Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2025

Good morning all.

It should be a sunnier day today.

I have to do my tax return within the next week. I hate doing it, though a bilingual French lady fills it in online for me. I just need to give her the info.

@Tui34 my broad beans are in flower. I don't think I have sown enough though. Also, they didn't all come up.

 

Enjoyable day at Hod late yesterday and we were lucky with the weather. Sunshine except for one brief half-hearted shower until just as we were leaving when it was looking quite stormy. The gardens were looking nice but I can’t get any more excited than that. They have more areas roped off than I remember so you just look down the borders from either end, including the famous hot borders. But I had a lovely day catching up with my friend, this was our first in ages as it’s harder to find a suitable midpoint now I’m reliant on public transport.

A pottering day today getting ready for going on holiday tomorrow. I’ve almost finished giving all my seedlings a thorough soaking and those done are all moved into shadier spots for hardening off. Am hoping we get some good weather whilst we are away, forecast is looking a bit mixed at the moment

 

Good morning all.

How annoying about the insurance, @Busy-Lizzie . Does your handyman have access to the house while you're away? If so, might he be able to check that none of the electrics have tripped, next time you have a storm? Fingers crossed that the photos are salvageable.

Lovely photo, @Ergates . We went to Flam by the narrow-gauge rack & pinion railway, many years ago, on our last family holiday with the children. It was a memorable journey, and a spectacular place to arrive at.

We're waiting in this morning for the engineer who will be connecting our fibre broadband (hopefully. My pessimistic side imagines he'll find some snag or other!), so I probably can't garden until the afternoon. The weather is due to break after today, so I could do to finish planting out some cosmos etc. Finally got the runner beans and a second row of sugar peas planted out yesterday. The salad veg has grown amazingly in this heat...

Hope you all enjoy your day, whatever it holds.

 

You are right Tui34. I think I could easily encourage Star, the new No 1. resident to move in. She is not happy in her miniscule new home. Literally 2 up and 2 down, with 2 dogs and having lost her feline buddy, after living in a much bigger home where she had room to avoid the dogs.
The manky one is very flighty so I think is probably ferule, looking at the state of it, pretty well fed but grubby so not a house cat. They would both make 2 of Poppy in size. I have covered the cat flap door indoors to stop them sitting outside looking in and freaking Poppy and I out.
It is such a shame as Poppy has always loved sleeping in the garden in the sunshine, now she is too nervous to be out on her own. She will stay out if I am with her, but comes indoors to go to the toilet! Which of course, tells visiting felines, this territory is vacant.

 

Morning all, after more heavy rain yesterday, it's dry and sunny at the moment. I'm hoping the builder will come soon so I can get out into the garden to plant the goodies I bought yesterday.

We've got flowers on the broad beans as well, first time we've grown them. No sign of the runner beans germinating yet though.

Enjoy your holiday @Butterfly6.

 

Mostly sunny after a wet afternoon. Woken up by a cuddly pussycat at 6am so got up and iced Possum's Coconut Chai cake to take to class today. It's luscious but may be too spicy for them - ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves. Back to bed after that.

Expecting to be dry for a week now so I have finally managed to spray the terrace to clean up the slippery bits that grow in winter. I've also blocked the catflap so our pair can't go out thru it and get stuff on their paws. Our 2 visitors who are getting bolder and being seen occasionally by day. Our 2 know they're about but are not yet freaking.

Then went down to the veg plot and planted 8 more tomatoes and 2 cucs in the polytunnel plus 3 cherry tomatoes outside. Having a cuppa now and then will take more plants out of the polytunnel to enjoy full sun.

Good luck with the tax forms @Busy-Lizzie. I've told himself I want to clear out the freezers on Saturday and need a new drawer as one is broken. 65€ and 5 weeks to replace so first we'll see if I can mend it.

Sorry you're feeling stiff @Tui34 and hope it clears up soon.

Have a good day everyone and happy hols to those away or going away.

 

Afternoon folks.

I’ve had my hair cut so it feels much lighter and will not be such an ordeal to dry. Pottering about now - I’ve taken some Aliums from their prime patio position and left them in a shadier space so they can die back. I like the seed heads and they can poke up from behind my Phlox where there was a gap.

I hope everyone is doing ok and doing something you enjoy today.

