THE POLITENESS OF PRINCES?

The old saying about punctuality may well be true of Princes but it is most certainly not true in the case of washing machine repair men or social workers! The social worker rang me at twelve and asked if it was today that she was to come and see Pa. I felt like replying that if she , who made the appointment did not know then who would ? Politeness forbade such a remark, and I admitted that one thirty today was the time she had appointed for her visit, fine.

At two thirty we were still waiting for the her to arrive and the thought of all the jobs I was not doing on her account was making me rather cross.
The washing machine repair man, who was supposed to call and tell us when he was coming had not called by twelve thirty so we rang him. Between one and two we were told with confidence, misplaced as it turned out because by two thirty he too had not arrived. We called again and were told that “Lenny was running late.”A fact with which we were already “ au fait”. When could we expect the tardy Lenny, it was it seemed hard to say. We continued to wait.

The day had begun well with Pa up on time and a lovely breakfast of blueberry and wine berry muffins, the wine berries were picked and frozen last summer and at this time of year they are a real treat. They are small and a brilliant red and they are also very tasty indeed.
We chatted over our meal and after the washing up was done I pottered about until it became obvious that the expected visitors were late. I was unable to begin any work in the kitchen as the washing machine repair man needs a lot of space so that ruled out any baking or cooking.
I needed to visit the garden centre for more compost as I have a good many plants to pot on but in case the social worker arrived that too was a non starter. I made coffee for us all and continued to wait.
One thing that arrived early was the lovely old chair bought for me as a mothers day gift from my son, we were not expecting it until next week and I was glad when my son said that I need not wait until Sunday. I opened the wrappings and there it was, even nicer that the picture had shown and it fitted into my bedroom so well, it looked as if it had always been there. I tried it out and was delighted to find it comfortable too, it is perfect and I am very pleased with my gift.

At three we were still twiddling our thumbs and all of us were very cross about the waste of a day, I decided to peel the potatoes for dinner in the hope that according to Murphy's Law this should cause one or other of the expected guests to arrive, this time however it did not work.
Then I received a call from my G.P. The results from yesterdays scan, which I was not expecting for days were back and the news was not good, As well as a small stone they had discovered some “Irregularities” in the kidneys and an appointment was to be made a.s.a.p for me to see the Urologist.
I am not the sort of person who panics about this type of thing but today I could have done without the added worry.
Hoorah at three thirty the social worker arrived and I must say that she was very nice and quite helpful. It seems likely that I shall get some help with Pa on five mornings a week and that we shall be put on the link, a type of panic button to press in an emergency. It is such a relief as I really am at the end of my tether.
At four thirty she left and there was still no sign of the repair man. I went to get a much needed breath of fresh air and as I was leaving the repair man arrived. Hallelujah

I left the boys to deal with him and went off to buy another bag of compost so that tomorrow I can pot on the seedlings. The repair man worked quickly and was gone before I returned and the washing machine was fixed. Dinner this evening was a cottage pie which we all enjoyed followed by a home made apple and elderflower jelly, I think it is the nicest of all the jellies I make and oh so simple. All you need is a carton of elderflower and apple juice
and two sachets of powdered gelatine, follow the directions on the pack and place in the refrigerator until the next day by which time it will have set nicely. I have used fresh fruit and flowers for this but the fruit juice is a good substitute at this time of the year.

It has been quite a day all round but the high spot for me was watching a heron who sat on the kitchen wall all through dinner, attracted no doubt by the ornamental fish which our neighbour has in his back garden pond.

Now for a bath and a cup of tea after which I intend to laze about until bedtime, and hopefully a good nights sleep.

A PERECT DISASTERPIECE

Did you ever have one of those days, the sort where every blessed thing goes wrong, today was one of those. I awoke this morning bright and early to discover that the washing machine had died during the night and that the large load of tea towels,of which I was in urgent need were locked inside, unwashed. It was too early to call the repair man so I passed a merry couple of hours despairingly trying to prise a reluctant Pa out of bed. No amount of begging and pleading helped and it was after ten before he managed to sit up and drink a cup of coffee. By this time my patience was at an end and my son and I were starving. I called the repair man who could not come until tomorrow, time unspecified,and made us all a breakfast of poached eggs on toast.

Rather later than I had intended I went upstairs to clean the bathroom, a job which should have taken less than forty minutes, it actually took almost three hours. Pa was leaving the bathroom as I arrived to clean it and I put some cleaner down the loo and left it to work while I cleaned the bath, so far so good, but not for long. Having finished the bath I whizzed around to loo with a brush and then flushed........the water rose..and rose.... and rose...and there it stayed, the loo was blocked.
During the next couple of hours there was much speculation as to what exactly Pa did to cause this blockage, most of which is to rude to mention here. What ever it was will remain a mystery, all I can say is that after two hours my son and I, having used our ingenuity and in the end brute force the blockage remained.

Flushing was useless as although the water did drain away it took about ten minutes. I poured down half a bottle of Harpic which usually shifts most things, not this time. Next I tried two bottles of seven up, we were out of coke, nothing doing. Vinegar and bicarbonate of soda were singularly unsuccessful as was a long handled bottle brush , which got stuck round the U bend and a bendy length of hosepipe. Worn out we gave up and called a plumber who fixed the problem in minutes buy using a plunger, my gratitude was boundless.
He had managed to make a mess so it was back to square one, three hours after I started the job was done at last.

This was not the day to run out of disinfectant, guess what? That's right, and it caused complications as there was still a lot of cleaning to do.
“Oh bum.” I said, I was not happy and time was running out. I finished the cleaning with diluted bleach which left me gasping for breath from the fumes.

Then there was the ironing to do and actually after what I had been through previously it was almost a treat, I jest of course! Half way through we were plunged in to yet another Pa related crisis, one best not discussed which took a lot of sorting out...no further comment........ exhausted I returned to the ironing board, what a day.

Having had no time at all to do any cooking dinner was a disgraceful frozen scampi and chips with a salad and some home made lemon sauce, the prefect end to an awful day, I don't think!

My son and I washed our hair,and each of us took a very necessary bath and began to feel human again. Tomorrow, the washing machine repair man is due, and so is someone from social services to see if I need any help with Pa , she should have been here today.

I can almost guarantee that Pa will be as bright as a button during her visit, a rapid decline will follow her departure, we have been here before. Such is the carers lot. Actually it is more important than ever that I get help now as I shall soon need to go in to hospital and the added pain of kidney stones and the treatment I shall need means that someone will have to look after Pa during future bouts of ill health.

I would much rather he was looked after at home than put in to a nursing home while I am ill, At least then when my son comes home in the morning he can make sure that Pa is being properly looked after, I do not trust Institutions one bit.

Today has not been all bad really, all my courgette, squash and pumpkin seeds have germinated and along the river the willows are in the green and waving their vivid tresses in the breeze. The darkness of the sky only served to accentuate the brightness of their new leaves.
In the garden a pair of chaffinches have begun to build their nest and this afternoon a large flock of long tailed tits, the prettiest of their breed graced the feeders outside the kitchen window for some time.
Such wonders as this cheer up the worst of days and make me ashamed to be such and old grouch, still a good old fashioned grumble has done me the world of good,and on that note I shall wish you a good night, or day, where ever you happen to be.

SKIP TO MY LOO !

As I anticipated I had a rather restless night,on the plus side that meant that I did not have to worry about being up on time for my scan. I dressed quickly and quietly as everyone else was still asleep and having glugged down two pints of water, as instructed I sloshed my merry way to hospital, on the buggy.
This may not have been the brightest idea I ever had as the road is bumpy and every jolt made me more and more aware of those two pints.
I arrived at the hospital in good time and as I took my seat in the waiting room I sent up a fervent prayer that the imaging department was not running late. Some years ago in similar circumstance I was kept waiting for an hour and a half past my appointment time, I will not burden you with any further details, you may use your imagination!

Hoorah I was called on time and the although the scan took quite a while to do I left the consulting room and soon I was feeling much more comfortable. After all that the scan was found to be inconclusive, I have had this trouble before and in the past three scans and six x-rays failed to show that I had stones in both kidneys. It was not until I was admitted at death's door and some bright spark decided that an MRI scan was a good idea that it was discovered; by this time the large stones were damaging both kidneys and that septicaemia had set in. I shall be sure this time to make a fuss as I have no intention of going through all that again.

