Birthday girl

I have grown in the 10 months living here, my kitten photo was taken in January, today I am a year old, she has told me this, I was not aware. I used to love hiding in here watching them every morning, tapping like mad, chatting for ages. I did check it out when the rain kept me inside this week and found it still a great spot to sleep, she was quick to get a photo. 

I got treats but no toys, I do have loads which I ignore these days, I'm not inside to play with them, the little people don't come so often, I miss them, they were here for a few times whilst they were on holiday

I've decided not to use any of the baskets I have inside, I like to stretch out often on the mat by the back door, sometimes on the soft mats in their upstairs shower room, the big white radiator does get warm, I'm not interested, my coat is thick and I don't feel the cold.

She has told me I should be a farm cat, I spend most of the day and evening outside, hiding under the covers when the rain is not too heavy, I do like to sleep in their bedroom at night, I come in about 1.30am, and I always jump on the bed when they wake up and have 15 minutes of cuddles. She wanted a lap cat and is beginning to understand I'm not one, I pop in to sit with her for a short spell some evenings. These days they don't leave the garage open so much, some days they don't go in at all, I like it in there, my old scratching post is there for me. 

They have got a small suitcase out and my travelling box, I must be going to the cattery, I bit the owner last time, so mum is surprised I can go back, she has told me she is sorry and it won't be for long, I will be safe stuck in my big cage.

Busy doing nothing

I struggled with the start of this book, not knowing where the plot was heading, then everything twisted and became interesting, I guessed who done it by the middle of the book, the reveal was given with a quarter of the book left. The final sections of the book were brilliant, with a final twist. This is the second book I have read by this author and he is excellent at misleading in plain sight. Book 74 read this year.

I am reading off my Kindle apt, so another book by the same author, another very different plot, what happens when your husband disappear, how do you cope, what's happened to him, this book follows both of them, definitely not a who done it, not my favourite book of his. Book 75 read this year.

  My soft trainers were looking shabby, they are pale pink and show every mark, I have washed them a few times they are 4 years old, I looked at my favourite site, https://www.clarksoutlet.co.uk/ and found some great prices, I am not keen on big solid trainers, preferring softer styles. As the site implies these are the end of line items, so now was the best time to find lighter weight summer styles, I regularly get Clarks shoes so I know the size I require. I can't remember the last time I paid full price for shoes, £63 for both pairs, free postage and easy to return should you require it, they fit perfectly and I'm happy. 

I have done a small sewing task on my duffle coat ready for this cooler wet weather, when I purchased it back in 2023 I was disappointed with the string and rough wooden toggles, I thought it did not match the quality of the rest of the coat, so finally I removed the string and wooden ones and replaces them, sadly the toggles are plastic, I think they look much better. The first photo is the true navy colour of the coat, I don't know why the second photo is so washed out.

We are back having homemade soups most days for lunch, hubby in the past few weeks made two batches with my tomatoes and one batch with my butternut squash, this week we have minestrone, which doesn't have any homegrown veg in, it is my favourite. We are halfway through a ginger cake, he is going to make a red velvet cake, Will's favourite, and he makes it free from dairy so both George and Molly can eat some, it's half term so we will see them a few days.  

I worked in my area behind the garage, I have emptied the leaf mulch bins, some has gone into bags for use later, both hubby and I have been collecting leaves for my two black bins, I have used the chicken straw bedding from my neighbours hens in both composters, it's dry which is necessary to make the magic work. It was lovely on Saturday, so I spent loads of time outside, Lilly was with me keeping an eye on me, I attached the climbing rose behind the garage to the chicken wire, I would like it to fill out and hide the scruffy sight behind in neighbours garden, I also cut back my climbing rose by the front of the garage, the stems were above the fence height, I have cut them back hard, which hopefully means it will bloom much lower and grow again.

It's so lovely these modern days, we only had two clocks to change from summer time, all the rest automatically change, for years we would find a clock we forgot to change, the last clock to be done is always the one in our car, we don't use it so often these days. Sunday was sunny and bright but cold, the house is warm and snug.

