Water, woods and a customised header

This was 'the swimming pool' (aka make-shift rain-catcher) after the rain on Saturday.  It rained again yesterday night, in fact it poured, and there was a rumble or two of thunder for good measure, so the garden is nicely soaked and there is now enough rain in the various water-butts to keep us going for a while.  The 'swimming pool' has now been dismantled, but it worked and gave us a bit of fun in the process.  Today it has been very windy and although the clouds have been out and about, no rain and a lot of sunshine.

So, that's the weather up-date.  

Yesterday, following on from my attempts to sort out the blog header, I had a bit of a mooch around the internet, hoping to find some advice and/or information that would help.  I needed something clear and written in language I could understand as I am something of a timid newbie blogger, and tend to get easily confused!  However, my search took me, yet again, to the Down to Earth forum where I found just what I needed, courtesy of a post by Nanna Chel.  With N beside me for moral support (and technical guidance), I downloaded Picasa and set to work designing my own header.  And there it is, at the top of the blog.  Yay for me!!  I am stupidly chuffed with myself, particularly for persevering when I was ready to give up.  And thanks to Nanna Chel, and of course to N.  Now I know what to do, I think the photos will change on a regular basis.  I've also started to label my posts, better late than never.

We put our walking shoes on again yesterday afternoon, and had a lovely walk of just over 7 miles, taking in Dame Anthony's Common, Firestone Copse, Fishbourne and Quarr, where we stopped for a refreshing pot of tea. 

These bullrushes, growing around a pond, were taller than me

A shady tunnel in the woods 

It was a great walk, and although we didn't see any squirrels, we did see a pair of green woodpeckers, but they flew off before I could take a photo.  However, I did manage a picture of one of the garden regulars over the weekend, a goldfinch on our neighbour's washing line.

The yellow flash on the wing is not so noticeable in this photo - I think it's shaded - but it's actually very bright and always catches the eye.  He and his mate have been in and around the garden for several days, and it is always a pleasure to watch them.

We have rain!

As I write this post, ladies and gentlemen, it is finally raining here.  After three or four days of being promised thunderstorms and torrential rainfall, it has quietly rained fairly steadily for the last couple of hours.  That's fine with us.  N has been out to the garden to check all our rain-harvesting equipment is functioning properly, and I'm pleased to report that all the guttering rig-ups are funneling water into their respective containers.  A day off from baling water from the bath ;-)

Cutting notches out of length of guttering to fit along side of greenhouse . . .

. . . so it fits snug against the glass to catch all the rainfall.

Another use for the top of a plastic milk bottle!

Yesterday we were very productive in the kitchen.  We had bought some lemons and limes and made some cordial and then used the peel to start some citrus cleaner, from the Down to Earth forum.

Lemon cordial and the beginnings of citrus cleaner - by today the vinegar had already started to take on the lemon colour

A quick bird up-date - we have added 'sparrowhawk' to our list, having seen it swooping across the gardens and into the nearby trees.  N tried to get a photo but it proved elusive.  However we did both see it and are happy with our identification.  It certainly has quite an impact on the other birds in the gardens who all flew off in a bit of a panic!  This morning I saw a juvenile rook on the fence.  It's huge powerful beak is a bit of a giveaway, but it was so obviously a youngster in it's rather scruffy plumage, looking for all the world like a gawky teenager yet to grow into it's body.  

Yesterday evening we treated ourselves to fish and chips (from our favourite chippy, Chipmonks) and drove to Brading Down for dinner outdoors.  Sitting on a bench, with our meal on plates, on a tray, with knives and forks and tomato ketchup!  This was the view as we ate.  And our meal tonight was 'gourmet burgers' - homemade turkey burgers in homemade soft wholemeal bread rolls with homegrown lettuce, tomato and cucumber fresh from the garden.  Delicious!

