Fun and games

Yesterday I rung my Sister up to see if all was well. Unfortunately my Neice is not so good. She has been losing blood since having her child. She did tell me though that she was losing less than she was after ringing the NHS help line.
 I then asked her about the excitement on Friday. She told me that she had known nothing about it and went into town early in the morning to go to the bank. he told me that some roads were closed completely and there were police all over the place. A Fire Engine and an Ambulance were in attendance. No businesses were allowed to open at all that day, those of course whos businesses were in the roads closed She told me that as far as she knew, 4 men had burgled at least one premises and had been seen on CCTV. I presume that this was hooked up to the Police Station. Anyway the men climed on the the roofs and refused to come down. They had the cheek to ask for water which was duly sent up to them. The trouble was still going on when she walked back home. Later it was on Central T.V. Her husband saw it all and told her that when they asked for water, he would have sent it up by water cannon. His final retort was that he expected them to be foreigners. When I find out I will let you know.
  I don't know about you but I am a lttle fed up of the coverage of the Olympic Games already and it has only just started. Thank goodness I have Sky to go to. More soon.

Olympics

Today has been nothing but the Olympic Games. I am sure there are plenty who are fed up already, especially those people who rely on getting around in London. For the next few weeks it will be terrible. Thank goodness I live in the country and so are not immediately involved.
 I went this afternoon and took these photos of my tomatoes and also one of my bunches of grapes. As you can see, the grapes are beginning to turn but are nowhere near ready yet. In fact the longer the bunches are left on the vine, the sweeter they become. The tomatoes are very late this year. I try to have some ready by the end of June but it will be well into August this year. The tomatoes in the foreground and Shirley F1.
  The weather today has been somewhat better than yesterday. It started very dull but by 11.30am it brightened up and before noon the sun managed to shine. It was generally sunny until around 5.00pm then the clouds rolled in again.
 My neighbour gave me a few more strawberries, just enough for me to make 6 strawberries in jelly. As before they were beautiful. I told her to tell her Mum to cut the strawberries right down, give them a feed and with a bit of luck she will have a few strawberries in late September. By the way, she did tell me that they had more or less finished fruiting.
 Still managing to pick enough runner beans daily for a meal so I am happy, mind you I am watering them regularly. More soon.

Back to normal

I don't know what weather map Paul Hudson was getting his information from but tonight he stated that Lincolnshire had had a lovely afternoon. I can assure him that here and I am between Mablethorpe and Skegness, it has been a dull day. About 6.50pm. there was a glimpse of the sun but only for a few seconds. It was a pity because yesterday afternoon turned cloudy and there was a cool wind. However the preceeding days was a huge improvement on what we have been having. It did bring out a few cabbage white butterflies. I have noticed that the wasps are conspicuous by their absence. I don't suppose anyone will be complaining.
 This afternoon I had a delivery of my medication. To be honest, I generally go and put my repeat prescription the same day I get my State Pension. This week I forgot so it was yesterday morning I put my repeat in.
 Dave, who is the delivery man told me that he had bought a couple of cherry trees from Lidl earlier this year. One was doing well but the other was not so good. He also told me that the cherry trees that he had noticed had little or no fruit on them. I told him that I had 3 cherry trees and 2 of them had a total of 6 cherries on. The other one had some fruit on but to be honest, they were a little disappointing. I did remind him that he must get protection for his trees as the blackbirds will eat all of the fruit before they are really ripe.  We discussed gardening in general. He did tell me that the strawberries were about done so I was very lucky to have that wonderful punnet given me. I still have  a couple of strawberries in jelly left. They really are magnificent. I do have to be careful though with strawberries as they don't suit me.  I told him that my grapes were beginning to turn. I am still a little disappointed at the size of them. He then remarked that a relative had bought him and his wife  a bunch last year  but they were bitter. I reminded him that if they stayed on the vine for a while, they would get much sweeter. I hope to give him a few, but not for another month or so at least.
My french beans, the climbing variety have gone mad during the hot weather. I gave again another couple of feeds to my postman. I gave him and my mate a couple of plants each. I know that they will be rewarded if they give them lots of water. I have been watering them each morning early, again around lunchtime and lastly late in the evening.
 I, once agin picked a few more runner beans. They don't like it too hot though, they are particular as they don't like windy weather either. What they do like is plenty of moisture. I have watered them each day. When I have finished here I will water them again tonight. More soon.

