My wedding ring

Over the years I have put on a little weight and grown fatter fingers  For ages now my wedding ring has felt really tight and was beginning to worry me. Last night I finally managed to ease it over my knuckle and take it off.  I should have had it made larger a couple of years ago but didn't.  This morning we are going to take both the wedding and engagement ring in to be enlarged.  I feel very strange without them and can't wait to put them back on. I'm hoping that the wedding ring will be stretched immediately so that I can wear it today.  The engagement ring will need a piece of gold putting in so will probably take a week or wo.

Little bits of my garden

I promised a little tour of the garden. It  is raining now so the back garden will have to wait for another time but here is a little peep at some of the pretty colours we have.

The Hollyhock is stunning

They are like huge powder puffs

The Apricot experiment

I have just cracked open three apricot stones and have set them to sprout… I shall have to wait a while to see if anything happens but the almonds didn't take long. I have done a photo shoot of my garden but only have time for this quick upload of the apricots.  I will upload my garden photos tonight.

The one on the left hasn't dried yet. It needs a few days before I crack it open

Place the kernels onto a piece of kitchen paper

Fold it up and give it a splash of water. Put it in a plastic tub or polythene bag.

And now you wait.  Check it after about three or four days. It will probably take a little longer than that.  If it starts to go mould throw it away and try again

Everything's growing

Last night, after my walk, I set to and potted up, some of the  fruit pips that I am trying to sprout.  I now have ten sprouting pomegranate seeds, three almonds, six lemons, four oranges and four dates...(and more dates just showing signs of sprouting). I also have the two avocados which are very nice looking plants and there is the scary trifid mango too. My baby fish are coming along nicely and the garden is looking stunning at the moment.  It is so colourful and bright that people stop and comment as they walk past. The sweetcorn and curly kale that I planted in the front border is coming along a treat. Everyday I have got go out and rub the butterfly eggs off the kale as they will be decimated by Cabbage White caterpillars  if I leave them. I am sure that one or two caterpillars will remain hidden and will enjoy my kale when I'm not looking. This morning I am off out for a walk and then this afternoon I will be playing whist. If it isn't raining when I get back I will do a photographic tour of my garden to share.

From green to gold

Tony and I have just been for a walk through the cornfields.... 'spelt' actually, if we are being pedantic....In less than three weeks it has changed from green to gold. It looks absolutely stunning...I feel blessed to live in such a beautiful area.  …

Tony is currently sitting in the car on the drive playing with his new 'hand held tv... It will be our fourteenth wedding anniversary on Monday so I bought him it as a present.  He can take it with him to work and when he is a little bored he can sit and watch a bit of tv during his break. I have pasted a photo of it below. I can't make the image smaller unfortunately …. He has already sat out in the garden with it... I think he is a happy hubby tonight

Baby fish update

About a month ago I told you that I had managed to hatch some goldfish eggs.. Well not me personally. I doubt they would survive me sitting on them  :-)  I fished the pond weed out of the pond and some eggs were attached.  I also rescued a few tiny fish hatchlings (fry) from the pond.  In total I have about a dozen and they vary in size from about 1cm to 2cms. I will keep them in the 'maternity tank' until next spring when hopefully they will be big enough and strong enough to live in the pond. I will rehome a few to friends that might like a couple of goldfish for their pond..  It has been lovely watching the transformation from a tiny little egg to the proper little fish that they are today.  The photo isn't great but the little blighters won't stay still

Crafting with the kids

It is coming up to the long school summer break.  What are you going to do to keep them occupied this year?   Why not take them for a walk and gather some different dried grasses and a few feathers... if they aren't keen on handling feathers then take a clothes peg along.  They can use that to pick up the feathers. When you get home spread a couple of sheets of newspaper on the floor or table and let them paint  the feathers and grasses.

My friends grandchildren had great fun painting these with me

What a storm

Last night the heavens opened with an almighty bang and some very dramatic flashes of lightning. The rain poured and it poured and it poured.  I bet it did some damage to gardens in my local area but the grass verges will have really enjoyed a good drink and should hopefully start to green back up in a day or two. We have some beautiful hostas in the garden and they too look as though they really had a lovely drink. It is amazing the difference a drop of rainwater on the garden does in comparison with tap water.  I just checked on the two avocado which are sitting in pots in The garden... They look really healthy and  I am sure they have grown since yesterday. Pruning them back was a good move as they are starting to bush out nicely.

Gentle rain

At long last we are having some very soft gentle rain. The garden will guzzle it up with parched little sips. My friend and I managed a six mile walk and got home just as the drizzling started. I have no idea how long it will last or how heavy it will be but it is a welcome sight.
I have just popped a chicken in the oven for tea.  Well it is for Tony's tea actually as I am off out for tea with some friends. I made an extra Yorkshire pud and a pile of mashed potato while I was cooking tea yesterday. Tony will enjoy that with some veggies and a roast chicken breast when he gets in from work.

Refreshed.

There is nothing quite like a large glass of red wine and lemonade with a whole pile of ice...… much prefer white myself but beggars can't be choosers. Tony prefers his wine undiluted.

Thankfully we are forecast some rain today. The garden could really use a proper downpour and hopefully that is what we will get. I am heading out for my walk this morning so I would prefer it to rain when I come back, but a bit of rain won't stop me. I just picked this lovely cucumber and it will be put into salads for Tony's packed lunches. He has taken a liking to eating a large bowl of pasta and salad rather than sandwiches.