Blogtober 2021 :: Day 19

 

Fruit and flowers hanging on in the garden, along with some beans which might or might not get big enough to save and sow next year.

At this time of year I am ready to put it all away and head indoors to curl up on the sofa with a good book. I usually watch half an hour of television at the end of the evening, currently Scandal, which is a bit mad, but entertaining enough. Like a rather over the top version of West Wing. I would prefer to read to be honest, as I don't really have any time during the day for it, but I am going with the flow and as I say, it's not bad, although I imagine it might get a bit wearing after a while. I watched Blacklist a while back, in which no-one ever knew the truth, and all they ever banged on about was wanting to know the truth, the actual true truth, and you just knew that it would absolutely never be revealed. So I still do not know, although I know some of the truth and it wasn't much to right home about to be honest. Probably better in the anticipation. Any television you might recommend? Nothing with gangsters though, can't be doing with that.

The dog is snoring softly as I write this. He had a bit of a shock on his walk this morning when three very lively German Shepherds chased him around. They were having fun and playing, he was more of the opinion that he was running for his life. He ended up being sort of herded down a tight lane past a Staffordshire bull terrier and mastiff that we know. Absolutely the sweetest dogs, but Bertie is generally a bit terrified of them. This morning he shot past at warp speed with the tiniest squeak, as if to say, 'What next???' Suffice to say we made it home for breakfast in record time.

Blogtober 2021 :: Day 18

 

Well, no sooner had I said how nice the flowers were looking in the sunshine and dry weather than it started raining. It is very much a lottery as to whether the car starts when it's damp, so that is keeping me on my toes. It will be fine if there are boys around to push, they will relish the chance to try and get me freewheeling down the road at 20mph with no engine, but less good if they are at school. 

There was a wren on the patio earlier, such a tiny, delicate little bird, jumping around from pot to pot looking for little juicy things to eat. And blackbirds, turning over the fallen leaves, also looking for juicy things. 

There were loads of apples this year but I probably should have thinned them as they ended up being quite small. Still delicious, just a bit fiddlier to prepare. Conversely, there seems to be a shortage of conkers. Some years there are mountains of them, this year hardly one to be seen. Unless urchins have snaffled them all. Or maybe I just don't have my eye in now that the children are older. Meanwhile, the spiders are encroaching, climbing walls, settling into corners, spinning webs across the ceiling. Sofa Spider has been about, late in the evening, making risky forays across the carpet while the dog snores.

Just a short post today, as I am working madly, in the manner of a rabbit in the headlights, with half term bearing down on me at top speed, full beams and horn blaring. Three days of relatively uninterrupted peace, except for the postman, the washing machine, the occasional grocery shop/errand run, the bread machine and the odd Jehovah's witness - we are big on Jehovah's witnesses around here, and I feel I may have encouraged them slightly at one point by being polite and now I am possibly on a List somewhere. 

Anyway, the usual minor interruptions will all too soon become pitched battle as the littlest boy and I fight to the death over the amount of screen time that is acceptable. It will turn ugly.

Blogtober 2021 :: Day 17

It feels like it was a long day today, but in a good way. I worked this morning then went to watch the eldest play football. It wasn't the best tempered match, I have to say. Football doesn't always bring out the best in people. But it was gloriously sunny and I took my deckchair and a good book for before kick off and half time and coffee and homemade vegan chocolate flapjack and was generally happy as a clam.

This evening I took the dog on a quiet Sunday evening walk. I don't think he's feeling very well. Sometimes he gets hold of things he shouldn't and swallows them before anyone can stop him and it worries me. Mostly chunks of broken tennis ball. He absolutely loves anything rubbery. The tractor that cuts the grass on the green slices them in half, then Bertie finds them and chews them up and swallows them, all while I am chasing him round pleading with him not to do it. He hasn't found one in ages, but I worry that his tummy has the pieces in. He curls himself up tightly and looks a bit miserable sometimes.

