Canine meningitis
At five yesterday evening the phone rang. “Hello this is Lara. The results have come back from the spinal tap. Inca has meningitis.” My head whirled. People die of meningitis. “Is it treatable?” “Yes but she has bad meningitis. She needs to stay with us.” “Is it contagious?” “No canine meningitis is not infectious. Your other dogs are safe.” It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride with Inca – she was deteriorating fast. So she was finally referred to the Animal Health Trust yesterday morning. They are running other...
read morePet insurance
No time for tunnelling today as Inca is ill. She wasn’t well yesterday and a lengthy trip to the vet threw up few clues. She was vomiting all night – white bedclothes are great for working out how much this has happened. So it was back to the vet today. Inca is insured but we have to pay the vet’s bills and then claim the money back from the insurance company, which can take months. The balance on my account was sparse so I plucked up the courage to say that I couldn’t actually pay any more bills – yesterday’s was over 60...
read moreA strange discovery
Today I decided to do my digging in the morning. There seemed to be many more bricks this time. Three barrow loads to a square meter. I was day dreaming about digging up buried treasure. Then I dug up some hefty, rotten logs. These uncovered a paving slab. Suddenly things were looking interesting. Why would someone bury a paving slab under a lawn? I prised up the slab with my fork to reveal a brick wall buried under the earth. There was no mortar between the bricks and an old drain pipe was set into the bottom of the wall. Feeling like a...
read moreBuying compost in bulk can save you loads of money
Every day, when it’s not raining or freezing, I spend an hour digging in the garden. Depending on how spritely I feel, I can usually dig a square metre. It is mind numbingly slow. Thank goodeness for my DAB sports radio which I bought to stop myself going mad when I was painting 38 Georgian windows and doors, inside and out. Four coats of paint outside three coats inside. Do the math! The reason why the digging is taking so long is that many years ago a number of pig stys and outhouses were obviously bulldozed, covered with a layer of...
read moreRevisiting oven baked cheese toasties
I was going to write about Darina Allen’s toasties and when I looked the recipe up on the Internet I discovered that I’d written about them before. On Friday, faced with two crusts of bread, a lump of cheese and two bantam eggs I made them again using Andrew this time. They were scrummy. If you are going down the Andrew route put the toasties on the metal tray on the lowest rack and grill for 12-15 mins at 200c. Just enough time to have a shower and dress before brunch! And of course, cheese on toast is the perfect excuse to tuck...
read moreHurray for Google Street View
When I heard that Google Street View had been updated to include 95% of the UK, I immediately fired up the computer. I spent the day visiting all the houses that I’ve lived in, the schools and colleges I’ve attended. I also took a virtual tour of the places where I have worked and the towns where I’ve lived. It’s incredible how much extra one remembers just by looking at a photograph of a place. As Google Street View only goes on roads I was only able to see [art of the park where I played as a child. There was the long...
read moreBest recipes for leftovers: Cauliflower cheese with mashed potato
Danny likes our cauliflower cheese especially when I add ham and tomatoes and serve it with garlic bread. Quite often I pick up 6 pints of milk from the Tesco CFC and make it into white sauce, ladled into plastic zip lock bags and frozen flat in the freezer. This takes the strain out of making CC as the palaver of making the sauce is already done. The sauce can be gently heated from frozen in a sauté pan. Then all you have to do is add the cheese. I discovered that my cauliflower bought in the market with suspiciously long leaves was the...
read moreMint
Photo: Michelle Meiklejohn “What is that tiny leafed seedling on the kitchen window sill?” Danny peered at the teeny seedlings. “It’s mint.” “It doesn’t seem to be growing at all.” Following the comments on yesterday’s post I will let you into a secret. I can’t grow mint. I know that for most people it is invasive. “The mint just took over the garden. The roots were a nightmare!” But not for me. When I moved into the cottage there was quite a lot of mint in the garden. It died out within a year or so. I’ve planted...
read moreThe Veggie Grower’s Bible by Lorraine Burn: a review
One of the many pleasures of writing this blog is that sometimes I’m sent a cookery or gardening book to review. This feeds my reading habit and introduces me to masses of new ideas. I don’t review every book I am sent as I prefer to write about the books that I have particularly enjoyed. I was intrigued when Lorraine Burn emailed me about her book. I checked out her website. She writes “Borne of frustration, the many books I read all had lots and lots of beautiful pictures but never told me everything I needed for one particular...
read moreBoning up on flowers for the gate side stand
Having come from a long line of perennial gardeners I always thought of annuals as the sort of summer bedding that you see on roundabouts and parks. I usually put geraniums in the big barrels beside the cottage front door and add a bit of lobelia. Apart from a few marigolds to grow with tomatoes and lots of sweet peas, that’s it. I had no idea that there were so many gorgeous annuals available until I read your comments on this post and on the post the next day. In the end I decided to order some plugs and some seed. This past week has...
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Recent Comments
{ I was thinking the same as Magic Cochin but then like you I don't have my phone attached by an umbilical cord wherever I go.... } – Wed 8 :47 pm
{ Good point but I don't tend to take it about with me everywhere 
} – Wed 7 :25 pm
{ Doesn't your mobile phone have an alarm setting? C x } – Wed 6 :32 pm
{ I would put it towards a bbq, it's just a shame you can't purchase some sunshine from b&q } – Wed 12 :04 am- { Hi Lesley The clucking means that she is brrody also plucking her own feathers is a sign too. } – Tue 11 :58 pm
- { Hi Lesley They have to stay in the broody coop 24/7. Could you put in a garden shed or garage? } – Tue 11 :57 pm
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