Another store in our home town is closing down – a victim of changing shopping habits, sky high commercial rents and pressures on disposable incomes. It’s the only DIY/hardware store for miles around, and looks set to be replaced by yet another low end food store…
We truly are very lucky to live where we do – this walk through the woods and across the fields starts right outside our door. On a beautiful spring day, there’s no excuse for not getting out and enjoying it…
Our county town is Stafford. It doesn’t have many claims to fame – a castle (ruined), a wetland area, and a town centre jail. Like many medium sized towns in the UK, the town centre has been decimated by the trend towards out of town shopping centres. But there is this rather attractive park that runs right through it…
A very tasty pasta, salmon and broccoli bake for supper tonight, thanks to my better half. Custom suggests white wine with fish dishes, but other than for a lunchtime aperitif on a sunny day, I much prefer red, so red it was… What’s your preference?
After a lack of interest over the last couple of years, I think I may have found my gardening mojo again… I’m certainly no expert, but it’s very satisfying to see stuff growing from seed in the greenhouse and garden. We have geraniums, sunflowers, dahlias, sweet peas, gazanias and nasturtiums all on the way, while vegetables include onions, courgettes, beans, carrots, and then salad leaves, cucumbers and tomatoes… Watch this space!
Our garage storeroom (aka my ‘man cave’) has become a dumping ground lately, so with the weather a bit on the chilly side for gardening, it’s been a day of tidying up… Lots more to do, but at least my screws, nails and bits and pieces are all under control!
I thought the hot chocolate I made for our overnight (small) visitor was pretty impressive, until she reminded me that she couldn’t have marshmallows as she is vegetarian and they contain pork gelatine. Doh! – back to square one…
… in the garden. Some brighter weather this week has encouraged me out into the garden. So much to do at this time of year – the lawns now need mowing once a week, the terrace needs pressure washing, shrubs and plants need cutting back, and some scruffier specimens need attention. We planted these lavenders today to replace last year’s plants that didn’t look good at all. Still more work to do though!
We had friends here today for a leisurely lunch, so I decided to make bread to accompany the meal. These aren’t the neatest bread rolls, but they tasted pretty good, even though I say it myself. 
We are not expert gardeners by any means, but as well as growing a few summer flowers 💐 we try to grow some vegetables as well. One crop that does well in our garden is onions, so we always plant a few. Experience has taught me that planting them directly outside will see us lose quite a few to birds as they come through, so nowadays I start them in the greenhouse and plant them out when they are a decent size. These will be planted out in another week or so, and will hopefully survive and flourish…
One Day At A Time... 