COELIACS & THOSE INTOLERANT OF WHEAT OR BARLEY SHOULD BEWARE!

Good morning to you all! And here, in deepest Knightsbridge, it is an extremely GOOD morning! For the sky is blue, the sun is ris, it IS mighty cold but hey, it's Winter, it's supposed to be chilly billy at this time of the year.

It's so that the earth can go to sleep and have a rest, the plants will all snuggle down and rejuvenate themselves and hopefully, it will be cold enough this year to kill those obscene slugs that ravaged the allotment last year.

The Peonies benefit from seriously low temperatures and we have noticed that Roses and fruits of all descriptions do as well. You humans just have to wear more layers! I wish mine would grow faster..

She has been busy helping a friend pack up her flat, she has to move out whilst major building works are done. We know exactly what she'll go through except her works will all be done at the same time, not in dribs and drabs like ours.

But with weather like this, she will get in lots of day's work at the allotments and there is much to do! The Clematis Montana Mayleen has taken down the front fence by the gate, she will be cut right down to the ground, don't worry, she'll come back smelling delicious, also the Rosamundi Rose will be pruned at the same time.

Likewise with Gloire de Dijon Rose who grows along the front fence, she's waving at the clouds and has to be cut right down and as for those brambles! Huh, their days are numbered, that's for sure.

Now, that's all the good news.. the rest is all,veryvery sad..

In my last post, I raved about Lentils and how delicious they were. Read on Dear Readers, for I have bad and sad news.

She cooked them last week, was it on Thursday or Friday? And over the weekend, I think it was the same night, she started to itch as numerous hives appeared allover her body and she thought to herself "Oh no, don't tell me I'm allergic to this new batch of eye drops.." so Boots changed the eye drops for a new packet.

Each night we ate these delicious things, yum, so scrummy! And later each evening and into the night she itched or tried not to, these wretched hives. Until last night.. when she picked up a packet of Black Beans, which said on the packet..

'Those allergic to Wheat and Barley should not eat these as they are used in the manufacturing process', then she picked up, a packet of Green Lentils and found to her horror.. the same message. So it is something that you MUST and should be aware of..

And, oh dear, she has achy fingers with swollen joints and hives, so I don't think we'll be eating any beans or lentils in this house again.

GeeGee Parrot.
November 28th, 2016.

THE FRUITS OF PLUNDER.. OH, I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU VERYVERY ENVIOUS.

SWAG Dear Readers! That's the name of what she returned with yesterday! Alas and alack there was no Bavette to be had at our LubblyJubbly butchers but her favourite fruit stall had the BIG Persimmons aka Sharon fruit or Khakis at 16 for £2.00.. 2.32 Euro or $2.50!

As part of our regime is to eat healthy yumyum, how could she resist such a deal? Of course she couldn't and of course, she didn't! They popped into WW with no problem at all. She then continued on her merry way to the Post Office to purchase stamps and on the way, she picked two packets of small padded envelopes and a couple of the plastic envelopes which weigh nothing and are brilliant for sending packages overseas.

This morning we partook of oh such good YumYum, boiled eggs followed up by an extremely fine ripe Persimmon. They are one of our favourite fruits and the big variety are particularly good at this time of year. Winter fruits. God makes them in that ZIPZAP colour as if to cheer us up and by golly, they do!

Oranges, Lemons, Limes, Cox's Apples.. you get my drift? Soon, it will be Seville Orange time.. and then it will time to dig out your big copper jam making pan and empty glass jars.

Then she went of to our local Post Office in Launcelot Place and had a 'crisis' on the way
For she went by a different route, past Tattersalls and encountered the smell of fine cigar smoke coming out of a small cigar shop.

Oh, my ears and whiskers. Instantly she was back to two times in her life, the first was aged five living with much beloved aunt Hay darling in Harrogate and snuggling with Gran'fer in his chair watching 'Gunsmoke', he smoked cigars and the smell reminds her of this extremely happy and very secure time in her life and then, there's another time.

She's older at mid twenties to early thirties and smoking Davidoff Embassadrice cigars. No, she's not about to start smoking again but if she ever did, it would be these. For a box used to come each month from 'You Know Who' in Washington, he arranged for a lovely cigar merchant here in London to send them to her.