What's new

This was a brilliant book, a good story line which we all can recognise a daughter looking after her mum, then the handy man arrives and sorts everything out, a little too much, what followed was a battle of wits, each getting the upper hand on the other, so many twist even to the final couple of chapters, I could not put it down. Book 73 read this year.

I made 6 cupcakes from my second batch of Christmas cake mix, which we loved and had the idea to make small cakes, I had loads of the ingredients left over, I did not have any glace cherries or mixed peel so it's just mixed fruit, this made 14 cakes, these are slightly overfilled, so I could have made a few more. Both brother and daughter have asked for smaller cakes, so this might be a better solution, too late this year but going forward.

The metallic cupcake cases I have had for ages, and will last for years having 60 of each colour, I got the tiny edible cake decorations, just too fiddly to make, I will leave in cases and cut circular marzipan and fondant icing for the top. Much simpler and should look good, some of these will be gifted to Sharon as a thank you for her eggs.

I could not resist this little decoration for my office, it is just the head and stand, the wool (yarn) I already had, just a bit of fun and not too expensive, I think they started out as a toilet roll holder, this is much nicer, He's called Owain, pronounced Ewan. 

It's been a busy week, all 3 little ones had parents evenings, Will's good as always, he's hard working, willing to learn, well behaved in class, one new to us comment is that Will often chooses to partner another boy who has special needs, and helps him with the task, not really surprising as he is so supportive of George. Molly's as expected was good, interactive throughout the day, she is loving school, George on the other hand has issues, daughter has already had a meeting at school with teacher, 1-to-1 and his support assistant, who is steering the teacher onto a path more suitable for George. He is settling into his day, but he is frustrated and has had a few melt downs in class, which is reflected at home, he gets really upset and lashes out at mummy, he is a strong little boy. Regularly I get video calls to help calm him, I chat to him until he is calm again, these episodes only happen on school nights, he's so calm over the weekend, it is sad to see him behaving like this, he had been calm for much of the last school year.

I visited the dentist this week, I'm still NHS, but more often now any treatments are being recommended to be done privately, as the NHS solution is never now the best, every way they want your money. Hubby had another appointment at hospital, this was solely for checking other things before the cardiology specialist decides the next steps, a few solutions have already been spoken about, hopefully soon decisions can be made, including a medicine review, he takes huge amounts of tablets, me I just take a statin.

I went to my third evening at our village WI, this being my first as a full member, I am enjoying the group and find the ladies most welcoming, this time we provided gifts, which we wrapped and signed loads of Christmas cards for local nursing homes, we also had a lady in chatting about the charity she works for associated with our local hospital, it's the groups chosen charity for this year, they do great work supporting people in hospital.

Changing colours

The leaves have started to fall around our garden, the magnolia tree leaves go very dry on the tree before they fall, these will need shredding once they drop before going into my mulch bins. The red acer leaves are also curling a sure sign they are about to drop. Behind the fence our neighbours virginia creeper are beautiful colours, it's not a plant I would want in our garden, we are always cutting back roots along the fence. 

I moved my forsythia a while ago, I am really hoping this is just the leaves dying back and not the end of the plant, this is a perfect spot for it, I will have to wait until the spring, I have already put a deep layer of mulch around it's base.

My trio of acers leaves are curling, the red one always sheds first, it's sad to see these colours fade, but on the flip side it's always wonderful to see them come back into leaf each spring.

I adore primroses, they remind me of a great childhood growing up in rural Somerset, the hedgerows were always full of them, I have clumps around the back section of my gardens, I regularly split them. 

The season has really changed here in the last week, the cooler air and no rain is a good signal, these photo's were taken on Saturday before the rains came, my pots were dry again, it's been almost 3 weeks since we had any rain fall, it's still a dry year here. The rain finally came on Sunday much later than stated, it was very wet on Monday, a grey dull overcast day, I'm happy to see the rain, I was beginning to think I would need to water my pots again. Monday was diabolical and its fuel to be extremely wet tomorrow,  so day of housework. 

