No digging

Saturday was going to be a busy day. First I had to run out to Newall to see the potato men to collect this year's seed potatoes. I got my usual Cara and Duke of York. This year's "new" variety is Anya. The look of the Ayna spuds was not what I was expecting. The Potato men were really busy with a queue of blokes eager for their order. I also picked up a bag of the reclaimed compost at the same time. Then it was straight on to Shrewsbury to see the Mother in Law. We went for lunch at the Bridgewater Arms, then a cheeky half at The Railway Inn at Yorton and then a walk round Wem and a "cup of tea!" in The Fox. So all in all not a bad day out.

Sunday was supposed to be a digging day at the lottie. The overnight rain and the continuing rain through the morning put paid to that idea. I decided to have boiled egg and toast soldiers. Instead I went into the greenhouse and filled up loads of seed trays with compost and sowed a selection of seeds; Igloo Cauliflower, Greyhound Cabbage, Dreadnought Broad Beans, Bedford Champion Onions, Winter Giant Leek, Parsley, Sage, Strawberry Sticks (whatever they are), Brussel Sprouts, Spinach, Celeriac, Good King Henry, Basil, Calabrese. I even sowed some flower seeds, Convoulus, Red Hot Poker, Carnation & Marigold. I organised the hose so could water the plants easily. The rain eased off and the sun came but the lottie would be soaked. So I looked out another job.

One of my bee colonies died out over the winter. Three frames had bees head first in the comb. I tapped the frame on one of the posts in the garden which dislodged a lot of the bodies. Those that were not dislodged I picked out with tweezers. It was a right bind so I sat in the garden, in the sun with a frame braced between my knees picking out bees one at a time. You should know there are 2000 cells on each side of a National frame. I spent an hour or so picking away. I damaged some cells but not many. Drawn cells on brood frames are too precious to throw a way so it was worth the effort. I just have to sterilise the frame and comb before reusing the frames.

It won't have escaped your notice that the template of the blog has changed. The new format is easier for updating the lists. I spent an hour on the blog, firstly to see what I could change it too and how easy it was. I saved the code for the old blog then changed the template to the new one. Then I just had to edit the side bar lists. It was Mother's Day so I rang my Mum then made dinner for H. No digging today but I got a lot of other jobs done. The seeds can look after themselves for a few weeks and then I will have loads to plant out and lottie will suddenly look full.