Reflecting on my week #135

Well this weekend was definitely a weekend of two days weather-wise here. Sunny and sun lounger weather on Saturday, much less so on Sunday. Both though have been relatively easy days for us. I’ve realised that I’m not really switching off from work, or being online at the moment, and so something needed to be done. I thought perhaps some crafting would help, and I’m sure it would have, but I was in a dither about what and where to start, so another plan was needed.

I realised that I’d not read a book since before lockdown. I also know how good they are for taking some time. So this weekend that’s what I did. I could have read an e-book on my iPad, but I opted to go old school and picked up one of the actual books mum had shared with me. It wasn’t particularly high-brow, and the plot turned out to be pretty predictable, but you know what. It’s just what I needed. And the sun lounger setting wasn’t so bad either.

feet up, book out, a sunlounger afternoon

I finished it today, and was pleased to have done so. But also pleased as it held my attention more than an e-book might have done. I am an obsessive book reader, so losing myself in this was good for me, this weekend. I know I’ve another busy week ahead and so it was good preparation, and an enjoyable book!

This weekend I also realised just how much I’d missed eating out. We headed to a local restaurant, Copper & Ink, which I’ve mentioned here before. Even with its Covid-secure arrangements it’s still as good as ever, and we’ll be heading back, both for an in-restaurant experience and to take advantage of their takeaway options too. As ever I only thought about photos once my plate was clean…

an empty plate with fork and spoon

As ever we went for the easy choice and very tasty option of the tasting menu. What I especially love about this restaurant is how willing and prepared they are to swap out dishes for people with allergens. So instead of the crab cakes and crab bisque, for me it was a fantastic chicory citrus salad. We also opted for the wine pairings and a couple of cocktails. And I’ve got my eye on the octopus salad for takeout - and yes, i’m ok with octopus, semi-ok with crab - but it’s not something I want to put to the test, just in case and less ok with some other seafood. Yes, my body is weird, but it’s how it is.

It has been a funny week here, starting with some potential redundancy news for MOH. During the week that confirmed itself, and what will be will be, and in truth he’s been waiting for it to make itself known. We won’t know more until the end of the summer, but I’m sure he won’t be the only one facing this kind of wait, and for some, it will be a lot more anxious.

We woke on Sunday to rain. Complete contrast to the previous day, and the snails were making the most of it, sliming all over my agapanthus and some of our beans, which seem to have tripled in size overnight.

agapanthus starting to flower in the rain
salad leaves from the garden

One thing about working from home - and last week as week 17, that’s over four months - is that we can pop out to the garden to pick our salad leaves for lunch. That’s pretty special, and they are way tastier than those bags of salad. I think we’ve a few more weeks working from home ahead of us, and hopefully plenty more salad pickings too. Though I probably should sow some more, just to make sure.

Post Comment Love 17-19 July

Welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo - a friendly linky which I co-host with Suzanne, where you can link any post published in the last week. We know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked and share some of that love.

How’s your week been? It’s been pretty much the same here. But then again it is the seventeenth week of working from home and I suspect I’ve a fair few ahead of me yet. We have responsibly visited family, and we are heading to a local restaurant this weekend. I’m sure that will feel strange.

You might have noticed a few more blog posts than in the past few weeks, and that’s something - along with catching up with my reading - that I hope to keep up. I don’t know about you, but reading generally during lockdown hasn’t been able to hold my attention - but I should try harder!

My photo this week is of the herbs i have in pots on the patio. Somewhere along the way I seem to have lost the coriander, but the parsley and the dill are going strong - and enjoying the sunlight. Let’s hope the forecast improved weather arrives as planned.

sunlight on herbs

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The Garden Year: July

No prizes for spotting that this post and its linky wasn’t here on the first of the month, that’s partly what I meant when I said earlier that I’d lost my blogging rhythm, which I was keen to get back. So far, so good.

Here, the weather has been quite mixed. We should be enjoying warm summer days, but it’s been a bit grey and showery, much more like April weather, though as many gardeners say, it’s good for the garden. What is nice though is as we’re still working from home, and likely to be for the foreseeable future, when it is nice we can have lunch out there, and better still we can pop out and pick our salad to eat at lunch.

That feels a real treat. And I’m already looking forward to when our beans and other veggies start producing something to eat.

runner bean flowers

July in the garden:

  • Consider adding some weatherproof flowers that can cope well with sun or rain, such as achillea or honeysuckle.

  • Avoid cutting the grass too short in hot spells to prevent scorching.

  • Feed tomatoes, chillies, other veg and seasonal pots and baskets weekly with diluted liquid tomato feed.

  • Deadhead, deadhead, deadhead. It really does encourage more growth.

  • Water plants in the morning to prevent them drying out.

  • Check plants such as roses for blackspot, mildew and rust.

  • Pinch out the tops of your cordon tomatoes when they have four or five trusses of fruits.

  • Pick courgettes before they become marrows, which could literally be overnight!

  • Paint wooden sheds, fences and sleepers while the weather is dry - assuming it is.

“TheGardenYear

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