Fiesta

In this small town of Cheste, it's a fiesta weekend, so much going on, loads we don't understand, these ladies have all recently turned 18, this parade happens every year. They help celebratethe finish of the grape harvest, in one parade they carry small baskets of grapes to barrel for 2 young men to tread in the old-fashioned way.

The costumes are very heavyweight and have many layers, the embroidery on the skirts beautiful, some items pass along the generations, here is our friend's daughter when she participated. Her hair, jewellery are styled the same as all the others.

The next morning the tractors came, some of the prade pass our flat, all the trailer are full of young people having fun, load music. Everyone stops to watch and chat, very relaxed atmosphere. 

The bulls here are walked through parts of the town, it's all very controlled, at the end of the rides was a vet, who always attends the parade. It went by at walking pace, not at all what we expected, a modern way for their traditions.

The bulls do have one run through the town, but again it's very modern, safety is always thought through. I did not think it would ever want to watch the bulls, I have always avoided the bullfighting, I've never visited the bullring in Valencia. I'm in Spain and therefore I honour their traditions, our friends are modern and also see these things as heritage. 

It's very warm here in low 20's so T shirt and sandals, it feels good to know we can wake up to blue skies. Our friend's are taking us to wonderful restaurants in Valencia, we are seeing many new places. Yesterday we did a walking tour of the historic city centre, very informative as the guide spoke English, the whole Spanish family are fluent, mum teaches English at local  academy. 

Today we are staying local in Cheste, we have walked alot in the past three days, so today is just relax. I will have more photos in my next post. I'm using my tablet and not able to make comments, it ask me to sign into Google, when I get to the directed page, it says I am signed in 🤷🤷

Finished

My first craft finish in ages, as the weather changes I am inside more, plenty of reading and craft time. This blanket is for a raffle prize, I used the yarn from the Christmas blanket I started last year, I had made some squares, I did not like how the different designs were all slightly different sizes.

This is made with Emu double knit, 100% acrylic, so it will be strong and warm, I used Tunisian crochet stitch, reels with instruction can be found on YouTube, you make each square, joining them as you go, I used 12 stitches and 20 rows, making 10 patterns up and across. I have made this design before using 4ply, for myself. The joy of this stitch is you do not have to turn your work, which is very handy when the blanket gets bigger. 

For the edging I decided to knit an e-cord design, it gives a lovely tidy edge and somewhere to hide the ends of the yarn, I was going to look for a contrast colour, then I had the bright idea of matching each square colour, which was fun, but gave me so many more ends to sew in. 

I think all the work was worth it as I am really pleased with the finished item, hopefully someone will use it and keep warm. I have plans to make another, my brother Martin has said he feels the cold in the evenings, so I suggested I make him one, I half expected him to laugh at me, but he said he would love and use it. 

For now all crafting has been set aside, we are in sunny warm Spain, without a raincloud in sight, it feels so good to wake up knowing there is no chance of rain, wear sandals and no coat. We are staying with Spanish friends, so lots of lovely food and laughter. I hope we can pop to Valencia, it's a beautiful city, so much to see.

Colour

We still have some colour around the garden, no frost yet, 

so plants are hanging in there. 

I am growing this pyracantha along my back fence behind the garage in my storage area, I have other climbers, but this is brilliant for bees in spring and birds this time of year. In the coming years I hope it covers these panels, it helps hide the building behind.

Originally I had just grasses in my sink, which I had to separate each year to keep them small. I'm hoping this tiny white flower fuchsia works, the geum is another white flower will need separating next spring, this is much prettier and will fill the back corner.

Under the rhubarb leaves, which I am tucking back over the crown, I found this hellebore coming back into bloom, the flowers are deep red, always in the garden is a cycle of renewal. 

Begonias will bloom until the frost starts, I don't have so many outside now, my two big favourites are back in the greenhouse, only one corm grew in one chimney, the black tub which is now beside my shed has two corms, they always tumble over this black tub, which has a nice mixture of plants in. 

