September round-up

 Another good month, I purchased 3 balls of yarn for my blanket, I also got 2 balls of 2ply yarn for socks, I love my thinner ones, my garden was a low spend, just some shorter poles and a few plants and spring bulbs, my spending is back to it's normal levels.

I have purchased two new pairs of jeans, mine were looking old and I wanted to come away from skinny legs.

A good household month, nothing broke or needed replacing, I have started adding extra bits in my shopping basket, I have all the ingredients for my christmas cakes, and we have a good supply of cleaning items, toilet rolls, I like to shop this way, so in the final 3 months of the year, I have a bit more spare cash for the expensive christmas season, my god, I've said the 'C' word twice. 

We had a disaster last Sunday the kitchen freezer door had not been closed properly,  the bottom two baskets were OK, in the top one the contents had defrosted, mainly ice cream and lollies, we used two packs of bacon and one pack of sausages, but threw away a few bits. Luckily in this basket we mainly had part packs, but we will have to be careful with the freezer door. No other waste, we follow a careful regime of portion size, and cooking only what we need.

My weight, nothing to say, it's the same ongoing battle, your kind comments on last months post were very welcome. My fitbit is not connecting to my phone again, I get this issue with every model I have, I have decided not to purchase another, they are expensive and if they are not lasting much longer than a year, it's a waste. I have found out my watch to wear again.

Repurposing

 Over they years I have got many things for the garden, to use in a different way, this brass coal bucket is a prime example, purchased second hand from a local selling page, it's new life as a pot for my Hosta's. Keeps the slugs and snails away for months, so the plant looks good and flowers, it's tough for outside use and years old. My other plant is in a metal bucket, which works well at keeping the slugs and snails off my hosta's. 

Other things change wildly, this huge fruit and veg metal stand, was purchased to grow flowers in, it worked early in the season, but soon looked scruffy, so I rethought it's use, now it keeps my larger stones to hand whilst looking good. Neither was the designers purpose for use. 

We had been looking for a water feature for ages, I would love a reflection pool but there is not enough space in our garden, this is a fire pit, which is perfect for our needs, adding a solar fountain and some stones makes it pretty and much cheaper than most other water features. The true joy is the little birds use this as a bath, we see them splashing in it every day. 

Even the smallest things can be reused, when my mum moved out of her house, she gave me her gardening tools, this handle was on her spade, which broke and has a new handle, I'm still using loads of her tools. Sadly I've never seen a robin sat on it, I do live in hope.

This unit was purchased second hand back in 1996, it's from a military officers room, we found a shop selling lots of things ripped out on refurbishments. It spent the first 9 years in our conservatory in our last house, it fitted in there perfectly, I took it over when moving here, firstly in my shed, now in the garage, it works perfectly for my garden bits, and not too deep. This photo was from when I first moved it into the garage it's now much fuller and messy.

I love to use old chimney pots, they add height and interest, I've got a few square plastic washing up bowls with handles, which are really useful, I've tried many things, I did try and few arches in different places, I even go this arch second hand, but it did not work so I sold it on to another happy gardener. My greenhouse has an clothes airer hung in the door space every summer to keep unwanted animals out whilst allowing air in, that was hubby's brain wave.  

I am a follower of Dave Northsider, he is a expert in reusing all sorts of thing on his plot, and I'm sure he will approve of my clever reuses, I use china kitchen pots and jugs for houseplants, infact anything can have a second life and in my house often does. 

Spooky month.

 So we are nearing October or Spooky month as Will always called Halloween, I've got a few more bits this year, I'm enjoying seeing these tiny pumpkins, the first display in the corner of our sitting room. The vase is in the kitchen, slightly more autumnal vibes, both the China pumpkins are years old. These are out very early this year, no reason, other than I fancied something different.

