Outside

I love our garden, it's perfect for us, gives us space to enjoy our lives and gives me so much pleasure in keeping it going, at this time of year, my working role consist of dead heading and watering, both task I enjoy doing. So much colour here, it does look lush.

Our lawn is fake grass, everything else is grown, I don't use sprays and try to be organic, the only thing that lets me down, I use slug pellets in my flower beds, I have some copper rings and tape, which I use, I have tried other organic things, but the slugs always get past them.

I have a few runner bean plants, not to many, the snails and slugs feasted on almost every plant I tried to grow, these are my third planting, I have so far just one runner bean, which is a disappointment, we both love them. The beetroot and parsnips are doing well. The leeks in the other bed are also doing well, I am looking for something for the other section of that bed.

I have three different tomato plants, none of them are thriving, but I am getting a crop, some of these will be frozen, the beef sized ones are the best looking plant. Blueberries are still doing well, the birds ate loads from the edge of the plant, but they can't reach the middle. Raspberries and blackberries are failing this season, I did cut back the blackberries, but I don't know what's the issue with the raspberries, maybe I need new plants.

We have had a busy few days, we drove to South Wales on Wednesday, hubby's older brother is in hospital after a fall, he had his operation to fix his femur, but the wound won't heal, it was good to get to see him, he is bored and fed up after being there four weeks. We had a meal out with hubby's sister and her hubby, and on Thursday drove home, the car was like an oven both days, it's a three hour journey. Sadly hubby's eldest brother is also in hospital, having a pacemaker fitted, he lives in Newcastle, so it's a bit far to travel for us to visit, hospital stays are more often as his siblings are aging.

At home we are inside more, reading or watching the Olympics, I was very cross with the BBC again on Thursday, at the final few points of the first set in the Murry/Evans tennis match, they asked us to switch from iPlayer to BBC1, and yes you guessed, we missed those points and them losing the first set, it's infuriating.

As for it being August already, the time is flying by, days are slow, this year is whizzing by, I have started my autumn planning, hubby suggest we relook at my wildlife pond area, and make it bigger with a small pre-shaped pond, I want to cutback my agapanthus, which should give more light to the area, and I have some grasses I can separate and use there, I also have a dogwood plant I am going to dig out. Even when it's done, it's never finished.