Some more of the colour outside, the garden as a whole is looking past it's best, but pops of colour keeps it working for longer. I do love to watch everywhere closing down for the winter months, I don't cut back any more, preferring to leave everything o the spring for any wildlife.

It has been a nothing time here, days slip into each other, it's wet most mornings, sunny and cold in the evenings, I have nothing to do outside in the garden, I do walk around and check everything is OK, my wildlife pond has lovely clear water, the plants are working well, still no frogs, I hope to get local frogspawn next spring. 

Nothing doing

I got a few more packs of tulips bulbs, these 3 for £5 at B&M, I wanted the mixed pack of mini bulbs, hubby chose the other two packs. I do really have enough tulip bulbs for next spring, I won't plant them until next month, tulips should be planted in November, all mine will go in pots.

I have my early combined birthday and Christmas present, it's going to be handy on our forthcoming trip to Spain, the promise of an easy transfer of data from my phone to the tablet, was not as easy as they promised, the verification code was sent to our home phone but arrived after the time limit on the code. It's mostly set up now, just a few things for me to sort, hubby has some books to add from his family kindle apt for reading when away. 

My blanket is getting to a good size, I have the length I wanted, so it's just a cast of making squares until it's an oblong, then I shall make a small knitted boarder in a contrast colour. I am going to have some yarn left over, I am hoping maybe enough to make another, it's such an easy design to make. 

Daughter is now free of covid, she had a horrid time, Will was unwell Friday morning, Molly picked up a bug from pre-school and George had a bad cold and cough, so they all stayed home on Friday and Saturday, snuggled down together, because of covid we stayed away. Sunday they were all feeling much better so she took them to a local park to run around. Today the boys are back at school, Molly can't go back to pre-school until tomorrow. 

We popped to Aldi, it's not local to us, they had their wooden toy event and daughter hoped for a gift for Molly, apparently most of the toys sold out the morning before, when they were put on sale, we did get a few bits, but we don't think it's worth the extra drive to regularly shop there.

I managed to plant my over winter broad beans, all I have left to plant are tulips which will be done in a couple of weeks. I have also sorted all the ingredients to make my Christmas cakes, again in a couple of weeks, I am hinting at hubby, he should make another batch of mincepies, I am also thinking of making some eccles cakes,  hopefully my sister and her partner will visit in November, he loves them so I want to bake them for him as well. 

The heating as yet is not on, we have used the boost to warm the bathroom for evening showers, not used it yet in the mornings, our bungalow is warm, I've sorted my boots back out, sandals are not yet packed away, hopefully I can wear them again on our upcoming trip. We did not see the northern lights here, we did look.

Just another week

 This is just 30 minutes after another huge deluge, we had heavy rain all through Monday night, no thunder and lighting, which was promised, we had heavy rain storms Tuesday morning, they didn't last for too long, but they came one after the other. For the first time I can remember in 15 years living here, we had a huge puddle just outside our gates, it did drain, just the amount of rain falling so quickly. 

I have done more on this lap blanket, it's such a simple design, using just 7 shades makes it very uncomplicated, it grows quickly as the yarn is double knitting weight. It is now the width I want it to be, I just need to add length, I work on this most afternoons, as I want to get it finished.

I have ordered my blog book for 2022, as expected I got the discount I was waiting for, in fact I got a very good deal 50% off the book plus free shipping, so I saved £64.44, the book cost me £55.45, which is the cheapest I paid in years, normally with such a good discount you normally still have to pay postage. My 2023 book is no where near finished, so I can wait until next year to publish it. These books are only for me and my grandchildren, who love to see their photo's in a book. 

Hubby has done a good job on the stairs, it's not finished yet, just the gloss to do, we removed all the photo's of the grandchildren and I've packed them away, we have a few things to hang on the wall, our new light fittings are again very simple, it's going to look very uncluttered. 

