Saturday 25th July
Let's start with an update on our garden edibles.
Of course the cherries were finished ages ago and we did manage to eat quite a few before the birds pinched them.
Plums are now ripening and Hubby is picking more off each day, again it's a race but human against birds and insects this time.
Behind the fig we seem to have been gifted another quince bush. That's our third and all at very different locations round the garden and we didn't plant any! Is it birds gifts do you think? Sadly none big enough for the kitchen.
Grape vines have recovered from Hubby chopping them to the ground and the new growth is almost without the funny leaf bubbling problem it had last year. We don't eat many of these grapes even though they are gorgeous and sweet, because they are really really tiny with a thick skin and full of pips. So when they are ready to harvest I freeze them and at some point they go to a friend who makes them into wine.
The dwarf apple tree is so heavy with fruit it has two stakes holding the trunk and an extra prop holding up the front.
Not all good though as the strawberries have only produced these tiny wild sized fruit.
The gooseberry bush which over the past 11 years has rarely and reluctantly given us any of the small red sweet fruit the label promised.
And the mint is refusing to grow at all.
Lovely visit on Sunday from Son and his fiance. We started with the garden table out in the sunshine watching the clouds all the time, and did have to suddenly move it all under cover when it started to rain and jackets/cardigans went on too but overall it was comfortable enough.
Hubby has a couple of new projects...... there was the water flow problem as he's not happy how slow the water comes through the taps so he called out the water board to check there are no leaks beyond our property and as that was all fine he called out our home care insurers to check there isn't a semi-blocked pipe here somewhere. That was all fine too. So Hubby has now changed the stop-cock valves for the tank in the airing cupboard. Two days, lots of wet towels mopping up floorboard puddles and now all watertight again and he's satisfied that the flow we have is as good as it gets.
The other problem is to do with all the doves that like to nest under the solar panels. They cause blocked drains, lots of feathers and lots of noise. A few of the houses around us have recently been blocking off their panels so we are getting more and more birds on ours. But the most recent casualty is the sky dish as we have noticed a bird or two sitting on the LNB box which breaks up the signal. After some Google research he's decided on the next dry windless day he's taking a ladder up there and adding lots of cable ties to it with the ends sticking upwards which hopefully will show them whose dish it is!
What next eh?
Monday's on-your-own-drive coffee morning was rained off and Wednesday was beautiful weather so we only did a short exercise routine then brought out chairs and mugs and carried on chatting. We are a social bunch.
I've just made mock bagels for the first time. Equal amount self raising flour to Greek yoghurt - mix - divide - shape - bake. They don't actually taste like bagels, in fact not much different to the soda bread but really easy...... although I did need almost double the flour the recipe said.
And this...
Easy watch for a matinee when it's too hot sitting outside.
Carry on avoiding crowded places, I have to but still think it's best advice.
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2 comments:
I'm definitely going to avoid crowded places. Quite comfortable with outside spaces if not busy but that's it. However we are trying some of the local restaurants as part of the Govt initiative over August. To try places we have heard are good but we cannot normally justify that level of expenditure which is quite exciting! We've decided if we just feel uncomfortable we will just leave and give the restaurant £30 for us leaving so they don't lose out too much. We are happier about going now we agreed that.
I liked seeing your garden pics. Your mint surprised me as it usually takes over as so rampant hence grown in pots? Motivated me to do garden pics (including my mint!). I remember by Nanny and Grandad's garden in Kent had huge gooseberry bushes that had loads of fruit. Not the most pleasant to pick though iirc.
We have a problem with wood pigeons. Heavy thuggish birds. In the past we glued those spikes on strips you buy along a couple of runs of exposed pipework outside which deterred them but looked unsightly so eventually M removed the pipework and capped to the soil pipe (it was from old bathroom fixtures so unused).
Good idea to have your agreed escape plan.
I specially moved the mint into the pot as it was rampant under the apple tree, but now it's sulking!
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