Bank Holiday Weekend................

Hello. 

  And now we have the very familiar (weekly) apology for not posting anything. I am sorry I have been absent here this week. The sun shone, you see, and it was such a strange occurrence, that we spent the whole week outside marvelling at the great big glowing thing in the sky.

The garden has been half power-washed. 

I decided to clean under the table outside. The one which I use for potting. The same one under which I unearthed the rat, if you remember. {{Shudder}}

Well.

I saw a green machine thingy under the cobwebs and other rubbish (the rat was there because it was cosy in all that rubbish), and hauled it out and HALLELUJAH, it was a power washer!! I sort of remembered Geoff having one. Actually, I remember the fact that I freaked out about the expense at the time. However, I do not recall it being used. Ever. And, after 7 years, I was not holding my breath here, but Diana switched it on, and lo, the water sprang forth from the wand in a jet, and great globs of black stuff on the patio vanished.

Now, if you remember, my garden is paved. There is no grass. Therefore, that means that there are a great many slabs to clean, and I am so thrilled to report that we have managed to blast most of the horrible stuff to kingdom come, and somehow, the red slabs are now pale pink.

See?

I do not remember them being pale pink.

Whatever.

But they are much cleaner. There is not much left to do on the bottom section, and then we have the top section. Under the apple tree and beyond to the other end where the greenhouses and pots of vegetables are growing. It does sound huge. It is very small. I just cram in a great many things.

It is a work in progress.

The courgettes are taking over the world

You know the greatest thing? Having the doors open, and letting the sun stream in. Ditching the shoes and feeling the warmth under the feet. Not to mention the sweat dripping off the nose. I have said this before, I know, but it never ceases to amaze me - the joy that I feel from being out there in my garden. And someone please stop me planting stuff, because every single day I plant more. Just because. .

 On Thursday, Jean and I went to a nearby town - Market Harborough - which we absolutely love. 

It is a typical market town, full of people, interesting small shops and we both say it would be a great place to retire to. On the first Thursday of every month, there is a Farmer's Market in the middle of the town. Great fresh food, meat, fish, plants, veg and so much more. It is just lovely to wander around there. We were on our way to the auctioneers with some stuff for auction, and we will be back there with more stuff on Monday, because we ran out of time. And the great thing is that the items will all go up for auction the day that Flog It, a TV programme on antiques, is filming. Hilarious. We will wear bright colours. 

The flowers in the town centre are beautiful, and they are everywhere you look. It was a lovely day out. And just look at the sun and the blue skies!

There has been a bit of aquazumba and a little bit of resting this week. Not nearly enough, because today, I really did not want to get out of bed at all. Diana was baking for church coffee duty tomorrow, so I made a quick trip to the supermarket for cocoa and other baking essentials, and then surrendered the kitchen to her. She is a star.

However, sinking into the armchair, to sip some coffee and maybe pick up the large ripple blanket with my feet up on the exercise ball was halted by a sudden onset of guilt for not saying hello, and I love you all and I am still here. The exercise ball has nowhere to live, so it is rolled between us all in the lounge. I am a stellar decorator of houses. It is purple. Like my garden clogs.

So here I am.

Now let me upload some photos and we will be good to go for a day or so..............

Today has been a crazy weather day, involving sudden torrential downpours and then sun. There is the small matter of transferring water from one water butt to another when it rains, and Diana shakes her head and greets my announcements about the state of the water levels with disbelief, and a comment about how exciting my life is. She is right, though. It DOES excite me. Water butts are important. But maybe I do need a life too. Hmmm.

I need to think about that.

The stable for small ponies new compost bin is still sitting in the middle of Jean's garden. I must speak to people with large cars this weekend, or the next thing will be Jean and me strapping skateboards under it and riding it down the hill to the allotment.

I am not sure about steering it though.

It is a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK. And as predicted, the weather changed today. BUT it is due to be really hot and sunny on Monday!! Yay!! So, I got out the BBQ. It is very old, that Weber. It must be approaching 30 years old, in fact. Groan. And my vigorous scraping revealed the fact that the metal is paper thin. So are some of the spokes on the grid. However, I am hoping it will make it through 2013, even if we have a glorious summer and it is in use constantly. Nothing says summer more than marinating meat and then sizzling it on the BBQ. I like old fashioned charcoal cooking. Diana is used to a gas BBQ. She must have been switched at birth, because all South African born people like charcoal!!

Anyway, after I had had a small fire going to clean it all, I decided that we would have a BBQ last night. The first of 2013. Hopefully the first of many. 

It was wonderful.

And finally,. we were going through the 4 boxes of my mother's extensive Dolls From Around The World collection, and we found this Skipper doll. She is one of the very first ever. I had one just like this one. (No-one was allowed to touch this one.) And then I cut her hair. She looks like a ragamuffin. An urchin. But I still have her in the loft somewhere. I loved that skipper doll. Do any of you remember the pink pleated skirt, and pink cardigan set for her? Sigh. The best. I still love this old Skipper, which is why she is now sitting on my kitchen table. 

And now, I hear the kettle boiling, so that is it for today. Have a wonderful weekend, people!