Pomps Patch #2

Helloooo, welcome to my newly named and new regular feature 'Pomps Patch'. Here I will share tales of our allotment, our progress, produce and all other nerdy allotment related things. 

Last week Rich and I had our first weekend 'up the allotment'. I'll be honest, we have NO idea what we are doing, so we have set ourselves a few missions to get going, the first being to clear the existing raised beds. We took advantage of the dry weather, donned our scruffiest clothes & wellies, and got stuck in with pulling up everything (minus the Asparagus, Rhubarb and Strawberry plants, which we will be keeping). I've definitely had to grow a pair after getting our plot. I really really hate spiders but there are so many creepy crawlies that you have to just suck it up and get on with it. 

One of the perks of having an allotment is making new friends as different people appear to tend to their crops. We're pretty lucky to have two experienced gardeners, Jenny and Cathy, next to us so it will be handy if we need a bit of advice. We even bonded with a couple of slimey looking creatures, Francine and Francoise frogs. Whilst pulling up some grass, Francoise had a good old chuckle and jumped at me, I screamed, Rich caught him, we took photos and set him free, only for another frog, Francine, to appear shortly after and do the same to Rich, twas brilliant!

We also experienced our first bit of scandal... when you acquire an allotment everything that was left by the previous tenant becomes yours. We were very lucky to have a shed and some raised beds, some of which had come apart and the wood was stacked up ready for rebuilding. Whilst in the midst of weeding we realised that the pile of wood had been stolen. After a tip off from a neighbour we went for a nose and found them a couple of plots away from ours. As we were 100% certain that it was our wood, along with the tip off, we quickly took it back and locked it in our shed. Obviously we do not condone taking anything from another plot unless you have proof, and we did inform the allotment manager before we did anything. It was pretty disheartening that someone would steal from us in our first week, but we got it all back and hopefully it will be plain sailing from here.

I'm also really excited that I can share allotment life stories with Anna, a lovely friend, blogger and fellow plot owner. She has very kindly donated a big bag of magazines and seeds to help us on our road to home grown goodness.

If you're of the green fingered persuasion I'd love to hear any tips you might have. 

Sarah
xx

Sing us a song, you're the piano man...

On Friday, the entire Ginn gang, plus Julie, hit the road and went to Birmingham for a very special occassion - to see Billy Joel! I know he's not everyone's cup of tea, and I'm sure if you ask a lot of people to name one of his songs they will say 'Uptown Girl' (not his finest moment), but after growing up with him being my Dad's hero it would have been impossible to not be a fan. Now when I say he is my Dad's hero, I literally mean hero. He worships him like he is his God, he's like a 12 year old girl at a One Direction concert, he cries tears of joy when he sees him, and I'm pretty sure he will mourn for a long, long time when he eventually stops touring. 

Anyway, after being brought up on his music, the whole family are massive fans. We booked the tickets months ago and have quite literally been counting down the days. This was our (my siblings and mine) fifth Billy Joel concert, and he really was just as amazing as the previous times. We had amazing seats on the ground level so had a great view of the big man. Despite having a dodgy throat he still sounded amazing, he belted out some of the classics and before we knew it, Scenes from an Italian Restaurant was on and the concert was coming to a close, and I cried! I seriously did not want it to end. As the concert came to a close he ended on a high, and we left buzzing. There was no fear of getting tired on the long drive home because we were too hyped to care. As always I took a couple of photos...

Thank you Mr Joel for making us Ginn's extremely happy! Please come back soon, we would hate to have to fly to NYC to see you (yeah right!).

Sarah
xx

Lest We Forget

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old,

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn,

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

- Laurence Binyon.

Sarah

xx

Pomps Patch #1

I have exciting news... last weekend Rich and I got to choose our allotment!! After viewing a couple that were so horrendous we were seriously lucky to grab up this gem from a different site 30 seconds from Rich's house! It really is amazing, we have 3 eating apple trees, our very own shed and raised beds that are already done, complete with an asparagus patch!! 

This weekend we will be making a start on pulling up the weeds and turning the ground over, the photos make it look worse than it is but I can't wait to get stuck in. I have many plans for the shed, a lick of paint and some cosy little lanterns inside will be great. I'm also being given a car load of garden tools so I'm feeling very lucky right now! I'd like to start a regular feature about the allotment but I'm struggling for a witty name, if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them!!

Now I better go, the Ginn Gang are off to Birmingham to see Billy Joel, and go to Ikea to stock up on candles for winter!!

Sarah
xx