Back home again I cooked a breakfast of bacon ,cheese and tomato, we were all very hungry and the meal was demolished in double quick time. After helping me with the dishes my son headed of to town and I gave my room a good clean before preparing the meat and vegetables for dinner.

Through out the course of the morning and early afternoon that two pints of water gave my a lot of trouble , which is why I decided at last to do some work upstairs,where the bathroom is, well it seemed sensible .

By four things were back to normal and I took the buggy out for a spin down to the river and feeling much refreshed returned home to serve the evening meal of roast pork with all the trimmings.
We all enjoyed our meal and once again my super hero son helped with the washing up after which I sat down to write this blog. I now have a date with a hot bath and then hope a good nights sleep., at least I shall not have to get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Hoorah again!.

A MUCH BETTER DAY

I am happy to report that today has been a great improvement upon yesterday,indeed today has been splendid. To begin with it is the start of my sons week off which we all look forward to,and this morning I had two cups of coffee delivered to my bedside before it was time to get up. Pa, to our everlasting amazement was up before I was this morning, it took a while for me to recover from the shock as this has not happened since about 1976!
Soon after waking I discovered that we had won a bid on e bay for a lovely old chair, my sons gift to me for Mothers Day. The chair upon which I am sitting at the moment has been glued together so many times that even the woodworm have moved out in protest. We picked it up for ten pounds many years ago and although I am sentimentally attached to it I and my poor old bum will be relieved when the new chair arrives. It is painted white with a pretty floral seat cover, “shabby chic” I think they call it, well at least it will fit in with the rest of the décor. I love old things, I like to wonder about the other people who have used the item over the years, it is like owning a piece of history.

We ate a lovely breakfast of oven bottom muffins and hot buttered crumpets washed down with a pot of breakfast tea and then while my son, who had been at work all night went off to have a rest I baked the days bread, five loaves today,two of which were for friends and the rest for ourselves.
I delivered one of the loaves, still warm from the oven to an old friend who works at the local garden centre. She gave my a really pretty glass bottle(I collect them) and I was as pleased as could be,she is a lovely lady and a true friend.
While I was at the garden centre I picked up two m0re large lavender plants, a gift from Pa. The harsh winter has killed six of my old plants and I am replacing them as quickly as possible as we need them in full flower for the bees of which our garden boasts a great multitude.

Two of the old plants were dug out and replaced with the new as soon as OI returned home together with a beautiful sage plant. I have about seven of these in the garden but as we use a great deal of sage in the kitchen in cooking and as a tea I can never have too many. Every year I have to cut half of the plants back almost to the ground as they get straggly if they are left to their own devices. It takes most of the summer for these plants to grow back but by leaving half of them alone not only do I always have plenty of sage but the uncut ones produce fantastic blue flowers beloved by bees and butterflies alike.

After all the digging I took buggy ride to the riverbank to see the swans, At this time of year there are always a dozen or more pairs some still with last years young ones and many of which I have know for good many years. When ever I see them they greet me like an old friend and I feel honored to have their trust. Soon they will begin nesting, many on the island where it is relatively safe. I am so locking forward to seeing this years cygnets, they are so fluffy and cute.

I made leek and potato soup for dinner which we ate with new bread and I served the jelly which I made yesterday. Unfortunately I was a little heavy handed with the raspberry vodka and it did not set at all well. It tasted very good although it was difficult to eat, my son said that it should have been served in shot glasses, I think he was right.

I have packed my son off to bed early with a cup of hot chocolate as he is going in to Richmond in the morning .Pa will I hope have an early bath and go off to bed as he too is tired this evening. I have a shopping list to make for our fortnightly grocery delivery then I too shall be glad to have an early night. Tomorrow I have to be at the hospital very early for a scan to see how my kidneys are doing. Wish me luck.

A DAY TO FORGET

Pa excelled himself today, he finally dragged his sorry ass out of bed at two fifteen in the afternoon, it was hardly worth his while to get up. I had been up since seven and had been trying to get the old boy out of bed from about nine O clock, by twelve I realised that I was fighting a loosing battle and as I needed to do some shopping left him with an ultimatum and departed in high dudgeon in the direction of the super market.
Feeling in need of a treat I bought a new summer top and a pretty scarf to wear with it and these items I made sure were paid for Rip-van Winkle! Next he treated me to a box of chocolates after which I did the rest of the shopping, mostly fresh fruit and came home in a slightly better frame of mind.
This was not destined to last very long as when I arrived home it was to discover Pa still not dressed. the curtains still closed and items of bed linen scattered about the floor. I was positively incandescent by this time and I read Pa the riot act, chapter and verse. Now I know that we lost an hour this morning to British Summer time but really, two fifteen, it,s ridiculous. I believe he must hold the world record for tardiness, it is a pity that lazying about is not an Olympic sport, we would certainly be in line for medal if so !

For once I was to angry to make breakfast and to be honest as we would be eating dinner before six it seemed a little pointless so I instructed the old so and so to make do with a bowl of cereal for once while I cleared up the mess. Still fuming I decided to go out in to the garden for a little while. There would not be time to do very much but still it would be better than staying indoors getting more and more cross with Pa.

The cat Twiggy jumped on me at once and insisted upon being given a long luxurious tickle on the tummy, there is something very soothing about stroking a cat, I believe I got every bit as much pleasure from it as she did. When she had at last had enough we took a stroll about the orchard looking at the primroses and observing(not too closely on the cat's part I hope) the whereabouts of several new birds nests. I then went off to weed the strawberry bed as it is infested with dandelions again and before I spread on some manure I needed to remove the little blighter's.

All too soon it was time to return to my indoor duties, there was a dish of garlic and cheese penne to prepare for dinner and sandwiches to cut for my sons packed super. Once again things did not quite go according to the manual and things got a little fraught when Pa disappeared off to the loo just as I was ready to serve, nothing new there then!

It has been a rotten day altogether and I am most defiantly feeling sorry for myself just now so pay no attention, I shall be fine after a good nights sleep, there is just one problem, Since Pa has been asleep for most of the day it is unlikely that he will sleep tonight. This means that I shall have to keep and eye on the old chap in case he gets in to mischief. Ho Hum!

I'm just a little black rain cloud, pay no attention to me...............................Oh bother!

JUDGEMENT DAY

In the early hours of this morning in paid the price for my over enthusiastic spell of digging yesterday. My knee was very painful and swollen and I had some serious pain in my back and sides, caused by the kidney stones which had decided to migrate again. I filled a hot water bottle for my back rubbed some ointment on my knee and took a large dose of diclomax and a couple of strong painkillers. I did not sleep much after that but at least I was warm and cosy in bed . Incidentally , it is amazing what a lot of rubbish is broadcast on the television during the night, it is so bad that I wonder that they bother at all. I ended up watching the 24 hour news on the B.B.C. I sign of desperation I must say.
By the morning the pain had eased a little but I decided to be a little more circumspect today and took a reluctant break from gardening.
I inspected the biscuit tin and discovered it to be almost empty so I set about making three more trays of vanilla shortbread, Mondays baking having rapidly disappeared and while it baked I made a breakfast of porridge For Pa and myself.
I decided to do the weekend shop but Pa wanted the buggy so I decided that it could wait until tomorrow. Pa does not go out very often and it cheers him up to get out of the house now and then.

As the day progressed I became more and more tired and began to think that I should lie down for a while,something I hate to do even though I know it is necessary. I made some coffee and eat a piece of warm shortbread while I made up my mind and at that point Pa returned home his jaunt having been cut short by a shower of rain. As he opened the door the cat hurtled up the steps and in to the kitchen where she sat washing her paws, she is a most fastidious creature and hates above all thing to have wet muddy paws. She slunk about looking very disgruntled and I was obliged to give her some of her favourite cat treats to cheer her up, Pa had to make do with coffee and shortbread!

I have had a request for a lemon cream sponge from one of my sons friends who is celebrating his birthday here next Sunday, so as I was having a lazy day today it seemed like a good opportunity to make the necessary lemon curd. The recipe I use I my Grandmothers, so was an atrociously bad cook but lemon curd was one of the few things she made exceptionally well.

