Diary > Monday 15th March

[Roobarb]

It was a sunny day and I decided to go to my favourite beach, I haven't been there for ages, low tide was late morning. It was lovely to walk along the sand, skirting around some shallow pools left by the tide. There were people walking along, more than there used to be in pre pandemic times but still huge amounts of space between them. They pretty much petered out the further along I got.
Came back from the beach by a slightly different route, my friend had advised me to give the car a bit of a run sometimes so I returned along a road where I could take it above 30mph.

After lunch I went out to prune a shrub in the front garden. I initially planted it as a cutting from one in the back garden, last summer it just exploded with flowers and was quite big. I always thought it was a fuchsia but when I looked for pruning info I found that it's actually a Phygelius. They're known (confusingly) as a Cape Fuchsia despite being a different family. The advice was to give it a hard prune in spring so that's what I did. Found lots of bits of litter in amongst it as well as grass. It looked quite bare so I put a pot of daffodils on the soil in the gap it left, they're just about to come into flower. My neighbours will wonder what's happened! It was really chilly out there although the back garden was warm in the sunshine. My garden waste bin is now full again.

Spent a while trying to correct the problem with my printer, to no avail. Had a long chat with my friend in Devon in the evening, always good to talk to her. Still haven't watched the Pottery Throwdown final, perhaps tomorrow.

It's a long time since we heard from RTL and even longer from PharmaT, I do hope they're both okay and perhaps enjoying other parts of Rootschat. Maybe doing some family history! 

[Ruskie]

Definitely a good idea to take your car for a run Roobarb. It must have done you a lot of good to take a walk on the beach, especially since it wasn’t too crowded. I’m always a bit reluctant to hard prune any shrubs or trees, but it really does benefit them despite looking a bit bare for a while. We have always had no end of problem with printers - in fact one or two have ended up being tossed out - literally. 

My Monday was a bit cooler and quite grey and drizzly. Most welcome.

Fiddled around cleaning up the jars of lime marmalade I spent much of Sunday making. There were a few sticky bits still evident despite being wiped down several times already. Ate some of the marmalade for breakfast - not a bad brew, but now I have nine jars to use or try to get rid of.  that is the trouble with having a glut of a certain fruit or veg. Popped to Aldi briefly, and as usual, after I got home, I thought of a few things I should have bought while I was there. Typical.

Started watching a new series - a four parter - Apple Tree Yard. We were quite gripped by it so I’m afraid we finished off the last episode later that evening. Very good but pretty grim. Recommended.

Creamy tarragon chicken, mashed sweet potato and sugar snap peas for dinner. It was quite OK considering it was made up from ingredients found in the fridge that needed to be used up.

There is much talk about blood clots as a side effect of the AZ covid injection, and several countries halting the vaccination programme till this has been investigated. I suspect there probably won’t be a connection, but it makes me wonder what would happen if a serious side effect was identified. Would they continue vaccinating?

[Caw1]

How lovely to get out and walk along the beach Roobarb.... good to give yourself and your car an outing! Printers can be a proper pain ... they are so cheap these days that often the ink cartridges are as expensive! Crazy...
Lucky to be able to get out in the garden.... sounds like a nice day weather wise..

Ruskie- I like the sound of your lime marmalade do you add anything else to it? I’ve made apple and damson, damson and walnut... lemon curd and greengage jam... don’t eat much though so give it away!

Not sure what the answer to your vaccination query would be... think this supposed blood clot scare is the European countries playing political games as much as anything.. if you look at the numbers something like 30 people out of 17 million... question is what underlying medical problems did those people have... apparently more people suffer with blood clots regardless of vaccinations.... so think it’s all scaremongering to be honest. Europeans don’t take up vaccinations like we do (British) they have a lot of hesitancy ... certainly would t be keen on visiting any countries when they’re now suffering further surges! 

