Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2025

Morning @Tui34 I just broke into a sweat reading about you digging and knowing your temperatures are higher than here. Hope you get it done!

 

Despite not doing anything much yesterday, I feel exhausted! I did a bit of weeding around the rotary dryer area and watered the tomatoes, picked some more, and watered the runner beans. We are supposed to be having some rain/thunder this morning. So far it lasted about 5 secs.It got very hot and close after lunch, too much for me.

I am not so impressed with the work done yesterday. The young man doing the strimming had a face like thunder all the time they were here and has done a rough clearance. I had the feeling he didn't want to be there. I shall have to have the brambles sprayed as they have only been cut back so will grow again. However, it was a hard, messy job, and has made such a difference. I almost have a view, if it were not for the overgrown goats willow, self-sown, in the front field and untouched for several years.
The steps man, I think, is primarily a builder; he had a chat with me about my chimney stack. I knew when I had the new log burner installed last Christmas, it required attention, but, had done nothing about it. It is an expensive job. I have thought for some time I would like a bat box fitted to the stack. When I first moved here, we had bats every year, until the wind turbine across the road was erected, then the bats disappeared. I thought I saw some flying around early in the year, but I haven't seen any since. It is an opportunity to have one put up if/when I have the stack repaired, which needs to be done. Falling bricks or chimney pot could go through the dining room roof or the conservatory roof.

I hop everyone has a satisfactory week what ever you are doing.

 

Morning all, no digging here either!

We had a very enjoyable lunch out yesterday with friends at their house, 9 of us altogether.
It was a bring and share lunch so we took Tesco's finest, hot and spicy chicken pieces and a gorgeous raspberry cheesecake, some of which we brought back home with us. Our friends' NRD took us over to look at his garden - wow! absolutely crammed with vegetables, 3 greenhouses full of different tomatoes and peppers, fantastic lettuces, cucs, soft fruit etc. In his 80's, he also has an allotment nearby. There's only him and his wife to eat it all! He was very generous and sent everybody home with a bagful of goodies. It was such a small garden as well and everything was crammed in. I thought afterwards his garden was a veritable minefield of hose pipes, steps, an unguarded patio edge with a drop down to the lawn and lots of other obstacles, an accident waiting to happen I fear.

Back home, I went to sleep again as it had been very hot and I'd had too many Pimms so we waited until we felt peckish then just had a sandwich much later.

I was expecting a chap to turn up to render the inside dwarf wall on the terrace this morning but so far he hasn't turned up - annoying as conditions are just right, cloudy and cooler.

I might actually be able do to some gardening today.

Have a good day folks, wherever you are.

 

It is, finally, cooler with temps in the mid 20s so far and a gentle breeze. Not muggy yet so OH and I have been busy tackling the front of the house - 2 wisterias to tame, pruning of pots and seed collecting for me and weeding between the pots for OH.

It has been so hot and dry that some trees are shedding their leaves already and we can now see a big nest in the unidentified tree at the end of the gravel patch. That would explain the constant presence of the magpie family this year; 3 young 'uns trying to bathe in the water bowl. Messy.

I hope your steps are satisfactory @Goldenlily26. I don't suppose you know any Scouts in need of a gardening badge, or a helping the elderly or whatever who could come and hoik out th ebrambles in the autumn when the soil will be looser. Or maybe invite @Ergates for a visit?

'Appen that elderly neighbour has no other hobbies @lizzie27. Good to come home feeling replete and with goodies.

No digging here @Tui34 but I am going to pot on some valiant white foxglove seedlings and maybe sow some of the seeds I've just collected as I think they'll need stratification to break their hard coating.

I leave cardboard boxes out for our pair @Ladybird4 but they're not interested in empty ones. If they need to cool they find a bit of tiled floor in the shade or slope off outside under a shrub.

 

Dull and overcast, but so much cooler today. We have been moving a pile of soil, excavated when we lowered a wall a few years ago and dumped on one of the pathways. We are doing it in stages to avoid aggravating our various injuries and weak spots. Did half an hour yesterday, and another half hour this morning, I reckon two more stints should do it. It doesn’t have far to go, we are dumping it onto what will be a new access point to the woodland. All downhill with the wheelbarrow, so not too arduous as long as we are careful!
The new table and chairs have arrived, and look very nice. There is some assembly to do, but we have stopped for coffee. I’ve got surprisingly sweaty despite the cool. There have been a few spots of drizzle, but blink and you’d miss it!
Very impressed with all the home grown produce you’ve brought home, @lizzie27. I picked my one fig today! That’s it for this year! The tree is small and still in a pot, but I haven’t identified anywhere to plant it in the garden.
Sorry, @Goldenlily26, I’d love to help with the brambles but still have so many of my own to deal with! Interesting about the bats. We don’t have any wind turbines near us, it’s a big village full of trees, mostly protected, and plenty of suitable habitats, but I’ve seen very few bats this year. In the past, if I popped out at twilight , I could guarantee seeing quite a few of different sizes. I hope they haven’t suffered badly with the recent heatwaves. There are certainly enough insects flying around at night to keep them fed.