GRANNY MUGWUMPS LUSCIOUS LEMON CURD

Rind and juice of four lemons
1lb sugar
6 oz butter.
6 eggs

Beat the eggs with the sugar and the lemon juice and finely grated rind then cut the butter in to small pieces and add to the heatproof bowl.

Place the bowl on top of a saucepan of boiling water ,making sure that the bowl does not touch the water at all. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens and becomes smooth. When the mixture coats the back of the spoon remove the bowl from the heat and bottle the lemon curd in warm jars and cover with a lid. You will find that this amount seems small but unlike jam which is boiled lemon curd will keep for only a month so it is better to make small amounts as needed. S This amount made four small jars, the sort that mustard comes in are the best I find.


Thankfully tonights meal was as a tasty quicky of several types of sausage served with jacket potatoes,cheese and salad. Tonight the sausages were pork and leek and tomato and herb, my favourite sort are pork and apple but as no one else likes them much I tend not to buy them very often.

I hope that having a lazy day today will forestall any further problems with either my knee or my kidneys and shall be very glad when I have had my tests on Tuesday so that treatment may begin.

On the bright side my son starts hi week of on Monday and British Summer Time begins tomorrow which will mean more daylight in the evening to enjoy the garden.
I shall be glad to step in to my bed tonight and I hope that sleep come soon , another night of Libya and the recession will finish me off for good!

SUN AND GAMES

Some of the first seeds I sowed a few days ago have germinated, it seems that the sunflowers cannot wait to get started and this morning several strong little shoots had appeared above the compost in my window sill propagator. I hope that the courgettes and squashes will follow shortly , it is exiting to see the small shoots appear, and as soon as the first seed leaves appear I shall transfer the plants to the growing tunnel until it is time to plant them out in the garden.

Pa decided not to get up this morning and so I fretted and fumed while I waited for him to eat his breakfast, I wanted very much to make an early start in the garden while the fine weather holds but alas it was after two before I was able to escape by which time my temper was just a little frayed!
Thankfully it did not take long for the sun shine and fresh air to work their magic,and and soon I was myself again.

All through the morning my little cat had been running in and out of the back door unable to understand why I was still indoors, when I finally appeared in the orchard she did several joyous laps of the garden climbing every tree as she went and the settled down to watch me work, happy at last.

I decided to do some digging ,I have to do a little at time these days, there was a time not so very long ago when I could dig all day cook dinner and then go out for the evening, not any more. Old age and decrepitude have well and truly set in ,but life has it,s compensations I find and it was time I hung up my guns as it were.
Pa joined me in the garden during the later part of the afternoon and it was he who discovered a female blackbird on the ground beside the cold frames. She seemed to be uninjured but her eyes were closed and She did not struggle as I picked her up. This is quite a regular occurrence here as we have kestrels nesting in the vicinity and they seem to be very fond of blackbirds. I saw the male bird yesterday hovering over the orchard and for about and hour every other bird in the garden melted away to hide in the ivy until the coast was clear. Kestrels sometimes take a blackbird on the wing and if their grip is not good the lucky ones escape, I have seen this happen many times, a mature blackbird will put up quite a fight , it is often the young, inexperienced birds newly fledged that fall victim to the beautiful but ruthless killer. This time My lady Blackbird lived to fly again and within half an hour she flitted off into the graveyard where there is more cover.

All too soon it was time to go indoors , I prepared some ham and cheese sandwiches and salad for my son's packed super and then made a meal of home made steak burgers with lots of fries onions and salad. My son then finished of the blueberry jelly left over from yesterday. I was very good jelly as I put in a large shot of blueberry vodka for extra flavour.

My poor old legs are beginning to feel the strain of several days in the garden but I will never give in. I shall slap on some pain relief cream, take a couple of pain killers and carry on, it is certainly worth the effort to have all the lovely fresh things to eat all through the year, no gain without pain as they say.

A hot bath and a pot of good strong tea will soon sort me out and hopefully a good nights sleep. I also have squirrelled away a few naughty treats to munch while I watch a film if sleep eludes me. Be Prepared.

It has been such fun to be out in the sunshine and I hope with all my heart that the fine weather lasts a little longer, and if it does not , I shall make a batch of lemon curd and some gooseberry jam as I have some frozen ones left over from last year. As you see I shall not be bored.

THE ROBINS RETURN

Some time ago I told you how my tame robin had lost his claim on the orchard to another of his kind, today I am happy to report that he has regained his territory and has begun to build his nest in one of the bird boxes in the ivy on the old orchard wall. Of course all robins are welcome but this one is special as we watched him fledge and kept him going with crumbs for the first few difficult weeks after he left the nest, as a consequence he is very friendly and sits with me whenever I have a cup of tea in the orchard. Apart from a few necessary chores this morning I have spent most of the afternoon gardening and my little friend has kept me company all the while. Even the cat Twiggy knows better than to molest this little bird , indeed for a champion mouser she is on the whole very good about leaving the other wild life well alone.

I planted four bags of seed potatoes today, I usually do this on Good Friday as is the country custom but as Easter is so late this year I have jumped the gun a little, I hope I do not live to regret it.
I have also sowed some Florence fennel, some Dill, Chives, leeks, nasturtiums and a few early peas, by which time I was rather weary. All the while my robin flitted about picking up any worms uncovered by my activities and his mate, a little nervous of me at the moment watched for a while and then having decided that I was harmless joined in the feast. The birds, like me are reveling in the spring sun shine and although the forecast tells me that it will become colder towards the weekend at least it will be fine and dry so hopefully I shall be able to continue catching up with my garden chores.

For dinner this evening I roasted a chicken sprinkled with fresh herbs and laid on a thick bed of garlic cloves. This was served with a salad of lettuce, sorrel from the garden, lots of fresh crusty bread to dip in to the juices and to spread with the lovely roasted garlic. This dish is a great favourite with my son and although Pa and I are not great lovers of chicken I do this dish quite often. For today it was perfect as it requires little preparation leaving me more time for the garden.

I treated myself to some juicy fresh prawns and will eat my share of the chicken cold for my super which I must say I prefer.

I have not yet heard from my member of parliament but I expect she has been busy with the repercussions of George Osborne's lack lustre budget, if he truly believes that taking a penny of the cost of a litre of petrol is going to fuel the flagging economy he is a bigger duffer than I thought!
There can be no greater fault in a man in his position than self delusion, but then what do I know. It does seem rather like putting a band aid on an arterial bleed I must say.

Once again I have gardened until I am dropping with tiredness but I am happier than I have been in weeks, there is nothing like a day in the fresh air with bursting buds and singing birds to put me in good spirits. And so, as Samuel Pepys used to say, to bed.

POTTERING ABOUT IN THE GARDEN, OR SHOULD I SAY TOTTERING!

The sun shining through my bedroom window woke me early this morning and I spent a quiet half hour watching the day begin while sipping a cup of coffee. A pair of Blackcaps, such pretty little birds were courting along the garden fence. The male bird kept up his song for quite a while and at last the female bird, who actually has a red cap agreed to mate and then off they flew to begin their busy time. Their nest must already be built and the first egg will be laid very soon and we shall have the very great pleasure of watching the pair raise their brood. We are lucky enough to have a pair of Nuthatches nesting in the garden again, they are visiting the feeders often at the moment and we shall soon see them bring their young for a free meal. The returning sun has caused a sudden up rush of life all around and there is a smell warm earth, rich and full of spice.

I made an early start in the kitchen baking the bread for the next two days, three loaves today, all made with barley corn which has a wonderful nutty flavour. Pa and I had a breakfast of scrambled eggs flavoured with fresh parsley from the garden and served with sautéed mushrooms after which I prepared a game stew for the evening meal to cook slowly and be ready in time for dinner. After a little tidying I was free at last to go into the garden to be outside in the sunshine and although there is a great deal of work to do I set about preparing the ground for this years crops and weeding the strawberry patch which was full of young ash plants and Herb Robert seedlings. I quite like herb Robert even though it lives up to its country name of stinking Bob, it is a pretty plant and so I replanted some of them around the edge of the orchard,


My Gardening Club Vouchers arrived this morning and I set of in the afternoon to buy a new cover for my small poly tunnel my attempts at repairing the old one have proved to be unsuccessful,it is only a metre high and three metres long but it is very useful , for growing an early salad crop and for protecting tender plants from late frosts.

