Garden update

Here we go again.  :-)  Photos and comments

I do have a nice view from the garden - one more garden, a road (which I can't see) and then countryside.  That's a farm in the distance.  Next door has three trees and you can see that I get great benefit from the birch particularly which hangs over the end of my bit and gives pleasant, dappled shade.  

There's trees the other way too which gives a surprising amount of privacy for an estate.  I love trees.

Not a great photo but a better view of the ornamental grass.

The arbour looks a bit forlorn.  Apart from the wonky left hand pot (which I will adjust) the plants in them haven't done that well.  The one on the left is still alive but the one on the right has died.  They were fine until the really cold weather.
I have a cucumber that needs to go out so I think I will try it in the right hand pot and see what happens to it.  It will look odd as it will need cane support, but worth a try, just for this year, and then I can ponder.  Maybe bedding plants from now on - what do you think?

I MUST get the seat cushion covered and maybe make some smaller cushions too!

Isn't that just lovely?  The first clematis I have managed to keep alive.  It seems very happy where I've put it and there are lots more buds.  It brightens up what was a very dull corner too.

The 'Is It A Passion Flower?' is several leaves taller, fighting its way bravely through the hostas that surround it.  I need to cut back the bush behind it to give it more light, I think, and then keep my fingers crossed.  I love garden surprises - the nice ones, I mean!

Almost luminous, aren't they?  I can see why the Elizabethans grew them as flowers rather than vegetables.

Small and very pretty.

The first flower ever from the lavatera.  It takes me right back to childhood when we had several in the garden.  Such an attractive, olde worlde flower.  It will outgrow the pot it's in soon so I need to look around for something bigger.  

Ah - I wonder if it would be happy by the arbour.  I'd need something the other side to balance it though.

 Gardeners delight - doing so well, growing inches every day and looking extremely happy with loads of little fruit appearing.  

This always makes me think of A A Milne.
Geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue)

and

It's a beautiful blue (but it hasn't a hood)

I was brought up proper, wasn't I?

Saturday

Good morning, all.  The windows are wide open and the cooler air is pouring in after what felt like a very hot night, despite the fan blowing over me all the time.  And I'm sneezing already but that's my own fault.

You see, I have an early routine at this time of year and that is to open the French window and, weather permitting, meander around the garden, little metal rings in hand, checking over the tomatoes, pinching out the side shoots and popping on another plant ring if needed to keep them 'staked', so to speak.  Then I check over the runners for any sign of aphids before giving everything an early morning drink.  Today I noticed that the tall ornamental grass is 'flowering' beautifully and, stupidly I gave it a bit of a shake whereupon a smoke-cloud of pollen drifted out and headed in my direction.  I dodged but not before I caught a bit of it.  You'd think I would have learned by now, wouldn't you!

I think it's the prettiest it's ever been - just a shame about all that pollen!

As I hoped, yesterday was a restful day, helped by managing to keep the house reasonably cool.  The fans worked full pelt (tough on the electricity bill but there you go) and, as the sun moved round, the vertical blinds came into play too.  The hottest room was my bedroom but I have a fan in there too.  I'm not sure how I would cope without the fans, that's for sure.

Mel came round and we had cold drinks and a fruit platter which went down a treat.  It was so nice to catch up on stuff.  Her son, D, came round too.  I never taught D, amazingly enough, but I was involved in his early education in other ways and Mel and I just got friendly.  What with one thing and another, we haven't caught up for a very long time which is daft seeing as we are ten minutes' walk away from each other.  She loved her garden in a low key way, just like me really, so we had much to chat about.
(by low key I mean no grandiose plans)

I won't get Matt's plans and quote for the bathroom for about three weeks.  His daughter (who I did teach in Y1) has her graduation next week so they are combining that with a holiday. 

On to today and I think it is going to be another scorcher.  Beth was going to come here for the day but it really depends how she is feeling.  If she does, we planned allotment in the morning and one of our old 'sewing days' in the afternoon.  I miss these times now she is working so I'm hoping that she can come but only if she feels right again.  It takes more than a day to get over something like that so I'm not too hopeful.

If she doesn't come, I will do my own bit of sewing in the afternoon after watering the allotment before lunch.