Sunday evenings are incredibly quiet around here. We saw a fox this evening. He is often around the back lanes and nearby school field. He came out of a lane in front of us and we all stopped and watched each other, it was amazing. Bertie didn't bark at all, although he did watch him closely, once he had actually noticed him. He isn't always the most observant dog.

We saw a squirrel this morning crossing the little bridge over the stream. Bertie ran at it, and it jumped from the bridge up into a tree and scampered on up into the canopy. Bertie then spent quite a long time peering over the edge of the bridge trying to work out where it had gone. Sometimes I think they are laughing at him.

So that was Sunday, and tomorrow I shall be hitting the ground running, full throttle etc. etc. hoping to get loads done before the end of the week when the urchins will be home for half term. Brace, brace, brace.

Blogtober 2021 :: Day 16

The flowers are still doing nicely while the dry weather lasts. There is a cosmos outside the back door that must be five feet tall, tangled up in the fig. The chocolate cosmos are doing well too. I bought more than I meant to, but they've been lovely. I think they're perennial, so hopefully they'll be around for a while. Are they supposed to smell of chocolate? I can't smell it at all. Maybe an urban myth.

Today was much like a week day for me. I am in a phase of working a lot at the moment, so on Saturdays I just carry on as normal. I don't mind particularly, it's good to have the work. Of course, a break would be good too, but it just seems to be that season where I am working and building at the moment. 

The middle boy told me with great authority today that we share 97% of our DNA with bananas. We the human race that is, not the middle boy and me specifically, although that might be more likely. I looked it up and in fact it's only 60%, but still, that's quite a lot banana.

On the subject of DNA, I put on some wolf howling noises earlier to drown out some other noise. Bertie was very intrigued. In fact, he sometimes howls himself when he is soundly asleep. It's only very occasionally, probably a total of three occasions, but it's brilliant. It's a really long loud howl, unlike any noise he ever makes when he's awake, as though it is calling his ancestors back through the ages. In fact he is technically 99.9% wolf, although to look at, not so much. 

Tomorrow will be a combination of work and watching football, which will be good. I love the early matches when it is still fairly balmy. Already it is getting colder though. I really struggled to get up this morning. I don't ever have a lie in, I like to be up early every day, but it's definitely harder when it's cold and dark. Probably another DNA thing, the ancient instincts telling me to hibernate. If only.

Blogtober 2021 :: Day 15

 

There has been a spate of particularly brutal hedge trimming locally. The hedge in the second picture was at least four times the size and full of wildlife before it was decimated. It really doesn't seem necessary, especially as it lies between farmland and an area that is intended to attract wildlife. Next time I see them out and about with their brute of a tractor/trimmer, I shall glue myself to something in protest.

The town is currently in the process of pretty much doubling in size. Fields everywhere are being built upon. There is a lot of muttering, as you can imagine. The area set aside for wildlife is okay, if smaller than ideal. Around a quarter of the trees they added died, while a football pitch and another gravelled area added on to one of the housing estates has never been used, not even once. It is locked so children can't even access it to play informally. Views of the river have gone.

Then there was the furore over the bins and the dog poop bins, which honestly threatened to degenerate into civil unrest. Those living on the new estate were required to pay for the emptying and of course those without dogs were furious about it, despite knowing what they were signing up to when they bought. Then some people were putting the wrong things in the wrong bins which really upset some of the other people and some vitriolic notices appeared. Oh the petty joys of local politics. 

In actual fact, very little of the town is ancient, so lots of the people who don't like the new build homes are living in fairly new build homes themselves. whilst muttering darkly about the paving over of the countryside. I am working very hard at not engaging with anything negative or stressful at the moment and putting the right things in the right bins so as not to attract any rage. Below the parapet you might say. Pretty much the way I run my whole life in fact. Melted into the background. Bertie and the middle child are similar. The moment a voice is raised even half a tone, they are suddenly not there any more. Works for us.

