After the Hols.

Hi once again It is after the last week end break of the summer. In U.K. the last Monday in August is the late summer break. It is called August Bank Holiday. That is the last break until the Christmas break. The weather was dreadful over the week end. Yes, plenty of rain , strong winds, gale force on the coast and very cold for the time of year. On Saturday the temperature reached 14c maximum, Rain was almost continuous, not heavy but really a dismal day. Sunday started likewise but as the day went on the wind gradually dropped but it was not nice. On Monday, the weather men said it would be nice, not so no the coast it was better than the week end but not good. Today however is much better. Typical, as most would be returning to work.
I saw my neighbour today, the first time in about 4 days. I thought they had been away for the week end but she informed me that it had been cold so had stayed indoors. I asked if she wanted any produce and she replied in the affirmative. Anyway I picked a punnet of blackberries, some beetroot, runner beans, tomatoes and a few Bramley apples. I took them round to her and just said " No eggs". Well she then told me that her hens had been attacked. I immediately thought of a fox. I enquired what had attacked them and she told me a dog. Asking her what sort she told me it was a Jack Russell. Oh dear. I had a Jack Russell, they are the most temperamental of all dogs with a mind of their own. Not to be trusted and will only be faithful to the owner. My parents could never get my dog to do as it was told. Times without number I have had to go and fetch the dog in as it just ignored my parents. Anyway back to the dog. She took me to see the chickens, feathers all over the place, 3 dead and several with no tail feathers. She told me that a lady came to the door with the dog in her arms and told here that the dog had got in the coop and run riot. From what I could gather the lady lives about 200 metres away in a caravan. She apologised profusely and then informed my neighbour that she would have to keep the dog on a lead from now on. It is funny really because her partner had only the other day informed me that he would have to get another gun. Maybe now he will.
I had a good look at them and I told her that by the looks of things, they had once again began to settle down. I also informed her that they would go off lay for as long as a fortnight but perhaps not as long as that. I then told her to keep going to visit them to reassure them. Chickens are really a wonderful pet and will follow you everywhere. They seem to love human contact.
Well I think they have strengthened the fence a little, whether it is enough only time will tell. Finally she told me that she would be getting some more to replace the ones that were killed.
On that sad note I will close. More soon.

The plums called Early Laxton, I inadvertantly may have called them Early Rivers but they are Early Laxton. They are a little later ripening this year but to my mind are a better taste than Victorias. I hope you agree they look very nice.

These are my cultivated blackberries, just beginning to ripen. I am ashamed because I have no idea what variety they are. Shame on me. They are nice and large though, not sweet yet as they are not really ripe enough.

Update on my grapes, yes they look ripe but are not sweet enough yet. I looked at last years diary and noticed that my Italian friend bought me a bunch of grapes, the same variety as these at the end of September. I know they are the same variety as he gave ma a cutting 3 years ago.

Now to other matters. I went for my pension yesterday and noticed one field of wheat had only been partially cut. Nearly all other fields have been harvested but this one had about 20% to gather. I know for sure that it will have not been cut as we have had plenty of rain. Yesterday in the form of very heavy showers, today early was pleasant but a little cool but as the afternoon wore on light rain once again started to fall. I did manage to get my potatoes lifted though. I know it is early but I set them fairly early on and to be quite candid, I was surprised at the size of some of the potatoes.

With all the rain we are having, I am getting more runner neans than I know what to do with. Yesterday I picked over 1 kilo almost 2.5 lbs and this morning about half the weight. My friend is calling tomorrow so he will have plenty of runner beans to take home with him. More soon.

Rai rain and more rain

Well, Who would have expected this. Over the week end it has been so so, but late Sunday night into Monday morning it was nothing but heavy rain. It has been on and off for the rest of the day, I looked out at the water on my driveway and noticed that I had a blockage of my drain. Well during a brief interlude between the heavy showers I cleaned the rubbish out but to my disappointment it is still blocked. In the last 30 minutes we had another very heavy shower with thunder. It always brings to me what my late Mother used to say. After a prolonged drought the rain would start. She used to say " The trouble with the weather is that when it starts to rain, it doesn't know when to stop". That had certainly been the case recently. So much so that I hardly ventured outside much today at all. I managed to get the runner beans that were ready and that was about it. Still I am not complaining, I feel sorry for the holidaymakers that are here. Not being able to go on the beach means the arcades, bad news for Mums and Dads. At least the rain helps somebody. Let us hope for a better day tomorrow. More soon.