You may have noticed a photo on the blog header.  It took N and I the best part of an hour last night to manage that, and it's still not right.  However, blogging is a learning curve for me.  I bimble along, trying to learn as I go.  Several months ago, I bought a book on blogging to hopefully give me some advice but I suspect it is already out-of-date.  Never mind, I will persevere and no doubt the blog will change it's appearance several times before I get what I'm aiming for.  However I have sorted out labels, and will endeavour to label previous posts in due course.   In the meantime, please just bear with me :-)

100th post

We spent some time yesterday watching this little visitor flitting from marigold to marigold

Well, there we are.  One hundred posts.  I didn't realise back in January when I typed my first post (with some trepidation, I might add) that recording the daily potterings in and around our home and garden would become such an enjoyable part of my days and weeks.  I have taken real pleasure in taking photos of seedlings germinating, plants growing, produce picked, projects undertaken.  Now, when we go out for a walk, N will say to me, 'Have you got the camera?'  

The snapdragons (pink and red) N grew from seed are looking lovely amongst the golden coreopsis I grew the year before last, and divided into several clumps last year

We still find it hard to believe how much we have changed since we left work, and in particular during the course of this year.  We have allowed ourselves to slow down.  We take pleasure from small, simple things and activities.  We are making more things from scratch.  We look for solutions to problems that we can tackle ourselves.  We shop occasionally - this morning we ventured into the main town as we had several items to get - and N commented, a little 'tongue in cheek', that shopping was making him stressed and he was looking forward to going home!  We both knew what he meant.  

N tried his hand at drying some of our herbs this week - rosemary, thyme and oregano

A few weeks ago, someone called us 'crashing bores'.  It made us stop in our tracks and do some serious thinking.  Our lifestyle is different to many others.  We no longer charge around at 90mph, terrified we are going to miss something.  We no longer worry about keeping up with whoever we're supposed to, nor are we bothered by celebrity trends.  We don't do Facebook or Twitter, and don't know how to.  The latest fashions come and go, and I have no idea what I should be wearing.  I haven't worn make-up for over 6 months and the last time I paid for a hair-cut in a salon was before Christmas.  We take huge pleasure in our little garden and growing a few vegetables.  We take time to see what is in front of us, under our noses, in the trees around us.  We make what we can, repair what we can and recycle wherever possible.  We try to be mindful in our spending and are happy to live within a budget.  If all this makes us 'bores', then why are we more content with our lives than we have ever been?  We've stopped chasing and searching.  Could it be that in slowing down and appreciating what we have, we've actually found contentment?  We think we may be on the way, and that's something to be thankful for.

Rain? What rain?

Whilst many parts of the country have finally had storms and rain after the very hot spell of weather, it seems to have passed us by.

The forecast yesterday suggested rain was highly likely, so N constructed this temporary reservoir on the decking to take advantage of what we anticipated was going to be a good downpour.  He also rigged up some piping to for a spout from the little garden shed into one of the water butts.  We were ready for the rain.

Today it was cooler, and breezier.  We had a quick walk into town and it started to rain!  It lasted for about a minute and we could almost count the number of rain drops that fell.  That was it.  Other parts of the country have had violent thunderstorms and rainfall but it's still dry as a bone here so we are still lugging buckets and trugs of grey water up and down to the garden.  

I finally took a better photo of a bee with its legs covered in pollen

We did manage a really lovely walk Sunday evening to Fishbourne and back.  We saw a baby robin and a red squirrel but the battery on my camera ran out  so no photos.  

We've been enjoying the fruits of N's labours in the garden recently - courgettes in a very tasty ratatouille, cucumbers, new potatoes (the taste is far superior to shop-bought) and our first tomato.

N took these photos - he was keen to show the size of the cucumbers!

It was very hot and muggy yesterday and neither of us felt like doing much at all.  Today was thankfully cooler, and for the first time in several days I made good progress with my list - we both felt we had achieved something at last.  