Oh yes, she's the first to admit to being very spoilt by Bill, which made it extremely difficult for her when they had the earth shattering moving row which caused their splitting for those years when they were on 'No Speak' terms. He didn't just give her lovely things, he was funny, generous of spirit, incredibly thoughtful and very kind to her parents.

Having dragged her nose away from the open door, she proceeded onto the Post Office and posted three packages to the USA, some European Christmas cards and bought stamps for American cards that she will send this next week when she's written them.

Then she went to collect her red lantern. Disagreeable brother hadn't finished it properly, the chain wasn't sprayed nor was the ceiling rose but she smiled at Gary, the polisher, and said "Thank you" and left, she'll have words with her lovely friend when he gets back from his travels next week and they'll adjust the bill somewhat!

Then she came home and caught me having a nappet, aka a small nap, so she proceeded to make us a veryvery late lunch or an extremely early supper! Now, I want you to guess what these were, for I, for one, have never ever eaten them in my life, I have never ever even seen them before, could it be that she hasn't cooked them for over twelve years?

They are tiny, hard and orange. What are they? Have a guess, no? Lentils! Do you eat them, apparently they are good for you.

She cooked a cupful of them in water with a couple of pieces of dried mushroom, a clove of garlic, a chopped onions, lots of black pepper, NO salt but some paprika and for the last few minutes she layered a lot of sliced cabbage on top of them to steam, one of those pointed cabbages that we eat a lot of in the winter time.

WOW! I LOVE Lentils! They were really scrumptious. She sat on the sink and we both ate out of the bowl and my old favourite word slurpicious describes them perfectly. How strange that she hasn't cooked them for such a long time. Curious, no?

The reason she is doing so now is because she has to pay Kasia the second half of the Blue Bokhara rug restoration bill on Monday, ouch! So frugal ways have come to our home for a few weeks! It's quite a big bill and she can manage it IF she spends no money next week and is 'careful' the next week. NO money! It's a good thing she bought food yesterday, isn't it?

So it's been a lovely day, bright sunlight streamed through my window, it was a trifle chilly but my new TumTum feathers are begining to cover the bald grey skin, it wasn't a good look. And they bring the added benefit of keeping me warm, if I didn't preen the baby fluffy ones out, I'd be even warmer! Silly old me.

GeeGeeParrot.
November 25th, 2016.

MORE R & P.. AND I'M NOW A SWINGING BIRD!

F'ing mice! One small sneaky bastard crept into my cage last night, climbed up the bars and sat on the seed dish to help itself to MY yumyum! I was furious and lunged at it but it just scooped lots of seed onto the bottom of the cage and scuttled down into the basement.

I was furious but she, Dear Readers, was beyond livid and decided then and there to think of something that would stop this happening ever again!

This morning she jumped a train to Romford, as she was having a treatment with Emma, and after the treatment she trotted off to Brewery Square where there's an amazzzing shop called Range.

In the Range she remembered that they sell chain by 2.5 metre lengths and fasteners. And when she came home, she got the tall stepladder and hoisted my cage up into the air! Right UP into the air! Who knew she had such muscles? Or such strength?

She threw the chains over the planks which form a shelf over the space where the cage is situated and attached them to the top of my cage, it now hangs up in the air a good distance above the table upon which the cage used to sit.

And high up the air in my new all swinging home, I'll now sleep in peace whilst down below the mice can grind their teeth as much as they like but they'll have to go to rummage and plunder elsewhere!

GeeGee Parrot.
November 23rd, 2016.

R&P.. SURELY SHE MEANS R&B?

No, I don't mean R & B as in Rhythm & Blues, I mean R & P as in Roam & Plunder. For next month is December and whereas she doesn't have family members that she wishes to buy gifts for, there are several friends and colleagues for whom she wishes to give a small or not so small gift.

BUB has his, he doesn't have them actually in his sticky paws but his gifts are tucked away safely awaiting collection, so tick! She has found some charming things to give to old colleagues, they always exchange gifts and it is always a delight to source things that they will find amusing but useful.

That's the plundering bit, the roaming bit comes from having her old age Freedom Pass for it takes her all over the place and oh boy, does she go all over the place! She heading for a timber merchant this week as she WILL by hook or by crook have a Christmas tree.

She used to decorate her flowering cherry but meanie landlord said she had to get rid of ALL her plants and trees. She gave three Orange trees to Ossie and the other two went to our Lebanese friends. But how do you have a Christmas tree if you're not allowed to have plants?

