A Quick Catch Up....

 I can't believe it's been a whole week since I lasted posted on here 🤯 Things have been pretty mundane and we've not been anywhere special for a day out. These last few days have been a bit damp and drizzly and so we haven't done a lot.  I've caught up with the ironing while the weather has been cooler, and otherwise just been pottering in the garden doing the dead heading and harvesting a few tomatoes and cucumbers (14 so far off just one plant) Of course, we have also had to visit the allotment to water.  It really doesn't matter how much drizzle we get, it just doesn't soak into the ground 🤔

We are still harvesting:

Raspberries

spring onions

tomatoes

cucumbers

&

harvesting and freezing:

Runner beans

French climbing beans

The peppers in the greenhouse are turning yellow so will be ready to pick soon and, at the allotment, our sweetcorn is still standing despite other allotmenteers having had theirs eaten by the badgers 😓 Gray has built a metal 'cage' around ours and they are growing in a raised bed to deter the animals from digging underneath to get in.  We can only live in hope that we can harvest at least some of them before they get in......

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Our Grandson reached the dizzying age of 18 yesterday and we all went out for a meal last night to celebrate.  We went to one of those 'Fusion' type buffet restaurants where they serve all kinds of meals;  Chinese, Tai, Curries, English, Italian etc   The choice is amazing but we couldn't eat until 7.30pm which is far too late for us oldies.  The food was hot and tasty but poor Graham had indigestion all night due to eating so late.....

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This morning we had fully intended to have another day out at the Black Country museum but Gray felt  a bit 'not right' so we didn't go.  Whilst he was watering the allotment, I took another batch of 15 cards to the Hospice shop, making 190 to date.  Two were sold before I'd even left the shop....  

Thanks for popping in. Do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Feeling Sluggish, a Treat, & Another Donation

 We have had a very sluggish start to the new week.  My motivation has completely flown out of the window 😟 but a couple of sleepless nights this week haven't helped either.  I'm still worried about my sister and brother-in-law ( who is very poorly) but, at least, our son is on the mend, thank God.  Small steps.....

Gray decided that he should treat us to a cooked lunch at our favourite pub today.  There wasn't another soul in there when we arrived, so it was quite restful.  Gray ordered home cooked faggots, chips and mushy peas, and I chose brocolli and cauliflower bake with salad.  The meals were delicious as well as piping hot and came to £26 with a drink each.  Not too bad for a special treat.

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Before we went to the pub, I had a few errands to run in the village so took another batch of cards to the Hospice shop.  Wow! Just 4 were left in the basket again 👍Today's batch makes 175 to date.

A sample below:

For men:

These three were again made from the free Hunkydory member's club gift:

The 'gift envelope' cards sell really quickly, apparently.  I ensure that the envelope on the front (which I fold myself) is capable of holding a folded banknote or a gift card; a card and gift in one!

I must make a few more of those as well as men's cards like these below, as they sell well too....

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I took a large bag of allotment produce across to our lovely neighbours as soon as we got back.  There were new potatoes, runner beans, tomatoes, a cucumber and a bag of cooking apples.  We are starting to get a lot of windfalls again so I'm removing the ones which come away easily to save them from hitting the ground and spoiling.  I made a delicious blueberry and apple crumble with some on Sunday 😊

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I think I told you about our 17 yr old Grandson and his awful employer, didn't I, well...yesterday he had a tiny piece of metal fly into his eye when he was grinding something off.  He thought he'd removed it but, as luck would have it, he had an optician's appointment after work and she spotted the metal embedded in his cornea 😨

This morning his mum took him to the local eye hospital where they scraped it out (it wouldn't wash out) and he's now on antibiotic drops.  I'm squeamish about eyes anyway but it sent shivers down my spine to think what could have happened.....

That's all the news for now.  Thanks so much for popping in.  Do stay safe wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Hiding in Plain Sight! & Going Potty

At the allotment, the butternut squash plants have been thoroughly enjoying the heat and now the rainfall we've been having too. Yesterday, I glimpsed these hiding under the foliage...

They are looking good. I actually found 6 and more to come 😁

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A while ago, our lovely new neighbour gave me 3 sunflower seedlings in a pot. They were about 4 inches high. Just look at them now!

