HOT!!!

I am melting. I am a puddle. I am dripping in a most unattractive fashion.

It is HOT people. HOT. And there is not the slightest hint of a breeze and humidity is high. Do not mention flies. They seem to be feeling the heat too, so have moved indoors.

And I have bookclub here tonight. I may suggest we all sit on the tiles on the kitchen floor. Or under the garden sprinkler.

I spent the morning taking Glynis to the hospital for a procedure - see - we take turns visiting hospitals with each other.

Now I am off to find something cold to drink. I will be back.

Getting hotter and hotter......

And so the heatwave arrives.

My son called me yesterday afternoon, (as I was sitting in my garden with a friend after a bbq) to tell me that they were having a hail storm to end all hail storms. The garden was a wreck, gutters overflowing and road a river. And he is just an hour and a half away. We had none of that. I did tell him not to mourn the demise of his peppers or tomatoes. I have a zillion extra plants here.

I do believe that this is turning into a weather blog. I live in England. It goes with the territory! And if not a weather one, then a gardening one. Sigh. I really do have other stuff going on, you know. I just tend to forget it all.

So what was I saying then....

Yesterday, I picked peas from my garden, and froze them. And today I creamed spinach and that is waiting to go in the freezer too. We had a salad of lettuce, basil, chives (all from the garden) with tomatoes and peppers yesterday. And soon I will have a mountain of home-grown tomatoes to deal with. And all the rest. I am digging up some potatoes in a day or 2. This year I grew them in pots here at home, and it will be good to see how they have done. Jean did so as well, and she has had a good steady supply.

It is great, you know - you decide that you will need potatoes in a couple of days, so you stop watering one pot, and they are not all muddy when you upend it. Voila!

I was pottering in the garden yesterday, and I moved aside a branch, and something rather substantial and wet landed on my foot. I thought it was a trifle heavy for a rain drop or 2, and it was. A frog. My frog! It is back! There is usually one in the garden each summer, and I have no idea why as I have no pool or obvious water source.

Things are starting to bloom around here. I am now going to go and have a snooze and contemplate some erudite stuff to post about next.

I saved the best photo for last. My favourite rose - Alpine Sunset.....

Friday........

First the weather report......

The sun shone.
The sun disappeared.
Gentle rain fell on the village.
The rain stopped.
Thunder.
Lightning.
Torrential rain.
The rain stopped.

And that was in the space of a couple of hours. I do believe the sun is due to shine again today. Sometime. This is the time I always wish I had some water-butts attached to my drain pipes to save water for the garden. Memo to self: Get water-butts asap.

The photos of the vast expanse of growing things yesterday were of the allotment, down at the bottom of the village. I think I have mentioned before that our gardens are very small, so some of us rent allotments to grow things. My garden is absolutely packed with things, and as I said, I will show you photos when all the buds open. I love it. The allotment is different. My friends use it because I simply cannot do it myself. Not now. We share the produce.

I have lost one of my favourite earrings. I lost it somewhere between the pool and home yesterday, and despite trips to try to find it, I can't. Sigh. What on earth is the use of one earring, I ask you??? I am sure most of us have plenty of single ones lying about. Useless.

More thunder.
More lightning.
More torrential rain.

Yes, I know, I should switch this off in thunderstorms, but I think it is a few miles away. At least I will not have to water the garden this evening! OOps. Maybe it is a little closer than I thought. I am off....

Strawberries, cream, tennis.....

This is summer. This is England. And the sun is still shining, so things are good.

David and I went to water the allotment this morning, and Mum came along to see the progress. I can't claim to be responsible for much, apart for some of the plants I grew from seed. David has done some of the digging, and I did try some hoeing and weeding back a few months ago, which was not clever. At all. And clearly is not part of the general idea of what I should be doing.

But it is still The Allotment. My allotment. Geoff's Allotment. And my friends, Margaret and Derek, and John, have done most of the work. Geoff would have been thrilled at the way it looks now. On Saturday, it will be 3 years since he was admitted to the hospital with a heart which was falling apart. 10 days later, he died. It seems just like yesterday, you know.

