We were hoping for exchange last Friday but it didn't happen - no surprise there 😒 Our solicitor said she phoned Mrs F's solicitor 9 times Friday morning with no returned call. Then on Saturday morning we had a call from Mrs F. Seems there will be further delay as the boiler in the house that she is buying should have been serviced before she buys the house but when someone went to service it there was no oil in the tank so it couldn't be done! Her solicitor has advised her not to move unless the service is done. For goodness sake they've had since mid October to sort this out!!
Now we don't know when exchange and completion will happen......... maybe next week? What I want to know is if the boiler fails it's service will we then have to wait while they re-negotiate? We were trying to be helpful by letting her choose completion date, now I'm getting just a tad annoyed.
Anyway, enough of all that hassle which I wasn't supposed to be mentioning again.
What have we been up to over the last few days?
On Thursday we went to the viewing afternoon at an Auction house to
look at a rug. The living room at the cottage has a
wood floor so we need something to make it feel warmer and I'm trying
to avoid buying new things. The rug I'd found on their online catalogue wasn't so good in real life (which is something we often find!) but there was another smaller one much nicer, so we left a bid on it.
Friday and off to visit our youngest daughter and our little Grandaughter. She is certainly growing nicely.
Saturday out again.
First stop was The Potato Day (You can see more about East Anglian Potato Day HERE or on my 2014 post HERE or 2015 post HERE) for a few seed potatoes. We are only going to grow a bed with half first earlies and half second earlies so only needed 10 of each. Mid Suffolk District Council were there, as they always are, giving away their jute shopping bags - picked up one of course, that's about the 12th I've had from them over the years! Then onto the auction house to collect the rug which we won and look round the charity shops in the town - nothing of any interest seen in any of the 8 or was it 9? And harking back to my moan on the last post......the Oxfam shop was closed for a refit!! But in Poundland we spotted more alive-looking raspberry canes so £3 spent. We'd taken a flask as always so didn't need to splurge out for anything. Then home.
The raspberry canes were put in a pot and the potatoes are chitting.
It feels so good to be doing things we love again.
Saturday pm and more rugby on TV, I also wrote a bit for the Suffolk Smallholders Newsletter to see if anyone has any tree seedlings or saplings that they don't want. We are life members of the Society because of all the work we did running it many years ago so have been getting the newsletter even though we'd left the smallholding. I'm quite keen to get involved with the society again ..............will see how I feel when the AGM comes round in September.
Too cold to venture to a car-boot sale Sunday morning, in fact there was a covering of snow first thing. I did go for a brisk walk down to Aldi for milk but glad to get back in the warm again. More Rugby and then Snooker on TV. In between all the sport we have been sorting out and filling more boxes. The cupboards are almost empty as is the chest freezer............. just a few bits left for meals this week, after that I'll be daily shopping for what we need until You-Know-What!
Welcome to Felicity, LJL and Cherie who are new followers and thank you everyone for comments on posts last week and to Briony who said she loved the blog, plus W at MidSuffolkMeadow who reminded me of another good charity shop that I will be visiting frequently once we move.
Back in a day or so
Sue
Showing posts with label Potatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Potatoes. Show all posts
Monday, 13 February 2017
Tuesday, 17 February 2015
Catching up - Potatoes and life in the garden after winter
It's back to normal now after the epic book thing, with a catch up on what's been happening here.
On Saturday we set off early to go the the 20th Annual Potato Day. We wanted to get in the queue in good time so we could get in and out and try to avoid some of the crush. By opening time at 9.30 there were over 100 people in the queue! It's the only event of it's kind in Norfolk and Suffolk so people come from far and wide. Luckily its only about 20 miles from us.
There were 90 varieties of seed potatoes to choose from but we stayed with tried and trusted varieties this year. Rocket, Foremost and Charlotte. We're not bothering with maincrop because of Col's health and the work involved with lifting them.
Our total spend was just over £20 giving enough for us for many months and a few to sell. The Rocket were planted straight away into the polytunnel when we got home for an extra early crop.
