Summer heat

No photos today but it was a busy day starting out early with a drive to the allotment to strim the pathways, weed and sow a few more succession beetroot and lettuce, as well as to harvest more strawberries and greens.

From there we went to the garden centre to pick up some hedgehog food in the hope a hedgehog might be around. Then onto Verwood to sow more seeds for Joy and to fill the brid feeders. I also made a start on trimming the hedges but ran out of space in the garden waste bin.

Cue a long run, for me currently, back home whilst Alison did some other chores in Verwood. It was a shade over 5 miles in the warm sunshine with occassional cloud. The pathways were narrowing fast as the growth of plants either side crowded over the seldom used routes. I had the pleasure of listening to 'Sticky Notes' which is a great podcast about classical music. I've just started listening to it, beginning with a two part exploration of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. What a great listen and so helpful to someone like me who knows very little about classical beyond listening to the music.

After lunch I made a rice jolloff which looks to have turned out well, along with lentil burgers. I was able to sneak out for a little ride too, getting on to the mountain bike for a 5 mile slow jaunt round the village.

That means I have riden 109 miles this month and run 56 miles. I was quite happy with these figures after the visit to Scotland but they are well down onalmost 300 miles combined in March. However, that was a far less disrupted time and I was able to exercise for 38 hours that month compared to 23 and 1/2 this.

Cranborne

Just a few photos from the end of my afternoon walk round Cranborne. Another muggy day even after the thunder and downpours of yesterday. I had walked a couple of miles listening to Mrs Dalloway on audible after a day in the garden cutting hedges, feeding birds and generally tidying as I went along. This was after another 5km run, again a bit quicker. 

As was the case yesterday, I am spending a fair bit of time sorting out things for mum's estate and can vouch for the fact that care home costs are enormous! I wasn't expecting the final bill to be as large as it is. Something I am going to need to look at carefully.

The photos are of the little square near the Sheaf of Arrows pub and there were so many bees in amongst the catnip and roses. It was a lovely place to soend a few minutes before collecting the children.

After the school run, I was out and about again with a 5km run in quicker time. It is going to take a little while to get back on things after preparing for the walk in May. 

In fact, I'd prepared the lentil soup, salad and prepped the tea before running. Much of the morning was then spent with further tasks related to sorting out mum's estate. Things are moving forward slowly but that is par for the course I imagine. 

The photos are of Cranborne where I had a muggy walk waiting for Maria to finish school for the day. The thunder has started now and the rain is absolutely pelting down now but it has been coming all day. It was a lovely walk though and I enjoyed listening to Desert Island Discs as I made my way through the verdant countryside.

Junior parkrun and another personal best

We met up with Joe, Kate and the children at Moors Valley where the youngsters were going to be taking part in the 2km run. A few weeks ago Joseph ran his best time and today it was Evie's turn. Her previous best was 15 minutes and 17 seconds and she managed to knock off over a minute to leave the new mark at 13 minutes 55 seconds. She did really well.

Back on the allotment again

I cycled to the allotment and back this morning, a little dull overhead but warm enough to be pleasant. It was a lovely visit having done some strimming the other day and knowing what to expect. I got the various beds thoroughly weeded and planted some last beetroot, spinach and chard. I also got the bean supports sorted out and removed some of the protective netting which is no longer required.

I also took down most of the nettles which have sprung up neaxt to the compost heap, leaving a few for the butterflies. Sadly, they are just in the wrong place and I know they would not be welcomed by others on the allotment. It's all looking good with some fantastic looking potatoes and I picked greens for tomorrow's Sunday dinner and a further punnet of strawberries. 

I am putting this separately - the strawberries taste fantastic. My goodness, what a difference to those from the supermarket or even some of them from the garden. I can take them or leave them usually but these were so tasty.

Normality

Another welcome day of getting on with the usual starting with a bike ride with Alison down to Verwood. She is certainly enjoying the electric bike which makes the hills a breeze. Whilst there we got on in Joy's garden, I got the bird feeders filled and then weeded the vegetable plot. There are plenty of French beans, runner beans, potatoes, carrots, radish and spinach. 

One home I did some more hedge trimming and then had a two mile run to go with the 6 miles on the bike before starting on the tea, vegetable curry and lentil dahl.

You can see the photos of the garden where Joseph and I shared some time enjoying the warmth and the flowers which are looking fantastic.