You make it out of wood.. thats how. And as it isn't real, she can make it any size she wants! So there. And this, Dear Readers, is how you do it. First you cut out the shape of your pot, this determinds how big your tree will be, think about it. You drill and fashion a couple of pieces of thick wood to lay at right angles to the pot as that it stands up up itself. You take those off and keep them to the side.

Turn the tree over so you are officially looking at its' back. Drill and secure to the pot a length of wood which will be the tree trunk. Off the tree trunk come the branches. Thicker at the bottom and getting thinner towards the top.

Taking your Christmas tree decorations, you place them in position on the tree and drill two tiny holes for their wires to go through and twist at the back as they won't fall off when the tree is standing up. You don't put them into position yet, there's lots more to do before you decorate your tree.

We have endless sets of LED Christmas lights that operate on AA batteries, she'll drill small holes through the 'branches' and after painting the tree, the lights will be poked through the holes and they will be secured by the wires at the back with tiny U shaped pins.

"What colour shall we have out pot this year GeeGee, how about flame orange? And do we want a fir tree or a bluce spruce? A blue spruce would look pretty snappy with an orange pot and we have a mass of old orange and brass decorations, yes, a bruce spruce it shall be."

So off she going to B&Q tomorrow in order to pinch a couple of blue spruce needles with which to match a small pot of paint. The paint guys at her local B&Q are always up for a challenge and they'll love this!

Then a quick whizz past Joe, the timber cutter, will yield all the timber required for the tree and we actually happen to have at home just what she needs for the pot, it's an old piece of marine ply which will make a splendid 'pot'.

She will assemble it, drill the little holes for the wires, then paint it, allowing at least two days for the paint to dry in this wet weather, put its' two legs on so that it stands up, do the scratch marks to look like needles and varnish it.

Then.. it will be time to decorate it with old and new decorations, put the lights on it having put new batteries in the holders and place it outside and attach it to the outside light with a bike cable.. we don't want our Christmas tree going walk-about.. do we?

We'll have a Christmas tree, made out of wood, exactly what a real tree is made of.. chirp.

GeeGee Parrot.
November 21st, 2016.

'TWAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT..

She left London with a friend and they drove to an address a few miles north east of Shrewsbury in the County of Shropshire. This is quite a long way to go and return in any weather but the day was fine and they reached their destination in good time.

The car was an estate allowing part of the back seat to be flipped down and a large box to be put in through the back door. Several packages and a case were put in as well, then it was time to say "Farewell and thank you" and to start the long journey home.

Where had they been? Why had they driven all that way only to turn around and drive back to London?

She sat in the back and had the case beside her. She had with her a bag of chopped apples and grapes and these were put regularly into the case.. most curious, no?

They drove south, the weather deteriorating rapidly and by the time they got onto the motorway, the sky was pitch black, torrential rain and strong windw were lashing the car, it was SO bad that people were driving slowly, even huge lorries were as well. 

It took manymany hours, far longer than the journey going up and they both were mighty relieved when they saw the lights of London. She cannot remember exactly how long the journey took for this jaunt happened a long time ago now but it was a scary journey coming back to London.

However, she does remember pulling up in front of her house and the car's engine being switched off, the packages and box being carried down the stairs, her carrying the case down and opening the door, switching on the hall light and turning to thank her friend who had so kindly driven her on this jaunt. 

"Would you like to come in for a pit-stop" she asked. "No thanks, I'm on my way" was their response and they left. She shut the front door and turned on more lights. 

She unpacked several boxes and then the case that she had placed so carefully upon the seat beside her.

Are you any wiser? Do you have a clue as to what I am referring to? No.. Yes? Ah.. well.. you see, the vital clue is in today's date, for it is upon this day, twelve years ago, that she drove up to collect me from Rebecca, my breeder.

For you see.. I.. was in the case.. 

Yes Dear Readers.. today is our twelve anniversary.. Yippee-du-Dar.. Funky Munkies and other such silly sayings but most of all, I wish to say this. That to all of our friends in 'real' life and to all of you out there who read my blog. I send you manymany Chirps and we wish you the happiest of days.. on November 18th, 2016.

GeeGee Parrot.

November 18th, 2016.

EAT AN APPLE EVERY DAY.. GET TO BED BY THREE..