Daughter came to visit on Wednesday with Molly, both boys were in school, Molly is so very different without George, she wants to know everything, and is non stop chatter. George has settled into school much better than we expected, he is talking and being understood more (mainly because Molly is not there to talk for him), and is already following set books and starting to write letters and numbers, when I visited on Tuesday evening, he got out his reading bag for us to look at his school books together. Daughter had a parents evening chat with Will's teacher, he has settled into his junior class and is doing well, so daughter is a happy mummy, who sadly is full of cold, now positive for covid. 

We have had rain every morning this week, happily there is nothing to do in the garden, hardly any leaves falling, we just sit inside and watch the tiny birds, our feeders are very busy. I'm not complaining as the events from Florida are shown on TV, we are so lucky not to have flooding issues.

With George at school and Molly enjoying pre-school 3 days a week, we don't see our little people enough, we are both very happy they are all enjoying their new lives, we have a hole to fill, we have a few things coming up, but for now it's home alone.

Autumn outside

 I do love to see a floral display on this bistro set, it can be seen from our sitting room, and fills us both with joy. I got cheap cyclamen plants from B&Q, these have grow bigger in the few weeks I have had them. Next spring I will get this set dipped and powder coated white, which was the colour when we got it, it will better against our grey fence panels.

I am not adding much to my flower beds for winter colour, I want to allow all the new plants space to grow and come back next year, having said that I do still have some colour, as well as loads of bare spots. I have popped in a few pansies for colour, in a small garden with narrow beds there is not enough room to grow for every season.

Having cut back (butchered according to hubby) our Olive tree back in the spring, I am so happy with how it now looks, I don't move it through the cooler months, our weather in the past few years have been very mild, if a hard frost is due, I double wrap it in fleece. This section looks bare, all I can do is dream of warmer dry weather next spring, it's our first year of looking like this. 

Friday was sunny and warm, I spent a couple hours outside, moving things into my shed, days like that I need to be outside. Later we went to our neighbours at the bottom of our garden for a drink and chat inside his garden pub, it's the building you can see over our back fence, sadly we had a bit of a walk to get there, he has offered to put a gate in our back fence, loads of laughter and brilliant music.

Saturday was another lovely day, I worked on finishing my bug house, hubby was finishing sorting the stairs for decorating. Later, we walked to the village for our Covid and flu jabs, hubby is fine I have a sore arm, I have to have both shots in one arm, which does make them ache. We are enjoying watching Strickly again, it always helps with the dark nights and the build up to Christmas. Sunday we had drizzle most of the day, hubby sorted ladders on our stairs and painted the ceiling, twice, it's a job I'm glad when it's finished, he's 75 and active, I worry when he's doing things at height, we did get quotes, all of £1000 or more for such a small area, which he refused.

Monday we popped into town, I had a prescription to get, my dentist is worried about a cracked tooth and we have a break in Spain coming, so I have 'just in case' antibiotics. We stayed for a hour, not many good shops left, I do like home section in TK Max, and B&M for a few bits.

Blogger is playing me up again, often it's not showing post on my reading list, and loads of comments are in spam, oh well at least I'm aware. 

Shed time

 My shed has arrived, we delayed the delivery until this week, I was expecting a tall box and was surprised on this shape, but as long as it's all there, hubby and I can get it put together so I can place it and fill it. Here I go again getting excited over a small shed, I forgot the word useful as I'm sure it's going to be.

I already had in my mind what was going in here, so it did not take long to sort, my tools stay in the garage and greenhouse, the bits stored in here are used in my veg and fruit sections, it's going to be handy to keep them all in one space close to where I work, mainly all my different poles and canes, the very tall ones don't fit in here. I'm sure the items on the shelf will swap about.

I think this space looks tidy again, it can be seen from the house, sitting on a paver to make it level, it does look wonky in the photo, but the concrete base is very uneven. I will store my various nets in the top section, the hatch is tiny. This area for me has to be pretty as well as hard working.