We picked up 2 free jute shopping bags from the District Council recycling stand. We've had 2 every year for about 5 years, we may never need to buy a shopping bag ever again!... and it's not even our own District Council.
Coffee was waiting in a flask in the jeep - penny pinching again.
As we were out we drove on a few miles to the next small town which is Needham Market. There are 2 charity shops and an Antiques emporium so we visited all three of course. In one Col found, for £1.50, a large thermometer that will fix on the side of the shed outside and be visible from indoors. Our small thermometer sticks on the outside of the kitchen window and doesn't seem very accurate. I found an old round wooden bread board for £3 in the Hospice shop. That's a better price than the one I saw last week in the Antiques centre for £38!
Dinner on Saturday was a herb omelette with the first few spring snippings from the garden. The tiny bits of fennel smelled lovely. It's good to see things to eat beginning to grow. Hurry up asparagus!
Sunday morning and 2 loads of washing drying out in the sunshine early. We cut a good load of wood, both logs and pallets. Col got a phone call asking for 2 metal drums that he'd advertised in the Suffolk Smallholders Newsletter so they went on the trailer along with the 4 IBCs for delivering on Monday.
Lots of Rugby on TV over the weekend to keep us entertained. I prefer watching rugby to football anyday. I remembered to watch Call The Midwife this week too.
Monday was grey and misty all day and in the morning Col decided to wash the clear plastic roof of the campsite toilet shed. Then we washed down the painted toilet doors which always get a bit mouldy in the damp winter weather. He also took out all the paper that's been covering the loos and basins and had a bit of a sweep out because we want to get walls and floors painted over the next week or so to give it plenty of time to dry out properly before we re-open at Easter. We have already got a couple of bookings for that weekend so it must be done. We have also had a few bookings for later in the year including a family who came for a week last summer and enjoyed it so much they are returning for 3 weeks in August this year.
In the afternoon he trundled off with the jeep and trailer to deliver everything - not too far away - and came back with £160 - handy.
Apart from helping with the loo cleaning and cleaning indoors I also did a small heap of boring ironing and cut out the material I need to make 7 presents for my Penny Pincher letter friends for Christmas. Now I need to get pinning and sewing.
Today, Tuesday, has been bright and sunny all day which is lovely but doesn't half show up the dirty windows. I cleaned the most obvious - in the kitchen - but ran out of enthusiasm for doing any more. Col was working over at our neighbours all morning, cutting down the willows round her pond. Was it just a year ago that he did this and brought home lots of willow slips that we pushed in all around the caravan part of the campsite? Most are still alive and soon we will have a huge hedge like we have around the sides of the tent area.
I did say a couple of weeks ago that I seem to be spending a bit too much time online, I have other things that I need and want to do but seem to be picking up the lap top several times a day. I want to wean myself off this, as it seems to be becoming an addiction. So until Easter when we open the campsite and there will be more gardening to blog about too, I'm just going to post once or twice a week. I will pop in and read all my favourite blogs to keep in touch.
So back in a few days
Sue
On Saturday we set off early to go the the 20th Annual Potato Day. We wanted to get in the queue in good time so we could get in and out and try to avoid some of the crush. By opening time at 9.30 there were over 100 people in the queue! It's the only event of it's kind in Norfolk and Suffolk so people come from far and wide. Luckily its only about 20 miles from us.
There were 90 varieties of seed potatoes to choose from but we stayed with tried and trusted varieties this year. Rocket, Foremost and Charlotte. We're not bothering with maincrop because of Col's health and the work involved with lifting them.
 |
| Crowds in the marquee |
 |
| Potatoes in boxes by alphabetical order. They have lots of helpers filling up the boxes as the crowds empty them. |
We picked up 2 free jute shopping bags from the District Council recycling stand. We've had 2 every year for about 5 years, we may never need to buy a shopping bag ever again!... and it's not even our own District Council.
Coffee was waiting in a flask in the jeep - penny pinching again.
