Since I last blogged, the family have celebrated son A's 40th birthday - yes - my youngest is 40! As requested, we had a family meal at my house with (also requested) a roast beef dinner with all the trimmings. There was lots of fun and laughter, and party boy had his head decorated by his niece, with the streamers from party poppers, looking like multi-coloured hair extensions. Mike's portrait looked down on the happy event - he loved our family get-togethers. A's present from R was surfing lessons in Devon (she is already a surfer) and the big surprise was a phone call from them, to say they had got engaged on the beach there. So, I am very happy for them both. However, on their arrival home they were very upset their cat had gone missing (the kitchen fitters had left the door open and she had escaped) and to date she is still missing. So, it had rather marred their return home from a lovely and special weekend away. I've just had a text from A to say he has arrived in India - on another of his trips away on behalf of the University.
As I've mentioned already, my new hobby of making real gemstone jewellery has kept me busy during the long, dreary days we have experienced, and last night I held my first jewellery party. I'd spent a couple of days busy baking as I had promised 'cakes and cuppas'. Even though I'd kept it all pretty low key I was delighted that so many people turned up, and even more delighted at selling quite a lot of my jewellery - far more than I had anticipated. I'll need to sell quite a bit more before I'm in profit, but my first venture was very promising. What was even more pleasing was how everyone seemed to be enjoying the evening (and my cakes!). Most of my neighbours have been fed-up with the lousy weather and it was a good excuse for a get-together and a gossop.
Here are just a few examples of my work.
The weather is still playing tricks. When we do get a good day, it is usually followed by something like today - windy, some rain and, occasionally, sunny. I was rather shocked to find that, after a long period when even the weeds weren't growing - suddenly the garden is overrun with the blighters. They seemed to have caught me unawares. I'd not been checking up on my garden, and was stunned to see the size and quantity of the dandelions in particular - and the chickweed - and the goosegrass etc. So, I spent ages weeding the other day, starting with the front garden as it looked as though I had gone away on a month's holiday. That evening I was seriously aching all over and even worse next day. The trouble is, my left knee is giving me some trouble, so the weeding process was a bit difficult. Although there is still a lot more to do, at least it does look a bit more like my garden. The back garden is just doing its own thing, until I get around to tackling it, but from the windows it looks OK. The hellebores are still flourishing. Mike's 50th birthday present camellia is, at last, covered in flowers.
I've been down to the plot on a couple of occasions. There's not much growing there at the moment, but I've erected some more wigwams, and a new frame for the sweetpeas, and son R called down and collected the bags of garden waste for me, which I put out for collection on Thursday. Did wonder if there would be too many for the refuse men to collect as I already had a number of bags filled with the garden weeds, but no probs, they were all taken. Can't complain about the council collections. The greenhouse is filling up with veg and flower plants, and some are almost ready for planting out, but I'm still keeping my eye on the weather. The occasional warm and sunny day if often followed by a cold and frosty night. My show day competition fuchsia is flourishing. I've been pinching out the growth tips, and it's looking quite bushy now. For the first time, the usual good show of yellow tulips, under my front window, is a bit of a disappointment as there are not as many of them. Over the years, some of these tulips have spread to other parts of the garden, so I intend to tag the stems of the yellow only ones (some have red streaks), and when the time is right, I will replant the bulbs with their yellow fellows, under the window, to fill in the gaps.
Well, I'm off to buy my Saturday Telegraph, as I can't manage without a crossword session. Then, if there's time, the rain keeps off, and I have the inclination, maybe I'll tackle the weeding again.
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