The heating has finally be turned on, still often when the radiators should be warm, they are not, the house is keeping the heat in, all the work in previous years is now paying off, nothing beats a warm house. Neither of us like the house too hot, I am enjoying wearing my jumpers and socks again, it's comfortable for me, hubby just never feels the cold, I'm not such a cold bod as I used to be.  

Days at home don't bother me, normally I have loads to do, I'm still very undecisive what to be crafting, I was pleased to have made my Christmas cakes, I really must find something to do, I'm spending too much time playing 'arrows' on my tablet.

Christmas cake

 I've used the same cake recipe since the late 70's, the only change I make is to leave out the almonds, thus allowing me to eat some. Here is the 3 main components, mixed fruit and peel soaked overnight in the zest and juice of three oranges, the brown looking sludge is dark brown sugar, butter and eggs, the dry ingredients are plain flour various spices and halved glacé cherries, all stirred together, the flour mixture stops the sticky cherries clumping together. 

Everything is popped into the huge bowl and mixed together ensuring there are no white flour left showing, this makes a huge cake, both hubby and I love Christmas cake. Into a double lined cake tin, with a wet tin wrap on the outside to stop it over cooking, years ago I would have wrapped newspaper around the outside of the tin. Bake for 120ºfor 3 hours. 

Once cooked I turn the cake upside down so the top is flat and start to add brandy, I do not put brandy in the dried fruit soak, I prefer the citrus flavours in the fruit. Cakes need 3 drinks of brandy before they are marzipan and iced, which I leave as late as possible, so the almond paste does not seep to far into the cake. I always trim my slice of cake never eating the edges.

Every year I get this sheet of paper with the recipe typed by me, originally it came from a magazine, I do have a copy on my computer, but it's rewarding to see my messy sheet, things have been spilt on it. I have made notes for cooking times, these have changed over the years as our ovens get better at their job.

The tip of putting the cherries into the flour was given to me by my mum, in senior school there was a baking competition we had to make cherry cake, I followed mum's instructions and won first prize, my cake was the only cake where the cherries did not sink. My prize a huge cookbook, called Colour Cooking by Good Housekeeping, which I still own, sadly it's rarely used, it's falling apart at the seams.

This is my domain, hubby bakes all through the year, but I always make the Christmas cake, infact I make 3, second for daughter and third for brother. Last year I started making mincemeat, which is easy and taste much better, I also want to make puddings, which won't be ate this year, I will do the same as my mum and store them for a year to infuse flavours.

The house smells of Christmas spices, it's warm with the oven on, I cook our big cake first and on the next day the two smaller ones. 

Now to decide how to decorate them, I make all the decorations, daughter and I did a course a few years ago, nothing too fancy. I always use fondant icing, which I purchase ready to roll.

What next

 There was never any doubt to what was happening in this plot, a kidnapped girl and a boyfriend full of guilt and wanting more to be done to find her. It followed two different stories until they meet, where survival is key. Another great plot, a new author to me. Book 72 read this year.

Hubby got another badge for his cushions, I was not convinced it would add to the design, its a cap badge, I could not use the sewing machine, so this is hand stitched, both the material and badge are thick, it was a struggle to attach. Hubby is happy, I still think it doesn't need to be there.

I have 56 fat quarters in this container, all cotton, a couple of sets, one being Peter Rabbit, I fancy doing some hand sewing, not hexagons, I still have a pile after making my sewing machine cover. My problem is I can't just do patchwork without a final project, I do like to have a finished item in my mind as I am working, 

any suggestions. 

I'm bored, nothing much to do outside, I do sit and watch the birds around the feeder hanging in our Magnolia tree, and Lilly as she explores and prowls. I have done loads of mending, just little bits, once I get started I like to get everything done.

