Next steps; grip-relaxing bimbling, and avoiding the temptations

Suffolk_lass

Lol, @Humdinger1 that made me chuckle. It made me think of a skinny-dipping event in the sea, many years ago, where the beach became much more crowded while we were in the sea. Sometimes you just have to brazen it out!

Well, that is the bank holiday out of the way and we (that is the royal we, as Mr Sl did most of the work) spent it removing the non-safety glass from an old greenhouse. It was an Altons one that we got on FBMP. They are supposed to be a premium brand but the way this had been put together it was completely unmaintainable in situ and required disassembly for even the most basic repair or maintenance. Every joint had been nailed together. Anyway, we have recovered all the cedar and did a dump run for the last bookable time yesterday (16.45) - it was lovely and quiet but the chaps on duty reassured me that it had been busy all day. We know how to enjoy ourselves over a holiday weekend!

I did do three loads of washing, including the turtle-mat dirt catcher mat inside the back door. My cephalapods total for yesterday was 11p (plus the standing charge, of course), thanks to our solar panels.

I also cooked and preserved the rest of the Bramley apples, so we have 9 jars of these in the larder, ready for winter. And I harvested the last of the carrots which we had with runner beans, courgette and sea bass fillets (that were reduced from £4.50 to £2.55). With everything else coming from the garden, our expensive meal when the friends came on Saturday was almost compensated for.

A quick check of the bank accounts this morning and the treat run on Sunday was showing (I bought ice-cream, ice cream bars, crisps and cream!) and I rounded down the bank account to the next £50 as a personal deprivation thing. That was the reward for clearing the area between the cart lodge and the workshop, and all along the workshop side. Mr Sl wants to rig up a cover between these so we can store the pig shed contents. And some brackets for ladders and wood stash storage. Me? I would just like to see them painted, along with the fences and my tool shed, with the black paint I bought two years ago! He keeps saying he's got a spray gun and then nothing happens. A heavy nudge is in the offing.

This morning I am meeting a friend for coffee. I haven't seen her for about 20 months so that is good. Two other meet ups are in the planning. Mr Sl is off away to an international (bike) rally this coming weekend and I was hoping to have other people to see then. I shall have the dog. This evening I am meeting a beekeeping pal to work out the program of topics for the winter months for one of the bee groups we organise. In a pub! so not all bad.

I also need to go to the jeweller in DS-town to collect some jewellery I took in for repair/modification. I have the most sentimental pieces back - my great grandmother's engagement ring has been overhauled and my engagement ring needed to have the claws re-tipped as one of the diamonds was in danger of going walkabout - I can't recall if I mentioned this but I popped into the antiques place where we bought my (Edwardian) eternity ring and the chap remarked on my ring, so I slipped it off to show him under his jewellery glass, and he alerted me to the imminent loss of a good sized diamond that has huge sentimental value. Phew! Today's items are the remodelling of a ruby or three, from a ring I bought in the spendy days and one I was practically given, but have never worn. And the rejoining of two sentimental signet rings. One an almost worthless garnet (good colour and a gift from my Grandmother) and the other was an 18th birthday present. This all sounds very decadent and spendy. I did sell a quantity of broken gold earrings and a half sovereign ring for £400 to subsidise this work.

The garden offerings are tailing off now, although there are more beans and courgettes, from the veg garden, plus a few butternuts to harvest in a fortnight. I must get in there and clear some leaves, so they change colour. I want to harvest them before we go on holiday, mid month. I need to get going on digging out the raspberry canes too. They have been there since 2012 but they have a virus, so they must all go. I need to explore how far away the new ones need to be. We do love raspberries, so do plan to have more. In the greenhouse I still have tomatoes but the cucumbers are done and should come out. The chillies are outside the greenhouse and doing better outside. Not very abundant though. 