Golly gosh! Have you heard about the tornado which ripped through Wales and Shrewsbury earlier this afternoon? Blimey! And those winds of over 95 mph! Cor blimey! Well, she's just looked outside and is exceedingly glad that she didn't go to the garden.. aka the allotment.. earlier, for it's gusting and busting a gale out there folks, trees are being battered and leaves are a'tumbling down like snow in a blizzard.

She experienced a tornado at the allotment several years ago, it came a'prancing across Dukes Meadows dancing its' evil twisty dance, hit the structure behind Little Shed and, although this was made of 4" x 4" and 2" x 2" wood, it ripped it apart as if it was a piece of paper and the corrugated roof, plus its' timbers with long screws and nails all sticking out, came sailing through the air in her direction.

Luckily Old Joe was facing that way and yelled "down" and they hit the ground as it flew over them and crash landed the other side of the railway track.

"That was a bit close" said Old Joe "I think we need a cup of very strong tea" and off up the track they went to his big shed where he had rigged up solar panels and a battery with a drip feed. Tea and crumpets, just the thing when you've been that close to being decapitated by your own shed's roof!

What's been going on here today, well, numpty left, they have agreed to leave the gaping hole in the floor open in order for the wet concrete to dry out. Having had what heat that was in our home disappear out of the front door and up the stairs, never to be seen again, she retired to bed and I retired to the top of her head.

It is, after all, certainly the comfiest place to be and certainly the warmest, for her head is toasty and that pleases me greatly as my toes are then very cosy toes.

What have we eaten? Ah, it was truly scrummydumptious indeed! Lentils with carrots, garlic, sweet potatoes, onions and bits of brocolli stalk were reheated in a large frying pan together with a couple of frozen vegetable stock cubes. Then she added three tasty looking sausges from our LubblyJubbly butcher.

If asked, he will make them with no added potato or bread fillings (for people who are allergic to such things) and she buys and freezes them. So three sausges, which had defrosted over night, were added to the pan and cooked over a low heat.

A good dollop of hot and spicy sauce was just what was needed to give the dish a goodly bit of 'ZIP' then we settled down to eat it with much pleasure, it was followed by an equally scrumptious Cox. How we love this variety of apple.

So you see.. even after all these years, she's still following Bill's instructions.. which were in the words of the song.. 'Button up your overcoat.. Eat an apple every day.. get to bed by three.. but he didn't specify which three of the clock he meant!

You'll only know what I am talking about if you've read that particular post.

GeeGee Parrot.
November 17th, 2016.

BUTTON UP YOUR OVERCOAT.. AND WHY IT IS WISE TO HAVE A KNOB ON YOUR FRONT (OR BACK) DOOR!

When the weather turns chillybilly. One should grow extra feathers or in human terms, put another layer of clothing on. The sky is pale grey, the temperature low, heading downwards fast and numpty number one is back which means the front door is open, I'm shut in the bedroom and any heat that was in our home is fast vanishing up our steps and skipping off down the street.

'Drrrrrr' was the noise coming from our bathroom as he dug up the concrete floor, to find, a never before seen pipe! Goodness knows how many other pipes are underneath this thick concrete flooring. She was intensely gratified to see this as she KNOWS he and the landlord thought she was somehow responsible for the large damp patch which steadily grew bigger day by day.

So for him to find, underneath a thick layer of blue flooring plastic, a huge amount of wet concrete validates her saying that she thinks that it is coming from an old down pipe that wasn't disconnected properly. Anyway, he has gone off to get a pipe freezing kit, what truly magical stuff this is!

Onto much more interesting, for you, things! For I'm sure that you must be as bored as we are with the ongoing subject of our wet bathroom floor.

Sadly, she got her weeks muddled up, so no Chinese YumYum for her today, therefore, no Parrot pouch for me. (Dogs have bags, Parrots have pouches, gottit?)

This means that she has an empty space in her day, she cannot do anything in the manner of housework, the kitchen is clean and tidy, she certainly cannot do any washing or painting nor collect the red lantern as grumpy elder brother of her lovely lampmaker says it is not finished yet.

Ah well, she's drilled into ceilings before and as luck would have it, she bought a pack of new masonry bits only yesterday, so if it isn't ready by the time the floor is finished and numpty leaves, well, she'll just have to do the hard wiring herself. When hard wiring into the mains, she ALWAYS turns off the power by throwing the mains switch to OFF! That way she can't electrocute herself.