 

Good afternoon everyone. Another dry day today. I know, tap controller is waiting for the Bank Holiday weekend and half term holidays. I have done plenty of watering today and will do some more later when the sun has gone down.
I have just had a letter from the Ford Motor Company which has set me in a bit of a tizz as they are recalling the range of cars mine comes in plus 2 other ranges. Apparently there is a problem of chafing between the fuel line support shield and the fuel feed line which in worst case scenario could lead to fire in the engine compartment. Ford haven't advised NOT to drive the vehicles but told me I had to contact my dealership to have the vehicle remedied. Naturally I rang my dealership - recorded voice telling me that if I'm ringing about the recall then they are sorry but the parts are not available as yet and to email requesting an appointment at my preferred dealership. This I have duly done. Car is not even 2 years old yet!
Hey ho. I do have to say that I am not unduly worried as I do very little major driving these days. Not even clocked up 3000 miles yet but its a nuisance having to wait around for the parts to arrive and then to get booked in for the remedy to be carried out. Sorry for the moan!

 

@Ladybird4 Perhaps send a letter to the dealership and Ford HQ, copied to your insurance company confirming that, following their manufacturing/design failure leading to a recall and the delays in supplying parts to fix it, you expect them to pick up any costs resulting from damage to your engine which may be caused whilst waiting for them to get their fault corrected. Don't tell them you do low mileage in case they bump you down the list.

I've done some garden club admin since my thin lunch of 3 slices of fresh pineapple and then went out to water my front pots. I've also planted some squashes and courgettes in the PT between the tomato plants on the grounds that it's warmer in there and they'll enjoy regular waterings with the seep hose. Hope it works as last year's crop outside was poor.

In the middle of all that OH came back form being a golf monitor for some youngsters and has got out the sit on mower to do the grass at the back. he has not said anything about thely brown patch in front of the old washing lines - 3 concrete posts with wires stretched between for hanging sheets and stuff. Very local feature and ideal for supporting a new roses and clematis bed n'est-ce pas?

@AuntyRach at our patchwork club lunch last week our newest member asked for recommendations for a hairdresser. No use asking me as I only go once every 2 years. That was February this year and it's just getting long enough to bun up which is my usual gardening style.

 

@Ladybird4, maybe worthwhile asking Ford if they intend to provide you with a courtesy car to use if yours isn’t deemed safe to drive until repaired?
I’ll add a picture of my ‘freezer monitor which I leave in situ while we are away. Can’t remember who suggested it, but it is just reassuring to know that the freezer hasn’t suffered from a prolonged power cut, and then refrozen at a later date. I used some beetroot juice to colour the water, and froze the milk container on its side. If it doesn’t look like this when we get home, I’ll know not to trust the freezer contents!

 

Thank you for the sound advice @Obelix-Vendée. They do state in their letter words to that effect so I shall keep the letter on file for any future reference. Bien sûr for the new clemmie and roses bed!

 

@Ergates, the letter also states that should my vehicle need a new fuel line I get a courtesy car free of charge. I'm hoping because of its 'youth' it will not need a new fuel line though.

 

Signing out for this evening. Maybe it will rain tomorrow

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Been out for lunch with my cousins to the local. I had a very yummy chilli beef salad with a spicy sesame and chilli dressing. Oh my days! Their chips were hard, so they complained and we all got a free dessert. I felt guilty, because my main was perfect, but I was forced to have a biscoff cheesecake. So hard to accept...
Meant to go for a drive today, but not managed it.
Thought I'd cut some roses for a vase. I discovered you cannot do it very easily one handed; cut 3 stems.

 

That's a good idea @Ergates . I do a similar thing, I keep ice cream in the freezer, It always looks different if it has defrosted.

I had meant to do my tax return today - but I didn't.

We went out for a few things this morning, including compost, and I washed the car at the high pressure wash place. It had got filthy, pollen and dust, at the airport for 5 weeks.

I also did 3 loads of washing, old towels, dusters sort of stuff that was in a bottom drawer in the utility room. Flood water had got in. Never knew I had so many dusters! Some of the towels were dog or horse drying ones. All sodden.

This afternoon I sowed runner beans and sweetcorn and tied up plants that were battered by the rain. I took 4 bin bags of smelly but re-frozen food to the village household waste bin. So sad, we had been to the Grand Frais when we were here last, there was salmon, cod, prawns, sea bass, lemon sole, mince, steak, chicken etc. The fruit and veg will go in the compost. There were peaches, blackberries, raspberries, figs, sweetcorn, beans, all from the garden, all ruined