The John was here today. Ostensibly to do some work with me. But mostly to play Grand Theft Auto. I also had a go and stole a few cars, found a couple of pigeons, drove along beneath a 747 and accidentally ran over a few people. I broke some benches in the park too, by running over them in a big truck.

So there, that’s me done. 30 Tiny Moments.

Watching TV, so Mum gets to look after my foot.

This is where I’ve spent most of my day. At my keyboard on a not particularly comfortable chair, researching, translating, programming, making website artwork. Ironically, all for an album called “Nothingness“. But look how lovely and clean that keyboard is.

Watering the spuds and the seeds. Rain was promised for today, so I didn’t water the seeds last night. However our promised rainy day turned into one short shower. Then when I was in the process of uploading the photo to Flickr it started to rain again, but only for a few moments, so the lugging about of the watering can was not in vain after all.

Mum and I went shopping today as I still have wedding outfits to find. I now have a little black cardigan that can keep me warm in the evening at Lauren’s wedding. However the best find of the afternoon was made in the first shop we walked into. In Next I bought an embroidered linen bodice that will go beautifully with my brown suit for Dave and Hannah’s wedding. No, Lauren’s Dave is not a Mormon, this is a different Dave: John’s school friend, whom I’ve known for far too long now.

Still to find:
* Bag to hold camera and all my gubbins; needs to the The Perfect Size and look a bit fancy
* Maybe a different cardie?
* The Perfect Outfit for John’s wedding. It needs to say: “I am the sister of the groom, am I not just ravishing?”
* Jewellery. I should buy myself something fancy. Not made of copper.

Having drawn my floury lines last night, I headed back to my patch today to actually put seed to soil. I thought I was leaving things late, but I’m actually a week ahead compared to last year. I still ain’t early though. I’ve planted a double row of broad beans by the fence, leaving a little under half the space there empty for a second sowing later on. Then come two rows of potatoes. I had my camera outside with me, ready to record every step like last year. However, much as a mother is far more lackadaisical with her second child, allowing it to drink from the toilet and not even unwrapping the “Baby’s First Year” album, my left hand row of spuds were already in the ground and covered in compost before I remembered to photograph them. And as for knowing how many broad bean plants and potato haulms to expect this year? Pfft, not sure really. I didn’t remember to give them individual markers, so going by the measurements I thought to take once all the seeds were in the ground and covered, my records show “22ish broad beans” and “13/14 potatoes”.

I’ve sown a row of carrots and, though I’ve bought the onion sets, they’re not in the ground yet. Their area needs tickling with the fork again before the sets are nestled into the soil, ready for the birds to pull them out, and I just didn’t have the energy. The sweetcorn seeds have also been bought - a different variety from last year, so they’d better be good, dammit - but don’t need sowing until sometime in May.

The day also left its mark on me in the form of a tiny puncture wound on my forehead. Looking for a certain brick under the hedge for Dad (he wanted one, it wasn’t that I was going to lob it at him) I managed to carefully lance my head on a thorn. I don’t know what it is about that hedge and its need to poke itself into bits of me.

Click on the photo above for more of today’s veggie action.

Posting a couple of letters at the end of the working day. I like our traditional red letterboxes. This one is Victorian, hence “VR”.

Later that evening, as dusk was falling, I decided it would be a good time to go out into the garden and set to work. Months ago I made a chart of what I wanted to grow in my vegetable patch and how far apart the rows etc would have to be. Using a trowel I marked lines in the soil; 12 inches from the fence for the broad beans, 8 inches from that for the second row and so on. And because I’m a GENIUS, I’ve sprinkled flour into those lines to make them show up better. GENIUS. I expect there’ll be a field of wheat out there by morning.

I marked the lines for broad beans, potatoes, onions and carrots leaving a blank space to match the blank space on my chart. The blank space where I ran out of ideas and didn’t want to grow lettuce. Seeing this space at full-scale made more sense than it had on paper and so the decision was finally made: I’ll grow some more sweetcorn. There’s room for 12 plants and if they overshadow everything, well then bugger it.