Ramblers' gates

As so often happens, life has not panned out quite as we had planned these past few days.  FIL has been a little under the weather so we have taken things easy.  However, beforehand, we did manage a lovely walk along some green and pleasant paths and lanes:

We admired a wonderful old oak tree .....

.... and spied little acorns forming.

Our route took us through fields, and on previous walks this way we had had to negotiate some rather rickety stiles, so we were delighted to find that the local Ramblers Association had replaced those stiles with some lovely new 'kissing' gates, as part of their 'Donate a Gate' project:

These gates are so much more accessible for all walkers, and we were all very impressed and grateful to all those people who had donated gates along the way.  Thank you, we appreciated them.

We are harvesting veggies most days now.  Not vast quantities, but every bowlful gives us a sense of satisfaction.

The first carrots - very crunchy indeed!

The potatoes on the left were the ones, left over from last year, that we found growing up among the veronica plants

A selection of our tomatoes - stripey, orange cherry, and chocolate-coloured

We are carefully recording amounts and weights of our vegetables and it will be interesting to see how much we produce this year.

Although we have had a few hard, sharp showers recently, it has been fine but just a little cooler than the high temperatures we enjoyed in July.  Having a few clouds in the sky has resulted in some pretty skies, especially around sunset.

A break in Manchester

Walking along the pier to catch the ferry, the sun just caught two of the forts in the Solent (it was quite early in the morning!)

We've returned from our short break in Manchester, and have brought FIL back with us to give him a little holiday on the island.  

We managed to get out and about in between rain showers (a bit of a feature in Manchester) including a day out in York.  I've not visited there before, and I would love to spend longer another time.  It's full of wonderful quaint lanes with wonderful interesting little shops, and lots of tea rooms serving very nice cakes!

York Minster

Beautiful row of half-timbered Tudor buildings

The view down Shambles - the houses look as though they are leaning towards each other

We went for a couple of nice walks through Heaton Park, one of the largest areas of parkland in the country, and spotted this little chap beside the path, obviously quite used to people.

We travelled back home yesterday, and by the evening two loads of washing had been hung to dry in the shed.  The lettuce was looking a little wilted so it must have been quite dry here.  N and FIL had a dead-heading session this morning and the garden looks a bit better for a little TLC.

This afternoon we drove to Cowes with the intention of parking up and walking along the front to watch the yachts racing in the Cowes Week regatta.  Well, that was the plan.  Unfortunately it seemed everyone has the same idea - I have never seen it so busy, and there was simply nowhere to park at all.  It was a little disappointing as it is always exciting to watch the racing.  However, we had a detour on the way home, and stopped off the see the remains of the PS Ryde, a much-loved, but now sadly neglected and rusting hulk of a paddle-steamer that used to ply the local waters.

Many residents remember the days when the Ryde was used as a floating disco!  There have been several attempts to raise funds to salvage her but to no avail.   It is so sad to see her in this state, and it is only a matter of time before she disintegrates completely.

This evening we glimpsed the Red Arrows performing their breath-taking air display in the skies above Cowes - from time to time we saw the coloured vapour trails and caught sight of them in various formations.

Vapour tails in the sky show where the Red Arrows had been - the planes were just too quick for me to get a photo of them!

Listening to the radio

For the last few weeks, we have been following the fortunes of the England cricket team in 'The Ashes' series against Australia.  We don't subscribe to Sky TV, so up to now N has been using his iPad to check on the score.  The second test match was during that lovely hot spell of weather, and one of our neighbours had his DAB radio on in the garden, so we could hear the commentary from time to time.  We did wonder if we could ask him to 'turn the radio up, please', but we felt it was a bit of a cheek, so we have splashed out and bought ourselves a digital radio of our own.  

We took it into the garden yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed the commentary, much better than watching TV.  With radio, the listener has to make a bit of an effort (although we found the commentators so entertaining that not having televised pictures to watch certainly wasn't a hardship).  They are very knowledgeable and always have plenty of little anecdotes to keep us interested, and the banter in-between overs is fun to listen to (and, dare I say, occasionally more interesting than the cricket itself ;)  The third match is being played at Old Trafford in Manchester, which is where we will be heading this weekend to visit N's family, so we've been sorting out things here before we go - washing, plants, cleaning etc.

The sunflowers are making good progress against the fence

After a couple of days of good steady rainfall, which has filled to water butts nicely, yesterday was incredibly hot again, and very humid after being so wet.  It really was quite tiring.  I think we may now be in for 'changeable' weather - otherwise known as sunshine and showers.

There were a huge number of bees in the garden yesterday; I counted 14 at one point, all busy flitting from flower to flower.  It has been interesting that we've not seen any wasps to date - there was an item on the news recently commenting on the same thing.  Perhaps it has something to do with the really cold, wet winter we had.

There is always a bit of dead-heading to do, but it encourages more flowers so it is worth it

This morning, as N and I were sat at the table enjoying a cup of coffee, a sudden flurry outside attracted our attention, and to our amazement, we watched the sparrowhawk fly into some nearby trees with a young blackbird in it's talons.  It perched on a branch and proceded to pull the feathers off of it's prey before flying off again.  It was a bit brutal to watch, but also fascinating.  The sparrowhawk is obviously a regular in this particular territory, as this is second time we have seen it in as many weeks.  The swiftness with which it took its prey was quite impressive, and yet again N and I appreciated how much there is to see if you are patient and simply watch.

We had thought about visiting the New Forest Show this week; it's an event we have both wanted to go to but never managed and we haven't managed it this year, either.  One of the problems of living on an island is the cost involved if we want to get off it, not to mention having to plan trips according to ferry timetables.  Most of the time it doesn't bother us at all - we simply don't think about it.  But then something like a special event crops up, and the planning involved, and the cost, gives us something to think about.  We have acknowledged that we are lucky to live where we do, in an area of such beauty with close proximity to coastline and woodlands, but occasionally we admit it would be nice just to be able to get in the car and drive to our destination without the cost of additional transport to take into consideration.  It curbs spontaineity a little!  However, it has got us thinking and mulling over a few ideas for future travelling ideas ...

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!