I can hardly believe that we are already into the second month of the year. Where did January go? Today the weather resembles April with sunny spells alternated with sharp showers. Terrific winds last night, according to the BBC Weather people wind strength last night was 130km. Certainly there were lots of twigs and small branches resting on the lane surface this morning, but only until I saw them, as being the scavenger that I am, many of these are now outside the garage waiting to be broken up and dried for kindling.
My neighbours, who sell me logs for my woodburner delivered a corde - three cubic metres - of wood this morning in between showers. My new Workaway is out there now stacking them close to the back of the utility cottage and covering them with one of the lorry side curtains which I bought a few years back. They are terrifically heavy and are brilliant for covering the logs as they don't blow around like lightweight tarpaulins.
We've had a productive work week with the major task being repairing the stock trailer. The floor had virtually gone through and needed a lot of attention. The trailer is a brilliant one with sides which come off in stages so you get the high sided stock trailer, a more normal shaped low sided trailer and then with no sides it becomes a flatbed trailer. First some of the tongue and grooved boarding that I collected a few weeks ago was cut to size and put on top of polythene on the old floor.
This was then covered with a plywood floor from material given to me by a neighbour from the far end of the village. The plywood was treated with preservative before being added. Then the registration plate was replaced with one which matched the Land Rover and fitted correctly instead of being held on with bungies. The plug to connect to the car electrics was replaced and all the lights now work.
A great job! At some stage the back door/ramp needs a new piece of ply but we didn't have enough so that stays on the To Do List.
I walked up to the field this morning to pick beetroot, lettuce, cress and parsley from the polytunnel. The catkins looked lovely against the blue sky and the primroses on the drive are all in flower now.
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The annual pantomime was presented by La Troupe Arlequin at Gouarec last weekend. My quiz partners and I were fortunate to win tickets at a pre-Christmas quiz and we went on Saturday. Here are some of the photos from the event.
It must be my year for winning things as a few days ago the local Supermarket, SuperU, telephoned me to say I'd won a meal at the Salle de Fetes in Plussulien. It was couscous with lamb, beef, chicken and Merguez sausage, a fruit salad, biscuits and camembert. We collected it on Saturday afternoon as you could take away if you wished. My Workaway had the meal - he enjoyed it although felt it could have had more seasoning - and I had something from the freezer as I'm not fond of this particular meal. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this lucky streak continues.
My daughter in Cornwall mentioned to me last week that she would like to take on an allotment. I contacted the County Council who told me that they weren't even adding names to the waiting list anymore. They did though give me a website address to look at. I contacted the person in charge of a reasonably local allotment area and incredibly they had two plots needing gardeners. Libby met the person who had replied to me to view and came away with a 55 square meter plot to look after for the princely sum of £55 per year plus membership of the South West Allotment Association which would cover insurance. I am so pleased. We have never shared an interest and now we will have loads to chat about. I've ordered seeds and have a pile of tools and a large plastic storage chest to take over when I next visit. As she lives in a flat with no garden she will now be able to sit in the sun down there too and play with her son outside in their own area. She has already been down and started clearing the very overgrown plot and discovered raspberries and lots of other things which may well survive once they can see the light again. I think I am as excited as she is.
My incubator eggs in the spare bedroom, if fertile, should hatch next Friday/Saturday. I can't wait - I just love seeing the new chicks emerge, dry out and become fluffy and active and hopefully I'll have some photos to post soon.
Three things I like:
1. My To Do List is reducing with my first Workaway of the year.
2. Delighted to find that last year's chilli plants were producing again in the polytunnel - covered in bright red fruits.
3. Winning three £25 prizes in the Premium Bond Draw this month.