Don't look at the grass though 😐 it has really suffered in the heat we've been having.  I know it will come back so am not unduly worried but it does look awful right now.  

Anyway, we have now decided that we have too many pots.  With summers becoming drier and hotter, it takes too much water to keep things alive and we need to prioritise food production.  Some of the plants will be planted into the borders instead, and some will just have to go.  Any annuals will not be replaced next year.  I do, however, want to keep the Rosemary, Sage & Mint in pots.  The lily has suffered badly with lily beetle and will be ditched after flowering.

From the allotment we are picking:

French climbing beans 

Runner beans 

Brocolli

Early carrots

Radishes

Spring onions

New potatoes

Windfall cooking apples 

From the greenhouse:

Sungold tomatoes

Roma tomatoes

Cucumbers (12 so far)

Lots of bloggers seem to have lost their appetites in the hot weather and are eating simply.  I sure as heck haven't fancied cooking. There have been lots of sandwiches and things on toast eaten in our house, but it's forecast to turn cool and wet over the weekend so I can feel an apple crumble coming on!

What have you got planned for meals this weekend?

Thanks so much for popping in.  Stay safe wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

The Mystery of the Vanishing Tomatoes & Another Batch

 Yesterday I decided to pick the next 2 ripest Roma tomatoes from the greenhouse,  They have vanished ! 😕 If you look where my fingers are you can see the little stalks are still there but ...no tomatoes to be seen 🤔 Gray swears he didn't touch them and they are not in the fridge.  I'm at a loss to explain it......

At least my Sungold and the other red tomatoes (which I've forgotten the name of) are doing well....

...despite the odd bit of blossom end rot.  I pick the fruit off as soon as I spot any.

The cucumbers are really struggling with the hot weather though. Although they are trying their best to survive and so far have yielded 11 mini cucumbers, they don't look their best with yellowing leaves and shrivelled embryo fruit....

I must admit that I am over the moon happy with my pepper plant 😄  There are loads of big green peppers on the plant which should turn yellow as they ripen. Think salads, stir-fries, traybake veg ....yum!

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Today (Monday) has been a bit cooler, thank heavens, so I took the opportunity to pop another batch of cards into the Hospice shop.  I'm so glad I did because there were just 3 left in the basket.  Another 15 donated, making a total of 163 since the end of March this year.

A sample below:

Thanks so much for popping in.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Roasting in Staffordshire...

 Crikey it's been hot here.  From Thursday onwards it's been, and still is, very, very HOT!

It makes for uncomfortable, sleepless nights and a total lack of energy to complete daily tasks.  I have been trying to carry on by making a decent meal at lunchtime rather than the evening (when the heat has built up in the kitchen), popping washing in early in the day and pegging it out late afternoon when it's a bit cooler.  This morning I had to deal with this ironing 😒

....which required several of these  😏💦......

....as well as a fan at floor level.  But I managed to do most of the ironing, whilst Graham was watering the allotment this morning, before flagging.  I've stripped both beds again and washed the linen so the ironing basket is being refilled 😭but the beds are fresher for tonight.  Hopefully, after today, the weather will cool slightly and we will be able to catch up on our sleep 👍

How have you been sleeping? How do you keep cool?

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It's been much too hot to make or take another batch of cards to the Hospice shop but I have about a dozen ready to go and hope to make a few more on Sunday/Monday and take them in on Tuesday, fingers crossed 🤞

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The lounge is at the back of the bungalow and faces the sun every morning.  I've been throwing the patio doors wide from about 8am until the sun gets hot at around 9.30am, then closing them, blinds as well until it cools off around 5pm.   We've taken the opportunity to watch Netflix, with an ice lolly in hand, pretending we are in the cinema 😊  We've binge-watched 'Safe'  and 'Stay Close', both of which are series based on Harlan Coben books.  They have been gripping (though a bit violent) and have loads of twists and turns right to the very end.

Has anyone else watched them?

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The temperature of the bungalow at 8.17pm last night, with fans on and windows and doors open on the cool side.... 

The heat retention properties of the house are beneficial in winter but definitely NOT in summer.  We might need to save for a portable air con unit if this is the way summers are going now.

Thanks for popping in to our hot house!

Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Another Blast From The Past !

