Marty

Probably an Ozzie term for sheep farmers.

I've spent the last hour or so lifting the remainder of the first of the two rows of early (determinate) potatoes I planted. There were only about ten plants left to dig out which would have normally only taken around half an hour, but it's (for me) a warm, sunny, muggy sort of day, so I wasn't rushing. And the soil is still fairly wet and heavy after the wettest June and July for years, so another reason for not rushing was I wanted to make sure I didn't miss any tubers in the sticky soil. I'm leaving them on the top of the soil to dry for an hour or so, before lifting and putting them in a wooden crate to store in the shed. Probably just his way of telling us he lives in a country where lots of sheep are raised. Same as over here in Ireland we will often get potato blight alerts in the summer when the weather is such that blight may spread. Thinking about it, I'm sure if I were to check Met Éireann's website it could well be that today's weather might cause an alert. But I'm not going to spray chemicals on my potatoes, thank you very much. Not good for me, or the environment. First sign of blight, and I'll cut all the stalks off the four rows of maincrop (indeterminates) spuds and dispose of them; and then leave the tubers in the ground for two weeks to let their skins set. And I'll be lifting the second row of the earlies tomorrow, anyway.

And the same to you, bro. Similar day than yesterday, here. There is a Status Yellow warning for thunderstorms in the midwest of Ireland this evening, however, which extends as far north as the county just to the south of the one I live in, so we could possibly get one as well. Shouldn't do too much harm if we do, as they usually pass over fairly quickly. Hope everyone has a great day!

This is my first harvest of carrots this year. The variety is Paris Market 5 (Atlas), a variety that yields short, stumpy, bite-sized carrots, not much bigger than a large radish. They have the advantage of being fairly quick growing (the seeds were sown on 5th June). I also have another row of Chantenay 'Red Cored', which is a more traditional variety, growing much longer carrots (which I suspect might appeal more to clo ). They are intended as my main-crop carrots, being able to withstand temperature as low as -5°C/23°F, so should hopefully keep me in carrots well into the winter (and if we get a really cold spell, I could lift any remaining in the ground and store them in the shed).

Greetings, young Albert!

Hopefully not literally to the death....

Happy Friday, one and all! Another pleasant day here. Just after noon, with mainly sunshine and a temperature of 21°C/70°F. Forecast is for it to get as high as 25/77. Strangely, the northwest seems to be getting the better of the weather just at the moment, with what is usually called The Sunny Southeast of the country being up to 4 degrees C lower, with threats of heavy rain/thunderstorms. Just potted on a dozen lupin (lupine) seedlings that will hopefully provide a colourful display next summer. Runner beans should be ready for the first harvest in about a week's time, as should the garden peas. The broad beans are starting to form seed pods, but I reckon it will be maybe another two weeks before any will be ready for picking. Carrots are coming along nicely (some already harvested), as are the cabbages, beetroot and Swiss chard. Sowed a row of winter Kale earlier in the week; the seedlings are already through the ground. Spuds still doing well. I'm meeting a couple of friends for lunch shortly. It's something we try to do most Fridays, but had to stop for a few months as the restaurants were forced to close due to the pandemic.

Cheers, bro! This time it's me that's just about to head to bed.

Hi, young man.

Happy Thursday, all! Currently around 21C/70F here. Sun and clouds, but dry at laest. About to bring the car to my mechanic. Nothing serious, just new wheel bearings on front drivers side (that's the right-hand side here in Ireland. Hope you all have a great day!

All this talk about cars and trucks.... As far as I'm concerned my car is just a means of getting me from various point A's to point B's. But perhaps for some people it's simply a case of...

An extremely good looking fellow! On my visit last week, he weighed me, measured my height, and then produced a tape measure to check my waist size. As he was passing the tape around my middle, I smiled (not that he would have seen that because of the facemask I had to wear), looked him the eye, and said: "You do know this is the closest physical contact I have had with another human being since the last week in March, don't you?" He burst out laughing, thought about it, and replied: "God, that must be really hard on you. At least I've got the wife at home." He's fully aware of my sexual preferences, but I decided not to comment on his use of the word hard. A good looking fellow, and a great sense of humour, as well.

Mon plaisir, ma chère!

Specially for you...

Sorry, I know I shouldn't have reacted with a Laugh emoticon, but I thought you were talking about @Albert1434's singing voice at first.

Like I heard someone once say.... "If I die now, I won't have to worry about getting into heaven, because I'm already in heaven."

Cheers, bro.

Well... Nothing major to report from the blood tests. Indeed the doc was more than happy. He was particularly happy about the "HbA1c" test, which shows average level of blood sugar over the past 2 to 3 months, as this has gone down again (it was lower six months ago than it had been twelve months back), showing that I am managing the diabetes excellently (his word, not mine). Also the 'good' and 'bad' cholesterol levels have also both improved. They were both well within limits six months ago as well. And there was nothing coming up on the various other things that were being checked, like liver function, possible prostate cancer, etc. Only thing that he was a bit worried about was that he took my blood pressure this afternoon, and it is a bit higher that last time he took it. He suggested i wear a 24 hour blood pressure monitor, just to be on the safe side. There's a waiting list for the two monitors he has, so that won't happen until 2 weeks time. But he told me not to worry, as today's reading was not outside the recommended limits - more a case of just seeing with the 24 hour monitor whether today was an anomaly (maybe due to the warmer weather, or something like that). Looks like you'll have to put up with me for a while longer folks! Barring accidents, the doc says he doesn't see me dying any time soon.

Greetings, young man!

Good afternoon, all! Happy Tuesday, everyone. I'm freshly shaved & showered, and about to pop round the corner to the local Health Centre for a consultation with my GP to find out about the results from the blood samples last week. I don't think there's anything to worry about, as I had to ring to make this appointment. I'm sure if there was anything of concern, the doctor would have contacted me already.

You and me both, bro. Normal public houses were due to reopen in Ireland yesterday - subject to strict social distancing rules being observed. Pubs that are also restaurants have been back open for a while now. But in the past few weeks there's been a slight increase in positive test results in three counties in the midlands, mainly due to outbreaks amongst workers in a few meat processing factories. On the advice of the Chief Medical Officer the Government have reintroduced a partial lockdown in those three counties, and have also put back the reopening of the pubs until at least the end of this month. Probably wise decisions.

I think it's called climate change, bro...

Greetings, young Albert.

Posters? Like this one?

It may deal with difficult topics, and that may make reading it difficult, especially for any reader who may currently be experiencing similar difficulties, or have done so in the past. But I myself would not say it's an unhappy story. True, the ending isn't one of those Happy Ever After ones that some readers might want or expect, but it does end with a hope that things are getting better for Chris, the protagonist. Oh dear! Have I just told an author that I disagree with the way he views his own story?