The next post will be my 100th.  I know some people (who have built up a following ;-) ) have give-aways to celebrate.  Maybe I'll try that on my 150th or 200th post, if I'm still blogging.  Updating this little blog has become part of my daily routine, and has been a wonderful way of recording progress in the garden and our potterings at home.  N and I have been so surprised at how we have changed over the months since we have settled into not working for a living, and this is something I hope to explore further over the coming weeks. 

In the meantime, we hope for some rain! 

Yachts, bees and home-made hanging baskets

Another gorgeous day out yesterday, this time to Cowes.  There is always something happening on the water off Cowes, and yesterday was no exception, in fact, we were able to enjoy watching some proper racing as it was Cowes Classics Week.  

From our vantage point on the beach, we had a good view of one of the marker bouys (the yellow bouy on the right of the photo above), which the yachts had to tack right around and head off in the direction they had just come from, but, with the wind behind them, spinakers needed to be hoisted.  Always fun to watch. 

There was a bit of shouting as these three negotiated the bouy and spinakers got twisted but they sorted themselves out and with wind in the sail, they made good progress back up the course.  There were quite a few larger yachts racing, with fairly professional-looking crews who made tacking back and fro look very slick indeed.  It was great to watch.

We had a lovely picnic of filled bread rolls (home-made), fruit and shortbread biscuits (also home-made), and squash we had brought with us.  We sat on the shingle beach and took in the view.

There were some black-headed gulls that kept us amused with their strutting and posturing; they are very used to people on the beach so came quite close to us, probably hoping for a share of our lunch!

The bees have been out and about in force back home in our garden.  They seem to love the veronica, stachys and lavender and it is a joy to see them busily drinking nectar and collecting pollen on their legs to transfer to the next plant they visit.

I spent ages this afternoon trying to get a good photo of the bees at work but every time I had one in focus, it flew off!  This is the best I managed.

This year N has added some colour to the side of the potting shed.

Any ideas what our home-made hanging baskets started life as?

An excellent use for the 4-pint (2.27 litre) plastic milk bottles.  I saw the idea 2 or 3 years ago on an edition of Gardener's World and thought it a brilliant idea so we saved lots of the plastic bottles, cut them as shown, and stored them in the shed.  Finally we got to use them this year :)  By inverting the top section into the lower section, you are able to water the 'basket' through the hollow handle.  It really is quite an ingenious set-up, and I wish I could credit by name the person who thought of it.

There were a few clouds in the sky today and the possibility of rain drifted through our minds.  Briefly.  Then the clouds disappeared again.  So we're still baling out the shower water from the bath and carrying the buckets to the garden.  One or two of the plants are beginning to look just a tad thirsty now.

The first tomato is turning orange/red

Hiding among the foliage are three cucmbers, supported by a clever arrangement of plastic trellis and canes

Finally, as a note to myself more than anything else, we harvested the last of the peas and cut the plants down.  The roots will die back into the beds, and we have donated the cut plants to our neighbour for his compost heap - lots of good nitrogen to rot down.

  

A stroll along the beach

Determined to continue our mission to make the effort to get out and about in this lovely weather, N and I walked along the sea shore this morning to Appley and back.

There were quite a few people on the beach, but the tide was right out, and it the beach looked almost deserted!  It makes for a huge expanse of sand.  You can just see the pier in the distance.

In the soft dry sand at the top of the beach there were so many prints from the black-headed gulls who scurry around seeing what they can find.

Walking along by the canoe lake, we spied an interesting 'visitor' among the usual Mute Swans, Canada Geese and gulls -

We seem to have a visitor from Australia - a Black Swan.  Clearly not a native of these shores, even though it's been very hot recently ;).  We believe this swan has escaped from one of the local bird-parks and has decided to drop in to see some distant relatives! 

We had a lovely walk, nothing too energetic (bit too hot) but just taking our time and enjoying our surroundings.  We sometimes take for granted what we have on our doorstep, and it's good for us to take time out to appreciate where we live.  