As Promised

Well I finally get to show the outcome of my neighbour cutting the leylandi hedge. I personally think he has made a good job of it and it is surprising just how much lighter it seems to be. To be quite frank, I was noticing my block paving being affected with the roots from these trees. They do not have deep roots but long shallow roots. Let us hope that this will stop the roots going any further.

Now to these plums. These are the first of my plums this season. They are called Early Laxton, I think they are better tasting than Victoria Plums, earlier than Vics, and the skins are not as bitter as Vics, they are a little smaller though. I personally think they are about the best dessert plums around. Mind you, this season they are a lot are much smaller than usual. This is due to the very dry weather we had this year. Saying that though it has been a lot cooler this last fortnight and we have had some rain. Overnight we had some and today, although it has been muggy 25c we had a few showers. When the sun came out. it was very oppressive.

Have been picking lots of runner beans these last couple of day, so much so, that I gave both my neighbours plenty of beans. The Enorma beans look great and I am proud to give them away as they look so good. My apples on the other hand are a dreadful disappointment. My James Grieve are small, being pecked by blackbirds and then attacked by wasps. Such a disappointment. They are attacking my Bramley cooker apple too, I suppose my late summer apples called Sunset will soon be a target. I don't mind as long as they leave me enough for myself. It is funny really, they seem to pick the biggest and the best apples first. It reminded me of little kiddies. When I was at the sea front kiosk. I used to sell beach gear. You would get grandpa come with a very young child. the child would go for the larges bucket and spade possible. Grandpa would do his best to persuade them to have a smaller one, but nearly always they lost out. Mind you it was more money for me. Surely insects and birds are not like small children! Well I will give it some thought. More soon.

Large runner beans

Well, these are the latest runner beans Enorma, they are really large too well over 30cm long many of them. Last year I had on over 19 long about 46cm. They are perfect for showing. As you can also see, there are many flowers on also. I always set another seed about 1 month after the first one so that I will have a continuation of runner beans picking them weather permitting well into October.

These are my leeks, the weather has not been good for leeks this year but hopefully they will be reasonable and will fill out some more.

I must admit, these last few days I have something very serious on my mind, so have not spent as long as I would wish here but it may be that one day I will explain all to everyone.

Late today we had a shower, these all help to keep the runner beans growing and I am picking plenty. I am getting windfall apples from my Bramley apple tree. I gave the next door neighbour several today, I was hoping also to be able to give her some of my cultivated blackberries. The only ones that are ripe, are the odd ones at the head of the bunch but within the next week or so I am sure that they will begin to ripen nicely. I also has a plum off the tree today, not quite ready yey though. There are plenty on lots are small but some are of a decent size. By the way, my neighbour finished the hedge today. I hope to take a photo of it tomorrow. It sure looks different. I kniow one thing, it will make my life easier when it comes to trimming the hedge. Well that is all for niow. More soon.

Nothing interesting

Over the week end I have recovered from my antics at the hospital. I had to wait until this morning before I could make an appointment to see a Doctor. I was fortunate in seeing one of the original partners and she is very good. I took with me the notes that I had from the hospital and showed it to her. She then went on the computer and eventually found what I had been prescribed. Unfortunately, there was not the prescription that was suggested that I take in stock, so I think I will have to wait for at least another day before I will be able to try the said medicine. Well I guess I will not know for a few days if it is working.
Now to other things, today was like autumn, this morning the temperature was less than 15c. It was windy and dull. When the sun eventually came out, which was after 3.00pm th temperature rose a few degrees.
Last night my neighbour knocked on the door and when I went to see who it was, she had in her had an egg box containing 7 eggs. She told me that they had only just been laid. I don't know what she is going to do with all the eggs as I asked her if the stray hen had settled down. That made her 6. She then told me that they had just got another 5 making 11 in all. Her partner had told me previously that they were going to get another 5 so I told him to get a sign and put it outside saying fresh eggs for sale. I don't suppose they will do that though.
I went to have a look how my plums are doing, last year there were some ready. This year, although they are not quite ready. I expect to have some ready within the next few days. My James Grieve apples are poor and the wasps are eating them. One of the pleasures of growing fruit. That is it for now. More soon.

