Ok first of all girls it was for a fender bender. I slowly bumped into a rather elderly gentleman in front of me and he called the b****y state police on me. A fun day in court some scary people . I paid a fine no prison time .Then we went to a diner and had a delicious breakfast.

Helen congrats on a year of maintenance you really are inspiring. I found the recipe on your blog. What is 180 on the oven?

Got my line up? You're funny this morning

Got my pap and mammogram set for next month. Peacock maybe you should go for a check up . 4 weeks is a long time.

Nice day here maybe I'll have a walk.

Well.... I've got my plan done - lovely INTERESTING veggies for all year round .... after all this planning I hope I'm not going to be too disappointed when I don't get the allotment.

Chris - have a great afternoon at Curves - its sounds much more fun that my job.

There's no way I'd let the dogs anywhere near the allotment. We used to take George with us when we tended our old one (he was an only dog at the time) and he was a monster dog for the soft fruit. He used to slink quietly through the rows of raspberries, strawberries and blackcurrants and find the biggest, sweetest ones then open his mouth, put it right over the fruit, close his mouth and suck and the fruit would pop right off the plant in to his mouth, leaving the centre core bit on the plant. We couldn't figure out what was going on until DH noticed that George always had 'tummy problems' the day after a long allotment visit. I thought that he'd have forgotten how to do it but last year we grew raspberries against the back garden wall and strawberries in tubs and we found him teaching Fred the art of successful fruit pilfering as well! They are also very partial to most kinds of raw veg but it makes them a little.... windy.

What naughty little doggies

Sarah Target is a store that has everything, I go there for all of my house stuff because it's fairly inexpensive, so I buy detergent, household cleaners etc. there. They also have some OK cheap clothes, stuff that is good for school since teenagers are fairly dirty folks I get my workout clothes there too.

They just started carrying Boots stuff, because I'm a sucker for any new product I bought an almond (I think it's in the bathroom and I'm too lazy to walk there) body scrub. Can't wait to try it.

Chris I just realized I never answered you as to how I live in this insanely expensive city. Very simply because when I bought my first condo, it was in a neighborhood that was considered to be not the best. I then bought another one in the same area (seriously they were so cheap it was insane) and rented the first. Well I sold the first one, and am still in the second one. During the time I've lived here this is now a very desirable neighborhood. So really I was just in the right place at the right time. I'm getting a little restless though, my place is small, so I'm trying to determine the next up and coming neighborhood so I can go there in a year or so

Ok two loads of washing on the line and one in the dryer, I seem to be unindated with the stuff this morning.

RSG, you should like the Boots No. 7 stuff.. all the Brits I know are really excited that it's in Target now, I haven't seen their selection though as our nearest one here is in Taunton.. a longish drive.

That's really good that you were in the right market at the right time. It's scary how prices are down here for little shck type looking houses...and they sell too. Our landlord had this place up for sale before he decided to rent and he was selling for $625.000... there's NO way I'd pay that, even if we could afford it. Especially with all that's wrong with it as well.

@ Gerge nicking fruit... Lew is very good at stealing tomatoes off of the vine when they're growing... he used to be sneaky enough each night to get some from CG's when she had her's growing in NJ. Him and pen love tomatoes and grapes.

Ok,. well just finished nattering to CG, and am about to attack the cobwebs... done hoovering and such.. so the cobwebs are next on the hit list.

My sister had an allotment when she first moved back here. I went there once it was a tip when she got it, she never tidied it up or did anything to it and it was eventually took off her. I'm sure Sarah will be slightly more responsible.

How exciting, an allotment!!! I keep asking Corey if I can give up work and have chickens and an allotment, he's not keen on this idea!

Helen, your amazing!

I went to the gym today, oh deary me am I unfit. Never mind, I did 5 mins on bike 10 on the rower and 15 mins on cross trainer.

It's a start at least!

Oh and there are new rowing machines, there's a game where you are a fishie and have to eat little fishies, and not get eaten by the sharkie, it's fabulous, and you forget how hard your rowing!

Oh and my food has been angelic today!

WELL DONE!

Knew you could do it

RSG - Target sounds a bit like our Woolworths - a mixture of everything.

Veggie - DH was very good at keeping our last allotment but I have a feeling that it will be me doing most of the work on this one (if we get it!) Lucky for me that my friend John has got a rotivator and other 'essential' gardening equipment I can borrow until I can afford my own.

Chris - yes, my lot like grapes as well. What is it with dogs and fruit?? I keep on telling them that their carnivores but they still keep nicking stuff from the fruit bowl.