On our way back home we bumped into another ex-colleague who took early-retirement just a couple of weeks ago.  He said he didn't really feel like he had left work permanently yet, it still felt like he was on leave, but he was kind enough to say that retirement clearly suited N and I because we looked so well and relaxed!  We told him we've just slowed down, we take our time and have cut our cloth according to our changed financial situation.  We've chilled - it's taken time and didn't happen overnight, but it has worked for us and neither of us regret leaving work when we did.  We are fortunate to have been in a position to do that, but we have both been careful with money and over the years we have learned the lesson of living within our means and not living with debt.  I am grateful every day that we are now able to reap the benefits of that mindset.

  

Entertaining al fresco

We had some friends round for lunch today, just about the hottest day of the year so far, and N and I were in the garden early to look at rigging up some shading.  N had pondered this yesterday and had already strung some spare washing line between a couple of suitable uprights.  We draped a large sheet we brought back from India over the line and secured it with pegs and clamps and fixed the other side to the fence with more clamps.  It drooped a little in the middle, so we used the clothes-line prop to give it a bit of height.  Rather Heath Robinson, but more than effective.  It has something of a bedouin tent look about it!

It was very pleasant to sit outside and have some respite from the heat.  The four of us sat and chatted away, with ice-cold lemonade and home-made shortbread biscuits.  Our friends have also recently retired, so we are able to compare notes on how we are all adapting to a different way of life.  It was good to hear them say they felt we looked well for leaving work, and seemed content and at ease.  That is how we feel ourselves, so we were pleased that it is noticeable to our friends, too.

We were able to show them around our little plot, they tried some peas straight from the plants, and they sampled our home-grown potatoes and salad leaves, served with salmon, for lunch.  We enjoy their company, and it was a very pleasant way to spend a few hours.

We have made plans to take lunch out on Friday, so I shall bake soft bread rolls again that morning so they will be fresh out of the oven - I can almost smell them already!  

A walk along the bay

Another beautiful day.  We've noticed that we've really slowed down in this hot weather, a bit too much if we are honest, almost to the point of not doing anything!  N felt that we should make the effort to get out, so this afternoon we drove a few miles to the coast, parked up and had a very pleasant 6-mile walk along the sea defence wall of Sandown Bay.  

The tide was out, and there were quite a few people, locals and holidaymakers, making the most of the weather, swimming, wind-surfing and sun-bathing.  We really enjoyed it, and yet again we appreciated the fact that we are able to do things like this when we want to.  Having walked to the far end of the bay, we indulged in an ice-cream, turned around and walked back again, just taking our time, glad to be outside and by the sea - there was a very pleasant breeze that is absent from our garden, and it was most welcome!

At the base of the sandstone cliffs, along the revetment, there are masses of flowers - some wild, some naturalised - they were such a lovely splash of colour.  Ox-eye daisies, montbretia (orange and red), vetch, huge antirhinums (slightly bigger than the ones N has raised in our garden) and hydrangeas.  The photo doesn't really do them justice.

More peas harvested this morning, and potatoes this evening.  Some friends are visiting for lunch tomorrow, and some of the meal will be home-grown.

We bought a mattress protector for the spare bed, but it's not a very good fit - in fact, it is a bit baggy for my liking, so I made some alteration to it this morning in the hopes that it would fit better.  It is a bit better, but still not right.  I can see what needs to be done, and N has offered to do the unpicking for me - for some reason he really enjoys unpicking ;) - so I will press on with that over the next couple of days.  I also have a long-term sewing project under way, but I shall wait until it's finished before sharing photos.

This evening, N has been looking at options for a home-made sun shade in the garden.  We both enjoy the heat but it has been just too hot for us these last few days and we don't have a parasol of any sort.  With N's dad coming to stay later in the summer we could do with some shading in the garden.  N has pondered the problem and has come up with a possible solution - we shall be in the garden early tomorrow to try it out.  Photos to follow, if all goes well.

