Lockdown v3: Day 62

I am officially deciding that this is the last day of daily lockdown blogging. It’s been interesting (and challenging) blogging my mundane lockdown life. Some days I feel like nothing has been accomplished but actually, I’ve done quite well.

Today:

Allotment! David has started laying the slabs for the shed base but we’ve worked out that I need about another £70 of sand. We also had to take up the membrane that I’d so carefully put down as there is a change in slope of about 7 inches from one side to the other, which would’ve used up more sand. So we’ve piled dirt underneath the membrane and raked it out to try and raise the ground level a bit. Still need more sand though.

David has come up with another idea for the shed base but it is going to cost about £80 in timber, maybe more. Either way, I am going to be spending a lot of money on the shed base. And I haven’t even priced up a shed yet.

I have finished my first sock for me. I am not sure if I like it but I am sure that I have lost my crojo, and therefore the second sock is not going to be made anytime soon.

Still waiting for daffs in the garden to open.

I went full flamingo today. Socks, t shirt, under jumper, over jumper, handbag, water bottle, shoes.

Exercise: allotment

Dinner: stir fry

Lockdown v3: Day 61

Allotment again today. Momma P and I have marked out where the shed, water butts, & polytunnel are going, laid out the weed membrane, and then carried the polytunnel frame up from Plot 31. It is now fixed in place with all the pegs and legs, and the cover is on. We also built two raised beds in it – I wanted raised beds in my polytunnel but it didn’t quite happen last year. Yes I know they’re wonky, no I don’t really care. The carrots won’t mind when they’re growing.

My old plot has been re-let already. I hope they're not expecting it to come with raised beds, garlic, almond tree, flower bulbs, compost bins...

Sock is progressing well, I have nearly finished the first one. I have decided to use all of the ball of orange and see how tall I can make the ankle before doing the cuff.

The tulip basket out the front is coming into bud.

I saw Ms Fluffkins today. She has most definitely not forgiven me for moving out.

Ran a bath today and got in it, had to get out again as it was far too hot. Had to lie on the bed for half an hour while my pulse calmed down and the water cooled.

Exercise: allotment

Dinner: pizza

Lockdown v3: Day 60

How have we made it this far? When will it ever end? I have decided to finished daily lockdown blogging on Sunday as Monday 8^th is when things start to open up again. So only two days left. Perhaps.

Today in the garden:

·       29 radish seedlings

·       4 lettuce seedlings

·       2 mustard red frills seedlings

·       4 spring onion seedlings

·       Lots of small daffs under the acer tree are starting to open

·       Big daffs still not fully open

·       Loads of iris and hyacinth out

·       White muscari that I couldn’t be bothered to separate and just planted them as a clump instead are starting to form their flower buds

Today, Momma P and I have spent a few hours at the allotment. Digger man came today and he has dug all of plot 16 over and levelled it, ripped out some plum trees that I was in the process of cutting down, and he moved some topsoil that wasn’t mine. It is SO GOOD. It has saved us a good hard slog of labour. Man wot can is the way forward. He also gave me £30 back when I paid him.

So today on the plot:

·       Took the arch down & moved it

·       Cover and supports off the polytunnel

·       Started dismantling the raised beds

·       Got v angry at another plot holder because he took it upon himself to use the slabs that D and I moved yesterday to start making a path. I swore a lot but I think he got the message

·       About 20 barrow loads of bricks moved, and still more to go

·       Found three red ants nests under three bricks but they were so docile I got really close to take photos

·       I have walked 3.8miles

Tomorrow we will be moving and rebuilding the polytunnel so that we can empty Mommas as it is currently full of all of my stuff.

Sock progress is good, I have made most of the first foot now. The yarn is very fine and slippy, I keep mis-stitching. When I make the stripy pair I will go down a hook size.

Exercise today: allotment

Dinner today: beige freezer dinner – fish cakes, hash browns, beans, dollop of sauce.

I chopped some of the flower stems in the vase today so some are shorter but it has made the bunch look more full. Much more fullerer.

Allotment chic

Man wot can! And did!

I am good at pointing

Lockdown v3: Day 59

A busy hard day today. David and I have been shifting paving slabs to the new allotment from varying parts of South Birmingham – I have been begging & acquiring! We/I now have 25 slabs, which will hopefully be enough for the shed base. Maybe not enough for the water butts too, but the priority is the shed base. We left at 9am and got home at 4:30pm.

Digger man is coming tomorrow to dig the new plot over and level it all off. It is very tussocky and hummocky and has a ditch down the middle and quite frankly I can't be arsed to dig it all by hand. I have done my fair share of setting up new allotments or dismantling them in the last 18 months! 

My hard case on my phone bit the dust today – phone slipped out of my butt jeans pocket and shattered the front cover. Utterly shattered. I mean, it was already cracked and held together with sellotape, but yeah. Shattered.

Tonight I have worked up a quick soft phone sock just to give it a bit of padding when it’s in my pocket until the new hard case arrives. I am good at breaking stuff so it’s only a matter of time before I shatter the phone too.

Sock progress – toe and foot made of the first sock, now time to increase for the gusset. I am making them one at a time. Think I should've used a smaller hook to get tighter stitches but hey ho.

Exercise: slabs & sack truck. FAB resistance/weight training technique, maybe I'll market it.

Dinner: sketti and meatballs with leftover sauce

Lunch: sausage & egg sammich with a hot choca. Awwwwwwwwww yis.

Lockdown v3: Day 58

Work / home.

Been a busy one today, I haven’t stopped. I had a working lunch which is something I NEVER do, but I had back to back meetings so put myself on mute and scoffed a crisp sandwich. I’ve printed over 400 pieces of paper today, half of which were double sided. Emptied 4 ink cartridges. I had planned to use my lunchbreak to pot on the aubergine seedlings and cut down the roses, but it didn't happen.

I have found a source of free paving slabs which will help greatly towards the New Shed Project on Plot 16, so tomorrow we are moving slabs. Bigguns, they am. But it could be saving me about £100 so that’s allllllllllllll good.

Hibiscus twig is growing well.

Took a photo of the fox and flowers with natural light today and it looks a lot better.

Sorted out a load of big pots ready for digging everything up on the allotment this week.

New fat ball feeder arrived so it is now full of cat her from Her Maj the Floof™, ready for the birds to take as nesting material.

I am going to start making myself a pair of socks tonight, purple and orange. The crochet rug is on the naughty step as I don’t really like it and I’ve run out of yellow but I am trying to use up my stash so I am not buying more. She says.

Exercise today: my brain has done a lot of exercise today. A LOT. I did 20min cycling, 50s plank, hip stretches, but not all of them. Too busy/stressed to do it all.

Dinner: sketti and meatballs with homemade sauce.

I finished work at 4pm, went straight on the bike, then did my leg exercises, did the bins, cleaned the toilet, moved the car so David could park more easily, sorted the recycling, put the bins out, sorted the laundry, did the washing up, then started dinner. All by 5pm. I don’t tend to stop thinking about life until 7:30 or 8pm. Any wonder I’m so stressed / anxious / mentally exhausted.

Anyhoo, slab moving tomorrow. The first day of an 11 day run of being fucking knackered every day. Wahoo!