Do you see what I see.

Today dawned bright and dry and progressed to sunny at times. This meant that "no rain stopped play", instead of sewing time it was Gardeners time.

The side of my little front patch, you can just see the (roughly) central bed.

The front view, my food waste bin is awaiting collection, there is one little bag with some cat food that my visitor cat turned her pretty little nose up at and some onion skins. I never put onion in my compost, my Grandfather never did and I follow many of his ways.

You probably see a scratty bit of lawn and some roughly turned over soil, you are right in part. The lawn is more of a close cropped meadow than  a lawn and the soil has been turned over.

But... there has been a whole heap of compost forked in to loosen the compacted soil. There are 9 planting stations, these will have a good dose of manure forked in and will be getting a squash plant in each. There will be 3 each of Jack O'Lantern, Fiesta and Butternut, I hope that between them they will keep me in some very tasty carbohydrates for a decent part of next winter.

I love squashes, the Jack O'Lanterns will have the tops sliced off, seeds scooped out and be stuffed and baked. The Fiestas will be sliced and deseeded then tossed in a little oil and spices and roasted, and the Butternuts will be used in a myriad of dishes 

After that was done I scrabbled around and weeded the path along the side of the house.

By then it was getting close to 10;30 and a brew was in order, while drinking I went through emails and squeezed a little blog reading in. Then it was time to go outback.

As Ben was shut in while the front was being sorted he was happy to supervise in the back garden. The  Patio area is now weed free and looking good, I have to find some stakes to drive into one area and then hang some trellis up. This is to hide the tip that is my next doors back garden, it looks like Steptoe's back yard after a hurricane. There is still some tidying up along the new veg bed and I would like to get a raised bed in very soon right at the back.

The car is in for an MOT tomorrow and if I get it back in time I will be off to B & Q for a few items, including the stakes. I also would like a Flowering Quince to go under the front window. That may require a trip to the nearest garden center, which is at Ponterdulais.

Once I had finished that section it was time to walk Ben, we had a quick waltz along the defunct railway line and then home for some lunch as I was rumbling, quite seriously.

I had a little Lentil Dahl, a small dollop of the tomato sauce from my burgers, a cup of cooked pasta from the Mac 'n cheese and 2 chicken drumsticks in a barbecue sauce. I stripped the meat off the bones threw it in a saute pan with the little dish of broccoli and spring greens that were lurking on the second shelf of the fridge.
10 minutes later there was a feast for 2, it would have served 3 but Mr Muscle was helping and he was even hungrier than me. In all fairness he did do all the lifting and walking to dispose of the stuff that was turfed out.
After lunch was done and dusted I took Ben for a walk round the park in Garnant, he loves it there and can have a good snuffle round.

Here it is  just as it landed in the pan, my word it was good. Nothing to compare with a fridge bottom meal.

Tonight I have made a cross between Moussaka and lasagne. A sauce of minced steak, half price from Lidl, chopped onion, carrot, celery. peppers, a tin of tomatoes and a tetra pack of passata, with a handful of fresh herbs, simmered a while then layered with a very thinly sliced aubergine. The topping is a tub of quark with an egg beaten in to it. It is in the mini oven and smells divine. There is enough meat sauce left for at least 4 meals, I will divide it and make 2 portions of chilli with some kidney beans and chipotle sauce, and then the rest will go into  2 cottage pies.

Francesca is coming for a week and as I am eating mostly vegetarian meals now I need to get some dinners prepared for her.

It is almost dinner time and I have to gather my salad leaves and give them a quick wash.

Have a good weekend, where ever you may be.

            TTFN                                                 Pam