And every year, as we get close to the start of July, I am reminded of how beautiful the garden looked on the day of his funeral, when all our friends came back here after it was over. It looked just as beautiful exactly 6 years before that too, when Dad died.

Anyway. Now it has masses of vegetables too. I have picked the first zucchini, and will pick peas this weekend. And the spinach and lettuce just keep coming! Not to mention the 47000 tomato plants I seem to have grown. They are multiplying at night, I am convinced, but have yet to grow tomatoes. Masses of flowers though. And did I tell you about the gem squash plant which is wandering all over my driveway?? Please ignore me if I repeat myself. Memory is also part of CRPS. The lack of memory, that is.

Have a look at this hanging basket. It is not a stunning photo, but I wanted you to see the lettuce (ever-lasting lettuce - you keep picking the leaves you want for each meal, and it keeps growing) and there in the centre, is a small rosemary plant. Together with the flowers. I have about 7 lettuces in the hanging baskets and then more in pots. It is SO easy! Parsley also looks great in hanging baskets. I have gone for total colour this year, and when they are all in bloom, I will show you more photos.

The strawberries and cream are ready and waiting. Maybe tomorrow, I think. Meringues too. I went to aqua today and worked incredibly hard, so tomorrow will be a floppy day. I may even relax in my garden.....

An evening walk......

After a beautiful summer day, I went for a walk to the outskirts of the village this evening. This is a field of something wheat-like. I love the misty look of the husky bits. You can see that I am clearly an authority in all things agricultural, can't you.....

I do love living out of a city. For someone who spent the first 36 years of her life in a large urban sprawl, this is a real change!

Now the next photo is not of the countryside at all.......

And this is my friend, Glynis - at one of our many pauses for coffee yesterday in Bath. Starbucks this time. I think this is a stunning photo of her.

Bed time now. I need to muster energy to watch more tennis tomorrow. Hopefully Roger will triumph again......

Back from Bath....

I am back. At 8.30pm on Sunday, I conceded that there was no human way I was going to be able to drive to Bath and back, and agreed that Glynis would come with me. And drive. I am stubborn, independent and quite possibly as pig-headed as my friends would say.

It took us just over 3 hours to get there, and then we found that instead of being a bit late for appointment #1, I was actually 3 hours early. They gave me the wrong time. I did actually wonder why it said 10pm. So we popped out for muffins and hot chocolate. Total sugar rush, but divine.

Anyway, I digress.

I saw the doctor in charge first. While she is delighted with my physical side - ie the exercise, aqua, walking etc etc, she is less than enchanted with my failure to pace myself, relax, rest, etc etc etc. LESS than delighted. Not surprised at all, though. I think she knows me quite well. She grinned when I confessed, and said she had a good idea what the physio and OT were going to say to me. So did I. I am apparently doing way too much. When she heard that I had intended to drive there myself, she flipped.

I had many questions. And she gave the answers. We are now at the stage where it is all about managing the CRPS. We are not talking about it disappearing. I am not quite ready for that yet. And there will be no more IVG (worm thingys) because "we are too far down the road for that now". Trying acupuncture is a good idea. I start in July. And I can try coming off the meds, which was my question, and see if I can tolerate the pain. So I will give it a go one of these days.

Then I went to the trial appointment - for research tests. I was a star. Then to the psychologist, who was less than thrilled altogether. Too much stress, too little rest, too much activity, too little asking for help, too much independence, too little pacing blah blah blah. And she said under no circumstances was I anywhere near being able to go back to work. And I need more appointments.

Then the physio and OT. Hahahahahaha. I am walking better, and am very good at desensitisation. But they won't give me any more physio stuff to do because I overdo it all and fail to monitor myself, pace, relax etc. Great to get the one part right, but now have to focus on the other. And they will all see me again in a few months, and I had better be good at pacing. I also forgot that they had told me I had to select one day a week and make it uniquely mine. Spoil myself, do what I want to do, focus on me etc. I forgot it was a whole day thing. Hmmm. I also raced into a shop before I saw them and bought a necklace and scarf for myself. So I had something to show them. They liked them, but saw straight through the fact that I had failed miserably on this front.

