Tuesday, 23-06-26

Good morning, everyone, and what a surprise!  It is dark, gloomy and pouring with rain right now.  To be fair, I would not have heard any storming overnight (hearing aids out, etc) so maybe it's not surprising to my neighbours but I didn't expect it!

Another surprise.  Perched on the roof opposite to my house and it stayed put long enough for me to grab my camera and zoom in.  A grey heron, Google search tells me.  Definitely not local so I hope s/he found their way home again.

I got stuff done yesterday before it got too hot.
Lindsey did circuits outside which was lovely.  It was warm but there was a refreshing breeze.

I came home again, Kay arrived and, while she was sorting my inside out, I did some garden stuff.  Potted on an indoor plant that had outgrown its pot, did some weeding and some slab scraping and trimmed the lower leaves off the tomatoes.  Now the lower fruit can catch the sun better.

It got quite hot in the afternoon but by then I was inside, blinds drawn, doors and windows open and fans on.  There was still a breeze and it kept my living room at a very pleasant temperature.

Today and, particularly, tomorrow and Thursday are expected to be very hot indeed and very humid, which is worse.  We're just not geared up to such weather in the UK.  Houses are built and insulated to retain heat which is a Very Good Thing most of the time, just not in a heatwave.  I gather temperature records may be broken before the end of the week.  We will see.

Chris and I will be off to Groove first thing.  We were expecting to walk there and back but that depends on the rain.  A bit later, Sharon is round for my six weekly hair sort-out.  Then the rest of the day is my own.
I seem to have a lot of cucumber so I think I will make some simple pickles with some.  I seem to be having cravings for pickles at the moment - beetroot and pink onion.  Some cucumber will make a nice difference.

And we are now in the middle of a storm - that was a big crack of thunder just now!  I certainly won't need to give my garden its morning drink, will I?  It's pouring and I've just had to close the landing window and wipe the sill.

Right, I have to get my other social media stuff sorted so I will say goodbye.  Please, stay safe in this extreme weather and stay as chilled as possible.  Bye.  xx

Monday, 22-06-26

Good morning again, everyone.  My windows are thrown open to catch the morning freshness and I've given the garden its morning drink.  It was warm yesterday but I stayed mostly inside and it wasn't so bad.  A load of washing dried in about half an hour!

Goodness, I was tired after Saturday's outing.  It was very pleasant to not have to do anything but just go with the flow and I did snooze off several times plus a good night's sleep.  Definitely, I am feeling my age sometimes nowadays!  :-)

I said I would take a photo of the little jug I bought.  It looks big in the photo but it is about 9cms tall so really quite small.  No handle so not ideal for hot sauces but fine for milk, cream, etc.

Just a couple of garden photos - it's the season for them, isn't it?

Every time I look, those tomato plants are bigger - and so are the tomatoes.  No sign of colour yet but they will, in their own time, ripen and then it will be delicious.

Just because . . . those hanging baskets look so lovely - photos don't do them justice really.

On to today and it's another day with not very much on the agenda.  I have circuits first thing, then there's some housework, washing, ironing, etc, before it gets too hot.  This afternoon is predicted to be pretty extreme round here (for us in the UK, I mean) so I will be chilling inside, blinds across and fan on.
There's already a jug of water in the fridge, ready for hydrating.  

How do you handle this hot weather?

Take care, stay cool, remember water, hat and sun block.   See you tomorrow.  xx

Sunday, 21-06-26

 Morning, everyone, and welcome to astronomical summer time!  Also, which is almost shocking, the longest day.  Isn't that crazy?
The sun is shining brightly and it's still nice and fresh although the forecast is for very hot weather.  I gather it was really hot here yesterday but by the sea there was a lovely sea breeze that kept everything just perfect.

Anyway, I won't go on about yesterday as I've done a separate post about that.

Today is cucumber pick'n' day.  In fact, I already have and they are in the fridge.
Two minis and one large one.  I might see if Chris could use half of the large one.