Postman

These pictures are of the road just after the markings were done. No cats eyes were not put in at that time but since then they have.
 As you will notice the pull in has been left as it was . My new neighbour thought they would resurface  the pull in. I told him there was no traffic to speak of using the pull in. I also  told him that we had to get the pull in surfaced to the Highways specification before we could get permission to build our properties. Mind you, the finish is not as good as I would like it to be  as the road does stand a little proud of the pull in.
 I saw the Postman today, the first time for about a week. No wonder, he told me he was on holiday last week. He has the builders in so didn't go anywhere. I told him that I had dug some potatoes up and a few had been rotten. I then told him about the fruit trees. He was pleased I told him because he had noticed that  on some of his fruit trees the leaves had begun to dry and shrivel. He then told me he had dug his potatoes up and bagged them. A few days later he went into the garage and could smell the rotting potatoes. They do smell awful. He said that he managed to get a couple of meals saved but has discarded the remainder. It is a shame because we put so much effort into hopefully reaping some rewards but this year the weather has beaten us.
  I am managing to get a few runner beans each day, just about enough for a meal  and it looks  promising. What they don't like is hot weather. I guess we can't have the perfect weather and we have to accept what we get but it has been very hot today. More soon.

Nice surprise.

What a lovely surprise this was. On Saturday I asked my neighbour if she would like a few broad beans. She told me she would like them very much as they had none set this year. I duly gave her around 3lb. of them freshly picked. To my surprise she then asked me if I would like a few strawberries. I told her that I would appreciate that very much. Later in the afternoon the doorbell rang and it was her with a large carton of strawberries. As you can see, they are fantastic. She told me that her Mother had gone away for a few days and she could help herself to strawberries. They were certainly as fresh as one could expect. The taste was as great as the looks. I had 3 lots of strawberries with Ice cream and then I made 6 strawberry in jellies. I had one tonight, excellent.
 I was watching T.V the other night, not really taking notice but all of a sudden I heard the interviewer talk of a woman near where I live talking of the devastation of her apple orchard. I looked up and saw that her fruit trees were just like mine. To be honest, I thought my trees had suddenly caught a disease. The fruits are split and marked. Also many are deformed, some of the leaves had just been going dry and falling  as if it was Autumn.
  I had drastically pruned severely a lot of my trees, just hoping that the trees will improve. Now I have a little more confidence that next year will improve. So I hope that I may after all get some fruit on my trees.
 The weather today has been sunny and hot although it has been windy. Tomorrow will be less windy and even hotter. We must not complain though.
  My best Pal called today, he told me that there were plenty of people around, that is great news for the local Tradesmen who have had it awful so far this year. More soon.

Re. T.V.

My mate called today, unfortunately the HDMI cable did not arrive in time but we had a nice talk. and he told me about the T.V programme I wrote about on  my blog. He told me he knew a lady who had worked at the sweet factory. I think he told me it was called Beeches. It sold quality chocolates. Anyway he rung her up and asked her how it all went. She told him that the Television crew were filming for a solid fortnight. Perhaps now we can understand just how much programmes cost. As one would expect. BBC would want everything to be as near perfect as possible. Remember that at most the film shots only lasted for 25 minutes in the two programmes.
 We then got on to the solar production. With the poor weather we both agreed that this last 6 weeks have been very poor. Mind you, the weather men suggest that better weather is on the way. Hard not to be worse. Once again today, no sun whatsoever. Yesterday in Skegness torrential rain, here we had the very dark skies, much thunder but thank goodness not too much rain. Better days ahead. More soon.

Eggs

This afternoon I went to put a few things in the recycle bin. On returning I noticed that the next door neighbour had left me 6 eggs. It was last week when I asked if she wanted some more french beans that I asked her for some eggs this week. I don't use many eggs. 6 will generally last me at least 2 months. Anyway, she first told me that once again they had come first in the pigeon racing. That was 3 weeks on the trot. That, I told both of them was great. In the next breath she told me that they were down to 6 chickens. That surprised me as the last time I counted them, there were 13. She told me that they were old and they also wanted to get new and improved chicken  roosts. I certainly agree that the ones they have now are not of the best in quality and size. Still she told me that morning she had collected 4 eggs, so they are still laying well enough.
 I was surprised when I went into my greenhouse, I noticed that some of the grapes are beginning to slightly ripen. I am a little disappointed as they still seem to be rather small. Next year I will only have 12 bunches as a maximum.
 I dug a few more potatoes up today, for two reasons, first I think they have blight and the second is I am still finding some of the potatoes rotting in the ground. I only have about 6 tubors to dig up now.
 My mate is calling tomorrow so I have been picking broad beans, although they have a little chocolate spot and black fly, I am pleased with the amont of beans on them. More soon.