In between bits of gardening I made a blueberry jelly for tomorrow and took some photographs of my tame squirrel. I know it is not the fashion to like Grey Squirrels but I do not care, I do like them and I do not grudge them a few peanuts or a hand full of raisins now and then. This cheeky little fellow sits on the kitchen windowsill and watches me doing the dishes in the morning , he seldom budges until food is forthcoming, he has even been known to knock on the glass if no one takes any notice of him. The cat Twiggy detests squirrels as a breed which is very odd as her fur is the same colour as theirs. Miss has spent the afternoon with me in the garden and her delight in the warm spring weather knows no bounds. She was worn out last night with a day of fun and frolic but this morning she was out again at the crack of dawn to sit in her tree house where she spent some time watching the foxes in the orchard.

Mindful of the havoc the badgers caused last year I have begun to prepare the protective fences for the salad bed, I doubt if it will do any good but it must be tried. Truth to tell it is worth the loss to see these wonderful creatures at close quarters and there is usually enough salad left after they have finished digging for chaffer grubs.

I am now as tired as Twiggy so I am going to have a hot bath and them of to bed with a hot drink and shortbread biscuit. Goodnight all and seep well.

UP THE REBELS

The saga of the illegal hotel continues and more people are rallying to the course every day.
If I am to have my garden bulldoze to make way for an illegal car park for an illegal hotel I shall fight the developers every inch of the way. This area has until recently had strict rules on building work and development of any sort. I was once f=refused permission to erect a ten foot by eight foot poly tunnel because it was deemed to be out of character with the area,and fair enough. I make do with much smaller ones. So how the heck a hotel a large stable block and a socking great car park have managed to get under the radar God knows. Non of these structures have the benefit of planning permission and yet the planning department turns a blind eye. It beggars belief. Well the peasants are revolting and we have banded like Robin Hood and his Merrie men to try to put a stop to these flagrant breaches of the law. On lady has written to the Duke upon who's land and probably at whose behest the work is being carried out to complain about the fact that her home is to be surrounded by a high fence so that the new hotel can boast excellent security. There is now a campaign of letter writing to councillors and members of Parliament, the gist of which is as follows. The law should be the same for also what is happening here. The law has been breached so why is nothing being done about it. I have a few ideas about why that is and it does not take Miss Marple to work it out.

I am continuing to work in the garden, it has now become an act of faith as all my work will be trashed it the car park scheme goes ahead. I spent another lovely afternoon outside edging up the borders and putting in new plants here and there. Tomorrow I hope to sow some more seeds and clear a weedy patch ready for planting, I also need to spread some manure on the strawberry bed. I lovely job!
This morning my son gave me breakfast in bed, a nice treat and much appreciated by me. I have done very little cooking today as I need all the time I can get to work in the garden. Dinner was a very simple dish of puff pastry piled high with mozzarella cheese, ham, tomatoes, mushrooms and olives served with a salad, we all agreed that it was a perfect meal for a warm spring evening.

I have promised the boys a game stew for dinner tomorrow as the time for eating such rich food is almost over so there is to be one more stew and one more game pie before the month is out. We all love game but not one of us came tolerate the stuff in hot weather.

There is still enough light as I write this for me to see my garden through the window, it truly is the typical English country garden seen in old paintings of bygone days. I hope with all my heart that it will still be there to lift my spirits this time next year, the alternative is too awful to contemplate.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

For some reason this morning I was full of energy and having woken up early I decided to make a start on the days chores by baking the bread. I needed five loaves for today, two split tin loaves and a bloomer for us and two nice round cross tops for some friends . They came out beautifully but of course I made the usual mess with flour on the flour as the bread trough I ordered last week arrived by courier as the loaves came out of the oven. It is a very large old one and will have to be stored on the top of the bacon settle but I am very happy with my purchase as owing to it's size I shall also be able to use it for salting pork, something I have not done in years.

By eleven my son who goes back to work tonight was awake and the three of us had breakfast in the kitchen, cheese on toast for the boys and poached eggs for me. After tidying the kitchen and delivering the loaves the day being fine the garden beckoned and I could not resist it's call. I sowed courgettes ,squashes pumpkins leeks and a variety of salads in warm compost and put some of them in the widow sill propagators and the rest out in the tunnel. It is exiting to think that an a few short weeks we shall be eating g the results of today labours.

I spent a little time patching up the poly tunnel with duct tape and if the weather holds I shall sow directly in to it tomorrow, probably more salad varieties and some early carrots. I shall also prepare to sow this years potato crop. And start off some early peas

Now for the soup recipe which I promised to give you on Friday

Gammon and vegetable soup

Defrost the stock and the vegetables left over from the bacon and crusty dumplings meal. Skim any fat from the top and blitz together in a blender. At this point you can if you wish add some fresh herbs, parsley is very good with this soup. Today I added a carton of crème fraich during the blitzing process some garlic salt and a couple of tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce. Tinned tomatoes can also be added, in fact this soup base can be used in many ways. A friend who makes it often adds a little curry powder, it all depends on what suits you best.
Heat the soup carefully and serve with fresh bread or buttered toast.
This is a very economical meal as is uses up the leftovers and takes very little fuel as the cooking has already been done. Oh yes I forgot the obvious and best, Try adding some tinned mushy peas or chick peas, on a cold night it makes a filling warming meal for four people.

The cat Twiggy has spent the entire day cavorting madly around the garden, delighted as always to have company. She visited all her old haunts and then sat on the potting table observing my activities closely and occasionally making off with my string or rolling my pencil off the table.

Late in the afternoon the air became very still and the sky blackened suddenly but there has been no rain so far thankfully. This has been the first day this year when the sun has felt really warm , how lovely it is to think of all the days to come, filled with the scent of flowers and busy with weeding, picking and preserving all the lovely things that are good enough to grow in my garden.

I am very tired this evening but it was worth it to be in the garden once again, and my soft feather pillows will ,I think soon be privy to some gentle snoring. Night night everyone.

CAMERON'S FOLLY

Once again the United Kingdom is engaged in military action in the Middle East. We are told by our leaders that Colonel Ghadaffi,s brutal treatment of his people can not be tolerated by the enlightened West. The logic behind this statement seems for me to be flawed to say the least.

In the recent past we have stood idly by while Israel bombed the hell out of Palestine and even imposed sanctions upon them when they had the temerity to democratically elect a government of which the Western Powers did not approve. We have taken no action in Zimbabwe where another despotic ruler is systemically starving the life out of his countrymen. The glaring inconsistency in the reason for attacking Libya takes my breath away.

Don't get me wrong, I have no fondness for the Libyan leader but I can not understand why our politicians express such righteous indignation against his actions when they are prepared to turn a blind eye to much worse atrocities in other parts of the world.

The West's interference in Middle Eastern affairs has been notoriously unsuccessful thus far, and has only succeed in turning even more Muslims to the doctrine of the extremists. The people who live in these countries are no more stupid than we, and they are perfectly well aware that we are taking this action in part to protect our oil supplies. I do wish that they would stop treating us all like idiots and at least be honest about it.

The die is cast, and our planes are now over Libya bombing, we are told, loyalist forces. Again the inconsistency is beyond belief. Just a few weeks ago Mr Cameron and his cohorts assured us all that we did not need an air force and that our submarines - now firing missiles in to Libya - were an expensive anachronism .Now we begin to see perhaps a part of the reason behind Mr Cameron's pious hypocrisy. For a Government looking for a good reason to do an about face on an unpopular policy decision without losing face, this is an opportunity not to be missed.

In The United States the less than popular President Obama must feel that this is his chance to improve his image by “Kicking some Libyan ass!” The same mistake George Bush made in Iraq accompanied by the vainglorious Tony Blair, a piece of stupidity for which the British and American people are still paying.

Ever since Margaret Thatcher's leadership was brought back from the edge of the abyss by “Victory” in the Falklands, a just war has been seen as a way to raise a Party or a Leader's popularity., But who pays for this exercise in stupidity, why the men we send to fight our bloody wars, the young men and women who's courage can not be too highly regarded. It is a great pity that their leaders have not the same nobility. Their sacrifice, and I mean the word literally, to political expediency is as much an atrocity as any carried out by Saddam or Mugabe.

