Vegetables galore

Well, it's a long time since I wrote anything here...nothing really special seems to have happened.   After our week in Portugal we've been doing jobs around the house.  Peter has cleared the cellar so that it is now fit for a king!  We found a small bench burried under a pile of old tiles that will make an ideal little table to go in front of the seat in the front garden and Peter has painted it.   Now that we are ready to sit out and put our wine glasses on it, the weather has turned!  

My Airbnb venture is going well and we have had a modest stream of guests who have all been delightful and who have all left glowing reviews!   At the moment we have a nice young man who is here for 4 nights.  On the first morning of his visit he managed to shower without putting the curtain inside the bath and flooded the bathroom.  Being young and impractical (apparently, I know they don't necessarily go hand in hand) he mopped up with the bathmat and the hand towel and then left them both sopping wet and shut the bathroom door.  It's amazing how quickly the musty, damp smell reached me!  I cleared up and discovered that the water had leaked out of the bathroom and soaked a corner of the carpet outside.  Poor chap.  He had a telling off when he got back.  He received it with head bowed and many apologies.  Landlady from hell!

I've also been using up scraps of fabric and making tote bags which I am trying to sell.  A craft shop on the way to Cromer has taken three and we'll go past there at the weekend and see if any have sold.   I'm holiding back from making more until I know there's a market for them.


There are other occupations...or preoccupations.  We are selling our London flat because we are using it less and less and planning to buy in Southwold by the sea in Suffolk.  So far the sale is going well and the solicitors are busy earning their fat fees.  We found a house in Southwold we fell in love with but someone bid more than us and it's taking us a long time to get over the disappointment.  So far we've seen nothing else of interest.  We hope that when the holiday season comes to an end...about now...more properties will come on the market.   We are monitoring the web sites daily.

Also keeping me busy is the vegetable plot.  I've been over today, in the drizzle, and picked runner beans, courgettes, potatoes and kale.  Our vitamin levels must be off scale!  There is also spinach to be eaten, beetroots and sweetcorn.  The little raspberry plants that friends gave us in the spring have fruited a bit and the raspberries are absolutely delicious.  Next year we shall have more.  We have also had a wonderful crop of small golden tomatoes from three plants outside the back door.