Saturday

Good morning, everyone.  Goodness, wasn't it hot yesterday!  Absolutely baking.

I did my shop at Sainsbury's, spending more than I intended but never mind and then went to water.

When the cleaners arrived, I went upstairs to be out of their way, turned on the fan, settled down on the bed to read and woke an hour later!  I must have needed it.

In the afternoon, finally, I met Beth at the allotment.  It was way to hot to do any work there but we dug some potatoes, pulled some baby corn and cut some courgettes.  Beth took the corn because I had the last lot and we shared out the rest.  I think the potatoes have been the best they've ever been for us. 
Then we sat under the tree and chatted.  It was really too hot to do anything else.

Once home, it was just too hot to do much so I changed into a cool dress, turned on the fans, drew the blinds across and chilled.  We had a bit of rain later but not, as far as I can tell, any storming.

Today, hopefully, the temperature will have moderated.  I have to go into town to pick up my prescription from Boots and, as I'm going early, I may well have a wander round, mask and gloves on, to see what there is to be seen.

There's watering at the allotment and in the garden to do and I have a basket of ironing - it was just too hot to do any yesterday.  I will get my bits of planning done for this coming week and then just generally chill, I think.  I might go for a walk, depending on how hot it gets.

A bit of a nothing day really but it should be very pleasant.  Take care, everyone, and drink plenty of fluids in this lovely warm weather.   xx

Friday

Good morning, everyone.  It's the last day of July, of course, and they say it will be a scorcher.  If it's anything like yesterday, it will be a beautiful day.

Just after I sent yesterday's post, I checked my phone and there were two messages, one from Beth pulling out of our arrangement for lunch and the afternoon as she hadn't finished something that really needed doing and the other from Jackie asking if I would go over for a chat in the afternoon.  So all change.

The first tuition session went really well, I think.  I'm always a bit 'nervous' at the first one where one is establishing oneself with the student.  However, no problems, we got on fine and, although they were very quiet at the beginning, by the end we were chatting away happily about things.  So that was good.

I got the three loads of washing done and dried but not ironed.  That's a task for today at some point.

After lunch, I drove over to Billericay and had a most pleasant two hours in Jackie's beautiful garden, chatting away merrily about this, that and the other, before driving back again in surprisingly light traffic.  I also came back with five lovely cooking apples from her tree.

All in all, a splendid day, full of happy things.  And Beth got her thing finished, much to her relief.

Today starts off with an early visit to Sainsbury's to get a few items that Morrison's doesn't seem to stock.  Also, a trip around the clothes is on the list - I do like their range and I may get another pair of the smaller sized jeans - I'm starting to feel quite nervous about some of the others.  After that, the diary is a black page so the day's my own.  I will get the ironing done, tidy the house for the cleaners and I can do the allotment watering while the cleaners are working their alchemy.  It will be hot but it's not that strenuous an activity.  I think the rest of the day might very well be spent in the garden, peacefully surveying the trees and the tomatoes in between reading and snoozing.  How decadently lazy is that?

Stay safe and have a very happy day.  xx

Thursday

Good morning.

Yesterday was a funny old day.  Not in a bad way, not amusing, just - well,  funny.

The background is that you might remember I was going on a 'fitness' holiday with Lindsey (my PT) and a group of her clients.  It was in Valencia, based in a purpose built hotel and I booked it last year, in October, well before all this started.
We were all holding on to see how things might go but I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable about it all and over this weekend I decided it was most sensible and certainly most responsible to pull out.  After all, I have a vulnerable family - I am the least vulnerable of us all.
(I'm not criticising anyone who made a different decision - this was for me and mine)

I let Lindsey know - she was fine and very understanding and there was an iron clad guarantee so that was OK and actually the payment back was made yesterday afternoon.  I decided to hold on to the flight because if Ryanair did cancel, I would be entitled to a refund.  I accepted that I might lose the flight money but it wasn't all that much really.

So - what was funny about yesterday was that I got an email from Ryanair saying that they had to change the flight timings and gave me the options of . . .
accepting the revised flight
changing to another flight
a full refund (both ways)

Guess which one I took!

I do feel I've got out of it all very lightly and am lucky.
But poor old Lindsey - it's just one thing after another with this trip which was such good fun last year, I gather!  She's tearing her hair out.

I went to water the allotment and came back with these.

Yes, they are runner beans - just two.  A little taste of good things to come.  The apples aren't ready - didn't think they would be but worth a try.  They were fall-offs anyway.  I have mini cucumbers coming out of my ears now.

Today I have a new student first thing and then Beth is coming round for lunch after which we are going to start sorting out what was her work room.  In between those two, I have two loads to wash, hang out to dry and get in again - assuming nice, sunny weather.  I have to water the allotment at some point too, although I might be able to persuade Beth to do that on her way home again.
Then it is the Slimming World Zoom meeting later on.

