Morrison’s Petunia

This morning the Castle Malwood Card Making factory, despite Jackie’s illness, was very busy.  Fifty three cards were added to the forty seven produced two days ago. Our division of labour remained the same.  My assistant is indispensable.  She does, however, continue to wonder what we will do with them all should they not sell.

Helen, having read yesterday’s post, kindly offered to help with the cards and bring a meal over.  She did, however, correctly judge that routine activity helps to take the mind off Shingles.

An intensive course of treatment to arrest the spread of the virus has been prescribed, but no-one thought about obtaining pain relief on prescription.  We therefore had to shop for Ibuprofen.  This meant a trip to a town.  We chose Romsey so that we could also check out a house over that way.  The reason it has been on the market so long that the price has been reduced, is possibly  that it has been hemmed in by in-fill building, some possibly in what were once its own grounds.  We won’t save that one to favourites.

Parking in Romsey was impossible, so we gave up and headed for Totton, where we bought the medication and went home to lunch.  The previous tenants of our flat have clearly not told a number of their friends that they have moved.  We are quite accustomed to receiving and forwarding their junk mail, but just recently there has been a spate of what are obviously greetings cards.  Dave has given us the Pikes’ new address, and we readdress their correspondence.  Another card came today, so we took it out with us to post.  It travelled to Romsey and to Totton, and finally back home, where I took it out of my jacket pocket and reinstated it on the hall table.  Perhaps I’ll remember it next time.  I doubt these cards are particularly urgent.  After all, the intended recipients moved at least a year ago.

As we sat in the sunshine this afternoon, through the Chequerboard fuchsia standing on a little occasional table, I could see some of the vast array of profusely filled pots, including one placed temporarily on the dry grass.  (It wasn’t me standing on the table.)

This hanging basket doesn’t belong on the ground.  It has been positioned there to catch the afternoon sun, because it normally lives on the side of the building that doesn’t benefit from that.  This is all part of the committed nurturing that Jackie brings to her gardening.  What she particularly likes to do is to rescue supermarket plants that are often in such poor, neglected, condition that they are virtually given away.

The petunia in question had neither buds nor flowers, and its leaves were yellowed, when she bought it in Morrisons about a month ago.  Frequent doses of Baby Bio, sufficient water, and adequate sunshine regularly applied produced the thriving specimen we see today.  Many of the other plants in the garden have similar provenances.

Taking it slowly, our caterer-in-chief insisted on producing our dinner.  This consisted of slow roasted lamb chops and vegetables, including a courgette donated by Elizabeth’s neighbour, Jackie; sauteed potatoes; cabbage and carrots.  All very tasty, with a smattering of garlic.  New Forest ice cream was to follow.  I drank Roc des Chevaliers 2010 Bordeaux superieur.