Pea Picking

On Sunday morning as the weather was a little better I went in the garden and picked about 5 1/2lbs of peas. My back ached somewhat and thought to myself. I certainly could not work for a day let alone a week as the 70+ did . Mind you, I have not worked since 1997.
 the forecast was for rain so in the afternoon I decided to dig up a few more potatoes. The ground is in a poor state and the potatoes were covered in heavy soil. Also there was the odd potato that had rotted due to the wet weather.
 Later I checked my runner beans and was surprised to pick enough for a meal for Monday
 As promised Monday was a dull wet day, not summer like at all but we are promised something better by the week end.
 This morning I went to have my haircut. The barber told me that the traders were suffering and there had been another hairdresser set up in business on the main High Street. Unfortunately he only lasted 2 months.
 When I left after having my haircut, I walked by a man who was trimming a hedge. I mentioned to him that shrubs, trees and grass seemed to grow this year but root vegetables have not. We started to talk and he told me the best way to get rid of greenfly was to mix a cheap soap powder in water, then pour it over where the pests were. He told me that this would cure the problem. I didn't tell him that I have had much trouble with black and greenfly but it is a little late for me to try it out this year. I will certainly give it a go next year. I will mix soap powder in fairly hot water in a builders 2 gallon bucket, let it cool then pour it into a watering can.
  I have done quite well with peas, although they are not as sweet, broad beans also have done well. It looks as if my runner beans will also do well. My marrow plants are not producing any fruit just yet but there is time for them to produce fruit. In my polytunney my french beans are great and my cabbage which my Postman gave me have done well. Outside though they are not so good. Whether I will get any is anybody's guess. More soon.

T.V.

With the cricket being abandoned recently, I went back to my old BBC. T.V. Although I missed the first half of the programme, I found it interesting. It was called "The Town that Never Retired"  Having missed the start I can only guess but it seemed to me that a couple selected several people over ther age of 70 and asked them if they would like to go back to work. Amongst them was a Plasterer, Plumber and an Electrician in the building trade. There were a couple in the Estate Agents and a couple in the Restaurant business. In the Restaurant one was employed as a sort of pot washer, he was 72. The other was a female she was 76 and employed as a waitress. There were also a few offered jobs in a Confectioners making sweets.
  After a week, the Supervisors of the trades could decide if any were suitable for a second week of work. However they would be competing with young unemployed people.
 On the Building Trade, only a plumber and electrician was offered a second week. the Restaurant offered both workers a second week.
 The Estate Agents only offered the female  a second week.  In the Confectioners only one was offered a second week.All those offered accepted the second week.
 The next night was the second episode, of two. In the confectioners 3 young lads were offered jobs. Needless to say, none of them stayed the week.
 In the Restaurant, a young girl came to work. She had a ring in her lip and the Boss asked her to remove it. She could not remove it straight away and the next day, didn't arrive for work and didn't ring in to say she was not coming in. She did turn up the following day and the lip ring had been removed. To be honest, she was neat and tidy but didn't know much about food.  However she did try.
 In the Estate Agents, the woman was not confident working the computer. The young man who had been assigned as a sort of opposition was well into computers and sailed away with what he had to do. Also when it came to measuring up properties, he was on the ball where she was not really up to scratch. they both had to show prospective clients round their properties. The woman got lost and eventually went the wrong way on a one way street. What she was good at though was the way she showed the customers round. She made them feel at ease and explained things. The young man was just the opposite. When the customers entered, all he said to them was thast they had 2 options. The first was that he could show them round or they could look over the property themselves. It was a pity as he had far more knowledge than the lady, who incidentally was 75. But conversation wise he was hopeless.
  Now to the builders. The plumber really was not up to it and admitted that as soon as the week was up he was off. He was assigned a young plumber who, to be honest carried the old man. I think he was 73. The young plumber was great.
 The electrician was also assigned a young man. He seemed O.K and the old man asked him at the end of the day if he had enjoyed it. The young man told him he had. The old man reminded him that they were a team and he expected him to be there the  next day. No such luck. He also didn't let them know. When he turned up the following day, the Supervisor asked him why he didn't turn up the day before. He told them he was not prepared to tell them.
 Well, at the end of the week. The Building trade would not have offered any of the old men a full time job and the only job that was offered was for the young plumber. I was pleased.
 Nobody was offered a job in the confectionary. The lady, who I think was 73 was not quick enough. She also said that she would not be able to do the work regular.
 The Estate Agents did not offer either of them work, although the lady was more confident of sales. It was a pity that the young man was not taken aside and taught the art of communication and conversation. I am sure he would have  eventually succeeded.
 Finally the Restaurant. Both of the older people were offered s job. The 72 pot washer refused saying that it was too hard. The waitress who was 76 said she would be delighted to work there. I do believe that she would be offered a part time job. As for the young lass. She was not offered a job, but she would be kept on the books and when a vacancy occured she would be considered. I think she will make the grade.
 My final thoughs are this. Most youngsters find it almost impossible to concentrate on a job for several hours a day. Some said the work was boring, some just didn't return to work. What does the future hold for most of the youngsters? They all say they want work but are not prepared to take any job.  We will see. More soon.