I have a cross stitch which is half done from years ago, I can't find the threads from the kit, I'm sure I will have them in my stash. Normally at this time of year I like to knit or crochet, again I have nothing I need, I still have a few pairs of unworn hand made socks.

I am over half way in my 2024 book, my new slightly larger monitor is making it easier for me, I'm not having to resize the pages all the time, just a few less clicks on each book page, it feels so much simpler. 

Thursday evening we went to our local venue and watched a tribute singer to Neil Diamond, I'm not a fan, hubby loves his music, the singer was Fisher Stevens, at the interval hubby said can we go home please, he did not enjoy the show. We have a couple more shows booked this year, ELO and Christmas by Candlelight. 

October blooms

I have had these two chimney pots for years, I love them at either end of daisy flower bed, both with begonias in, hopefully cyclamen should grow through and bloom long after the begonias fade. The daisies are still full of frothy blooms, I did thin them out a bit.

I love my big blooms in pots, one with the dark fuchsia, the red and purple really stand out, I also love the fushia in my raised bed tumbling over my pond, I often have to pick up the fallen blooms from my pond, neither of these displays are hard work, I just feed them a couple times a year.

The side bed is still blooming, so many colours, the nerines are beautiful, I have 2 tall ones and more which are not so tall, some of the french marigolds have been pulled out, the blooms are thinner now. 

The begonia and lobelia are planted in this tub, the rest are all in pots sat on top of the stones, the hostas have completely died back, I have ensured no pots are over the hosta crowns. I do love the colour here.

I moved our olive tree to this sheltered corner by the house, it does get afternoon and evening sun, it is thriving, again we have a few olives in the tree, they stay hard, so I don't do anything with them. In the warmer months there are more pots in front of the huge tub. 

I dug out another foxglove plant growing in my veg bed, its in my greenhouse, I now have 5 plants for next spring, I also moved a clump of forget-me-nots, again self seeded in the wrong place. My Geranium I split into 5 plants are all perking up, I hope to fill any gaps in my flower bed next year with plants created in my greenhouse. 

My pots were bone dry on Tuesday, pansies were wilting, so I got out the hose and watered all my pots and both veg beds, watering in October, its another unusual month in this strange year.

Most of my spring bulbs are in pots, I have so many different blooms and colours, next spring is going to be fun here, most of the pots I had emptied ready for my spring bulbs. It's still a bit early to pot up my tulips.

I am so happy at home in my garden, I have no more plans to change anything, I don't have any space for new things, October so far has been a mild dry month, I'm sad knowing I will soon have less time outside as the weather changes, the garden is a healing space. Soon it will be reading and craft time, things which can be done inside.

Random bits

 Hubby make a delightful cakes each week, here he made brownies, a special treat we don't have too often, after watching bake-off he decided to make a treacle tart. I am so lucky to have a hubby who loves to bake, he does most of the cooking. He got this domed glass cake stand, replacing the plastic container, it does look much nicer.

Another great book, mother and daughter, loads of history, what would you do for your child even if they are not the same as other children, a very different tale, I switched from liking the mother and then the daughter a few times as more of the back story was revealed, I did not want it to end. Book 71 read this year.

I had loads of fun on Sunday, Molly and George being creative, this is for George's class project, Molly joined in as well, they both love crafting, felt tip pens and glue anything shiny. Molly made a plate into Goldilocks and George a bear, George is much better at wearing his glasses whilst sitting and working. They both now are happy to sit and create.

I adore my duffle coat, it's warm and very comfortable, but I have always hated the string and wooden toggles, so finally I have replaced them with nicer ones, sadly the new toggle is plastic, but they do look much better. The coat was too thick to use my sewing machine, I have hand sewn them, there is a zip closure, so these are mainly for show and do not need strength to hold the sides together.

I was using my desktop a couple days ago and the monitor turned off, after checking leads and plugs we agreed the monitor had died, easy task to get another one, but my goodness the wire mess below my desk, firstly dust (hanging my head in shame) and 3 extension leads, I now have just one with a circuit breaker which is attached to Alexa, so I can turn everything off without crawling under the desk. Most of the cables have gone, these days one lead is all that's needed.

