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Winding back up

Pic of the week

With a sense of inevitability, the latter weeks of August always see a gradual wind back up to work and, with GCSE results on Thursday, the middle of the week saw me back in school on a couple of occasions.  Sadly, the holidays are definitely winding down.

In what has been a bad summer, weather wise, this week has seen a couple of nice days and I have taken the opportunity to sit outside and read, as well as do a bit of pottering in the garden. It (the garden) does somewhat resemble a new year 7 student who has been given a close trim for the start of school. There are still some patches of hefty, verdant growth, but areas are far more spartan than they have been for years (this is a good thing)

This morning the yellow spider in the pic was spotted on a sunflower in the back garden. Apparently it is a … ” Yellow Sac Spider according to Google. Common in the UK, a beneficial predator in agricultural fields, also known to be mildly venomous, with bites causing itching and swelling”

The sunflowers, front and back, continue to bloom despite the lack of sunshine, I wonder how long they will hang on for? I’m not holding out much hope for a glorious late summer, I fear an early autumn will be descending upon us this year.

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Hedges and history

Pic of the week 20/8/23

Although not wall to wall sunshine, we have had some usable weather this  week and I’ve been busy cutting things back in the garden. On Wednesday, this meant the front hedge had its annual trim and, once again it looks neat and square.  As ever, a lot had to come off and whilst up the ladders I noticed that there were several strong saplings penetrating the canopy so I had to crawl “inside” the hedge and and cut them back. Once done, I was able to climb to the top of the hedge from the inside, using the trunk of one of the two trees that make up the hedge.

On Tuessday I gave the windows a wash – I had been washing the 205 in preparation of giving it a polish using Mequires polish to bring the paintwork paint to life – which it did.  On Thursday, I gave the bonnet a spray with paint – Bleu D’Arabie, code PL3A – and although it needs another coat (I ran out!) it does look so much better now the rusty bonnet has been painted.

On Friday I went to see my third film of the summer – Oppenheimer – a good film, but at three hours, forty minutes too long. Not sure I also followed all the ins and outs of the “trial” of the senator either.  Needed a lot of intellectual investment in the film. Good, but not as good as Barbie or Indiana Jones (which was a bit silly, but a lot of fun!)

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21, and street legal

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Pic of the week 13/8/23

On Monday Sam turned 21!

We went up to Cardiff to see him (& Sophie!) for the day and tok him out to lunch at Maria’s, the Greek restaurant where he works. (The pic shows him with his boss, Mario, who kindly supplied the (cheese) cake. It was lovely to see them both (S & S) in their “home” environment – they do seem to be building their lives in Cardiff and it is lovely to see their growing independence. (Still struggle to believe I have 21 and 23 yr old!)

On Friday, the 205 passed its MOT! needed a new tyre, windscreen wiper and one or two other bits and bobs but it is now up and running! Need to ponder my future plans for it, but it has got back under my skin …

Over the last couple of days I’ve been tackling some of the “heavy” growth in the back garden, in particular the ivy along the wall at the bottom of the garden. It’s been tough, but I’ve taken a lot out – 3 tips to the tip, and its still not “job done”!

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Barbie and family

Pic of the week 6/8/23

On Friday we (Becky, Sophie & I) went to see Barbie, down at Strode cinema. A good film and I enjoyed the evening out,

The night before, we had been over to Wells for a gathering of the clan as Auntie Janet was down visiting

(I can’t be seen in the pic, but I was there!) Sophie was home (she had come back for her car’s MOT – it passed, but we did put on two new rear tyres – and she was going to 42nd Street with Becky on Saturday, Rog & Lisa also came over. A nice evening, and a chance to catch up.

Also on Thursday, it was our 27th wedding anniversary, hence the obligatory pic of some sunflowers. These are the ones in the back garden, which are fairing better than those in the front which continue to take a heavy beating from the strong winds that this dreadful summer is regularly producing.