Books

Another great plot, from the first chapter you know she has stabbed someone, the story jumps between her growing up, her marriage problems to Owl cottage, trying to work out who is dead, by half way through I had decided who it wasn't, a little further I decided who it was, then twist near the end was brilliant. Book 53 read this year.

This story ran along all the expected lines, I guessed each stage, it still was a good read, her stories are always a mixture, some better than others. Book 54 read this year.

I do love this author, his stories are varied and captivating, this did not disappoint, you are a British couple house sitting in New York, when an old friend of the family visits, you don't know her, she is harmless or so you think. Book 55 read this year.

Another good plot, a student is shot at her graduation, her parents are watching, a tale of mixed issues, you think you have guessed but have you, set in Devon PI Matthew Hill is working alongside the local DCI, together they have to work out everything. Book 56 read this year.

Another great plot, two stories running together in a small seaside town, nothing usual in that, a death on the beach and a new small business close by, what could be the links, he is a master of giving you clues, which when twist are revealed it all drops into place. Book 57 read this year. 

I don't read many paperback books these days, these are my unread pile, all purchased second-hand, I use my iPad and the kindle apt, I do like to keep one title of each author I like on my shelves. The Peter James book is the latest in the DCI Roy Grace series, which I love. 

I love these shelves created in the old doorway (done before we moved in), hubby changed them and added another lower shelf, I think soon I will need another. Lilly's food bowls are kept here, they are out of the way. The top shelf is all our fun books, many we have had for years.

I do have a small bookcase in my spare bedroom, its full of books I don't need to keep, friends like to browse and take from there. My craft and other references books are in our office space. My favourite garden books are by my chair, I'm always looking at them.

Jo sent me a book by Jo Spain, The trial, she had finished reading it, I had commented I had not read this title, so she surprised me by sending her copy, I started it and realised I had read it before, last year, so if anyone would like the book please let me know, comments are not automatically published, so if you add your address I will ensure it's not shown on here. 

I don't often read in bed, we prefer not to have electronic items in our bedroom, we both have our phones by our bed, we no longer have a landlines, we don't use our phones, they are there in case there is an emergency. 

Still life

 Finally some flowers on my runner beans, I don't think I will get much of a crop, it would be nice to have at least one meal from them, only half the plants survived.

My tomatoes are finally turning red, not a great year for them, we have a few more cucumbers growing as well, both in the same bed. 

My grapevine is loving this spot, it has put on loads more growth, the raspberries on the other side are doing well, not as high as last year.  I plan to grow french beans in this space next year are they help the soil conditions for the vine.

These pelargoniums, which I still think as geraniums, whatever you call them have loved this summer, they require very little water and will thrive in poor soil conditions, all I do is remove the dead flower stalks,

As the summer progresses it's now begonia time, I love these blooms, often choosing the trailing ones for pots, the corm's stay in the pot all through the winter, as long as they don't get waterlogged they survive. 

It's a very different garden this year, so many of the flowers have finished early, it still looks good just more green than other years, I have left many of the dropped leaves around the place, they won't do any harm.

I have started a messy log pile behind our huge pot with the Olive tree in on our patio, we still regularly see our hedgehog, so I am trying to give him space nearer the house if he want's it, hubby is looking to build a house as well, I have a messy corner behind our garage and by the side of the greenhouse, both at the bottom of the garden.

I have to dig out one of my mulch dustbins in the coming days, I will add it to the veg beds, this week we are having our Magnolia cut back, the new growth is far too much this year, hubby will shred the soft wood and huge leaves, which will break down for next years mulch, normally we would do this task ourselves, in this heat it's better to watch the experts do the work.

I've had a quiet few days, housework has been done, the wooden floors get so very dusty, the spare bedroom is clean and tidy again, I have been dead heading in the garden and watering, mainly the fruit and veg section. Mostly I have been reading inside, hiding from the sun, George loves the garden so for 3 days I sat outside, I really would love a wet day, cool air, it's been cloudy most mornings and very muggy. 

Games

 I rarely have played any games on a consul, the exception was our Wii, for a while we had fun with it, my games on my phone started with Free Flow, the photo on the left is the start point the photo on the right is completed.

Then came Flow Fit, this is perfect for me I love Sudoku, this has a decent twist, the shapes are like Tetris, if you look closely I'm well past my 2000 day of playing, that's almost 6 years of playing it daily, neither of these games takes very long, just a matter of minutes, keeps my brain active.

 I do some of the New York Times games, both daughter and hubby do these, so we share our times and results, just for fun, I'm not so good with crosswords, I prefer numbers and logic games.

They added Pips, which I love, left hand photo is the start of the easy game, middle photo is the same game completed, the right hand photo is the start of the hardest level. Just daughter and I do these, again it's timed so we compare who is best. 

I have also found Arrows, below is a hard level board, there are a few levels harder than this, the aim is to remove all the arrows without crashing into another, you get three lives with this game, this one is addictive, I play it on my tablet, it's two small on my phone. I played on the coach to London and found without the internet I could play advert free.

I don't waste too much time on games, but sharing results with hubby and daughter adds to the fun, the NYT are always done in the mornings, I try and not play arrows until late afternoon. What to you do to keep your mind sharp?

This time of year in our heatwave, I spend far too much time online, I sit at my desktop most mornings, blogging and emails, afternoons I am at my most bored, with nothing much to do in the garden and it's so hot, I try and put my phone down, but a quick look can eat up hours if I'm not careful. I have to choose my next book to read.

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.  

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.

Splat

 I saw something similar on Instagram recently and thought it would be great for the little ones, we stopped using water balloons years ago, so much wasted plastics, I cut the sponges up into strips and tied them together with a small cable tie, add to a bucket of water and let the fun begin...

As you can see Molly and George loved playing, and got me very wet, we each had our own bucket of water, we slipped their shorts off before play, I can see them wanting to play every visit, mummy remembered to bring dry clothes. Lilly just kept out of their range, Grancha hid in the sunroom, mummy and Will stayed inside. So much laughter. 

My grapevine is growing, it's probably the only plant enjoying this extended heat wave, it's nice to know it's settled into its growing space. In the same bed my cucumbers are ripening, I get a couple each week, the tomatoes are behind, too much shade from the magnolia tree. 

All I do outside is water and deadhead the flowers, my gladioli are already going over, they are in a sunny spot, I want to move my 2 snowberry plants from the daisy bed, they can't be seen and are wasted in their current spot, hubby has given me a nice pot for them, later in the year I can add spring bulbs. Hubby has an hydrangea in his from garden suffering from the heat, he does not water his garden enough. I have cut back the thyme and sage in my big herb pot next to our seating area, I will move them into individual pots, I can then add to the compost in the big pot and replant the hydrangea, in hope I can save it, it gets morning sun and afternoon shade, I have a geum I can separate and underplant. I'm just waiting for rain before I start moving things.

My runner-beans are still rather ropey, they have started climbing up the poles, hopefully with the slightly lower temperatures they may catch up. I have tried a couple of times to sow lettuce, nothing is coming up, so I will get some small plants this week.

Today will be much the same as yesterday weather wise, just 26°, sounds hot, we have had over 30° for the past 10 days, so it does feel less oppressive, still no rain, now almost 6 weeks, we have had a few cloudy days, I've been looking online for pagan rituals to call for rain just joking. My waterbuts are all almost empty, I try and keep enough for the few plants I can't use tap water.