I've made my own mincemeat, a lady I follow on Instagram shared her trusted slow cooker recipe, the house smelt divine for hours, way after the cooking time. Hubby who does all the baking will make mince pies. We got a pack of mince pies from Lidl, which were disgusting, much nicer to have home made ones. The smaller pot is for my friend who is always giving us jams and chutneys.

Hubby made the first batch of mincepies, I made some bacon and cheese wraps, both made with purchased puff pastry, I needed to use a pack of defrosted bacon, both tasted great. We both agreed the mincemeat was lovely, so I plan to make my own from now on.

I'm doing well on this lap blanket in my favourite Tunisian crochet, it's a simple stitch and design, I am using Emu Supreme double knit, I purchased a kit to make a Christmas blanket last year, which I only partially made as I was not enjoying the process. This is not for our use, hubby's group will have a raffle nearer to Christmas, so I hope to have this finished and donated, they fundraise for our local Portsmouth Downs Syndrome charity.

We popped to The Range, Dave , Northsider blogger, suggested I plant these onions, to grow over winter, a couple of other packs of bulbs came home with me, we had a look around the store, Christmas is in full show, we walked past everything, so a cheap trip. It is always lovely to see Wilko brand, which was on items all around the shop, I've always trusted their seed and bulbs.

Wednesday was market day in the village, we popped down, the plant guy was there, much smaller stand these days, nothing interesting, other than he was selling bare root wallflowers, wrapped in newspaper, I don't like wallflowers, but so pleased to see no pots, selling them just how our parents would have purchased them. Later the heavy rain came back, it was dark most of the afternoon, I spent my time between crochet and reading. 

Thursday was another day at home, more housework, we are still finding dust, it gets everywhere, hubby hopes to start painting next week, we popped to B&Q and got the wood stain for the stairs, everything is now ready for painting. Hubby got the fine mesh for the front of my huge bug house, hopefully we can finish it next week.

We have a weekend off, having some fun, I will tell you more in another post, we booked a very different experience for us, it's always good to try something new.

This and that

 This is an amazing book, a bit tricky at the beginning as it's over various time lines and with different people, a missing girl, 3 years old, it builds it's layers until you understand the story, how it concludes is very clever, I could not put this book down. Book 67 read this year.

Another great book, I had no expectations for this story, but yet again I couldn't put this book down, a baby left with a stranger on the train, why, the suspects all lined up, nice and neat, but, well you got to read it to find the answers, I do recommend it. Book 68 read this year.

I love this author, this is his latest book, set in USA, a teacher stops a old student who is wearing a bomb vest entering the school and becomes an overnight hero, his life then spirals down, he is chasing things to slow down and stop, as always there are other stories on the edge of things. Another great book, Book 69 read this year.

A cold case missing woman presumed dead sends her surviving daughter cards, a private investigator hired to see what happened to her, finds a trail and strange things still happening, people are still disappearing. The beginning was a bit confusing, too many different stories at different timelines, it all came together with a great twist at the end. Book 70 read this year.

The last of my dahlias, well in truth these are the only ones which bloomed this year, 3 plants grew, 2 did not last long, I planted a pack and expected more to come, I've never been successful with them. I adore my old vase, given to me as a gift, I don't use it that often.

Daughter went out for lunch with friends last week, Molly went with them, she insisted on taking her handbag and her sunglasses, posing here in the local huge marina, still only 3, but looking so grown up. Daughter got the bag for the queens jubilee back in 2022, where she dressed Molly at the queen and the boys as guardsmen. 

Sunday was a wet day, so no gardening, I did a bit more on my 2023 book, whilst hubby baked an orange cake, which filled the house with a beautiful scent, it was a very lazy day, I picked up my crochet hook, trying to use some of my yarn stash, I will need to get a few more balls, but I will make a dent in my stash.

Monday was dull and grey, I walked to our library for more books, I'm getting to the point where I am reading the same titles on the shelves every time I visit, it was the toddlers sing along, lovely to hear little voices happy in their songs, I've sung along to the Dingle dangle scarecrow many times.  