Helen - I've now had quite a few recipes from the Rose Elliot book - no bad ones yet!! My favourites so far have been the Moroccan Chick Pea thing on page 119, the Pistou recipe on 87, the lentil and cumin cakes on page 92 (you need to have them with the raita she recommends), the Thai Beancakes on p 94 are nice and so are the Greek Butterbeans on p97 and the Slow-Cook Black Beans on p98 - the soured cream and avocado make it absolutely gorgeous.... I'm having the 'Best-Ever Chilli' tonight on p101 with a baked sweet potato and green salad - smells lovely.

I wonder if I could grow sweet potatoes.......

Well done Kylie.

Another link for Sarah re allotments (and anyone else interested!)


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/lif...cle1479331.ece


BritnJ - to be honest I did feel duty bound to alert Psychiatry abotu the inmate doing a runner cos although they are not high security types - you never know what they may do to themselves or anyone else. The last thing I would want is to read the next day that they had pushed someone off the tube platform!!! Or, as one did , (bless him!) broke into a post office to find his benefit as the post office was shut over the holiday when he was expecting it.....

Going back to the alootment thing Sarah - I expect that you will find there are a few rules and regs which once you get your allotment I am sure you will be told about but basically you will be expected to go there regularly - some are more strict than others. I remember whe I used to go to Hasitngs when my Brother lived there and at Christmas time I would look out the window to check on how many allottment-ites were there! NOt my business but I am just very nosey!!!! Aren't you glad I do not live near you???!

Good Morning.

I hope you get your allotment Sarah. I had to read on for a few posts to determine that it was indeed what we call community garden plots! We have a huge garden at our house (we have 2 acres of land) that DH is already planning for this year. We grow raspberries, rhubarb and strawberries (no dogs to eat them though ), as well as veggies in the summer. We've had problems the past couple years with root maggots - ewwww - in the cole plants so we're not planting them again yet.

Helen - Congrats! on a year of maintenance. You have done amazing well, and I'm sure you'll keep on doing well.

Frus - I'm scheduled to do a half marathon in late June. I've been going to the gym and using the treadmill, and last Sat it was warm enough - and ice free enough - to train outdoors. I can do the distance, I'm sure. Just need to get faster so it doesn't take me all day (mostly walking, a little running). I like your mantra, and may borrow it when snacks call to me. There are no snacks at work today, though.

Good work on getting back to the gym Kylie. It's a drag, but those 20 lbs will come off.

RSG - I love Target! We are getting one in the next town soon. They're building on the site of an existing mall, and the tenants all have to be out April 1. No one is sure whether they'll renovate that building or tear it down and put up a new one. Either way, it'll be great to have.

We are supposed to have 3-4" of snow today. But at least it's 20F (-7C) instead of the -6F (-21C) we had earlier in the week.

Another Target fan here. It's not like Woolies. I can't think of a shop in the UK that it would be comparable to. Love to go in and just browse.

Hi Pat - what is a 'cole' plant? I'm alright with bugs just as long as I've got gardening gloves on. If I touch one with my bare hands I do a lot of arm flapping, racing round in circles and/or screaming - sometimes all three! 2 acre garden .... you lucky thing - thats my idea of heaven. I really love my house and I like this village (most of the time) but my garden is only about 60ft long by 30 ft wide. Two things would persuade me to move from here: a bigger garden and/or to live by the sea / ocean.

Peacock - the rules up here seem fairly standard - most of the allotment areas were set up by the mines at the same time they built the houses and they set the rules which don't seem to have changed. Basically the allotment holders have to be seen to be cultivating their allotment 'diligently', not use noxious substances, not use it for manufacturing, can't build a permanent structure, can't sleep on it, can't keep a motor vehicle on it, not to use it for making a profit - the veg should be for home consumption only - and allotment holders mustn't do anything which might interfere with another allotment holders enjoyment of their allotment. We can keep rabbits, chickens or pigeons (but have to apply for a special permit) and each allotment holder is allowed a cat!

Sarah - wow, I looked in Wikipedia to see if I was correct, and got way more info than I needed, but basically

The flowering plant family Brassicaceae, also called Cruciferae, is known as the mustard family or cabbage family. Agricultural plants in the mustard family are also known as cole crops; cole comes from the Latin word caulis (stem), as does the German Kohl.

The family contains species of great economic importance, providing much of the world's winter vegetables. These include cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, collards, and kale (all cultivars of one species, Brassica oleracea), Chinese kale, rutabaga (also known as Swedish turnips or swedes), seakale, turnip, radish and kohl rabi. Other well known members of the Brassicaceae include rapeseed (canola and others), mustard, horseradish, wasabi and watercress.

And I meant we have two acres total, only about 1/2 acre is garden. The rest is the house and lawn, a barn, and a storage shed, plus some woods on three sides to give us privacy. We love our little spot. Only 3 miles from town, which is also small - 6,000 folks approximately in the city limits, but about 20-25,000 in the area.