Monday, 26 June 2023

After a peaceful weekend…

 …the oiky builders are back with their mechanical stuff (what ever happened to picks, shovels and wheelbarrows?) and thumping radio, not to mention four vehicles cluttering up the street.  I mentioned last time that there was work at each of the houses two to the east and two to the west of ours.  Well, work has now started two houses to the south as well.  I used to say that, in retirement, it’s just one long weekend.  We’re looking forward to weekends now!



Not enough to put us off our lunch, though.  Home made bread, home grown tomatoes.  Of the tomatoes, mixed news.  The Sweet Olive plants are cropping well, as you see.  We’re trying remedial measures on the San Marzanos, but are not too optimistic.

Still, the flowering stuff is doing well:


The Justice of the Peace is at its best just now, and we have a first flower on the water lily.  I notice a photobombing wild strawberry runner in the latter picture.  They’re particularly vigorous this year: Martyn had a handful of their fruit in a smoothie a day or two back.  They at least suppress some of the other weeds.

Thursday, 22 June 2023

Sounds of summer

The blackbirds and robins are still making themselves heard, as is a nearby chiffchaff.  But that’s only when they can be heard over other ambient sounds.  Two houses to our east, they are digging the footings for a nuclear shelter, if the time it’s taking is anything to go by.  Two houses to the west, the garden is being dug up and re-paved.  The two jobs require periodic visits from builders’ merchants’ lorries and grab trucks, so we live in a quasi-permanent headachy drone and a miasma of diesel fumes.  Not to mention the oiky builders yelling at each other over the sound of the machinery and/or the blaring of inane ‘music’ from their radio.

Yesterday was fine, so when the machinery started up we headed out in search of lavender plants.  There is a little strip of soil between our drive and Annie’s next door, originally populated by - what else? - leylandii.  We agreed to have them sawn down by our old friend Jonathan for the price of a new chainsaw blade.  He wanted to haul out the roots with the winch on his Land-rover: I dissuaded him in the interests of keeping functioning drains, and the roots have pretty much decomposed.  We planted all sorts of stuff on our side: pyracantha, berberis, hypericum, hebe, fuchsia, penstemon and whatever else happened to be knocking around.  It eventually occurred to me that pyracantha and berberis were not a good idea where they could lacerate passers-by, so they came out.  The hebes, as hebes will, went terribly leggy, so they are now out as well.  On her side, Annie got Ben to plant lavenders, which have done very well, hence our shopping list, and Martyn planted the lavenders this morning.

We’d hoped to get the lavender plants from a farm near Sevenoaks: I used to admire their lavender fields from the train back in my commuting days.  Their choice of plants was rather disappointing - and pricey - so we went on to a large garden shop nearby.  Ghastly place: a huge surface area and essentially a big shopping mall with garden stuff as well.  They clearly have plenty of footfall to judge by the car park, and presumably in consequence a pretty good range of plants.  Having gone out for three lavenders, we came home with two roses and a few alpines as well.  Them’s the hazards.  Once Martyn had done the kneeling stuff with the lavenders, I set about planting the roses in the raised bed at the back, without benefit of dynamite, though that would have made the job rather easier.

Tomato growing wouldn’t make us rich.  We look like having a decent crop of Sweet Olive, but the warm dry weather and insufficient watering have led to blossom end rot in the San Marzanos.  I’ve upped the watering regime, and hope for the best, but think that variety needs bigger containers.  We’re cropping spinach, rocket and dill from the raised bed, and the runner beans seem to be doing OK.

We sat and listened with incredulity to the Parliament debate on a recent report from the Privileges committee.  The quality of debate was about as dismal  as we’re used to, though the exhilaration of Hon Members at finally being allowed to label Johnson the liar he is was almost palpable.  The word egregious has been bandied about liberally, both by the privileges committee and by the disgraced Johnson in his reaction to the report.  I’ll tell you what’s egregious: it’s the absence of the government front bench during the debate, and the refusal of the latest and for the time being Rt Hon First Lord of the Treasury either to take part in the debate in the House or to take a position in regard to the report’s conclusions.  Certain figures are saying we should get over it and carry on.  Unfortunately, it will take a generation to ‘get over’ the damage done by the self-seeking Johnson.  Damage to the economy, to confidence in the country’s institutions and to the reputation of the country abroad, to name but a few.  I hate to repeat myself, but I’m more than ever relieved to be old and childless.  This is not the country in which I hoped to spend my twilight years.

And, on that happy note, the oiks have packed up and gone home, the evening is warm and still, dinner is ready for the off signal, and I think we might open a bottle of Prosecco.

Wednesday, 7 June 2023

A good place to be







The garden is a pleasant place to be at this time of year.  It’s always a pleasure when subjects one cultivates, like the roses and the aquilegias grown from saved seed, put on a show.  But every bit as satisfying are the uninvited visitors, such as the eschscholzia that sowed itself next to the sage in the raised bed, and the foxgloves all over the place. 

As well as enjoying the garden ourselves, we’ve been able to show it off to friends: even if it hasn’t been the weather for al fresco meals, the view from the dining room is pretty, and it has been sunny enough in the afternoons to allow a stroll round despite the breeze.  Kate and John braved the strike-inflated traffic last Saturday, and we had a flying visit yesterday from Claire and Richard.

The food side isn’t doing badly either.  The Sweet Olive tomatoes are fruiting well, and the San Marzano fruit are growing before our eyes.  Just hope they all ripen.  Rocket, spinach, dill, leeks and runner beans seem to be doing all right, and a lot of fruit have set on the Bramley apple tree.

Meanwhile in the kitchen we are learning to play with a new toy: a two-drawer air fryer.  So far, we’re quite impressed.  Although it will take a little time to master the split timing controls, we have successfully done a chicken with roast veggies, and in half the time it takes in the ordinary oven.  We have been using a smaller air fryer for a couple of years with good results on a more limited scale.  We like our gadgets, but are starting to have trouble finding room for them all!