Miche - I had to laugh at you talking aobut your boys with their wet towels ont he floor. My Dad used to be just as bad but instead, when he washed his heair he always used the biggest towel he could (too much like hard work to get a clean small one from the pile in the airing cupboard- you know what an effort it is for big strong men!!!) so he used a big bath towel and when he finished he would plonk it on to of everyone else's towel so they all got wet again. When you picked the towel up - there was this huge towel with a wet circle where his head had been!!! Funnily enough he doesn't do that anymore. Since my mum has become more disabled he has got quite domesticated. He no longer trims his hair over the soap in the sink and knows how to wash up - except of course, as every man knows, saucepans clean themselves. Even my Brother who does all the cooking will wash up everything else but the saucepans. Weird.

Dad always did the vacuuming - but only so he could make a big fuss out of the fact that my bedroom was untidy and he couldn't get in there.....Of course any rubbish he left around was okay.....

Morning girls...

So everyone's eating asparagus at the moment hey? I love the stuff...

I just had a strange breakfast, it was left over from last night dinner, courgettes and some baked chicken and it went down a treat

It's still sprinkling here, still windy as **** and just plain miserable! No sight of the sun until around Friday if we're lucky.

I was absolutely freezing at work yesterday, the wind was howling under the door, could have cut you off at the knees. Came home and lit a fire and stayed by it all night.

Michelle, I have four loads of washing to plough through this morning and I haven't even collected from Hannah's room yet... although I hear her, so she must have got up now.

Sarah, good luck with the allotment and have fun buying veggies with hubs...has he found Ellie yet?

at thought of Helen drowned in a big netball top...see how little you are now luvey?

Peacock, what is it about men and saucepans? IF... and it's a BIG IF, my hubs does the dishes, he always seems to miss putting one pan in the dishwasher.. it's not like he has to wash it by hand.

RSG...ok, let's see if we can hit the NY marathon if Helen runs with ehr chap, but I agree, lets go on a bus that gets there without crashing... that would be much nicer.

Hi Waterrat

Wooo HOOOOOO!!! I am now the proud tenant of a 100 ft x 45 ft allotment. I paid my £20 and signed my life away on one of the most complicated tenancy agreements I've ever seen. I think I must have been the first ever person to sit down and read the whole thing all the way through.

Its not in such a bad state as I'd worried about - up until last year someone had just had it with lots of greenhouses on it and then they (and their greenhouses ) moved on and someone else took it over who kept chickens in a large shed and had dug over about a quarter of it to grow (for some unaccountable reason) gladioli - and now he's moved on so its ours - so no horse problem after all. The gladioli are going to have to come up very quickly - I hate them - reminds me completely of Dame Edna Everedge

We then went to a garden centre and spent a small fortune on water barrels, garden tools and some fruit plants - rhubarb, blackcurrant bushes, and something else that I can't remember..... I also got a huge load of seeds - I'm looking forward to eating my own grown celeriac, kale, broccoli (calabrese), purple sprouting broccoli, brussels sprouts, runner beans, broad beans, french beans, parsnips, rainbow chard, chanteney carrots, savoy cabbage, spinach, cauliflower, butternut squash, mange tout, red cabbage, beetroot, asparagus peas and some cauliflower seedlings - and probably more but I can't remember them right now. I've already got some runner bean and courgette seedlings to go in. I am SO excited! Shame DH doesn't feel quite the same....

Woohoo Sarah Ann - I will put my order in then - everything but parsnips please!


Just remember to arm yourself with plenty of veg recipes so a lot of people grow more than they think they will need "These probably won't take!"..... and then they find by week 4 if they ever see another courgette again ......

Are you going to rotate your crops? They (whoever They are) advise this.

And are you doing any companion planting (eg planting some flowers in with veg to keep the pests away is what I meant, not in case they get lonely!).

YAY!

Can I have the first organic veg box please?

I was amused by this "ING Amsterdam Marathon almost biggest marathon of The Netherlands" which I got in an e-mail today. Helen and I are doing the "almost biggest marathon of the Netherlands"

Yes, we're going to divide it in to three and rotate - and I've also got some marigolds - I hate them but they are good for getting rid of pests. Also I'm trying to persuade DH to build me a raised bed so I can put the carrots and 'snips out of the way of the carrot fly. I prefer to use natural methods if I can - the other big plus is that we are only 2 allotments away from some natural manure producers... three very pretty horses.

