Topic: The mind is willing but the body is getting weaker

[Pescador]

As the great Dave Allen said
" and may your God go with you".

I'm not a particularly religious man, and obviously don't know about anyone on here, but I still thinks this phrase just "fits".

[galina]

Tee Gee, you have mentioned the uneasy atmosphere on the site before,  Sounds like things have not got any better in that regard. 

All I can say, I wish you'd live closer and I could pop by for advice and admiration.  Ok my fruitcake may not be quite up to it (I was not brought up in England), but I would gladly bring one.

I may have said this before.  You have every right to be there and enjoy the work and the fruits of your labour.  Don't discount blatant jealousy.  Seeing what you achieve, your fitness levels and strength must be very decent.

Jeannine, it's a date when you come over and (with your permission Tee Gee) maybe we could indeed have a get-together and see these wonderful allotments we know so well from photos.   

 

[antipodes]

Hi Tee Gee,

I am sorry to hear about the trouble you have had on your site.  I too am amazed at the amount of 'personal problems' that get bantered about down there, with all sorts of petty arguments. I stay out of it but then get accused of not getting involved enough in the life of the site...sigh...

I know that you prefer the old digging methods but I must say, last year I mulched everything everywhere! Not only did I hardly have to water last year but this year, I have barely had to put the shovel in.  I just moved the rotting mulch aside, plant or sow and remulch with new straw mixed with the old. And minimal weeding. And I am much younger than you! Perhaps something to think on.
Good luck whatever you do. Cutting back is better than stopping, I do not regret cutting back to a half plot.

[woodypecks]

So sorry to hear all this . I much appreciate all the advice you give on here . Hugs . Debbie   

[Malcolm Brown]

Woodypecks I like your 'Trespassers will be composted', I heard of a farmer who put up a sign saying 'Entry to this field is free, the bull will charge later.'

I am 73 and have managed to pull a muscle in my back this morning, but I am a good friend of that chap Percy Vere.  There is also the problem of being related to that ancient Greek chap Dodgyknees. 

In the 70s and early 80s a got up to 5 allotments and the other plotters were a mixed bunch.  I now have the very rough remnant of my smallholding so only have walkers to contend with who are generally very well behaved.

[laurieuk]

Stay with it TG I am 85 and go to my plot most days but can only do up to a couple of hours before getting too tired. If you reduce too much you will really regret it. I hope to do a bit more after a heart op next month, bypasses I had done 19 years ago are giving my a problem at the moment.

[Tee Gee]

Stay with it TG I am 85 and go to my plot most days but can only do up to a couple of hours before getting too tired. If you reduce too much you will really regret it. I hope to do a bit more after a heart op next month, bypasses I had done 19 years ago are giving my a problem at the moment.

Thanks Laurie

I am not planning on giving up just cutting down.

What I have done since I last wrote is part fill the allotment I will keep ( the other part is for late stuff)

I am planting it in the fashion I would do if I only had one allotment and I will harvest that in a manner that will tell me if there is enough stuff to keep me and OH in vegetables like how we have been accustomed to over the years.

Based on the result I will decide what to do with my second allotment at the end of the year.

Meanwhile because I order my seeds & fertilisers etc in October I had ordered as I always do for the two plots, now I am finding I have too many seeds & plants so I am planting the surplus in the other plot rather than waste them and most likely I will give what ever I harvest to my Son & Daughter.

In terms of time I spend on the plot I have worked it out that I average around ten hours a week.

I go down only Monday to Friday and have the weekend off. OK at certain times in the season this might be as much as fifteen hours in a week but at other times it might only be five hours a week.

So I am back to a five day week like I was before I retired 

In terms of age well it will suffice to say that I am a bit younger than you Laurie, but a bit older than Malcolm, mid way if you like!

In terms of health I have been having tests to establish why I get so tired but the quacks can't find a reason, I am going for another test next week again.

In fact I have gone so often lately when I go in to the surgery to see the nurse I call her 'The Vampire' she doesn't mind really, particularly as I I told her how the receptionist couldn't spell 'Phlebotomist' and wrote 'The Blood Nurse' on my appointment slip so she had a laugh too!