Just Too Hot

Hello and welcome back to this small corner, or indeed welcome if it is your first visit here. It is lovely that you are visiting.

This week, like many other parts of the UK, it has been so, so hot. By midday, it had been impossible to be outside until late in the evening, and even then, restful and comfortable sleep was difficult. However, being true to British weather, the coming week looks much cooler with the possibility of a few showers. 😊

 

Monday was probably the coolest day of the week, and hubby decided it was time to trim most of our hedge. He had started it a few days earlier, but there was quite a lot to deal with. Normally, we can fill at least two enormous rubble sacks with stones and sand delivered by the builders' merchant. There is always the problem of what to do with all the cuttings, and there is far too much to keep in the garden. 

We used to have a shredder, but it wasn't very good and didn't do much to reduce the debris. The question was whether to buy a bigger, more powerful, and, of course, more expensive shredder. Then I had a light-bulb moment and a flashback to something I had read about dealing with hedge pruning. I suggested to hubby that he spread out the cuttings across the lawn, then use the lawn mower to chop them and vacuum up the debris. It worked a treat and left us with the equivalent of less than half a bag of chopped leaves. We are using the leaves as a mulch around the rest of the garden. 

No waste and no trip to the tip - happy days!

Now that we have finished picking the rhubarb for the year, it has been gooseberry-picking time. I have one very old bush that belonged to my dad, and it has produced tons of fruit. The only problem is that it fights back with thorns, and I have sore fingers to prove who won the battle. Still, it was worth it for the fruit. I managed to pick the fruit late in the day, after the sun had grown less intense.

Yesterday we travelled down to Devon, not far from Taunton, for some 60th birthday celebrations for my sister-in-Law. We had a wonderful afternoon outside, with plenty of shade. There was an abundance of food, drink, laughter and happy memories shared. The house looks out onto fields and hills beyond its boundaries, and the garden is a real picture. 

This afternoon, hubby dug up the rest of our potato crop, which we will use over the next few weeks. Sorry, I forgot to take the photo before I put them in the bag.

While it has mostly been too hot to be outside for long, these two puzzles have been completed. My favourite is the butterfly one, but the other is lovely too.

Wherever you are in the world, I hope the next week is a good one for you and that you remain safe and well.

Bev 

All About the Fruit

Hello to you all.

I hope you have had a good week and the weather has been kind wherever you are. It has been warm enough at times this week for me to get outside in the garden, which is one of my favourite things to do. 

I found this lovely small clump of snowdrops just poking their heads above the ground early in the week. Unfortunately, when I looked a few days later, all the pretty white heads had gone - nibbled away. When I looked on Mr Google, I was surprised to learn that snowdrops are high in sugar, so maybe a night-time critter had a sweet tooth for them this year.

Or it could just be slugs, of course.

This week has been about the fruit in my garden, preparing the ground and pots for the season ahead. I pruned our apple tree to keep it manageable and planted some rooted gooseberry and black currant plants into pots. We also had two more large gooseberry and black currant bushes that had been taking up a great deal of space in raised beds, which we have replanted in pots with fresh compost.  

The last fruit that found a new home this week was the rhubarb: the wooden raised bed it was growing in had disintegrated over time, so a new place to grow had become essential. I split the plants and discarded the oldest parts before replanting them in a larger plot.

I have several other jobs I want to get done in the garden this month. Still, if the weather is unkind, I can continue to work in the greenhouse preparing for seed sowing time.

Meanwhile, indoors, I have started a new cross-stitch project. It was the final item currently in my craft box. I shall be working on this over the next few weeks, but I thought you would like to see the start and keep you guessing as to what it will be.

Have a great week ahead, both inside and outdoors.

See you next week 

B xx