I'm exhausted just reading this You forgot tomatoes.

Maybe I'll go buy some tomato plants.

Maybe she won't have room for toms as well!!!!

I know I'm planning on growing a lot - but I'll only put in a row of each - nothing worse than eating the same veg every single day.

I haven't forgotten tomatoes I think tomatoes look lovely when they're growing (yeah, well, it takes all sorts) so, since the poly greenhouses blew away and we haven't yet replaced them, this year I'm putting them in tubs in the back garden and I'm putting some of those tumbling little cherry tomatoes in hanging baskets hanging off the garage along with some flowers. I'm also growing all our lettuce in the back garden (where the greenhouses used to be) because I eat lots of it but at lunch time.

Oh... forgot to mention in the long list... I also got some florence fennel and pretty little white and purple-pink turnip seeds.

Okay... other women get a buzz out of shoes... I like seeds....

Oh Sarah, sounds lovely to me! We had a 50'x60' garden for years, then cut it back to 30'x50' but we still grow lots. We have raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb and currents that come up by themselves, plus lots of annual veggies and flowers (oh yeah, I have an iris bed in the corner too). DH just took down our old greenhouse yesterday. He's not sure we'll have a new one in time for this season. We can't plant outdoor stuff til the end of May. I may have to try tomatoes in tubs. I love them, and they're horribly expensive here, even in season.

Helen, thanks for the info on the games. And Sarah, I hated hockey as well, and never had the slightest inclination (or opportunity) to try lacrosse.

Hubby and I have been to Homebase and bought grow bags and seeds This muddy thumbs thing is catching! Heh!

We got lettuce seeds, squash and pumpkin, courgette, peas, er... other things. Lambs lettuce oh and strawberry plants! YAY! Free-ish strawberries

Wow, your veg growing plans all sound very impressive. I'll have to pull my finger out.

I ran about 10.5 miles this evening in two spells, 3 to running club then 7 with them. It felt like a struggle but I wasn't too much slower than normal.

But the big news of the day has had me in a big of a tizz for most of the afternoon. One of my clients called this morning and basically offered me a job. I'm meeting her for lunch tomorrow to talk it through (and maybe find out how much they pay ), but I'm really not sure what to do. I know it shouldn't affect my decision, but I'm a bit unsure because of the situation with my boss being on maternity leave... and the job I've been offered being at the company her husband works for (he doesn't know about the offer yet so it doesn't find its way back to her!) It's also a bit difficult to judge the pay because I'm due a pay rise on 1 May but don't know what it is yet (they usually tell us mid-May and backdate it), so I'll have to do a bit of guesswork to work out what I would get if I stay compared to anything they offer. Anyway, I won't know anything more until tomorrow, so I suppose I just have to wait and see. It was a bit of a bombshell though, I've never been headhunted before!

check this out:

Go to Google.com http://www.google.com
2. Click on Maps.
3. Click on "Get Directions" (blue text - just below the search box)
4. Write from New York to Paris
5. And read line #23.

I have a flicky eye... it's been bothering me all afternoon... how do I stop it? Any suggestions welcome.

COngrats on the allotment Sarah... Congrats on your balcony growing purchaces Jen, congrats on being head hunted helen...

Sarah Grace, I checked that out a few weeks ago, but the funny part was line 17 for some reson here... maybe because I'm in the US?

CG... get some tomatoes my woman... you know you do well with them

Hi Peacock

Ok, got to get off puter, eye really messing with head and sanity now

SarahAnn - you are certainly not alone in your love of seeds. I used to have a small hankie sized garden and would pore over seed catalogue (my version of porn) for hours! Although the garden was mainly a border around a patio I managed to shoehorn in a large amount of flowers and veg - albeit mainly in pots - some lovely fuschias - those big blowsy ones. However now I can't do that as no garden (sob!). So I will live vicariously through you and your allotment - so keep us posted!


HI BritNJ - how's the weather where you are? We are still enjoying a good spring but I wthink by Tuesday it will change again. However there is a rumour that it will be a hot summer. If that is the case I must get this losing weight into action cos I hate being fat in the heat, especially trying to dress my self and working up a sweat doing it! I remember that from last year!