Sorry, Sue, it is past 7:30 and I still have to edit a photos and pop it on < grin >.  In the words of teachers everywhere, 'must do better'.  :-)

Friday

Good morning, everyone!   I have all the doors and windows thrown open to make the most of the fine weather we are having and it's lovely!  I see threats of thunder and heavy showers but there's no sign of anything like that here.  The watering can is getting a lot of hard work!

Yesterday was not as busy as expected.  I was going round to Beth's to help Alex tidy his room but when I got there he said not to stay because he had an upset tum.  So I came home again, stopping off at the allotment to water on the way.  I'm glad I didn't stay because this morning Beth is off work with the same thing.  Not at all nice for either of them.
We will reschedule!

So I had time that I wasn't expecting so I planned the tuition and then chilled for a while as it was humid and baking hot.  As I drove away from the allotment the car registered 37C.  It wasn't, of course, but it was certainly too hot for comfort!

This weather is suiting the baby corn which is growing cms each day.  Everything else is coming on too and later on I will go over and do some more watering.

I had an email chat with dad as he planted some later runners last year so that he had some going on well into Autumn.  He recommended late July so it's in the garden diary!  There are some gaps along the rows so they will be a perfect place.

Back home, the few yellow raspberries are ripening well, as are the blueberries and I intend to pick what's ripe for my breakfast tomorrow to go with either my overnight oats or my muesli.  I shall have to exert great self control today!

I'm a bit late today because I had an early visit from Matt the Plumber who serviced the boiler and then looked at my bathroom and discussed what's possible in what is a very small space.
At present I have a very large corner bath.  It's been great but is looking its age now and it all needs an update anyway.  He is sure he can find something much smaller that will fit in the other way giving me room for a vanity unit AND some floor to ceiling storage and still have more floor space than I have now.  That would be brilliant.

I did consider a wet room instead but I do love my morning bath!  There's time for a wet room if I ever get to the point of not coping with a bath.
                                                                 
It will be a big job because the ceiling needs sorting (it is artex) and there are three layers of tiles on a couple of the walls so, when they've gone, the walls will need replastering too.  There will be a shower screen (better than the plastic curtains I have at present) and instead of the conventional radiator I will have a floor to ceiling one that I can also hang my towels, etc, on.
He's going to fit spots and one of them will double as an extractor fan(tastic!).
Best of all, he will project manage from beginning to end - minimal confusion all round.

It all sounds very exciting (to me anyway) and it will be so nice to have a modern bathroom again.

Later on today I have a friend coming over and instead of biscuits I shall offer her a fruit platter.  Much more cooling and better for us both!

In between, I have to pop to Morrisons for a few things and I have a list so, hopefully, I won't deviate.  Then I shall see if there's enough in the washing basket to make it worth doing a wash and then I will potter in the garden.  A nice, gentle, non stressful day: just the ticket!

One sad thing.  Two more internet friends have stopped blogging, I gather because of unpleasant comments received. 
It's a very sad fact that the Internet can be a very nasty place and there is little protection for those who are on the receiving end.  You can set comments to approval but you still have to read them yourself.  Neither blog was controversial, neither indulged in rants or strops, they were gentle, day by day accounts, a bit like this one, in fact (only better!)
It's just so wrong and I will miss their posts very much indeed.

I'd like to thank my readers and commenters for their support and that (fingers crossed) you help to keep this blog a pleasant and friendly corner.  Believe me, I appreciate you all very much.  Thank you.

Thursday

A quick one today.

I laughed my socks off at this.  I'm sure you can guess why.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-44400892

Wednesday

Good morning, everyone.   Announcing the weather is getting somewhat monotonous, isn't it?  More sun, more warmth, no complaints - well, only one and that is that the soil is now so dry.  It wasn't even humid yesterday, morning and evening were both fresh and breezy and it was just gorgeous.

Well, the box arrived mid morning (very convenient), it didn't bite me, the set up instructions were perfectly clear even for a techno-idiot, I was able to find where everything was supposed to go, it did most of it without me and now I just have to learn how it all works.  Did I say 'just'?  It looks awful complicated!  I have sussed how to record but not how to include the subtitles on the recording (I know you can, Dad does) and I have discovered where BBC iPlayer is. 
I need to spend some sessions with the instruction manual, just trying things out, I think.
However, sadly, it looks as if I need a smart telly to get Youtube and sundry other bits and pieces so I am seriously considering it now. 
This means that I will maybe come to a decision sometime just before Christmas!  :-)

Sharon came, worked her magic and went.  My hair is one of the few things I am perfectly satisfied with and Sharon does it just the way I want.  She's a treasure, she really is, and the fact that she does it at my home is the icing on the cake.