As we were out we drove on a few miles to the next small town which is Needham Market. There are 2 charity shops and an Antiques emporium so we visited all three of course. In one Col found, for £1.50, a large thermometer that will fix on the side of the shed outside and be visible from indoors. Our small thermometer sticks on the outside of the kitchen window and doesn't seem very accurate. I found an old round wooden bread board for £3 in the Hospice shop. That's a better price than the one I saw last week in the Antiques centre for £38!
Dinner on Saturday was a herb omelette with the first few spring snippings from the garden. The tiny bits of fennel smelled lovely. It's good to see things to eat beginning to grow. Hurry up asparagus!
Sunday morning and 2 loads of washing drying out in the sunshine early. We cut a good load of wood, both logs and pallets. Col got a phone call asking for 2 metal drums that he'd advertised in the Suffolk Smallholders Newsletter so they went on the trailer along with the 4 IBCs for delivering on Monday.
Lots of Rugby on TV over the weekend to keep us entertained. I prefer watching rugby to football anyday. I remembered to watch Call The Midwife this week too.
Monday was grey and misty all day and in the morning Col decided to wash the clear plastic roof of the campsite toilet shed. Then we washed down the painted toilet doors which always get a bit mouldy in the damp winter weather. He also took out all the paper that's been covering the loos and basins and had a bit of a sweep out because we want to get walls and floors painted over the next week or so to give it plenty of time to dry out properly before we re-open at Easter. We have already got a couple of bookings for that weekend so it must be done. We have also had a few bookings for later in the year including a family who came for a week last summer and enjoyed it so much they are returning for 3 weeks in August this year.
In the afternoon he trundled off with the jeep and trailer to deliver everything - not too far away - and came back with £160 - handy.
Apart from helping with the loo cleaning and cleaning indoors I also did a small heap of boring ironing and cut out the material I need to make 7 presents for my Penny Pincher letter friends for Christmas. Now I need to get pinning and sewing.
Today, Tuesday, has been bright and sunny all day which is lovely but doesn't half show up the dirty windows. I cleaned the most obvious - in the kitchen - but ran out of enthusiasm for doing any more. Col was working over at our neighbours all morning, cutting down the willows round her pond. Was it just a year ago that he did this and brought home lots of willow slips that we pushed in all around the caravan part of the campsite? Most are still alive and soon we will have a huge hedge like we have around the sides of the tent area.
I did say a couple of weeks ago that I seem to be spending a bit too much time online, I have other things that I need and want to do but seem to be picking up the lap top several times a day. I want to wean myself off this, as it seems to be becoming an addiction. So until Easter when we open the campsite and there will be more gardening to blog about too, I'm just going to post once or twice a week. I will pop in and read all my favourite blogs to keep in touch.
So back in a few days
Sue
Thursday, 18 September 2014
Enjoying the sunshine + potatoes
This spell of warm weather has been such a treat, if it went on for another two weeks I wouldn't complain. I've had a couple of hours sitting out soaking it up.
Every year we put some main-crop potatoes out on the field, some years they do well, some years not so well. Last year was poor but we still had enough to last until the beginning of this year. We wondered whether to bother with growing them, but of course we tried again.
Using the potato lifter borrowed yesterday C lifted a row this afternoon, not a good crop again, some decent sized, a lot small and some scabby.
He picked them up and said they didn't look too good. We'll have to sort through and see what's good enough to keep and what need using quickly. 2 more rows to lift tomorrow.
This morning he was away early to move the irrigation equipment again - still SO dry here, then after coming home for a coffee he was off again to take the two pigs belonging to someone in the village off to the abattoir. Last time he went, 2 years ago, the abattoir had just moved to a new site and it was chaotic- they had to wait ages. But he said this time it was much more organised, only a short wait so he was home again by 1.30. Were we paid in cash or pork?.......... Both! Cash to cover diesel and the use of the trailer and some pork - probably sausages - to come later. Yippee!
Another quiet day for me, odd jobs and reading.
Thanks to everyone for comments yesterday
Back Tomorrow
Sue
Every year we put some main-crop potatoes out on the field, some years they do well, some years not so well. Last year was poor but we still had enough to last until the beginning of this year. We wondered whether to bother with growing them, but of course we tried again.