I already have my sweet pea seeds and have ordered my garlic for October delivery, so a clear bed for the latter needs preparation and the strawberry runners need separating from the parents and potting on for over-wintering in a cold frame. That will clear more space. I have ten lettuces that have all caught up with each other so I might gift them and the windfall apples to the community garden today.

Right, that is quite enough of my meandering ramblings. Time to stop lolling in my nightie and get on with things!

Makingabobor2

Oh my word, you are so productive. Your garden must be massive

Watty1

Love the remodelling of jewellery.  Such a delightful thing to do, rather than just leaving items in a box.

Suffolk_lass

Makingabobor2 said:

Oh my word, you are so productive. Your garden must be massive

Not massive, but definitely quite large if compared to a town garden - it is a third of an acre. There are ten raised beds, with eight of 8' x 6' and two higher, narrower beds in the veg garden. Plus it is surrounded by beds on three sides. And my greenhouse is 12 x 8', with three cold frames (courtesy of Aldo's for the latter).

The whole of the far surrounding bed and the three raised beds along that side will all be overhauled if we have time this winter.

Well, 130 toilet rolls, due next week, were delivered yesterday and are stashed in my car, ready to take to the food bank (the lady I left last week's regular donation with was so grateful, and said they were down to one roll per bag, they were so short. I ordered these as a one-off - it's August and many regular donors will be away, so I am happy to drop off a top up.

When I visited the jeweller it was only my two signet rings that were ready. Both had snapped and the garnet one had a piece missing. It has been completely rebuilt, spending far more than it is worth, but it has great sentimental value. And I could not do just that one without getting the one my parents gave me, rejoined too. At least the work I have requested is spread out over three payments.

So, today I need to get to the food bank and drop off, and I need to go into the Sainsbugs over there, the other side of the town. I need pickling vinegar and they are the only place I know I can get that in the clear form, so I will also look at butter, sugar (their own brand in 5k bags is cane sugar, which is less intensively processed, and my preference) and maybe some Matzos crackers. They have a really good selection of foods that are aimed at the Jewish community (their family background) and we like lots of these, and things like Challah, if we can get it.

Tonight's supper will be Shakshuka, using the recipe from the very tasty magazine beginning with D. I had one jar with a handle, where the seal did not take when I made my tomato passata, so a half size for us with some lovely bread will be this evening's offering.

Suffolk_lass

Shakshuka with added purple French beans and a courgette. A worthy addition, and Mr Sl , who is not keen on soft courgettes, declared this was the best way to eat them. It was extremely filling, with a bread roll, warm and soft from the one minute defrost in the microwave when I realised they were still frozen. Then we had the rest of the plum and apple that didn't pop when I bottled it. I was so full I still felt uncomfortable when I went to bed, but I am half a pound lighter this morning! How does that work?

Today I am going to cut down some spent vegetable plants, weed a bed and cover it with old carpet, if the carpet doesn't disintegrate. 

Having described the arches over our veg garden path on someone else's thread, I am thinking the bits in the ground could be further into the beds to give other climbing options over wider arches, much wider than our paths... I could plant my strawberries inside the arches, along the edge of the beds, along with other dwarf plants. Hmm, not sure how Mr Sl would feel about that. He is off on his bike for a rally tomorrow, so now might be a good time to discuss the possibility

Makingabobor2

Well that sounds like a big garden to me. I would love room for more raised beds and a green house. Told DH I am getting a greenhouse before next spring....no idea where it will fit though...lol. 

Suffolk_lass

Suffolk_lass said:

Today I am going to cut down some spent vegetable plants, weed a bed and cover it with old carpet, if the carpet doesn't disintegrate. 

