Friday 29 June 2018

Out and about again ...

We needed to go to a garden centre and as we parked, I noticed a couple of DeLorean DMC vehicles (Back to the Future) parked in the next car park. We got out to have a look and actually, there were 18 of them:
Ruby has really been feeling this hot weather and is a bit out of sorts. For the most part, she is still doing well except for yesterday when she was just annoying most of the day. After finally stopping her jumping on the furniture, she decided to do it a few times yesterday (we had a visitor). In the end, she got put in her crate to go to sleep.

Ah well...
She certainly drops to sleep in some unusual positions!


Thursday 28 June 2018

Out and about....

First of all, welcome to Anne Christine Simpson via Bloglovin.

We took ourselves off to the seaside for a couple of hours. We left Ruby at home as it was way too hot for her to be out and about walking.

We had our monthly bag of chips and curry sauce, sitting watching the beach, or rather the sand and sandbanks as the tide was well out in the distance.

There was a bit of a chill wind but for the most part, it was bearable.

Afterwards we took ourselves off to an ice cream parlour. DB has been hankering for a knickerbocker glory for years and they sold them. Here was his:
He enjoyed his but said it had too much spray cream and horrible solid marshmallow bits in the bottom. Not a patch on the ones from the 1970's!

Mine should have been an After Eight sundae but they had run out of mint ice cream, it wasn't the same with another flavour:
They were expensive to say the least and personally, I don't think worth it. I gave mine 5/10. Too much spray cream and not enough ice cream. Plus the sprinkles on the top tasted awful.

I think we'll stick to our usual ice cream place in future.

Tuesday 26 June 2018

Poor Garden

This hot weather and long time lack of good rain, is putting paid to the flowers in my garden. Having lost half my peonies over winter, the two that survived threw out a couple of sad looking flowers. They vaguely opened before drooping and dying.

The roses have flowered well but are now looking sad and dejected even with watering and feeding. Other things are constantly drooping, despite a thorough drenching. It is probably worth cutting them down and letting them start again when the weather improves:
On a bright note though, I am keeping up with my washing!

Monday 25 June 2018

Woohoo!

Andy Murray won his first match, in Eastbourne, against Stan Wawrinka, 6-1 and 6-3. He will play fellow Brit, Kyle Edmund. He was a tad emotional when he sat down and who can blame him, after nearly a year out.

Poppies galore...

A neighbour told us about the huge amount of poppies he had seen, about 7 fields worth - so we went to take a look. Unfortunately the very dry weather was making them finish quickly but three fields were still amazing to see:



Saturday 23 June 2018

Oh dear....

Without warning, Ruby had a poo on our nice dining room carpet:(

Shame it was softer than normal....

After a brief moan at her, she went and hid behind the hoover and she isn’t keen on it at all. Guess she realised.

We had morning tea under the shade of trees this morning. Weather looks to be set fair and getting hotter by the day. Picked three strawberries to top our cereals, beautiful taste. Even DB who is not over keen on shop bought ones, commented on their flavour.

Busy morning in the kitchen, baked bread, made muffins and a quiche for tea.

Friday 22 June 2018

Hooray!

We actually managed to see a double tennis match yesterday, simply because it was on centre court and that is where the cameras are. It was Jamie and Bruno, who won, in their usual fashion of taking it to a tie break.

Another hooray for pet corrector spray. We can now sit down in the lounge without Ruby jumping up constantly. It was our last resort after nearly nine weeks of being stressed by the jumping. Indeed, as we were still watching tennis, we ate off our laps, a real test. She will still jump up on an empty seat occasionally but gets off when told to. Hope it lasts.

She is currently asleep in her crate, as she has had double zoomies and was getting a bit nippy!

Hope you all have a great weekend.




Thursday 21 June 2018

Cold wind again....

DB had to put a coat on at silly o’clock for toilet time with Ruby. It is 21 knots from the north west and cold!

Night time temperatures are too chilly for my chilli plants to stay out but also too hot in the conservatory during the day. Good job I am only growing two as they have to be lugged in and out all the time:(

Might actually get to see the Jamie and Bruno match at midday, red button I think. We did catch the last bit of the Hewitt/Kyrgios match last night. If all the singles finish early, they have a late start doubles match to put on. If not, tough luck. A bonus nonetheless.

Wednesday 20 June 2018

The boy done good....

