Saskia and Richard's RVing Adventures

I am rather a philistine when it comes to gardening.  Having had no time or inclination to learn other than watching the occasional BBC’s “Beechgrove Garden” when nothing else was on TV, I generally bought pre-planted hanging baskets in my previous sedentary life. When Jill, Richard’s cousin Mark’s wife, with whom we were staying (see previous blog here ), asked me to plant up four baskets, to hang outside the felting studio, tremors of trepidation ran through me.  I wanted to show willing, but was afraid to reveal my ignorance.  I thought I was onto a reprieve when she told me that she still needed to get the old liners from last year replaced, as the coco-nut fiber lining only really works for one season. Coco-nut fibers?  Liners?  I thought I might slink away into their cottage and read a book; change my mind about offering my services.  But no, the naive, creative part of me suggested that her felt off-cuts (which I had spied when I was helping her pack up some orders the pre

Do you remember Popeye?  I was recently tickled to find that there is a brand of spinach in the US named after this retro hero.  Remember that pipe and that wink?  And that iconic image of him sucking down a can of Spinach and his arm muscles would suddenly bulge and flex ready to face and fix the world?   No amount of spinach eating has ever made any difference to my weakling arms. It seems the sedentary office work I did before retirement has long since wasted my muscles, However, we all know there are other health benefits, and I have eaten a lot of spinach since coming to the USA in January. On signing up for health insurance we discovered there is a free annual health check. Taking advantage of this before beginning our travels resulted in my being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, and Richard with high cholesterol.  Since then, both of us have tried to fully embrace a healthier diet. Not just to ensure that we enjoy our new-found RVing lifestyle for as long as possible, but to