Wednesday, 19-08-26

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to Wednesday!  We have had rain, yay.  Enough that the paving was still wet when I woke.  Not enough to do anything for the water shortage but enough that I don't need to water - every little helps.

Thank you for your ongoing concern.  Yesterday wasn't as good as hoped.  I managed to eat a bit of the bland stuff but nothing stayed inside for long which was a nuisance.  No cramps though - a real blessing there.
I took one more dose of Imodium before I went to bed and fingers crossed.  I'm a bit nervous about eating today but must - maybe some porridge for breakfast, made with water and with a bit of honey for energy.  Later on, chicken and white rice.  Bland and carby but . . .

Fingers crossed!

The tomatoes are building up as I haven't eaten any since Sunday so yesterday I gave a big bagful to my lovely neighbours.  I was going to take some to the Girls' Meal for Beth, Linda and Julia but that didn't come off.  So right now I have some cooking in Thermione with onion and roasted red pepper to make a sort of all purpose sauce/passata (and the smell isn't making me feel too yuck which is good).  Later I will skin a lot of the mini ones and freeze them whole.

There's nothing in the diary today, not even PT now I have swapped to Thursday early morning.  I suspect I will sleep on and off and eat little and often to get some strength back.  
I'm doing a lot of crossing fingers today!

Isn't this pretty?
One of the blooms on the confused dahlia at the front.  Really cheering!

Right, well, I think the tomatoes are done.  I need to blend them and then push it all through my Mouli to get a nice, smooth result.

Have a lovely day, everyone.  xx

Tuesday, 18-08-26

Morning, everyone.
We have had rain!!  Not a lot, but better than nothing at all.

Thank you for your lovely comments yesterday - you are all so kind.  Five Imodiums (Imodia??) later and this morning things seem to have settled into stillness again.  Phew.
After eating precious little plus the problem itself, I'm feeling washed out and lethargic, empty but not hungry and I need to pace myself carefully today.

So no Groove, my meetup with Diane is rescheduled, as was the meal I was having with Beth, Julia and Linda yesterday evening.  Why can't these things happen when there's nothing in the diary?

It's a hard life (said very tongue in cheek!).

Seriously, I will be fine and I hope you all are too.  Have a lovely day and stay safe and well.  See you tomorrow.  xx

Monday, 17-08-26

No post today (apart from this one) - had a really rough night.
See you tomorrow.  xx

Sunday, 16-08-26

Good morning, everyone.  After a deliciously cool night where I was glad to snuggle under my duvet, today has started off so comfortably cool too.  Long may it last.

My Oddbox was waiting for me on the doorstep this morning.  It looks lovely and I'm looking forward to using the contents.  Loads of carrots this time - I dearly love carrots!
You do get a choice - it starts off the a list (I have a small mixed fruit and veg box) and you can swap items or add items so there's considerable choice one way or another -  they email a reminder before the window for subbing closes which is great.

I'm back on the old bread making now.  Lindsey's sourdough is waiting for its second stretch and folds and Beth's mixed yeast and sourdough is doing its first rise.  I've missed the breadmaking this past two or three weeks.

Better go and get a few more things done - meal prep and so on.   I'm feeling more energetic now which is such a relief.

Take care, all, and have a good day.  xx

Saturday, 15-08-26

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to what is hoped will be a much nicer day today.
After not having that many issues with the heatwaves this summer, Thursday and yesterday were not good.  I felt quite unwell and ended up doing very little apart from grabbing whatever was easiest for food and drinking loads of water.  I am very thankful that earlier in the year I was 'influenced' into getting a counter top ice cube maker.  It seemed a Good Idea at the time and, my word, hasn't it earned its space over recent weeks!   An impulse purchase that has paid dividends.

It feels fresher this morning and the predicted temperature is forecast to drop by about 10 degrees from yesterday - fingers crossed.  I'm feeling loads better this morning - not 100% but so much better so phew!