Using the potato lifter borrowed yesterday C lifted a row this afternoon, not a good crop again, some decent sized, a lot small and some scabby.
This morning he was away early to move the irrigation equipment again - still SO dry here, then after coming home for a coffee he was off again to take the two pigs belonging to someone in the village off to the abattoir. Last time he went, 2 years ago, the abattoir had just moved to a new site and it was chaotic- they had to wait ages. But he said this time it was much more organised, only a short wait so he was home again by 1.30. Were we paid in cash or pork?.......... Both! Cash to cover diesel and the use of the trailer and some pork - probably sausages - to come later. Yippee!
Another quiet day for me, odd jobs and reading.
Thanks to everyone for comments yesterday
Back Tomorrow
Sue
Thursday, 20 March 2014
Know your prices
Approved Foods send me an email everyday to tell me about their special 'bargains'. I keep hoping they will have bread flour at a good price like they did last year which is the only time I've ordered. Yesterday at first glance their Hovis bread mix looks a possibility at 2 for £1 then I notice the weight - only 495g - so only enough for one loaf of bread. Now I know that Aldi Bread flour is 75p for 1.5kg, that's enough for 3 loaves. That makes each loaf 25p plus a teaspoon of yeast, salt and sugar which is only a few pence more. So the bread mix is NOT a bargain at all.
Neither is their plain flour at 60p for 1.5kg as Aldi is only 45p, and why would you pay 60p for a tin of plum tomatoes when all the supermarket value brands are 34p? ( and I know the AF ones are a branded product but so what?).
Then today they have 12.5kg of branded plain and self - raising flour for £4.99. Surely that MUST be a genuine bargain as it is supposedly reduced from £14.99. But no, work it out and you find that Aldi flour is still cheaper.
I shall keep waiting for a real bargain in things I want to order.
Now that the My Supermarket website includes Aldi ( perhaps it has for a while - I don't know) it's easy to check prices of things everywhere. Although if you are like us in a rural area, knowing how much things are at Aldi, Asda and Morrisons is not a lot of help when they are all 25 miles away.
Things are happening on the growing front as onion sets are in and a bed of Foremost early potatoes planted and re-covered with black plastic for a while. We had lettuce and radishes from the poly tunnel for lunch today after a couple of weeks without and the early potatoes C put in there are now up and growing.
Cabbages and parsnips are finished so we have just a few sprouts, purple sprouting broccoli and leeks left. It was looking hopeful for the purple sprouting to last a while as some plants were ahead of others but then the warm weather over the weekend made them all shoot so we are eating some almost everyday, steamed, stir-fry and tomorrow in a quiche. Leeks have been eaten in the pasties I made last week, made into fritters and baked in stock.
It got really windy this afternoon and the temperature dropped. The forecast is for cold nights so it might be a good idea to organise a bit of heat to keep this lot warm, just in case.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
Neither is their plain flour at 60p for 1.5kg as Aldi is only 45p, and why would you pay 60p for a tin of plum tomatoes when all the supermarket value brands are 34p? ( and I know the AF ones are a branded product but so what?).
Then today they have 12.5kg of branded plain and self - raising flour for £4.99. Surely that MUST be a genuine bargain as it is supposedly reduced from £14.99. But no, work it out and you find that Aldi flour is still cheaper.
I shall keep waiting for a real bargain in things I want to order.
Now that the My Supermarket website includes Aldi ( perhaps it has for a while - I don't know) it's easy to check prices of things everywhere. Although if you are like us in a rural area, knowing how much things are at Aldi, Asda and Morrisons is not a lot of help when they are all 25 miles away.
Things are happening on the growing front as onion sets are in and a bed of Foremost early potatoes planted and re-covered with black plastic for a while. We had lettuce and radishes from the poly tunnel for lunch today after a couple of weeks without and the early potatoes C put in there are now up and growing.
