Thank you so much to all of you who commented on my last post. The kind words and suggestions were very much appreciated so a big thank you.
Cherie, the idea of a lovely bungalow for £125,000 in a good area is something I would love to have but we need to stay in this area, or at least within a short radius. I can't bear the thought of moving away from my GC and my lovely DD. I would be bereft, as would they I think :) House hunting has already become such a chore. The bungalows and semi's we like the look of are way beyond our means and the ones we can afford are so tatty they would need gutting and renovating. We have neither the money nor the expertise to do any of the work ourselves and the thought of living in it whilst work is carried out over several months fills me with horror. Only this afternoon we put in an offer for a decent small bungalow which was rejected. We can't offer more because we simply don't have it and can't get even a small mortgage at our age (we tried) Bugger....
On to more pleasant things...Remember the allotment we took on last year? We covered it with black polythene to supress the weeds...
We had a few sunny days over the last two weeks so have slowly begun to prepare the ground. After peeling back some of the polythene we turned the soil with a fork and removed as many thick weeds and stones as we could....
It took us two days of hard(ish) graft and then G made two raised beds and set them on weed suppressant membrane, covering the paths between with some free bark chippings....
Over the following week G turned a bit more soil to make a bed for a row of potatoes (free from a gardening neighbour), a row of chard (seed free from a kind allotment neighbour) and a row of broad beans.…..
You can just see the broad beans, our first sign of a crop! I have absolutely NO idea if what we are doing is correct and G is working from a planner and with advice from seasoned gardeners, but it's exciting!
We have a gooseberry bush in a pot at home (thriving) and a blackberry bush also in a pot (not much sign of life yet) which we intend to plant at the very top of our plot eventually. At the moment we must take it slow and easy, I think.....
Thanks for popping in once again and stay safe wherever you happen to be x
Last year some building societies introduced what they call a Later Life mortgage - one of them is Nationwide. It might be worth your while to look into that.
ReplyDeleteLove how your allotment is coming along.
Your allotment is a credit to your hard work. Well done. Sorry about the house situation. I hope there is a solution.
ReplyDeleteWow, the allotment is really taking shape now, a real credit to all your hard work. Hope you manage to find the home you are looking for, take care.
ReplyDeleteThe allotment is looking very good, a bit of advice that I was given. Start making the beds and filling them, when you find that you cannot manage them all fill the last one with permanent plants, fruit bushes, rhubarb, and then you should be at your optimum space. Potatoes are a great crop for newly cleared ground, beware of your Blackberry bush, they can rampage like a bloodthirsty pirate and take over. Mine is planted in a corner and trained along both sides, I have to be vigilant at taking out the runners that want to spread outwards into the rest of the garden. I have it mainly to protect the hedgehog house. Even Herbie does not venture into the middle to investigate.
ReplyDeleteI do hope you find a property that will fill your needs.
ReplyDeleteThe allotment looks so neat and tidy.
Hugs-x-
I love my little cottage, but it is not situated in the greatest area. We have the same housing situation here that you describe. Your garden looks and sounds amazing!
ReplyDeleteWell done on allotment. Take it steady. Mix quick gain things like Spinach, lettuce and radish with stuff that takes longer to avoid gluts.Example this year only 2 courgette plants allowed! Who needs to buy them in January from Spain when in July you cant bear to look at another one again?
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