A glance at the diary reveals visits to the optician, doctor, pharmacy, sleep study, x-rays, blood tests and the like. To be expected, I guess, now that we’re over the hill. Nothing too dramatic, though Martyn is struggling with a persistent gut bug.
Fortunately the weather is cooling down a bit after three heatwaves in the space of about three weeks. We’ve had a few good downpours, so we have plenty of rainwater for the tomatoes and flower containers. We are starting to enjoy home-grown potatoes, starting with the ones that got away last year, and shall soon be harvesting this year’s Charlottes. The tomatoes are setting nicely, so it won’t be too long before we’re enjoying them, diseases permitting. We had some blight last year, so are keeping fingers crossed. I sowed spinach the other day, and the seedlings are starting to come through.
Today I’ve hoiked up some polyanthus from pots on the terrace and replanted with antirrhinums grown from last year’s seed. The polyanthus are now in a raised bed, recently vacated by our freebie spuds. I’ll maybe ask Ben to plant them out in the autumn when the ground is less baked. Roses are for the most part between flushes, so I’ve been dead-heading assiduously in the hope of promoting more flowers. Two that we got last year from a huge shopping mall garden centre have been doing exceptionally well: Precious Gold and Precious Ruby. Of the old guard, Queen Elizabeth has put up some vigorous new shoots despite being planted in next to nothing next to the sink drain!
Though it’s cooler today, it’s really steamy, so a scant hour in the garden was enough. I hope the storms forecast for the coming few days bring a bit of relief. Meanwhile, I’m watering from the fullest of the water butts to make space for new rainfall! As you see, I live by the Yorkshire dictum: see all, hear all, say nowt. Eat all, sup all, pay nowt. And if tha does owt for nowt, do it for thissen.
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