 Tuesday at the Black Country Living Museum was lovely.  We again concentrated on the 'new' 1960's town, this time Stantons music shop.  Oh golly, I remember these LP's well.  I watched South Pacific, and The King and I, with my mum and younger brother at the cinema in Dudley Town.  Dad would pay for us to go to the pictures on a Saturday afternoon so that he could have fish and chips and a quiet nap after his morning's work in the metal & plate fabrication industry !

I was mesmerised by the colour, the music and the storylines and would have loved to own the LP's.  No such luck.  Anyone remember Howard Keele?  He had such a lovely, deep, rich voice.......

Once I started work at the age of 16, I would visit Stantons in Dudley after my monthly payday to mooch through the records.  Sometimes I could actually buy a single.  Perhaps a Cliff Richard or a Motown single......

I think I bought my school recorder from their instrument section, but I'm possibly mis-remembering that bit....

What I do remember is asking to listen to a track in the booth before purchasing.  If I felt bold enough, I would ask to listen to two records before choosing 😂  I also remember that there were glass doors on the booths, not like these open ones here....

Lunch was again eaten sitting in the fresh air.  Tinned salmon and homegrown cucumber on sourdough bread for me, white bread for Gray.  All washed down with Holden's Golden Glow ale from the Elephant and Castle pub 😋 My glass looks like a pint but I promise it was only a half pint 😎 (£7.50 for a pint and a half)

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On Wednesday afternoon: 

We had the Wednesday Club in the next village.  This time we enjoyed Sue Stevens on guitar, playing contemporary and folk music.  She was really entertaining.

The cost? £4 each including a coffee and biscuit.

For the rest of the week I think we will be staying put.  It will be getting hotter once more and we will need to concentrate on watering the allotment and garden.  We do have some rainwater in the butts at the moment which we will ration out on the hydrangeas and acers, otherwise it will be recycled water from the kitchen and the run off from the shower. The allotment has a dip tank.

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Thanks for popping in.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

July Treats for Very Little Money

 If you remember, we spent our July treat money on an annual pass for the Black Country Living Museum in June!  So we have to be careful this month not to overspend.  With this in mind, we are having lots of smaller treats this month .  It began on Sunday with:

The Village Carnival

Our Daughter, Son-in-Law, Grandson and his girlfriend all came too.  It had rained all the previous night and right up until 11am when, right on cue, the rain stopped and the sun appeared.  It was a lovely afternoon 😊The float procession was amazing.  The theme was Outer Space and so much effort had gone into the floats and costumes.  I had £5 in small change in my pocket and used it to donate into the buckets as well as to buy a few tombola tickets from the 'good causes' stalls.  I won a mug filled with sweets (the sweets were given to the youngsters and the mug will be donated to the tombola at the Gardening Guild in September) a body mist & a tiny shower cream (both were given to GS's girlfriend)  Grandson won a bottle of Yellow Tail red wine which his mum quickly took care of 😂

Gray and I bought our own lunches; Gray had a hot pork sandwich and I treated myself to a jacket potato and cheese for £5.50.  It wasn't cheap but I really enjoyed eating it al fresco.  Why does food taste nicer sitting in the fresh air?

On Monday:

The Local Park

It was a cool, overcast and breezy Monday so we drove the short distance to the park and went for a walk.  It cost £4.50 to park up then we took a brisk walk through the wooded area, listening to the birds singing.  I've discovered this amazing App called Merlin on which I can record birdsong and calls, and the App will identify what I'm hearing.  We were amazed to find out that there was a Dunnock, a Chiff Chaff, and a Parakeet in the woods!  That was in addition to the usual Blackbird, Bluetit, Goldfinch, Carrion Crow and Dove.  Crikey....who knew? Has anyone else used this App?

Our picnic was enjoyed in the car and then another short walk to burn off a few calories 👍

On Tuesday:

Black Country Living Museum

As we have already got an annual pass, we have decided that another day at the museum will be worthwhile.  Parking costs £3.95 and so another picnic lunch has been prepared. This coming weekend will see the 1940's celebration at the museum and everything is in preparation for that.  There will be even more to see.  The evening event is on Saturday but tickets cost £20 each so we can't go to that one. Never mind.  We can enjoy today......

