Nothing much happened, lottie wise, on the weekend of the 25/26th Jan. I just dropped another trailer of poo on the long border. I was able to have a hour off work during the week to pop over to the timber merchant for some gravel boards. They are part of the continuing job of edging the plot. The weather has been too wet or freezing cold to be able to fit the boards.
Heading up to the Society's AGM is no time to come down with a cold. It kicked in with avengence on Tuesday night. Staff problems at work meant I could not stay off to be poorly in peace. Friday evening was the AGM. Only a third of the plot holders turned up which was very disappointing especially as I was so ill but still made it. I am still the Secretary but we do have a new Chairman and a new Treasurer. I stayed on after the meeting for a little medicinal Guinness. Its good for you, say the old adverts. A couple of pints and a walk home in the in the breezy weather lifted my spirit if not my cold.
We woke up a Saturday to a thin blanket of snow. It is funny the light you get when it has been snowing. I wish I had been feeling better. I had an appointment with the poo trailer at 9am. It was pleasant ride out through the snow covered fields. The long border is "poo'd out. I am on with the community area now. About three trailer fulls should see that right. The weather might dry up enough to let me get back on my plot for spring preparation, essentially more digging. Trailering muck was all I could manage at the lottie. Went I got home Hazel decided that instead of being ill around the house we would go out for my continuing course of lessons in pottering. Apparently people go to town and garden centres and wander about "getting ideas" and picking up the papers. This has is a alien concept to me. In my world if you do not have something, you find out where it can be bought, you go there, buy it and come back. Hazel is trying the teach me "another way". As a stage in my rehabilitaion we went to see the Potatomen of Newhall. I wanted to see if the seed potatos had come in yet but also to buy some potting compost. Following on the from the Potatomen we were to go to Ashby for "the papers" and a look round. Gentley does it. It was with a happy heart that I stepped into the Potatomen shop. As I drove up there were cars were parked up in front of the shop. Double yellow lines mean that parking is only for the collection of heavy things. I spotted Gentlemen of a certain age staggering across the pavement with heavy lumpy sack. It could mean only one thing - the seed spuds are in.
The shop was busy with flat capped and anoraked Gentlemen bustling round with their orders. I had an advantage. I had H with me. It aways gets them going having a lady in their midst. H was offerred the chair by the fire whilst the chaps had their orders totted up admidst more bustling and banter broken by an occasional guffaw. No cheques here, all cash as near as damn it to the calculated bill. Change is almost a foreign concept. Goods are bought up to a round number or forfeit of the change on either side depending on an unspoken understanding of the swings and roundabout of their trading history. Each party understanding what is fair. I took my turn. In the true English fashion everyone knows their place and everyone else's place, in the queue even if the queue is not formal, one knows who is next. I took my place, enquired after yer man's health as the order was collated. The runner was sent for the potato order which was already bagged up and labelled whilst the boss weighed out the onion sets, red into one paper bag, white into another. Shallots were counted and bagged. I wanted some compost, after all that is what I had come for, the seed potatos were a bonus. The trouble was that I did not have enough cash for both. I had decided to take the spuds and sets. In the time honoured tradition they asked me what I really wanted. They too knew the seed spuds were a bonus seeing as how they were in really early this year. I rounded the bill up with seed trays. I declined their offer to take the goods and pay later but they insisted, in fact the runner already had been despatched to put the compost and seed spuds in my car. The bill was part paid and the outstanding sum agreed. On driving back to Ashby and no distance from Newhall I spotted a cash machine. We raided the machine and went back to the potatomen to settle the outstanding debt. Honours served all round.
H does not mind coming with me to the potatomen. Their shop always smells earthy. Not surprising since it filled to the rafters with bags of compost, sand and assorted gardening chemicals both organic and inorganic. It is like the shops we knew as young kids growing up in inner city Manchester and Salford. Un-heated, fit for purpose and unadorned with styling or frippery.
Back in the 21st century wandering down Market Street, Ashby H takes me into the paper shop to collect a paper. I am glad I gave up my paper round. There must have been a choir of paper in the single publication. This is not news to me [no pun intended] but I was surprised at just now many paper of this size were being bought. Whilst strolling back up Market Street I saw Woolies had the stand outside the shop selling bare root plants at "half price NOW!". £3.99 buys you a Black Hamburg Grape Vine. The same thing from a garden centre is £14. So for me it is almost four for the price of one. So I bagged two Hamburgs and two white grape call Aurora. I need four more for my mini vine yard so I will keep an eye on the Woolies bargain bin.
I had to go to a shin dig on Saturday night which went very well. It left me and H a bit jaded on Sunday morning. A little later in the day in made up some of the trays with the compost and planted the first batch of Pea - Feltham First. Five trays at sixteen per tray. I also looked out some big pots and potted up the vines. The roots all showed signs of growing. I will leave them in the greenhouse to give a sheltered start although they are outdoor varieties. It will also give me time to finish the border path which will include the planting stations for the vines. All the seeds I planted last month have germinated in the greenhouse so the year is really underway.
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