Butterflies?

Today, the weather has been a lot better. I saw for only the second time this year a cabbage white butterfly. I have only seen the odd, small tortoishell red admiral and peacock. This must be due to the poor weather we have had this year.
 I usually watch cricket on Sky but the last two matches have been abandoned without a ball being bowled. what I did was watch Tour de France. Once you get into it, it really is exciting. I couldn't believe the followings there are in France. Huge crowds stand and wait for hours just to see a fleeting glimpse of the riders. The commentator did say that a decent professional cycle rider would earn in the region of £100.000 each year. Then commenting that a lot of professional footballers in the Premier League would get more than that each week. He seemed a little disappointed, I can readily understand his feelings now I have seen the huge effort the riders put in. I will hopefully continue to watch the race until it ends in Paris around 10 days time. More soon.

Respite

Today we saw some sun, the first for a few days. Yes, we had a few showers but nothing compared to recent days.
  I was hoping the Cricket Match would be on T.V. It was coming from Birmingham but the game was called off because the ground was waterlogged.
 It isn't just in this Country though. In America, in the Colarado area, there has been droughts and severe fires that have destroyed many homes. In the Kansas areas the Corn crops are now in severe drought and look as if they have died. In the Eastern States, there has been severe thunderstorms and heatwaves. In Russia, many people were drowned by flooding. I do think it was because a dam burst.
 I can remember a colleague who used to call on me every week day. One day he said to me that we now know within  a day any news when 50 years ago it would take a week or more before the news was spread world wide. This was in the late 70s. Now the news is almost immediate. With satellite T.V. Worldwide news is transmitted within seconds.
 When I was young, I used to listen to cricket. Test Match cricket from Australia. It was of course transmitted via booster stations. The reception was not good at all but it was what we were bought up to.
 Older people will recognise that the radio reception was not good at all. Fadio Luxemburge was a classic example. Now, there are so many Radio Stations that there is no need to search for pop music. I wonder what the youngsters would think. More soon.

Territorials

It was the Government stating that with the reduction of Armed Forces being proposed bought to mimd my National Service.
 As you know I was on the Railway, a Reserved Occupation. This meant that in times of War, people who were working in a Reserved Occupation was not allowed to leave and join the Armed Forces. As the Railways were owned by The Government, they made a consession and so we on the Railway had to do 2 years National Service. By the way, I had been in the Army less than a year when France and Great Britain declared war on Egypt, after Nasser Nationalised the Suez Canal. This meant that nobody else went to do their National Service from the Railway, those working on  the footplate anyway. Firemen that means.Anyway, when we had done our 2 years, we were put on as AER. Army Emergency reserve for a total of 3.1/2 years. I do believe that those who were called up and did not work on any Reserved Occupations, had the opportunity of going into the Services for 14 days each year as Territorials. By the way, the odd guy on the footplate did volunteer for an annual trip to the Territorials. I said 14 days but it might have been 15 days each year. Their Employer could not refuse them this if they wished to join after their National Service.
 Another piece of probably useless information.
 On my journies to and from Grantham, there is a sort of Cairn, well not that really but a sort of concrete block standing about 3ft, high and gradually tapering a little. This is a reference point, useful to people who read maps. It is the highest point for several miles. This one in particular is situated on the A16 going from Boston to Grimsby. It is situated at the top of Dalby Hill between Partney and Ulceby Cross. It is situated on the right hand side going North.
 Another bit of useless information is that the highest point on British Raliways East Coast Main Line is at the summit of Stoke Tunnel. It is the highest point for around 200 miles. This is in a supposedly Rural Lincolnshire. Hard to believe I know. More soon.

