Tony and I have just watched a video on YouTube that shows how to make a tiny solar powered pond filter. So we've followed the instructions which are totally idiot proof and made one. Over time the pond plants will hide it but even if they don't we aren't concerned. It's for the wildlife and I'm sure that they couldn't care less. We'll know in a few days if it's helping to keep the pond clear.
I've grown these gorgeous spuds from ones that I was given or saved last year. There's loads more in tubs in my garden. I didn't even have to buy compost as I make my own.
This afternoon we're going to Ampleforth open gardens event. Thank goodness it's cooler or I'd be staying home.
I'm going to do exactly what we Brits are renowned for. I'm going to moan about the weather. It's just too flipping hot for me. I'm watering the garden before 7am and then again after 7pm. The courgettes are absolutely loving it though and I'm harvesting beautiful Rondo de Nice ones at the moment. Party time cucumbers are proving to be incredibly productive and I'm taking side shoots off and growing them on to replace the current ones when the are exhausted.
Tony and I have been out for a lovely carvery with my whist group. One of the ladies celebrated her 92nd birthday yesterday so of course we had to mark the occasion with a nice meal. I bought her a lovely birthday cake which we shared at our whist session. Joyce got to take the remaining half home to share with her nearest and dearest.
Can I just take a moment to say RIP Ann Widdecomb. Poor lady must have been so frightened. I hope they lock him up and throw away the key.
Yesterday I made a huge salad box that will feed us for a few days. All fresh picked from the garden or from my store. I also did a tray bake of home grown veggies. In the salad I put cucumber, lettuce, three colours of chard, tomatoes, apples, basil and mint. In the tray bake I put potatoes, shallots, garlic and courgettes.. I cut some cucumbers into sticks and wrapped them around with ham and airfried a tin of chickpeas which I sprinkled with a hot spicy powder mix. I served it on some of my pretty china and used waterford crystal glasses to serve a bottle of lovely pressed apple juice that we bought at one of the open garden events. It made simple ingredients into a feast. The rose is of course from the garden and it smells absolutely divine
A couple of weeks ago I ordered some pond snails from Amazon. The picture showed large healthy snails. What I actually received were barely bigger than a pin head. I couldn't see them in the pond and assume they've been eaten by the frogs and newts. On Monday Tony and I popped to the local garden centre where I bought large Rams horn snails. That means I've spent close on £40 on snails in a few weeks. I know, I'm clearly crackers.
Yesterday I spent the day hauling the furniture around the bedroom. I've filled four charity bags with clothing and discovered tops I didn't even know I had. There's no point in kidding myself that I'll ever be a size ten again so it was at long last easy to let go of stuff.
Here's the garden today if you are interested
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.
