Mortgage free in Forever Home :-)

beanielou

The blue pots are just amazing. 

greenbee

Agree on the blue pots. I regret letting so many of mine go when i was in the last house and didn't really have anything in pots!

KajiKita

Thanks @debtfreewannabe321, @Merlin's_Beard, @Watty1, @CCW007, @Twolabsandacat, @beanielou and @greenbee 😊 those pots are bringing me a lot of pleasure this year. I fed them all this morning with dried comfrey feed and gave them a good water so hopefully they’ll continue a while longer ❤️

Tidied up the bed at the top of the drive which I see twice every day! That involved removing an oak seedling, a huge bramble incursion and 5 ash seedlings. I did feel a bit mean removing the ash seedlings but it’s a small bed, less than a metre square, and they would have overwhelmed it quickly. From there I also potted up one of the yellow heuchera that was really struggling in such exposed conditions (once it’s recovered and grown more new feeder roots I will plant it somewhere shadier). Potted up a volunteer small white Japanese Anemone and that will get put out somewhere that doesn’t have any late season interest as yet. Lightly weeded the rest of the bed, planted the two things I picked up yesterday (one a small leaved bergenia and a daisy-like thing with heavily serrated, glaucous foliage) and a couple of rooted cuttings (one was the classic white and pink summer jasmine that might cooperate with rambling through the viburnum behind it), watered well and mulched. It looks a lot happier. 😊

That ^^ took me a lot longer than I thought it would, so then it was breakfast and groceries wrangling. 

Headed out to see my artist friend 😊 She’s doing okayish, recovery (from the broken femur) is going very slowly and she’s starting to get a bit depressed about it especially as because she’s very slight she is likely to have similar surgery again (cutting into the muscle) to remove the two plates and the pin running the length of her femur which she feels will put her almost back to square one and will mean that she has to have two months bed rest again …

We went to Sudeley castle for lunch and to wander round the gardens. It’s been a long time since I have been there and I won’t be going again. They have changed the entrance fees structure - where you used to be able to buy tickets for the gardens and castle separately now, you have to buy entry to both. £46 for two adults! I thought that was eye watering!! It has always been a lovely place though so I sucked it up.Unfortunately, the gardens are a mess, neglected and poorly kept. There were just two sections that were well maintained and to the standard that I used to expect from there. Not worth the money at all. 

The cafe was as bad. There were both not enough staff (it had been set up so you had to serve yourself cakes from shelves at eye height) and too many (young girls drifting around in the seating area, not clearing or cleaning effectively - the staff seemed inexperienced and clueless with no sign of any manager). There was no soup and no quiche (we weren’t late as we got there at 1pm) so the veggie options were very limited. I tried to have a baked potato … undercooked, lukewarm, cut by the server into a quarter and three quarters (probably because it was undercooked), the butter portion was a wipe of melted butter from a dish on a pastry brush (I kid you not! 😳😂), a crumble of cheese and no baked beans as they had run out and it would be a further 15 minutes for the next batch …! (How, why?? 😳). The salad was good. 🤷‍♀️  Friend watched my struggles with the baked spud and opted for the vegan pasty which apparently was utterly inedible. She gave up and bought herself a slice of cake instead, which was apparently quite good ….

The whole thing smacked massively of ‘sweating the assets’ as hard as possible without considering the effect of the outcome for the customer. I will be voting with my feet! 

It made it quite a hard day and I’m very tired. Got back and Mr KK had worked for too long on the stone paths so was also exhausted and fed up. We were both a bit snappy with each other - resolved since eating! 😉

I am *determined* to have a quiet day tomorrow 😊

KK

Frith

Just catching up on your diary (a few pages at a time) and I think you live near my old house! 

badmemory

I was going to say how nice it was when I was there & realised it was pre marriage so 1976.  Whoops!  That was a few months before I moved down to the forest.

beanielou

I absolutely loathe being ripped off in that way. 

Did you complain about the dreadful undercooked lunch?  I would have. 

KajiKita

beanielou said:

I absolutely loathe being ripped off in that way. 

Did you complain about the dreadful undercooked lunch?  I would have. 

I tried to but they just looked at me blankly. Hence another strong reason for never, ever going back …

KK

debtfreewannabe321

Wow at the entrance fee and the shocking service/ food. I think I'd have turned away at the entrance though with that price 🙈. 

KajiKita

debtfreewannabe321 said:

Wow at the entrance fee and the shocking service/ food. I think I'd have turned away at the entrance though with that price 🙈. 

I very nearly did but my friend can’t walk well and most of that garden is level and I wasn’t sure where else nearby we could go …

KK

Brie

Anyway to leave an online review or to send an email to someone?  That's a lot of money to be disappointed.