Kingston Lacy

Alison and I had a little visit to Kingston Lacy with the autumn season in full swing now. Beautiful colours and very quiet in the gardens, so we were able to take our time and fully appreciate the work that has been done recently. There are so many areas where the staff have been changing planting and paths, opening up spaces and so on. It looks great.

We also enjoyed a tour of the house, focusing on the art work but also spending some time listening to the very knowledgeable guides who bring the place to life.

An evening by the beach

Alison and I visited the allotment before heading to the shops in the morning. Juno and I had already walked 5 miles in our long weekend walk and we managed to dodge the heavy rain that came before mid day. Our haul from the allotment included the last of the carrots which are starting to suffer from slugs with the wet weather and declining availability of food for them. We also brought home a couple of squash, a courgette, greens and beetroot.

In the evening Maria was meeting a friend and then going to Waggamamma's in Bournemouth, so we decided to use the time for a walk on the beach with Juno. Cold but beautiful, especially with the moonlight on the sea.

Unexpected bonus

I spent a bit of time at the W allotment whilst Alison visited Joy and was surprised by how many runner beans, carrots and beetroot were still good for picking. The carrots were a lovely size and I was also able to pick spinach, lettuce, basil and Coriander from the cold frame. 

It was also an opportunity to clear away more of the debris from removing the redcurrant bush and to weed a little more. Next week should be ideal for planting the broad beans for early cropping next year, and the garlic for June harvest. We are still working our way through this year's garlic, smoething it is easy to take for granted. Plenty of flavour in the cloves and will last us into next year.

Alison was in the garden this afternoon, deadheading and tidying up, and I gave the car a wash and polish, hoover and tyre pressure check. It's like being retired!

Juno and I walked 4.65 miles this morning and are aiming to beat last week's total distance walked of 38 miles. We'll have 16 miles to do in 3 days, so it is on. Fingers crossed with the weather. 

Mid October

It was a busy weekend with Joseph staying three nights and the girls staying Friday night before a day in Bournemouth. They were all back to school on Monday when Alison and I drove to Dorchester where there was a shop with fancy dress which Alison hoped would provide her with a suitable costume. It was nice to simply walk around the shops without anything in particular in mind before meeting up with Sandra for coffee.

Tuesday was very wet again and Juno and myself were soaked after the first walk of the day, three miles in the mud. The stream in the woods is already full and autumn is just getting going. However, today is a complete contrast with sunshine for now and perfect for a walk across Dewlands to collect the car.

I did a cycle ride yesterday and dodged most of the rain but more surprisingly, I ran on Monday. I was not thinking of running again, at my advanced age, but have been thinking about it for several days. First time since May and I managed over two miles without a stop. Jelly legs afterwards though!

Bournemouth beach on a Friday evening

Maria had an evening out in Bournemouth with her college friends which meant I had a bit of time to kill between lifts. She had a lovely time before we headed home to join Alison with Joseph and the girls over for a sleepover. Juno and I walked a few miles as the darkness fell and she was as suspicious as ever of the moving water. It was pretty quiet despite it being a nice evening and we relaxed just out of reach of the waves as they broke gently over the sand.

Once we'd got back to town, we headed to a local bar for an alcohol free beer and some salted crisps to share.

W allotment

It's getting toward the end of the main harvest now with the runner beans done and the tomatoes largely gone over after the drop in temperature. I did enjoy an extended visit this morning though and got the grass cut along with the strimming. All neat and tidy now. There were still things to pick, including a couple more courgettes, a squash, carrots, beetroot and swede. It is lovely to be picking into October with more to come yet.

I tidied up the old strawberry bed and did a bit of weeding in the bed where the potatoes were. It is manured and ready for planting. I weeded the leek bed and the bed with the new courgettes and cold frame with the spinach and lettuce growing. That just left, for now anyway, the cabbage bed where I stripped the netting away and cleared weeds and slugs before picking my first ever self grown cabbage. It was small but tasty.

Not much more to do for now with the allotments. I can leave a few more days between visits now.

It goes on

More sunshine and very welcome too. I had a lovely dog walk again this morning, heading toward Horton and then swinging back round to Knob's Crook and home. It was so nice yesterday that I got on my bike to ride to Drusillas, a pub which has been closed for years now but will be reopening shortly. Great views across to Horton Tower and the Dorset countryside.

After record rainfall last month, October sunshine

I quite enjoyed The Critic but it felt a little shallow with unappealing characters. I had enough time to spare before collecting Maria to visit the WM allotment where I picked more runner beans and got some weeding done. Everything is very up together there though and ready for autumn planting. There will be leeks and parships to come yet. The cold frame is working well too, as the photo shows.

Beautiful walk this morning. Low sun and a gentle breeze.Perfect for stunning views across the heath.

Walk to work

 

I walked down to Verwood again to collect the car with Alison being at work again. Plenty of roe deer around including these four together in the field near Martin's Farm.

Off to the cinema again this morning before collecting Maria from dance college. Short day for her with a 3.30 finish and no dance this evening. I'm watching The Critic at Cineworld.

 

Back to work

We enjoyed the film yesterday. Grippingly tense. I preferred the first half when it was excruciating with the observation of manners and found the later parts rather more cliched, the realised violence a relief after the implied threats of earlier. On the way to Poole we stopped at the W allotment and picked lots of greens, more courgettes, tomatoes, carrots and beetroot.

Alison is back at work today and she took the car down leaving it for me to collect after I had the idea of walking Juno the three miles down to Verwood. There was some glorious sunshine as a reward.

Back home I have cooked chickpeas, kidney beans and black eyed beans for hummus and a vegetable chilli. At the same time I have been roasting tomatoes for sauce for the freezer, carrots for soup and beetroot for pickling and salad. Lots of runner beans to go with our jacket potatoes and chilli later, and I will be roasting squash and courgettes later in the week.

Off to the tip next, the library, Morrisons and a long dog walk.