Finally A Long Day At Lottington

An Early Start

Come 8:30 this morning we were already on our way to lotty. Having been promising ourselves a BBQ there for a while, today was the day. Nothing else doing except a whole lot of lotty. The first job on Johns list was to clear out the hut which had started to become a bit cluttered. I took the Blur off to the shop to pick up a few essentials (chocolate, tea bags and milk.) I decided whilst John was busy with his clearing out of the hut, I would have a go at rearranging greenhouse 2 and giving greenhouse one a bit of a tidy and a weed. Cleaning and mowing out of the way it was time to light the fire. The brambles and weeds cut down went onto the fire pile and John got it going very quickly with a box of rubbish and a bit of petrol. Once again we were off to the shop for more supplies and goodies to go on the fire. As soon as we arrived back at lotty John started wrapping the food in foil while I set about cleaning the plates and cutlery. The Blur was already spread out on the picnic blanket and looking forward to her burger.Given the heat on the fire it wasnt long before the burgers and potatoes (slightly boiled, and then wrapped in foil with chopped up shallots and a little bit of oil) were ready.

Mmmmmmmm having worked hard all morning we deserved ever bite of our burgers and potatoes. Having never made them myself before I was a bit dubious as to whether bananas and chocolate in foil in the fire would work. Im pleased to say that they were the best ending to a great meal.

And The Work Goes On

Once the cups and plates were washed and put away it was back to work. We started by pulling big nets over the greenhouses to stop them from getting too hot. John and the Blur weeded around the top beetroot and sweetcorn, while I planted out the last two runner beans and a vegetable spaghetti. The three other outside veggie spaghetti's had to bee pulled up as they couldnt compete with the flies and fly spray.

Having picked a spot in the newly arranged shed for more mushrooms I got to work. This time the mushroom seeds are mixed with manure, which should give them a better chance. We now have mushrooms planted in greenhouse 1 and the hut, just one more location to go. I have written on both the boxes so as to know when the 25-30 are up as we were never quite sure of how long it had been with the last lot. Taking a look at Philip pumpkin this morning we noticed that it does in fact have a few tiny pumpkins appearing. Philip has gotten so huge since being planted out, yesterday I had to put a barrier between him and sickly tomato so that it didnt just overrun the rest of the patch. We got so many things done today its hard remembering them all, so I hope I havnt missed out too much or anything important.

A Few Good Things

Not that the rest wasnt good, but a few things to remember the day by. Firstly, I was stood looking at the sweetcorn and saw a bee sitting on the maizey bit at the top. It wasnt worried about me being there so I watch it for a bit, being joined by John. Probably put better than im writing it now John said 'you can go all round the world and see lots of different things, but simply watching a bee can be as much pleasure.'

Secondly, after going to one of Johns aerobics classes once and getting stuck on a particular move, that being the pony, John and the Blur were practicing it and I was meant to join in. Well I still couldnt do it, but it led to us all having a bit of a dance around lotty.

They're simple little things which may sound a bit funny to anybody else, but for me they were two lovely moments of the day with my two special people. Its been a while since we spent so long at lotty in one day, so it's been amazing to get back to it. We all smell a bit smokey, and we're all a bit dirty and tired, but I wouldnt have wanted to spend the day any other way.

Thank you John and Blur Blur, you made it a fantastic day.