Andy & Carole

On Thursday we had Andy and Carole over for supper. We are pretty much neighbours now, with them being from Gt Missenden, and they have hosted us for a couple of meals so it was nice to return the favour. Smeeta made a fabulous Methi Chicken main course, with Methi (fenugreek) from our own vegetable patch. Followed by my first ever attempt at meringue, with fruit and creme fraiche. And a couple of glasses of wine, naturally.

Was great to see them as always, and they took a liking to Campbell Cottage, even with the shock of lime green that I have added recently!

The following Sunday we gathered at thier house, with Adrian, to watch the big game: England v Germany in the 2010 World Cup. The less said about that, the better…!!

Campbell Cottage – Year 2

Our purchase of Campbell Cottage finally completed on 28th May whilst we were in Portugal. It was a very nice feeling to be flying back on Tuesday to our own home!! There being no time like the present we popped in to Homebase and bought a couple of tester pots – shades of lime green in an attempt to add some vibrant colour to the dining room. I also thought it would be nice to bring the bright spring colours of the garden into the house somehow…

It took four coats but here’s a sneak preview:

We’re pretty happy with the result so will get more paint to do the other alcove and some off-white for the walls.

Things are growing like mad in the garden – the vegetable patch is now sporting two rows of potatoes, a batch of methi (fenugreek), six sweetcorn plants, some courgette, as well as spinach and swiss chard from last year’s planting.

We then had a major surprise in discovering our first stem of Asparagus – which is not supposed to produce anything until next summer at the earliest… It’s only about an inch high but it’s a very exciting development!

As for flowers, we’ve now seen the first Poppy blooms and the deep purple Clematis. The jasmine is about to burst too, as is the honeysuckle.