Tuesday 27 June 2017

Fledged now buzz off!

Suddenly a few days ago the behaviour of our hedge sparrows changed and they were not so quick to clear the bird seed first thing in the morning. I kept a look out and eventually spotted this fledgling down in the clover doing that fanning thing with its wings as recently shown on BBC Springwatch.


Then the mummy bird gathered up some bits and fed the youngster.

So sweet!   And now can you all learn to fly and go a bit further away from the privet hedge. It really, really needs cutting - it has put on a good 18 inches of growth this year.



Sunday 25 June 2017

Kitchen Chaos

I was hoping to blog positively this week about dealing with soft fruit. Everything is ripening at once due the hot sunny weather.  Strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries. tay berries, black currents and now blueberries!

Instead the kitchen is upside down and things are everywhere.  First, the fridge/freezer failed to keep up with the hot weather. "I told you months ago it would not cope!" I cried as even opening the door to get milk caused it to start to de-frost.  I had to stop picking the fruit as I had no where to put it down or deal with it.  Jam making had to stop as it not only caused me to be reduced to a puddle, having the stove going warmed up the kitchen even more straining the fridge more!

Current accounts were emptied and we went to buy a new fridge/freezer. We had to take out as much food as possible out of the old one (15 years old) and keep it ticking over while the new one was delivered and allowed to settle down. So the old one ended up parked in the middle of the kitchen with leads requiring jumping over.

Second disruption was the arrival of my hand built food cupboard from my husband's workshop. so my old storage was taken away. But the new one needed doors fitted once it was in place and can not be set up till that is finished. Tins and packets of food everywhere.

Finally the new fridge was in full use.


I could return to the garden and collect the fruits, oh, and now broad beans!
I have given up jam making and am using the glut to make wine instead. I need it.  Especially as the crises and expense (and the heat) meant no trip to London this week for my grandson's 3rd birthday party.



Monday 19 June 2017

How to keep cool?

After a sweaty half hour harvesting broad beans I returned to the house to process them and watch a recording of CARDINAL from BBC4.  First one of  one of my favourite series of books by Giles Blunt set in a very snowy and very cold north Canada.  Ah, that was cooling.
Image result for giles blunt forty words for sorrow

I am also following FARGO - set in a nice snowy Minnesota!


St Ives

My husband proposed a visit to St Ives this weekend. I got all excited and dropped a container of freshly cooked beetroot thinking we were off to the west Country. No. St Ives, Cambridgeshire! 

Ah well.  It did turn out to be a pretty place and despite the 30C heat we had a pleasant walk across some water meadows and had lunch on the riverside.




He really should have got the air conditioning in the car fixed last month!  Told husband it would turn hot if he didn't.


Sunday 18 June 2017

Blight and birds


Been plodding up and down the fruit and veg garden all the last week collecting the rapidly ripening soft fruit (I will blog about what I am doing with it all another time!) but on this occasion I glanced at the lovely rows of potatoes and noticed a couple of breaks. Instead of fresh green leaves and purple flowers there was a gap. Went wading up the rows and found BLIGHT.

YUK. We donned surgical gloves and took a plastic bag and have cut out the affected plants down to the soil. Carefully removing the black slimy stems and wilting foliage to be burnt. In the past I am sure Gardeners World have said cut off the tops and harvest normally. I do hope this works!


While we in the potato rows our attention was drawn to the nearby fence. The swallows had lined up their 5 fledglings and were gamely showing the babies how to do aerobatic flight over our neighbours beautifully mowed grass. Landing occasionally alongside to feed the fledglings caused a lot of tweeting. 
They all ignored us. 


Friday 9 June 2017

Where have I been?

No where much. Some days it has been so hot we have melted and then we have had terrible storms and the winds were relentless for 48 hours. Crops like sweetcorn ended up at 45 Degrees and delphinium spikes ended up in a vase!


We visited Wells next the sea where the dry sand was picked up by the wind and blown across the surface of the beach and smarted a lot when it hit your ankles!  Especially mine, as paddling was necessary, the bare wet skin hurt!

We have been entertaining my husband's elder sister (Aged 84) for a week.  They spent a lot of time reminiscing about their Kent childhood, although due to age difference they only lived together for 3 years)  and looking at old street photos of the (long gone) town centre of Ashford.  The family have been talking about tracing their ancestors for ages and not got far. As we were indoors for the whole of one day I leapt on my laptop and traced their father's family name back to the 1800s for them.  I am  now obsessed and it not even my blood family. What happened to the Elsie's born in the 1830s? How are we related to that bloke who became a governor of New Zealand and filthy rich?

There was an art trail round Castle Acre near Swafham this weekend so we enjoyed a walk round the village even paying to go into the English Heritage Priory.
We did a circular walk via the pub for lunch and were able to go into some lovely gardens and art studios to see some super work.
Couple of village garden trails coming up which I am putting in my diary.

Now, I have to go and deal with that 3lbs of strawberries and find the jam making kit.