It sounds trivial in a way - taking time for myself. But they are aware of the momumental challenges I face, and they are also aware that I am a Type A personality, and that I bury myself in activity till I exhaust myself, so that I don't have the time or energy to think. I focus on this moment, not on tomorrow. Some may call it hiding or denial.

To have a good chance at healing, it has to be an end to the "boom or bust" way I am doing things. The single most important thing is pacing myself. So I need to examine all activities. For example, gardening. I have to time how long it takes for the pain to become dire. Then take that time and halve it. So the maximum time I will be able to garden will be that baseline. Half the time it takes to become excruciating. It makes sense. I will do it. And I have to do that with everything. Even sitting here at the computer. And then I have to sit with a friend and plan the week ahead, making sure that if I have something like aqua, I do not have anything energetic on the day before or after. That I plan in daily relaxation, with cds or things like that. Shut myself away and make it a part of my daily routine.

Anyway. I went, and it was good feedback which I needed to hear. My knuckles are rapped. Fair enough. Weird to be sitting there in front of 2 young women, my daughter's sort of age, being told off. But Glynis sat there and grinned and if I didn't confess enough, she volunteered details. Great friend!

We did have fun looking at some shops, and buying a few bits and pieces, and planning a return for a break there. It is such a beautiful city. And we got home, after one traffic jam, at 7pm. I was totally wiped out. Totally. It had been a long day. But I will be working on what I have been told to focus on.

And I now need a TomTom. My life is incomplete without one. I had such fun playing with Glynis's one in the car. It kept me occupied.

Now I am off to watch Wimbledon. There is no rain! Time to celebrate summer! I will be resting. See - I can do this. I will relax and watch tennis for the next 2 whole weeks. I may sip Pimms and eat some strawberries and cream while I do the resting bit too. It will be a struggle, but I will overcome......!

England in the summer.....

Sunny Solstice Sunday.........

It is a beautiful day - hot and sunny. And it is Solstice time again. The Druids were out at Stone Henge this morning to watch the sun rise, and apparently there were thousands of people there. It is one of only 2 days in the year that you can go into the ring itself.

The British Grand Prix is over, it is Father's Day, and the birds are chirping out side my door. Loudly. I can smell tomato on my hands from tying up the plants, and basil which I have growing next to my sink......the smells of summer. It is a year ago today that I heard that I was going to be a Granny too.

I spoke to my neighbour, and we have compromised. She was sorry re the garden, but loves the squirrels, so she has agreed to finish the pack of seeds she has now and then stop feeding till winter. I can live with that. She has had no trouble in her garden. Of course not. Those pesky rodents are not stupid, and wouldn't dream of digging up her place. Mine? Open season. But I have a clever defence front, people. I have empty plastic shopping bags tied all over the place billowing and rustling in the breeze. It looks totally stunning, but so far it seems to have worked. Maybe I should patent my invention - Squirrel Scarer.

Tomorrow I am off to Bath again for the day. Loads of back-to-back appointments to see how things are going. It will be a long and exhausting day, and I still ahve to compile my lists of questions, and also my 12 things I did to spoil myself. Hmmm. I had better get moving. Slowly. And Wimbeldon is starting tomorrow! What a delight.

Oh - I nearly forgot...... yesterday it was a year ago that I wrecked my knee. A year. I can't believe it is a whole year. 365 days. It has not been stellar. But hopefully this time next year, I will have a different story to tell!

Village Carnival time.....

The skies were not quite the blue they had promised to be, and there was a little rain as the carnival began......

But that did not stop the village from turning out in force......

The kids love climbing in the fire engine, and wearing hats and setting off the siren....

And the pipe band plays stirring music on those bagpipes....

The magician keeps the children enthralled.....

The morris dancers were a great attraction. See all those bells on the socks?? They jingle and jangles as the fiddler plays his jig, and the men sing......

I am not really "up" on Morris Dancing, people, so I have no idea why there is a man dressed as a woman wearing that red wool wig under a mob cap, hilarious make-up and all those rags dangling. See? there on the left of the photo.....