I am no expert as must be obvious but I have a long memory and have lived through enough events of this sort to recognise them for what they are. I am also a pacifist and yet I think it is folly for Britain to disband its Air Force and decimate it's Navy at a time when the world is in such a state of disarray. You might as well drop your trousers, paint a target on you backside and then loiter about at an archery contest, the idea is ridiculous. So why be coy about it? Why not admit we were wrong and change our policy? It is simply because our leaders cannot afford to be seen to be indecisive.
I expect many people will think that I have over simplified this matter but if you look back through history you will find that a great many events of huge historical significance took place because one man or group of men wanted to hang on to power, or gain more power.

It is time we all learned that this is not necessarily the best thing for us - the people they govern.

America suffered the horror of 9/11 and in Britain we had the 7/7 bombing, prior to which our cities were systematically bombed by the IRA. No matter how you wrap this up, it is a fact that a good deal of the money which funded the IRA Attacks on the British mainland came from the USA. And some of that money was spent buying explosives from Libya. How can America justify arming Irish terrorists while at the same fighting a war on terror in the Middle East, the whole idea is ludicrous. We in Britain are every bit as hypocritical. We supplied Iraq with weapons of war in the hope that they would bomb Iran, I have no need to tell you what was actually done with these weapons. I hope you can see my point.

One man's heroic leader is another man's tyrant, one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist. There is no moral high ground and we are all going to keep on loosing if we do not wise up to this fact. During the 20th century, great wars were fought as a means of escaping from a depression, for God's sake do not let us go that way again.

So many politicians want a bloody war because the world is in a bloody mess and don't be fooled none of this is for your benefit . We fought a war with Germany to save Eastern Europe from oppression and then calmly signed it over to the Soviet Union. What an exercise in futility, one despot is much like another. We cannot afford to squander our planet's dwindling resources on another war and besides our world is capable of enough destructive force, it needs no help from insects like us!

EVERYBODY OUT!

It was wonderful to wake up this morning to bright sunshine, there was a thick coating of frost upon everything but never mind, the sun was shining and everything looked splendid. We ate our breakfast of crumpets and oven bottom muffins in a kitchen flooded with light and we all felt the better for the change. For the past few days it has been grey and gloomy, and so have I.

My son's friends began to arrive at around eleven and I set about the washing up before heading off to the shops. I have only been out of the house once in the last two weeks and I enjoyed the ride in the fresh air. I was amazed to see how much things had changed, I encountered cherry trees smothered in a snowy with and delicate pink froth of flowers and everywhere knots of green showing on the trees. On the ground tufts of cow-parsley vivid green and the early spears of arum lilies,perfect.
About the supermarket I shall say never a word as my views are well know on that subject.
I hurried home anxious to get in to the garden for an hour or so and found that my next door neighbours had the same idea. A huge pile of weeds on the path showed that some serious work had been going on. I unpacked the shopping and out I went.

The question for me at this time of year is always “Where the heck do I start.” There is always so much to do and I freely admit that I am behind this year. I was just getting started two weeks ago when I was laid low with “The stone.” it was much too nice being outside to allow such cares to linger and I planted out some foxglove plants and some other odds and ends before moving in to the vegetable garden to deal with the growing tunnel. I put on the polythene cover which will I hope trap the heat and warm up the ground a little so that In can sow some early salad such as rocket and our favourite mix of salad leaves. These are wonderful as you can eat them as baby leaves within a few weeks and also allow some of them to grow on and became large plants. As they are the cut and come again type the bugbear of sowing in succession is almost totally eliminated

I shall also sow out squash and pumpkin seed in the warm tunnel in trays of small pots, I can not wait to get started. While I was in the garden I picked a bowl of sorrel and some radichio the later suffered badly in the winter but has made a come back, much to my surprise and looks lovely.
We still have plenty of kale but the early spinach bit the dust during the harsh weather.
Pa joined me outside and as we pottered about it was plain that the whole village felt inclined to take a walk in the sunshine. People out with their dogs of their children, some boys were playing cricket on the green and the garden was full of bees of every sort.

I was quite tired by tea time but it was the nice sort of tiredness that you get after a day in the fresh air. I mad a fast meal of well stuffed fajitas served with a dish of piping hot buglar wheat and sun dried tomato for Pa who dislikes the wraps. It was the perfect meal for tonight especially since we had an unexpected dinner guest in the shape of one of my son's friends, it is the sort of meal that can easily be stretched to accommodate an extra person.

I shall be obliged to bake tomorrow as I played truant from the kitchen today. It will only be a few dozen biscuits and a dozen of so scones so it should not take too long ,and then if the day is fine I shall be out in my beloved garden again. I truly am happier in my garden that anywhere, it is my sanctuary and my sanity. There is nothing quite like the feel of warm earth in your hands and I love to handle the tender young plants and watch the grow. Later when the crops begin to come there will be the great pleasure of eating each in its turn as the seasons progress. I hope with all my heart that I never have to live without a garden , it is a prospect to dreadful to contemplate. But then of course I am lucky to have always had a garden and so I be grateful for that lifelong joy.

Have a happy weekend where ever you are, and blessings lite upon you.

ONE LAW FOR THEM, A RECIPE AND A GOOD OLD FASHIONED MOAN!

Do you remember a few weeks ago I told you in “CRUSADER IN A LILAC DRESSING GOWN” about the trees that were cut down at the side of my cottage,well there has been a development!
I reported the incident to the relevant authority and they came out to see for themselves and agreed with me that there had been a breach of planning regulations and that the were taking the matter seriously. Today I received a letter from the afore mentioned body the gist of which was as follow.
While there had definitely been a breach of the law they did not find it expedient to take any further action! EXPEDIENT,there's that word again, the second time in a week that our local planning authority has not found it expedient to take any action in the face of a flagrant breach of the law.
This time I suspect it was due to the fact that the land on which the trees were growing belongs to a Duke who's employees carried out the felling of the trees. I will wager that If I went in to the garden and took a chain saw to even one tree I should be up in court “tout suite” any heavily fined to boot.
The moral here seems to be that if you wish to convert your house into an hotel or lay waste to woodland landscape it will be fine as long as you own a bank or have a title. Some might say that I am paranoid yet the course of events during the past month points only one way.
In the face of this evidence can someone tell me how the lot of the peasantry has really changed that much since feudal time! The motto of St Trinnians “Might is always Right seems to hold true here, not to mention the old saying “money talks”. If you do not believe me just look at what happened over the World Cup venues!

On a different note I am very sleepy today as I had very little sleep last night and I do not understand why? I collapsed into bed rather late and should have drifted off at once,but no, every hour almost on the hour I woke up and stayed awake for about half an hour. It was as if an alarm clock kept on going off in my ear all night. Strangely my son too had a similar problem and finally we gave up and made ourselves a hot drink and had a chat. I fell in to a deep sleep at around seven and slept like the dead for two hours.......it was not enough. The consequence of all this is that I have spent the day feeling as if I have a sponge in my brain and lead weights tied to my arms and legs, odd isn't it.

On the bright side breakfast, always a special meal with us was a lovely combination of oven bottom muffins smothered in butter and honey and hot buttered crumpets with orange juice and a very large pot of tea. It was a leisurely meal as even Pa was more drowsy than usual as he has spent most of the previous day going to and coming back from one of central London's well known medical establishment. Every three months he is obliged to make this trek, difficult for someone in his condition and heavily dependant on expensive taxis. To get there takes two taxis and a train ride. He waits for hours to see the consultant who gives him a prescription and says “See you in three months.” then he waits ages for the overworked hospital pharmacy to fill the prescription and then its two taxis and a train ride home. I am not joking when I say this ,last year on one visit he did not even get the prescription and was with the consultant for less that five minutes! Why?
I suppose for the same reason that earlier this week my G.P was going to send me for a scan at a clinic which is six miles from my home when the hospital is less than half a mile away. When I questioned her decision she said that there was no reason why I could not have my scan at the hospital”If I preferred.” If !

After all this moaning and complaining about the vagaries of those in authority I shall now regale you with a recipe.
Gammon in cider and mustard sauce with crusty dumplings
This amount will make four meals for two people.