After some intensive tuition (algebra), Beth came round and after dinner we popped to guess where to do some watering.  Beth had noticed that one of the potatoes might be ready so we forked it up.  No, it wasn't really, but I did come home with a good single portion of titchy little ones for my dinner tonight.  We also shared a few golden raspberries which got eaten straight away (so delicious) and planned to meet up there at the weekend to water, weed and properly thin the apple trees, the pear tree having dealt with it itself.  All being well, barring accidents, we should have a bumper crop of apples and pears this year although we can count the plums on the fingers of both hands.

Today Matt the Plumber was going to arrive early to give my boiler its annual service, sort out the condensate pipe that gave me such trouble during the extremely cold weather and start discussing what I want him to do with my bathroom.  However, he emailed yesterday to say could he come this afternoon instead, which works very well for me as this afternoon's tuition has been cancelled (family birthday).  So this morning is free of appointments and I shall do some ironing (three loads washed and dried yesterday), sort a few things out, sweep the patio and generally potter before going to hear readers in Y1.

It should be a really pleasant day!

Tuesday

Good morning, everyone.  Another hot day forecast but hopefully it will be like yesterday - hot, yes, but precious little humidity, which makes a big difference.

On the way home yesterday, I had to stop off at Bickerdikes, a lovely garden centre near Mum and Dad's.  The reason was that on Saturday I bought a top there (and tomato food) and when I got it home (well, Mum and Dad's home) and tried it on, it was way, way, way too big.  I've never had before, it's usually the opposite.  There were no quibbles, thank goodness, and I was sad they didn't have it in the next size down - it was a nice, cool, linen tunic type thing.

Once home the first thing I did was open all the windows and let some fresh air in.  The second was to feed the tomatoes and the third was to water them!  I took a few photos too.

 Yes, I have baby runner beans!  So cute.  Unfortunately, I also have black fly but I hope most of that will have gone by tomorrow after a good spraying.

Here's some baby tomatoes from one of the surprise plants.  Dad reckons they will just be bog-standard little red tomatoes.  Personally, I care not a jot providing they taste good!

I also picked two raspberries and three blueberries but they didn't see the inside of the house!  Very delicious they were too.

School was fun and so was tuition.  Then I popped down to the allotment to weed, water and feed everything.  Goodness, one weekend away and up comes the bindweed and the ground elder, pesky,  horrible stuff.

The mange tout is doing really well, as are the potatoes and the corn.  I picked six mini yellow courgettes because Monty (Don) says you should, to encourage more fruiting and also two raspberries.  Here they are perched on top of a really nice fresh fruit salad I enjoyed last night.

I gave the runners a good spray because the blackfly had hit at the allotment as well.

Today I have to stay in most of the day until they deliver my all singing, all dancing TV box thingy.  I'll take the opportunity to get some housework done and the lovely Sharon is round at midday to work her usual magic on my hair.  I shall also make some bread for Alex.

Beth's round for dinner, by which time I should be free to leave the house, so we will go and water the allotment before I use those six mini courgettes in a pinto bean and vegetable bake.

Have a great day and stay as cool as you can.

Monday

Good morning, everyone.  Welcome to another bright and clear early morning.  In fact, the forecast on Countryfile yesterday indicated that it's will stay this way until at least the weekend. 

I've been with Mum and Dad over the weekend and will be travelling home in a few hours, before it gets too hot.  It's been a nice gentle weekend when I have done all the cooking (phew) and enjoyed not having much else to do.  I refuse to be jealous of Dad's tomatoes!

Today, once home, will be airing the home, watering the allotment, a little bit of planning and lunch before I go into school to help out in Foundation Stage.  For once, I'm not looking forward to that as it's going to be very hot in the FS area.  There are rules and regulations governing working temperature for office staff, etc, in school, but nothing for the children and the teachers and those flat roofed rooms can get very uncomfortable.

After that it is tuition followed by, I hope, Wimbledon.  Between that and the world cup, there's not much chance of watching my usual telly but if I get tired of the former there's always my Star Trek DVDs to entertain!

And then, later on, as the day comes to an end, I will water my own little patch.  I wonder if there's any baby runners yet!