Just a quick trim......

Gardens need constant attention, and this time of year Hubby's attention turns to getting our trees back to manageable sizes.

The cherry and the plum now look neat and tidy.

The one on the right is an ornamental flowering cherry and I'm assured it will come back after such drastic pruning! The beech on the left is yet to feel the chainsaw and a little more subtlety is needed as that's under a tree preservation order. 

Chasing my tail.....

You know what it's like just being on the normal hamster wheel of life just getting through the usual stuff with a few extra good things thrown in to make me happily busy but nothing really different enough to make me think "oh I must blog that".

So there were friendsL&K to stay last weekend and a lovely pub meal out with them Saturday night and most of Sunday morning getting Skype to work on their phones.

So there has been the daily ritual picking of the ripe plums and checking the unripe ones and gathering up all the rotten fallen ones.

So there has been the weekly(ish) ritual of cutting back the rampant vines that grow at an amazing rate this time of year, so all stem and leaf growth without fruit on gets a regular lop to give the fruit a chance to grow beyond the size of petit pois! I live in hope :-)

So there was manic-motor-Monday...Hubby's car had a battery problem and coincidentally Daughter's car did too! Hubby called out his service guy and Daughter called out the RAC and my car was out giving her lifts and we had a visitor with a toddler and new baby (mmm baby cuddles) in their car all on the drive at the same time as next door had both their cars out and a van delivering something hahaha.

So there was the lunch by the river with my x-work team. It's been five years now since the department closed and we still meet up, isn't that special. :-)

So there was Hubby's friend here most of Tuesday for Hubby to fix his laptop. All fixed he went home switched it on and not fixed so here again most of Thursday too. Fingers crossed it really is fixed this time.

So there was a lovely craft morning with my neighbourT and four more of her friends. They are all into natural wool processing, spinning, weaving and dyeing. NeighbourT had a pan on the hob doing some dyeing experiment which I must remember to ask about, be very interested in seeing the finished result. This is a regular monthly gathering and they all bring lunch but this time I had a house full of people myself to feed so left the crafters to it.

So there was the appointment letter for 1st August for the Renal Unit, I was referred there in February. My doctor did an instant referral when one of the numbers on my blood test dropped but obviously the Renal Unit don't consider it urgent so that's good.

So there was my Wednesday night out which should have been a bbq at friendsM&P but friendM had major electrical problems at her holiday cottage she needed to get sorted which made it very late so we had Chinese takeaway instead which was also lovely. Actually they had to abandon the holiday cottage electrics until the morning and an electrician could come and still it took about six hours and new light fittings and a replacement switch all while paying holiday makers arrived and settled in, thankfully they were in very good humour about it all, but friendM was pulling her hair out!

So there was our regular art group on Thursday evening, followed by fun at Olive's bar.

So there has been lots of laundry going through the machine while the sun is shining, making the most of those solar panels. There had been children and water play and lots more towels needing washing too.

So there was the hottest day of the year so far (Friday) and I'm cooking a full roast dinner for us and Daughter, M and children, because we haven't had a proper dinner here for ages and Daughter got a bargain leg of lamb. I also made a baked bean roast for E so standing frying onions etc too. Seriously far too hot to have my head in the oven but well worth it when we all sat down to eat, yummy!

So there has been lots of violent storms this week with amazing lightning displays (I never seem to look out of windows at the right time tho) and really loud thunder and plenty of water but hasn't affected us at all thankfully. Although each storm has increased the need to clear up the plums on the ground again!

So there have been lots of power cuts in the house with something throwing the main trip switch far too often. Hubby thinks he's isolated it to an outside water feature/pond pump problem and has been doing lots of trial and repair on it all. Thought for one horrid moment some of the paving would have to be dug up, phew it didn't but a close thing and not fixed yet!

And finally there was the annual bbq for Hubby's Wednesday night bowling league. Very pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon. :-)

A pretty normal week then!
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Sunny days and starry nights, at last.....

Here's a quick catch-up while I pop in from the garden to cool off a bit - didn't think I'd be saying that at all this summer, so that's good.
Bad, is that my ankles don't like the heat much and looking down at them makes me feel very old (which I'm not).

Good, that our son came to visit last Thursday.
Bad, is that he is suffering from acute asthma and nothing seems to be curing or even stabilising it. Such a worry!

Good, that I went for my bi-annual visit to special-friendH on Friday and slept over.
Bad, that the weather and traffic made it an horrendous journey (about 60miles away).
Good, that we had loads to chat about.
Bad, that it was a 3:30am bedtime and I had to leave by 11am.

Good, that Saturday was an easy journey home and straight out to Music-On-The-Green, a local summer fair where we help host the art and craft exhibition.
Bad, that none of our group sold a painting, although I did sell some of my crafts, so that's good.

Good, that Daughter and children are camping this week and that the weather is nice for them.
Only bad thing really is that I miss them.

Good, that Hubby went to Daughter's and fixed her washing machine and mowed her lawn front and back.
Bad, that he brought home three bags of washing for me to get done while they are away.

Overall....life is good :o)

These are the paintings I displayed and my crafts....

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Give it time...and a vine...

Now don't fall off your chair when you read this, but I actually did a bit of gardening today! Our rotten, falling down trellis has just been replaced by a beautiful hand made, wrought iron trellis which fences in the pond with elegance. So hubby and I spent quite some time re-attaching the grape vines to it. It was so tangled in a heap on the ground that we had to trim loads off which will mean a meagre harvest this year, but that won't be a problem as they are always tiny and full of seeds that we never feel like eating many - oh Tesco how you've spoilt us!

One year I decided it was such a waste not to eat these deliciously juicy (about two drops in each) fruit, so picked to make jam. I completely filled two carrier bags with bunches cut direct from the vine then sat for hours on end lovingly picking each grape from its stalk until they filled my large saucepan. After boiling down with just enough sugar I embarked on the sieving process. From saucepan through a colander into a second saucepan to remove the bulk of the seeds and skin without losing too much of the pulp. Next through the wire sieve pushing with the back of a spoon to extract as much as possible from the skins. Finally it needed to rolling boil until it reached setting point.

For those of you who have never made jam the test it to put a drizzle onto a cold plate, leave to cool for a few seconds them push with your finger to see if it wrinkles, however, if you lift the plate and it runs to the edge then no pushing is necessary and you continue to boil. I have to confess I tested until I lost the will to live and gave up. I removed my dozen jars which had been washed, sterilised in boiling water and dried in the oven and poured from pan to jars........just one and half jars in fact!!! Yes the two full carrier bags had reduced itself down to just one and half jars of jam that wouldn't even set!!!!

I tried making fruit leather one year too, but that story would read much like this one, so now we generously give bags of grapes to all our friends who smile politely and say how kind we are to share :o)