Birthday weekend

It has been a few days since my last post because of our busy weekend with Maria's birthday celebrations. You can see the food I prepared for Saturday in the first photo, all of it vegan and very tasty, though I say it myself. There were two lots of people to feed and so I had to do masses but a nice lasagne and a full pasta dish in addition using courgettes, plus garlic bread, roast vegetables, aubergine tapas and some bolied veg for the children saw us through nicely.

We have had a lot of visitors too and had a great time with them, as you will see from the birthday party photos where we'd hired the village hall and had more than 40 people along to celebrate Maria's 14th. It was quite something seeing so many from dance completing their routines in the hall and good to see the various groups mixing well.

Sunday was as busy, with plenty of guests having stayed overnight and Maria having to be at dance for 9am where she had 5 hours of rehearsal to get through. I drove Evie and Amelia home later in the day before taking Juno to her second puppy training class, so bust all round with a lot of clearing up to do at home too. However, we got to sit and watch Maria open her cards and presents which seemed to go on and on with her having had so many guests at the party.

This morning has been quiet in comparison and I got out on a bike ride of 11 miles in the drizzle and rain to pop some cheques into the bank, get a few things from Morrisons, drop some butternut squash soup into Joy's and then cycle home through Three Cross and Mannigton. I'd already been into the woods with Juno who has learnt she can leap across the small river running through the trees.

It all meant I got to listen to plenty of podcasts including Desert Island Discs and Mayo and Kermode's Film Review.  

Ride to Ringwood

The first photos are of my walk with Juno this morning taking the path from Whitmore and ahead of an early start to my ride to Ringwood to buy some sosmix for vegan suasage rolls at the weekend when Maria has her party. It was a chilly start but the weather was set fair again and you can see the blue skies above the church in Ringwood. It's a 16 mile ride there and back and it gave me a chance to listen to a podcast about James 1st and more the audiobook, The Great Circle.

Once back in Verwood I stopped and cut the lawns for Joy and gave the edges a good strim too which did leave the gardens looking in very good order, particularly for mid October. It was time for some lunch and I had some soup before taking another siesta which turned out rather like yesterday in getting to sleep and feeling refreshed after a doze, ready for a trip to the allotment prior to colelcting Maria from school.

I focused on planting this afternoon, getting lots of garlic in and half of the onion sets. That's a bed completely full which leaves me with the task of preparing another for the remaining onions and another for the broad beans.

After another dog walk I am on something like 22,000 steps already and feel tired. 

Other good news- the adhesive worked on the parquet tiles and we can now make a start on the floor as a whole. Really looking forward to it.

Furzey Gardens and siesta

You'll see from the first pictures that Juno had a lovely walk in the October sunshine this morning and she is enjoying getting out and about more and more. It was an early start so I could make some lentil soup to take with us on our trip up the A31 to Furzey Gardens where RHS members get free entry on a Wednesday. Alison and I loved the variety of trees and their fruits, trying to identify them along the wat, as well as loving the hydrangeas which were still in flower, a mixture of pinks and soothing blues, absolutely beautiful. There were still a few bees around too and they do have quite a number of flowers to feed on including 'hot lips' salvia which is well named. 

Once home we put down the first of the lecol 5500 adhesive which is going to be stick the parquet flooring back down. We have quite a job to do but it would cost £3000 for the floor to be lifted and replaced as we want and this way is far cheaper and we get to keep the floor we actually want. It will be a painstaking job but it is going to be enjoyable as there is no time pressure. We just did three tiles to see how it works, so fingers crossed it is nicely set tomorrow.

After a spot of lunch I had a siesta. I have been full of energy right up until about 4 or 5 in the afternoon but then start to flag and I wondered whether this would help. Firstly, I did get to sleep quickly, the curtains closed and radio 3 on quietly in the background with a 30 minute timer on. For a first go, it went well and I'll see how it goes from day to day The real positive, at least for today, has been I remain energetic this evening. Is this linked to the sleep or just coincidence? It is far too soon to judge on day one of course but it's a good sign at least.

I got up and washed the car after giving it a thorough clean inside. maria is awful for dropping food all over the place and it had become quite grubby and was bugging me. It is nice to have it in good order again. I was soon on to tea using greens, potatoes and carrots from the allotment, along with swede which I mashed, our first taste of home grown swede and very nice it was too with salt and pepper and bit of butter. 

Juno and I have been out again this evening and she's having a well earned sleep herself now. I forgot to mention I had a bike ride to Verwood and back before tea to get some frozen vegan suasage rolls for Maria. It was a quick ride due to time constraints with tea needed before Maria went off to her singing lesson and shows I can put a shift in still on the bike. 

Sunshine autumn continues

The top photo shows Juno on a walk round the goat farm and what a beautiful morning it was. We are being spoilt at the moment and although it is cold first thing in the morning, the warmth of the sun really hits home when out of the shade. Alison and I went out for a ride and took ourselves off the Horton and then home through the tracks to Kings Lane and down to the crossroads. Again, the skies made everything look so lovely as we looked across the fields, rooks and jackdaws feeding on the newly ploughed earth. There was a plump looking buzzard on a telegraph pole and dozens of small birds looking for seeds amongst the stubble including skylarks and chaffinches. 