3 1b gammon of bacon joint
I pint of cider
1lb onion
1 lb parsnip
1 lb swede
dessert spoon made mustard
salt and pepper
ground arrow root ( cornflower will do at a pinch, it just will not look as pretty.)
12 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs of fresh parsley.
Half a pint of gammon stock


1 place the gammon in a large pan, cover with fresh water add the herbs tied in a muslin bag and bring to the boil. You may need to skin the liquid
.
2 prepare the vegetables, cut to similar size pieces and leave the onions whole

3 when the joint has simmered for 40 minutes add the vegetables and cook for a further 15 minutes. As they will be finished off in the oven they should be a little under cooked.

4 Take the vegetables from the pan and drain, then place on a baking dish.

6 Take out the joint and remove the skin,then score the remaining fat in to diamonds, sprinkle with a little brown sugar and place with the vegetables.

7 Heat oven to 200oC.

8 Mean while mix the mustard, cornflour and cider with half a pint of the cooking liquid in a pan, bring to the boil then pour over the vegetables.

9 p;ace in a hot oven for 35/40 minutes

To make the crusties

8oz self raising flour
half a teaspoon of salt
4 oz shredded suet
water to mix

1 mix the dry ingredients with about 7 to 8 tablespoons of the water, be careful as you do not want it to be too sticky. Roll out to half an inch thick on a floured board and cut in to rounds or mark in to 8 pieces.

12 Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes at 200oC. They should be nicely done at the same time as the meat.

Serve the bacon and vegetables on a warm dish and set the crusty dumplings around the edge. Serve the sauce separately if you wish.

Reserve the remaining stock (it will freeze). Along with any remaining vegetables. I shall be making the soup on Monday and will give you the recipe then.
This is a good way of getting the most from a piece of meat and if done nicely can look very attractive on the dinner table.
I hope you enjoy it. Love Avie.x.

BEES

I am really excited today, the bee house I ordered a few days ago arrived this morning and it's a beauty. In the past I have made bumble bee homes from old logs with holes bored in or cut lengths of bamboo, the new bee house is a Roils Royce in comparison with my humble efforts.
It came ready assembled and is heavy enough not to blow over and it looks good in the garden, I am quite thrilled with it.
I have positioned it to catch the morning sun in the front garden where it can be seen from the living room window. Raised on two bricks and sheltered by some flowering shrubs it will I hope attract a good many inhabitants this summer.
Our garden is always full of bees as it has been planted with their needs in mind, on a summers afternoon when the lavender bushes are in flower there are thousands gathering pollen, and we have a number of species from honey bees carder bees and bumble bees of all sizes. Even in January we have a couple of winter flowering shrubs to provide a nip of nectar to the odd early bee on a sunny day. At the moment the orchard is full of primroses and narcissus, celandine and violet with the promise of a good carpet of bluebells under the apple tree and lots and lots of forget-me-nots.

In the ancient wall that borders the orchard masonry bees make their homes in quite large numbers and in an old lime tree at the bottom of the garden there is a honey bee nest which has been there for five or six years now. Every year for as long as we have lived here we get a swarm of bees in the garden during mid summer.. it is almost as if they see or smell all the flowers and instantly apply their brakes and land usually in a large pyracantha at the top of the garden. Fortunately a local bee-keeper can be relied upon to come at once to collect these visitors and he always gives us a jar of honey in exchange which is splendid.
This morning I checked on the honey bees in the tree and was delighted to see them very busy indeed, I am always anxious about them in harsh winters but they seem very resilient.

All around small flowers are opening, we have a bed of purple and red pulmonaria in full flower just now and the red nettle in the orchard has spread well this year.
As you can see I love bees and I like to think that they like me as I have handle many bees and have never been stung. There is an old country saying that bees will never sting an idiot, Perhaps it's true!

STRANG E DOINGS IN THE LANE

DOCTORS ORDERS

Surprisingly my son and I were both wide awake quite early this morning and while I do not pretend that it was a pleasure to have to dress quickly and go out it was much less painless than we had expected. The taxi was on time and the driver wove skilfully in and out of the horrendous morning traffic getting us to the surgery in good time. There is a splendid cab company close by who are reliable and honest, they are also patient and kind making sure that I have enough room for my legs , they are by now familiar with my health problems and do all they can to help. My son always uses them when he needs to get somewhere in a hurry as their prices are very reasonable and they are helpful with luggage, shopping and so on.

Back to the surgery and mine was the first appointment. I explained about my recent bout of pain and she agreed with me that a scan was necessary and a referral back to the Urologist. The usual tests showed that I have an infection so an anti biotic was prescribed along with my usual prescription ,also some strong painkillers for which I am grateful. During the consultation my doctor broke the news that she was expecting a child soon and would be on six months maternity leave from the end of March. I must admit that her condition had not escaped my notice but I had been reticent about mentioning it. I shall miss her, she is a wonderful Doctor, she listens , a rare
trait in the medical profession these days.

My sons blood pressure is now normal again which is a relief all round. He has lost over Fifteen kilos in the past three months which is helping things along. He eats salad now and eschews sweets and desserts which is more than I can say for myself at the moment.

On our return home we had lovely poached egg and toast breakfast after which Pa went off to get our prescriptions filled while I prepared the meat and vegetables for tonight feast of roast pork with trenchers, and roasted vegetables,with a tray of jacket wedges and an assortment of dips, including one made with roasted garlic and sage. This when spread on a trencher of bread and topped with a thick slice of the succulent pork is absolutely amazing, the honeyed parsnips and squash are a favourite too. With the preparation complete I made a blueberry jelly for tomorrow,it is very low in calories which means that my son can have some. After all that I was shattered so I went upstairs for a little rest and promptly fell asleep. I awoke to find the cat taking liberties with my hot-water-bottle which had fallen on to the floor, typical!

I am still not back to normal yet but I am pleased with my progress so far. I just want to be well enough for my garden before I miss the planting season, I do love being out of doors.
My son keeps on saying how good it is to be at home, he is tired I know and I intend to ensure that he rests this week , left to his own devices he will work on his book for hours at a time,he really does love to write.
One thing occurred to me this morning , the diarist Samuel Pepys also suffered quite dreadfully from kidney stones. He had such a bad time having them removed (by means best not discussed) that every year after for as long as he lived he celebrated “the day he was relived of the stone”. He has my sympathy.

BACK IN THE KITCHEN

Hooray and hallelujah, I finally made it back to the kitchen today and the first thing I did was to make some granary bread. Having to eat shop bread not been pleasant and we are all looking forward to eggs on toast for breakfast tomorrow.
Today's breakfast was a mixture of crumpets,oven bottom muffins and brioche and very nice it was. To be frank after a week of Hovis toast and tinned rice puddings it was heaven.
Another great relief today was being able to wash my hair, it had been a whole week since I last washed it and it felt horrible and looked worse.
I put clean sheets on my bed and tidied up a little before I was made to stop and have a rest. I shall have to be more careful I know, I am not sure how we shall manage but I am not going to fret about it today, it is so lovely to be up and about again that nothing can spoil it.

Dinner was a joint effort, my son and I made a dish of four cheese pasta with bacon and garlic,quick and oh so tasty, after a week of short commons you should have seen how we all tucked in. I have received a request for my special pork roast tomorrow so of course I shall be happy to oblige. My poor boys fared much worse than I last week as for a good deal of the time I was too ill to eat anything. Alas for my boys, who from necessity became acquainted with certain convenience foods which in the normal course of events would not be allowed across the threshold of this establishment! It is very much to their credit that they ate them without complaint.

The sun has shone all day but I was not tempted to go outside as it is still very cold. Puss however disported herself about the garden getting reacquainted with bumble bees and ignoring the ladybirds with which she is all too familiar. They are still making a great nuisance of themselves in the upper rooms of the cottage. Last night I almost drank one of the little pests that had gone for a midnight dip in my water jug, and not for the first time! There were two inside my pillow case this morning and a good dozen snuggled in between the bedspread and the throw, they like to be warm the little pests!

We are all off to bed early tonight as my son and I both have early appointments with our G.P which is a pity as my son really needs a long lie in, a treat which will now be delayed until Wednesday.
In spite of this we have a whole week to look forward to and we all mean to make the most of it, including the cat who at last has her little world back to normal.

