Growing veg in the porch

 For the past few years I've used our entrance porch as a heated greenhouse.  We never use that entrance and if it had occurred to me before we had it built I'd have made it bigger. As it is it's perfect for growing veg indoors and this year I'm planning on growing through the winter months too. I've just ordered an ice blue GreenStalk for the porch and hopefully it'll arrive in April. That's the perfect time for me to plant it up with all manner of heat loving plants.  Even on a bitterly cold day the porch heats up nicely as long as the sun is shining. Through the winter I'll grow cool weather crops like lettuce, spinach and radish. 

This morning I've had a bit of a switch around to make room for my seedlings

Thoroughly lovely evening.

 Tony and I have been over to our friends for a lovely meal. I'm shocked to say that I polished off an entire bottle of prosecco. Brian always puts on a lovely spread and we didn't get around to dessert as we were a absolutely stuffed. He made a couple of different curries, rice and chips with naan bread.  He. knows that I love a belting hot curry. I've left the apple crumble and custard that I made for them to enjoy another day.  I've just ordered another GreenStalk for the porch. It'll be fantastic growing veg right through the winter indoors. 

Loving the craft room

 I'm absolutely loving the new craft room and making great strides in destashing. Yesterday we chucked out about ten ten years worth of old teaching stuff. It's given me masses more room for stuff that I'll actually use.  This morning I sharpened all my chisels and it's lovely to be able to leave my current carving out so that I can work on it when the mood takes me.

I have that big box to sort through and need to get some bags to store the spare duvet and sheets. I couldn't bring myself to part with them as I only bought them last year for the spare room. They've only been used a handful of times.

The space under this bit of the desk is perfect for storing some if my nice papers. The stacking baskets had been full of absolute junk. It's lovely having a good clear out.

Blue sky and sunshine today

 I've had a thoroughly lovely day so far. This morning while Tony was out I pricked out and potted on some of my seedlings.  To my utter surprise the sweet potato is throwing out shoots now. I'll be really pleased if I can actually grow sweet potatoes. 

We've just been to the park for our otter fix. In fact we strolled the whole perimeter of the park because it's such a beautiful day.  While the sun us out I'll go and pot my potato chits into bigger pots while the sun is out.

Jigsaw number 6

 We finished this charity shop find this morning and were delighted to have no missing pieces. This afternoon I played whist with our group which has suddenly grown by four new members. They fit in really well and I think they'll continue to come. I was absolutely exhausted though as I'd been awake since 5am.   I am overdoing the carbs lately and it's affecting my sleep pattern.  I'll have to go back to eating a keto diet as it made me feel so much better. It's probably easier during the summer when I have tons of lovely fresh salad.  Winter is all about the starchy root crops as they survive our winters.

Craft room update

 The craft room is really starting to take shape now and here's how it looks so far. I have so much stuff to sort out but it will get done a little at a time so that I don't sicken myself of it.

We each have our own crafting space and I made a start filling my craft zone up while Tony was out for a couple of pints last night.

Start of the craft room

 I've spent most of today dragging furniture around in the spare bedroom.  It was a bit frustrating to find that I needed 5cms more space than my original layout would have entailed. It did mean a quick rethink and measure but actually the new layout will make much better use of the space. I'm staggered at just how much junk I still need to get rid of. I have so much crafting stuff left over from my time working in schools. I want to concentrate on more grown up stuff so will be giving away the other stuff on a local site. When Tony got in from work he was delighted to see how much I'd got done.  Tomorrow we'll be putting our flat pack crafting tables together and with a bit of luck I'll be able to post a photo tomorrow evening 

Jigsaw number 5

 We're having to nip to B and Q for some chicken wire today. Nothing I put on the garden is stopping the local cats from using my vegetable patch as a toilet. They've c****ed in among my garlic this morning.  Grrrrr. 

Jigsaw number 5 is finished and it's a charity shop one so we half expected a missing piece or two. We're delighted to have a complete one.

Otters in the park

 This morning Tony and I had a walk around Albert Park in Middlesbrough. We hoped to catch a glimpse of the otter playing in the lake there. Imagine our delight to see not one but two otters. We stood for ages watching them playing and feeding.  The cafe in the park has been taken over so we popped in for a cuppa and a bacon sandwich.  They were absolutely delicious and the staff there are lovely.  If you visit the park to see the otters please do support the cafe.  We are losing far too many little businesses.

Indoor veg growing

 Yesterday the chap turned up to collect the bed from the spare room.  Today we're going to have a walk in the park and do a little otter watching if it's around. When we come back I want to give the spare bedroom a thoroughly good dust and polish. I'll give the carpet a good clean too as it's probably thick with dust. I'm really excited to think that I will have a proper craft room again.  It's nearly six years since my workshop was taken down. 

On the growing front I've planted up my Greenstalk in the porch. Now it's a waiting game as the seedlings grow.  Hopefully I'll have lovely fresh carrots and spring onions twelve weeks from now.