A merry weekend

Sometime last week, Roger was telling me about a walk he and Kate had taken the previous evening at the Linacre Reservoir near Cutthorpe, where they had seen loads of tiny frogs. Now Cutthorpe isn't a million miles from Tupton and isn't really a significant detour from Sheffield to home if you don't mind taking rather longer to make the journey (it's along a winding, country lane and you can't go all that fast). So we decided on Friday, after visiting the supermarket and Tabitha's Thresher, to make the detour and go and investigate.

Well, it isn't normally a significant detour. Not if you go directly. I, on the other hand, directed us up through Ringinglow and onto the Hathersage Road. Can't think why. Not remotely the way we should have gone. Mind you, it was a very pretty drive and we both rather enjoyed it, so nothing was really lost I suppose. And so, eventually, we found the Linacre reservoirs. Three of them. Quite small. And there were indeed tiny frogs. Really, really tiny ones. About the size of a 10 cent piece or perhaps a little smaller. You had a job not to stand on them. They were more or less the same colour as the gravel and you couldn't see them unless they moved. We spent about half an hour pottering around the reservoirs. It was a very pleasant end to the day. And to the week.

The Builder has done an amazing job on the garden. We are now a conifer free zone. The laurel by the potting shed has gone. The grass has been cut. There is now a compost bin where the laurel was. It's all coming on fantastically. He's also made a start on the larder, which I realise isn't in the garden. He's put a first coat of paint on and filled in the holes. It's going to be wonderful when it's finished!

We did quite a bit of wandering around on Saturday too. We started out a Chatsworth where we had gone for bread and veg. First, though, we called at the Chatsworth garden centre, where we have not previously explored. It's fantastic. Not quite, perhaps, as good as the one on the Cutthorpe Road but fairly excellent. We bought a fern for the lounge room and two clay pots for the garden. One of them is out the front housing a climbing rose. The other one is out the back bearing lettuces -- though the lettuces were not looking very happy this morning. Must investigate this evening. Then we mooched, across country, to the aforementioned garden centre on the Cutthorpe Road. The last time we were there they had a magnificent red rose with a fantastic scent. We didn't buy it only because we didn't have anywhere then to put it. We do now. And it's gone :-( We had bought a yellow rose instead, one with another magnificent scent. It's behind the fish pond where once there were conifers. Then we called at Sainsbury in Chesterfield (having first had to work out how to get to it!) and then went home, By Another Way (we're exploring, right?)

I was supposed to be sorting out the study, partly in preparation for visitors but also because The Builder is looking for some paperwork the taxman has asked for and we don't know where it is. I was going to, truly I was. But it was a lovely afternoon and there were things to plant and beds to sort out and garden things to do. And suddenly it was gin and tonic time. The garden was looking rather good by then, if I do say so myself. We've planted things in the holes left by the conifers. We've dragged all the rest of the debris from up around the back of the house and dumped it on the debris pile on the concrete. It's beginning to take shape. Nearly time to start tackling the concrete, now!

All this meant, however, that we had to get up quite early on Sunday morning. We simply must get the study sorted out. Though it is perhaps not the very best of ideas to start sorting through your years of accumulated papers at 07:30 when there are 12 people descending at 13:00 expecting to be fed!! Still, we did it. We've cleared into a big pile years of individually acquired paper clutter (it's all in a big bin bag waiting for us to revisit it before shredding it. A wet winter weekend activity, I think!! What's the bet that it's all still there when we move out -- I've hidden it in the big wardrobe!) Anyway, the study/spare room was sorted out. We found all but one of the bits of paperwork the taxman wants. We tidied up. The Builder podded a mountain of peas and beans and scrubbed a positive Everest of new potatoes. I put away Saturday's ironing and washed lettuce, peeled beetroot, generally prepared lunch. And we were sat down at 13:15, glasses to hand, when Tabitha, Gareth, Freyja and Mark arrived. Followed by Bea and Steve who brought Heidi from work, Kathryn who brought 3 ½ year old Patrick, and a bit later Em from work and her partner Col and Baby Freyja who is now 19 months old.

I had forgotten how much like hard work small children can be. Very well behaved but absolutely exhausting!

The morning had been grey and overcast and windy and wet. No garden party for us then. I was resigned to having everyone squished inside. But no. As the Nether Green/Lady Bridge contingent arrived, the clouds cleared, the wind dropped and the sun came out. People all gravitated outside. And there we stayed while we ate our roast beef, roast pork, boiled potatoes, build-your-own salad and Yorkshire puddings. Yorkshire puddings which rose. Rose so much that I had to take them out of the oven before they were really properly cooked so they all sank a bit again. There was wine and beer and fruit juice. There were blueberries and raspberries and cherries and strawberries. There were fantales and jaffas and freckles. It was a merry afternoon. Taffa, Gaz, Big Freyja and Mark all went for a wander around the village. They seem to like the village itself but were a bit alarmed by their experience in The Britannia pub. Had they asked, we would have warned them not to bother. The language that comes out of there is sometimes quite alarming. There’s another pub on Queen Victoria Road which looks better but neither of them is especially enticing. Think we’re going to have to go pubbing further afield. Aha! A project!!!

Then everyone went home. We started on the washing up. Sat down with some more wine. The Builder went to sleep. I finished the washing up. Then I too went to sleep. I don’t know how much of the World Cup Grand Final he saw, but I didn’t see any. I did get the kitchen completely cleared up before I dozed off though – in my chair, that is, not stood up in the kitchen. That would have been silly!

The Builder reports today that he has picked over a kilo of raspberries from the allotment and there may yet be more! I do like summer fruit. Blackcurrants next.