Knitting Again

My grown up granddaughter was upset she had mislaid her favorite knitted fingerless gloves. Winter is coming and she now has a pram to push...............

So like a good Nannie out came the knitting needles and wool from the stash and soon another pair were complete. The knitting bug kicked in once more after a dormant few months

.............But not just one pair but two plus a cosy neck warmer. Although it might have been cosier with a softer wool.

I think I'll make me a set. OK...Well, when I finished all the other projects now on the go!

Garden Produce 2009

The summer we've had this year, i.e. plenty of rain, some sun and fairly warm temperatures should have produced plenty of produce from my little plot.

We covered the rhubarb roots very early in the spring with a large black plastic tub to force it. The slender pale pink stems emerged and we had some lovely stewed rhubarb, sweetened with Sweet Cicily and rhubarb crumble puddings during the spring.

I bought three tomato plants back in early spring and decided to plant them in pots instead of in the Veg plot. They grew well and I controlled the watering and feeding reasonably well. The result, a healthy crop of sweet tomato's. There are still more to ripen but the ripening slowing down now with the autumn approaching. I'll soon have to resort to picking them to ripen indoors.

I bought two 'Gardeners Delight' plants always a good choice and a variety of a small plumb tomato whose name escapes me at the moment. The plumb tomatoes has definitely been the best cropper.

My white grape vine growing up the garages south wall has grown vigorously this year and produced a good crop of grapes. I have no idea of the variety as the cutting came from a cutting surreptitiously removed cutting from King Henry the 8th grape vine in Hampton Court Palace in Richmond. Not by me I hasten to add! I saw this ancient vine many years ago. It's enormous, with its roots growing outside and the fruiting vine growing along the full roof length of a very large green house. My vine has been planted and growing now for about 12 years. It hasn't fruited very well so far and has produced sparse small sweet bunches of grapes.

This year it decided to be much more productive. Obviously the weather has been more suited to it's needs. Did I get to taste the grapes. NO. As you can see the pesky wasps found and stripped the vine of every bunch before I realised what was happening.

The green runner beans grew well and produced a plentiful crop. We had quite a few dinners from them but they were at their most productive during the three weeks of our Canadian visitors. So while we were gadding about and eating out they were growing tough and inedible. What a shame.

I still have some peaches on my dwarf peach tree that the wasps haven't found. So I'm keeping a very close eye on the ripening process as the tree has produced more peaches this year than it has done ever before. Maybe it sensed that I was about to give up on it and dig it out. Who knows?

Gardeners deserve Pimms

For several years running we managed to leave the autumn garden tidy up too late and have finished up doing it when the weather is cold and miserable or even early in the next Spring, trying not to tread on newly emerging plants. This year we've decided that it gets tidied up early even though there may be a couple more weeks of summer colour left. Today was the perfect day, warm and sunny but not too hot. Dave's outside in shorts and tee shirt. I get lathered in barrier cream, a long sleeved shirt and gardening gloves. Not the ideal attire for a warm day but it helps to stop me getting allergic reactions from the plants I'll be cutting back.

By Mid afternoon and almost a full wheelie bin of chopped up green waste from the front garden I decided the mid afternoon cup of tea ritual was going to be replaced by a a well earned Pimms. Much nicer on a warm summers day.

The only draw back was no fruit to garnish it. Just this rather dried up lemon. Not quite right.

So who needs strawberries, orange mint and cucumber, not us. I can assure you it tasted just as good without.

Mmmmmmm.................................. so refreshing.

...........and not a allergic rash in sight.

The New Ovens Major Try Out

The new oven has been performing well so far. No disasters to report. It's a little smaller than the old oven, but, with only the two of us to cook, for it plenty big enough. The multifunction microwave will make up oven space if necessary.

This afternoon though I gave the oven it's first real test. I had a wedding cake to bake. Just two tiers of a fruit cake not my usual three. I realise now I would have to bake a three tier in two seperate baking sessions. Just as well I don't take on many commissions nowdays. Anyway it passed with flying colours. The cakes came out just fine and I breathed a sigh of relief.

The finishing touched needed in the new kitchen were completed last week end after a delay of four weeks. All the shiney toughened white glass panels are now inplace and looks fantastic. I'm so glad we resisted the vogue stainless steel panels and boring ceramic tiles.

Now for the bathroom..........................................

Watch this space.......................................

End of Season Lido Party

Rather foolishly last Thursday I decided to swim in the indoor pool. The early morning was chilly and it was grey and raining. So I thought I'd 'chicken out' and swim indoors. I regretted my decision as soon as I walked in the changing rooms. They were hot, stuffy and reeked of the awful chemicals used to clean and sanitise the floors. The pool was overheated as usual and the place was airless. I'd robbed myself of a fresh air swim! The season was ending on Sunday. What an idiot!

Sunday afternoon was a pleasant 20 degrees the pool was quite. Just a few teenage lads larking about, not use to the cold water. I was the first of the 'early morning swimmers' to arrive. This was the first 'End of Lido' do I'd managed to get too. The water was refreshingly cold, a 'barmy' 17 degrees C. (Take the word barmy which way you like!) Still, it was good to be swimming and I soon climatised to the coldness of the water. The sun pushing through the thin cloud layer and the Cathederal bells pealing across the City made you feel good to be alive.

Soon the others bathers began to arrived and by 3.30 pm there were a respectably number of bodies swimming up and down for the last time this year.

Swimming over with and warmed up by a hot showers and coffee from our flasks we feasted on the goodies we had all brought for the very last 'Pool Picnic' of the year. Roll on May 2010.

Where did that final week of the Canadians holidays go to?

Our guests, the Canadian travellers aka Nancylee and John with Dave as chauffeur, visited the ancient town of Stamford, it would have been Nottingham but the A1 blocked by an accident forced a change of destination.

They went, by train, to London and did all the touristy stuff including Camden Market, Selfridges, Oxford street and the Eye at night.

We all went to The Kings Head at Wadenhoe in Northamptonshire and had a splendid lunch in the lovely old pub by the river.

We wandered around Oundle. We shopped in Spaldings Springfield shopping outlet.

We splashed out with the budget and went for fish and chips from Linfords in Market Deeping! and ate them in the street.

A last minute dash around Tesco's at Hampton for some new clothes, hula hoops and malt loaf, the last two unobtainable in Vancouver!

And a grand finale of a family get together in Mcdonalds.

I'm not sure how they managed to squeezed all the extra shopping in the cases but it all went in somehow.

Tuesday morning it was literally squashed in 'Old Faithful for the final journey of the holiday to Heathrow airport.

Bon Voyage and come back soon.