August round up

This month has been different for my crafting stash, I have given Molly a pile of A4 card, I have purchased nothing, hopefully Molly will want more. I have avoided any garden centres again this month, I read most garden centres were having a terrible year, visiting numbers were way down. I did get two blue lavenders from our market and a few small bulbs and bean and pea seeds from B&M.

12 Books read this month.

We required nothing big for the house or garden this month, most of our time was spend with the children, so we spent more on meals out, my holiday was saved for, hubby had a quiet time at home. I did get two pairs of sandals in the Clarks sale, I do love their style of shoes and find the fit perfect for my feet and a new watch, I do like to wear a watch, I can't wear the modern technology items, in the past every 'fitbit' I have worn has always stopped working, but will work when hubby wears them. 

We had our first meal of runner beans, we are eating tomatoes and cucumber, I dug up another bag of potatoes, and we pick raspberries most days, the raspberries and runner beans taste so good. No food waste, my garden composters are both doing a good job, our council bins are rarely full these days, our little food bin which is emptied every week has hardly anything in it, just bits I don't put into our composter. 

As for my weight, I am who I am.

Peanuts

I used a Westlands compost for my peanuts to grow in, it's obvious there were other seeds in the compost, these plants are very invasive, so I thought I would harvest one bag.

I was not expecting to find anything, I had done nothing other than water the bags, which sat in the greenhouse through the hot summer.

Not quite a sucess,

 the nuts are small and just a few.

I hulled one, it did not have the dark skin.

Friday was a sunny dry blustery day, no rain, we woke up on Saturday to steady rain, it had rained overnight, I don't think it stopped all day, just what the ground and garden needed. We had more rain on Saturday than from mid June to this week, with plenty of wet days to come.

I knew it was too early to harvest as the peanut plant was still green, the nut inside did not have its brown skin, I have left them to dry out in the garage, as per the instructions I found on the net. The second bag I will leave for a couple more weeks, I have cutback all the unwanted growth of the invasive plant, not wanting the heads to go to seed. The spent compost is going in our waste bin, not on my garden, I don't want to spend next summer pulling out invasive plants.

I also put my cranberry plant in the greenhouse at the begging of summer, and for the first year I have loads of new growth, in the past couple of years it was just surviving, I am going to add to the compost and try harder next year.

I have always loved growing from seeds and pips, loving the challenge, I still have a pomegranate plant in a pot, I've never had flowers or fruit, I love the plant. I will sow peanuts again next year, I can't eat them, but I would like hubby to try them.

Are you experimenting with new seeds and plants?

Quiet days

We are all so very pleased George got his first level swimming badge recently, when he started lessons he hated the pool, most of his time was spent clinging to his instructor, she had previously taught disabled children to swim so knew what to expect. He now loves the water, I will sew his badge on his robe.

 These two small books are the second and third in the Magpie series, with just over a 100 pages each, they are a quick read, I normally shy away from short stories, they complete the tale. Books 63 and 64 read this year.

I popped to B&M for a few bits, saw their seeds were 3 for price of two, these at £3.49 per packet, cost me £6.98, with good dates and ready for next season, I've used this brand before.

I am getting small harvest a couple times a week, the berries hubby and I enjoy, eating them just after picking, its far from a great year, I grow things for enjoyment, I do feel for farmers who grow for a living, this drought summer is unforgettable. 

The watch on the left I have owned for about 20 years, I've worn it almost every day, its started to run slow and the glass is scratched. I took it to a well known jeweller in town for a service and new glass, the quote was high. The watch on the right is new and £50 cheaper (sale price) than having my existing watch brought back to a wearable condition. When did our world get this crazy.

 

It's been a quiet week, not seen much of daughter and little ones, they are all tired, so they have been at home for days, we stayed away so they could relax together. I did sit with Molly and George whilst daughter took Will to see a film, they both played quietly, still loads of laughter.

We woke up on Thursday to rain, not very much just enough to wet the ground, no puddles, not enough to show in my rain measure, which is a shame as our soil is still very dry, the weather front moved north of our location.

Like almost everyone I was sad to hear the passing of Dolly Parton, I have never been a fan of country music, Dolly crossed over into her own style, the world will be a sadder place without people like her, who instead of living the high life on show to the world, she remembered her roots and took action to help so many people. 

More reading

I have not read this author before, I chose it because of its location in North Somerset, it was full of places I knew around Weston-super-mare, I worked out most of the plot, and became annoyed to all the references to previous books. Book 58 read this year. 

I tried the first book in the series, it had a better plot than the above book, again I was able to guess some of the back story before it was revealed, it was nice to know the area's located in the book, it helped bring the story to life. Book 59 read this year.

I love this author, always a great plot, living in London, Nell witness a woman's phone is snatched out of her hands, the woman gets into a car to chase the bike, then Nell reads headlines, the woman has been murdered. This one event resonates through Nell's life, still shaping the person she is today, I did not guess 'who' (as in the title). Book 60 read this year.

I have read all the Roy Grace books, this title is the latest, a train is derailed and a sniper kills one of the queens party, Roy and his team have to find evidence and work out who and why, another great plot with a lovely twist at the end. The final sentence leads to the next plot. Book 61 read this year.

Another thrilling book, a couple on a tour of Europe, whilst in Romania their passports, train tickets and money are stolen, they are removed from the train in a remote stop. Back home their lives are changed forever, their world has fallen apart and then weird things start happening, I could not put this book down, brilliant plot. Book 62 read this year.

There is very little to do in the garden, I still deadheading the flowers, everything is starting to go over, it has been a harsh summer. I am picking tomatoes, cucumbers and now raspberries, I dug out another bag of potatoes, I have one bag left. My runner-beans are starting to grow.

I have picked up my cross stitching again, now it's cooler, the heat made me feel tired most of the time, I make mistakes when I'm tired. I have been looking at my scrappy knitted blanket, hopefully I can do more, it's again too warm to knit.

I have been thinking about my 2025 blog book, I have just a few months of my post to import, I have plenty of time, the best discounts are always in November, I do enjoy the process of making my book.

We have watched a few programs on TV, we are enjoying The Great British Sewing Bee, hubby loves it as much as I do. We watched Ann Droid and loved it, I've not seen Diane Morgan before, with Sue Johnston, who I love, we both hope a second series will be made. We watched Murder 24/7, not our normal watch, we have gone back to series one. Ludwig is back on our screens, series two is as good as the first, what have you been watching.