However, old Mr. Sun has just appeared! Now, this is a double edged sword! For on one side, it makes our bedroom nice and light but on the other, she might disappear to the garden without me. Not that I would actually like to go on this jaunt, for you see, I don't have the front section of my overcoat finished yet and, therefore, I cannot do up any buttons and it doesn't look as if it's very warm out there.

And why should you have a knob on your front or back door.. well.. if you have generous friends who travel and bring you back delicious goodies, where are they going to put them? On the doorstep? Certainly not, the mice would run off with them!

"Thank you Tereza for those very delicious goodies".

GeeGee Parrot.
November 17th, 2016.
PostScript: After publishing this just before 12.30, the clouds drew themselves over Mr. Sun like a dreary curtain and Mr. Sky is growing darker minute by minute. There are splash marks on our steps and heavy rain is forecasted. All thoughts of gardening have been put aside and she has retreated into our bedroom.

The sitting room, if you're up to date with my blog, is a 'No Go Zone', she hasn't even opened its' door for at least a month and as it's more comfy and a great deal warmer to snuggle under bedclothes, that's where she is and I am snuggled down on top of her head.

Which means we both have toasty toes! 

LUCKY BUSTER BOXER DOG, THE ANIMALS SHOWED HIM HOW TO BOUNCE BUT SHE'S TOO BIG TO SHOW ME HOW TO SWING!

It's Winter, we watch more television in Winter which is how we have come to see the advert from John Lewis which features Buster the Boxer dog, who plays on the trampoline after watching all the wild animals playing on it on Christmas Eve.

He saw them through the window and realised it would be such fun to bounce about.. well, today she saw a swing which she thought that I would love to have to swing on. Except I am a silly widget and have to be shown that new toys aren't scary and the problem is that it's just a tad too small for her to swing on to show me how to swing.

Hello, are you up here with me or lolling about at the back of the class fast asleep? Anyway, there it is.. big, new and scary in my night cage! Luckily it's not yet time for her to say the dreaded words "GeeGee, it's bedtime", ugh.. they send me into a blue funk every night. So I have a couple of hours to wish it away, fat chance, I saw her screwing it to the bars.. ah well, such is life.

What's been a going on today? Not a lot I'm afraid, well, she's been out and about but WW stayed home with me and she only took a small basket so I knew she wasn't planning on going anywhere exciting.

She came home with DIY tools, a pack of masonry bits for her power drill, masking tape, sheets of very fine sandpaper and a packet of dried chick peas. They are for my hummus and need to be soaked before being boiled.

I think she mainlines gin, except I've sniffed and there's no smell of juniper! What can it be, she walks around happy as Larry and this is most surprising as she, correction, we are experiencing extraordinary times with these numpty builders not correctly tackling the problem of our wet bathroom floor.

Several friends are going through very tough times physically and emotionally and she was rocked back on her heels by her friend dying two weeks ago. However, she cannot improve other peoples lot, as really all a friend can do is to be supportive and an ear if people want to talk.

So tomorrow, yet again, numpty is coming back and yet again, I shall be locked in the bedroom for the duration of his stay. She has to go out as soon as he arrives to go and collect the red lantern which her lovely lamp maker has made into a splendid electric light. Numpty will drill the ceiling, put in plugs and fix the ceiling rose, then he'll hard wire the lantern into the mains.

Then she and Tereza are going out for lunch, I bet they go 'Chinese', I hope so and that she brings me back a Parrot Pouch, I love Chinese yumyum. Chopchop.. Hullyhully.

GeeGee Parrot.
November 16th, 2016.

FIFTY WAYS TO LEAVE A LOVER OR TO GET TO THE WEMBLEY IKEA!

Don't be foolish! She's much too old and sensible to even think of having a lover, besides, it would take her attention away from me and the garden and WE can't have that, can we!

I think she's nipping at the gin, for she's remarkably happy and sings, hums and whistles all day long, which is a flippin' miracle as this place.. aka our home is a tip! A right tip! There's stuff everywhere which shouldn't be there, that four metre vinyl snake is still in the hall, he's been joined by the pretty rug which is now a fatter shorter snake.

Today was the day the Environmental Health Officer came with his all singing, all dancing damp measure, he greeted the numpty and the other numpty from the landlord's office and stuck the measure into the new screed where it looked suspiciously 'dark'.