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Our first 'baby' plum tomato !

At least that's what Graham thought he was growing 🤣 The variety is called Roma and wasn't my choice. We've never tried growing it before and went on a recommendation.   Not sure until we've tasted it whether it was worthwhile growing or not. Has anyone else grown this one?

What is it with all these massive vegetables 🤔 or should that be fruit? 

🤣😂🤣

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Thanks again for popping in.

Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be, 

Angie 💓

A Mini? Really?

 While my morning tea was brewing yesterday..... 

I popped out to the greenhouse to pick a mini cucumber for lunch.  It was dragging the plant down and hardly a mini ! Cucumber number 9 from a single plant 😀 ......

At the allotment we are growing spring onions....

they too look like they're on steroids !  🤣 but perfect to put in an omelette or quiche.  Now I'm just willing the greenhouse tomatoes to ripen for a perfect salad 😁

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During the night, I awoke to the sound of pouring rain.  At last! We had a good drenching for the gardens which continued right up to around 11am.  It's such a relief to be cooler too.

Thanks for popping in.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

How Did You Come Up With The Idea? & Snippets

 

The title is a question that a lovely blog reader asked me regarding my cardmaking for the Hospice shop, and I thought it might be worth sharing the story for any new readers of my blog. 

 Well.......I started making cards over 30 years ago after a back injury stopped me working for a long period of time.  Over the subsequent years, I have sold on eBay, at craft fairs, donated surplus stock to charity shops, and for about 2 years (when we lived in the park home) a gift shop owner bought them from me.  She paid me £1 each and sold them for £1.99 each.  And that was around 12 years ago.  I NEED to craft to keep me sane!  On a whim at the end of March this year, I asked the manageress in the Hospice shop if she was interested in taking some and she snapped them up.  The rest, as they say, is history :)  I enjoy a bit of 'me' time and the Hospice raises funds.  A win, win situation. And I get to have a chat with the lovely shop volunteers once a week when I drop off a new batch 😄

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Graham's car passed the MOT yesterday with flying colours, once they sorted out the broken machine thingy, so we can breathe easy for another year.  It cost £49 which wasn't too bad and, of course, it was budgeted for.  Our friends declined the struggle of getting into the back of my little car for a lift home, and simply caught the bus back after our lunch.  It was good to have a catch up but we realise how old and infirm our dear friends and some of their family are becoming.  Let's just say the NHS powers- that- be would have had burning ears yesterday afternoon 😏

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Thanks once again for popping in.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

The Co-op Re-opens as Nisa! & Uncomfortable Nights....

 What used to be the Co-op has now re-opened as a Nisa Local.  The inside has been refitted and is beautiful; cool and inviting.....

Despite still having a post office counter inside, there are various drop off points for parcels and packages.....

Not that I will use any of them because I prefer the Post Office counter where I can actually speak to a human being 😏  Inside the store, although not fully stocked yet, everything is laid out to tempt you to purchase.  The premium ready meals look ok but at around £11.50 each I won't be buying any.....

The fuel station is still there, thankfully.  I just hope the price stays competitive.

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Today, Tuesday, the weather is still so hot and humid that it's really uncomfortable.  I barely slept last night as it was still 28C in the house at midnight.  I just couldn't drop off and watched the sky start to lighten around 4am.  At 4.24am I heard the dawn chorus and recorded it on my Merlin App.  It recognised Carrion Crow, Blackbird, Wren, Robin & the inevitable Wood Pigeon.  I must confess I was a bit disappointed that there was nothing more unusual in our area.  I finally fell asleep listening to birdsong, and with the bungalow window wide open, at around 4.45am.  I had about 3 hours of restless sleep so feel like a zombie right now.

Gray took the car in for it's MOT at 9am, hoping to wait for it to be done, as we are meeting friends at 1pm in the pub for a cob lunch.  Sod's Law struck again and the machine broke down so the mechanic can't do it.  Gray has had to leave the car at the garage until further notice.  I will have to drive my old banger to the pub but it's a 3 door vehicle and our friends can't get into the rear and we won't be able to offer them a lift home.  Drat.......

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How are you sleeping in this heat?  I hope the heatwave breaks soon.  It just makes me feel ill.

Take care everyone.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