Autumn Musings

I would have updated the blog before now, but nothing very much has happened.

I’ve been busy.

Very, very, very busy.

Rushing about like a demented chook, is me!

This week is quite a bit quieter than last week was. Next week should be fairly peaceful too. Then I’ve got a couple of steady weeks and most of November will be demented.

Sigh. I think it’s like moving house. If we really remembered what the start of the academic year is like, we’d only ever do it once.

Local news.

The lady across the road with the gorgeous, gorgeous cottage garden has died :( The Builder was speaking to her a couple of weeks ago and she said that it was beginning to get too much for her. I don’t think he expected her actually to pop her clogs, though. There were ambulances and all sorts outside her house one late afternoon and then the house became empty. It appears that that horrid, smug, smarmy, git-boxer Nazeem Wotsit (was arrested and jailed for driving very, very fast into an oncoming car and breaking the driver into lots of tiny bits – and then said on release that people should feel sorry for him too because nobody died and he missed the birth of his baby. Pff!!!) Anyway, it seems that he is the grandson-in-law of the late lady across the road. He has been spotted wandering in and out of the house. Not by me! I hope the people who eventually buy her house love her garden. It’s really beautiful.

The house next door which is empty was put up for auction. Didn’t sell. People came and cut the grass and tidied up a bit. Put up for auction again with a different auction house. New sign and everything. I noticed this morning that the sign is now out the back, lying on the lawn. Wonder what that means …
The Builder was parked outside No 6 QVR the other morning, for the first time in weeks. Went out at first light to go to work to find that the wing mirror had been more or less pulled off and one of the wipers had been bent out of shape. It is very, very tempting to blame Mr Grumpy – if for no other reason than he threatened to do unpleasant things to the van if it was parked outside his house ever again. But something funny seems to be going on there. His car has often not been parked there overnight, or during the day. ~My source of gossip, Steve Next Door says he doesn’t know what’s going on, but nobody has seen him about much. But we still assume it was he who tried to mangle the van. The builder is considering getting rid of it and buying something a bit smaller. A post office van, perhaps.

What else? Can’t think what I’ve said about the allotment. The Builder has dug the first bed on the new lottie, ready for the garlic to be planted in the next couple of weeks. We’ve bought not one but TWO greenhouses on eBay, for The Builder to pick up next weekend. He is not working next weekend (I am :-( ). He was supposed to be on Saturday, but last weekend T’Other Jim failed to show, but had already been paid. So the boss has decided that Our Jim could have a paid day off as well. Hooray! We’ve also started making serious autumn/winter plans for the next phase in the garden. I can see me having to get out there with measuring line, fork and spade sometime soon.

I’ve been doing autumn cooking as well. I bought a small box of cooking tomatoes last weekend and have stewed them and put them in the freezer. We had a lovely spaghetti dish last night made with some of the stewed tomatoes, with balsamic vinegar, tarragon, shallots, petit pois peas and broad beans with tiger prawns and scallops. Was Very Yummy Indeed. We had slow roasted brisket for our Sunday roast. We’ve been eating the leftovers in sandwiches and salads.

So it seems that things have been happening. I just haven’t had time to write them down. Sigh!
Must dash. Another meeting. At least in meetings I don’t have to enthuse, inspire, encourage or bounce!

I've booked us a week on the Broads in March. The weather may be awful but it's the start of the season so there should be not many people about. Rather looking forward to it. Life on a Broads boat is very slow and lazy :-)