MARCH IN MY SMALL LONDON GARDEN / EMMA'S SUNDAY DIARIES

We have seed germination guys. Look at that. That is the cosmos I think. Look at that one. I think these are leeks. Leeks and cosmos. Welcome back to my Sunday diaries. My name's Emma, these are my Sunday diaries. Starting this from my kitchen door again, just because it's a bit noisy outside today. But the weather is looking really, really nice today. So hopefully we'll be able to do a few bits and bobs. Got some cooking to do and some baking. I don't think the weather is staying nice. I think it's going to go a little bit cloudy and rainy for the next few days. So we're going to try and make the most of this blue sky. It feels very springy. Can you hear the little birdie? It feels so springy today. It's just lovely. I've just got back from the allotment plot, did a few jobs down there, got a vlog filmed as well for that. So we're already pushing on for time. Right, just decided to come in here to finish the intro because my neighbour decided at that exact second to open his door, come out and start blowing his nose very, very loudly. So that was really nice of him. We do have quite difficult neighbours, I'm not going to lie. And it is a real strain on our lives here. And one of the reasons why we were so desperate to move was because of the neighbour's situation. But in the end, we have decided to stay just because I don't like the idea of being sort of bullied out of where we live because of inconsiderate neighbours. But I'd just say the main issue is, because I know they're not going to watch this, they're like, they're just not going to, they're not going to see this. I think just the main issue is the lack of privacy. They're the kind of people who don't want you to have any kind of privacy in your own home or your garden. It's always like, well, why don't you want to be seen? What are you up to? They're very suspicious people. And I think anytime we've got anything done in the house, they come around and they want to see it. They want to come in and see what we're doing and stuff. And then when I put the fence up, because I was just like, I want a bit of privacy in the garden, it just became a really, really big issue when it shouldn't have been really. Because everyone is entitled to some privacy in their own home and garden. Or you'd think that, wouldn't you? You'd think that. But one of the driving forces behind us getting our kitchen extended is because it will block off the side of the house and our exit to the garden will be at the back of the house. So it will feel more kind of like our space, like our exit and stuff. And then we can put up some really proper fences and kind of block it off a little bit and just feel a little bit, just like we've got some privacy and we've got our own space. Okay. It wasn't quite the intro I was expecting to make, but yeah, got some things to do today. Got some cooking, going to cook some salmon later. And yeah, I'm not sure what's going on for the next few days. So I thought I'd just take you along. I would like to do some gardening, but I think right now we're just going to do a bit of a tidy up because the house is looking a little bit messy. I'm going to make myself a bit of lunch and I'm going to make something that I've never made before. And it's a little bit of an experiment. And I always think that lunchtime is the time when you can really experiment with your cooking and stuff, because especially if you're just cooking for yourself, because it's a meal that kind of, for me, it sort of doesn't really matter. You can always like whack something together for lunch if it doesn't work out. Whereas dinner is sort of more, I don't know, it's more of a serious kind of meal, isn't it? So I like to experiment with different recipes for lunch and that's what we're going to do today. Now I saw this recipe on Instagram. It was just a reel that came up and I didn't save it. I didn't read the recipe. I didn't see the ingredients properly. So we're just going to kind of go with the flow. Right, sweet potato. I don't, I don't really, I don't really foresee this recipe going wrong because it actually looked very, very simple. And it is based on something I have had and have made before, which is a quiche, but it's kind of like a healthy take on a quiche. So instead of pastry, you have a sweet potato bottom. So we're just prepping these and I'm going to whiz them in the microwave because I think it'd be way quicker and it is just lunch. So let's whiz these up. Right. Welcome to my cupboard of doom. This is where we store absolutely everything in the kitchen, except the things that you see dotted all around the place that doesn't fit in here. So we've got plates, bowls, baking stuff, dishes, like just everything basically. Just one of the main reasons why we're getting our kitchen done. There is just no storage in here. So I need to find a dish that's sort of not too big because it is just for me. I think that one might work because it is just for me. When she made it online, it was quite big and I was like, I don't want it to be that big. So I think this one and it's quite shallow too. Right. This will work. My cupboard of doom. Right. Veg wise, we're just going to go for it. She went for broccoli and peas, but I'm going to do spring onions, yellow pepper, just for some colour and some broccoli. So we're just going to chop these up. Okay. Sweet potatoes are done. So what we're going to do is split them. Such gorgeous colour sweet potato, isn't it? It's just my favourite. Okay. So then we push them out their skins into here. We flatten all of this because this is essentially our base. So normally I think you would use pastry as a base for this dish, but we're using sweet potato. I did also see somebody on TikTok making a pizza using sweet potato as the base instead of pizza dough. Right. So we'll pop on our veg. Yay. I knew the yellow pepper would add so much colour. That's what we need. That's looking really, really nice and colourful and fun. And I'd probably just eat that as it was, but now we need some eggs. This is where it gets a bit of guesswork because I don't know how many eggs she used to cover it or how many I'm going to need. So I'm going to start with three. So just put them into here and whisk them up. And if we need to add another one, we can. Another egg. I'm going to add one more. Okay. That goes. I think we were just about right with four. Okay. And then we're going to pop that into the oven until I'm guessing it's cooked. So maybe 10, 15 minutes. I don't know. We'll play it by ear, by eye even. You know what I was just thinking? We could sprinkle on some cheese. I've got some mozzarella cheese. Just pop on a little bit of this. It definitely does look cooked and it does, it smells absolutely delicious. So it is basically like a quiche and I have made a quiche before, but with a quiche it's a bit of faff because you've got to make the pastry, cook the pastry first and then wait for that to cool down