Author: SpinningStreak

Odd Stuff

Sockses and boxes…

‘That’s odd’, odd one out, odd numbers….a word I’ve been hearing all day long. It started with odd sock day – no doubt intended to promote an acceptance of difference (following on from that kindness Assembly the other day). It ended with an Oddbox on the doorstep. I love my Oddboxes. They can contain some pretty weird stuff and I enjoy working out what to do with it all. The contents are not necessarily weird in themselves – this week we had aubergines, carrots, swede, peppers, potatoes, spinach and beetroot as well as choi sum and celeriac. The fruit was mango, oranges, persimmons and apples. Ah, yes, the apples – I had to add that mug to give an idea of scale. There are 4 gi-normous apples – the one in the picture weighs 511g – well over an Imperial lb! My 2 young grandchildren squealed with delight and carried it off to show their mother. But I understand that Waitrose might be less enthusiastic – and that is the point really. Oddbox ‘rescue’ fresh food that has been over-produced and is now surplus to supermarket requirements or just doesn’t meet standard sizes or have the unblemished appearance we apparently insist on. When the ‘oddness’ is exotic, the Oddbox team helpfully provide clues (and recipes!) to help you deal with it- persimmon chocolate dessert on the cards right now…

Just attacked (a slice of!) one of those apples – crisp, juicy, DELICIOUS! Unusual, but not odd at all.

One of those runaway days

A day that started early, ended late (only a few minutes left till midnight, once again) but didn’t seem to go anywhere much in between. Some useful Etsy listing though – hand warmers this time. I am definitely making a dent in the pile, which is satisfying (and also means I can think about making more stuff…)

I really should be using all my very best, beautiful stashed yarns now. I probably already don’t have enough life left to get through them all – though there is definitely pleasure in spreading them out to admire. I think I am waiting for them to shout out to me exactly what they want to become – it does sometimes happen! Until I am absolutely sure, I will probably just keep on stroking and purring….

Bulb planting

Didn’t happen.

When I looked more carefully there were not 200-odd bulbs left. More like 400 plus – which makes not far off 1000 in total. So I ran away, daunted. I will have to discipline myself to 50 or so a day this week. And I very much doubt I will be ordering on such an industrial scale next year, even if it is way cheaper to buy in bulk, in 20+ kilo bags.

We escaped to my lovely sister in law’s instead. Officially to help move some furniture (not me!) and to go through some paperwork after a death in the family. That turned into a bit of a family history hunt – some interesting documents, one dating back to 1804.

She lives in an interesting house, too. I especially love that heavy external door and the face on the letter box. The house is old – there is part of an Elizabethan staircase and a beautiful window in the (seriously spooky) bat filled attic that is reputed to have come from Lewes Priory, presumably at the dissolution in 1536.

Much more fun than daffodils.

Mission failed

By the time I was free to plant those 200 odd last bulbs, it was looking like this outside….so it was not the (awful) weather that got in the way and thwarted me but unexpected visitors (delightful) and pitch darkness!

So I did this instead:

And then I cleared away some of the claptrap (including that cork) that the camera had unkindly picked up… It hasn’t really been cold enough yet to ‘need’ the fire but it does make a big difference to the mood of the room. We don’t seem to hang around in there in the summer, it feels unfinished somehow with an empty grate – even stuffed with flowers. Sometime in the next couple of weeks I will have to face up to blackleading the fire surround – down on my knees scrubbing at the filthy stuff like the original Victorian maids, though fortunately for me not much more than an annual rather than a daily chore!

Will try to tick off those bulbs tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s task

Bit odd to be thinking about next spring in the middle of this endless, grey November rain – but it’s now or never. I have a window tomorrow in which to finish planting over 500 daffodils, and I must get it done, whatever the weather! The bed above is the one I adopted in memory of my daughter – originally just for one year, but it seems wrong to stop now. The centre was planted with dozens of bright red tulips, which flowered a couple of weeks later. They did look good, but quite a lot of them got overgrown or dug up by birds and squirrels. I thought I would try something different this time, so tomorrow I have 101 (I know, weird number) aliums to add inside the daffodil planting. I have grubbed up most of those shrubby things (apparently called ‘bear’s breeches’) but I’ve left the little purple crane’s bill geraniums which flower after the bulbs.

That is about the extent of my horticultural efforts! We’ll see what happens.