Harvesting and another freebie

 This mornings harvest fresh from the garden 

And Tony  came home with this yesterday. His former colleague bought it to use at work. He's changing jobs and has no further need of it.

He can't resist a freebie bless him.

The solar eclipse

 Yesterday Tony and I sat in the garden and watched the solar eclipse unfold.  It was the most incredible spectacle as the moon slowly nibbled away at the sun. I had expected it all to turn dark which unfortunately didn't happen.  Nonetheless it was a lovely experience. Afterwards I snapped some photos of the amazing colour in my garden 

Sitting watching the eclipse with the scent from this tuberose filling the evening air was absolutely magical 

Freebies and tomatoes

 It's tomato season at long last and I have many different varieties to enjoy over the coming weeks 

And look what we were given yesterday 

It's the perfect size for two people and will be really useful during the colder weather for cooking quick meals and snacks.

Quiche with potato crust

 I've just made the most utterly delicious quiche using  left over mashed potato instead of pastry for the crust.  It turned out absolutely flipping gorgeous. I started out by squishing left over mashed potato into a very well buttered pie dish. Bake for twenty minutes at about 180.

Then I scattered grated cheese all over the cooked base

I filled up the pie dish with a mix of cooked sausages, cooked bacon and fried onions 

Then I wisked five eggs with a good slug of milk and seasoned it well with plenty of salt and pepper

 I scattered a good handful of grated cheese over the top. Popped it into a 180 oven for about twenty minutes. And it came out looking like this

Then of course came the test.  Would it release from the dish like a proper quiche?

It most certainly did and all it needed was a handful of fresh picked tomatoes as it was very filling. The possibilities are endless for fillings.  

Booked a short break in Doncaster

 Yesterday while speaking to my friend Debs on the phone she asked whether Tony and I would fancy meeting up in York in October. They live in Kent and have booked a week in Doncaster. I've done better than that. I booked a couple of days in Doncaster. They're travelling up by train to their hotel and I've booked a lovely hotel about 15 minutes walking distance from them. We've arranged to pick them up and drive over to York for the day. It saves them having to get the train from Doncaster into York. It'll be lovely to spend the day with them. I'd only an hour before said to Tony that we need to look for somewhere to visit in October.  Isn't coincidence a strange thing. We've got two mini breaks booked for September and hope to stay somewhere in December close to a theatre.  We fancy seeing a show. If you've any suggestions for places worth visiting please let me know. Next year we're planning to go away for a couple of days every month. I can't leave the garden for much longer than that unless it's raining. And wandering around in the rain isn't very appealing.

Planning some changes

 A couple of weeks ago I ordered an arch to put on our driveway.  Unfortunately I measured wrong and it won't fit. I love the arch and didn't want to return it so I'm planning big changes in the back garden.  We can't do anything until September as I've got some many plants growing that won't finish until then.  It's going to be very pretty this time next year.

Back to normal

 Tony and I have been away most weekends for what seems like ages now. We've been to some real lovely places and have several more booked for September.  We're going out tomorrow night then things settle back down again for a little while. It's nice to get back to normal but it's made me rethink how I should keep the garden watered as we can't really leave it for more than a couple of days if it's really hot. I certainly don't mind only staying away for couple of days when it means I can eat lovely meals using veg straight from the garden. Tonight we had a chicken stir fry with noodles.  The veg from the garden... courgettes, onions, chillis, mini peppers, chard, French beans and garlic.  It's saving me an absolute fortune as we aren't visiting any supermarkets as often. Therefore we aren't being tempted by bargain prices on things we really don't need.

It's my birthday

 Today we're off to Pickering to ride Tornado.  I can't wait as I absolutely adore steam trains. I'm really touched that my friend's daughter and son in law remembered my birthday and have both text me to wish me a happy birthday.  After my friend passed, Tom and Julie kind of adopted Tony and I.  My friend would be so pleased. There's not a day goes by that Tony and I don't think of Marian, and the loss of her doesn't get any easier.  

Yesterday our friends Brian and Brenda invited us over for a birthday meal. We had such a lovely time with them. Next week some other friends and I are going out for the day out to celebrate my birthday and that of another friend. I feel as though Tony and I have had a whole month of celebrations this year. It's exhausting in a lovely kind of way.

We had plenty of rain last night

 Boy oh boy did it rain last night. The garden has perked up beautifully so clearly needed a thoroughly good soaking. Isn't this sunflower beautiful in a strange and different way.

 

Cucumbers are growing faster than I can use them so I've taken to pickling them.

I've given several away to friends and neighbours too. The cost of food is likely to rocket again in the Autumn as the heatwave takes it's toll on harvests. I'm so glad that I turned my garden into a little allotment.  It still looks beautiful but saves me a fortune on our grocery bill.

We've been to Blackpool

 Tony and I have spent the weekend in Blackpool. We'd gone to visit the Open Allotment day in Lytham St Anne's but couldn't get booked up there so had to stay in Blackpool.  It was brilliant using our bus pass to travel freely on the buses. The guest house was spotless and the breakfast lovely.  The owner was really friendly but unfortunately his constant of the f word puts me off staying there again.  Such a pity as the position on the promenade gave us wonderful sea views and a stunning sunset.