Plottering

Plottering is a word that has been coined on site to mean spending hours dawdling at the allotment, starting different jobs but completing none of them, chatting with fellow plot holders and enjoying the slice of paradise the site offers. I plottered today. I began with a specific job in mind – painting the shed. I ended up spending a lovely half an hour with Cliff, Sarah and Koko eating ice cream and chatting about Liz’s need for a second shed. Koko sat resplendent on Sarah’s chair, Queen of All She Surveyed.

On the way back to painting, I fell to browsing online and discovered to my delight, a local person selling a home made potting bench. I immediately bought it and arranged to pick it up later. Flushed with success, I went back to painting around the new window. I had forgotten the masking tape at home, so I cast about for something else to paint. The back of the shed facing the patio hadn’t had a fresh coat of paint this year. So I set about painting it. Last year’s cream colour was easily covered and I think it will add much more light into what can be a dark part of the plot.

As I finished, Liz and Sarah dropped by and we all went into town. I went with the intention of getting some more paint – I had nearly finished six litres of the seven that I had bought a few weeks ago. Once in the shop, I remembered several other key allotment things I needed and got those instead. Chief of which was a large citronella candle which will keep those blasted mosquitoes away.

Once home, I dragged my husband out to collect the potting bench. It’s amazing. Currently, it’s on the patio but once the greenhouse chickens are relocated, it will go inside. Between us, we collected four eggs and topped up the chickens food and water. They seemed to be enjoying the warmer weather and longer days.

All that’s left for me to do tomorrow is to tidy up the paint job beneath the shed window and do some hoeing of the plot.