Kitchen Orientated

Was up early, cooked G his breakfast then it was a matter of getting ready and travelling down to my Doctors' Surgery.

I had a visit to see the Nurse (Vampires) at my surgery. Medics have been taking blood from me since I was seven years old.  Patricia (yes same name as me) was lovely and gentle.  It would seem that the Consultant has asked for bloods and not my GP as I had been told.  I have an appointment with the Rheumatology Consultant in August.  However, a referral is supposedly being made to the Ophthalmic Department of the Hospital.  There is some concern that as I have been on the Hydroxychloroquine for a very long time that it is affecting my eyes and they want to keep tabs on it.  Like Diabetic Retinopathy appointments where they check on your eyes once a year and check any potential changes.  I hope that there is no issue with the medication (although I have had an issue with my eyes being sore for quite sometime), as the Hydroxy is one of the better drugs for assisting the immune system.  I have several auto-immune conditions.  My body naturally creates too many antibodies and the Hydroxy helps keep things under control. 

When I went to the Optician the other week, she established that I have Blepharus which is inflammation of the eye lid, and she has given me a protocol to follow using an eye cleaner and a stronger eye drop to help with the dry eyes.  These being used together seem to have calmed things down just a little bit and my eyes are a lot more comfortable.  I was having problems opening them of a morning and it felt like my eyelid was sticking to my eyeball.  Funnily enough I think my Granddad had Blepharus so yet again it could be a family thing; this time though from my paternal family rather than maternal where the majority of the conditions seem to stem from.

Today at long last has been a kitchen day, and quite a lot has been achieved.  I do however think that I am going to need at least another two days at it as I have cupboards and contents to go through as well.  It will be good to have both the kitchen and the Pantry off the list.  Then it will be the bathroom.  I am thinking on getting the bathroom sorted next and then get the floor in the kitchen and the bathroom dealt with together. Then I will be able to get rid of some of the ironing as I will have a clean floor to deal with.  Sometimes the laundry floats to the floor and so I will be pleased when the new flooring is down to save any issues. Then it will be the dining room and the wallpapering.

My second batch of wallpaper also arrived today.  What are the chances of wallpaper ordered from two different sellers would end up to be the same batch number.  Well that is exactly what has happened so I should be able to interchange the rolls on any one particular wall. I thought that they would be two different batch numbers and that I would have to be careful not to mix both wallpapers on the same wall due to there possibly being a shade change between the batches.  Someone is looking after me.  Very pleased with the wallpaper.

I also dried more herbs this morning. I bought in some flat leafed parsley, some more Thyme, more Mint, and I have rooted more Garden mint for hopefully new plants. I am getting well ahead with the herbs where I can.

We had planned on going to the tip today but that has been cancelled until tomorrow as G wants to go first thing in the morning rather than later in the afternoon.  So we have a lot to do tomorrow initially. There are going to be at least two trips.  It is all sorted out in the back garden, we just now need to get it into the front garden for it to be loaded into the car.  That job normally falls to me to deal with.  My plan is to go back into the kitchen after the rubbish run(s) have been achieved and do a bit more.

Tea tonight was Gammon steak, pineapple, and a fried egg.  Went down very nicely indeed.

I have also ordered my compost today all 8 sacks of it and 12 growbag pots.  Will have to order growbags another day as they are currently out of stock of the ones I am after.

I have also placed another order with Rocket Gardens, predominantly for pumpkins, including summer and winter squash, more tomatoes, sprouting broccoli, Calabrese, Cucamelons, Globe Artichokes, French Climbing beans (purple ones), Romanesco, and Leeks.  The rest I am growing my own from seeds, but I am trying to maximise things this year until I get a bit more organised and the garden is reclaimed. Next year it will be me predominantly growing from seeds, but I need a better set up than I have at the moment.  So we shall see what we can do.  The garden is slowly being sorted, and all the plants that I have received in as small seedlings have really grown an awful lot in the time I have had them.  I already plan to start buying in a few seeds each month where I can for next year so that I get ahead as it were with the seeds and not have to pay out a lot of money in one fair swoop. It will also help me sort out those seeds that I really want.  Seeds have gone up astronomically to what they were pre-Covid.

I have also received my Grow Your Own Magazine today and free seeds are:

Catnip

Parsley - Giant of Italy (flat leaf variety)

Daisy - Goliath Mixed

Oregano - Greek

Marigold (French) - Red Cherry

Garlic Chives

I am waiting for the Kitchen Garden Magazine to arrive. We will therefore see what seeds (if any) they have with their magazine.

Tonight I have sat down and I have not done any crafting at all.  Sometimes you have to have a night off to let the eyes rest a bit.  I did manage to achieve 3 hours 40 minutes worth of cross stitch last night which I am pleased about.  I think the cross stitch is going to be worked when I have at least a couple of hours to work at it.  The rest of the time will work a UFO project to maximise time.

So tomorrow it will be breakfast and then a lot of manual labour moving the green waste bags to the front garden and the metal and wood and plastic bags as well. That should free up a lot of space.  I will then have to set about cleaning the pots, containers and trays and get the area better cleared down by the greenhouses.  The reason for this is that I have two what were mini greenhouses there that are used as racking for holding all my gardening containers.  They are kept right next to the water butt.  I cleared around that area which was full of brambles the other day, but it all needs clearing that bit more and then digging over.  Then I will be able to put some slabs down around the greenhouses and then get the potatoes in.

Then it will be the next section which is full of weeds to tackle that bit further on. I am making a concerted effort to get all of this done. I am also taking space inbetween though so that I do not overdo things.

Right hope everyone has a lovely evening.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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