The Distancing Diaries - Day 120 & 121

On Saturday (day 120) I opened my eyes to find both the cats staring at me intently and took it as my cue to get up, feed them and let them out. I made mugs of tea and took them back to bed where I read and Jon snoozed until just gone 8am. While Jon went downstairs to make a start on breakfast I stripped and remade the bed and put the plants that had been soaking overnight in the bath back in their usual positions.

Downstairs, I loaded the washing machine and we ate veggie sausage & mushroom sandwiches. I  pegged out the washing while Jon washed up.

Jon's main mission for the day was to replace Gilbert's fuel line. Before he'd started, he dragged out the garden shredder as I wanted to turn the branches and leaves brought down by Thursday morning's high winds into mulch. I raked up the debris and got stuck in.

Once I'd finished I added the shreddings to Jacob's enclosure and he had a whale of a time burrowing into them.

Next up was smashing the tiles Jon had removed from the kitchen corner the previous, ready to pop into pots for added drainage when I planted them up.

I could say that smashing things up with a lump hammer was a massive stress reliever but since lockdown I can't think of a single moment when I have been stressed.

This houseplant (not sure what it is) has been in my possession since I bought it for 25p from B&Q in 2010. A couple of months ago it went a really strange shape so I trimmed it and tied it to a couple of stakes and it now seems to have righted itself. I removed the stakes and re-potted it. 

I harvested our first crop of dwarf French beans ready for popping into a curry later. 

The postman delivered a parcel, a lovely surprise from my friend, Annie. It's a gorgeous handmade soy wax candle by Reiki Soul Star (link HERE) called "Greek Summer" and is described as An ode to the entire fig tree:the green freshness of the leaves, the density of the white wood, the milky flavour of the figs. The flavour of the fruit takes a back seat to the white cedar wood. It celebrates the strength of the tree's bark, warmed by the midday sun. Needless to say, it smells absolutely amazing.

On Gardener's World the previous evening the jobs for this weekend included cutting down the dried up poppies and putting their seed heads in a brown paper bag ready for sowing in the Autumn, which I did. I also followed their advice and planted some kale in seed trays. The contents are three years out of date, I'll let you know if anything happens.

I'd wondered why Frank had taken himself indoors when Jon, the love of his life, was still outside, he must have known that there was a shower on the way. We joined him and had tea and a slice of vegan flapjack in lieu of lunch. Luckily, the rain didn't amount to much and my washing was already dry.

A mouse had got to this 1970s tartan blanket it had been stashed away in the festival shed over the winter. Reluctant to chuck it away I patched it up with some of the granny squares I'd crocheted at the beginning of lockdown.

The rest of the afternoon stayed dry so I snuggled up on the bench with the patched blanket and my Phillip Kerr paperback.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Jon baked a buckwheat loaf.

Saturday's outfit consisted of my 1970s Ayesha Davar block printed midi skirt (eBay, 2018) and a 1970s Indian gauze cotton blouse by Oasis Trading (which I won for a ridiculous £2.16 from eBay last year). The tooled leather belt was 75p from a charity shop. I'm still persevering with the Clarks' sandals!  

Tea was a curry with our home grown beans and the remains of a bag of mixed vegetables lurking in the depths of the freezer. 

Did I mention Jon having Amazon Prime on a month's free trial? Searching through the programmes available we stumbled across My Greek Odyssey, a series hosted by Peter Maneas, an Australian born to Greek migrants, cruising around the Greek Islands in his superyacht, the Mia Zoi (One Life). A working class lad made good, Maneas is a real pleasure to travel with, fluent in Greek and his passion and enthusiasm for the country is a joy. We consumed four episodes on Wednesday night and watched another three last night. Highly recommended! To add to the Greek experience we burnt Annie's candle.

Barry M nail paint of the week - All The Things She Red

On Sunday (day 121) Jon was up first, seeing to the lads before bringing mugs of tea back to bed. We read until 8am and, after I'd painted my nails, we had cheese on toast for breakfast. We took our coffee outside and drank it in the sunshine, accompanied by Frank who was off his tits after eating some leaves from the cat mint plant in the border.


We needed some fresh fruit so Jon did a quick supermarket run popping round to Tony's on the way as his extractor fan needed mending. I did some deadheading, swept the patio and moved the tomato plants from the greenhouse into the sunshine.




I'm insanely enviously of my virtual friends eating home grown tomatoes whilst ours have either got a few flowers or nothing at all. Now I know how annoying it is when I mention my blossoming agapanthus and crocosmia when others are still waiting for theirs! Sorry!


 I was wearing the vintage cheesecloth top that I'd bought from eBay and had arrived last week along with Monica's (aka Senora Allnut) Mum's shorts from the 1970s and my trusty festival hat but changed into a bikini and the factor 30 after half-an-hour.


When Jon got back we had our lunchtime noodles and he joined me in the garden. As we'd got some room on the veg plot he decided to transplant some of the many tomato plants over there as well as fashioning a shelf in the greenhouse using wood from the wood pile.


I finished my Philip Kerr book and started on A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry which I thought I'd read years ago but to my joy I realised that I hadn't, I was confusing it with Family Matters.


In the veg patch there's flowers on the courgette plant, the lemon & normal cucumber and the beginnings of one on the squash Liz gave us last week,  the Sicilian purple cauliflower is shooting up as is the purple sprouting broccoli. There's leeks and onions. The kohl rabi and both carrot plants are still hanging on, there's a second sowing of beetroot, French beans, the potatoes are imminent, there's sproutings of snowball turnips, the aubergines are looking good and there's a fresh crop of Oriental leaves. Our second sowing of rocket & lettuce failed miserably!


After the sun had disappeared behind the trees Jon gave everything a thorough watering,


Leaving the frivolous patio plants for me to sort out.


Tea was half a posh sour dough pizza (Jon can't resist them when they're on offer) with salad and grilled haloumi on the side.


The plan for tonight is a couple more hours exploring the Greek islands with Peter followed by the last episode of The Luminaries (sob!)

Stay safe and see you soon!