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Happy Birthday, Ma’am (rhymes with jam)

I almost put ‘rhymes with ham’ in today’s blog post title, but then I reckon Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is more of a jam gal. Raspberry. Or plum. It’s her 94th birthday today! For the first time in EVER she has cancelled the Gun Salute that marks the occasion, so I sang her a ‘Happy Birthday’ this morning instead, as I am rather fond of our Queen. I think she is an all round marvellous woman. Happy Birthday to her!

My tomato seedlings have been wrestling their way out of the seed tray on the kitchen window for a few days now so I hied them up to the potting shed and transplanted 38 of them into separate pots. Will 38 be enough, do you think? I could have done twice as many, but it’s too late now because I fed the rest of the seedlings to the girly hens. Anyway, I shall ask our neighbours if they’d like a few of the plants. I expect they will. They like a spot of gardening. And who doesn’t like a home grown tomato? Apart from his Lordship Malarkey, but then he rarely eats what is good for him...

The spot on the window sill vacated by the tomato seedling tray has now been filled with the basil seedlings. They are emerging, but a bit slowly, probably because they are Mediterranean plants and have been trying to start their lives in the equivalent of Potting Shed Norway. They’ll much prefer the kitchen window sill. The courgettes have appeared, as have the cauliflower and cabbages, which are going a bit leggy, so I might have to start ‘Cauliflower and Cabbage - round 2.’ There are two chilli pepper plants, so I shall transplant those and bring them inside for a spot of warmth, too.

Did anyone else have the misfortune of tuning in to watch the ‘One World’ concert at home thingy a couple of nights ago? Sheesh - what was the criteria for that? Take a miserable song and sing it as slowly and grimly as possible, oh, and don’t forget to wear black, keep your eyes closed throughout your performance and look as pained as possible. I wasn’t impressed. Elton John, at least, sang an upbeat tune, on his piano in the garden (like you do) and I liked Tom Jones’ effort, because at least he maintained eye contact, but as for the rest - well, I gave up after an hour and went and had a bath, before I began to feel more miserable than I already was.

I’m just off to construct the knitted monkey. I hate this part of making a knitted toy. But if I don’t do it NOW it’ll still be sitting in my UFO bag ten years from now. Fellow crafters will know exactly what I mean. I’ll leave you with some photos taken in the garden this morning : the cherry tree, whose blossom has been magnificent this year, the emerging apple blossom from the recently pruned trees, some bluebells, some self seeded violas and violets in the acer pot, and some Devon primroses, courtesy of Jessica over at Rusty Duck...



Comments

aileen g said…
Maybe HM is more of a spam girl? Reading about the monkey reminde me when my grandson wanted me to knit him one. I hadn't knitted for years but found a pattern and bought new needles etc. I started knitting and thought it seemed a bit "big", so I read the pattern again - no, I had the right number of stitches etc. so asked a friend (as you do) and she pointed out that although the pattern asked for size 12 needles (UK size) I had bought 12mm needles, so nearly 4 times bigger. I did finally finish the monkey (at the right size) then the other grandson wanted a penguin knitting. Luckily I had got my head round metricatin by then so itwasn't life-sized. They're nearly 14 now (twins) and still have the toys but they wouldn't admit to it. I saw the One World concert (or parts of it) and didn't know half of the people on there. I do wish that Paul McCartney would stop singing certain songs though. His voice was never the best but it has definitely lost its range now - Sir Elton at least recognises that and just belts it out. But then lots of people wish I would stop singing too (namely anyone who hears me).
Denise said…
Oh, Aileen - this knitting tale made me laugh out loud, although I am somewhat disappointed you didn’t continue with the enormous version of the monkey! I agree with you about Paul McCartney - I can’t bear it when he starts on ‘Hey Jude.’ It just goes on and on and on and on....
And I am sure you sing beautifully! As long as you enjoy it, that is all that matters.
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