A LITTLE COOKING AND A LOT OF HELP

As I had hoped I managed to get back to my much missed kitchen for a short while today. My first job was to make a pot of good strong tea, the proper kind with real tea leaves. We have been drinking a great deal of coffee this week for some reason and a cup of tea for a change was lovely.
While Pa drank his tea I put a pan of water on to boil and while I waited wrapped a dozen plump pork sausages in some streaky bacon and cut some potatoes in to wedges. Having cooked to potatoes for a bare five minutes I drained them well and emptied them in to a large tray, tossed them in some olive oil and seasoned them with a little garlic salt.
Tarragon and crème fraich dip is Pa's favourite and I made a this first, then discovering that we were out of tomato ketchup I made a cheats version of this as I know that without this delectable condiment my son's meal would be spoiled.
Cheats Ketchup
Half a tube of tomato purree
I teaspoon of cider vinegar
juice of a small orange
1 tablespoon of sugar or a little less if you do not like it sweet.
pinch of mixed spice
pinch of garlic salt
Put all the ingredients in to a small pan and heat slowly stirring constantly.
This sauce can be served hot or cold and will keep for a few days in the refrigerator.
I can honestly say that I have passed this concoction off as the shop bought stuff more than once!
This simple but tasty meal will cook in less than an hour in a hot oven , the potatoes taking roughly the same time as the sausages. A sorrel and baby spinach salad will accompany the dish.

I felt tired after these slight exertions and needed to lie down for a while, needless to say I fell asleep again. It is amazing how debilitating pain can be. Pa is very tired today , I am told by my son that it was Pa who cooked last nights dinner so I am not surprised that he is tired today.
I hope that tonight I shall be on hand to cook but if not at least the meal is not a complicated one.
I have had so much help this week for the boys ,they have really surprised me by how much they can but know that they are both very tired so the sooner I am up and about the better.
When I returned to my bedroom the cat Twiggy was fast asleep slap bang in the middle of my bed and refused point blanc to move. I t has been a long time since she had the bed to herself and her protest was duly noted, you see she is convinced that it is in fact her room and so I am only her guest. After a short tussle we settled down for a nap while the rain fell outside.

In spite of the chilly weather and the lack of sun the birds are singing louder every day and there is much squabbling over choice nesting sites. A pair of spotted woodpeckers are prospecting in the lime tree at the bottom of the garden. The hole which has attracted their interest is only a few feet above the parakeets newly furbished home, so far their does not seem to be any animosity between the two families. In a nearby tree a nest of honey bees seems to have survived another winter. Whenever the sun comes our there is a steady stream of these small insects shuttling between their nest and the flowering shrubs and the primroses which now fill the orchard. I do miss my garden.

Tomorrow is the start of my sons week off and we are all glad that this unpleasant week is over. I intend to bake some bread tomorrow if all goes well. The trouble with my condition is that it can flare up in a moment, however I have hope that this bout at least is almost over.

I hope you all had a good weekend and I wish everyone good fortune for the coming week.

BED AND BREAKFAST

Today I feel much brighter and a little less tired, the bouts of pain are decreasing and are much less severe in spite of this I have been ordered to stay in bed and am forbidden to do any of my usual tasks. Now that am feeling better I am beginning to feel as if I am on a funny sort of holiday with no sight seeing but with excellent room service. This morning I was awakened by my son bearing coffee and some hot buttered toast, he often brings me coffee when he comes in from work but the toast is a real treat and spares Pa the problem of giving me breakfast. As I am taking a lot of painkillers at the moment as well as anti inflammatory drugs I need to eat before each dose. This need is being met by tinned rice pudding heated in the microwave which perfect for the purpose, creamy and easy to digest.

My son tells me that I shall be allowed to get up on Monday when he begins his week off. This, he tells me is so that he can keep an eye on me to make sure I do not take on too much work. I shall be allowed to cook again but no heavy cleaning and sadly no gardening.
I confess that I shall be jolly glad to return to my kitchen if only to make some fresh bread, we are eating Hovis at the moment and although it is not too bad we have not eaten shop bought bread for years and I think we are all missing our special home baked loaves.

The boys are managing very well and are not complaining at all but I know just how much they dislike the shop bought pizzas, pies and puddings that they are having to eat at the moment.
I must say I feel rather guilty about it but my son says that he is quite enjoying being the boss in the kitchen. He does the cooking and Pa does the washing up and although he is getting tired Pa has surprised everyone including himself with his new found sense of purpose.
I am told that we are having chicken pie for dinner with potato waffles and peas, it sounds a little like school dinners but I shall be very happy to eat it up when the time comes now that my appetite had returned.

The boys have looked after me so well and I am more grateful than I can say for their kindness, they have worked so hard to keep things ticking over without complaint and with cheerful faces, I need not have worried at all. They have both been so concerned for my welfare that at times I have been in tears over their thoughtfulness.
When I am get my apron on again I shall cook them a special meal as a thank you for all they have done, it will be a very small return on for all their hard work and all the care and love they have shown me, I am the luckiest person in the world to have such a lovely family.

A VIEW OF THE WORLD

Although my world is once again confined to the view from my bedroom window I am surprised to find that at the moment I am not at all troubled about the fact. It is very odd because normally I would be climbing the walls by now and fretting about the garden and the baking and a Myriad of household tasks which clamour for my attention on an ordinary day.
Some how it does not seem so important at the moment and as long as the menfolk can keep themselves fed I am content.

I seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time sleeping, only waking for a cup of tea or coffee of to take my medication. Pa is rather tired today as he had quite a day yesterday,my son who is now sleeping tidied up the kitchen this morning and seemed very pleased with his efforts,he does take a pride in keeping his room nice these days and the experience seems to have given him a taste for housework.

From my window I can see that nest hole of our pair of wild parrakeet's. During the past couple of weeks there has been quite a tussle between two pairs of birds for the nesting rights on this choice location. Now the beautifully marked male bird stands guard at the entrance to the hole and the female seems to be spending time inside so I expect that she will begin to lay her clutch of eggs soon. I cannot understand why people dislike these birds, some complain about the noise they make which seems strange to me as most sound in these parts is overwhelmed by the air craft noise related to Heathrow.

Even my small world has been shaken today by the earthquake in Japan, I am watching the news at the moment,it looks dreadful, the poor people have no chance against the force of water,it is shocking to see the houses disappear as the water rages by carrying with it ships and boats, cars and buildings. I hope that the force of the tsunami created by this quake spends its self before it strikes the low lying islands that lie in its destructive path.
It seems wrong to be lying here warm and safe while such a tragedy is being played out so far away. It will be a long time before many of the poor souls caught up in this disaster will be able to feel safe again I think.

Not all the power and ingenuity of humankind can ever compete with the forces of nature in a rage. When these event occur we are like a lot of ants running about when someone turns on a hosepipe and floods their nest. I wonder very much that as a species we treat nature with such scant respect. We depend entirely upon nature for our survival and nature is capable of wiping out thousands of us at a stroke. We are so arrogant, congratulating ourselves on the way we have shaped “our” world, but what in the whole history of mankind have we made that can rival a single honey bee without whose existence we would all perish, it is a sobering thought.

FEELING BETTER

I hardly dare to hope that I am on the mend but I did have a good nights sleep and this morning I am comparatively free from pain, for which relief much thanks.
Although I know from past experience that I have before me the certainty of other attacks and some painful treatment before this is over I am confident that this time things will be sorted out before any serious infection sets in.

My son has insisted that I remain in bed and do absolutely nothing and his plan seems to be working . Before his do nothing order I had been attempting to do at least some jobs like bread making and cooking which resulted in complete exhaustion as just fighting the pain takes all my strength. Enough of this dismal topic, suffice it to say that I have an appointment with my G.P who will I hope refer me back to a urology consultant a.s.a.p.

I am grateful to my son who kept the blog site pot boiling in my absence, incidentally I am reading the first draught of his new book and although I am not a space science buff the book is written in such a way as to make it a jolly good read for anyone. His week in the countryside certainly seems to have paid off.

