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You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t been posting muchrecently. There’s a reason for this as I’ve been tied up with other things, mainlyoutdoor activities revolving around our garden. After such a wet start to theyear, like many other gardeners, I’m behind with numerous activities, and withThursday’s weather finally turning bright and warm, I’ve spent the past fourdays playing catch up. Now there’s need to think I'm that much of a keen gardener,even though I’ve always enjoyed growing things, and spending time outdoors. I’venearly completed a rockery, which is my little gift to Mrs PBT’s, although on amore sombre note this area will also form the last resting place of her latebrother’s ashes. It’s ironic really, because it was her brother David who “gifted”us the majority of the large chunks of sandstone, that have lain half buried atthe bottom of the garden, these past 20 years or more. David, at the time,worked for a local builders merchants, and let’s just say these lumps of rockwere “surplus to requirements.” It’srather fitting that they should form part of a garden, created in his memory. Iappreciate this sounds a little morbid, but it’s not supposed to be, insteadit’s a nice way of remembering a much missed family member who lost his wife, 20 or moreyears ago, and who also left no children to follow in his footsteps.
One of the benefits of living in a 1930’s property, is the large garden. Land must have held less value, compared to bricks andmortar, 90 odd years ago, which means we’re blessed with plenty of space to dowith what we will. So, with two patio areas, a garden shed, greenhouse andsummerhouse, we’re in our own little rural idyll as soon as we step outside thebackdoor. That’s if you ignore the noise of the aircraft, as they fly overhead,on their flight-path towards Gatwick. I also like to grow a few vegetables, and whilst my littleenterprise is not a patch on the “Good Life,” being able to enjoy the fruits ofone’s labours with some homegrown vegetables, does take some beating. It’s hadwork, mind you, although all the digging, tilling, and sowing must go some waytowards keeping a person fit. If all goes according to plan, we should beenjoying tomatoes, sweet corn, runner beans and leeks. Two of those crops arewell underway, and thanks to the fine weather over the weekend, I was able toplant out the sweet corn seedlings I have been nurturing carefully over thepast couple of months.
The leek seedlings are still in their trays, but I have preparedan area of ground where I can transplant them individually, once they grow alittle bit larger. I'm lucky with tomatoes, as a work colleague normally growsa few plants for me, so I've got half a dozen coming on nicely in thegreenhouse, and over the next week or so I should be able to plant these out inlarge tubs, out on the patio. Finally, and somewhat belatedly, I sowed a dozenor so runner bean seeds, again into pots, but there should be sufficient timeto get them planted in the remaining free area of garden before we disappearfrom these shores on another Mediterranean cruise.
This time around we've booked a 16-night voyage on the QueenAnne, which is the latest addition to Cunard’s fleet of Queen ships. We won'tbe going quite as far afield as last time, which is a shame, as in somerespects it would be nice to visit a few more of the Greek islands, or possibly Croatia, but thisparticular cruise will see us visiting various locations in Spain, the Balearics,Sardinia, and Italy. The latter destination will see us docking at Civitavecchia,which is the nearest port to Rome, with the Eternal City an approximate90-minute coach journey inland. Our cruise will only be the Queen Anne’s third sailing followingher maiden voyage at the end of last month. Consequently, it's been a bitfrantic getting the garden tidy, and all these crops planted out, prior to usgoing away but once it's all done, we can disappear off to Southampton leavingson Matthew, who is minding the house whilst we are away, to give them theoccasional watering,during our absence. There’s a family wedding to lookforward to when we get back, which will see the youngest of Eileen’s two nieces,marrying her long-term partner.
The upshot of all this is, I haven't been in any pubs for acouple of weeks, and whilst I know some may chastise me for not doing my bit tosave pubs, my answer is pubs can look after themselves for a while. My fewpints isn't going to make that much difference anyway, although that's not tosay couldn't murder a pint right now, but needs must and all that. I'm pleased to report though, that if all goes according to plan, I'm banking on squeezing in a Pub Friday trip at the end of the week, although I shall keep the destinationto myself for the time being. That’s all then, for the time being, from arather damp, but not overly chilly, West Kent. Follow Blog via EmailClick to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.


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