Allotment Treasure Hunt.

I managed to score some free pallets and lengths of wood to make some potting tables in my greenhouse earlier this week. So today was the day to knock it all into shape. Ed took apart most of the pallet (which I used for the legs) but then he had to do emergency repairs on the greenhouse because it was so windy the polycarbonate sheets were just flying out. He frantically cut some lengths of cane to wedge in the frame, which seemed to work pretty well. I took the rest of the pallet apart and got creating. I had to saw a couple of inches off the longer pieces of wood so the bench was at a nice working height. I was really pleased with the end result, I am finally nearly ready for the growing season! 

We have a bit of land at the back of our allotment which is very overgrown and there is a lot of rubbish that has been thrown there by previous tenants. We are slowly working to clear this area, it will be lovely when it is cleared but it will take a while. These are some of the things that we found today. The toilet is probably my favourite find, the colour is amazing, proper retro. We are pretty sure there is a matching bath in the chaos, but we are nowhere near pulling it out yet!  

Hope you have had a great weekend, even though I bet you haven't found any toilets!

xkx

House Plants to Hurry Spring Along.

It feels like winter has returned this past week! We have had snow, ice and cold, blustery wind. This time of year I love to have beautiful flowers and plants in the house to remind me that it won't be long until I can get busy at the allotment and go adventuring in the countryside. 

The Auricular is my all time favourite plant. When I was little my mum and I use to walk down the country lanes to this lovely ladies house, she lived in a little cottage that smelled of lavender and always had a log fire crackling away. Before we went home she would always give me something, whether it was 50p or some dolls clothes she had made. This one time she gave me a beautiful auricular that was a dusky blue I think. That little plant survived for years in the garden. So when I saw this pretty plant in the market for £1 I just couldn't resist. It has been in constant bloom for over 2 weeks and has brightened my day every time I have seen it. I think I will plant it in the allotment when it has finished flowering  alongside Frasier the Christmas tree.  

Lovely Edward usually buys me flowers then the old ones have gone over, I usually put the dead flowers in the wormery or on the compost heap at the allotment so they don't go to waste. I think Ed buys me this colour occasionally because his favourite colour is orange. My favourite cut flowers are probably either roses or big lilies as they are pretty and they make the house smell sweet.

I bought this plant from the Gardener's World show a couple of years ago, it was very pretty and the older plants were as big and flat as saucers. I think I bought the freak! The mummy plant has grown down on the weird stalk and has now grown babies around the base. I think it is kinda odd but pretty, especially now the baby plants are growing on it. I want to research to figure out when I can split the young plants off the mummy.

Hope you have had a productive Thursday and have some exciting plans looming for the weekend.

xkx

Lemon-balm-ade

As it has been such a lovely warm day again I couldn't resist to splash up some lemonade with a slight twist. This is a super easy recipe! To make around a pint all you need is 4 unwaxed lemons (if you use waxed you will get icky scum floating on the top), some sugar, around 1 pint of boiling water, some ice cubes and a little bunch of lemon balm.

I zested the four lemons, then chopped them in half and squeezed the bitter juice out of them (a handy tip is to roll the lemons or put them in hot water for a few minutes to get more juice out of them). 

Next I ripped up and added a small bunch of lemon balm. Then I spooned 3-4 tbs of sugar into the fragrant mix and poured over about 1 pint of boiling water. It is good to taste how sweet it is at this point (be careful not to burn your mouth though) if it is still a bit tart then add more sugar but I always think it is best to have it a bit sharper tasting because this tastes delicious when it is chilled. Then I left this in the fridge to cool. Once it is chilly I strained it through a sieve and chucked in a few handfuls of ice. 

I served this lovely-ade out of my little cottage teapot, in china tea cups with plenty of ice and some sprigs of lemon balm. I also made a little cocktail for Ed by putting a splash of gin into it which was rather yummy as well.