Tuesday was a quiet day at home, did some housework and watched the rain, whilst it has poured down, we are no where near as bad as other parts further north in our area. I have said before we are in a extremely unlikely to flood area, so watching the rain is enjoyable, without any worry.

Sadly

With heavy rain due for a few days we decided to pack away our wooden table set on Saturday, the seats are over 20 years old and still in good condition, the table new this year, we store them each winter in our garage, it goes along my wall, which takes away space for me, but as I'm not doing so much it's OK. This space looks huge, all my decorations again are packed away, I do leave out the bunting, lights and a few pots. My Olive tree is looking good after the huge trim I gave it in the spring.

The chairs sit one on top of the other, with the outside toys on top, so on dry days we can still get the toys out. The benches do cause more issues as they sits infront of my unit, I have checked and pulled out anything I might need from the unit, I can still use storage space under and on, which will help. The table has had the legs removed and is in the back of the garage, that's in hubby's space. 

My space outside my greenhouse door does not please me, I've tried a few different bits there, using what I have, but the space is not earning it's keep. I have been missing my shed, it was so convenient to store loads of my tools just where I needed them. The garage space works but every time I want something it's a walk through my garden space, and the same to put things back tidy. So with that in mind I have ordered this tiny shed, it fits the space, keeping my poles and other bits which are just used for the veg section, things I don't want in my greenhouse. 

Hubby has been busy sanding down our stairs, he is removing all the paint, we want (by that I mean me) to stain the upright post and hand rails and paint the spindles and everywhere else white, it's not a fun job, the dust is in every room of the house, hubby does not like doing half jobs, so it's taken a couple of weeks. I've been outside working, the stairs are very cramped so he works alone, Friday we cleaned everywhere, hubby hopes to start painting soon. Then it's the turn of our bedroom, which will be a much simpler job, there is one small build section to be done, then decorate and new carpets.

Most of the garden work is up to date, I'm leaving the flower beds to die back naturally, I will tidy them in the spring. I have my potato bags to empty, most of my pots and buckets are cleaned and packed away. I need to get some onion sets, my favourite garden centre only sell prepacked, so we will pop to a different place to get loose ones. I have a tomato plant to sort and my runner beans, all will go in composter. I have 8 cabbage plant seedlings in my greenhouse, hopefully they will get big enough to go out soon.

Who am I

Both husband and I recently did a My Heritage DNA test, I wanted to find more about where I come from, both my parents are no longer with us, so I'm not able to ask questions, most of our family live in a small area of Somerset where I was born. I am not going to delve into our family tree, hubby's brother is doing his family and it's a full time thing for him. 

So my results are in, the Scandinavian bit was a surprise, but I have always wondered about eastern Europe, as my mum loved names from that region, I have brother called Ivan, My sister is Lena and my name Marlene. 

So my ancestors were from southern England and Wales area, which is all put into one section which is slightly misleading titles Irish, Scottish and Welsh, at this level it does not breakdown any further.

Then I read below, so my part of heritage probably comes from when the UK was still attached to Europe, these are the average results for UK.

I already knew my niece, who started doing her family tree a few years ago and gave up, I have loads of extended family in America, I know mum's older sister lived there, a cousin visited us when I was about 7or 8, so I was aware of family there. I don't intend to take this any further, I checked the profiles on the 7 extended families and none of them are actively working on their profiles. 

Hubby results were more simple than mine, he does have a huge Welsh heritage.

The website wants me to pay more to get more details, but as I'm not taking things further, I won't be adding to their profits, I have received emails reminding me I have matches and encouraging me to click and find out more, if they get too much I will un subscribe from the site. These kits were half price, but still £35. Was it worth it, hubby say's no, my results confirmed what I believed, but with no one to ask about previous generations, it's as far as I go, after all it was just a bit of fun. 

Greenhouse

I planted the few recently purchased bulbs in a couple of empty pots, I do love to see spring bulbs in pots on my metal table on our patio. I have to take photos so I can remember where things are growing. 

