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  Several months ago, I bought a book on blogging to hopefully give me some advice but I suspect it is already out-of-date.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 :-)