I have removed the runner beans, for now the bed is resting, soon half will have over wintering broad beans, I have heard of peas you can sow now, so I'm looking for them if not hopefully I can find some spring cabbages plants for the rest of the bed. I have netted the other bed which has leeks this end and Japanese onions in the back section, and one lone cabbage. For now on my back raised bed I have popped all the small pots with cuttings which are growing well, it's a perfect spot for them.

I have got some bulbs from Lidl and the Amaryllis from B&M at only £4.99 it's worth a go, both these packs are for inside, I will wait a while before starting them off, it's good to know I have them, plus pots and compost. I left all my Amaryllis bulbs outside this summer, a few have rotted, but I have 4 bulbs to try and grow again, I've never succeeded in getting flowers a second year, but I still try. 

Now is the time to review my veg section, it has been an expensive first year, I'm not concerned about getting my money back in harvest, that would take years, so we have spent what was needed to make it, and we can live with that. Also I need to consider the elements, the weather made it a cruel season, perfect for slugs and snails, we all fought a huge battle with them.

Overwinter broad beans were brilliant, lovely harvest and garden space cleared for a summer crop, runner beans had a slow start but romped away, I will have less plants next year, potatoes grown in bags worked for me as did carrots. Beetroot took far to long to get any size, so I won't grow them again, I tried courgettes in a bag, which did not do well, they take up to much space to go in a raised bed, parsnips also a slow grower, but I will grow them again as hubby loves them, so I only need a few. 

One main thing I am changing, I grew different veg in long rows, the full length of the beds, from now on I will grow short rows across the bed, the parsnips still in the ground are now in the wrong place, I can work around them, but it will be much easier if I make this one small change. 

I will be able to harvest rhubarb next year, my gooseberry bush is still small, it is looking healthy, all my soft fruits are in their permanent positions. We have been discussing a dwarf apple tree, which would need to go in a huge pot, the cost of a decent tree, pot and compost makes it not a cheap purchase, something we need to decide on.

I am completely happy with our garden, it is everything I wanted and hoped for, I get a buzz out of growing things, but it's not too hard work.

In my hands

On our recent trip I found a small wool shop, from the window I could see the owner had a wall of sock yarns, I popped in to see if she had any 2 or 3ply, and was lucky, I loved both these shades of green and hope to make myself a couple pairs of socks. I have used 3ply once before, these are 3ply. Our village shop only stocks 3ply in white, so I'm not being disloyal.

I have done some more to my blanket, I am loving the colours I am using, they sing of autumn, doing each row (diagonal) is giving me less ends to stitch in, I hope when I knit the edging I can hide the ends without having to sew them in. It's already keeping my lap warm as I am making it, the design allows me to crochet along and back again without turning my work, which is really handy.  

I do love this author, this is a set of books where David Raker an investigator looks for missing people, this was a different plot, he's called to a local police station where his wife is, she is confused, so is he, his wife died 8 years ago. A really interesting plot, which twist as it should and and ending I did not see coming. Book 71 read this year. 

Another author I enjoy, as a dad you want everything perfect for your daughter, how do you feel when she has found the one, is Ed over protective, or crazy as his wife is starting to think, it's a clever plot, leading you on, how does it end, surprisingly. Book 72 read this year. 

We popped to B&M with daughter, she took the children on a shopping trip recently and let them look at the toys, it's George's birthday next, we were able to get him his present and also a present for him and Will for Christmas, both boys can be difficult to decide what to get them. Molly is much easier, I don't want to get her a doll, but almost anything with a unicorn on will keep her happy, it's a very early start, most of the older grandchildren prefer money. 

We had a lovely time with daughter, both boys were at school and Molly was in nursery, as much as we love the children it was brilliant to have time with her, we went into B&M and Dunelm, which is next door, I picked up a few things. Hubby wanted to look for new towels for our bathroom, having used towels from Dunelm, we knew they are good quality, he wanted to come away from white towels which I always love, so we now have a sage green set, our old hand towels will be used in the kitchen and the bigger towels we will give to our local animal rescue centre, all we now need to to finish decorating the stairs and do our bedroom.    