I've also potted some cyclamen plants, these I got at B&Q, nice looking plants at a good price, I do like to see colour around this table, which I can see sat in my chair.

I put a couple of pansies in this long pot, I have a few of these pots, throughout the summer my previous pot had geraniums in, that's now in my greenhouse.

I've pulled my mini greenhouse into the centre back of my big glass greenhouse and put the plastic cover back on, in here at the moment I have a couple of herbs and a pepper plant, this system worked well last winter.

Both my big begonias are now back inside, they both bloomed all through the summer and looked good on my metal table, the smaller pot with a geranium in doubled in size, these are my special plants which I do protect through the cooler months.

I have a mixture of plants on this side, a small new snowberry plant, which could go in the ground, but I'm hoping it will get bigger quicker in here. I'm hoping the hellebore is a white flowering one and might be good enough to be inside part of my Christmas display.

Yesterday was warm and sunny so the garden called, I cleaned and sorted the greenhouse, mainly sorting old plant pots, which are stored outside behind the garage, I have a tub of spent compost to deal with, my compost bin is full again mainly tomato plants. I then popped tender plants back in their winter spots, there is less in the greenhouse.

My back ached afterwards, it's a task I do every year, but as I age I find I can do less in each session,  it's the sort of job which is brilliant once finished. 

I don't cut back the flower beds until spring, in hope they will be useful for bugs in the garden, I did dead head a few. My garden is closing, my big red acer leaves are wind damaged and starting to drop. We are looking to get our Magnolia tree trimmed back, we have done it in the last couple of years, so time to get the professionals in.

Soon the runner beans will be going over, I'm hoping we get one last harvest, they have been a sucess this summer. I hope to get some loose onion sets and a few potato's for Christmas. 

Celebrations

 This is a very pleasing photo, school sent it to daughter, George can be very unsettled in new environments, he has been to his school, class and met both, teachers and support staff. To see him here having his photo taken, looking at the person and we think chatting to them, is a huge success, he loves school.

It was daughters birthday on Friday, I picked Will up from school on Wednesday and we went shopping to chose this gift for his mummy, we popped to McDonalds for his tea, which is a rare treat for him, I enjoyed a coffee and ate when I got home. He ran up to his bedroom to hide his present and was so excited and gave it to his mummy on Friday morning. 

The caption says it all, we shared birthday cake, Molly and George having their special dairy free cakes, later we had a Chinese meal, which Will joined in, making new memories. 

We drove to Somerset on Saturday, we have not been down for months and stayed again with my brother, visited my sister and her partner, then had a meal Saturday evening at local pub, popped back for Sunday lunch. Sunday afternoon was spent with my sister in law, I've not seen her for ages, so it was good to catch up. Monday morning we spent with my brother and then drove home, it was hot and sunny in the car.

Daughter took her cat Lola to the vets, she was eating loads and daughter thought she might have worms, life is not that simple, Lola is pregnant, she has not been outside yet, as daughter wanted her to settle and be chipped before allowing her outside, she must have been already pregnant when daughter got her, so for a few more weeks Lola is an indoor cat. Vet scanned and there are 4 maybe 5 kittens, I have already said we will have 1, her neighbour wants another, daughter says she will keep one, so only a couple of kittens will need a home, if they are as pretty as mum, they will go quickly. We have put an order in for a female, daughter would like another female, so our kitten is on her way.

Read, eat and plant

I love this author, she always creates a great story, and this was was a real page turner, I could not put it down, the strange tale of marring for money, it's a deal between them, just for a month, then they can go separate ways, he's rich and used to getting his own way. You think you know the story read the book, it was fantastic. Book 64 read this year.

I forgot my little note book with all the titles I have read when visiting our library, I thought this author was one I had read before, sadly same first name, this is 'chick lit', which I am not a fan of, it was cheesy and predictable, will they, won't they, I picked up another book by this author,  I won't bother to read it. Book 65 read this year.

