Just another week

 Yet another great plot, after a split with his wife, he leaves his life in London for his home town, with his young son, his life improves to a new high. Around him people are scared, there's a serial killer locally. Book 50 read this year.

What do you do when you find your husband dead, she already has had enough of his affairs and lies, this tale is a woman escaping from his clutches, a nice twist helps, not my normal read, still enjoyable. Book 51 read this year.

This book started good, a clever plot, spread over hours not days, it held up well, sadly the end came suddenly, plausible, unexpected, almost as if the author could not decide on a better ending, I did enjoy most of it. Book 52 read this year.

This is an end of a era, we still use some cash in the village, we get so few coins to save, so we decided to stop using our two main containers, the cow always had £2 coins in, plus any notes given to us as gifts, the german beer bottle held every other coin, we have used it for over 25 years. I emptied the bottle and bagged the coins, the children can use them in the arcades when we are on holiday next month. 

I popped online and found these plants supports, they are very sturdy, I got them from B&Q, on their home delivery, 2 are a perfect size for my agapanthus, 2 more will require the height reduced for my peony and the hydrangea, I will have one spare,  I'm thinking I could grow french beans next year and use it as a support. I am still having a low spend month, which could change if we popped to our favourite garden centre. 

I have not done any cross stitch, it's just too hot to concentrate and it's so easy to be just one stitch out, I have been finding a few things for Molly and myself to do on visits, she does love to craft, I recently gave Will a craft knife and cutting board, he is interested on making his own models and buildings. 

With so little to do in the garden, and no desire to go out in this relentless heat, I am reading loads, I have watched a couple videos on machine patchwork, I have an idea forming, there are so many different types of patchwork, I have loads of cotton fabrics and old pairs of jeans in my stash.

Friday I had a back massage with a well recomended lady, it was great, my left shoulder which always gives me issues now feels so much better, I have ongoing nerve damage and mobility issues, it's nice to have more movement. All my medical results have come back normal, so I don't have underling issues, but I still have issues, I have tablets I am to take every day, I don't, I take them only on days I eat known food triggers, it's helping, it's the best solution for me, allowing me to eat a wider range of foods, at some point I will have to take them daily, just not yet. 

Saturday as the day progressed it became windy, I closed the garden down early, Sunday morning was cloudy and really windy, by lunch time the blue skies were back, the wind stayed most of the day, no rain.

Thirsty

 The heat and sunshine has fried my veg section, these runner beans are so weak, they have started to climb the poles, I'm not expecting any harvest unless there is a huge change in the weather. 

My potatoes grown in bags have done well up to now, these last couple of bags look ropey, again I'm not expecting much.

My decision to grow cucumbers and tomatoes outside was a good one, we have had a few cucumbers, the plant is looking weak, the tomatoes are behind and not many fruits.

I do water and feed the fruit and veg gardens, this relentless heatwave is just killing off most things, even my fleabane daisies are looking a bit sad, my greenhouse is empty. I am using grey water from the house and being very careful with mains water use. My water buts are almost empty, I'm saving what small amount I have for plants which need rainwater.

We have asked a tree surgeon who we used before to pop in and hopefully remove loads of new growth from the Magnolia tree, and cut back the acer, we don't want to lose either.

My raspberries are growing, not as high as other years, we are picking blackberries, they are small and not very sweet, I have not had a second wave of strawberries. The grapevine is the only plant growing and enjoying the hot sunny days.

The last time we had rain was 10th June, the thunderstorms missed us in late June, the weather front due this weekend will fizzle out before it reaches the south coast, our fresh water supplier is Portsmouth Water, luckily for us, most of Hampshire is supplied by the terrible Southern Water (they remove our waste water) and are on a hosepipe ban. We again are due 30° plus temperatures in the coming week.

Normally I do enjoy watering the garden, it's nice to take time to check on plants, now when I do water I am watching the demise of so many plants, most should return next year. I am watching my collection of hellebores, they hate the heat, my hostas are all in the very shady spots. The main issues are how quickly the blooms are going over, the gladioli blooms just lasted a couple of days. It's  not a good year for the garden, I am deadheading the roses, they are still blooming.

last day of school

 The school Molly and George goes to had a picnic on Wednesday, their last day, parents were invited, the temperatures whilst still high were cooler than last week, here they are decorating cookies with their friends. The field was full of happy children and their families.

First and last day of reception year for Molly.

Will enjoyed his last day at school on Wednesday, he is tired and ready for the summer holidays, this relentless heat has been hard on the children. In September the children are being jumbled up, the school has helpfully allowed Will to have the same teacher, he does so well with her. George will have his reception teacher in September which will help him, Molly is going into George's old class room, so they are all feeling good.

Later I had a sleepover, another bedtime routine for me, we watched a movie first, both the little ones were tired and went to bed and slept well. Today was a six am start, George woke first. I'm going to struggle what day it is, it feels like a Saturday on Thursday. 

Cool for cats

 I do like these new chairs, she has popped a towel on each seat, I don't know why, they leave the doors open all day and into the evening, plenty of time for me to take naps when they are not in here.

My scratching post is now in a different place, easy for me to get to it, I do love using it. Yes they do have a carpet in the back of the garage, it was in the house when they moved in.

I spend loads of time in the veg section of the garden, so many hiding places and cool to lie on, all in the shade, I can sleep whenever I want to. I still can't get on the veg beds, the net cover around the sides are too good.

She has been trying to take my photo, I'm not a poser, she was muttering because she had to delete so many photos of my bum.

I'm managing to stay cool in this hot weather, I hardly ever go in the house, just in early evening to eat, she often puts a licky (a wonderful cat treat) in my bowl, she mixes it with loads of water, I eat that outside. I still pop to say goodnight, not every night, just when I'm not busy, it's the same in the mornings. 

I don't go into the garden next door so much the big cat Felix is very scary and chases me, they use a water pistol on him if he is in our garden, I still walk along the nice neighbours back fence it's behind their huge summer house, the dogs can't see me. They still don't know where I go, he has insisted I don't wear a camera.

I have not seen the little people recently, I do love to play with them, she has promised they will be here at the weekend, anther BBQ, strange cooking hot food outside on a hot day.

My title, it's a track from Squeeze, she plays them often, I quite like the music as well.