Monday we were tired most of the day, so we stayed home, Tuesday we met daughter, afterwards we popped to Lidl to stock our fridge, so in all an expensive day, Wednesday was dull and showers expected, so other than a walk to the village another day at home, I did some work in the garden. This morning is sunny, we have both been to our dental check up, rest of the day at home enjoying a fine day.                                 

Weekend trip.

 I feel a fraud, with all your expectant comments our weekend trip might just be a bit underwhelming. On Friday morning at 8am, we got on a local minibus to Southampton, where we met a coach for our first coach trip. Its a good first trip as we were last on the minibus and met the coach at it's last pick up point, making ours the shortest journey time, some people had already been on for almost three hours, the coach journey started in Brighton.

After a long drive with a couple of stops we arrived at Llandudno, north Wales, we have visited here once before, a few years ago, once we sorted our room for the next two nights, it was late afternoon so we walked along the promenade, it was dry, but cool and blustery. It looked much as we remembered it, with The Grand hotel commanding the view, we stayed there before, but it's beauty had faded to the point we called it The not-so Grand.

Saturday was another early start, our trip included two different stops, firstly we took the scenic route through Snowdonia, which is so beautiful, all along the way the mist hugged the top of the mountains, much the way it has done every time we have visited. Just stunning views, we did not stop, so I'm not sure what the sword means, on checking Google, there are many interpretations of King Arthurs sword in the area. 

We then had a trip on the train to the top of Snowdon, it took an hour to reach the summit, hubby took the photo below, it captured our journey, the mist hugged part of the route, here you can see down into the sunny valley below, there is the reflection of the carriage. At points the mist cleared and the views below were stunning. 

Once we reached the summit we had 30 minutes to wander, as you can see it was all misty at the top, nothing to see. The views on the way up and down were worth the trip, we were lucky the summit was open, it had been closed earlier in the week. The area was full of walkers, all ages, loads of dogs, all happy to have reached the top, we enjoyed a hot chocolate drink, there was limited food and a small souvenir shop, which I did not attempt to get close to.

Saturday afternoon the coach took us to Betws-y-coed a beautiful small town/village, very touristy, full of places to eat and shop, it was close to Swallow falls, which we had visited before, but a bit far away to walk to, in the two hours visiting time, we did see a small waterfall in the town which because of all the recent rain was full and flowing. Neither hubby or I enjoyed the full two hours, it was too long for us, a fact reflected in so many others on the coach as there were loads coming back earlier. 

Sunday morning we spent wandering around the town and beach area, there was a huge sporting event going on, much of the promenade was used, we watched loads of people doing a triathlon, cycling around great Orme twice, swimming in the sea and racing along the promenade, we witnessed the winner crossing the line, it was cold, windy but dry. The town centre is much nicer than many, they still have many branded shops along the long main street, with just a short walk to a newer area with loads of bigger modern stores. We never saw a drop of rain over the whole trip, how lucky are we.

All afternoon and into the evening was on the coach, we both spent most of our journey times reading, it was nice to arrive at our destinations not exhausted, giving all the stress of driving to someone else. The coach was not full, which probably made the journey not so loud, no children just people our age. 

Would we do it again, it's a good question, we both have mixed feelings, our hotel was better than we expected, the food was good, with a few choices on each course, our room very clean and comfortable. Having the trip up Snowdon all pre-booked and not having to worry about parking was brilliant, all the carparks as we drove by were all full, but we did not enjoy the afternoon trip. I'm not sure I would want to do another, I would use a coach to get to distant locations, or if there was another excursion I was interested in, but I would check to ensure we did not spend hours on pick up stops, Southampton is a good location as it's at the bottom of the M3 which leads up through to loads of routes north and west.  

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.