We are not doing much at this time, the dry sunny days are just so peaceful, having Sunday at daughters house was fun, it's nice to have someone else cook a meal, I did clear the table and pack the dishwasher, both Molly and George help, it was a quick chore. The afternoon relaxing watching George play with cars, Molly dancing to her favourite tunes, a perfect few hours.

We have not put the heating on as yet, it still warm enough in the day and we have lap blankets for when it cools down, it's promised to get cooler this coming week, so turn on will be soon. We have changed our midweek alarm to 7.30am, I see no point getting up too early, when we are staying at home. We have listened to radio 2 for decades, neither of us are enjoying Scott Mills breakfast show, we have tried other stations, but nothing suits, I do like to wake up to music, so we hope we have picked times where Scott is less silly, Goodness I sound Old. We do like to have a midweek alarm it helps us have an idea what day it might be, and we both get up together, Saturday and Sunday I get a later start.

Digging the dirt

 A while ago I popped 3 soft supermarket potatoes in a empty tub, this week I dug out enough for 3 meals for us, I found five tiny potatoes which I have popped back into the pot added homemade compost, I will let you know if they grow. In this second bag is just one potato which wanted to grow elsewhere it has survived me moving it.

Both raised veg beds are full, one with mixed brassicas at the back and onions down the sides and carrots in the middle. The second bed has broad beans at the front, not showing through yet, I have mulched this end of the bed with my homemade leaf mulch, in the back section are leeks.

I am happy with this shelf in my greenhouse, most of these plants are from splitting or cuttings, the Geranium Sanne with tiny white flowers I removed from my butlers sink, I split it earlier this year, so I was surprised to get 5 more root sections, I would love them along the front of my side flower bed. I also have tiny violet cuttings in hope they can be placed under our red Acer.

 I popped my fushia with the bigger pink flowers in my butlers sink, I have cut the bottom off a pot and raised it, should give the plant enough root space, I have a lovely ground cover plant to pop infront of the pot. The second fushia with tiny white blooms I will cut back in the spring, I was able to move the pink fushia without disturbing the roots, so it should not wilt, this is a shady spot, which I can see from the house.

As well as the potato harvest, most of my greenhouse tomatoes went red, we had enough for hubby to make more tomato and red pepper soup in his soup maker, enough for 4 meals. I am thinning sweet baby carrots from a big tub, enough each time for a meal for both of us. 

I am really pleased with my homemade leaf mulch, so far I have used half, one dustbin is now empty, I've already starting putting leaves in for next year. To have both veg beds full again for winter growth is great, I have cauliflower, winter cabbage and sprouting broccoli which will produce first, the rest will be ready for harvest in the spring. My neighbour has given me some straw from her chicken run including poo for my composter, for now it's in a dustbin bag and stored in an black bin, I will leave for a few weeks before adding into my compost bins.

This week has been perfect weather for gardening, sunny days, warm enough not to require a coat, I did water the veg beds, after adding onions and brassicas, I'm not expecting to have to water anywhere again, even without any rain in the forecaste for the coming week, the ground is no longer dry. I have spent up to two hours most days outside, just sorting picking up leaves and any small task which should be done, it does feel more like September than October. 

Books and boats

This is the latest and 8th book in the Strike, private detective series, a huge book, 897 pages, she writes a really good plot, they are tasked with finding if a murdered man is their clients boyfriend, its a cold case and its complicated, as there are a few people who it could be, they already know it's not who the police decided it was. These books have been made into BBC series, so I already know the two main private detectives, to keep it real they also have other cases ongoing. This was one of the best stories, I really enjoyed joyed it, book 69 read this year.

I love this author, I have read most of her titles, this popped up on my kindle, its a great plot, two stories with a fantastic twist near the end and another later in the plot, I loved it. She does plan and draws out a deception, once revealed you immediately realise it was there in plain sight. Book 70 read this year.

