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.