Z spends £7

I went shopping yesterday. The usual weekend stuff, and I also went to the discount place, where the old Co-op used to be before the new one was built. I was looking for plastic shoes to wear in the swimming pool – this is not so odd. I’m short, wobbly and one leg is slightly shorter than the other, which doesn’t make for good balance in an aquacise class. I couldn’t find what I thought would suit, so ambled round a bit and ended up with a small assortment of items. It gave me great pleasure to buy a set of screwdrivers, a retractable tape measure, five retractable ballpoint pens, thirty-five pencils with rubbers on the ends and a pack of five tubes of extra-strong mints. All the pens work and I have sharpened one fifth of the pencils so far. I have eaten some of the peppermints and measured various bits of me.

Today was supposed to be spent in the greenhouse – this afternoon, rather; I was busy in the morning. But a friend invited me out for lunch. Seeds will be sown another day.

Of course, it’s a waning moon and there is a school of thought which declares that seeds germinate better when sown with a waxing moon (whoops, I typed ‘moob’ first, which gives a strange mental picture). I’ve never found any particular difference myself; it has always seemed to me that the temperature and other physical conditions matter more, but I’ve never done a careful trial and there are always other things that could get in the way. I think one would have to test it over several years with a wide range of seeds. I suppose the obvious way to start is with weekly sowings of mung beans or mustard and cress, but I somehow don’t think I’d ever bother to record the results carefully.

11 comments on “Z spends £7

  1. martina

    It was snowing this morning-big fat flakes like white Corn Flakes that didn’t stick. Now it is raining heavily. I always wondered if that plant peas on St. Patrick’s day and they will grow well story was true.

    Reply
  2. peaceableimperatrix

    The uncle of one of my housemates many years ago was a farmer who followed that whole waxing/waning thing. Another piece of that planting philosophy calls for burying a hollow cow horn stuffed with manure in the field before planting. Despite this farmer’s avowal that it made a significant difference in yield, that’s where I said “pshaw!” and called it all silliness.

    Reply
  3. Z

    It takes it beyond plausible and into the realms of mumbo-jumbo, doesn’t it? Unless you’re growing cows, of course.

    Reply
  4. lom

    Can I just ask why all the little perchases? Did you need these things or was it one of those ‘But I neeeeeed it’ moments?

    Reply
  5. Z

    I applaud your proclivity for hard work Dave, but I can’t help feeling that your gardening enthusiasm is getting out of hand.

    I did need a pen and a couple of pencils, and the Sage couldn’t find a Philips screwdriver the other day and had to borrow Dilly’s, and who can resist a peppermint? But it was really sheer joie de shopping.

    Sir B – ouch!

    Reply
  6. Blue Witch

    Primark or QS for the plastic jelly non-slip swiming shoes. Not permanently, but intermittently, unfortunately, so you need to be lucky.

    £4 a pair last year. So, someone’s been exploited…

    Will also help with not getting verrucas (or vurracae?) which, I find, is the bane of public pools.

    Reply
  7. Z

    Thank you, BW. I’m going to Norwich tomorrow so I’ll have a look if there’s time. I don’t go shopping except locally very often – I’ve become stubbornly reluctant to pay Norwich’s parking fees, and don’t get in the car more than I must – so it can be weeks before I get things I need – and rarely have ‘but I neeeeeed it’ moments!

    Reply

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