May Day .. May Day ..

No, not a call for emergency assistance, though it could well have been at the Woodmancote May Day event.

All best laid plans etc… A small group of us gathered together to erect the brand new marquee, especially purchased for the Woodmancote Church plant sales and information stand. The marquee frame went up really quickly, but with the marquee roof on, we had created an effective sail. The wind was picking up, with some very strong gusts, but we thought we would be ok as I had also purchased 8 ratchet ties (each one having a 300 pound breaking strain!). But, with the wind gaining strength, the roofing material started to rip and some of the guy fixings on the roof ripped out completely. We abandoned the marquee, and packed it all away. I may be able to re-use the metal frame parts for a fruit cage! grrrrr

With some quick thinking by a few of the team, some wind breaks were erected, tables put out and the plants presented ready for sale.

The weather did hold out dry for us, and total plant sales were in excess of £300.00. This amount will be equally shared between Tearfund and MAF. Everyone enjoyed the day, and I was especially pleased how everyone just got stuck in to the jobs at hand, and enthusiastically engaged with visitors to the stand.

Pictures are viewable from the Woodmancote Church Facebook page.

Work-wise, I’m getting really busy now – to the point of declaring a couple of days off during the coming weeks as my working diary is just about full for each week ahead. I’m getting physically stronger and losing weight, but it hasn’t been easy to go from what was a relatively sedentary job to being self-employed and very physically active.

I now have a van (blue is the colour); so no jokes about white van man…

It’s really easy to drive and much easier to move tools and materials around.

Insurance has declared the Focus to be a write-off; I await settlement.

Personal injury/loss of earnings compensation claim is now underway too.

Made a rush visit to the allotment tonight to sow carrots and this year I’m trying some enviromesh material in an effort to thwart the dreaded carrot fly. The soil was in really good condition for sowing given the recent rain, so I’m hopeful for some good germination. Looking around the plot there are some varied results:

Early potatoes just showing through and early earthing-up has started, but need more rain. Parsnips are pathetic – really bad germination (I always seem to suffer from this). Onions and shallots are doing well. Strawberries are well advanced this year and will shortly need protecting from slugs and birds. The apple trees are also showing early signs of a large crop – I’ll need to thin these out if I’m to avoid over burdening the trees.

Thanks to everyone who has sponsored me for the BHF bike ride this coming Sunday. With £155.00 raised I have exceeded the target set, so many thanks again.