Organic gardening means

sharing your crops with the critters, and these critters were having a great time working through the cabbage crop on a neighbours allotment plot, one even waved, they munched as I snapped away. Worm charming is very popular in this neck of the woods and I think caterpillar charming comes a close second. As much as I like the idea of not using chemicals, I don't see the point in putting in the effort to grow a crop only to have it eaten by critters. That to me is a little SILLY. :)

A glorious morning, I'd told G & J I would be out to do some gardening for them today. Got a load of washing out on the line then off I set. Did 21/2 hours, & got a lot done, George appearing at the door every now & again with little snippets of conversation. Jean has had injections in her feet, sounds horrid to me but hopefully they will giver her some pain relief from the osteo arthritis. The doctor told her it would take 10 days before she would feel any difference in the meantime George who celebrated his 92nd birthday earlier in the week, is doing extra mileage, fetching & carrying. The garden surrounds their park home, with numerous sets of steps up & down from both their front & back doors so lots of walking to & fro. Not really ideal for retirees but most of the properties on this site are retired. It feels a bit like Stepford Wives .  many of them have small dogs, automatic SUV's, immaculate gardens ( huge rivalry) & Midlands accents. George & Jean included, although they don't have a dog, don't drive, and are not in the slightest bit interested in keeping up with the neighbours, which is just as well, as I'm not a fan of manicured lawns or corporation type bedding. One of Georges chats this morning was about Alexa. He was sat in the greenhouse while I was sweeping up the oak leaves
"Did I know about Alexa?"
"No, not really"
George was given an Amazon Alexa for Xmas last year by his daughter & son-in-law. He loves it.When I popped into say hello to Jean before I left he gave me a demo. Asking Alexa the weather forecast, then asking it to switch on the light, which it did. However he was still attempting to get the light switched off when I left .. "Alexa" did not understand his command.

Back home, Ben & Sopha had arrived. Sopha was hoping to go down on the estuary to pick up some oysters but low tide was too late as they were setting off for Cornwall, we walked up to the allotment, picked some runner beans, courgettes, & pulled some Mooli for her to take with her to Cornwall, then we had a rummage on the compost heap, picking out some plump runner beans removing the beans from the pods. I introduced her to stinging nettles, ( great for soup) & nasturtium leaves. She got really excited when she spotted some pumpkins & squash growing on someone else's  so when we returned to the house I gave her one of my precious Turk's Turban squash, & a bag of fresh chestnuts.

A surprise phone call from my brother, another afternoon visitor with his wife, Sandra. We only live 7 miles apart but I don't think I've seen him since last year. We had a great catch up over a glass of cider. Roast lamb dinner postponed. I rustled up a hearty veggie soup with garlic bread for supper. Then it was time for Strictly ................
Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep dancing!

Thanks to admirer for hosting Silly Saturday.