The lights ran up the scale to bright red! Ting! Bingo! Wet floor.. so the screed has to come up and a flippin' big hole has to be dug down in order to find out WHERE this wretched water is coming from. The walls are as dry as one of my old bones, so it's rising damp.. oh.. quelle bummer.

But she, in this new strange state of mind, just smiled and nodded and thought happy thoughts about how pretty her little 'Dolls House' will be when it's finished. Which, obviously, is not going to be soon!

They all left, she grinned a particularly wolfy grin and taking her fat torch, went into the fuse room and plunged the flat into darkness and silence, we always have the radio on at home. Then she went into the bathroom, put the torch in her teeth, picked up a flat headed screwdriver, disconnected the lamp wires from a junction box, then stripped the wires out of the front of the bathroom mirror.

Having wrapped masking tape around the wires, she went back into the fuse room and threw the main fuse back on. Action.. lights,. music! And brought out with her a large tin of satinwood brilliant white wood paint, a paint brush, a tub of wood filler, a palette knife, several sheets of 120 and 180 grade sandpaper and a small pair of steps.

She rubbed the entire surface of the mirror's frame with sandpaper, then filled in the holes left by the previous lights. Left the wood filler to dry, after lightly sanding these places, she applied a fine coat of paint. It's always better to apply several fine coats of paint than one heavy coat.

This was sanded down again when dry with a piece of 180 grade sand paper, she is, after all, her father's daughter and she grew up watching him painting everything that didn't move. And those things that did move, like birds, he sketched or painted but in a different style!

You might wonder why she is removing perfectly good lights from this huge mirror? It is all due to EU regulations, within a certain distance of water, as in bath or shower, you have to have a certain type of lights and the old ones didn't conform to the new regulations.

Where do you find such 'exotic' lights? Yes, you can find them if you hunt really hard in John Lewis for mega bucks or specialised bathroom shops, but she knew of another place.. Ikea.. they are brilliant at stuff like this and ALL of their bathroom lights conform to Zone 1 regulations.

So off she went.. to Ikea at Wembley.

Except it isn't at Wembley.. it is miles away from Wembley, she hopped a 206 bus and trundled for ever and a day, eventually arriving at a MONSTER Tesco and Ikea. Sure enough, she found just what she wanted, so she purchased three sets of the lights and a charming metal clock in the shape of a keyhole. A perfect clock for a bathroom, small and red. Just right for a Dolls House.

Then she and WW trundled out to the bus stop and was advised to take a 224 back.

Well, this went all around the houses but the trip, well it was riveting! For she has long known of a Chinese wholesale supply market in north London but never of its' exact location.. and yippee-duda, there it was! Bang opposite a MEGA monster Sainsburys at Alperton! However, the journey took a very long time.

However, further along on this jaunt she spied a Bartek Express! It is run, she knows by the same family as the one that she frequents in Streatham.. my dear Dear Readers! The places she gets to, the swag that WW drags home but now.. we must return to the title of this post.

For it was only whilst waiting for a train at Wenbley Park.. Jubilee Line to Green Park and a bus home.. that she realised that Harlesden Station on the Bakerloo Line is MUCH nearer to the Ikea store and so she could train to Harlesden, bus it to Ikea which is only about seven bus stops, plunder Ikea, hop back onto a 224 to the Chinese supply place, eat Chinese yumyum, plunder their spices and ginger, hop back onto the bus back to Harlesden and be back home in time for next year!

So there are several ways to Ikea.. but you've got to 'hop on the bus Gus..'

GeeGee Parrot.
November 15th, 2016.
PostScript: With thanks to Paul Simon.

GOD'S GIFTS.

Freezing rain, frost, chillybilly nights. Yes, they are a strange list of things to be classified as gifts from God but she is a gardener and it is now Autumn aka Fall in the USA. And any gardener worth their treasured hand fork knows that we need these conditions at this time of year to work their magic.

For summer is not kind to a garden, yes, it gives sunlight and warmth and plants grow but think about the soil? It gets baked and becomes hard. So praise please for Mr. Jack with his icy fingers who comes along and busts up your soil, so that precious rain can enter and get far down into its' lower regions where the roots of trees and bushes are.

Where garlic was last year she's planting beans, they will put back nitrogen into the soil, it is called crop rotation and is quite easy to follow, everything gets planted in the next bed.