Pa has been wonderful doing his best to look after himself and to keep things tidy,he has managed his chores well and been cheerful throughout . I had dinner last night for the first time in almost a week and I confess that I was rather dreading finding a mess in the kitchen but all was well. Everything was clean and tidy and the meal of quiche and salad was lovely.
,I am so proud of my men folk, they have really come up trumps.
I had hot buttered toast for breakfast and I am told that tonight we are having grilled sausages with jacket potatoes and grated cheese which sounds lovely. I have felt too ill to eat for days and now that my appetite s returning I am hungry all the time.

I am not very good at lying in bed but at the moment I am grateful for the rest, my little cat visits me from time to time, she is puzzled to find me lazing about and I have a sneaking suspicion that she would prefer to have the room to herself during the day. She is however too much of a lady to say so and I value her company , especially when my hot water bottle begins to cool!
There is a strong wind today and from my bed I can see the trees tossing their branches with each blast A short time ago a crow flew past my window backwards, caught in a cross wind I expect.
My son is now in bed asleep and Pa is out visiting the hospital for his blood tests so the cat and I are now going to settle down for a little nap while the house is quiet, it does seem odd to be sleeping during the daytime but it is so nice to be snuggled up in my comfy bed and pain free for a time.

Lots of love from Avie.

Me Again!

Sorry all, still me! Mum is feeling a bit better today, and I have finally succeeded in having her take a proper day of rest. Fingers crossed she's beginning to get on the mend, and will be able to post here again soon. She's actually eaten today, so that's a good sign.

Still having a busy time of it at work, but hopefully things will settle down a bit soon. I managed to find the Cif yesterday...only to learn that we already had some! My odyssey was in vain! (Still, I suppose it will get used eventually.)

Well, here's hoping for a better day tomorrow. Be well.

Son of Avie

Once More Into The Breach

My apologies, dear readers, for once again you are stuck with my feeble prose. Mum's still not up to writing her blog, I'm afraid; she was feeling brighter this morning, but went off again in the afternoon and evening. Fingers crossed for a fast recovery.

Last night was rather...difficult. Two men down at work, and more work that you could shake a stick at! (I would have done that if it would have done any good.) Still and all, managed to get everything done in some semblance of a decent time.

I'm heading out early tonight on an expedition for Cif...this magical elixir I am told we cannot do without...so I will leave you now.

Son Of Avie

Still me, I'm afraid

Unfortunately, Mum is still unwell, so I'm afraid you are stuck with me again. My apologies...

It was a pretty hectic day, as you can imagine. I'm spending most of my time trying to convince Mum not to exert herself on the theory that she will make herself worse - as you will imagine, this is an uphill task!

Dinner was Avie-manufactured Leek and Potato soup, warmed through by yours truly - setting the table, heating soup so as not to have it split, slicing bread, and mixing Sasparella was a rather fractious experience! I had to put in an emergency order to get in some stuff I can actually cook, given my rather...er...limited experience with the culinary arts.

Anyway, I'd better stop waffling. With a bit of luck the writer you are here to see will be back shortly!

Son Of Avie

Once Again, Normal Service Will Be Resumed As Soon As Possible

An interloper has temporarily usurped control of the blog! Do not adjust your sets!

In more seriousness, I'm afraid Mum isn't feeling well enough to post today, so having returned from the hinterland, I temporarily take her place to apologise for the intermission. She will return soon!

Son Of Avie

NORMAL SERVICE WILL BE RESUMED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

Today's blog will be rather short. After a night of no sleep and intense pain I am very tired and I am sorry to say the pain is still quite bad. I have been obliged to spend the day in bed and Pa , bless him has done his best to keep things ticking over.

The cat is now missing my son so much that she has taken up residence in his room and is refusing to budge. I confess that I too will be very glad to have him home again.

If I am still in pain on Monday I shall go to Hospital. The knowledge that anything other that Orthopaedics is useless on the weekend is all that prevented me from going last night. I am unfortunately all too familiar with the vagaries of our local A and E.

Even if the pain goes away if is now evident that I am in need of treatment again , which has always been effective in the past.
I shall go back to bed now with my hot water bottle so goodnight and have a good weekend.

A GAME OF CAT AND RAT

Today has been quite eventful and some of the events I could have done without. The day began well with Pa up in time for his hospital appointment and the fortnightly delivery of groceries arrived intact except for the usual box of broken eggs.
I decided to make the most of a morning to myself by doing a batch of baking and soon there were two large ginger cakes and four dozen cherry shortbread biscuits. The fun began when I was having a well earned mug of coffee before tackling the washing up, the kitchen was very hot and I had opened the door to let in some fresh air. While drinking my coffee I became engrossed in a Welsh cookery book and had been sitting at the kitchen table for about ten minutes when a slight movement caused me to look up.
Sitting on the doorstep as bold as brass and washing his whiskers the while was a very large rat,he seemed completely unaware of my presence and of the cat Twiggy who was crouched a few feet behind him with a fiendish expression on her face.
She pounced, she missed, I let out a yell and the rat took advantage of the ensuing confusion to escape in to the kitchen where he hid at the back of the tumble drier.

Now although I am not afraid of rats I do deplore their anti-social habits and I confess that I was not happy to be sharing my kitchen with this wretched rodent. Remembering that rats hate loud noises I took my walking stick and banged on the tumble dried as hard as I dared, it worked, the rat abandoned his hiding place and fled out of the door closely followed by the cat. Gratefully I shut the door upon the pair of them and returned to my coffee, it was cold.

At about this time I began to feel an acute pain in my back and sides which I recognised at once. I suffer from kidney stones and have had l number of stays in hospital and a good deal of treatment for this painful problem. Within minutes I was doubled up and had no choice but to lie down for a while in the hope that the pain would subside. Quite often the stones pass through the system without help but now and again they get stuck and that can be real trouble. If the pain lasts more that a few hours I have to go to hospital as things can get quite serious when the stones impact.
Some hours later things were better and I hope that I shall have no more trouble for a while at least.

Pa had good results from his visit to hospital and my son is still happily disporting himself about the peaks and caverns of Derbyshire. I feel dreadfully tired tonight and hope that I shall soon be asleep . Twiggy who shows no remorse for this mornings performance has just arrived and is insisting upon on cuddle, so nicely bathed and comfortable at last I shall go thankfully off to bed. Night night.

IT'S A CHILL WIND

My word my poor ears were almost nipped off by the cold this morning when I went out to the shops. Every one that I met along the way complained about the cold. I do not mind cold weather much but cold and windy I can not abide, I had stuffed cotton wool into my ears in preparation and put up my hood but the wind found it's way through the lot.
On my way along the lane I noticed a small but very deep hole had appeared in the road, there was a barrier around it but there were cars parked on either side of it. On my return the hole was much bigger and the cars had gone. It looked as if their was nothing but the road surface left, everything underneath seemed to have been washed away and as I watched another chunk of road disappeared into the ever widening hole. Watch this space, as they say. I expect that the cause was the flood which we had in the later part of last year, there have been quite a few problems with roads and pavements since it happened. I do hope it is filled in before someone falls in to it as happened once before.

The spectre of the dreaded ironing board raised its ugly head again this afternoon and as I had no excuse this time I was obliged to move the mountain as it were. I am convinced that if the menfolk of the family were forced to do their own ironing they would not fling their togs in to the laundry basket with such gay abandon. My son will put a shirt in the basket even if he has only worn it for half and hour and while I do not advocate the wearing of soiled clothes I do wish that at least the boys would not drop the newly ironed clothes on the bottom of the wardrobe making it necessary for me to iron their blessed shirts twice. Cheesecloth for ever say I!

I have dreadful sciatica today and am hobbling about like an old crock,Sitting down is even more painful than standing up so at the moment I can not win, getting old is no joke .

My son is having a wonderful time in Derbyshire. Last night he mentioned to the tow ladies who run the hotel were he is staying that the DVD machine in his room was not working . This morning they moved him to an even bigger room that the one he had and with an even more amazing view. He is particularly pleased with the full size desk which graces the new room. He tells me that it is so cold in Castleton today that he went for a tour of the caves to warm up a little. He seems happy though so all is well..
I am looking forward to cuddling up in bed tonight with a film to watch, some chocolates to eat and my little cat for company, they days when I used to stay out late on the razzle are long gone but life has it's compensations and a snug bed is defiantly high on the list of these.