I loved this book, it's very clever, the main character was just an ordinary bloke, living a very mixed up life, thinking he's on top of things, how wrong can you be. Book 66 read this year.

Recently at my favourite garden centre, I picked up a few more bulbs, the blue and purple iris and the snowdrops are for a small pot, the anemone's I do love, just not sure where they will go. I had popped in for coffee and cake with daughter and George, but had a wonder around the newly laid out spring bulb section.   

Sunday hubby used some old lemons we had for this delightful lemon cake, we have been enjoying a slice most days with our morning coffee. Less ingredients and sugar than purchased cakes.

I've not read much this week, my trip to the library, where I had forgotten to bring my read books list, I did not have much time and picked up 5 books, 1 I had already read, 1 by the same author which was chick lit and I chose not to read. I popped back to the library on Wednesday and got more books, it was market day, sunny and cold, not many stalls and I purchased nothing. 

I have picked up a large crochet project, it's a big granny square in shades of grey, I'm taking it easy as I have had cramp in my fingers, once I'm in the swing it should stop. I have a plan to make another Tunisian lap blanket, using more of my stash of 4ply yarn, I made one here, which I use each winter, this new one will be gifted to a fundraiser Christmas raffle, where loads of people our age will be attending.

The cooler temperatures are changing our habits, we have not sat outside for coffee breaks for ages, hubby has sorted and covered his BBQ, it's in the garage, he still likes to protect it. I still walk around the garden each day, there is less to do, next week I plan to sort the greenhouse so I can put a few tender plants inside, which is far earlier than previous years, soon I will pack away all my decorations (metal birds) along the fence shelf, then the wooden bench, chairs and table with be moved. Sadly other than the odd warm spell summer is ending.

This week

I adore these daisies, there are seven plants along this boarder, they tumble just as I wanted and soften the edge, this bed has been a pure pleasure for me, they flower from early spring until the frost arrives, should look good for weeks, very little work and a simplistic look.

I love honeysuckle, it's take a few years for this plant to thrive, it's along the rear fence beside the greenhouse, there are a mixture of climbing shrubs here. I'm not a huge fan of climbing plants, except along our back fence, I do like to see a clean tidy fence boundary.

I have sorted my raised bed infront of my greenhouse, I have always grown flowers here, but with the pond below I want to come away from flower blooms dropping. The section nearest the fence has an established fuchsia which I did not want to move, so I have placed a wooden barrier and made that section for flowers. I have sorted the rest of the soil, removing the few bulbs I planted and any stones, this is going to be for seedling and salad, I have salad bits in the covered pot.

My title, This week.... I've worn long trousers everyday, trainers a couple of times and found my fleece for a couple of evenings, we are turning on lights most evenings and have started closing our blinds in the sitting room, the outside of our windows are covered in moisture every morning, we can't see out for a while, sadly our season is changing. I'm not sure I'm ready for summer to end, it's not been a great season  or year.

Sunday after heavy rain through the night we woke to blue skies, we had just a sprinkle of rain and a sunny afternoon, I worked outside enjoying the warmth from the sun. I also worked on my 2023 book and April is uploaded, that's a third done, the publishers sent out an update, which now does not have the font I use as included, so rather than pay more I have changed the font, I actually prefer the new font.

Monday was mixed, dry with a few sunny spells, I did not do much outside my back is playing up again, sorting the raised bed was awkward, I could not stand close enough and I had to twist a bit, all heading for aches in my back, I stayed in we had a couple of parcels arriving. I changed the font on my 2022 book, and checked through the pages again, I had a few tweaks to make, but it is finished again, ready for November discounts.  

Harvest

After a shaky start and only half the bean plants surviving, I am having a harvest twice a week, these are a firm favourite in our household, I have managed to freeze a few portions, hopefully they will keep coming and I can freeze more. The one question I have is should I plant a full row of beans next year, I have 10 plants here and they are giving us a good harvest, I have 20 poles for 40 plants.

