Festival

I had a fantastic time at the Latitude festival. We put a tent up for the first time in sixteen years with no mishaps-. It was very middle class - the acts far more diverse than the audience. I loved the poetry. Simon Armitage was very good. Jackie Kay was brilliant such a bubbly person and really funny. Kate Tempest rapped her poems and actually got the audience on their feet. Great to see the poetry tent so energized. She's going to be big. Grace Jones was brilliant - hula hooping through slave to the rhythm. Her costumes were amazing -magnificent ridged head-dress. She changed between each song. Lisa Hannigan who I'd never heard of before was very good. What was great about the festival was the variety of stuff to do - theatre, film, comedy, poetry, literature and ballet by the lake. The site itself was lovely. The lake cut the site in two and had giant delicate fabric lilys floating on it. The lake set off the ballet on its bank beautifully. Later in the day a cube was floated on the lake with a quartet playing inside. In the evening jets of water acted as a projector screen for giant cupcakes rising and falling in the sky. It was a really chilled out festival. A tent tucked away in the woods held the mellow tunes of The Boy trapped by the Sun - very good. I love Nick Cave but the sound wasn't very good - the music was too loud and kind of buzzing. I don't mind loud music - in fact that's the only way to do justice to most songs but it just didn't sound right. Oh and the compost toilets in the woods were the best festival toilets I've ever been too.

sunshine and rain

It's so exciting going to the allotment this time of year as things grow so quickly. Spring you spend time waiting for seeds to germinate then protecting the seedlings- everything seems slow then bam in the summer it all takes off. The courgettes are growing on the tails of their flowers, coming quicker than you can eat them. I have lovely cucumbers -variety Passandra that my friend recommended - they never go bitter. I picked some of the beetroot as they are growing too close together. I will boil them in their skins for an hour or two till soft and then eat them. Dug up some more potatoes and garlic too. I need to sow some more carrot as half a row did not germinate. The other row of carrots looks great but not big enough to harvest yet. I started to dig up my broad beans as between the black fly and the squirrels there's nothing left. I am going to put in some more dwarf french beans instead as I love them and that means I'll be able to harvest some later. There's loads of black fly this year (dry weather) but on the plus side less slugs. The ladybird larvae are starting to eat their way through the flies. So nice to see so many ladybirds. The rain held out while I was at the allotment then drenched me completely on the way home. Me and the plants were well watered. (I like the rain)
My friend T came over on Monday and let me take some photos on her camera and emailed them to me. What a treat! After she's gone I realised I'd taken pics of the plants but none of my child but she'd taken some.

Chilean potato climber still flowering months later along with second flush of roses.

Tomatoes yipee!!!

Cosmos

Clematis has turned into wonderful fluffy seed heads

White lavender.

Chatting with like minds

I had such a lovely day today. Saw some people I hadn't seen for years. We talked about how it's taken us decades to realise that mistakes are necessary and how much you lose when you avoid doing things for fear you'll do them wrong. One of the people is the person who started me writing poetry in a determined way. I spent six years churning out fetuses of poems and till this year could not bear to go back to them to see if they could be fully fledged poems. I now have four poems I am pretty happy with. One of the poems was born from some prose I showed to that person years ago to which she replied that it was poetic and had I tried poetry. So today I got the chance to thank her. Tina one of the other people has helped me by reading the poems and encouraging me. Her mum gave me amazing feedback too. Oh and Tina has offered to lend me a camera till the insurance gets sorted. I can't believe how much I've missed taking photos. My garden has white lavender coming into flower. I really love white flowers and I know it probably sounds really weird to not just have purple lavender but there's something so delicate about the tiny white flakes of petals. The broom has gone to seed and they rattle in their pods like a kid's toy. Baby tomatoes growing -yipee.

Beginning to harvest

Yesterday I harvested some more lettuce- I have grown three different kinds. The red ones look gorgeous against the lime coloured ones. There was one solitary tiny cucumber so I ate it - delicious. Currants aren't very plentiful but we did treat them badly when they were given to us so are grateful that they are alive and have produced anything. Picked our first courgettes - forgot to tell hubby. The baby ones are lovely can even eat them raw. Today I found out I'd won a pair of tickets for the Latitude festival- very excited. The last thing I'd won before that was an egg rack. Have been picking and using onions from allotment and also more potatoes. Am digging up potatoes as I need them. When all their foliage dies back it will be time to dig them all out as otherwise the slugs might get them. Carrots are still tiny and will need thinning out to let the remaining ones have enough room to grow bigger. Had meeting last night to find out daughters first teacher's name. So it's real my baby's going to school.Boo hoo.

A new day

Hello I will paint my garden with words as no photos for now. The penstemon is full of deep pink flowers. They are deep throated flowers like foxgloves but they have a frill at the end of each flower. Their throats have speckled run ways for bees to follow to the nectar. The leaves are narrow and pointed. The white roses have finished their first glorious display and prepare for their next performance. Bending their climbing limbs horizontal has been a great success as it sent off many new shoots along its length each bearing triple blooms.
I went to the allotment yesterday.It really helped to steady my mind. I love weeding - isn't that handy. My lettuces were big enough to do my first salad. Took some baby leaves off the beetroot to add to flavour to the salad. The dwarf french beans are growing well as are the runner beans. The courgettes have started to look better after their shock of being moved from a pot into the ground. I grew them from seed so am glad they are looking happier. Leeks look ok and onions may be ready soon.

A day of two halves

I had a lovely afternoon at my poetry workshop. It's brilliant for getting feedback on work. It's a really good group as they don't just say 'that's lovely' but point out bits that don't work and offer solutions. Unfortunately I returned home to find out someone had nicked our ipod and cameras while I was out (kids and hubby in house at the time-they saw nothing which is good). On the course the tutor had by coincidence said that when stuff was taken from her she always rationalised that the thief needed the things more than her. Well I hope they put it to good use. Anyway that's why there are no photos - plus can't work out how to attach existing ones on new laptop. I took some friends to the allotment the other day - one friend hates all creepy crawlies but she did well. But then she did say she was going to shower and change all her clothes when she got home. At least she stayed an hour - it's progress.

My dwarf french beans have germinated -hurrah - I love them! I put in my leeks last week - can't remember if I've told you already. They had all sprouted like blades of grass in a pot -the next stage is to plant them out. You make a hole 15cm deep and about 10cm apart with a fat dibber then drop a blade of leek in each hole. Even at this tiny size the leeks give off their instantly recognisable pungent smell. You don't fill soil in around them but instead fill each hole with water.
While we were sulking around in the garden my daughter found stag beetle. Amazing creatures-took a photo on my phone but have no idea how to download from it. A nice gift.

Poem on Everyday Poets

My poem is up on http://www.everydaypoets.com. Pay a visit if you fancy. Enjoy the rest of the sunny day!!