Home again

It's been a couple of weeks since last posting which reflects having been in the Hebrides and having to deal with personal, family issues. After a very sad period and the exhaustion of travelling, yesterday was a day when I felt more normal, less tired and able to get on with the routine things in life.

The school run provided a little excitement in the morning as the car parked behind us on the hill in Cranborne rolled forward to end up hitting us, as Joseph and I sat waiting for the start of school. The other car had not had the handbrake on properly and had slowly eased into us, so slowly that no damage was caused.

I took myself off the allotment and did some harvesting. The garlic looks good and smells like garlic should! Now to dry it and get it ready for storage with plenty to keep us going till the winter. I also picked some greens, radishes and the last of the autumn sown broad beans which have done really well. I strimmed the plot too and now it just needs some weeding and a few more successional sowings.

From there I drove to Joy's and cut the lawns, front and back. 

It has been some time since I went running. I was worried about over doing things before the charity walk in early May and it has therefore been almost two months without regular running. The two weeks in Scotland impacted on that too and I have been doing far more walking and cycling. However, I got back on it today with a 5km run after lunch before a 2 mile walk as I waited in Cranborne to collect the children.

There has been a lot to do in terms of my role as executor and that took up the remainder of the day. At least the time is flying by again! 

Back on the allotment

Today was my first time riding to the allotment since the 51 mile hike last month. It has taken me a few weeks to feel properly rested, although I have been riding, running and walking fine. Till now I have kept local because I have noticed my muscles starting to tire in a way I haven't been used to. Today I managed the 18 mile round trip without a hitch and was able to be at the allotment early.

I did some more watering and weeding but I also got the plot strimmed too, as well as planting some more chard and french beans. The weeding gets you right down amongst the beds and there are so many insects and creepy crawlies. Plenty of biodiversity there and more seedlings have appeared than I had noticed previously.

After a morning in Wimborne I did the school run and left early to enjoy a walk round Cranborne where the fields have been ploughed and planted to ensure boundaries are full of flowers with plenty of poppies on show. Hopefully these field margins will help with insects and birds and small mammals. To my untrained eye it looks positve but are they big enough and is there enough variety in these strips to make a difference? I wish I knew.

Wednesday Alum Chine

That was a busy day. Alison and I were at the allotment very early as we didn't have to do the school run. Alison was planting out some hollyhocks and I was watering, weeding and was meant to be strimming too. However, the guy next to us has been away for a few weeks and the grass on his plot is out of control. He was there with some shears and was chopping his way through the jungle, so I gave him the strimmer which helped enormously, at least until the battery ran out.

The garlic is almost ready but we are going to wait a few more days. We did pick more radishes and broad beans.

From there we were collecting dance tickets from Ferndown and then onto Verwood. Alison was off to the supermarket whilst I cut the lawn for her mum, weeded the vegetable plot and filled the bird feeders. 

I ran home via the golf course but decided not to go to the beach just yet due to having to collect Maria from school and so got on my mountain bike for a ride round Woodlands. It was a little more leisurely than recent days but I did 7 miles.

I did go to the beach after school and had a lovely swim. It was quieter than I'd expected but the cloud started coming over and it was quite breezy. The wet suit makes it so easy to get in and to enjoy the water at this time of year.

By the time I was home, I was pretty tired but it feels like I am back to my usual self after recovery from the long walk a month ago. I feel like it's finally out of my system. Recovery certainly takes longer than you might think, even more so as you age I guess.

Inset Day with Joseph

Joseph spent the day with us and we had a lovely lunch in the garden celebrating the Italian side of the family with a salad and couscous, olives, capers and vegan pesto. Whilst we sat and ate there was so much going on in the garden with bees and birds and a small frog and newts. 

I was cutting the hedges and Joseph was trying to recreate the insides of a cow's digestive system which was very ambitious. We had a lovely chat and then went down to call for his friend, Charlie, who came over to play for a bit.

The flying squirrel was running thorugh the trees where I'd seen a buzzard and it was the bird I was hoping to ctahc. However, the jumping squirrel looks pretty cool too.

Finished listening to 'On the Road' by Jack Kerouac which I enjoyed, having read the book several times. I'm now onto 'Mrs Dalloway' and am enjoying 'The Enchanting April' by Elizabeth Von Arnim.