So quite a busy day but a very satisfying one.
Take care and stay safe.  xx

Wednesday - mainly garden and allotment.

Morning, everyone.

I spent some early morning time in the garden yesterday, first feeding everything and then tying up the tomatoes and pinching out the top shoots so they can put all their energy into growing nice long trusses.  Some of them were threatening to climb over the fence and escape into next door's garden!

They're doing ever so well now.  Just look at all those tomatoes.

I'm puzzled by this one.  The label says 'gardener's delight' which it most certainly is NOT.  I put my (wrinkled) hand behind it so you can see the size.  Some sort of beef tomato, I suppose but where on earth did it come from?

Not that I am complaining, you understand - just puzzled.

Thank goodness they are mini-cucumbers.  I only picked one of these, have three from yesterday and came home from the allotment with four more.  Just as well I like cucumber and these are so tasty and fresh.

I got the chair, table and cushions out ready for Chris but it then turned cloudy with a stiff cool breeze so we met online instead.  Oh, well . . . better luck next week.



Tuition was great fun - I do like these students.

In the afternoon I stopped off at the allotment and came home with these!

And these - with more coming on fast.

And finally, at last, we have baby runners.  Cheers!






















Today starts off with an early morning tuition session followed later on by my personal training session.  Lindsey can now have individual clients in her mini-gym which is great.  I'm looking forward to that very much.
I ought to go down the allotment and water at some point.  I gather it's going to get warmer and I don;t want things to dry out - it's all looking so lush at the moment.

I'm hoping it will be somewhat warmer and sunny today - yesterday was OK but cool-ish and it kept clouding over.  Fingers crossed!

Stay safe and well.  xx

Tuesday

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Tuesday. 

I was so tired yesterday evening, I gave in and went to bed at eight thirty and I don't even remember waiting to fall asleep!  I woke at five (with just the usual loo breaks) so that's over eight hours of good sleep.  I feel so much better this morning!

It's looking promising out there and, indeed, the forecast looks great for the rest of the week and the weekend too.  Woo hoo!

I had a good journey home from Dad's.  It was raining and there was a lot of surface water, not to mention quite a lot of heavy lorries and farm vehicles making local journeys, so it took a bit longer than expected, but it was fine.

When I arrived home, the first thing I did after bringing in the cases was look at the garden and looky look!

There are three more mini cucumbers nearly ready and several more tomatoes are ripening.  They are on their way now!

The rest of the day was spent sorting things out, planning for today's tuition, catching up on some telly and so on.  Nice, normal, homey stuff.

Today is a little busier.
First of all, there's a bit of tuition, then Christine is coming round (weather permitting) for a chat and then I'm off to Beth's for an hour to take something round and have another chat.  Maybe, later on, I'll take a trip to the allotment to see how  things are going there.  It won't need watering, that's for sure, but there might be a few courgettes!

I do have some washing but I think I'll leave it for a few days as it's not quite enough for two loads (I do do darks and lights separately).  Thursday looks a pretty empty day so I guess I'll do it then.
It should be a good day and I hope yours is too.  Stay safe.  xx

Monday

Good morning, everyone.  Welcome to my blog at the start of a new week.
Yesterday turned out to be a sunny day with just one quite heavy rain shower that lasted around fifteen minutes before dissolving into sunshine again

I really didn't do very much.  Read, chatted, picked veg, prepped meals and that was about it.

Once I get home this morning, there will be plenty to be getting on with.  Catching up with the washing, for a start, plus some planning and giving the garden the once over for cucumbers and tomatoes (and weeds, I suppose!).  Some of the pots under the tree might need some water although the rain on Saturday was heavy enough to soak through.

It'll be nice to get back into the daily grind.
xx

Sunday

Good morning, everyone.  Again, it is stupid o'clock and I'm wide awake and have been for a couple of hours.  I've given up trying to sleep and am just going with the flow.

We had some very heavy rain yesterday.  It started mid afternoon, just as I was about to go and pick runner beans, and continued for several hours, giving the ground a very good soaking.  Beth said the same was happening at home to that's the allotment and garden watering sorted out for a few days.
It then started again later on in the evening!

Today is another quiet day with Dad.  I suspect I will be dropping off from time to time after such a bad night's sleep but at least I am able to, there's nothing stopping me.  I think my conscience is clear so goodness knows why I'm wide awake when I should be fast asleep!   :-)

Well, there's not a lot more to say really.  I really you're fast asleep and don't catch this for several more hours (if you live in the UK, I mean) and that today is a really good day for you.
xx