It's that time of year when all the hard work starts to pay off. We're eating the tastiest salads fresh picked from the garden and now my mini peppers are starting to ripen. I recall reading that the yellow ones contain the mist vitamin C. Here's me first yellow one grown from seed saved from a shop bought mini pepper.
This morning I received a letter from HMRC saying that they owed me £47 as I'd paid too much tax. I've just claimed it back and it should be in my account in about a week. Well it's our 21st wedding anniversary later this month so it'll go towards a really nice meal. We'll be staying in Torquay for a long weekend so if anyone knows of any nice Thai restaurants in the area I'd be glad of the details.
We've made a start changing things around in the front garden and this is how our drive looks right now. Big changes are planned for later in the year.
And it's Friday so I have to wear a dress. 😃
How on earth is it the 2nd of July already? This year is absolutely storming along. I've been eating homegrown lettuce. tomatoes and cucumbers for a while now and it's such a treat. I'm harvesting potatoes as and when I need them and my garlic and onion crops are all in a drying. This morning I checked my carrot seedlings and am chuffed to bits to see them doing really well. They'll hopefully be a perfect size for the winter. I sowed another batch today to keep a succession going. I've got chard seedlings pricked out and there's a tray of turnips that desperately need putting out in the garden as soon as space is available. My climbing beans have at long last started to climb and hopefully the slugs will leave this lot alone. I'd like to know how huge fat slugs are able to squeeze under my heavy pots. Where are all the hedgehogs when I need them. They'd find a great slug buffet in my garden.
Tony and I are just back from our friends where we've been treated to a lovely buffet tea and watched a beautifully put together video of their recent holiday in Canada. I love looking at other people's holiday photos even though I have no desire to holiday abroad. Our country is absolutely stunning and being retired means that we can go at the drop of a hat when the weather suits us. We hadn't taken coats though so we had to do a quick dash in between heavy downpours. Elaine loaned us an umbrella which was a godsend as we'd probably only walked a hundred yards before the heavens opened. Our shoes and trousers had gotten a good wetting by the time we got home. A beautiful double rainbow was our reward. It's now that horrible sticky warm and I'm getting a bit fed up of the heatwave. Hopefully it'll start to cool down over the next few days. The garden though is absolutely loving the showers and heat. Everything is growing crazily fast and we can't keep up with all the lettuce and cucumbers. It'll soon be courgette and tomato season and I intend to make a load of sauces to freeze for the winter.
This poor little dahlia was suffering from lack of care on the shelf in Aldi yesterday. When I got it to the checkout the lady knocked 30% off. All it needed was a good drink and a bit of tlc. It'll be really pretty once it gets established in the garden
I think I'll be cutting my neighbours hedge once the forecasted thunder storm passes. She plied me with wine last night and I am a sucker for a sob story. She is struggling to keep on top of things and I felt sorry for her. Daft thing is, I'll thoroughly enjoy doing it. I can't understand how people don't enjoy taking care of their homes and gardens but I do understand how easy it is to become overwhelmed and not know where to begin.
It's just after 9am and I've been working out in the garden since 07.30. I've cut a huge amount off the wisteria. It was making a takeover bid for the front of the house. If it wasn't so beautiful for about three weeks I'd be taking it out. Oh but! when it flowers, I realise why I haven't chopped it down. I spent ages chopping it into tiny pieces so that it'll break down easily. I'm trying to get the outdoor stuff done before the heat builds up. I think it's arrived so I'm going to enjoy this little treat from the garden.
Fresh picked strawberries and cream with a sprig of mint. I always eat the garnish and ordinary garden mint when it's fresh picked is delicious. I'm off now to get the ironing done before the heat becomes unbearable. Stay hydrated and cool today my blogging friends.
Tony and I have spent the weekend in Buxton where we've wandered around beautiful gardens and met amazing people. I think I'm in love with Buxton, there's just so much to see and do here. If I didn't have to get home to water all my plants I would gladly book a few more days here and take in a couple of shows..
While wandering around looking at gardens a lovely gentleman stopped to talk to us and though he hadn't opened his garden this year he invited us to take a look at his garden. He gave us a guided tour. This is a photo of his driveway at the side of the house.
We're packing up to leave but we'll be back. Our Hotel couldn't have been situated in a better spot for exploring
It's the time of year when the cucumbers are producing far more than we can keep up with. Usually I give them away but this year I'm pickling them.
And tea tonight is rainbow trout and I'm serving it with yummy veggies fresh picked from my garden