Finally, I remembered a remark my son made while he was with us over the weekend.  We were sharing with him our joys of home-grown produce, baking bread and just generally simplifying our lives.  He looked at me, with a smile, and said: 'You just want to live the Good Life, Mum, don't you?'  He was referring to the 1970s sitcom, about a couple who turn their backs on the rat-race, and strive for self-sufficiency in suburbia, much to the chagrin of their neighbours.  It was a wonderful series, still looked on with much fondness by those of us of a certain age.  We may not be able to do the whole self-sufficiency package, but the small changes we have made to our lives have had a tangible effect on us.  We are less stressed, more content and happy.  It suits us. 

Hot weather, visitors and barbeques

The days seem to have passed by in a bit of a blur, the weekend came and went and the new week is under way.  Lots of photos taken, but no time to blog.  So, a quick re-cap ...

The hospital stay was thankfully short - in on Wednesday and out on Friday, having been dosed up with i/v antibiotics to deal with the infection.  However, the bed did have a very good view of the helipad, so that was something of a pleasant distraction!

The hot weather has continued.  Phew, has it been warm!  We've taken to saving all shower water, and some water used in the kitchen, for the garden - we've progressed from a bucket in the kitchen to a plastic garden-trug in the bathroom!  Needs must, we think, and it has certainly helped the plants get through this dry spell.

We had a lovely time with my son over the weekend, lots of catching up over some cold beers.  Wedding plans, his new job which starts next week, and his attempts at gardening - he has reluctant green fingers at the moment, but I have assured him he will 'get' gardening in due course!  He was able to try out the new bed we have sorted out for the spare bedroom, and reports that it was very comfortable indeed.  Good news.  

Wooden slatted bed-frame with lots of storage space underneath - always very useful

The wooden bed-frame cost us £20 at the local hospice furniture store - it was just what we were looking for and helped a very good cause in the process.  We did splash out on a new mattress, although it was half-price, possibly slight seconds as some of the threads had come undone on the fabric cover.  However, a few minutes patiently weaving the loose threads back through with the assistance of a crochet hook, and you couldn't tell the difference.   

We've been watching the young birds in the gardens recently.  They are still in their juvenile plumage and it is a bit confusing.

Young starling with brown feathers.  In time it will get the shiny irridescent black/blue plumage as an adult.

Young blackbird.  It's quite speckled, and I mistook it for a thrush when I first saw it.

In the garden, everything is growing well.  We've had more peas but sadly the beans we harvested were very stringy and we had to put them in the compost bin.  We think it must be the lack of rain in the growing season (which is annoying when we remember how wet it was earlier this year) as our neighbour's beans are looking a bit thin and weedy too.

In the greenhouse the tomatoes are filling out and it's looking like a good crop.  Poor N suffers every evening he goes in there to water, as the plants aggravate his hayfever, so he's sniffling and sneezing.  Hopefully it should only last another couple of weeks; he's been quite bad this year, especially with the hot weather.

The courgettes are also doing well, and we've cropped a couple already.  And the potatoes N dug up over the weekend were delicious.

Finally, the antirhinums (snap-dragons) have flowered.

N is very proud of these annuals.  We got a packet of seeds free with a box of cereal in the spring, and N sowed the seeds and potted them on, not really expecting much to happen.  So he was pleasantly surprised when all 36 seedings grew on.  They were duly planted out, spent several weeks looking a bit spindly, then all of a sudden took off and have rewarded N by flowering - it the pinky-red flower in the centre of the picture above.  We both remember snap-dragons in the gardens of our childhood - if you pinch the flowers, they 'snap' open.

We had a lovely barbeque with all our neighbours from the flats yesterday afternoon and evening.  Lots of good food, drink and very pleasant company.  

