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 ;)