Just a quickie

Well yesterday came and went, as you know I had to go to hospital. I had a friend take me there and I told him how homely they all were there. After getting to reception which meant climbing several flights of stairs, the lady there commented on the effort to get there. After she took details she told us she would show us the waiting room. I knew where it was and making our way to the waiting room I saw a nurse who has been on the ward for years, I greeted her and she remembered my name as I remembered hers. Immediately to her right was the consultants secretary who I know quite well. We passed pleasantries and I informed my friend who she was. My consultant then came out of his office and we shook hands as we nearly always do. He then made a comment about how I make light of my illness. We then proceeded to the waiting room. My friend was very impressed remarking that at the hospital he went to, you were treated like a number. I reminded him that I had been in this small endoscopy ward several times over several years so I knew most of the staff. Well we hadn't been in the waiting room long when I was taken to the admin room just to check everything, the nurse informed me that she had missed me last time. I told here she also missed Su Pollard, she knew this and was disappointed. I told her that I had quite a lng chat with her as her mother and myself were next to one another on our trolley's waiting to go into the inspection area. While her mother was in the examination room we talked, I reminded her of things we had discussed when we last met so she repeated them for the few patients who were waiting to have their inspections. I then asked her to go and talk to a couple of patients as it was a traumatic experience for those who are having the inspection for the first time. She did this with relish, when she returned I told her that one person would be as mad as anything because she had missed you. The one in question was a young woman who was still sleeping after her local anaesthetic. Soon her mum came out and it was my turn.
Nothing like this happened this year though as I was the last to go and have my internal inspection. I did not have any anaesthetic as I did not have the complete examination. It was rather painful all the same. On the way home there was some rain but not a lot. Today though was quite rainy early morning also cool. My neighbour wanted to set some plants she had in pots but was surprised that the ground was still dry. I told her that it would be like that until the autumn rains. It was then soon time for my appoinment at the local surgery with the nurse.
I then went to the diabetic clinic, she made an appointment to see a nurse on the 27th August. On Monday I have to make an appointment to see a Doctor and on September 16th I go once again to hospital to see my consultant to talk about the prognosis. I think I know what the outcome will be but we all live in hopes. I will be positive anyway. So that was yesterday and today over thank goodness. Better news next week I hope.

What a noise

First pictures of the greenhouse and some of the produce. Top is of a Gardeners Delight tomato. Believe this or not, this was a side shoot. If you take a side shoot of any tomato plant, just stick it in the ground, water it regularly this will grow and as you can see this one has produced plenty of nice tomatoes about golf ball size or a fraction smaller. The second is of course a cucumber. My Italian friend gave me this plant ages ago and it has recently started to grow. I am not a cucumber man personally but it looks fine to me, whether I will get another one I do not know but the plant looks healthy enough.

Now to the noise. About 7.00pm last night there was such a noise outside my front that I went out to see what was happening. My neighbour was on the driveway cutting the leylandi hedge with a chain saw lopper. It was certainly getting them cut down. Anyway he was pleased to see me so that he could have a rest. He told me that he would not get the rest done this night as in about 45 minutes it would get dark. I am thrilled that he has cut them down as it was becoming much harder for me to keep the hedge trimmed my side. Now I am sure that I will be able to keep the hedge under control. He told me that he was going to have a bonfire with the leylandi branches. I don't know if you realise that once leylandi starts to burn, you can hardly keep the fire going as it burns so quickly. They say it is the oil content of the leylandi. I have burned some and found that it burns swiftly and goes down to nothing only a small amount of ash.

Now tomorrow I go to hospital for tests and on Friday, I go to clinic so it may be that there will be no blogs for a few days. I will try though to keep updating my blog. More soon I hope.
P S I think I made a mistake regarding the woodpeckers. I think the adult is the first pictures and the juvenile the later ones.

More pics

Well imagine my surprise when I went to check on my hazel nuts. If you click and look carefully you will see what has happened. The squirrel or plural has managed to eat almost all of the nuts off the small tree. It is unbelievable especially as they are not ready yet. You can understand why they are called vermin, I don't think they do one little bit of good at all. They were introduced into this country, have got rid of nearly all of our native red squirrels and now upset me. This is the first time this has happened this early. In other years I have had time to pick some and then let the squirrels have the rest. Oh well we must think of something different next year.

Now to something completely different. Firstly I must apologise for the quality of the photos. This photo and the next photo is of a juvenile, rather scruffy and dirty Greater Spotted Woodpecker. It is the first time in ages that I had some chance of taking a photo of one, but I managed to take two different Woodpeckers. I took about 12 different photos from my kitchen diner. Look at the picture of my kitchen diner and you will see I have venetian blinds there. Well I managed to get the camera through the slats and up to the window which is double glazed

These two are of an adult Greater Spotted Woodpecker. although the photos are not great, a majority of the general public in the U. K. will never have seen a live woodpecker. They are similar in size to a blackbird. Seem to have difficulty in walking on the ground as they seem to prefer to climb on tree trunks. Watching them drink is comical, they seem to hang low on the edge of the bird bath. Still it is nice to have them around.

