Hello February - Let the Show begin !

A pleasant hour was spent rummaging through my seed box .....and now that it is all beautifully organised  it was an easy task to pull out the celery and leek seeds that I want to grow this year .

                                         Meet Nettlenog ...my gnome !

I settled on these and got straight to work ....knowing it wouldn't take long to do .

 The sun has been shining again today , lovely blue sky . Still I wrapped up warmly .

 We bought these bags of compost simply because they were good price at Trevena Cross Nursery Breage ....I think that leek seeds don't really mind what they are grown in and will germinate very easily in pretty much anything .

It is important though that the compost will retain moisture for the water loving celery seedlings .

Sown them as carefully and as thinly as I could manage ....( probably about about 3,000 in each cell ! )   Gave them a good drink . My lovely son in law adores Celery..I grow it especially for him .

Then plenty of Leeks ...because I use them in everything , a mixture of  varieties this year and they are all mixed up in this tray/flat .
 Oh !  It feels so good to be sowing my seeds and putting my hands into the good earth again .

I wind up the little radio and leave the sleeping seeds to wake up gently to nice Classical music .

 Back indoors ....and returning to my bed with a nice hot chocolate drink  and a pile of good books to read .

                                 I will always be a Bob Flowerdew girl  !

Goodbye January

 Hello dear friends , well I have had a dreadful time this week with flu....it's been a bit of a nightmare actually , with a bad reaction to some pills I was given to take ...  I,m still coughing....but thanks to a good Doctor  , I am still here !  :)
I wont be going to dance class this week or shopping with my good friend ...nor will I be going to spread the nasty flu virus around at church this Sunday . ....although I might just pop in to do the flowers . I think this will be the last week of flowers until Easter now  .
 Anyway I couldn't let the month slip away without mentioning my lovely leeks . Look how well they stand up to the cold and miserable weather .

 Of course  I always make the mistake of trying to pull one up by hand , only to have it snap apart . It's o.k I managed to save the best part of it !

                             It is always better to gently fork up leeks .

  They are a reasonable size......I,m not growing to enter into any show ...these are just perfect for us to eat .

 So I just smarten them up and hasten back into the warmth of my kitchen again .

 I recently came across one of these old Boot Scrapers and snapped it up ..another job to be done when the weather improves .

 Meanwhile the weather and the sea is wild and turning bitterly cold as we slip into February . February and March being our coldest months here .

 There are signs of Spring though if you care to look for them . Pretty raindrops falling from the Sticky buds on the Cornus controversa variegata ..."the Wedding Cake Tree " .

 One of my sweet daughters sent a Tesco crate full of healthy goodies to build me up again .  My other daughter sent  nourishing homemade leek and potato soup .... mmmmmm .... sweethearts both of my lovely girls !
 I have enough citrus fruits to make marmalade , lemon ,n,lime curd , Sticky Lemon Drizzle cake ..maybe ..as well as the obligatory honey and lemon drinks !

 My January Kitchen windowsill .From left to right I have a nice sized specimen of a Leuchtenbergia principis cactus . In the large vase is a Bromliad that finished flowering , it had a large yellow inflorescence ....which I have now removed as it finished . It is putting out shoots and will need re-potting very soon . next back pot is an unknown bulb that I found under a dead plant as I tipped it out to throw away . I re-potted the bulb and here it is coming up . Looks a bit like a Tulip..but maybe it could be a Lily of the Valley . Then all my Pelargonium cuttings the last ones that I did end of Autumn . Then all the Air plants that I still haven,t mounted on hanging wires ,so they are still sitting in the old Hyacinth vases ...and they too are putting out pups ( shoots )  . The air plants have a weekly warm bath ...by the way . So everybody is looking happy and healthy  :)

                                  Wild sea down at Poldhu this evening .
 There was one surfer in amongst the waves this evening  , the sea looked too strong for him we thought .

                                                  Goodbye January !

Stormy weather and Gete-okosomin seeds !

 Yes , we certainly had some severe gales the other night ...the kind that brings down trees ! We spent all day lopping , sawing , chopping up this one that fell down in front of our gate . We had no choice other than to get out there and  get on with it , or we wouldn't get the car out !

 Our backs were aching  , our arms were  hurting as we dragged massive branches up to the heap up in the meadow .

 We had two wheelbarrows on the go . Looking on the bright side we now have plenty of kindling wood .
 I went back to North African and Arabic Dance class the next evening ,which got me feeling much better balanced again . Great to be back ,the Penryn classes have finished over at the Zed Shed and and we're over at Ponsanooth now , a lovely village hall, beautiful floor to dance on and nice to meet all the Ponsanooth belly dancers there ...hope they like us , the Penryn tribe ! :)
 A gentleman came in halfway through asking if this was the Aikido class ....lol !  Did it look like we were doing an Aikido class ?  lol !  lol !  lol !  :)

 Anyway ......after a freezing cold night and we actually had a bit of frost for the first time this year ..I have been sorting out the Gete - okosomin seeds .

 There are lots of seeds , although  , not as many as I had thought there might be in such a giant Squash. This is the biggest one that I grew last year 2017 .
I also have a couple of smaller ones and hopefully there will be more seeds in these ...I want the seeds to go to good homes, I went to a lot  of trouble to  keep them pure , so that they will grow true for you this year .

 I squished and squashed out every last seed and gently washed away all the gooey-ness .
We roasted large chunks of that golden and  orange flesh in with our roast potatoes..and let me tell you ..it is delicious and sweet !   mmmm  !
  The seed have dried off and I have shared them out to three for each person that has asked me for them . I have quite a list !
This afternoon I will be posting them off and I wish all of you who receive them , all the very best of luck in growing them .
 Well it is lovely blue sky here in Mullion today and I,ve hung out all the washing. Next to take the dog for a walk .. have a nice afternoon all !