Cabbages and parsnips are finished so we have just a few sprouts, purple sprouting broccoli and leeks left. It was looking hopeful for the purple sprouting to last a while as some plants were ahead of others but then the warm weather over the weekend made them all shoot so we are eating some almost everyday, steamed, stir-fry and tomorrow in a quiche. Leeks have been eaten in the pasties I made last week, made into fritters and baked in stock.
It got really windy this afternoon and the temperature dropped. The forecast is for cold nights so it might be a good idea to organise a bit of heat to keep this lot warm, just in case.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
Saturday, 8 February 2014
Potato Day
This is where we went this morning
This is the length of the proper British queue to get in at about 9.20, by the time they opened up at 9.30 the queue was even longer, so it's a very popular event.
We've been going to this for many years.They have about 80 varieties of potatoes to chose from and it was good value. But the price per tuber had gone from 12p last year up to 15p, ( which we didn't know until we got there) so we may not go again. Over the years we've tried all sorts of different spuds. This year our very early ones - 16 'Rocket' have gone straight into the bed in the poly-tunnel as soon as we got home. Last year we tried 'Swift' which were swift but tasteless. 28 'Duke of York', 28 'Foremost' and our favourite 56 'Charlotte' are all on egg trays chitting.( which is a word even though blogger says it isn't!). These are all First and Second Early potatoes and will go into 4 beds in the garden. Most will be sold and as we dig fresh each morning they are very popular and sell quickly.
We now have to decide what to do about maincrop spuds which usually go out on the field. Last year we got a half a sack of cheap seed spuds from a friend - he didn't know what they were but they were very poor quality, as were some of our own saved from the year before- 'Cara'. Cold weather early then dry did them no good at all. It was obvious that they were not going to store well so we sold a lot fresh dug during the autumn.
There are other stalls at the potato day too including the local District Council and every year they give away these very handy jute bags
We are not even in their council area but I now have 8 of these in the cupboard, which is why I won't need to make or buy a bag for years.
Then it was time to head home for coffee, planting the Rocket spuds in the poly-tunnel and then, while the sun was still shining, we both did some tidying outside. He attacked some of the low branches on the apple trees and I went round the shrubs. The wind was strong and very cold and everywhere is so wet underfoot that it didn't make for pleasant working and we both decided we had had enough by midday.
Thank you to Helen, Bridget, The weaver of grass, Ilona , Morgan, The Squirrel Family and Jane for comments yesterday.
Right, now I'm off to read what everyone else has been up to today.
Back tomorrow.
We've been going to this for many years.They have about 80 varieties of potatoes to chose from and it was good value. But the price per tuber had gone from 12p last year up to 15p, ( which we didn't know until we got there) so we may not go again. Over the years we've tried all sorts of different spuds. This year our very early ones - 16 'Rocket' have gone straight into the bed in the poly-tunnel as soon as we got home. Last year we tried 'Swift' which were swift but tasteless. 28 'Duke of York', 28 'Foremost' and our favourite 56 'Charlotte' are all on egg trays chitting.( which is a word even though blogger says it isn't!). These are all First and Second Early potatoes and will go into 4 beds in the garden. Most will be sold and as we dig fresh each morning they are very popular and sell quickly.
We now have to decide what to do about maincrop spuds which usually go out on the field. Last year we got a half a sack of cheap seed spuds from a friend - he didn't know what they were but they were very poor quality, as were some of our own saved from the year before- 'Cara'. Cold weather early then dry did them no good at all. It was obvious that they were not going to store well so we sold a lot fresh dug during the autumn.
There are other stalls at the potato day too including the local District Council and every year they give away these very handy jute bags
Then it was time to head home for coffee, planting the Rocket spuds in the poly-tunnel and then, while the sun was still shining, we both did some tidying outside. He attacked some of the low branches on the apple trees and I went round the shrubs. The wind was strong and very cold and everywhere is so wet underfoot that it didn't make for pleasant working and we both decided we had had enough by midday.
Thank you to Helen, Bridget, The weaver of grass, Ilona , Morgan, The Squirrel Family and Jane for comments yesterday.
Right, now I'm off to read what everyone else has been up to today.
Back tomorrow.
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