Having described the arches over our veg garden path on someone else's thread, I am thinking the bits in the ground could be further into the beds to give other climbing options over wider arches, much wider than our paths... I could plant my strawberries inside the arches, along the edge of the beds, along with other dwarf plants. Hmm, not sure how Mr Sl would feel about that. He is off on his bike for a rally tomorrow, so now might be a good time to discuss the possibility

Well the weeding and carpet installation did not happen, but lots of vegetation removed, and two more butternuts harvested (a bit early, but I don't want more enormous veg). The pumpkin was mostly cut out, along with many raspberries that were either dried out, or suffering from blight (I am not sure which). The Buddleja was pruned a bit more vigorously and the hardy fuschia is half as deep (blocking a path). Then out the front, I finally cut down all the iris to six inch (15cm) and took all the golden rod (about to seed) down to the ground. After a quick interruption for rain (and tea and cake) I removed the vetch and bindweed that was curled round everything. There is still some colour, but not full enough for my liking as plenty of bare earth. I might do to a hedging wholesaler today and see what late summer flowers are on offer there.

Mr Sl is off on his bike rally trip in the SE today and as I was pottering, I could hear a really heavy shower. I personally think he should have gone yesterday, as the forecast is grim today.

Agreed that DS&P will come for a steak supper on Sunday, after they have helped their friends clear a garage. I think it is two months since we saw them, and it was Sunday, or October, as we are busy all the other weekends through September.

I got more cash out yesterday, so that Mr Sl can pay in cash if he wishes. The accounts look very bare after also buying over half the roof slates with current account money (and the other £500 from my Tilly Tidy pot). Roll on pension day, I say!

With Mr Sl away, I plan to potter. If the weather is as bad as the forecast, I shall get my studying underway. I shall intersperse this with some weeding out of clothing and jarring some honey for a regular customer. Hopefully the weather will be fine enough for a barbecue tomorrow night, as there is one planned for the community garden

foxgloves

Ditto with garden clearing. There is still some colour, but my borders always look their best in late May & June. The heat & lack of rain has caused everything to 'go over' a few weeks early & I am now in full-on Autumn mode where gardening is concerned. I've started clearing & cutting back & will be digging over 2 big borders as I go along to enable bindweed & hawkweed removal while I can get to it. I intend to do lots of this over Autumn & Winter. It's good exercise & a good time to do new plantings. I have hollyhocks, fancy foxglove variety & lambs' ears waiting to go in plus divisions of perennials to do so I shan't need to spend any money, just to put the time into it. 
F

Suffolk_lass

Quite a bit of studying, plus I cleared the freezer of the last portion of ice cream! I made potato salad with shallots, cornichons and green chillies but not enough salt. My neighbour joined me for supper at the Community garden where the fire pit was up and running and about 15 of us had a BBQ. Home by 8pm and a jelly with blueberries in it (I prefer this to cooking them to stop them going over). Got to love a lime jelly. Nothing harvested yesterday. Blue skies today but the grass is covered in leaves. You would think it was October. I found another supply of unpicked ripe blackberries while walking the dog yesterday, but they are a little close to a road for my liking, and I didn't take a bag yesterday. With over 30 jars of produce in my larder, I think I shall just stick to tomato preserving now, and prep the beds for winter (and some dividing, potting up and starting seeds) plus for planting my garlic in October.

Free electricity this afternoon. I received the email telling me, just after putting a load of white towels on for my customary monthly 90c wash to remove any residual soap scum from my somewhat ancient washing machine. I am not sure whether to bother today. Last time, it meant turning off the solar panels and running the dishwasher, hot wash in the washing machine, and having the oven on and doing some ironing. We got 73p back! I only have a 60c wash I could do today. I will do it, using the free stuff to heat the water, but I suspect 1p might be the result!

DH is due home this afternoon. He is booked on a mid-day ferry or then-abouts but that said, the ferry company put him on the first available to get to the IoW on Friday. I sent him the video clip of the two cockatoos rocking to Freebird and asked if this was him. Hopefully it made him smile. It always made me smile (an oldie, but a goodie, I think) - and maybe a smile for any readers on this sunny Sunday morning

Makingabobor2

Just found your GYO thread and have subscribed. Hoping I might pick up a few tips.