One of the two most important matches of the season was played today: Sunderland versus the scum. We beat them three nil.

TM were well and truly F’d.

Well done, SAFC.

I made a beanbag for Colin.

the beanbag I made for Colin

I bought a retro beanbag pattern from eBay.

I bought the fabric and thread at John Lewis. The fabric is for upholstery and is treated to be fire-retardant.

Someone at work said I should make a lining so the polystyrene balls don’t come out and so it’d be easier to clean. The Internet suggested I use old sheets, so I used a mid blue one for the edge and a dark blue one for the top and bottom. The lining was good practice for sewing on zips.

The zips were a palaver, I can tell you. Zips are difficult and tricky and bothersome. But I just about managed them in the end. It’s not pretty, though, so don’t look.

Once I’d constructed the beanbag and its lining, I fetched the two plastic bags of polystyrene balls I’d stashed in the boot of the car and set about filling the lining with said balls in the bathroom, following yet more advice.

I now know that it’s a two-person job, filling large bags with polystyrene balls. There are little balls all over the bathroom floor now. If you move your foot over them, it feels quite nice.

If that wasn’t tricky enough, I then had to stuff the filled lining into the beanbag.

I wondered if I should align the zips for ease if access to the balls, or misalign them so if they started leaking, the balls wouldn’t all come out at once.

Once I’d started trying to stuff the beanbag, such thoughts were superseded by the worry that it would never go in and that the lining could go in any which way, and I’d straighten it afterwards.

Once it was in and straightened, I thought it looked pretty good, actually. It felt pretty good when I sat on it to relax for a moment — I mean to test it before I fetched Colin from upstairs.

I told him I needed him downstairs, so he followed me downstairs, and I showed him, rather proudly, what I’d done. He seemed rather pleased, and maybe even a little impressed.

I’ve been quite busy with my vegetables and plants recently. There’s good news and bad news. (No pictures at this time; I’ll try to rectify that soon.)

Pea plants

The pea plants I separated and repotted died because I damaged their root systems too much when I separated them. I should have just put them as they were into a bigger pot and used canes and netting to support them.

Peppers and chilli peppers

The chilli peppers are doing well. Most seeds germinated and I’ve potted them on into 3″ pots. The ordinary peppers aren’t doing so well: only a few seeds have germinated, but I’m ever hopeful.

Cape gooseberries

I’ve got loads of cape gooseberry seedlings. I don’t know where I’m going to plant them all. Perhaps I’ll put some in the ground as well as find pots for some of them. They’d make a nice replacement for some of the plants that have died out there. Are they perennials?

Broccoli

I planted some fast growing broccoli seeds. These have come shooting up and need potting on, but I haven’t got enough little pots. Another trip to the garden centre is required, methinks.

Okra

I’ve got several okra seedlings, which I potted on yesterday into 3″ pots. They seem to be doing quite well, but, again, I’m not sure where they’re going to go.

Tomatoes

My tomato plants seem to be doing well so far as well. I should perhaps have staggered their sowing, but there you go. I have yet to pot them on for lack of 3″ pots.

Equipment

I bought some large plastic containers from Homebase, but you have to poke drainage holes in them yourself. We don’t have a drill, and there’s the possibility that the containers will crack if you don’t make the holes properly, so I don’t know what to use. Any ideas?

I’m going to plant beans in one of them, but I need to buy some multi-purpose compost so I don’t have to fill the whole thing with John Innes. I also need to buy some sort of gravel to put in the bottom for drainage.

Wildlife

I’ve wanted to hang up a bird feeder for ages, but I worry about all the cats in the area finding the birds easy targets. Then I remembered we have a tree at the front of the house, too. I could hang a feeder from there.

I bought a seed feeder and some seeds and hung the filled feeder on a branch I reached from the bedroom window. It did get used, as the dramatically-reduced seed level indicates, but I’ve not seen anything using it. I’m glad the birds appreciate it, though.

I really need to put one on the tree in the back garden if I’m to see it in use, but I need to somehow get it up high enough and far enough away from the wall so the cats can’t get to the birds.

Rockets and radishes

I put the rocket plants and radishes in a grow house, which is like a mini greenhouse lined with fleece, to acclimatise to the outside. Unfortunately, the wind got really rather strong a couple of weeks ago, and blew the whole thing over. These delicate seedlings didn’t come out of it too well, so now I’ve only got one radish and three or four rockets left.

Herbs

I bought some herb plants, which I’m going to plant up in a container with my poor bay tree, to create a little herb garden. I got thyme, lavender and rosemary. I’ve already used the thyme and rosemary in cooking, impressing my mother with herby pork chops.

Conifers

I bought some more little conifers to join the other two I have in another container, but I haven’t planted them yet. One of them is a little juniper tree. I’ve since discovered that juniper berries aren’t berries, but cones, and that only female trees produce them. I hope my tree is a female one so I can harvest the berry-cones and use them in cooking (but not for making gin, honest).

Houseplants

I repotted my peace lily into a bigger pot using John Innes no.3, and it does seem happier now.

My coffee plant, on the other hand, is a disaster. For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to put it in the grow house outside. It was clearly far too cold for it out there, and the leaves have gone all brown and horrible. The plant is actually several plants in the one pot, and one of the little plants seems to be doing ok now that I’ve put the pot inside near a radiator, where its warm. Must remember to water it frequently, because it might all evaporate.

The beaucarnia nolina just sits there, with its leaves getting in the way and so getting snapped, or just going brown. I don’t know what to do with it.