Back to earth

At last! Although it has still been rather cold (with the occasional glimpse of sun and blue sky), I couldn't hold back any longer, and spent the good part of Friday, and yesterday morning down on the plot. It seemed that my close neighbours there also had the same idea, so it was good to see them all and to catch up with the latest news. Eric was working hard as usual, John had lost a lot of weight and looking and feeling a lot better for it, Brian appeared for a short while, Pat and Nick were busy helping out on Pete and Jane's plot. And then Boula turned up on her bike! What can I say about Boula, my Thai neighbour. Well, she does share her time between two allotments - one at the Hill and the other near her home in London although I hasten to add that she doesn't travel between the two on her bike. On Friday she tried to smoke me out with her (allowed in March) bonfire, but she did apologise profusely. (Earlier, Mike and I had eventually managed to burn a small amount of rubbish after a number of attempts). We won't be having trouble from vampires down our end of the allotments, as Boula appears to be growing vast amounts of garlic. She also goes in for beans in a big way. I really do admire the way she turns up and gets on with the job. A real hard worker.

Well, to be fair, I have been quite motivated myself over the past couple of days, clearing away the residual vegetables (came home with the last my parsnips and some of Eric's, and leeks), planting out shallots, moving some cabbages that were in the wrong place for my planting plan, spreading berry fertiliser around the fruit bushes, but mainly forking over most of the plot. I don't think I could cope with a 'no dig' plot, as I actually enjoy this activity. To me there's something mesmerising or cathartic about this process - fork in, boot on fork, a bit of pressure, lift and (slight hesitation) drop, step to side and repeat. After the first row is completed a steady rhythm takes over and before I realise it, it's almost ready for another growing season. I may ache a bit the following day (and I do) but it's been a good workout and I'll soon get my allotment muscles back into shape after such a long time.

After Friday's full-day session on the plot, I spent the evening Frog Racing ( no - they weren't real frogs) organised by Green Mans Morris. Very entertaining it was too - trying to encourage frogs (beautifully made from hardboard, and threaded through a piece of rope) to move from one side of the room to another by whatever means possible, mainly by varying the tension and jiggling of the rope. This is a terrible description! It's a bit hard to describe. But it was all very entertaining. There were lots of quiz sheets on the tables too, and my pal D was really on form with the answers. Mike was pretty good at the racing (had the morris team been trying it out on Tuesday nights?) I think I'd run out of steam after all the hard work on the plot and my brain had shut down. I wasn't much better at frog racing - my team got the lowest points (last in every heat). Here I am, with one of my team trying to give encouragement. Looks like I was a bit slow at the starting gate. Says it all!