Summer holidays.

 We are having regular visits from our small people now the summer school break is here, they are happy to play inside or out. I sorted a huge pile of A4 card for Molly, coloured, shiny and glitter, she was very happy to take them home, after their colouring at the table, they played with chalks outside, they both love the squares on the patio. Will and Molly played noughts and crosses, it's great to see them interact together. 

We met up for a walk in the woods, with enough shade to keep us cooler, there were old buildings (forts), no longer used and very overgrown, Will loved finding them, the outer path follows a ring, which brings us back to the car, it was busy there.

Plenty of benches to sit and rest. 

These two are always so happy here, Molly is having 2 nights with Grandma, George is here for 2 nights, mummy and Will are having some time together.

We took George to town on the bus, he loved the journey, it was his first time on a bus, at our bus station the supervisor was waiting as we exited the bus, George was so happy, he said hello to him, he asked George if he would like to sit in the drivers seat, one very happy little boy. 

We had a dull day on Tuesday and drizzle rain, in my rain measure just 1mm, so not enough to celebrate, it was good to see, so the end of a 54 day dry spell. The garden still needs watering to keep the veg alive. Nothing due in the coming week. We keep seeing dark clouds, still no decent amount of rain, I have never known such a dry period.

Wednesday we were out most of the day, George's disability is visual, how he acts often is different, he loves to say hello to ladies and if they answer him he often cuddles them, so many people are so kind to him, it does give me hope for his future, tomorrow I will take him home, and have an early night, he has been a very good little boy.

Survival test

The square photo is the day I transplanted the small hydrangea into this huge pot in my back garden, it had signs of new growth, I added rose food to the compost and give it fresh topsoil and loads of water. I have moved the herbs into the back veg section. Second photo is a couple of weeks later, after a trim of deadwood.

Another plant from hubby's front garden, this white lavender was in a pot by the door, now its in its permanent spot, it's already looking much greener and should fill this space, its been having loads of water, this is a sunny spot. I have plants which should fill this square bed.

My Chinese witch hazel was put into this spot earlier this year, it was doing well, now sadly it is wilting, it could be a number of things, or just this heat wave, I have been watering it, it's a case of watching and waiting. I've had this plant since October 2020, it was tiny.

We decided we would cut back our acer this year, one section had died back, I removed all the dead wood a while ago and we can see new growth. I spoke to our arborist, he suggested we cut back a low branch which was rubbing against another, it has left one side bare, we can look at the new growth later in the year and cut back more to balance it.

I got a water hyacinth for my pond, in hope it will clear the water, I do need to be careful with the plant, its a fast grower, I can cope with that, I will need to carefully dispose of any unwanted new growth, it can't be allowed to get into local waterways.

I gave in and moved plants in the hot weather, I can nurture them rather than hubby ignoring them, I planted a few gaura plants, I've grow from cuttings. I don't have any intentions to move any more plants, I am letting my sweet peas go to seed, I will collect them for next year along with other seeds.

I have sown another mixture of lettuce and two rows of carrots, I can just see their shoots, the cucumber plants is producing more, whilst my tomatoes are stubbornly staying green, I have a few runner beans now to the top of their sticks and a couple of flowers forming. 

I have very little to do in the garden, we save as much grey water as we can for the flowers, shrubs and tree's, I use the hose (no ban here) for the fruit and vegs, I am harvesting blackberries, they are small and hard, I am freezing them to use in crumbles over the winter, the raspberries are beginning to form.

We can sit in our sunroom early morning and evenings, we can sit in our seating area mid afternoon onwards, from 11am to 2pm we are inside the heat is just too much for us. We read inside and chat outside, making plans for a few more breaks.

July roundup

Nothing on craft, I'm still not doing much, and very little on gardening, mainly rose and tomato feeds, the latter in the B&M garden sale. It would be foolish to plant too much new stuff in this heatwave, I'm struggling to keep what I already have. 

8 Books read this month.

I took the car out on Sunday, suddenly it was making a loud noise, I was sure it was the exhaust, drove straight home, hubby confirmed my thoughts, its fixed now, new back exhaust, not too expensive. Two new chairs for the sunroom and some softer mats, so another expensive month, hubby wanted it all finished, he does not like doing a half job.

We have very little food waste, most goes into the compost bins, the small remaining bits go into the council waste bin, we are shopping for fresh bits little and often, rather than bigger amounts, ensuring things get used up. Sadly not much harvest from the garden, this drought is killing our growing season.

Here in our spot along the south coast, we have had no rain in July, I know locally a few gardener friends have had rain, and nothing due in the coming week.

Overshoot day

 Earth overshoot day is today 30th July, it's the day when humans have used all the renewable resources produced in a year, everything else we use won't be naturally replaced, many countries are working to rectify this, many are not. 

The UK's overshoot day was May 14th,

 we are using resources twice as fast as they are produced.

I post this every year, it's something to be very mindful of, our world is changing, so many wild fires here in UK and across Europe, there is one burning to the north of Valencia, very close to the scientific parks, a place we have visited many times, our Spanish friends and their families are all safe. With little rain and high temperatures due this week, it's a huge worry for everyone, I can not imagine the hell for all the firefighters works so hard.

Climate change is a real issue, we all know it, we can try to ensure we live a cleaner life, support local farmers, we try and eat seasonal foods, stop purchasing 'fresh' fruit and veg shipped around the world. Our throw away world is unsustainable, most of you already know this, we don't follow trends and the 'latest must have', here things are repaired and used again.  

I'm not an eco-warrior, just a mum and nana who would love a clean world for her daughters and grandchildren to grow up in., and whilst so many governments are not doing enough, we can and should each do our bit.