Getting on with it all

I have come back from the second weekend of gymnastics training absolutely exhausted. I rushed around here like a mad thing on Thursday and Friday last week, trying to get bags packed and things ready for the journey, as well as leaving the house in a reasonable condition for the FH and EFG who were staying here. My temper built up and then erupted on Friday evening when I just wasn't getting things done!

I did manage to get some seeds sown - huge relief! Four kinds of tomatoes (a plum, a tumbling cherry type, a "normal" type and a larger-than-average kind), two kinds of squashes, courgettes, and spinach were actually sown in pots, and then lots of beans (dwarf, runner and broad) were put in jam jars of water to soak. They will probably get planted tomorrow. The autumn sown broad beans are coming on really well, and have loads of flowers, so I am hopeful of a good crop there in a while. There will be more seed sowing done in the weeks to come as I get up to speed in the greenhouse.

The quails are still living in the greenhouse although the FH is building them two new cages, of a high-rise variety, one above the other. We are experiencing a very steep learning curve with these quail! You may recall that we thought we had separated the males from the females after some feather-pecking incidents. We discovered that we were wrong when we found some eggs in the "male" cage.......both kinds are laying eggs, but the eggs are different so we have come to the conclusion that there are two kinds of quail here. It may not be the end of the story, but that is the latest episode. Today I hard-boiled 9 quail eggs - cooked them for 4 minutes and they have come out perfectly. Trouble is that one doesn't even make a mouthful! Interesting to note that the inside of the shell is a beautiful light blue.

Some of our neighbours are moving out on Thursday so we are a bit sad to see them go. They are moving to the Welsh border area, where they will enjoy the more hilly countryside as they had come here from rolling fields and found our flatlands rather, well, flat! They have two dogs and love walking, so I hope that they will be very happy over there. The lady has been a good customer to me for eggs, so I was pleased to hear that she has recommended me to the incoming family.

The girls have been to the local town today for a multi-sport day, and had a good run-around. The YFG now has a friend here on the trampoline, and the EFG has got her laptop out, half-watching TV with the FH and half playing something on the pc. We had my uncle here to tea last night, bringing some of the bounty of his garden - sprouting broccoli, leeks and cauliflowers - he only asked for half a dozen eggs in exchange so I am sure I got the better deal. For tea we had one of the last batch of home-grown chooks and it was excellent; a very meaty bird with some firm, densely packed meat that had very good flavour.

Off to put my feet up for half an hour with a cup of tea!