When I first moved here there were no birds at all and I decided to have a peanut feeder hang, it was there for about 3 weeks then one day I noticed a great tit fly by, turn round and take a good look. It must have informed others because from that day, birds have gradually built up so that now I have them here almost all day. I do feed them all the year round. I give them sunflower hearts, peanuts and a ground seed feed, they all seem to enjoy them especially the goldfinches, they love sunflower hearts. More tomorrow.

This is where I live, yes out in the country. The front view is from just outside my front door. Looking straight ahead is the North Sea about 1.5 miles away say 2.5km. As you will notice there are very few houses around. There are about 6 properties close together and my property has about the smallest plot of land. Even so it stands on about 1/5th of an acre, plenty large enough for me now I am getting older.

My friend rung me tonight from Derbyshire, it seems as if we here have been inundated with pests when inland they have been spared somewhat. I have never seen white fly in such abundance before, they have been swarms of them and no matter what plant you touch, there are loads of white flies about. I set some peas in my polytunnel about 3 weeks ago, well I wondered what was happening to them as they seemed to die off. My sight is not good these days but on a close inspection I saw that they were covered in black fly, the ones like green fly but are black. He is bringing his wife down to the seaside so will call to see me. I told him that this week was not so good as for 2 days I have medical appointments, he knows about Thursday but did not know about Friday. they will be able to see just how poor my garden is. Mind you I have some Gardeners Delight tomatoes ripening nicely. A photo of them will be shown soon, also my blackberries are coming on well. I also noticed today that I have a plum that will soon be ready. I am looking forward to them. I hope I beat the wasps. The grapes are getting a little sweeter, the skins were tough but seem to be less tough the longer I leave them on the vine. There are so many small ones on. I can assure all that this will not happen next year if it is left to me.

As to the weather, rain is still very scarce and today someone complained to the weather woman as she promised rain today and for many hours we had unbroken sunshine and temperatures in the 80s. 28c. She just said that they had got it wrong. We all knew that still we must not complain too much as in many parts of the world, they are in such a dreadful state, Pakistan and China with floods and Russia with drought and fires. We have a lot to be thankful for here. Well that is it for today. More soon.

Photos

I asked my friend to take thes photos, I am not sure he has done me proud. The top one is of me using my powerwasher on spray watering the polytunnel. The two subsequent photos are of the way I get the power and water to the polytunnel. It is not too good but hopefully I will try again to take more shots of the system. He did set the system up for me and it works well. The green hose goes into the water butt and then is attatched to the power washer. The electric cable is plugged in at the wall and then attatched to the power washer, then plug hose on to powerwasher switch on and then it is ready to work.

Now an update as to Aviva, to my surprise the results were fantastic, they are only interim results for the first half of their financial year but the dividend is 9.5pence per share. As mentioned yesterday my aim is to get a return of 4% over a year on all of my securities. This is well in excess of this. I know that it is only one but I will keep all informed. By the way the shares advanced about 6% but I have no intention of selling them. Well not for the foreseeable future anyway.

Finally, I am a little angry, I went to have my blood tested on Monday so at the same time put my repeat prescription in for delivery. I have been waiting patiently ever since. I guess I will have to get in touch with the pharmacy and see just what has happened. More soon.

Rain at last

Update for my plums, they are Early Laxton not a common variety but I think better tasting than Victorias and earlier too. Last year it was the middle of August when I had my first plums ripe. It may be a little later though this year, we will wait and see.

Now to the weather, well I woke up this morning and we had a little rain overnight, it was still just raining, however about 30 minutes later it began to rain steadily and continued for about 2 hours, it then turned into light rain for a further 90 minutes making sure that the water butts in general were full and that for the first time in about 6 weeks the ground had a fair wetting. It did not penetrate far into the ground but it was gratefully received. It also has turned a lot cooler though. To be honest it suits me but I think the fruit would like to see a little sun. Runner beans are enjoying it though.