And just a quick shot of some of the tomatoes.  There are loads of babies now and I need to start weekly feeding, I think.

I'm feeling rather weary after yesterday so today is a nothing day.  I will chill, rest, crochet, watch telly and generally just vegetate!  
With the fan on!

Have a lovely day, one and all.  Stay cool.  xx

A day in Southwold

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwold

Hi, everyone.
I've been to Southwold before; in fact, I've had three week long holidays there and it is one of my favourite seaside places but I really don't want another whole week there so when this came up on the Broomfield Trips email, I grabbed at the opportunity.

We set off before the set time - the coach was early and so were we, all fifty odd people.  It was actually Jan's birthday (Jan and Ray organise these trips) which was very nice.
We made good time with absolutely no holdups, even round Colchester, which was unusual for the A12, and it looked like we would get there really early . . . until we came to a dead stop in Yoxford.  The road was totally closed, barriers all the way across.  Our coach wasn't the only vehicle either, there were a fair number of other cars too.  I checked the map on my phone and there was nothing so I am guessing the coach sat nav was the same.  So we had to turn and the driver had to work out another route.  It said there was a diversion in place, but there were no diversion signs.

You may or may not know but the A12 is the main road up to East Anglia and once you go off it, the roads are single lane or less.  Difficult for a big coach!  So working out which roads to take (and missing a turning meaning he had to go round again) meant that instead of arriving early, we arrived late!  And the road closed sign appeared on my phone (so presumably on his sat nav) before we arrived but it was late and that was naughty of whoever has charge of that sort of thing.

After that, no problems.  I had less time than I thought before the gin tour but that was OK.  
I wandered along the beach, taking some photos, had an ice cream and turned up for the tour with ten minutes to spare. 

The tour of the Adnams distillery was excellent, much better than the last time I did it.  There was a family of four (grandma and three grandchildren - one of which might have been a in-law) and me which meant that it didn't take us too long to get to the various stopping points.

We watched a video first and then Ron (our guide) led us all.  He was so good, very knowledgeable, very funny and  vary caring.  The grandma might have been my age or maybe a bit older (it is so hard to tell) but not quite as mobile although the stairs were fine, she just had to be careful.  The other three were very solicitous too (I think that's the right word) in making sure she was ok.

The distillery.  It's not big (doesn't need to be) and makes vodka, gin and whisky.  It's very modern, fully automated and produced in batches rather than continuously - it's a small venture and you tend not to see their spirit products in the supermarkets except for local ones.

The view from one of the upper windows and, below, some of the machinery.

This is the family - they were celebrating their grandma's birthday which was a few months ago and this was their gift, I think.  They were all lovely!

Ron (below) took us into a small bar area and the tasting started.  Again, he was very good, talked about each sample before we tasted and poured pretty generously.

It was great fun.

After that, I headed up the high street and did a bit of shopping.  Fridge magnets, of course, and I bought a half price dress from White Stuff.
I was dismayed not to be able to find the cheese shop but the unit had become a craft area, showcasing members of the Suffolk Craft Society.

There was some lovely stuff, especially in the gallery upstairs and I got talking to the lady there who makes hooked rugs.  Well out of my price range but she also had greeting cards made from photos of her work and I bought a couple of them.  She doesn't have a web site so I can't point you that way.  Shame.

I also very much admired some ceramics and there is a site for that artist.  
Marie Coomber Ceramics
Sadly, the piece I particularly admired isn't shown.  It was too expensive anyway and I didn't fancy lugging it around Southwold foe the rest of the day without breaking something.  I did treat myself to a little jug though and I'll take a photo at some point - not now though.

I had a look around St Edmund's Church but I talked a lot about the church before so here's a link and some photos.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Edmund%27s_Church,_Southwold

I popped into the little museum (it hasn't changed) and into the Adnams shop because I had a 10% vouched from the tour but didn't get anything there.

Over the road from Adnams is a little triangular oasis of calm - a tiny wee garden that I don't remember from before although it must have been there.

