WARMTH

At last a day when the sun warmed our edge of Suffolk, melting away the clouds and making everything feel so much better.
We sat out, did the smallholding and campsite jobs and sat outside again. Brilliant! Long may it last.

Back to normal - thank goodness

First of all, Many, Many Thanks for all the good wishes yesterday. ( Everyday life on a shoestring, Dc, Julie,Trudie, Morgan, Scarlet and Debbie all wishing Him Outside better- Thank you.)
 Him Outside survived his first ever hospital stay and as I thought, they chucked him out yesterday evening ( our youngest daughter and her  partner went and picked him up, saving me a journey) They never got around to doing a CT scan and decided that as his BP was OK again he could go home and get referred back later for the scan. Weird way of working - I've never understood how hospitals work. There might be a problem with something that showed up on the X Ray but whatever it was should have been making him ill and as it isn't that will also wait for further investigation! Meanwhile he seems fine - apart from the angina. So we will wait for more info after the scan and angiogram thingy.
I got all the smallholding jobs done yesterday, but why is it that the phone rings just as I'm stepping out the back door or sitting on the loo?
Another question - Why is it that just as I go out to clean the campsite toilets and shower at 11.15a.m someone walks over wanting to use both?
So many questions - so few answers!
I picked 6lb strawberries this morning so decided to put some out for sale. We don't often have enough to sell any. Although I do freeze some for jam making I won't bother with freezing many others, as I think they are nasty after being frozen and so many other fruits do much better in the freezer. My jam and chutney shelves are still quite full, so I won't need to do loads of things this year.

Just turned on the TV to see what's happening at Wimbledon - why is the sun shining there while we have cloud ?- Not Fair!! Him Outside said he heard they have unusually high temps of 54 C in some parts of the USA. Phew! That's too warm.
Right, time to put the kettle on for a cuppa. Him Outside has been doing the brakes on the jeep, something he can do sitting down. He MUST be feeling better.
Thanks again for the good wishes, I'm glad I started this blogging thing in April, so many nice people out there.

2 Crazy Days

Him Outside is in hospital having some tests after the BP monitor went off the scale, the doctor called an ambulance for him yesterday morning. X Rays have shown a problem which seems to be unconnected with the angina diagnosis so he had some tests and  is now waiting for a CT Scan. I went to see him last night and he had already read the one book he took with him, so I took 4 more! I can't imagine they will keep him in over the weekend unless they have to, as they usually send as many home as possible while the place grinds to a halt for weekends.
Meanwhile back at the Simple Suffolk Smallholding things are mad:- Phone calls, Arrivals on the campsite, Campsite cleaning,  Bread making, Putting flowers out for sale, Eggs as usual, Broad Beans to put out for sale and into freezer, lighting the Rayburn for hot water as there is no sun to heat the solar water thingy and Cauliflower plants arrived to plant. So I'm rushing around like the proverbial blue ar**d fly, trying to get it all done.
More news tomorrow.

What to do with a blog and more about the local Produce Show.

Here's what one man did with his blog- he turned it into a book. Actually I think a lot of people have done that already but this is the first one I have read. Him Outside came across the info for this and ordered it from the library. After he had read it he said I would probably like it though it was gruesome in parts. I've only just started it and haven't got to any gory bits yet.

Having been reminded of writing a poem about childhood for a Flower Show years ago, wondering why I hadn't entered anything recently and nudging myself into picking up a schedule for this years show, I now have to decide what to enter.

