Good morning, everyone. Yesterday was pretty warm and today is supposed to be warmer, maybe touching 30C (warm for us in the UK!). Thankfully, I don't have loads planned today.
Apart from the tomatoes and the corn, everything is looking a bit sad in the garden. A lot of the flowers really suffered during the more extreme heat and are slow to recover, despite watering. The cucumber was particularly badly hit and, after last week's over abundance, there's one ready to pick and all the babies have fallen off. Very sad. The courgette seems to be picking up a bit though and the new mint is flourishing.
All that is a way of saying no garden photos today. However, I do have this one.
Having played around with some of the stitches for the blanket pattern, I decided the best thing was to do a trial run, just using colours from my stash (so they are not the ones I would choose, necessarily).
The first, the shell stitch, was easy enough, as were the granny squares, although I picked up a number of tips for improving my rather feeble crochet technique. The stitch above is easy but new to me. As the pattern said, you soon get into a flow with that stitch and it is easier to follow than it sounds.
I've also sewn in all the ends thus far - all those changed of colour make for an awful lot of lose ends!
I did my weekly shop yesterday and have already discovered somethin that I am short of - rinse aid. Most annoying but I will walk around to Morrisons at some point to get some more.
I went to Aldi first and then walked over to M&S to get fruit, veg and anything Aldi didn't have (like risotto rice, for example. I'm running out of a number of items at the same time so it wasn't the cheapest shop, sadly, but there you go! Start of the month, new budget!
The other main thing I did yesterday was to go to circuits which was, as always, good. There were just four of us yesterday
On to today and a pretty much stay-at-home day. It starts with Groove and then I'm home. There's a list of chores - all the usual stuff and I must check and see if I have enough washing to make a decent load. There's bits and bobs to sort out and I want to plan my 'menu' for Saturday when Julia and Harry are coming round for supper. I have started a batch of savoury mince in the slow cooker so maybe the main will feature that in some way. I will have a good thunk. :-)
So that is today. All the normal, pleasant stuff. What are your plans for this second day of August? xx
What a shame about the cucumbers .This weather really has affected so many plants despite all attempts to water efficiently and effectively . Your crochet looks lovely and such beautiful colours .Hope you have a good day with all the other plans
ReplyDeleteYes, it's a shame but it is what it is!
DeleteThanks, Jane, it was a lovely day.
xx
The weather here is windy and wettish but still warm this morning. I’m going to visit a friend this afternoon for coffee and chat so looking forward to that. Do you know about Lucy at Attic 24? If not, do have a look at her blog for some gorgeous crochet makes. She is also very generous with free patterns. Catriona
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't know Lucy. I will look it up, thanks.
DeleteI hope you had a lovely time with your friend. xx
I don't think it is going to be quite as warm here but I shall be zipping out to do a bit of deadheading in the garden. I also have quite a bit of crochet to catch up on. Plenty to keep me out of mischief. Have a lovely day x
ReplyDeleteIt got to just over 29C here in the shade. it felt like it too - phew. xx
DeleteLovely looking crochet, Joy. I've tended to stick to the same few stitch patterns for my crocheted blankets for years, I could do with learning some new ones. Our veggies are struggling in the dry weather we've had for weeks - other than the courgettes, they're still prolific! The front (flower) garden looks like a desert, nearly all the flowers, shrubs, roses and grass have dried up. As we're supposed to be saving water, we've been mainly watering the veg garden, not the flowers. Have a nice homely day! xx
ReplyDeleteI'm watering the veg carefully but the front has taken a hammering. We do what we can do, don't we?
Deletexx
Your crochet really does look good. I will mention it to my sister to see if she is interested in making another blanket for me!
ReplyDeleteOverall my garden, all flowers, is still looking good but closer examination of some of the pots shows the damage from the heat etc. It's close to 26°c at the moment but thankfully there's also a breeze so it doesn't feel too unbearable.
Hope you have a good day xx
It's coming on - some of the stitches are quite a challenge. I'm doing the basic size which is baby blanket size but it can be done double width and length. It would be an awful lot of ends to sew in though!!
Deletexx
After a warm day yesterday we have had non-stop heavy rain all night and all morning, so the veggies and flowers are happy but anything I do today will definintely be indoors, maybe a bit more sorting.
ReplyDeleteI've been prevaricating over the messy cupboard where the fuse box is. I open it to get something out and close it quickly before I even have time to think 'I must sort through that one next'. There's no rush and I'm just really getting into my latest book, so you can guess which one will win :-)
Er - really can't imagine . . . < cough >
DeleteIt sounds like my under the stairs cupboard. The black hole of Chelmsford, that is!!
xx
The crochet looks lovely. Well done on the stitches! It's quite hot and humid here lately. I am not liking it. I walk just a little bit and I'm all uncomfortably sticky. Today is 31C and tomorrow is 35C. Yuck. There might be storms tomorrow afternoon but that will only bring it down to 28C. I am not liking the nights as it is in the 20s. Quite uncomfortable for sleeping
ReplyDeleteThat really does sound uncomfortable. I hope that the humidity, at least, decreases for you. Really not nice. xx
DeleteOur cukes are pretty bedraggled also. I hope things improve as I need to pickle and make relish.
ReplyDeleteLove the crochet, that will make a gorgeous blanket.
God bless.
Me too. I was hoping to pickle some. To be fair, there is some fresh green growth so fingers crossed, for both of us.
Deletexx