Priorities...

A pretty poppy, despite now fading - it's priority... maturing seeds!

10 June 2025 (Tuesday)

They say it’s warming up, though it’s a chilly, grey start to the day…

Up and at my desk with a cuppa by 6.30am, and work work and work, as I need to edit the segment I recorded at the plot yesterday… I had not expected to record anything, though when I saw harvests…

A morning of work work is frustrated by a lorry having taken down the festoon lighting over the parking area at For Earth’s Sake, and another regular supplier has ‘a driver missing’ so the thing that usually pops up first thing on a Tuesday for me to check doesn’t appear - after a bit of scratching of my head I decided to call and see what’s what, and the what was a missing driver, so the delivery will be tomorrow.

It’s not a major hardship, as we don't open until tomorrow anyway, and the customer service person can tell me what they’ve not been able to fulfill of our order, so I can get on and start following through the usual Tuesday morning routine - albeit an hour and a half later.

Then a call from Vanessa, which is full of static  - both images and crackle... and then we realise the broadband's not working... is it something to do with the festoon lighting coming down?  No idea!!!  But, the upshot is I can't connect to the till from where I am at my home office, so any changes I make to prices are not reflected live on the till... I know we've said this in Sunday Chat, though do we now rely on connectivity and broadband too much?  Time will tell, and it's a priority to get this sorted, though Vanessa has other things to do today too...  So I leave her to it...

Inspired by Richard’s Warm Couscous Salad, I do a quick stir fry for lunch - olive oil, an onion, three thinly sliced carrots, about 100g frozen peas, a little turmeric and also a little madras powder, and leftover cooked brown rice.  With a little Bragg’s liquid aminos we have a warming spiced rice lunch - filling, though more importantly… warming!

However, after lunch the sky starts brightening - it looks as though that warmer, sunnier weather may be on the way!

I needed a few answers from Vanessa, though she was already stressed out, understandably, by the broadband, and the get-in that started yesterday is still happening, which for her is a joy - a show, being busy and what she absolutely knows; theatre is definitely in her blood!

When I do ask something mid-afternoon, she tells me via WhatsApp she’s “breathing in the lovely afternoon, cutting laurels and clearing soil for the pond and tractoring the chairs down to the Dell”... so I leave her to it and go to the plot to water and plant some things into beds... and I find this pretty poppy too, despite the fact it's gone over as having already given it's best, yet of course, maturing all those tiny seeds is now it's priority!

Home, then a quick supper of wraps, protein and salad… then some TV to calm the rest of the day... priorities.

Oh, and I have a new book to start when I go to bed - Louise Penny's How the Light Gets In... priorities again!

Happy Days!!


Weather:  Grey, though it is due to start warming… sun late afternoon, as forecast.

Breakfast:  Bran Sticks, yogurt, and sultanas
Lunch:   Spiced Vegetable Rice (see above) - inspired by Richard's Warm CousCous Salad
Supper:   Wraps - one hummus and one cheese - with lettuce and homemade coleslaw