Later - turned out nice again! Earlier wet weather has quite disappeared and it's glorious sunshine. Made it to the allotment after all and managed some 'shirt off' action. Bean poles down and gone-to-seed lettuce trees uprooted. Cleared tatty cornflowers off top plot and earthed up the 2nd crop potatoes. They're looking good - planted at the top of the plot to, hopefully, keep both frost and blight off them. We'll see.



My 'other half' arrived, en famille, with a Hungarian Goulash pot hanging from a tripod, under which a fire was lit. Looked impressive, but not sure there was enough dry wood to sustain the fire to make goulash. But a good attempt.

G is out on his bike again! No allotment work this morning – too wet – but may get there this afternoon. Instead G managed to get the bicycle out and do 6 miles – pathetic really but it marks a watershed.

Biking was suspended earlier this year, to concentrate all available time (apart from allotment of course) on moving house. Bike has only been out three times this year! Just need to remind G’s legs of their proper function now and start building up to a ‘normal’ 20 miles per Sunday morning session.

Thick mist along the ridge above Darley Dale and Matlock, with intermittent heavy rain, but the philosophy still holds of “ignore the weather and go out regardless”.

Old No. 81 had a day off today, from incessant house-moving tasks and general work-related “stuff”. Instead, went walking on the Peak District moors in glorious sunshine. Temperatures up to 260C (on 21st September) and got a sunburnt slap-head. Farmers were out with hounds but otherwise saw hardly anyone. Had lunch at the shooting cabin in Lower Small Clough, off Ronksley Moor, which is a fabulous place.















There’s a visitor’s book, benches and chairs and it is clearly a much-loved ‘bothy’ for many people. I’m tempted to suggest a Ronksley brunch for the group of us who are going to Crete next year, by way of a training exercise.

Well, what a long gap since my last post in May. Excuses? Partly pressure of work over the summer (including at the allotment) but mostly because we’ve been moving house. But that’s done now – moved 10 days ago. Just about unpacked and been to the allotment for the first time for 3 weeks or so. Lordy, how it grows when you take you eye off the ball.

Massive attack with the petrol strimmer (good for strimming petrol!) has got it into some semblance of order but it needs some concentrated attention – end of this week; promise.

Successes this summer – courgettes and cucumbers, especially cucumbers; given loads away every week (perhaps should grow less!); beans, tomatoes, lettuce (until they bolted and I hadn’t got any succession ready).

Failures this summer – sweet peas (v poor), onions, blackberries (birds had the crop – must net them next year), plum tree (a lacklustre thing from B&Q which has struggled to do anything about growing at all.

But, generally, things are looking up. The abandoned plot to the left (82) has been taken and had scorched earth policy applied. The abandoned plot at the end is similarly being reclaimed and, deep joy, he has discovered a fully functioning grape vine which is actually rooted on my side. Yikes!!! Chateau Brincliffe looms. Even the inconstant gardener with whom I share a gate and path has returned to do some more. So I am suddenly surrounded by burgeoning cultivation and have a reborn blog to keep going through the autumn. Avast there, he said on “Talk like a Pirate Day”