We managed 6 miles which is the first time we've ridden together for leisure rather than down to Joy's or Verwood to do jobs.

In the afternoon I picked up maria from school but went early to give me time on the allotment where I strimmed the grass, picked the past of the raspberries, picked greens and pulled a swede. I finished digging the bed used for runner beans and composted the spent runner beans. It is looking nice and ridy everywhere and I am ready for the planting of aumumn sown crops later this week.

Once home I strimmed the front garden and fixed the back gate, screwing the gatepost into place, as it has been wobbling of late and might be insecure from a dog point of view. We can't have Juno escaping!

Lots of exercise

As well as the usual dog walks, I was out on a run this morning with a steady 2 miles followed by a quicker mile run home at 8.30 mins permile, which is quick for me these days! When I got back I was straight into cooking up a nice vegan chilli for lunch and a tub of hummus for the week ahead. 

In the afternoon I drove to Wimborne where Alison was colelcting Maria to go to dance which gave me the chance to unload the bike and take myself down to the allotment for a bit of autumn work in the sunshine. I've got most of the beans out now and have started digging the individual beds ahead of planting for the autumn. I am looking to extend the beds now, as I fear we may be relying ever more on home grown produce. We will see.

The ride home was lovely in the early evening with beautiful views at Horton towards the tower and a quick stop for a pint at the Old Inn at Holt.

20,000 steps today.

Heatwave

 

The pictures show the view from Horton across to the tower taken on Friday when I did a 10 mile bike ride, followed by a couple which are of Woodlands when I was out for a run yesterday, just over 4 miles in the sunshine. It really was a beautiful day and one when we got the grandchildren out to Knowlton Church with Juno as we had them for a sleepover.

Juno got to meet a very lovely and very small dog which she was confident enough with after some initial hesitation. She is definitely a little shy when meeting new dogs, despite appearing to have so much confidence.

The final photo is from Stewart;s Garden Centre where there was hot chocolate and cake, ahead of more trats during a very long but enjoyable Strictly Come Dancing. Evie managed to watch it all the way through and the girls both managed to sleep all night without problem.

Autumn

I ran to Verwood yesterday to check the jobs that needed doing in Joy's garden and around the house before enjoying a walk back across Crane Valley golf course. I thought the spider's web looked fantastic and took the photo above but notice that taking it so close up makes the web look enormous! Beautifully constructed.

We'd had a bit of a tragedy earlier at home when I heard a loud thump against the kitchen window. There is a clear imprint of a pigeon with wings extended from its impact with the glass, so strong that it killed the poor pigeon. 

I have enjoyed listening to the audiobook of The Great Circle still, as well as In Our Time which was fascinating on The Manhattan Project. A very informative programme with plenty of links to the present, the scientific community responding to an existential crisis speedily and effectively for example. It also raises the question of whether it was right or wrong to drop the bomb and it is so good to hear the views being represented on both sides and to be reminded more widely that so much of history is difficult to judge and how frequently things come together to create circumstances for something which might otherwise not have happened. I love that idea of things being essentially all over the place but out of that events occur that we try to create a structure and purpose around when the reality seems to be there is none.

Paul came for the night and we had a good evening after a curry which Harry and Glen also enjoyed. I feel I getting better at them these days but it can be a bit hit and miss.

Lovely day

The photos of the buzzard are from the evening before yesterday when I had gone out for a ride on the mountain bike and came across it settled on the telegraph pole, quite happily watching the world passing by. There are plenty of these birds in Woodlands and it is good to see we also have kestrels and sparrowhawks too. It would be nice if we got to see more red kite overhead but they remain a few miles away at Cranborne.

Wednesday was a lovely day despite Maria being off feeling under the weather. Juno got her walks early and I did my 5km run at 8am so I was able to go off down to Durley Chine with Glen and Harry and the dogs for a sunny morning on the beach. It was beautiful and the dogs loved the open space, although Juno is not so keen on the water. Rag is happy to get in and he wanted to follow Glen and I in but the waves were bigger than he is and he got put off. 

That's the first time I've ever swum in the sea in October! It was bearable but I think the wet suit is going to need to come out soon! 

Glen took the dogs home meaning I could go on to the allotment at Wimborne and again, lovely sunshine and the opportunity to tidy up the beds, the compost heap and nettles which have been doing very well in that corner of the plot. I have prepared the soil for the planting of over-wintering onions, garlic and broad beans. It is always exciting to move on to the next phase of planting with the harvesting almost done, although there are still lots of greens and root veg to be pulled.

Juno and I had another walk in the woods later and she loves the fact she can go completely off the path into the undergrowth. You get a real sense of her breed coming out, the rooting around and plunging into the thickest of tangled bushes and shrubs, brambles and roots. 

Maria is much improved after a day of rest.