My autumn display is out in my kitchen, I do love this little jug with seasonal displays, the colours are typical for this time of year, I did get just one new branch, with the smaller acorns on. There are conkers hubby picked for me for this little dish, the two china pumpkins are years old, I never aluminate them, they will be packed away in November, but the foliage will stay until I pop in Christmas themed bits.

Tuesday we met daughter at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, it was another sunny bright day, she wanted to use her birthday money and used hubby's discount card to save a bit more. She helped us choose Will's Christmas gift from us, we got him new clothes, we had lunch together, a fresh baked Cornish pasty sat in a deck chair in the sunshine before we caught the bus home.

If you look past HMS Warrior, between the dockyard buildings you can see HMS Queen Elizabeth docked, its a huge aircraft carrier, the pale grey showing through. It's always fascinating being on The Hard, this is where the bus station is, so we often look out at Navy vessels along side historic and all the small private vessels. 

We are both loving these cold bright days, laundry has been dried outside, the garden task are being completed, housework has been done and time spent with our daughter, it's much easier to wrap up warm on dry days, our heating is not on yet, we have boosted a couple of times. 

Hubby has had his final results and they threw up a surprise for him, more hospital consultant appointments in the coming weeks, we will face them together, we have always had a united front on what life throws us, for now we are not saying much to our families, once the treatment is in place we will share it all.

We have both enjoyed getting out again, we never expected to get our first Christmas gift, but we did want to choose something special for Will. We did pop to the village yesterday, market day, I looked at plants and kept my purse in my bag, I really do have a full flower garden. Hubby wanted to pop to B&Q for some nice wire for the raspberries, I am banned from using chicken wire (which I already have), I'm going to wait until next spring in hope he forgets and I can use what I have.

Fruits sorted

 Back in May 2021 I got 5 of these arches off marketplace, I wanted them to make a structure for my blackberries to grow over in front of my shed. It looked good and worked well, until we decided to move all my gardening bits into the garage and dispose of the shed. I did toy with the idea of spreading them out forming a tunnel, but as a working space keeping it clear won out. 

For years the five arches have been along my back fence, unwilling to pass them on, I hoped they would add height to our low fence and as the plants grew and blocked out the back of our neighbours huge pub shed. The only decent photo is this one where you can see the height behind my smaller shed, hubby agreed tall poles would work as well, I got some half price recently. Just one for now will stay behind my shed, I don't require it.

So now they are back working as they should be, just 4 arches from the raspberry bed to the first raised veg bed, I'm pretty sure the poles won't be in my way in the veg bed, I will pop wire along the back side and up to the arch, this should support the canes and the fruits and stop them sagging, making each summer a fruit tunnel. I will also put more supports in the front section so the canes can be controlled and kept upright, the canes grow naturally toward the sun and veg beds, so this should be a lasting solution. 

The 5 arches were free, a young couple had just purchased their first home and was reclaiming their back garden, and passed all the unwanted bits on, they are really sturdy and strong and should last for years here. Hubby used tall poles along the back fence, he redid the spot where we think foxes were trying to get in, a couple of plants were cut back, hopefully they will grow back, the area is behind the garage and can't be seen. There is just one arch behind my tall shed, it can stay there, unless I find another use for it, to remove it would entail moving the shed to get to it.  

As with some of my previous posts, this one has been in pending for ages, I was really unhappy with the raspberry canes this summer they were all squashed together, I had already decided to move the blueberry tub and had a new spot sorted in my mind. So throughout August every time I went to pick raspberries I was thinking, how to sort it, I needed more room and higher support for the berry laden tops. I always look around the garden for what I have, originally the taller poles were for the raspberries, when hubby said he needed to redo the back fence, a plan immerged, and chatting to hubby he agreed it would work and not take too much effort to do and importantly would look good. 

