Day 34 Sunday 26th April

Following a late breakfast it was time for a trip to the allotment. Beds needed to be opened up. Plants needed to be planted. Tea needed to be made and drunk. We set off just after twelve with our lunch and the plants. It was too early to have lunch, we had only just finished breakfast, so we decided to do some work. All went according to plan except that the runner beans turned out to be French beans. Not that I was complaining too much, I prefer French beans to runner beans. We also have peppers, chilli peppers, sweetcorn, courgettes, squash, butternut I think, but we will find out in due course.

In addition to all that, we have one lonely little cantaloupe melon plant. I read the care instructions, and concluded;
a) the weather will have to be absolutely perfect;
b) even if the weather is perfect it is a very difficult plant to grow in our climate.
It really should be in a greenhouse. We have it under a poly-tunnel that Diane bought in Poundland. If we get any fruit off it, I will claim that it was all down to my brilliant gardening skills. Otherwise, it was Diane’s idea.

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Supper was the leftover Bolognese from Friday with some kidney beans and extra chilli added to make chilli con carne.

Day 35 Monday 27th April

The plaster has dried in the bedroom, so we have to think about getting it back to being a bedroom again. I mentioned a couple of days ago our local DIY mega-store has reopened. Word obviously has got out. On Saturday, when I headed over to my house, the cars were queued half-way up the A3 slip road.

We needed some paint, obviously, but we thought it would be a good opportunity to resite the electrical sockets. Diane’s cousin-in-law (is that an actual relationship) is a semi-retired electrician, and he said he would do it for us if we got the parts. Diane decided to get up early to beat the queue. She left about eight and arrived back about eight-thirty without paint. The queue was as bad as it was on Saturday.

We managed to get the electrical parts we needed at another shop, but probably paid about twice the price. We then went grocery shopping at Aldi.

The Dons Local Action Group (run by AFC Wimbledon fans) are co-ordinating collection and distribution of food parcels, and other help, to vulnerable people in the local area. They had a collection point set up in the car park at Aldi, so we bought a bit extra to give to them.

After lunch, I decided to brave the queue at B&Q. It wasn’t too bad. I managed to get the paint, a paint roller, carrot seeds and lettuce seeds and be back home in less than an hour.

Mini rant about our now back at work Prime Minister

I am glad that Mr Johnson survived his encounter with Covid-19. I am not so glad that he is our Prime Minister. There is something about the faux sub-Churchillian persona and rhetoric that really gets my goat. Even now after almost dying of the disease, I really don’t think that he gets it. At least he has resisted, for now, the siren calls from his billionaire backers, and the stupider element of his own MPs to abandon the current lockdown.

It is now time for tea so I shall close for the day. Stay safe.