Friday

 I had a 6am swim today as am waking early, then watered the allotment, which is full of colour.  We have been eating a lot of garlic  beetroot, potatoes and herbs from there.  I picked some gladioli and fennel.

We had a walk in the woods behind the house earlier in the week...

Sloe berries are out too early.  Himalayan balsam is flowering along the river bank but is managed as can be invasive.  Bees love it.

I had a nice afternoon in the garden with my paints, experimenting with gauche masking fluid on practice paper.  

How was your week?

Sunday

Thank you for your really kind comments and encouragement on my last post, I will enjoy getting back into painting again although I have had a reality check so know my limitations!

Mollie's moulting. She's turning a lovely brown.

I thought today I would do a sort of catch up post  of the weekly everyday goings on.

This was my treat from our Paris trip. A teeny vase from Maison du Monde.  I like putting my scented verbena and geranium leaves in there.  A quick rub of the leaves and a sniff is nice. 

 Today I woke at 5am as usual but after a cup of tea, had a wonderful, rare, sleep until 9am!  I decided not to get dressed but to putter about getting little jobs done.  We put up a blind in the bedroom that had fallen off the wall a week ago!  It had black mould speckles along the bottom so I cleaned the black mould  off with white vinegar, I was so surprised it actually worked! 

I have a list of small jobs like this to do and am just beginning... 

I used some leather conditioner cream to nourish my leather bags and boots, I do this every year - then spray all my boots with waterproofer.

Hubby drilled out holes in some logs to make bug houses.  I wanted one for ages.  He drilled deep so woodpeckers can't eat any solitary bee eggs. I am hopeful the odd solitary bee might choose my log for her eggs, ladybirds and woodlice are welcome too.

I picked hydrangea flowers to dry for a wreath I want to make for Christmas, they are such beautiful colours, all grey and pink.  I also went into the woods to pick up a few pine cones for the same purpose, but I still need to cut ivy twine to make the base.

A friend at the allotments has a new panoramic camera and very kindly took this 360 view of my plot from above,  isn't it lovely! See link: 

Plot 60

Our town has 2 allotment sites, On Wednesday I was one of four judges for the 'rival' allotment site entries for the annual flower show, each site judges the other. There were some good entries and I learned a lot about where mine might be lacking - some folk do so much - making nettle fertiliser - I would like to try that - saving their own seeds for next year - will try that.  Mixing flowers amongst the veg crops to ensure pollinators visit - need to do more of that. 

There was a Bbq and morris dancing from the local group yesterday...

We watched Destination X on catch up tv  - disappointing, the contestants got too much air time to talk nonesense and the clues weren't enough to keep you guessing for long. I think after watching Race Across the World we expect more.    

I read this book nearly every day!  bought on Vinted .

The weather is still warm, sticky and the forecast is for a windy storm tomorrow.  The woods are going into early Autumn colours and berries.   I have picked so many blackberries! these and rhubarb from the allotment are filling most of my spare freezer but I have plans for them.  I have seen sloe berries, it's far too early, nature has lots its rhythm a bit;  but I can pick and freeze those too.  My neighbour has an elderberry tree, I recently put some crystals there for good vibes and it has apparently fruited like never before - my favourite wild fruit and title of my blog, it makes a very nice alcoholic drink. She has told me I can pick some.  Elderberry trees around here are scarce but they fruit well about every third year, then they seem to produce a poor crop for two.  2025 is a good year!

How's your week been?  If you have nothing better to do, please leave a comment, it doesn't have to be about my post,, I''m more interested in what you've been doing - maybe I will get inspiration from your pastimes, hobbies and projects :)

Painting

 Been having a declutter and went through my painting drawer.  These were all painted over the years.

Time to dust those brushes off!

Rain, at last!

 After the heatwave the UK is enjoying much needed rain.

I have done a blog post about my recent Paris trip on my other blog HERE

I have been busy this week planting carrot, parsnip, fennel, rocket, fenugreek, spring onions and more on my allotment.

I got two huge dog water bowls from the recycle centre for £2 each, perfect as a bird bath and to provide drinking water for passing foxes or deer.

Back soon, how's your week going?

Packing for Paris!

I got back from a 3 night Eurostar break in Paris on Saturday to find my allotment has been looking spectacular, (thanks to our Sprinkler group where we volunteer and water each others plots).  The main attraction has been a mallow plant that i didn't plant;  it seemed to appear overnight, grow to 4 feet, produce the most beautiful pale pink blooms -  then promptly collapse under its own weight and die off! 

France has suffered the same heatwave conditions as the UK  so with this in mind,  I packed our bags on Tuesday night and on Wednesday, we set off (via Kings Cross St Pancras, a 40 minute train journey from Gatwick, which we live close to)... and hopped on Eurostar for a short break to Paris.  I had booked this early in the year and got a fantastic deal of  3 nights B&B at the Best Western in the Opera district of Paris and our Eurostar tickets too.

I had my biab nails infilled the day before leaving. This is a new thing for me as my nails  have been very weak and should help.mine to grow stronger.  I painted my toes, thank goodness for pilates classes. You need to be a bit of a contortionist to do toes!

For the journey I wore a plain white blouse, woven raffia hat and neutral skirt with flat natural Hush Puppies leather sandals, they are oldies but very comfy.  Little did I know that all the French ladies are wearing these neutral colours this Summer and their shops are full of creams and whites.  I was mistaken for French on numerous occasions so will put it down to my colour choices and not my feeble attempts to speak French!

I took a small leather cross body handbag and my Easyjet regulation size, under seat, travel bag; it works just as well for Eurostar Ha ha!

Didnt take long to unpack

Laundry bag to keep everything compact...

I am getting good at packing light and was able to carry everything with room to spare.   I was in such a hurry to go that I forgot to take pics of what I was taking, but remembered on arrival so snapped what came out of my bag!  

I keep the disposable laundry bags that hotels provide as they are perfect for rolling and packing clothes and keeping them uncreased and clean inside the bigger bag.  I took trainers, my hat, 2 floral jersey day dresses, one ginger and cream silk maxi dress (All About Audrey £10 bargain rail),  my favourite browns and creams wrap maxi skirt (Naked Generation,), and a couple of blouses from East that I always take as they are so comfy -  long sleeved with gold pattern on both, a sleeveless vest top, 3 nickers, 1 spare bra, trainer socks, half slip and a silk scarf (Kerala souvenir some years ago).  

There's me! Entrance to hotel right next to a vintage kilo shop! Everything was very petite, a lot of leather and suede and skimpy silk, all of which made my 5ft 5 1/2 inch, size 14 frame look positively giant.  There were several of these shops  in this district of  Paris (where you buy by the kilo rather than per item).

My Primark hat has a drawstring within to tighten the crown and so there was no chance of it blowing away; although I also tied my silk scarf around it so I didn't have to carry it unless I needed it to cover my shoulders - I didn't need it as temperatures were in the low 30s.

The trip itself was really lovely and details will be on my travel blog as soon as I get a minute to upload some pics if you would like to know more.

Im taking it easy on the gym classes for a couple of weeks whilst awaiting an MSK appointment to check why I am getting pain in my elbow and knee. so for now it's just pilates, swimming, allotment and garden weeding.  Probably some joint strain due to walking 8+km a day on these recent trips (I guess you can't have it all, 66 and not counting but think I need to pace myself next time!).

 This weekend I am catching up with friends who have kindly watered both my allotment and the garden and helped my son with cat sitting duties.

Another UK heatwave is imminent, hosepipe bans and train delays due to overheated rail tracks can be expected 

How's your week going?