I meandered back towards the sea, treated myself to a coffee in The Swan, Southwold's posh hotel . . . 

. . . before heading towards the Little Fish and Chip Shop for a very late lunch which I ate sitting on the sea front.

I say 'ate' but I could only manage half so I rewrapped the rest and when I got home I reheated it and enjoyed it for dinner.

Finally, I did another beach wander, back towards the pier, up and down the pier and then to the coach.

Such a lovely day.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and before we left, Jan and Ray had started organising another one for the last third of August.  

It's in my diary!

Saturday, 20-06-26

Just dropping in to say I'm off so Southwold shortly and will be back tomorrow, hopefully with photos.

Have a lovely day and stay hydrated.  xx

Friday, 10-06-26

Morning, everyone!

Some photos because it's nice to have colour in a blog post!

Blueberries starting to live up to their name

The Pear!

New in this year and looking very happy.

Loving the lavender

And, finally, the rhubarb trying take over the garden!

One of Seth's team came round yesterday, sorted a loose seal on the spot, took measurements for a new window (the current one is blown and anyway I would like one that swings open.  It's only a small window but the other two and French windows and sometimes you don't want to open them,just a smaller window.

Just waiting for the quote now. 

I popped out to the shops.  Hobby craft for some buttons to finish off a couple of jackets I have made for Chris' new grandson, a gift for the new big brother, some indoor plant compost plus a bigger pot for one of my plant sand I had a look around the outdoor plans.  My back bed dahlias are a non event but it's a bit late to buy bedding dahlias now, they only have the larger and very expensive ones.  I'll keep looking but might have to wait until next year now.
Fortunately, the confused dahlia round the front is growing fast!  There's no buds yet but it can't be long now.

Today I have Slimming World and then this afternoon I'm representing our Chair of Governors at some do.  I don't have to do anything, just watch.  I'm very happy with things like that.  When I took on the role, I said I wouldn't chair meetings but there were things I would be able to do and the other Vice Chair would do the Gov meeting stuff.  It seems to work fine.

Better go and get on with things before SW.  Enjoy the fine weather (if you have it) and stay safe and well.  xx
 

Thursday, 18-06-26

Morning, everyone.  Welcome to Thursday.  It's cool and dull right now but maybe it will do what yesterday did and morph into a beautifully sunny day.

Yesterday is turning out to be a bit busier than I though, one way and another.

I had a chat to Lindsey and we agreed to try the early morning PT for the rest of the summer and see how it goes.  She said it made no difference to her so why not?  
I'm an early riser and it just means I will need to be more organised with my social media stuff.

I made the most of the good weather to do two loads of washing, one being my bedding, and I gave my bedroom a good tidy and clean too.  That was satisfying, especially at bed time.  :-)

The webinar did happen; there was a link in my Google mailbox to take me there and it was about making the most out of your governor monitoring visit.  It was sort of helpful but maybe a bit vague in places but there were some very helpful bits.

The other training was one I have done before and which I wanted to repeat because there have been a few changes to the OFSTED framework since it started.  Also, as Inclusion is the big issue and I am the SEND link governor, it is very likely that inspectors will want to speak to me, if I can make it, so the more on top of it all I am, the better.

Today is lighter. 
Chris and I are having our usual coffee and chat.  We had scheduled lunch out together but now that Little Grandson has arrived, she and Steve are helping out with First Grandson and nursery pick ups, etc.  We'll find another time, I am sure.

And then I need to stay in as Seth might be round to look at some things that need doing.  

A few photos:  

Not a great photo but can you see the baby tomatoes.  It'!s difficult, I know, they are very camouflaged at the moment

Loads of mini cucumbers, two of which might be ready tom cut in a couple of days.

A big cucumber that is almost visibly growing now it is warmer.  I've also removed all those male flowers and there are plenty of cucumbers  starting off.
So much better than last year's efforts!

Oh, and the little pear is holding on.

Right, well, better start the day, I suppose.  Have a lovely Thursday, everyone.  Take care and stay safe.  xx