Meanwhile....

Whilst we are coming to terms with John's hospital regime we have a friend Irving staying with us. I knew him from my junior school days at Bovingdon so we go back a long way. When he arranged to come and see us we did not know that John was going to start his treatment, so I am sure that his stay has not been quite what he envisaged. However we have benefitted enormously. He has prepared the courtyard lawns for seed sowing, tidied the irises and the veg patch and he's still got 10 days left!!






















However as usual here a funny thing happened whilst we were working in the potager the other day. I decided to turn the contents of one of the compost bins to check that it was ready to use. As I did so I felt something go up the leg of my trousers. Irving said I screamed the place down as I thought it was a snake, all be it a little one. Eventually the trousers had to come down but just a bit of earth fell out so I calmed down and continued working. After two or three minutes I could feel something again, so down with the trousers once more and out jumped a tiny little mouse. He was thoroughly traumatised, well wouldn't you have been, and froze for ages before eventually returning to the adjoining compost heap. Irving said he would not have believed me if he hadn't seen it.





I just have to show you my sweet potato crop. You will recall that I began growing them in my bedroom in January from a supermarket "potato". They have been eaten by furry wildlife all the time they have been in the potager, so quite honestly I did not expect to find anything in the ground when I dug them up. However.... hey presto I was delighted. Out will go King Edwards next year in favour of "les patates".