Monday

Couldn't wake up this morning after another sleepless night.It is getting to be a regular thing now,and I don't know why I bother going to bed.Another forum I peruse,it seems that there are loads of us having the same problem,though at the moment I just lie there trying to nod off instead of getting up.I always think if I start getting up then I will wake Stuart and then there will be the two of us staring into the darkness.I shall be ok once the light morning come back round...

Had a nice breakfast of porridge with grapes on the top instead of sugar{good girl} and a nice hot mug of Earl Grey to kick start the morning...

When Stuart went outside to start the car up it was quiet frozen so he had to defrost it before he could set off.I waved him off from the comfort of the lounge.I reckon the neighbours must think I am a bit crackers standing at the window waving him off like a small child would wave goodbye to her daddy as he sets off for the days work....

Managed to get two lots of washing done and hung outside and also a load of ironing done, and put in the airing cupboard.All my friends think I am mad being tied to the Iron and never ever iron anything but I can't bear to wear clothes that have not been ironed or aired... Had beans on toast for lunch which went down quite well.Decide on the spur of the moment to pack the car up with all the bags and buckets of guneia pig waste and vegetable peelings and to head over to the allotment.It takes me about 20 minutes to drive over there depending on the amount of traffic there is on the road..

I off loaded the bags and the buckets and then went and parked my car outside the Allotments.Some of the lazy ones down there drive right up to their plots and then leave the cars parked on the track so anyone trying to walk past with a wheel barrow find it almost impossible to get past.Serves them right if they get their cars scratched....

Popped across to have a quick chat with my friend Chris who was down there before getting the rotavator out of the shed.I filled it up with fuel and then pushed it down to the piece of ground that I wanted to work on.It fired up on the first pull of the cord so I was quiet pleased that I could start straight away.I soon got the first large piece of ground turned over again.I am trying to turn it every couple of weeks or so so that it keeps it looking good and it doesn't pan down if we have lots of wind and rain.It is exciting times as the allotmenteering season is just around the corner and it will be nice to get the first crops into the ground.

I decided to move the remains of my last bonfire that hadn't completely burnt out so that I could plough up the ground that had been underneath it.It took a little time setting up the new one but once the apple branches and dried weeds were in place,I set it alight with my small weed burner.Much easier than trying to strike matches especially in the windy weather we have been having.The fire soon took off so I was able to start plouging the next piece of ground.I took some photos of the flames which were leaping through the wood and weeds.I do like a good bonfire,it so reminds me of the bonfires we used to have on November 5th each year.I think that is where my liking for them comes from though I don't like the smell of the smoke on my gardening clothes...Yuk.

After I had done my ploughing,or should say rotavating I decided that I had had enough for the day so decided to pack up and put the equipment back into the shed.When I got down to my car I looked at the time and it was 3.45pm.I had been over at the allotment for nearly four hours.No wonder I was feeling shattered.I was so glad to get home but realised as I pulled into the drive that I still had two lines of washing on the lines.I quickly un pegged it all and got it into the basket and the basket of pegs put away..Phew..

Indoors I could smell my dinner in the slow cooker.I was too hungry to have my shower first so quickly dished up a nice plateful.I had made the dumplings before I went out and because I hadn't turned the slow cooker up to high,the dumplings had cooked nicely.Once I had eaten and then checked my emails I went upstairs and had a nice long shower.So refreshing after all the hard work of the afternoon...