Recently

 I do love this author, this was a Will Trent storyline, I do like it when they reuse characters, some of her books can be a bit racy, but not in this case, a really good story line which built, one remark said in anger, starts a chain, it was defiantly a page turner. Book 38 read this year.

Another good author, but occasionally she has a poor storyline, not in this case, a clever plot, building, hints, how is it going to end, do you trust everyone, even when your instincts are raised, I could not put it down. Book 39 read this year.

We tried making a china flower on our recent trip to Gladstone Pottery,  both hubby and I made a flower, these air dried. The lady who was our tutor was in series 4, programme 4, getting contestants making flowers, we both enjoyed our creative moments, sadly one petal has broken off mine.

George had his nursery leaving graduation celebration on Saturday, I was lucky to be able to attend, he sat on my lap for most of the singing, too many people for him to be comfortable. He did put his hat and gown on with my help and stood for his photo, he rarely smiles for this type of photo. The parents in the hall were asked not to clap and make any noise when he came in. Afterwards he played in the park with Molly and a few other children enjoying a picnic. 

George was very keen to show us his school uniform, daughter has been allowing him to wear it, in hope he would be happy, which he is. How quickly our grandchildren grow up.

It's been a wet weekend, which is OK as the tennis is on all through, Sunday Molly had some friends to their house for her birthday celebration, sadly all daughters plans were for outside, Saturday was a day of creating other activities for excited children.

We have a busy few days here, my garden is looking after itself, with all the heavy rain again, I can't get outside at all, my tomatoes are forming, my cucumber plant has started to grow, but oh so slowly. I am going to remove the runner beans and the french beans, they are failing, I'm starting to look at later summer and into winter harvest now. Hopefully by the weekend, life will slow down and be our normal. 

I'm still not up to speed with blogging, I hope to find time to catch up with everyone, whilst away I struggle with making comments when using my phone, Blogger only allows me to comment on a few sites.

Rest of the trip

 We visited Trentham Gardens it was a dry day, perfect for a nice walk, the house is a ruin, but the gardens have been restored. There is a huge lake which can be walked around, we decided not to risk any storms and stayed in the gardens. Here the huge boarders full of flowers and paths winding through.

I loved the fairies around the gardens, they added to the atmosphere, something modern in a traditional garden.

We visited a local high viewing point, which allowed us to enjoy the local stunning countryside, Mow Cop is a ruined church on top of a steep hill, the carpark was just a few steps away from the base, so an enjoyable hour. Photos do not give the views any real justice, it was stunning up there.

Now back home, life again is busy, rain on Friday ensures the garden looks healthy, after a 4+ hours drive home, we had a lazy evening. The laundry is done, this morning I'm staying here to catch up with my blog reading, I'm behind. 

Tennis is on TV, we are watching so much good tennis, we both enjoy Wimbledon tournament, 2024 is the year of the underdog, the giants are falling.

Gladstone

Wednesday we visited Gladstone Pottery, Stoke on Trent, it's where they film The Pottery Throwdown, we delayed the visit from early June because of heavy rain.

 It's iconic chimneys and this well known view of courtyard from the programme. 

There are a total of 4 chimneys here, in an area of historic potteries, this is the only intact site left.

Inside the huge chimneys.

Huge metal bands on the outside of the kiln, still inside the chimney.

Hubby demonstrating the size inside, he is 6'2".

The site gives the history of Pottery making through the years, here the mould making and storage area.

So many slip moulds, all made on site.

Here a colour plate, to show the different shades.

The whole cabinate.

A mixture of tiles making a huge round.

We were given a site map and wondered around, taking as much time as we needed, it's a site for learning and we loved seeing a group of junior school children searching for information.

It was a dull dry day and a perfect couple of hours, we later went to the cultural area and visited The Potteries Centre and museum,  which was not so enjoyable.

YP, we did not visit anywhere else in Stoke, there are other potteries, Emma Bridgewater, Wedgwood and Moorcroft  which was sadly closed, we would have loved to take the tour. Its very interesting to learn the history of an area, as for shopping, forget it. We are driving home today, should be home mid afternoon. 

Out back

If you look back on my blog garden photo's this is the view you will most often see, for the last 15 years, this was my focus, my space, it's a great space, but it was never all the garden.

This is the most common photo I now take and show, from the gates, the entrance to the garden and our seating area, the space is huge. 

Most of the time living here, this area was just a drive, so hubby could get his motorbike into the garage, I did create the side bed for some colour, but this was never part of my garden. 

A much softer look, without the huge decking, this area is much nicer, sadly we don't use our patio doors at this time of year, too many flies about. 

This is a view I now enjoy, again showing how big our garden is, plenty of space for each area, loads of family space. 

This view I have shown before, now it looks much better, so much growing in this back section. 

Hubby decided himself to stop riding his motorbike and sell it, which gave me space in the garage for my garden stuff, I could then remove my damp shed from behind the garage and used it as a working area for my composter and other bins. This opened up the garden refit, hubby had always wanted to remove the ugly decking.

I love my happy garden space, on many levels, I love to be growing things to eat, the buzz of the smallest harvest is wonderful, making compost and leaf mulch, to recycle everything to feed our soil. I also love to sit outside with hubby, we watch loads of small birds, hubby is in charge of the bird feeders, he ensures they are always full, and the many water spots as well. We both love to sit inside at night and see the garden lit up by our solar lights, completely different view, we even enjoy the other seasons, where we watch the garden from our comfortable chairs. I even enjoy watering, mainly early evening, it's a chance to look at everything as I water, I never rush this task, it's as good for me as it is for the plants. 

Food production

My fruits are mixed, the strawberry tower is full of berries, just a bit later than previous years, so I'm happy to keep the tower in it's spot, our blueberries are again full of fruits, like the strawberries we are having the start of our harvest. The raspberries are very different, the middle section has hardly any growth, which is disappointing, the end section is doing well.

The veg is very mixed my leeks and cauliflower plants in one raised bed are doing well, I have popped in a few cabbage plants and some more broccoli, and netted to keep out white cabbage butterflies. The second bed not so, my runner beans look terrible, beetroot and parsnips are OK and one broccoli plant left, there is plenty of time for the root veg to grow.

Other things growing in buckets and bags are thriving, I have some peas growing, my carrots in 3 buckets are thriving as are my courgettes. Tomatoes are behind, I do have some forming on my big plant the other two are spindly, my cucumber died, I do have another growing, but it's behind.

One small harvest for Sunday lunch, I cut the cauliflower small as only hubby eats them, more carrots from thinning, we had it with a salmon wellington, from Lidl, very nice indeed.

My rhubarb is huge, I have not taken any in this it's first year, the gooseberry bush is more of a twig, which is OK, before I had issues with saw fly, so keeping it green was my aim this season. I have had loads of success with fruits here over the years. 

Things are growing, but my runner beans won't come to much after the snail and slug destruction, which is a shame as we both love them. It been years since I grew veg, so I was not expecting miracles, any harvest is a bonus and the start to this growing season has been very different. Finding what works in the garden is always the key to success, the raised beds means I am not growing in our heavy clay, which is always a struggle. It's all about balance in an organic garden, so this year was about bringing this new part up the the balance I have in the rest of the garden.

I have netted most of the gardens, the pigeons and collard doves are making loads of mess and nibbling at everything, my mad neighbour loves them, she feeds them, but not every day, so when there is no food next door, they flock into our plot.

I've been off colour over the weekend, so not much done other than watering and picking some fruits, I have netted my blueberries as the blackbirds are nicking all the ripe ones, so far they have left the strawberries alone. Plenty of reading time.