As I was busy typing this post this evening, I noticed the houses outside my window just catching the light of the setting sun.  The picture is taken from the bathroom; by perching somewhat precariously on the edge of the bath, and opening the window as far as it will go, and leaning out .... what I will do to get a photo ;)

Produce from the garden, soft bread rolls . . . and best laid plans (not!)

Today we harvested these goodies from the garden, along with more peas.  I am trying to keep a record of our produce (weight; numbers and dates) for future reference, although we crop lettuce as and when and I don't record that.  We've noticed that our bean plants have nothing like the growth they had last year, and we suspect the crop will be quite small (we only recently finished the beans we froze last year).  Hopefully the peas will make up a little for the shortfall.  These potatoes are 'freebies' - they are from a couple of spuds that started sprouting in the bottom of the veg basket, and which N just stuck in the ground to see what would happen.  Well, I can tell you that they were delicious, simply boiled and served with a bit of salt and butter.

I've been meaning to try making some soft bread rolls, following on from my success with loaves.  

Something on the move under the tea-towel!

Recipe for Soft Bread Rolls

450g white bread flour

2 tsp salt

7g dried quick action yeast

150ml milk

150ml water

50g butter (I used margarine)

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

Heat the butter, milk and water until the butter has melted, allow to cool to blood heat.

Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and mix together to form a sticky dough.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes. (the dough was very sticky and I did have to use a bit of extra flour on the worktop)

Place in bowl, cover with clingfilm (I use a damp tea-towel) and leave to prove until doubled in size.

Remove from bowl, knock back and knead for about a minute.  Divide dough into 8 equal amounts, form each into rounds, flatten slightly and place on greased/floured baking tray.  Cover again and leave to double in size again.

Bake in pre-heated oven, gas mark 6 (200 C; 180 C fan oven) for approz 18-20 minutes.

Though I say it myself, these were the most delicious rolls I have ever tasted, let alone baked.  So soft and very, very more-ish.  I was very pleased with the results.

Yesterday was our 4-weekly to-ing and fro-ing for the Flatmates, so we had been saving up a number of things we needed to do to keep us busy while we waited to collect them for the return trip.  Having dropped them off, we did all the things on our list and were feeling quite pleased with ourselves at such a productive morning.  We even had time to have a lovely walk along the esplanade while we waited for the boat.

It was another gorgeous day, and N and I really enjoyed our walk.  There is always something to see on the water, and yesterday we saw an old friend,  Leopard, cruising around the Solent.  We have followed her for several years - she is a beautiful racing yacht, and usually dwarfs all the other craft around her.

So far, all according to plan.  We collect the Flatmates, return home, have a cuppa, meet up with the pair of them again ..... and head off to the hospital - this bit was not planned!  S has to be admitted for a couple of days with asthma problems.  We have been here before, but hopefully not as bad as on  previous occasions.  We were glad we were in a position to do the running around for them - we have always been at work before.  We have kept in touch with her by text (I have to admit technology has it's uses!) and visited this afternoon.  So far so good.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

I had not had much experience of asthma before I met N and his family, and had little idea of how serious a major asthma attack can be.  It is very frightening to witness such an attack, and I can only imagine the fear and distress of suffering from one.  N has asthma himself, but not as severe as S. The worst I have seem him was last summer, when he was clearing some long grass around the allotment we had just taken over.  Within minutes, he was struggling for breath, and got back home with great difficulty.  The grass pollen had aggravated his hayfever, which in turn had triggered an asthma attack.  Thankfully he was OK, but it was a salient reminder to us.  Needless to say, we had to give up the allotment.  It was a blow, especially as we had waited over two years for it and had hoped it would be the answer to our wish for a bigger garden.  However, it just hadn't occurred to us the problems we might face with the cut grass.  It was a lesson well learned.

Tomorrow my son is coming to stay with us for the weekend - I'm looking forward to catching up on the wedding plans :)