Tuesday 14th July - The noise has stopped - for now

Our green-fingered neighbour was determined to save the cardoons. Undeterred by the news that they have a tap root up to two metres long, he cut off most of the stems and got out what he could. So his wife and I each have a large vase of large flowers, and he has three cardoon plants which might survive. Or not.

I left my vase outside overnight as a couple of bees were still lost in among the purple filaments gorging on the nectar in spite of the stalks being cut down and laid on the grass, and then trimmed and put in vases!  

Yesterday and today (it's now 4pm and the builders have been clearing up for the day) have been incredibly noisy. I knew it would be, but even so... We now have three deeeeep trenches across the garden

The shed was originally to the left of that digger; I watched in total disbelief as they manoeuvered two pump trolleys under it, one on each side, and PUSHED it, still full of everything, to it's new location.   

Still, we now have yet another huge heap of earth in the front garden, waiting for the man with the lorry with the great grabby grabber on the back to come. Grabber man makes it look effortless, filling its terrible jaws with earth and rubble and swinging it safely through the narrow space between the tall rose, the streetlight and the telegraph pole to dump it onto the lorry.

   Tomorrow they will be pouring concrete into the trenches. 

....

Salmon fillets, skinned, cut into pieces and coated with one of the more exotic salad dressings (I recommend honey and mustard, and also a ginger one) and air-fried for 9-10 minutes at 180 was delicious.

Tonight will be rolls with coronation coleslaw and cold sliced chicken again. No thought required.

.... 

The Real Saturday post for 11th July

 This morning my brain when I wrote the previous post, I was clearly not properlyawake!'. I'd had woken up far, far too early and the caffeine hadn't really kicked in..

The reason for seeing in the dawn? I had a hummingdinger of a nosebleed at 4.20 am - I checked the time - and it was half a box of tissues and over 25 minutes before it stopped. I was very pleased that I reacted quickly enough to save the bedding! (But my pyjamas went straight into the wash once I was up!).

Anyway, all's well that ends well, and I've been fine, if a bit scrambled what with early rising and a heatwave. The heat seems to suddenly envelop the house at about half past two, and then all sensible thought processes cease. We've been opening the front and back doors to let a draught of cool air sweep through. 

Weren't the men's Wimbledon semi finals interesting yesterday! I stood in the hall and watched through the open door...

and then had a better idea; BB helped me set up a camping chair in the hall and brought me my laptop.

Now the tricky thing is that iplayer is about 2 seconds behind the TV... so he switched off the sound and watched on TV from the comfortof his armchair and listened to the delayed commentary. Confusing, or what, huh?

....

Assembled meals have been the order of the day; sliced ham, salad, potato salad...

'Pasta pockets' as my friend calls them (filled tortellini) with sauce out of a jar

Crustless quiche made first thing in the morning, with boiled potatoes, also cooked in the morning, and salad... you get the idea.. 

Although I've come to the conclusion that all the bought coleslaw salads have been dressed with the same generic mayo-type dressing, and it really is Much Better to make one's own.

.... 

I'm very much enjoying 'Mrs Endicott's Splendid Adventure' by Rhys Bowen, although I haven't reached the quotation I posted yet.

Saturday! NOT Sunday 11th July - Mrs Endicott's Splendid Adventure

 I was searching through my Commonplace book this morning for a poem (which I don't think I have written down yet) and tripped across this quotation

"Prayers don't have to be elaborate things. Why don't you start with 

three things you're blessed with,

three things you're afraid of,

and three things you ask of Him?

And don't forget to listen, too."

Underneath, I have written "Mrs Endicott's Splendid Adventure - by Rhys Bowen". Not an author I have read. 

It's the advice on prayer that caught my attention. It seems doable to me...

On the strength of those words, and the blurb, I have downloaded the book for £1 onto my kindle. 

 "Blindsided by betrayal in pre-WWII England, a woman charts a daring new course in this captivating tale of resilience, friendship, and new love by the bestselling author of The Rose Arbor and The Venice Sketchbook.

Surrey, England, 1938. After thirty devoted years of marriage, Ellie Endicott is blindsided by her husband’s appeal for divorce. It’s Ellie’s opportunity for change too. The unfaithful cad can have the house. She’s taking the Bentley. Ellie, her housekeeper Mavis, and her elderly friend Dora—each needing escape—impulsively head for parts unknown in the South of France."

The book looks interesting, (if not particularly 'holy') and I am already wondering who said these words to whom... 

Ang's comment below alerted me to the fact that today is SATURDAY! So my Sunday-style post is a day early...

Thursday 9th July - Seriously?

 Oh please, please, could everyone in Clacton-on-Sea vote for Count Binface?

 He looks to be the only candidate standing against Nigel Farage in the by-election after NF resigned as an MP (oddly enough the same initials as National Front, I'veonlyjust noticed). NF resigned as MP, apparently, if I've got this right, in protest at being investigated re potentially breaching the code of conduct for MPs.

Reading the ITVX article it seems he's a 'comedian, satirist and Intergalactic Warrior'. Plus he's written for 'Have I Got News For You'. Sound at least as well qualified as many, then?

Am I serious? Um... well, actually,.... yes?

Meanwhile, I dug these plums out of the fridge;

Perfectly ripe, according to the label... definitely NOT! I remember plums being soft and sweet and luscious, nor crunchy and sour. I'm stewing them with sugar and cinnamon.

I've been looking forward to these plums because of this poem

Wednesday 8th Wednesday - move along, nothing happening here...

 I bought kitchen towels that were about an inch too wide for our wall- mounted dispenser. 

No problem, I thought;

BB looked at my DIY fix, and walked to the shop for some new rolls. 'I'll keep these for the car or the shed' he said...

And that's about all I accomplished apart from lunch (sausages, home-made pasta salad, home-made coleslaw, tomatoes, cucumber, crisps and fruit) and supper (exactly the same all over again, except for the coleslaw).

Happy hot Wednesday!

Tuesday 7th July - at last! Post!

 There was a muffled thump in the hall - post!

we were eating lunch; sea bream with roasted onions, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, herbs etc. Plus some purple sprouting broccoli for 'greens'.

The new revised second class post delivery schedule is beginning to bite; Ang posted this last Wednesday, or maybe Thursday morning;

a pink and maroon slip stitch pattern with some suffragette safety pins - purple and dark green. Plus a postcard of an amazing quilt. She describes it here.

Knitting is Not Happening at the moment. Too Hot!

 Otherwise it's been a fairly quiet day. I sat in the shade first thing this morning and watched and chatted and answered questions while Vicky sorted out the chaos of all my pots, abandoned for nearly a year now, ever since we decided that this extension was more than a dream. It was an education watching her at work; even if I was physically able enough do to this, I would never have been able to match her quick, quiet efficiency.         

Then I came in, and while BB was out sourcing a new key safe for beside the front door, I defied the Builders by working out how to open the patio door, and then fixed a string to the handle in such a way I could open it, and haul it back closed without ever stepping down to my doom. The half open door is now completely blocked by the chair, and we can operate my door control system without moving it.       

So that was most of Tuesday... here's the whole poem about peace dropping slow...

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

By William Butler Yeats

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

By William Butler Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;

Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;

There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

from the poetry foundation