The last week of May 2013 was a busy one for us. We had Commando Senior coming to stay to recover from his broken hip. The house was upside down, the bed hadn’t been delivered and I was worried what he’d make of my cooking. Fraught might be the best word to describe things.
23 May 2013
Today was always going to be a busy one but it probably would have helped if I didn’t oversleep! It was after nine thirty when I finally came round. Not good when I had so much to do but I guess I needed the sleep after a very busy week. The first task of the day was to sort out the ‘girls’ bathroom. This is the downstairs bathroom off the gym that I usually use for my morning abloutions. Obviously I don’t want to come lumbering through the gym in my pj’s at six o’clock in the morning when Commando Senior is trying to sleep in there. Apart from anything I’m not the prettiest sight with my hair all sticking up and no makeup. I’m also a real grumpy guts first thing until I’ve had at least one cup of coffee and best left well alone.
So I had to move all my toiletries, the creams and potions that are supposed to make me look ten years younger but don’t work very well, my hair dryer, toothbrush and the like, upstairs. Then I had to clean the bathroom and laundry room. This was not in honour of Commando Senior, just a normal weekly thing but I’d normally do it over the weekend. At least the gym was already mostly sorted out waiting for the delivery of the new bed. Commando did that yesterday, moved the furniture around and made a space. The treadmill has had to be folded up and the exercise bike moved but I guess we can live without them for a week or so.
Of course, after all his hoovering and tidying I had to have my hair cut in there last night which didn’t go down very well but needs must. A girl has to have a haircut. I’m a little less shaggy dog now anyway. Bless his heart, CJ even cleared up most of the hair while I had a coffee with Rachel and organised my next appointment. Not sure what’s come over him being so helpful all of a sudden but I’m not complaining.
While I was cleaning the bathroom and Commando was walking down to Commando Senior’s house to pick up the car there was a hail storm. Can you believe it, a lovely sunny day yesterday and hail today? Wouldn’t it be nice to have some consistent good weather? The major problem with hail is the damage it does to tender young leaves like the ones on my precious veggies. Luckily the cloches are still on at the moment really or we’d have holey leaves on the radicchio.
Once the cleaning was done and the hail had stopped I took a walk up the Big Hill to get bits and bobs. By the time I got home the eagle had landed. The eagle being Commando Senior. He was sitting in his special chair in the gym and we were all waiting with fingers crossed for the delivery of the new bed. Given all the delivery problems I had with my hob and oven that was a bit of a worry. If it didn’t arrive the only alternative was the futon in the spare room. Hardly recommended for someone with a recently broken hip.
Thank goodness the bed did arrive and it was all there. Commando put it up while I started cooking the beef curry for dinner. Luckily Commando Senior likes curry. We could have been in big trouble if he didn’t, curry is a staple dish in our house. The best thing about this one is it’s quick to prepare and then just simmers away on the hob for a couple of hours. The worst thing is it smells so good those two hours are torture, as soon as you smell it you start feeling hungry. While it was bubbling away I knocked up a batch of granola. Commando had gone out for a run while all this was going on.
Once all the cooking was done I went out to inspect the hail damage in the garden. Luckily, as it was a fairly short storm, it looks like everything has survived. The broccoli and garlic are not full of holes, probably because their leaves are older and less vulnerable.The more delicate veg seedlings are all still under cover, although one khol rabi appears to have been munched on by the blasted slugs. This was the one I put under the random plastic container because I ran out of milk cartons, the one with no patented anti slug ring with sharp spiky edges to stop the little blighters.
In the mini greenhouse, the red cabbage are none the worse for being transplanted from their seed tray into pots. I probably need to start hardening all these things off now. Something else that is coming on nicely is the palm flower. The stems have grown longer and it now looks a bit like the top of the tree has grown strange fingers. The sepals have opened to reveal the tightly packed panicles of flowers. At the moment they almost look like odd shaped rice cakes, each flower being a little yellowish green ball. To be honest, when they open they’re hardly pretty but it is interesting to watch them slowly develop.
The flowers on the chives have begun to open too. They’re actually edible, believe it or not, and make a pretty addition to a salad. My strawberries have a few more flowers now but I’m not holding my breath for actual strawberries, not unless the weather improves anyway. One thing the slugs have eaten, more or less down to the ground, is my parsley. I’ve never known them to eat parsley before and I’m quite annoyed because I use quite a bit of it. Fingers crossed it recovers.
The curry seemed to go down quite well, clean plates all round and, after dinner, Commando Senior went to bed. It had been a long and eventful day for him with all the travelling and what have you. Hopefully the new bed is comfortable.