Andy returned to a standing ovation at Queens yesterday and it was just lovely to see him play again. Yes he was a bit rusty at times, other times, brilliant shot making. I think he could have actually won the match in two sets but missed a few shots he would normally get. Nick prevailed in the end but I think went ‘absent’ a few times. He seemed to feel the pressure and couldn’t relax, knowing he was playing his friend, who was returning from long term injury.

The weather today is blustery to say the least. However it is set dry and due to get more and more hot and humid from the weekend on. I really must water the front garden as some plants are starting to flag.

I’ve done the final potting on of my two chilli plants and started a strawberry garden in bed 3. I have decided to keep one bed as veg and give the rest over to fruit. The bed down the drive, currently growing tomatillos, will remain and used in future for tomatoes and beans.

Tuesday 19 June 2018

Fresh from the oven today...

Cheese scones:
I shall freeze some of them for our walk later in the week as just occasionally, we like something savoury rather than sweet!

Looking forward to seeing Andy play this afternoon, do hope he doesn't slip and cause anymore damage. Even if he doesn't win, we hope he has a good game to get him back into matches.

To me, he seems to have lost a bit of weight so hope he will be match fit and not get too pooped!

Monday 18 June 2018

Disgusted with the BBC tennis coverage.....

DB felt annoyed enough to complain to the BBC about only mentioning tennis singles results online. He got the usual waffle without promised follow up!

Today for example, on the BBC web page, on tv and on the red button, they are showing the same match. There is actually a doubles match also in progress, featuring two Brits, nowhere to be seen or mentioned.

Not much changed there then!

Friday 15 June 2018

Well...

I don’t know about the rest of the country, but we didn’t get a single drop of rain here and it is sorely needed. There is only so much carrying of watering cans I can do, so resorted to the hose, on the fruit and vegetables.

Training with Ruby this week was a bit odd. Some things she did really well but early on was a bit of a nightmare. Looking back, I think she wanted a wee as she piddled on the floor several times. Once we returned from outside, she behaved. Again, didn’t want to let go of her toy and she got a bit snappy but I persevered and got it off her. She has taken to resource guarding so we really will have to work on that.

She is slowly but surely getting better at things and we can see the dog she will become if we keep up the training. We have at last found a completely enclosed field to practise recalls off lead, so far so good. She did start to run after a jogger but returned on the whistle. That particular walk was longer than planned as DB didn’t realise he had dropped the lead!

She also had her third bath as she was a bit whiffy, water only though. She is cleaner now and once she dries and loses the wet dog whiff, should smell better.

Have a great weekend folks. Welcome to Yvonne Abdul via Bloglovin.

Thursday 14 June 2018

Meal ideas for next 10 days

Chicken a la King, beef curry from freezer, pasta bake twice, fishcake and chips, pizza, quiche twice, Indian beans and mushrooms, sausages from freezer, egg and chips, use it up twice, something on toast.

I have enough food money left over for fresh fruit, dairy and other essentials so that should do it.

My vegetable garden is still pathetic. A whole packet of new carrot and beetroot seeds have now been sown, three times, with very little to show for it. Radishes have grown, tomatoes are good, so far, beans still thinking about growing. It isn’t for lack of food or water either.

I discussed with DB yesterday about whether to give up growing veg in 3 of the 4 raised beds and have fruit instead. It would mean extra netting being set up. The 4th bed would have a few unusual veg in it and the bed down the drive would still rotate between beans and tomatoes. We shall see.




Wednesday 13 June 2018

Food Shopping

Due to needing to buy more toiletries than normal this month, I have 2 weeks shopping still to do but only 1 weeks money left. Now, we are not so hard up that we can’t just buy the extra week. However, my frugal mindset wants not to do so!

I have checked the freezer contents. Meals added in the last few days have been indian beans and mushrooms, beef curry and currently, I am making a leftovers vegetable chilli in a large pan. It comprises carrots, onions, mushrooms, butternut squash, a packet of enchilada mix, tinned tomatoes and kidney beans and home grown chilli from last year. I reckon that will feed us both tonight as well as give us enough for 2 more meals each.

With a bit of luck, I might just make it. If not, I reckon I wouldn’t need to spend more than £10 for fresh products.




Tuesday 12 June 2018

Birds...

DB has painstakenly repaired and painted the wooden birds he made a few years ago. They used to live in the fruit cage. Since our neighbour put up a 6' 6" high fence, which we quite like, we thought we would put them on there. It gives us something else to look at, besides the kitchen bins, whilst in the kitchen.