I'm guessing most of you in the UK got the government alarm yesterday evening.   My phone Bluetooths to my hearing aids so it was a real shock and, for several seconds I wondered what on earth it was!  Still - a good use of the system for any people lacking in enough common sense to realise that wildfires are a big threat right now and to play with fire related stuff (fireworks???  Who would let off fireworks at the moment?) or tossing lit cigarette butts out of car windows is not a particularly wise thing to do!
And that's an understatement, isn't it?  xx

Gardens are definitely showing signs of wear and tear now, aren't they.  To be fair, Autumn is approaching and plants are realising their time to reproduce is getting shorter.
I thought my cucumbers were pretty much past it but, after three weeks of not a lot, the mini cucumber has decided to throw out five or six babies, all pretty much from the same point.  The full sized cucumber plant seems to have given up now but we will see.  They've been great this year so no complaints,

Some of next year's foxgloves!

The flower bed is also getting raggedy but there's loads of blooms as well.  This is one of the dahlias that I thought was lost while the other is just starting to bud.  The Japanese anemonies are also looking very pretty.

I also have some big clusters of Autumn fruiting raspberries, the tomatoes are giving generously and the lone pear is still there and getting bigger.  Not bad for a small growing space - could do better but it's OK.

It's worth all the watering, for sure!

I'm taking things very gently today.  

How are you all, if you're living under this unaccustomed heat.  I know people have it a lot worse but we're just not accustomed to it, either in body or in infrastructure.  Maybe we will have to over the coming decades . . .

Stay safe, everyone, and be careful.  xx

Friday, 14-08-26

Good morning, all.  Just a quick one today as I hardly did anything yesterday, it was so hot.

Chris and Tracy came over and we had a lovely chat out in the garden room.  Then it got so hot so I stayed inside, curtains closed, fans on.  

Today is supposed to be hot too, maybe 32/33C, less than yesterday while there's a big drop into reasonable summer temperatures tomorrow.  

Says the BBC!  Fingers crossed.

I have Slimming World today (it won't be great scale news after last weekend), then I need to pick up my prescription, and I expect the rest of the day will be like yesterday - loads of water, fans on, shut the heat out and stay as cool as possible.

How about you?  xx

Thursday, 13-08-46

Morning, one and all.  Thank you for joining me.  Apologies for yesterday - I was a bit pushed for time yesterday morning and every time I remembered I hadn't done it, I was doing something else, if you see what I mean.  So in the end I decided to wait for today!

Not that there's much to writer about, mind you.  It's been a gentle old week here.  I've houseworked, knotted, washed, dries and ironed, done a .
bit of all sorts really

In this hot weather I'm watering twice a day and that seems to be keeping the tomatoes going although some plants are showing signs of wear and tear.  Of course, it's that time of year anyway, isn't it?

I've spotted the first (that I can see) cyclamen flower.  It's very pretty and has grown from a corm Mum gave me, ages ago.  It's a slightly darker pink that it appears in this photo.
It's always a sign that autumn is approaching.  First come the flowers and, a bit later, the leaves, eventually covering the whole bed with pretty shapes during the dull months.  Come the spring, I pull them all up and up they come again in around six months' time.
It's also a reminder that I need to start clearing the bed, starting with the foxgloves that flowered this year but leaving the new plants to flower next year.  I will move some of them too, to a better place in the bed.  (no idea what's happened to the formatting here!

Earlier in the year I dug up some baby foxgloves and popped them into a planter and they seem very happy.  We will see if I get a lovely and moveable display next spring/summer!

While on the subject of garden, the tomatoes continue to be happy with just two minor issues.  
One is the ever present blossom end rot, supposedly because of lack of calcium in the soil, but only one of the types is showing it, the accidental 'Big Red' a huge plum type and I didn't mean to buy.
And the only type that is splitting is the Alicante.  That's supposed to be due to intermittent watering but I don't think that's the case as none of the others are showing signs.  Maybe it is type vulnerability?  Who know?  It's not a bit problem, thankfully!

Today, Chris is round and also Tracy, my next door neighbour, for coffee and a good old natter.  After that I'm popping round to Morrisons as I am running out of fruit which would never do.  There's always bits of housework, of course!

It's going to be very hot (for the UK) over much of England today so do take care, get some water into the fridge early, dig out the sun safety stuff and stay well.  See you tomorrow.  xx

Edit:  I looked up the splitting tomato thing and it said sudden changes in moisture, temperature fluctuations and/or soil conditions.

The RHS says:

 Although easy to grow, tomato fruits can suffer from splitting and cracking in late summer. This is difficult to prevent, as it is caused by fluctuating temperatures and water supply - which are often out of the control of the gardener.

Odd that it is only the Alicantes though.