March 2008

1 Twitching again, but only from the kitchen window.  I was treated to the site of two male pheasants in our garden, chasing each other, presumably fighting for their territory (and wives).
2 Ron finished the paving slab laying whilst we were away and what a great job he has done.
Birthday card for Bex on tonight's agenda.
3 Our green woodpecker paid a visit this morning.  Handsome chap he is.  Meanwhile, Ron replaced the broken greenhouse glass with a tiny bit of help from me and then caught us a rabbit.  Later, I finished the 2-way waistcoat which is a birthday gift for Bex.  I hope she likes it.
Harvest: spicy salad leaves for a warm chickpea salad, yum, yum!
4 Rabbit Stew on the menu with fresh sundried tomato & parmesan bread. Two more birthday cards in the making.
Harvest: turnip, sprouts.
5 I'm now making a short trendy waistcoat in an ultra thick wool, so the back is done and the left front is nearly finished.
6 Out on another Essex 100 recce to measure regularity 2, then back indoors for me to update the roadbook by working out all the interim distances and timings.  Took me quite a while!
Waistcoat almost finished, now working on the collar.
7 A lone visit to mum-in-law as Crow's off to do the Tour of Cheshire rally and she had a cataract op on Tuesday.  All seems well with her eye and we had a good natter.
8 Tried to dig in the net tunnel as I would like to plant my potatoes, onions & garlic but I'll have to wait.  It's still far too wet to dig successfully.
Indoors, I finished the short waistcoat.
Poor Crow arrived home very late, shattered and fed up because the rally was not a success.
9 Still got the urge to plant so I did some digging in the back veggie garden where the soil is much less wet than in the tunnel.  Broad beans and parsnip were in order for early planting.
I've started to knit a balaclava, of all things!
Harvest:  savoy cabbage.
10 A day to be thankful that we don't live in Devon or Cornwall where the worst storm of the winter combined with high Spring tides is causing damage and flooding.  Our garden is like a swamp again and we had no power this morning for a couple of hours due to strong winds, but other than we're lucky.
11 Longfield Triangle trophyI'm quite pleased with the Longfield Triangle trophies which have arrived.
12 Crow's balaclava is finished and very scary he looks in it too!
Harvest:  spicy salad leaves, celeriac, carrots.
13 I've still got beanies to knit for the Crow's Rally Set, so number 3 was started tonight.
Sowing:  tomato, dwarf bean, haricot bean, basil, coriander.
14 Lapland is beckoning......
15 It's 3:15 (yes, in the morning!), I haven't been to bed and we're off to the airport.
A night in the Ice Hotel at -5C!   More later......
16 Cross country skiing and snowmobiling.  More later......
17 Ice driving, ice sculpting and Northern Lights tour.  More later......
18 Husky mushing and dog sled riding.  More later......
19 Last scrumptious breakfast, shopping and a long, long trip home.  More later......
20 Big harvest: red cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, carrots, turnip, kohl rabi, leeks.
21 Final work on the Essex 100 and Longfield Triangle must start in earnest now, with only a weel to go.  Today was a recce of the afternoon route.
22 Well it's Easter and today alone we've had sunshine, bitter strong wind, rain, hailstones and snow.  Just need some overnight fog for the full set!
23 Snowy Longfield 230308White out!!!!

Doesn't just looking at that photo make you feel cold?

Heavy snow for four hours and we're all white.  Click here to see more snowy Longfield pics.

24 After much resistance I've given in and joined Facebook despite feeling I'm a bit old for this kind of "social networking".  Doubt I'll find many friends of my age.
25 Essex 100 roadbook production now in full swing using my new but light duty comb binder.  Might take a while as I can only punch 3 sheets at a time.
26 A hasty visit to mum-in-law for a very tasty lunch - one of her superb macaroni cheeses.  Then back to the rally grind.  All of the roadbooks are now bound & complete, a tedious job but it's done.
I've forgotten to tell you that I'm currently doing some fine crocheting.  The pattern is for a table runner but I'm just using the design to make a pretty lace-look evening bag.
27 I wish it would stop raining.....  It's going to be weeks yet before my net tunnel stops being an absolute swamp.  No chance of planting my potatoes and onions in there, I'll have to consider using the back veg garden for them.
Harvest:  salad leaves
28 Yet more rain......  and we were out in it doing a full route recce for tomorrow's rally, checking there are no unexpected roadworks etc on route.  Happily, everything was ok so it was back to the ranch for cooking (two large pans of veg soup plus one mega pan of veg curry) and final preparation for everything else!!  We had a visit from one rally entrant who needed to check if their car would pass scrutineering.  Having driven all the way from the Isle of Wight in the pouring rain without incident, a local car hit them in the back whilst they were waiting to turn into our road.  Would you believe it?
29 08:00  It's arrived!  Today we are hosting two events at Longfield - the HRCR Essex 100 12-car rally & the Longfield Triangle treasure hunt.  It's going to be a long day, more cooking for me ( two loaves of bread, four quiches, sausages and potato wedges), but hopefully everyone will enjoy themselves.
22:00  It's over!  And it was a really, really good day.  We were very lucky with the weather, just one late afternoon shower before the end of the rally.  We raised over £120 for MS and £200 for NETs.
30 So now it's the clear up - and a gorgeous day.  Our first chance in a long time to sit out for coffee in between jobs.  Having cooked for two days for our events, I now get two days off as we consume some leftovers.  Plus I've put soup and curry in the freezer, which will give me another couple of days off soon.
Harvest:  salad leaves
31 Another gorgeous day.  But no peace for the wicked, It's now time to prepare route cards for the next round of the table-top rally which starts in just two days time.  Crow's designing them and I'm trying them out.  Where's my big magnifying glass?