pot all of these Pot Marigolds around the sink up to sell at Saturday's Coffee Morning in the Village Hall for some extra cash to go towards the cost of compost and seeds now? Because both are WAY more expensive than they used to be when no-one bothered to Get Growing?.  Just DON'T get me 'started' on the price of seeds now, okay?!

 I dig up the Autumn Raspberry canes when they're 'annoying me' because I can easily sell them locally....  And in case you have no idea what the crop is to the right of the buckets.... it's Sorrel, which you just can't buy for culinary use these days.
I'm hoping to get a Restaurant Chef or two interested locally.
And my favourite Irish Chef, Denis Cotter, has a gorgeous Fritter recipe that makes good use of it in my own kitchen.X

Trousers completely excelled himself today: Knowing that my friend M was coming round this afternoon, he made a cake, AND he made some bread in the bread machine.
Unfortunately, the Lectricity 'tripped', and sent the bread machine into chaos, the resulting loaf ending up like a house brick that resembled a crumpet.  So I gave it to the birdies....
I'm half-expecting a carpet of dead birds underneath the mangle in the morning on account of the fact that the loaf was too heavy for them to take flight once they'd had a nibble?

DEAD 'CITING NEWS:  Mrs. Batman's Babies have hatched in The Draughty Dutch Greenhouse, on one of the shelves of the green metal cabinets that my Dad gave me.
I have tried and tried and tried to take photos, but the nest is right at the back of the shelf, and my photographic expertise isn't 'up to it', I'm sad to say....
but take my word for it, there are tiny-wee golden beaks and fluffy little bodies in there that just warm the cockles of my heart.

Catch You Later....X
Wellie

Tuesday 10 April 2012

EASTER AT THE FUNNY FARM



I was going to show you, and talk about my plethora of seedlings in the kitchen and conservatory, but I somehow managed to lose the photo that Trousers expertly posted up for me.  Doh?!
Because I'm so proud of the quality of seedlings that I achieve now before I put them out into the garden?
It isn't a secret though, because whilst myself and Medina aren't 'remotely competitive' and neither of us 'want to win any trophies?'  The both of us are complete and utter "Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire-Brigade?!" and it is now SO 'citing as to what she and I are going to enter into The Itton Village Show on Sunday 26th August.
So, all I'm saying, is that you should 'Watch This Space?'

I'm actually true to my word, because the only thing that's important to me, organising and running this new Village Show, is that it is gorgeously entertaining for people 'TO LOOK AT' when they turn up on the day.
But that's why the two of us have created a schedule that allows maximum creativity, so that not every entry is uniformally perfect, because we don't want that.
Real life isn't perfect, and we want our Village Show to reflect real life in our Village, amalgamating The Bonkers with The Brilliance.

Talking of Bonkers, I've been making friends with a number of Robins over the last six month..
And with a cat, it's incredibly difficult also.
I think the Robins trust me sufficiently now to nest where I'm active on a daily basis, and they've chosen to nest in The Draughty Dutch Greenhouse, in one of the shelves of cabinets that my father used to have in his garage.
Getting her 'used to me', I talk to her every time I go into the greenhouse for something two or three times a day.  I won't be able to protect her or her babies from my cat, or any other wild cat on the funny farm, but the little that I CAN do for her, I surely will ....



Monday 2 April 2012

MOI ?




I have SUCH a lot of catching up to do with you all, but for now - Miss Piggy has just FINALLY got the 2012 Itton Village Show Schedule out amongst The Village Peeps?

See Wellie and her friend Medina heave a huge sigh of relief Children! (these are her piglets, and I am their Fairy Hogmother)

I'll be back with a Blog before the week is out, to show you what I've been doing lately.

In the meantime, get growing?  You can't possibly harvest it if you don't sow it and grow it.
X