I'm not as keen as some people who spend hours cleaning and polishing their vegetables so I only enter things that can be just cut or picked. I don't do Flower Arranging so that section is out. There are several things in the Domestic section that I'm hopeless at making ( Plain Victoria Sandwich cake for instance) and in the Handicrafts section I don't do knitting, painting, drawing or photography. SO
What's left?
In the veg section I shall enter Chillies, Peppers, Courgettes and Tomatoes, maybe beans if they grow in time, perhaps a cucumber and then Aubergine in the Any Other Vegetable Not previously listed Class.
In the Domestic Section I could do Rich Fruit Cake,Sultana scones,Suffolk Rusks,Loaf of Brown Bread(Hand made) and Cheese scones. Plus the Summer fruits jam that I made the other day, Jar of Chutney and of course Six Eggs ( home produced). Although I have a feeling that several years ago there were mutterings that maybe I shouldn't enter eggs as we have rather more hens than most home hen keepers.
In the Handicrafts Section I could enter  Any Small Cross Stitch Article, A hand-made card for a baby, A small Christmas Decoration and a Short Poem About a Village. ( question- how short is a short poem?!)
Entry is 20p per class which goes to pay for the prizes;- First £1, Second 70p and Third 50p. There's BIG money involved!!
 It's all good fun although lots of people take it very seriously and as well as money there are cups and trophies to be won and held for the year. I once won the Whiting Shield for my tomatoes as they were The Best Entry In The Vegetable Section!
There are Childrens classes too and when our lot were little I would encourage ( nag) them to make things to enter which would keep them occupied for the first week of the school holidays.
So it's all very well talking the talk but now I shall have to get stitching and writing poetry!

News re Him Outsides heart problems;- today he had to go to the surgery to have a 24 hour Blood pressure monitor attached, which inflates every 30 minutes during the day and every hour at night. It is already showing some VERY weird readings. Not sure what that means- we shall see what they decide to do next.

Just a quick note

I picked a colander full of strawberries today and another 6 punnets of gooseberries off the early bushes. I'm going to wait a while- maybe a week before starting on the other bushes.
The sun shone on and off today, when it was shining it was hot, when it wasn't it turned chilly again.
Boring ironing done again, collected Him Outside from station after he had taken the van back to Ipswich, various odd jobs and eggs of course.
 The chickens we have been chicken sitting while their owner was in hospital have gone home as he is getting on well after his hip replacement and driving again. It's wonderful to see an elderly friend, who just 3 months ago was hardly able to move, now getting about with just a walking stick and looking really well.

Yet another cold grey day

I'm sure some parts of the country are warmer than us but here we have lit the woodburner tonight as it is just so blinkin' cold. And to make a grey day even worse Rafa is out of Wimbledon in the first round, that's not good!
I took Him Outside to the station early so he could go into town to pick up the van and files for the monthly inspection job. He hasn't many to do this month so will take the van back tomorrow after he has done all the reports on the computer.
At home I have been doing some baking and cleaning - not very exciting.
We've have one caravan arrive on the campsite- one of our regulars, but sadly his wife, who had been poorly for a few years, has died since they stayed last year. He is venturing out on his own for the first time, that must be a difficult thing to do.
That's my news today, and I'll be back tomorrow with more riveting updates to the progress on strawberry and gooseberry  picking! I didn't do either today - too cold to stand still picking fruit.

Bleary eyed on Sunday!

The very loud music from the party at the second home started up around 8pm, stopped for a HUGE firework display at 11pm and then it was thump,thump,thumping away until after 3am. As we had been pre-warned ,we shifted ourselves into the  spare room where the window faces in the opposite direction and slightly quieter and might have slept OK except for the mattress feels really hard and solid, which is what the children say when they are visiting and sleeping on it. So may have to find some sort of mattress topper for that bed.
Luckily some visitors in a caravan on the campsite down at ground level, and sheltered by hedges, didn't hear the music until just before it finished. So didn't feel disturbed at all.
VERY windy again today, it doesn't feel right for June but we have had some good showers of rain which will help the fruit and vegetables.
So another delicious bowl of strawberries have been picked

And then I decided to start the mammoth gooseberry picking job and put 8 punnets out for sale,  and a couple of hours later they had sold so I picked another 6 punnets. Probably about 180 punnets still to pick!
Here they are on our stall at the gate

The remainder of the day has been spent watching the Athletics on TV and resting after our disturbed night.