The drive back from Heathrow went without a hitch, at 7am on a Sunday morning there wasn’t much traffic. Th rest of the day felt strange as besides being cold (because it was cold) we busied ourselves with unpacking, ringing the family (when they had woken up) and tried hard to stay awake as long as we could. We managed to make it to 9pm before climbing the stairs, but if the truth be told we were both dozing in the lounge for a good hour before then.

The following day I checked the loft for water in the bucket (from the hole in the roof) and there was a little. It was still cold and damp outside so I decided to leave doing anything about it other than emptying the bucket, until a  a better day. I did however re-plaster the hole in the ceiling (where my knee went through) and unless you knew and looked hard you would never guess what had happened (yes, I do go to SpecSavers). Jamie also started his new job. It is just 5 minutes down the road and so far this week he has had a variety of tasks from being in the warehouse,  delivering and being in the office. He seems to like the variety and they are a small family firm,  in the food business. The Rothwell’s came around during the afternoon. We gave them their presents and watched a bit of TV.

Usually I write the blog on a rainy day. After a whole week of miserable weather, today is scorching hot, having spent most of it in the allotment planting carrots, I have resisted the urge to join Sarah in the pool and settled down in my nice cool study and started to type away.

Last Wednesday evening I drove up to Sheffield and dropped several suit-cases off at Sarah’s digs (ready to pack her stuff in) , then carried on to Nan’s for the night. She had stayed up to meet me, though I have a key and it wasn’t necessary. After a coffee and a chat, it was off to bed.

The following day I had arranged for EON to service Nan’s heating system. The engineer arrived for 9am and took an hour to thoroughly service it. Nan insisted that I sit in the lounge and watch him!. I planted some curly kale in the garden that I had been growing for Nan.  Afterwards we drove into Rotherham to the bank for her to get some money and close an old account, we then carried on to Sheffield and picked up Sarah for lunch. We were going to see Aunt Edna as she had not been to well recently, so we chose a pub nearby to eat in. We stayed around an hour with Edna (she seems to be getting quite confused now) and then dropped Sarah off (she was partying that night) on the way back to Thurcroft. That night we both watched soccer on Sky and went to bed late (after 9pm).

Friday morning saw Nan and I shopping for new potatoes in Dinnington. As soon as we returned, Sarah rang and requested that I pick her up. When I arrived I asked if she wanted to eat, but she was keen to get home, so we set off.   There was an accident on the M1 near Nottingham and the traffic was horrendous (according to the radio), so we detoured and added another hour to the journey. Charlotte and the kids arrived within an hour of us getting home (she has missed her sister).

Saturday morning saw me pick up the summer season’s batch of Sodium hypochlorite (12 barrels), I have been hoovering the pool each day and now it needs the chemical to clear it and kill off any bugs.algae. That evening saw Sarah working behind the bar at a Harley Davidson Weekend Meet, I watched Leinster v Ulster at the Angel (with Roger and Jim) and then later at home, Chelsea beat Bayern Munich.  I haven’t a clue how they did it, but they did, it was a fascinating game. Sarah got home at 3am. That afternoon,  Nan rang to say that her heating wasn’t working. I talked her through all the checks that I could think of (such as switching it on etc.)  I then rang EON and they had some one there within the hour. Later that evening when I rang to see how they had got on, Nan sheepishly confessed that it wasn’t broken, just switched off. I am not saying anything (she reads these).

Sunday morning I planted lettuce and runner beans. After lunch I took Sarah over to Charlotte’s to stay the night. Charlotte has started to go to church and Sarah was keen to go with her.  I stopped off at Roger’s on the way back for a coffee and a chat. That Evening I started to make a video from our Borneo photos.

Monday I planted tomatoes and cucumbers in the greenhouse, onions, rocket and  carrots in the garden. Charlotte and the kids came in the afternoon and stayed with Jamie for tea. Afterwards we watched the Borneo video.

Today as I have already mentioned it  is stinking hot!!!! Charlotte and Suraj have been collecting firewood for me. On Sunday I had brought back a load and stacked it next to the garage, then I had an idea. This morning I put my plan into action. They had collected some wood that was two planks nailed together at both ends and the middle with a cubed piece of wood that left a 12 cm gap in the middle. I dug my allotment, placed three of the pieces of wood, end to end across the plot. I filled the gap in between the planks with compost and then sowed carrots into it. Finished off with a watering. I did two rows before lunch and two in the afternoon. They look like mini raised beds. We shall see if it works, it is sure to be hot gossip on the other plots!