Here they are, not necessarily true colours for their species, but are great to help break up the fence:


We also have a cat on the woodstore and he hopes to make some others when time and Ruby allows!

Monday 11 June 2018

Message from Ruby....

Apparently I am a little naughty at times and mum calls me something.  I don’t know what the word means. It sounds like sit but isn’t the same so I ignore it!

Mum and dad bought me a new bed for daytime:
I was hoping for a soft one that I could get my teeth into and have fun ripping it apart. Mind you, this is one big teething toy. I was just getting some nice shapes into it when dad took it away. Now its smooth so I shall have to start again:)

Apparently I am 95% house trained but still like to wee indoors occasionally just after I have been outside for one, got to keep them on their toes.

I love my crate, a nice safe place but my other safe place is lying down between their legs when they are standing. I try to keep them standing as long as possible by constantly jumping up on chairs. They have tried everything so far to stop me, but at the moment, I’m winning!

Maybe that’s what that word means😂






Saturday 9 June 2018

Yawn...

It’s 02:10 Saturday morning and sleep is eluding me!

If I were famous and had a Facebook or Twitter account, I would be tempted to do a Q & A session but I’m not, I don’t so I can’t!

I have had 3 egg cupfuls of Tia Maria so that ought to do the trick. I was struggling to stay awake at 10pm, positively yawning my head off but for now, sleep is far away. If you are currently in the same boat, I wish you a peaceful night.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Thursday 7 June 2018

On a brighter note...

Despite fluctuating temperatures and a cold morning, I pottered into the garden to do some dead heading. Quite a few roses are now in bloom, including the new ones from last year. For some reason they were sickly then, but this year are good. Along with a few other bits and bobs, I picked my first small vase of flowers:
The scent from the roses is delicious!

Wednesday 6 June 2018

Double yuck!

Couldn't sleep Monday night so got up at 12:45am to have a tot of tia maria! By 1:45 still wasn't asleep so got up again for a bit of a wander to stretch my legs as I kept getting foot cramps. As I was about to get back into bed, I noticed a small flat object, about 2mm wide on the sheet. I picked it up with a tissue and put it to one side.

This morning when I had my glasses and examined it under a powerful lens, it was a tick. Dead, as I had attacked it with scissors last night just in case!

This prompted a thorough search of the sheet. I found two black specks, about 1mm wide and examined them. One was a tick, the other a speck of dirt. Both of the ticks had a little blood in them but both were dead.

Tossing and turning last night must have removed them off me and then I had flattened them somehow. Considering the one I removed off Ruby took a rolling pin to flatten it, don't quite know how tossing and turning could have done it. Both still had their mouth parts so that was good.

Had a massage Tuesday morning and she couldn't detect any bites on me.

When changing, I have always put my trousers on the bed without thinking. I now need to stop this with having Ruby. Even though we are keeping away from any long grass at the moment, they must have still gotten onto them, then wandered off, onto the sheet.

We now check Ruby several times a day and so far, can't find any on her but maybe we won't until they have a feed.

Doesn't bear thinking about:(


Tuesday 5 June 2018

Other bits of back garden ...

Welcome to Katie via Bloglovin.

The blueberries have flowered and are growing a few fruit. The newly planted gooseberry from last year is not well and the blackcurrant has no fruit due to a heavy cut back last year. The thornless bramble however, is covered in flower:

Still not a lot to see in the raised beds but bed 4, with its tomatoes and new compost bin, seems fine:


Monday 4 June 2018

Bread again - hooray!

My half dead puppy brain must be receding as I managed to do some baking at the weekend:
One loaf of light rye bread and a blueberry vanilla sponge pudding. I also made two cornish pasties for our lunch and the rest of the beef went into a double batch of beef, butterbean and apricot curry!

Yum...

Friday 1 June 2018

Revamped compost bin area ...

I got around to adding a bag of compost to the revamped compost bin area to lift it up in height to match either side. The two plants we bought recently were added along with quite a few other things dug up from the front gravel garden:

When we sit on the patio and look through one of the fruit arches, we can not only see the raised alpine bed but these new plants. Hopefully, they all survive the transplant and give us something interesting to see over the next few months. Everything is straighter than this photograph suggests, the camera was on a bit of an angle. Have a great weekend everyone.