Smokey

Further to my mates visit on Wednesday, I didn't tell you that he and his Brother went to see Smokey at the Embassy in Skegness. He told me they were good but that only one of the original group was still performing. All of the others were replacenents. I should have told him that as he and his Brother were in a Pop Group, it would have been great for them to see if they could meet Smokey backstage. He told me ages ago that they would often meet up with Smokey and other groups in their travels. Generally in all night cafes after their gigs. I don't know if they ever played at the same venue but I do know that my mate 's group played at the same venue as Steppin Wolf. What a thrill that would have been. It was his Brother that asked him to go. I am so pleased that they went. I hope that if another Group perform at Skegness again and they knew them of old. Perhaps they will go and try to meet them backstage and talk of old times.
 Thank goodness we didn't get the torrential rain here that was forecast. We did get rain but I think it was only about 1/2". Enough for sure but at least we were spared flooding. Unfortunately lots of others were not let off so lightly. Finally, the Weather Men state that this sort of weather looks likely to remain until after the Olympic Games. I do hope that they are wrong. More soon.

Mate called

Today for the first time in ages, my mate called to have lunch. or as we would say dinner.
 It was last night that I went out to dig some potatoes up for today. I was not surprised to find that some of them had rotted in the ground as my ground is saturated. Still I managed to get enough for today.
  This morning I went to pick some broad beans. I was surprised and disappointed at the lack of growth, this of course is just due to the dreadful weather we are having. I have just seen the weather forecast and tomorrow we could get very heavy showers but on Friday a weather warning is given for perhaps torrential rain and flooding. Let us hope that this is the last of the dreadful weather this year.
  Anyway we had a very nice day, all he did was check to see why my DVD player would not work. He told what we need so that when he calls next time,it will be sorted.
 On Thursday I ordered a couple of wall clocks, radio controlled. Well it was buy one get one free. I was surprised to find a note pushed through my letter box on Saturday informing me that the package had been left. The reason I bought the new clocks was that the second hand would often stick. The time would be correct but it was a disappointment. Also my best Pal could not see them clearly. These are larger figures. Anyway I told my mate and he took the old ones away. I was pleased because I had hoped he would. He is excellent with fixing things and I told him that they worked well although the second had was liable to stop working once the battery had been in for a few months.
 Time flew and suddenly it was 2.30pm and time for him to go. Hopefully I will have some more broad beans for him before too long. He told me that his had failed completely, what a shame.
 Finally I saw the Postman today, I told him I had a couple ofr french bean plants if he wanted them. He of course said yes. He then told me that his potatoes had blight due to the wet humid weather. Incidentally I gave my mate a couple of french bean plants. Climbing french beans are perfect for growing in a polytunnel or greenhouse. Good value for money.  More soon.

Wettest, dullest, coolest

It is official. Not that I wanted the Metreological Office to tell me. I knew that it had been a dreadful month. Typical as it is for all who have Solar Panels fitted. Still we have been rather fortunate when across the Pond the weather over there has been even worse. The latest is that many States in the U.S. are without electricity after sever weather. Compounding the situation worse is that there is a heatwave and of course, most places have Air Conditioning. No good at all without power. I am beginning to believe Global Warming has something to do with the extremes of weather patterns.
 I went out today and tried to do a little weeding. Yes it was raining, but not heavy rain but my ground is just saturated and digging of any sort is not possible.
  My vegetables are not doing well at all. My Postman concurs that his are also poor. My mate rung up on Saturday, I asked him if he had picked any raspberries. He told me he had, but they were not sweet. I told him that it was because the lack of sunshine. It is the sun that will give them the sugar so that they are sweet. My fruit, especially cherries have suffered greatly. They do not matter so much but I can't get to dig any potatoes up. This will also affect the farmers and so expect all vegetables to be more expensive this year.  They will also be unable to get on their land. Fruit also may be more expensive.
  Incidentally my apple trees are looking very poor. So much so that I will prune them heavily in the Autumn hoping that this will improve them.
 ASt least we can get about again without road closures. It is nice to go whenever one wants without hinderence. More soon.