No chit

These potatoes are due to go in the ground any day and should be sprouting away by now. But I only decided to plant potatoes last week, so chitting is a bit late. However, for maincrop potatoes going into warm(ish) soil, I'm told all should be well. We shall see. I've been reading in various organic gardening books that chopped up basil or chopped up elder stalks/leaves in the planting hole can increase yield by 40%. I may try a few experiments to see if any of these things work. After, of course, I've checked the optimum point of the moon's cycle for planting... And then I'll chuck a few in some rubbish soil at the wrong time of the month and see if any of it makes any difference at all.

Today, you'll be pleased to hear, Mr B is through the worst of the life-threatening man-flu. However a resurgence of previous box-lifting-induced back trouble has limited DIY activities today. In an unfortunate sychronicity, I managed to wrench my neck today and have been staggering around all day in a haze of pain. Today's usual busy day of driving was made less onerous by Conor's football being cancelled due to 'rising wind'. Make of that what you will. But I did get to meet Katherine's new art teacher, who seems a fascinating character and full of information on local history. The bumpy journey to and from art did nothing to help my aching muscles, but in case a lurking physio is reading this (you know who you are) I've been icing it, keeping movement as best I can and taking ibuprofen all day. I am currently treating it with a local red 'medicine' and later will take the strongest painkiller in the house - the one that makes me very sleepy - in the hope that a night's relaxation is what it really needs. Right now though, the pain is making me want to throw up. But then I'm not sure any physio would have 'lying on the floor taking photos of potatoes' as a recommended exercise to relieve neck pain...

Tonight in Toulouse the man suspected of the recent killings will hopefully be arrested. And though this may mark the end of a tragic set of events, I fear it may mark the start of new unpleasantness in France - particularly in the middle of an election campaign where the far right may do well.