She left here late yesterday because there had been a morning full of tomfoolery! Much playing on her bed which is her way of getting me to eat a protein breakfast of different types of nuts.. brazils, there's a womderfully silly joke about them, one day I'll get her to tell it. Then mice-poisonous walnuts, so good for the brain, cashews and almonds. Slurp-the-durp!

Then we went off to YumYum HQ and I had hummus, lubbly-jubbly stuff full of chickpeas, sesame paste, oil and garlic.. and my boiled egg. Burp!

She climbed into thin jeans and her waterproof leggings, socks, boots, t.shirt, a jerkin made of fleece and a jacket and picked up her garlics and packets, I got kissed on Beaky and told to be a 'good girl'. I had no plans not to be, I was so full, I could hardly flap to get from pillar to post!

Traffic was light, she was there in good time and met Rose, another long time plot holder who is Dirty Girty's mum. Dirty Girty is a charming Jack Russell terrier, she and I are old friends and she is a ratter and mouser extraordinaire! They chatted for a few minutes and then parted to go and do serious work!

Wretched trimmer actually fired! And allowed her to cut most of the long grass inside the plots and to do the verges outside. Then it stopped, just when she wanted it to do her parking space! Grrr.

Never mind, lots of other work to do. The soil in the new garlic bed was wonderful! It had been so hard that a big fork wouldn't go all the way in two weeks ago but now, WOW, with a bit of welly, the fork went all the way down into the earth with no problem and was perfect!

Five rows of garlic in this one bed, then she ran out of garlic and went onto dig over the broad bean, aka fava beans, bed. Again, perfect conditions. She'd forgotten to take bed markers, so collected up her tools and went to pick roses.

PICK ROSES! Yes, I heard you, there were lots of roses in her basket when she came home! To name a few: Compassion, Peace, Margaret Merrill and a beautiful pink Bourdon rose whose name she's forgotten. These are now in a glass vase in our bedroom, so you see, there are many gifts to be received at this time of year but I forgot to tell you about the last one.

That it was a glorious autumnal day, the sky was blue, the light was bright, the sun was shining and it was warm, not Summer warm but Autumn warm. The perfect day to be a gardener.

GeeGee Parrot.
November 14th, 2016.

A WET CONCRETE FLOOR & THE DEATH OF A FRIEND.

OI VEY.. what a beastly wretched month this is proving to be. We have wet patches in the screed floor which is confusing everyone, for WHERE is this wetness coming from? But there they are, showing up very dark in the pale grey floor. So the vinyl flooring is still pretending to be a fat snake lying in the hall.

Brian, the gas checking man, came last Monday to look at the boiler, this got the all clear but the gas cooker didn't! It failed and so she was warned not to use the front right hand burner and Brian said he would come today to install a new one.

She went out to see friends on Wednesday, it was chucking it down with rain and cold so I declined the invitation to join her on this jaunt and stayed behind and I was mighty glad I did for she came home whinging about the bitterness of the wind.

As I do not have many underclothes on yet, they're coming through but slowly, I am fussy about my jaunts and I certainly don't want to go out to the plots until next year as the thought of being in a cage in little shed does not fill me with glee!

One of the numpties came again today to see if any clue could be uncovered as to why the 'flippin' floor' is still wet. Then the old cooker was dis-connected from the gas and it was two-manhandled out of the flat and the new one put in. It's tiny! Oh dear, she said many rude words! The grill, which she never uses, is placed between the oven and the gas rings, this means that the oven is just minute!

This goes someway to explain why level of chaos and stress in our home is still at Everest heights!

As she explained to a friend' who was unwise enough to say "what exactly is happening?", she was told.. "everything is out of the bathroom and in the bedroom, therefore, things that should be in the bedroom are in the sitting room, into which I haven't been for almost four months. I sit on either the kitchen sink or the bed.. life is 'strange' to put it politely".

And in case she wasn't sad or unhappy enough, she then received the dreadful news from an old dear friend that her equally dear husband died last Friday.. oi vey.

So we are extremely thankful for what we have, for we know that some of our friends and other people are going through really tough times. We know that the floor will be sorted sooner or later and we have teams of medics who take such good care of her and keep her stable and my 'clothes' will grow back as long.. as I don't nibble them.

There you have it folks.. our first post of the eleventh month written on the eleventh day.

GeeGee Parrot.
November 11, 2016.