Blogtober 2021 :: Day 14

A handful of plants from about the place. I used to have dozens of houseplants, maybe 80 or 90. I lived in a flat in a Victorian house with a huge sunlit stairwell where I kept lots of them. Now there is less space, plus children and a dog, so it has all gone smaller.

I like the slower growing ones now, like the jewel orchid in the penultimate photo. It's grown for the foliage rather than the flowers, although it does flower quite freely, they're just not as spectacular as some orchids. And yes, that is 'Eat That Frog!' next to the complete works of William Shakespeare. I haven't had time to attend to the filing of books recently and somehow that is where Brian Tracy (Get More Of The Important Things Done Today!) has ended up. 

The littlest boy bought me the stripey plant in the last photo on holiday. He is such a sweet thoughtful boy. I had stayed at the house with the dog while he went round the pencil museum and saw the largest pencil in the world. He brought me back that and a cockapoo mug and a pencil. In North Wales a couple of years ago he bought me a Welsh slate sign saying I'r ardd, or 'to the garden'. And for my birthday this year he has bought me a signed copy of a Philip Pullman book. You will recall how much love everything he writes, so I'm really looking forward to getting it in the post once it's published.

The other plant in the bottom photo is an air plant. It's outgrowing the pot, so I need to think of something else to do with it. I give it a soaking every few days and that keeps it going without the need for soil. 

Today was a parents' evening of sorts. It's all done via video link now which I think must be brilliant for the teachers as you get five minutes exactly, then it cuts you off. No more waffling on and on and on at them and making the whole shebang run late. The children have been trying to persuade me that being given an Amber for the attitude to learning is absolutely fine and expected and not an issue at all. I am not buying it and am putting together some cracking motivational speeches as well as some brutal threats. I will probably lead with the threats.

Blogtober 2021 :: Day 13

 

I tried growing pineapple lilies (above) this year after spotting them in a garden near here and thinking they looked brilliant. Alas, no flowers this year, but apparently they are hardy, so hopefully they'll pop up next year and maybe flower then.

Next year I think I shall grow more dahlias. It's the time of year when I always wonder what to do with the garden in the next season. The raised beds I have need replacing really, but I could always do something else. I don't have a vast amount of time to make huge changes, but I'd quite like to rearrange things a bit. 

Neighbours over the road put in the most wonderful wild flower patch in their front garden which was really inspiring and incredibly pretty. I grew some lovely flowers for butterflies this year which were constantly buzzing with bees as well. They're past their best now, but this will give you some idea.

They are these plants if you're interested. I'll definitely grow them all again. Hopefully I'll be able to keep the dahlias, although I'm not entirely sure how that works if you start off with plants rather than tubers. Will they have grown tubers? I imagine they will have done, although probably quite small. Plus, it is a small dahlia anyway. I shall have a root around in the pots when the flowering is over and see what's in there.

The littlest boy had another cookery lesson today, although it was theory, not practical. Apparently they tasted burgers and also looked at a thirteen-year-old burger. I asked if it was made from thirteen year olds, but apparently not, it is an actual McDonalds burger that the cookery department have had for thirteen years and has not decomposed. It sounded unlikely to me, so I asked the middle boy who confirmed that yes, two years ago he had also seen this legendary burger during the burger lesson. It was more the fact that the teachers had kept the burger that sounded unlikely, not that it hadn't decomposed - that I could well believe. 

I was telling the urchins about the McLibel trial trial the other day. Remember that? The might of McDonalds and their legal teams pitted against a part-time bar worker and an unemployed postman. At the time the hearing was the longest in English history. Around sixty leaflets were given out outside of McDonalds, which McDonalds claimed were libellous. There were 40,000 pages of evidence for the trial and the judgment was 762 pages long. McDonalds did not come out of the affair covered in glory. 

The judge said that McDonalds 'pretended to a positive nutritional benefit which their food did not match", exploited children in its advertising and helped to 'depress wages in the catering trade". Thanks to the trial, we all got to find this out. I'd love to know who said, 'I know, let's sue them'.