 

Hello all, we are ten degrees cooler than yesterday, absolute heaven! We've had some spots of rain and a rumble of thunder. No planting here, much too hard and dry, even the Hoopoe has given up trying to find food.
I can comiserate with other sufferers of insect bites, i only have to poke my nose outside the door and get bitten by whatever is flying by. Why is it that the smaller bites itch the most? OH never gets bitten and if he gets stung by a wasp it just annoys him for half an hour whereas i will have swelling and itching for a week.

 

Hello all.

Same weather as @floralies, a lot cooler and have just had a very light rain shower, thank goodness. I hope the predicted proper rain arrives tomorrow.

We went to the SM this morning, were nearly out of milk, butter and loo rolls. I didn't do a weekly shop last week as we did a big one the week before.

I also bought a lilac suitcase and a lilac backpack for when we go to Corfu in October. I checked the measurements for Ryanair. My old suitcase must be well over 20 yrs old and the zip has got sticky and the wheels are worn and don't turn as well as they did. I did have an ugly black bag which Ryanair recommended but the have increased the size of the bag you can put under the seat. The new bag is bigger and has more zip pockets. As I have 2 passports I found the one and only zip pocket on the black bag is a bit too small to put them in comfortably.

Neither of us slept as well as usual last night so we have both been feeling rather tired.

 

I’m afraid I was quite pleased that OH got bitten on the leg this week! I’m frequently trying not to scratch the various itchy lumps and bumps where I’ve been attacked by flying things, while OH escapes unscathed. Very tiresome.
So much cooler now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some rain this afternoon. I have helped OH to assemble the new table, which didn’t take too long. It did take ages to unwrap the chairs though! It was obviously worth it, as they were all unmarked and had been well protected, but it seemed to take forever, and I’ve half filled a big bin liner with padding and tape!

 

I don't mind telling you, I'm nervous about tomorrow.
I've planned the 90 mile route (a choice of several ) and so can put it into the sat nav.
What I can't plan is dog nav.; how they will all react. They are all well socialised, so fingers crossed.
Long way to go to come home without him.
We've visited Farm and Pet for a smart new red lead, plus treats .
The garden has been ignored today.

 

Gosh Penny, that's a long trip to take but will so worth it if it all works out well. Do I understand you correctly that you're taking your current pets to meet the new arrival? I'm not surprised you're nervous but courage mon ami!

We had a nasty surprise this afternoon in that the builder took up some of the courtyard sandstone paving to investigate the downpipe/soakaway on the corner of the house to find out where it went. The answer was in the direction of the nearby birch tree whose root was climbing UP our soakaway piping! It's absolutely solid and they can't shift it. The ground level of the birch is some 4 ft (1.2m?) below our courtyard so there's no way to dig it out/cut it off. As far as I'm concerned the birch will have to be felled so I'll contact the Council/their insurers tomorrow.
I just hope they'll see sense.

 

That is a long journey @Penny_Forthem but I am sure he will be worth it. I can understand your trepidation though. Oh no @lizzie27, that is the last thing you needed to be discovered but in a way it is a good thing that it was found.
I had an interesting day at the Car Showroom. I had a very surreal experience though. As I parked up in the showroom compound I spotted a mini bus and I could not believe what I read on its front and sides. It was only a mini bus from the school I last taught in. I took a picture and sent it to my Bestie. I was unimpressed with most of the cars I saw and none of them had the high spec that mine has and I was right in assuming that they thought I was there to buy a new car. I did see an all electric Capri (I chuckled at the name as my brother had a Capri about 60 years ago! They have resurrected the name for this new car.) and I did fall a little bit in love with it. When I got home my sensible head kicked in and I resisted the temptation to research that car further. One of my friends told me that the insurance for all electric cars is really high. I can dream!
I am signing out for this evening - will be thinking about @Penny_Forthem and her new furry friend and hoping @lizzie27 gets some positive reaction from the Council.
See you all tomorrow.

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Hello everyone. It was definitely a bit cooler first thing this morning and it is still looking very overcast. Meeting up with one of my sisters and our friends for lunch today so I'm expecting a lovely time with lots of hot gossip. Bon voyage @Penny_Forthem!

 

Morning all. Have a great day @Ladybird4 . We had continuous drizzle all day yesterday and white skies, the temperature only got to 16. It was heaven after all the weeks of searing heat. Today looks similar but no rain as yet. I am beginning to catch up on all the jobs etc that haven’t got done during the heat due to lack of energy.
@Penny_Forthem , fingers crossed your meeting goes successfully with your new pet. Hope everyone gets on well together. and that your journey home is peaceful and calm.

 

Morning, had a dreadful night, so stressed out about the drainage problem. We'd also swopped duvets to give my sister, who's arriving later today, the lightweight one (we've only the one in a double size) so we were far too hot. Got up at 6 am and now feel like a zombie.

The plasterer is here who's doing a smashing job rendering the the ugly side of our Bath stone faced blocks. I've put up with looking at them for 18 years and can't think why I did for so long.
Waiting for the builders to arrive for a conflab about the drainage, they don't start very early which is slightly annoying.

Hope @Penny_Forthem and her hub are on their way to meet and hopefully return with their new dog Gin.

Enjoy your meet up @Ladybird4.

 

Good luck with the introductions. You never can tell with animals. I hope you will be brave enough to walk away if your two disapprove. I know Robbie would have hated another dog in his territory.