My small tomato plants in the greenhouse have gone over, but this beef tomato plant outside is full of green tomatoes, some are changing colour, I hope the rest will follow, sadly so many have been nibbled on. Whilst we both are enjoying these tomatoes, I won't grow big ones next year.

I love berries in the garden, never a huge crop, but enough fresh berries to keep us happy, I am picking a few raspberries each day, I cut back the blackberry vine, we have had a good harvest on the smaller vine, loads of lovely new growth for berries to grow on next year. I was not expecting more strawberries, I have a few ripening on my tower. 

I got a six pack of pansies and cyclamen for my winter garden colour, plus a few bulbs for a big pot up by my greenhouse, won't be seen from the house, but nice to have a splash of spring colour. 

Under the runner beans are beetroot and parsnips, I need to harvest some of the beetroot, so I can pickle it, these have been a success, I will pull some for my sister, hers failed this season. Leeks are growing well, still a bit small, I can leave them in the ground much later than other veg, at some point I will harvest, clean, slice and freeze some. After such a poor start to the growing season, I am really pleased, I have harvested more then I hoped, slugs and snails have been the issue, my soil is fertile and plants once established, grow well.  

The heavy rain has given everywhere a good watering and nothing has been battered down, luckily we live in an area with no issues with flooding, our new garden design allows water to soak away without issues, hubby's new grasses in his front garden are looking good, it's still mild, infact it feels warmer outside than in. Friday it rained most of the day, we did get a couple of dry spots, I've nothing to do outside, so I spent part of the morning on my 2023 book, later I finished a great book. 

Saturday we popped to B&Q and home bargains, after 3 days at home, it was nice to get out, we were going to our favourite garden centre, but hubby got the plants at B&Q at a much better price, I am re-potting the bedding plants, he got pansies and sweet williams, and three alpine plants. Later the heavy rain came back, it's due to rain most of today, so another day at home. I went to get more red/black gloves, but sadly they have stopped selling that range and the other gloves were not so good, I will have to make my pairs last as long as I can.

38

 Today is our wedding anniversary, 38 years ago we made our relationship legal, we moved in together on May 1984 (40 years ago), these days we celebrate much simpler, I don't need huge bunches of flowers, chocolates or meals out. We have nothing planned, a day at home, the weather will decide what we will do, and fish and chips for tea, we had a Chinese takeaway earlier in the week. 

I found the photo above this week, who are those young people and how quickly we have become the couple below, in the 90's my job entailed I always had to power dress, hubby always wore a suit for work, I had so much hair, sadly hubby's was on it way.

YP just for you.

Will's back to school photo from Tuesday morning, he looks so grown up, he started juniors and was happy to be back with his friends, they have been together since their first day of school. Years ago we would have loads of first day school photo's but sadly distance and indifference has seen hubby's children not sending photo's. George had a very good first visit and starts half day all next week, if all goes well he will be in full time the following week.

Nothing much is happening here, dull days, we are having huge rain storms, the yellow weather warning is in place until later this evening, it did not stop raining at all yesterday, they have forecast almost a months rain in just 2 days. I have planned the winter vegetables for both raised beds, it a case of waiting until the summer things come to an end. I am reading loads, it's lovely to be able to lose myself in someone else's story, hubby is a book worm as well. I did spend a few hours on my 2023 book, I've almost imported the first three months, it's a good start.

I am starting to think of crafting, I want to knit, I have far too many pairs of socks, and don't really need any jumpers, I do have loads of scraps of 4ply, so maybe a knitted blanket, which would keep my hands busy for ages. I have also pulled out my cross stitch, I started earlier in the year, I have hardly done anything, time to plan, I also have a few Christmas decorations I want to make with needle felting.

I am feeling much better, our world has calmed down, less worry and stress, with our anniversary and hubby's birthday both in the same week, it's been a bit of a treat week, making both of us feel happier.