RedRococoGarden

 I am sorry that it has been a while since my last blog but after I reopened the shop on Etsy in June it was quite busy, then I decided to take a break to enjoy my birthday and (possibly) the last sunny weather we may get. After catching up with my admin and now having listed all the Folio Society books I currently have available, I have reopened the shop and am trying to find time to write up this blog. It was easier during lockdown when my Etsy Shops were closed and we weren't doing much! I still have some non-Folio Society books to add (but not many) and also some postcards and bookmarks. Although we were promised storms and rain this week we have actually had a couple of days when it has been quite warm with a short shower and a few rumbles of thunder. I must now restrict myself to weekends in the garden and a break at the end of the day, if I want to get everything listed and available for sale. Despite covid-19 outbreaks in nearby Swindon, the South west remains a relatively ...

It was refreshing to be able to sit in the garden, however briefly, last Sunday when we were blessed with some sunshine again. The wildlife area has taken something of a battering from the wind and the rain, but is surviving and the bees are buzzing busily on the clover that has been left to grow on the lawn. Currently we are unsure whether we need to wear a mask or not in the shops - not that we have rushed to go out shopping - but I have bought a pair of face coverings from a shop on Etsy to be prepared, one for me and one for my husband. Roy has been to a few shops in search of items required for vintage motorcycle projects and we took my car for an MOT and service last week - it's Roy's car's turn this week. Our lunches can now be embellished with crops from the garden as some of our spring onions and rocket salad are ready to be harvested. My husband always has a sandwich with (vegan) yoghurt (added strawberries from the garden) and I have a salad of some sort; here i...

Nothing has altered very much since the last blog, apart from going out to the Post Office, where only two people are allowed inside the (small) space. The staff were wearing masks and, although we, the customers obeyed the rules, one member of staff came out from behind the counter to talk to another customer behind me and was only standing two feet away. I sometimes think that people aren't taking this pandemic seriously. Then I went to the doctor's surgery to collect my prescription inhalers (I have suffered from asthma for forty years) only to be told that they had been sent to the nearest pharmacy in the town where I had just come from, despite the fact that I had sent an online message whilst ordering the prescription online that I would like to collect them from the surgery, as I felt that it would be a safer environment! I do wonder sometimes! Apart from that we remain at home and are now wondering about the return of the lockdown to Leicester shortly after schools and...

We have now been told by the Government that we can leave the house and meet one other person from another household but neither of us seem anxious to do so and we watched the scenes on the beaches a few weeks ago with amazement and horror. I think we would both prefer to wait it out for the next week or so and see what happens.   These are some photographs that I have taken of my garden: the cornflours and the poppies are in the wild area while the borage is in a pot and the ox-eye daisies have appeared in the lawn. I am still having to go round with the watering can once or twice a day as the recent rain has only been sufficient to create one or two small puddles in the road. I always make certain to refresh the seedlings in the greenhouse and the sweet basil and rocket plants which I have planted out in the garden. Current reading has been the lighter fiction of Agatha Christie in the shape of two Miss Marple books 'Murder at the Vicarage' and 'Body in t...

Today is Saturday and, though some aspects of the lockdown are being relaxed, I still have to wait until the 23rd June until our 'shielding' will be completed. I am getting deliveries for everything to the house - yesterday we had an Abel & Cole veggie box and a fruit box which is always a delight to receive. It takes me some time after arrival to clean everything and with some items I prepare half for the freezer - this time we had blueberries, courgettes and beetroot, so I put half in the fridge and half in the freezer. Later in the evening we received an Ocado delivery so more cleaning and trips to the freezer (which is in an outdoors utility shed). They have been a godsend, especially Abel & Cole during the early days of lockdown when we couldn't get an Ocardo delivery for three weeks! This morning I have been putting together an order for The VeganKind Supermarket , another lifesaver during this time of crisis, which should arrive tomorrow....

I have just finished reading an inspirational book called The Salt Path  by Raynor Winn which describes her journey around the South West coast path together with her terminally ill husband, Moth. It was suggested by another member of one of the Book Clubs that I belong to and I am glad she did. Having spent many holidays in Cornwall with my husband and two children before they grew up, and when I was single, many of the place names were very familiar, especially those of the north Cornwall coast. The writing is lyrical and poetic and their experiences which take them close to the edge of who they are, also have comic moments. One of the few books to be awarded 5 stars on Good Reads! In these lockdown days, we send our comments in to our Group by email and read what everyone else thought.  After watching all of J K Rowling's Harry Potter films on Sky I attempted the Marvel Cinematic Universe in chronological order but only managed to get through Captain America, Captain M...

I have more time to set words down right now, as I expect many have, so thought that I would try to keep my blog somewhat more up-to-date even though my Etsy shops are closed for the foreseeable. I am trying to keep up with renewing items that have expired but have decided to add any new items that I might photograph and describe as 'drafts' which means that they are not seen live. It would be annoying for potential customers who see new items appear on their notifications list to then go to the shop and find it closed. Surprisingly, although I have quite a lot of stock I could add, I am not getting on with it very fast, especially during the last two weeks when it was unseasonably warm and I spent more time in the garden! I am still reading the books set by the two book clubs that I belong to even though we haven't met for a couple of months. In this context I have read A Month in the Country by J L Carr, The Taxidermist's Daughter by Kate Mosse,...