I am sure if you really want to know, you can google it and find out!

Fun, though!

I walked around the arena. Sadly, I left before the pig race. Yes really. A pig race. There is a lot of stuff happening all afternoon. Gymnastics, and lots more......

See that plant stall? I bought a couple of lavender bushes and some coriander for the garden.

And speaking of gardens..... the squirrels ( I detest them) dug up 18 places in my garden last night. Mostly pots. Roses, peppers, tomatoes, flowers, leeks, carrots and more. I was speechless with fury, and spent a great deal of the morning trying to save things, and muttering dire imprecations under my breath. You know why they are digging up my plants? My neighbour feeds them nuts. So they pick them up next door and pop over the fence to MY garden and stash them. They dig up MY plants to store their nuts. NO WAY.

So I have netted as many pots as possible and beds too. My garden looks dreadful with all the netting, but so help me, I will not allow those squirrels to wreck it. And I am going to have to have a word with her. This is not only my garden being destroyed, but others in the road too. I will be gentle and kind. Hmmm. This may take some practice. Just as well she was at work when I walked out there this morning.

And because you asked, here is my new washing machine. Insert smiley face.

Do not complain about the weird angle. I thought it was weird too, so I crouched down to take a better photo....did you hear that? I said I CROUCHED DOWN. And went a little too far, and got stuck. My leg was on fire because it is so swollen I can't bend it properly and remember I crouched, so it had to very definitely bend. So I yelled and oh, the indignity of having to get my 83 year old mother to help me up. It took her some time to get off the couch, because she is 83 after all. The wait was dire. And I seem to have made it worse. Sigh. But what the heck - you get the photo!

And that is it for now. I am off to check the squirrels are not wreaking more havoc.......

I can wash clothes!!!

I have a washing machine. You have NO IDEA how exciting this is. I have been trying out a couple of programmes and I LOVE IT! And it actually met all 3 criteria I had, and I am delighted. Ecstatic. Woohoo! Clean washing! Here at home!!

So mother helpfully suggested that I should replace all my aging electrical appliances while the recession is running, because they are really cheap at the moment. Hmmm. Good idea had I got unlimited funds. I did look at the dishwashers longingly, but hey, they are not essential, and my old one is still in place, albeit dead. There is no gap in the kitchen looking weird. I can get my hands wet a while longer.

And David dispatched the old one to the tip for me, so that is excellent. Sigh. I am happy. I am grinning. I have a washing machine.

The village festival is in full swing, and I hobbled round the labyrinth at the school this afternoon, and then wandered through the Art Exhibition. So much talent about.

And now if you will excuse me, I have to go and pat my new washing machine.

Inane prattle......

Well I am back. I am a prune. All shrivelled and wrinkled. And all worked out. If you have never tried aquafit classes, go and have a go. You will not believe how well you exercise yourself. In the water I am a fairy. Hahaha. And then when you get out, gravity hits with a vengeance. I can do things exercise-wise, which I could never do on land. The pool is my friend. And after an hour, I am crawling.

So I stopped at a friend's house on the way back and had coffee to recover. And then I came home and a SQUIRREL HAD BEEN DIGGING UP MY CARROTS. And 4 other places. What gall. I was less than happy. I have now got netting staked out over all the vulnerable seedlings and the carrots are now in the fortress. And I will patrol all night.

The good news is that Jean called to tell me that one of the washing machines on my short-list is on sale, so I will be at the shop at dawn to acquire one. At the nice man shop too. Just pray they still have one in stock for me.

This week is our village festival, and there is loads on at the moment. Tomorrow I will go to the art exhibition in the Methodist hall, and then on Saturday it is the Village Carnival. There is also a Labyrinth at the school, which Glynis has been involved in setting up so I will explore that as well. And the weather is supposed to be reasonable. Hooray!

I will of course, have to get a babysitter for my garden to scare off the rodents and other unwanted visitors, like the cat which thought my lettuces would make a nice bed. Sigh. The trials one faces......