The garden' s growing

It seems to have been all go since we returned from Orkney, and I'm playing 'catch-up' with the blog, so I'll try to do a quick round-up now.

The garden is really benefitting from the recent rain and sun, and the veggies have  grown on well.

This first bed has potatoes, with chives (flowering) and thyme.

Next are peas climbing, courgettes at the front, and under the netting are carrots just beginning to germinate.

The runner beans are twining their way up the trellis.

This little box has more carrots, sown earlier, and two rogue potato plants - we'll let them grow and see if they produce any spuds.

The salad bed - the spinach has been cropped twice since this photo, and we've also had lots of lettuce and rocket leaves for salads.

In the greenhouse are cucumbers (we have one ready for eating), and tomatoes.  We also bought some cherry tomatoes at the weekend, now dotted around the garden, but decided against pepper plants.  Several of the nurseries have had problems with their pepper seedings, and the only plants available have been quite small.  We're not always very successful with peppers, so we will give them a miss this year.

N's hard work in the garden is certainly paying off - it's always so satisfying to see healthy plants growing well.  Fingers crossed for a good crop.  Whilst  it may not be the biggest garden allotment, it always amazes me just how much we manage to produce, and knowing how it has been grown, together with a far superior taste than shop-bought, it's more than worth the effort.

I'm still plodding on with the gloss painting in the hallway.  I'm afraid it's become a bit of a chore - it's a quick-dry paint so seems to get tacky almost as soon as it is applied - but having got halfway, I can't really abandon it now.  I just have to set myself the task of painting a bit every day, and simply get on with it.

We're having a bit of a move-around in the spare room, and I need to get to grips with my fabric stash, once and for all.  My fabric is actually all folded and sorted neatly into plastic drawers, but whenever I start a new project, I never know which  fabric has been washed, so it all ends up being washed again, regardless.  the sensible thing, of course, it to only store pre-washed fabric, so this is what I'm doping now, again a little at a time.  

Here's the first batch of fat quarters and larger scraps all neatly hanging on the fold-out clothes drier, which I have found is ideal for the task.  I have a big sewing project which I need to get started on as soon as possible, but now I have begun with the pre-washing of fabric, I need to finish that, too.  

Also just to mention I phoned the car insurance company and have got a reduction of £15 on what was already the most competitive quote I could find, so I'm pleased with that result.