Now to a personal matter. About 3 weeks ago I decided to invest in the Stock Market, not for the first time but it has been perhaps 25 years since I last invested. I will be honest, I would probably have lost about 7.5% of my investments over say 5 years, but the experience was worth it. This time however, I have invested for income as the High Street Banks and Building Societies are only offering a token interest rate. I have gone for shares which have offered a return of over 4%. This of course is not guaranteed but the are household names and I will tell you which they are. First is Severn Trent, second is Aviva, third is United Utilities, fourth is Vodofone, fifth is National Grid. I have had a punt on one that is on AIM it is called Armour Group. I will keep you informed as to how things are progressing. I think Aviva has it's interim results out tomorrow so I will see if they are paying a divident and if so how much it is.

Finally for today, my friend is calling tomorrow, I will ask him to take a photo of me using his design for watering the polytunnel with a pressure washer. Hope it works O.K. More soon.

This is the other hazel nut tree I have, I have taken aclose up to show a few nuts and an overall photo to show the size of the tree. If you look closely, you will see a few nuts in the longshot.

The other 2 photos are obviously of the cabbage white butterflies enjoying the nectar of the lavender. There are loads of them there every day, still I like lavender.

Now to other things. I mentioned yesterday I went to the nurse to have my blood tested. Well we are friends as I have been seeing her to have blood tests for about 5 years. I used to go for tests every fortnight, it was gradually reduced so now I go about every 3 months so we do not see one another so regular. I have given her tomato plants for the last 4 years, she once told me that she never managed to have any tomatoes but since I have given her plants, she has done well. This year no exception, she told me she was inundated with plum tomatoes although the cherry ones were still green.

I have known she has a parrot and 2 dogs, one is an old labrador and the other is a young poodle. Last time she told me it was an apricot colour. I know that these are expensive. Well yesterday she told me that she had taken her bitch to be mated with another apricot poodle. I knew this was going to be expensive so asked her how much it had cost her. To be honest I can't truthfully remember but it was either £200 or £300. She then informed me as to the cost of puppies that her poodle could have. She was told by the dog owner that she should expect about 8 puppies and sell them for a minimum price of £700 each. Well that took her breath away. She retorted that who in rural Lincolnshire would spend that amount. The dog owner then told her that she must advertise on the internet and the puppies would certainly go. I then told her that my sister, who lives in Scotland wanted a Chihuahua and saw one for sale in Wragby at least 250 miles from wher she lived. I think it cost her £200 and that was about 10 years ago, I call them glorified rats but everyone to their taste. This seemed to settle her down and I think she realises that £700 is possible for pedigree puppies. I will of course keep you informed as to whether the bitch is pregnant and if so, how many puppies she sells. More soon.

At last I manage to get several cabbage white butterflies captured on my lavender. It attracts all sorts of insects but in general only cabbage white butterflies.

These are 4 photos of my kitchen diner. The photo was taken about 6.00pm

that in the corner is my microwave.

Notice my oven it is about 18 months old and is a Cannon Chesterfield. Next to it is my stainless steel sink whuch is about 12 months old

The cooker hood is also about 12 months old. just to the left of the C.H. boiler is my Kenwood mixer. This must be well over 10 years old.

Now to the news. On Thursday I said I may go travelling on Friday, I was disappointed not to go but one day I may explain more.

Saturday was an unusual day, I was in the garden and heard an unusual noise, turning around I saw this young hen. I didn't give it a thought as to take a photo of it, mores the pity. Anyway I had no top on so I went to get it off one of the raised beds and it followed me clucking. I put my top on and went to pick it up. To my surprise it made no effort to get away. I then took it through my home and went to the lady next door. I think I have told you before that she keeps me supplied with eggs. Incidentally, she had told me the day before that she had gained a chicken as it just turned up . Taking this chicken round next door, it immediately took interest as it noticed some familiar surroundings. She went with me and I put it in the pen. She said the others were pecking it a little. I informed her that in general after a day or so they stop doing it. Yesterday she told me that it had gone and laid an egg. Didn't take long to settle down.

This morning I went to see the nurse I see regular. I asked her how the tomatoes were performing, she told me that she was inundated with plum tomatoes but the others were not quite ready yet. She had told me ages ago that she had a grape vine. well she was very disappointed because it has a disease, she told me that there were lots of grapes on but they had gone mouldy. She said she was going to dig it up and get a new one. I suggested that she went and bought a seedless grape. Incidentally, mine are coming on nicely, touch wood. The last few days it has been a little dull and cooler, generally dry though. My postman, who has been on holiday all last week told me that the appleswere dropping off the trees. I just told him that the same was happening to mine and it was onlt the tree shedding what it could not sustain. His runner beans are like mine, nothing germinated at the base but things were setting nicely and he was beginning to harvest some beans. I will tell you more about my nurse friend tomorrow.