Well yesterday (Monday) was supposed to be a better day... but no still sunshine and showers... it had rained overnight too so our plans to go out in the garden went out the window...
Another uninteresting day did some cleaning, reading, cooking, scrabble and that’s about it for the day....
Spoke to some friends who live in Somerset ... it seems most people are now really fed up...
Had a chat with my friend J she’s still in quite a bit of pain but starting to eat more now and went for a short walk to the church and back... must try and get over to see her outside when weather improves a bit... normally would pop over and help where I can so feel quite frustrated and annoyed can’t do that...

I too have wondered about RTL and certainly PharmaT not heard from her in a long time... hope all is well.

Caroline

[Roobarb]

You've been very industrious with your marmalade making Ruskie. I'm not very well up on this but don't jams and marmalades keep for lengthy periods? Or perhaps you'd just be sick of it by the ninth jar. 
I remember Apple Tree Yard being on TV here a few years ago, I missed it but as it was so well received I downloaded the book when it came up on special offer. Unfortunately I gave up on it, couldn't get into it. One of my friends who had seen the TV series said it's definitely one of those things that comes across better on screen. I'd watch it if it came up again.

What a shame about your weather Caroline, hope it's better today. I agree with you about the vaccination, the numbers are actually lower than usual, just scaremongering as you say. Good to hear that your friend is improving, hope the pain does soon too.

[louisa maud]

RTL   was online earlier , still looking for
Pheno yesterday

Louisa Maud

[Roobarb]

Pleased to hear RTL has been around, thanks LM.

[Ruskie]

Caroline, the only ingredients are limes and sugar. It was so tart that for about 1 kilo of limes I had to add over 2kg of sugar. Not exactly a health food. 

I thought jams would keep for a long time but when doing my research one site I visited said that marmalade only kept for six months. I don't think that sounds right though.

I heard the same as you about the rate of blood clots in the general population Caroline. A lot of countries have now jumped on the bandwagon and halted administering the vaccine. All these little setbacks put doubts in people's minds, and I suppose any side effect is a worry, though nothing is without risk, and that includes not having the vaccination. 

If you get the chance to watch Apple Tree Yard Roobarb, I recommend it, though is quite graphic in parts. I can imagine that the story would be better on screen. The acting was very good.

I was thinking about Pharma recently too - wondering if she was OK. I think Viktoria mentioned a while ago that she had PMed her but got no reply.

[louisa maud]

0h stupid  me, I  put  the  wrong  name, it  was  Pharma  you  were  looking for, think  I  ought  to  have  a  lay down, second  mistake  this  morning

LM

[Viktoria]

Yes ,I have sent quite a few P.Ms to Pharma, but no response .
I worry about her, responsible job and a hard one too plus home schooling I think.I will  try again, she has great knowledge .

R.T,L is alright, as usual very busy so will be on fairly soon  I think and hope.

Well the parcel I sent  which had belated presents in is recorded as having arrived on Monday 8 thMarch but no sign of it at my daughter’s nor a note through the door to say it had been delivered however there is another house some short distance away with a very similar name ,often post gets mixed up but whilst my daughter always takes the wrongly delivered post she gets to the other people ,they never do nor do they thank her for taking to them what has wrongly got to her.
People!
My son posted it for me at the PO but it seemingly is insured for £15 but there is over £100 value in it, desk diaries,defrosting trays ,books and FH’s
talking dog to interest him in reading aloud, it will record him and play back  as if the dog is reading ,takes the stress out of reading for a fed up four year old .
Hopefully it is at the wrong ,similar address .
Well some hand sewing done, new medicine arrived but in quarantine , and as it is sunny a quick tidy,( doesn’t need much ) in the front garden border.
I ought to empty the three big square planters and put  fresh soil in but the three little conifers in them are doing well,a yellowy green and have a lovely lemon scent when you touch them .
I put seeds in, nasturtiums do well and trail down and creep across the garden spectacularly also trailing lobelia plugs .
The Aquilegia always come through,lavender ,fuchsias, I put gladioli in later and fill bare spots with whatever .
Very easy to maintain.
I pruned back the purple tinted Hebes in  September  as advised on the label as they soon get leggy.
Well no real news folks ,hope you are all well .
Cheerio.Viktoria.


Ly