 

Junior Parkrun

 

We got to parkrun just in the nick of time, missing the warmup, but Joseph was all set to go and ran all the way with the exception of a couple of drink breaks. As a result, his previous best of 14:40 fell to 12:53, a fantastic improvement but that previous time was two years ago so he ought to have progressed. However, he has often lacked a bit of motivation recently so it is doubly good to see the improvement.

Everyone has come back to ours for Sunday dinner and there are a lot of surplus roast potatoes which will do nicely later or tomorrow.

Sunny Saturday

 

Having had quite a boozy Friday night, it was a quiet morning after taking Maria to Joe's for her day out with them and a sleepover before we meet up for parkrun tomorrow morning. However, I got out for a 1.5 mile walk and then a 7 mile bike ride after a bit of lunch and enjoyed the warm sunshine. 

It was great to be able to fix the washing machine thanks, as ever, to Google. It looked like the drive belt must have snapped as the drum was no longer spinning but in fact it was just that the belt had slipped off. Getting it back on was fairly straightforward and as a result we didn't have to get an engineer out or incur any additional costs. Very pleased with that.

Lots of people are coming for Sunday dinner tomorrow so I got on and made the nut roast ahead of time whilst making a lentil dahl and butternut squash curry. Definitely making progress in getting the flavours sorted.

I had time to drive to the allotment where I watered the seedlings and enjoyed a bit of cricket. It's a lovely scene above.. With the peas coming up, Alison and I walked to the woods to collect some twigs to put in for the peas to climb.

Friday under the stars

 

Friday turned out to be another lovely day although it started out cloudy. I went for a 6.5 mile walk round Woodlands and took a couple of photos of the may flowers of a small hawthorn and a view across the fields showing the blue skies. 

Alison and I had a ride round Woodlands too to start getting her used to the new bike. It makes riding so much more easy on the muscles and will encourage her to ride rather than drive, especially down to Verwood to see Joy.

In the evening we lit a fire in the fire pit and had a few glasses of wine. The plan was to stay up and look at the night sky after our recent trip to the planetarium but the alcohol won and we both gave up on the idea having enjoyed ourselves a little too much. Perhaps tonight instead?

Early June allotment

The foxgloves are in the back garden and belong with the previous post of flowers out at the moment. These are amongst my very favourite flowers and were once difficult to grow here but they appear to have found their locations and are becoming quite common in both back and front gardens.

The post is really about the trip Joseph and I took to the allotment yesterday in the evening and we spent an enjoyable couple of hours sowing, strimming and watering. Joseph loves it and has benefitted from the allotment club they ran at his school in Cranborne. It has given him both the interest and the confidence to get stuck in.

The first photo has the first produce picked this summer with a few radishes nicely plumped up and the first broad beans which came from the autumn sowing and have suddenly cropped well.

Then we have Joseph and his patch which has been planted with sunflowers, parsnips, lettuce, beetroot and a courgette. Joseph gave it a good digging a few weeks back and raked it again before getting it planted up and watered.

The runner bean seedlings are up, as are lots of peas which is very exciting. There is then a photo of the leeks which are growing well after transplanting. The rabbits initially took the tops off a few but they have recovered and look likely to give us some good results later in the year.

You can also see the broad beans. I will grow a lot more of them next autumn. The next photo is a real mixture with a bed of greens, chard, and spinach, carrot, peas, turnips and swedes. 

The potatoes are showing very well now and I am looking forward to picking some of them in a month or so. The final photo is of the garlic which is close to being cropped. You can see bulbs fattening up well in many cases and I am excited to see how they come out, never having grown them before. 

The plot is a real success at the moment. It has so much potential for crops over the next months but we will see how it all goes. There is plenty of time for things to go awry but I have protected things far more effectively for now and it could be we have a real range of things over the coming months. 

I do wish I had onions on the go. They are simple enough to grow and I won't worry about seeds again. I need to get the sets and get them in number as we use onions a lot at home.

Early summer garden

 

I thought it would be nice to select a few of the flowers which are out in the garden just now. The cold weather in May seems to have delayed everything and now we have had some warmth, things are bursting forth at the same time and the garden looks lovely.

The reddish rose is the Leaping Salmon bought for me as part of my leaving gift three years ago at Lordshill. It looks fantastic.

The next job in the garden will be to get some hedge cutting done.