Tennis and tomatoes

Usually Wimbledon tennis is on at the same time as gooseberry picking or haymaking but with the first of those almost finished and the second waiting for more settled weather I seem to have more time to watch than I've had for years. Which is a treat that I'm finding  difficult to get used to. I keep thinking I ought to be outside doing something. Although knitting dishcloths is useful I suppose.

We had some showers overnight  and some heavier thundery downpours this evening but most of the day has been cloudy which was ideal weather for getting into the poly tunnel for weeding (me) and tying up tomatoes (him). Later another good lot of raspberries were picked and we even have enough tomatoes to put a couple of punnets of small plum shape ones out for sale.  I had a look on the supermarket comparison site to see how much toms were selling for this year. Did you know that Mr Ts supermarket has 15 different ways to buy fresh tomatoes!  Although I bet if I went into our local shop there would only be three or four, which is probably enough I guess.

C decided to put some floor paint on the concrete shed floor rather than PVC so I wasn't able to move in today after all. Tomorrow hopefully. 

I was looking through a folder of Suffolk Smallholders Society pages that I wrote for the newsletter for several years and I came across this poem that I wrote in  1995 as an entry for a competition. It was just a few years after we moved here. The poem won the competition which was sponsored by a local Building Society. I think I won £40 which was handy for us as new smallholders.

Recipe for a Successful Smallholding

Take a 1 x 5acre smallholding

Untidy and overgrown.

The buildings sad and sorry

The weeds and grass un-mown.

Add a 1 x 5 people family

1 small, 2 medium, 2 big,

3 cats, 3 goats, 5 sheep,

Some chickens and a pig.

Mix then all together,

Add sunshine, snow and rain.

Many hours of backache,

Some sweat and tears and pain.

You'll need some extra money,

Some patience, love and trust.

A pinch of caring and

a sense of humour is a must.

Allow to rise early in summer,

But not so soon when it's cold.

You'll need to add new skills,

Some friends, new ideas - be bold!

Allow three years to settle,

Take time to stand and stare,

Enjoy yourself each moment.

Then you've made it, You are There!

Bloglovin' has finally let me see who the new followers are so welcome to Rosemary, Julia, Kate and Liz, hope you enjoy reading about our quiet life here.

Back Tomorrow - perhaps something exciting will happen!
Sue