Birthday Celebrations…

We had a weekend of social engagements for Sue’s birthday with parties for friends and family on one day and for neighbours on another.

The deck was the centre for these activities and with the borrowed gazebo what little rain there was did not dampen our spirits. With encouragement and support I even managed to cook a joint of lamb on the Webber without giving anybody food poisoning and with it all going as soon as it was carved.

The ice cooler was installed in the garden table and was filled with a variety of liquid refreshments, including babycham for a retro feel.

Howard brought his cocktail shaker and plied us (unresistingly) with some amazing concoctions of falling down juice and Carole made a tempting and delicious cake for the party girl to share.

How your garden grows…

Warm wet weather is apparently good for the garden and by the size of the weeds it appears so, however we have had mixed results with the crops. Onions and garlic suffered with a long spell of rain and have come to naught, yet the broad beans and peas have been some of the best. Salad crops have not done well until now that the weather has started to improve. Potatoes are small but tasty and we are seeing a lot of growth on the squash and courgettes though the sweetcorn and runner beans seem to be in a shady corner and are not looking so good. If this warm spell lasts we might still get some good growth before the harvest season is upon us.

In the greenhouse things have gone mad with tomatoes, chilli peppers and even the melon and watermelon looking healthy, filling the small frame with greenery.  

Mortgage Free…

We have reached an important milestone for us having just paid off the mortgage and feel suitably grown up. I have spent a great deal of the extra money on tickets for gigs, games, books and music but there were all essentials!

We have a few ‘big ticket’ items to pay for in the next few months and so we plan to get this year out of the way and then we are going to review our finances looking to our future.

Summertime…

We are having a heat wave (most other places possibly would just call it summer) and it has been very warm and humid with some spectacular thunderstorms and reports of more heat to come. We have enjoyed getting out in the sunshine and eating alfresco when we can but the evenings can be quite sticky (steady!) and there has been a ‘perfect storm’ of annoying insects as conditions are ideal for their proliferation.

Toothache…

Sue has had trouble with her teeth leaving treatment too long she had several visits which resulted in one removal and some further work to come. Her fear at the dentist was only overcome when the oral pain became too much to bare and the repeated visits were gratis after she cried and when she brought chocolates (?) and flowers for the staff in gratitude.

Watching the paint dry…

We have just hired a local painter to paint the exterior of the house properly and he has done a fine job. The window frames, window stonework, and soffits were painted in a period style off white, the downpipes in black, and the front and back doors in a lovely shade of green called sage. I used some of the left over green to paint the front bench. It is all looking very smart and we have had several comments from the neighbours as to how it puts their houses to shame. The only problem is we now need to redo the interior decoration as it is looking decidedly shabby by comparison.