and then put your egg in and cook that. This you can just all do in one go. I say that, I haven't cut into it yet or anything, so I don't actually know if it's worked, but it is sort of cutting. So there we go. What do we think of that? That's not bad, you know, that's not bad. You can see the layer of sweet potato. That's good. Oh, I'm really happy with that. Look at the layers. That looks fantastic. I'm so happy with that. I'm going to eat this and then we're going to get out in the garden and do a little bit of gardening. I realised that I didn't really give you an update on Pippin. So a couple of vlogs ago, I told you about a problem that we were having with the rabbit where he basically had like a pooey sticky bum. It's now all better. I changed his diet, didn't I Pippi? I've got a much more exciting diet now with lots of like fresh herbs and stuff, and I have managed to reduce his pellets. So he's literally having one tablespoon in the morning and that's it for the whole day. And he just seems more happy, like he just seems happier in himself. So, don't you? Right, that was genuinely delicious. That was such a nice lunch. We're going to go outside and do some gardening. What I'm going to continue to do is move the stuff that's at the front of the garden to the rest of the garden, because when we get our extension done, the whole front of the garden will sort of disappear and we're going to have steps put up through the grass and stuff. So anything that's at the front needs to be moved to the back. So we're going to continue with that. Then I'm going to do some weeding and tidying up and just bits like that, but I'm probably not going to be able to talk out there. So I'm just letting you know what I'm going to be doing. Let's go. I think I'm going to give my wellies a bit of a wash. I keep saying that I'm going to do it and then I don't do it, but the weather's been so bad there's been no point. But now that it's nice, I just feel like I'm going to give them a little bit of a clean because they really, really need it. They are by Muckboot. I've gone through so many wellies in my life of the allotment plot. I've gone through so many. Muckboot are fantastic. Also, Merry people are very good for wellies as well. They're very robust and they last a long time. The soles are very thick. They feel really solid and they're really comfortable to wear and quite stylish. I really like them. Merry people as well. They do great wellies too. Same thing, really solid, really robust, last a long time, great colour selection. Wellies that I would not recommend are Jules. Jules wellies are great if you're just going for a walk in the rain, but they don't last very long when you're actually gardening in them. But if you want proper gardening, robust ones, I would go with Muckboot and Merry people. A little bit pricier, but you do get what you pay for, basically. Right, let's give them a good wash. Look how mucky they are, oh my gosh, living up to their name, Muckboots. Right, my kids are due home from school in about an hour, so I'm going to throw together some scones. A really simple recipe. I used to do this all the time when my kids were younger and we didn't have any snacks in the house. I would just throw together some scones, but they absolutely love them. They are delicious, and at least it's like a little bit homemade for them when they get in from school. So it's a little bit of a treat, but it's also sort of not because they have them a lot. Anyway, it's super easy. So let's throw together some scones and maybe we'll get time to have one before the kids get home. We'll just have to see. I just love any recipe that is just so super easy. You throw it together, you can't really go wrong. It's pretty much three ingredients. It's flour, butter and milk, but you put in a little bit of salt for flavour and a little bit of baking powder just to help them to rise a bit. That's it really. It's a very, very simple recipe otherwise. So 350 grams of plain flour. That's it, 350. Then to this we'll throw in a little bit of salt, like I just said, a little bit of salt in there, and then probably like a teaspoon, so half a tablespoon of that in there. A tiny bit more just in case, just for luck. Who doesn't do that? Right, that's all mixed together. Then we need 175 grams of butter and then milk. Right, scrap that. 85 grams of butter and then 175 grams of mils of milk, 175 mils of milk. Then you just whizz it all together, make it into scones, bake it in the oven. Easy peasy. Look at this. Look at this. I've got Einstein and the fox on the allotment and I've got Pippin at home waiting for his dinner. Can you see him? He's just on the other side of this barrier because otherwise he comes into the kitchen and tries to eat everything and gets in the way, don't you Pipps? He's sitting waiting for his dinner. It's four to five minutes time, his dinner. You're so naughty. Always hungry, aren't you? Little cheeky bunny. Little cheeky bunny. Okay, there we go. With about 15 minutes to go until they're back. We have got freshly made scones and they will hopefully still be warm for them. Some of them are a little bit flat actually, but they're looking good and they've got the nice crack, the nice crack through the middle. That's how you know you've made a good scone because you're supposed to pull them apart, not cut them. You're supposed to pull them. I think we've earned one ourselves before the kids get home, so I'm going to take one of the good ones, pull it apart like this. Perfect. Then you can really put whatever you like on them. My kids sometimes have Nutella on them. It really doesn't matter. You're in your own home. You do you, Glen Coco, you know? I think I'm going to have butter and jam. It's rare that I get the first bite of something that I've actually baked because normally my family are in there first. I think I might take my kids for a walk when we get home because it's such nice weather. It just feels such a shame not to use every second of it up. So I think we'll go on a nice walk. I'll show you some springy things around, if there are any springy things. I think there will be, and then I will see you in the morning. Guys, I was editing this vlog and realised that I didn't actually properly end it. I think I said see you tomorrow and then I sort of never picked the camera up again this week. So just one of those weeks, it's been very busy. I've got like another wash load on. There's more tidying and cleaning to do. It's just been full on this week. Next week, the weather is looking so nice. So I'm really hoping to be able to get to the allotment a lot more and I think hopefully start seeds and sort of start, I mean this has been a very springy vlog, hasn't it? So hopefully it's sort of got everyone very excited for spring. So I hope you've enjoyed it. I will be back again at the allotment plot tomorrow, or you can see me here in my home garden next Sunday at 9am. Thank you so much for watching guys. See you next time.