Lockwood Farm - Week Three

Monday 23rd, day 75
We cleaned tubs and eggs for three and a half hours and had lunch slightly earlier than usual. For myself I made scrambled eggs with tomatoes, herbs and cheese - which was very tasty and I'll make it more often. In the afternoon we removed dead tomato plants and planted broccoli. Everyone had dinner next door with James' parents then, while Maxi filled the house with the smell of baking yoghurt bread, I sorted photos for couple of hours. Of course everyone tried a slice, fresh and warm with butter and honey :) We finished off the evening with a card game called Dutch Blitz, during which James produced shot glasses of milk with amaretto; the first sip was nice, but after that I found it too strong for my liking.

Tuesday 24th, day 76
In the morning I put on full waterproofs, and harvested/washed/bagged rocket and bunched spinach until elevenses. Everyone else warmed up with mugs of steaming tea, which (much to their surprise) I don't like - but happily they had some Ribena so I did have a hot drink. I harvested and washed kale and bagged salad mix until lunch, for which I reheated some leftover shrimp korma and had a slice of Maxi's bread. The weather was still rubbish so we were given tasks to do in the workshop: for an hour and a half we cleaned eggs, then started to pot stevia plant cuttings but Cammy would be late back so I went to start dinner. It didn't take long to prepare so I sorted photos while it was cooking. James had been out and picked two full crates of apples somewhere so made apple pie for dessert: yum!

Wednesday 25th, day 77
Maxi wanted to go to the Royal BC Museum, so we went into Victoria with James and spent three hours in there; two of those were on one floor alone. For lunch we headed to a fish-and-chip shack on the waterfront, but the queue was too long so we continued another couple of minutes to the pizza place, got a take-away slice each (and a chocolate-cornflake-marshmallow-peanut butter square to share) and sat in the sunshine overlooking the Inner Harbour. I bought some honey from one of the market stall holders and James told us to check out the olive oil shop opposite while he packed up. On the way back we stopped at Goldstream for a walk along the river. We were slightly early for the salmon run, which is probably happening now and would be quite a sight, but it was a pretty place and a nice walk. Some of the market stallholders exchange leftover produce with each other at the end of the day, so we had some gorgeous fresh corn on the cob for dinner, barbecued with potatoes, shrimp and salad. After that we watched "The Matrix", an excellent film which I'd never seen before.

Thursday 26th, day 78
This morning we were tasked with removing selected weeds from where the tomato plants had been. It was frustrating and I disliked that as much as I did weeding at home. I'd have preferred to remove all the weeds, leaving a clear patch behind me, instead of just having to find certain ones in among a tangled profusion of others. After elevenses James asked for help cleaning eggs - a chef he supplies had called asking to pick up fifteen dozen early afternoon - so while Maxi and Ryoko continued weeding in the sunshine I did that. Cammy made egg mayo to have with the newly-arrived bread rolls for lunch, and I spent the last couple of hours helping to finish weeding the tomato patch. We had corn on the cob for dinner again, this time just boiled and buttered, with runner beans, salad and barbecued chicken wings. Simple things can taste so good :)

Friday 27th, day 79
Thursday was the last day I wrote anything down, and the only thing I remember harvesting was basil. We had eggy bread for lunch, with blackberries, jam and syrup, and after finishing for the day went to Kinsol Trestle, a wooden railway bridge from the 1920's that's recently undergone an expensive restoration. It was really quiet and foggy, which gave quite an atmospheric feeling to the place, and the bridge was impressive. We didn't get back until nearly 8pm, but had a nice meal and apple pie from James' mum waiting for us and, after gladly tucking into those, watched the second Matrix film.

Saturday 28th, day 79
Ryoko, Maxi and I spent some of the day helping Cammy prepare for the baby shower she was holding for her friend that evening. I made dinner, a sort of stew of sausages, beans and vegetables. The sausages Cammy had provided unknowingly had chilli in them and were very spicy, so the flavour of the stew was a bit lost, but it was warming comfort food after a rainy day. The guests arrived shortly afterwards and we were welcome to join the party if we wanted to, but when James' plans to go elsewhere fell through he suggested taking the DVD player, some popcorn and blankets next door to watch the third and final Matrix film, to which we readily agreed!

Sunday 29th, day 80
The weather worsened as a storm arrived so Cammy and James decided it'd be better for me to get the ferry back the following day, and I spent the day mostly reading. James made eggs Benedict for brunch - it was intended as a late breakfast but was nearly noon by the time we ate. Poached eggs over bacon on a buttered English muffin, covered in Hollandaise sauce: I've never had it, and it was really nice! We had pasta for dinner, with vegetables and pesto made of rocket instead of basil, then filled jugs and pans full of water in case of a powercut - their water comes from a well on the property but the pump is electrically-powered, so if there's no power there's no water either. The last couple of hours before bed was spent playing Cluedo.