Just a simple mornings work had everything sorted, whilst I sorted the veg beds and placed the arches, hubby did the back fence, I also took away the big nets from my brassicas. Sunday was a breezy, cloudy dry day, perfect weather to get outside, plus we both were fed up sat inside fighting bugs. When we shopped in Sainsbury's we got a cook in the bag chicken crown, just £6.50, daughter cooked one recently,  neither of us like the brown meat on a chicken, there was enough meat for our roast dinner and another meal each, making it a great bargain.

Fired

 I always have difficulty choosing what to paint and then how to decorate it, I am not a artist in any form, I decided to make this mushroom into a home with flowers growing up, all very simplistic. I streaked the underside of the roof (top), the top should have been red with some glitter, I still like it.

Molly decorated this coaster for me.

Molly wanted to paint a cat this time I love the way she has blended colours, it looked a mess on the day, now it's very pretty.

Daughter painted this jar, its blue with the star openings black and glitter, it looks lovely, she loves simple designs. 

I do like things to be useful, I can't stand clutter any more, this is placed in a dark corner and looks good all lit up, I've used battery operated lights.

 

I do love these painting cafés, its a fun space for everyone, messy play at its best, we have taken all 3 little ones at different times, hubby even came and enjoyed one session.  It's not cheap, and each time you get a nice hand painted item, it's took a bit longer for me to collect these, I did not receive my text stating they were ready for collection. We painted these in early September, most of the choice of items were for Halloween, which I did not want. I probably won't go again, unless it's with the children, my painting is not that great. I have found sets for each of the children for home, I got them for Christmas, but we will gift them in half term, something nice for them to do. 

We have had a quiet few days together, both hubby and I are feeling better, I'm mainly tired all the time, we have only been out once, we popped to Sainsbury's, got a few bits for the weekend. I have found a puzzle game I like, and I've  been reading. 

We had our first homemade tomato soup, using homegrown tomatoes, we are warm and dry, no heating on as yet, watching the garden, little birds on the feeders, the storm centre was in northern UK, but we still had loads of wind and rain, our garden was OK. Daughter wanted to come and check on us, but we wanted her to stay at home with children, we have all we need and plenty of facetime, keeps us chatting with them.

Fruits

 The raspberry canes have been cut down, they produced a bumper harvest this year, but the whole area was cramped, just not enough space, we have lifted the blueberry tub out from here. This is not finished, I want a strong frame for the canes to grow up and plenty of space for harvesting the fruit. Stage 2 will be sorted soon.

The blueberry tub will now sit in the corner of the fruit bed, it fits next to the rhubarb, it will grow above the rhubarb, I have cut it back, it looked very straggly, so I'm not expecting much of a harvest next year, berries grow on the second years growth, which is OK. There are flowers in front of the tub.

The big tub has been moved to the back fence, its a bit crowded here, only I work in this section, I don't know what I will plant here next year the tub bottom is broke so it does drain well.

As always one job leads to another in a small garden, add in Lilly checking everything we do, and there's not alot of space. I always leave the raspberry canes on top of the bed to rot down, feeding the soil. Lots of pots have been sorted, the butternut squash plant was going yellow, so I cut it back. Hubby cut down the height on my two obelisk, they will be used for the tomato plants, the tops can be used in the flower beds, nothing is wasted. 

I have packed away loads of my grow bags, they worked well, I now have space on the path in front of the greenhouse, I still have a couple tubs of potatoes and carrots. I do like the fruit and veg sections to be tidy, the flower beds I don't cut back, as it's a good habitat for the wildlife in cooler months. My greenhouse works hard this time of year, it's still nice and warm inside, good for small plants and cuttings. 

Daughter shared her germs this week, I have had a bad cold, sore throat and ear ache, feeling quite yuck, spent a couple lazy mornings in bed, sometimes you just need to give in and let the bugs run their course. Hubby has picked them up as well, so a lazy week at home, we rebooked our dentist as we were not well enough to go today, we have no plans, storm Amy is due, most will miss the south, we have already had a stormy night.