Category: Family

and other stuff

Late on Monday night/early Tuesday morning, Becky and Sophie returned from Corfu, and then, during the day on Tuesday, Sophie headed home to Cardiff. Whilst travelling along the M4 near Newport, she heard a rumbling, followed very swiftly by feeling something very amiss, and seeing her rear right car tyre disintegrate.

She made it to the hard shoulder and called the AA. Fortunately they came within the hour, put a spare (of their own) on her car and drove with her to a nearby tyre shop. She got a new tyre for £65, and was on her way. A drama that fortunately didn’t become a crisis.

The weather continues to be predominantly wet, the temperature has fallen and it does feel definitively autumnal. After a few chilly nights in bed, the lightweight summer duvet has been taken off, replaced with the heavier winter one, and I shall be turning the heating back on this evening.

The garden, however, has enjoyed the almost continual rain. My sole surviving pumpkin* – a small self seeder in the front trug – is shaping and colouring up nicely.

(* I have, today, spotted another fruit, from the plants I planted in the front, where the box tree was, that does seem to be swelling. But this has been a season of false dawns as far as pumpkins are concerned, plus its late in the season. Will watch with interest and hope, but I don’t think that hope will amount to much)

Sunflowers – both in the front and back – are continuing to flower

which, along with my geraniums, lobelia and Bizzie Lizzies (bought late in the season) continue to provide interest and colour against the drab grey skies.

And it seems to be a good year for cyclamen, with swathes of pretty pink flowers carpeting the borders, particularly in the front. Knowing that late autumn and winter are not too far away, I’m keen to extend the colour in the garden as long as possible, and so far my plan seems to be working …

I think, sadly, it is time to say “so long” to summer. Since Tuesday I’ve been spending an increasing amount of time in school. and this has been coupled with a marked turn in the weather, and a return to rainy days.

But its been a magnificent summer. Greece was great, Nice was nice, Sam’s graduation was fun, and all of that before August, a hot, dry, month that just stretched out in front of us. (Almost) every day was dry and warm and I think the consistency just made it so magnificent – no thinking I must do that on Tuesday as it will be the only dry day. Although I’ve not done a lot, I don’t feel I wasted a day, sat inside, bored and with nothing to do but watch the rain outside the window. I’ve read a lot, and enjoyed being immersed in a good book; I’ve run quite a bit: 83 km in August (that will be pushed to 90 if I run tomorrow morning); I’ve refereed a number of games, mainly at Ashcott, but including a return to the Bridgwater Sunday league (albeit in a friendly) and I’ve enjoyed all the games I’ve done. My garden has been magnificent all summer, a source of joy, wonder and contentment at all times. I’m writing on a Saturday as tomorrow afternoon I need to go into school to meet and greet new Year 10 parents, and the term proper starts on Monday. I’d rather still be on holiday, but I do feel ready for the new school year, in part to see what it holds, I think it could be pivotal to my thinking for the next few years to come.

Sam has started work at school, working in the kitchens. It will be good for him to have some structure and routine, and to start earning some money. Sophie has had an offer accepted on a house, so that is really exciting; as a family it does seem like we are on the cusp of a new chapter in all our lives.

The weather has continued to be dry – I can’t recall the last significant rainfall – although it has been a little cooler this week, although has heated up again over the last couple of days, and tomorrow, to, promises to be a scorcher. But come Tuesday onwards, we are forecast rain at times for the rest of the week, so, whilst everything is still nice and dry, I decided to take the strimmer to the lawn and cut everything back. It does now look very barren and brown, but I’m sure it will green up again come some rain, and it (the lawn) has done its job since February, when the first daffodils gave us a splash if colour, through the flowering of the Love in a Mist in June, followed by the form of their seeds head providing some interest in driest of summers, when lawns have been less than green!

And with GCSE results published on Thursday, resulting in a very busy day or two at school, the sense that the wonderful summer is coming to a close was magnified.

But summer’s not yet quite done.

We’ve been out blackberrying again, and I am enjoying a few each morning on my cereal.

Sam is home, his jury service completed this week, and his future beginning to look a little more settled. He’s got himself a job at Millfield as a catering assistant, which will tide him over for a while whilst he works out what he wants to do.

We are getting used to having him back home – the washing machine seems to be in constant action. One morning a mountain of white socks appeared in the was basket. Duely washed and hung out to dry, there were to many to count, instead I decided to measure them – over 3 metres of socks!

I’ve also taken the opportunity of time + dry weather to clean all the guttering at the back of the house – a job I am pleased I have got done, so worth recording as I wonder when it will next need doing.

Thursday was Sam’s birthday, and it was nice to have him home for the day (and Sophie was home, too). I do struggle to believe that he is 23 – that means I must be old!

The weather continues to be dry and warm – and its heating up again today, the start of a forecast heatwave. I include the above photo not so much for the majestic sight of a hot air balloon over the tor, but instead to document and record how dry the tor is. I am surprised that we are not subject to a hosepipe ban – I can’t remember the last time we had any meaningful rain – but I am taking advantage of the lack of a ban to keep my garden watered.

The garden is looking lovely, it is a haven and sanctuary and it has been wonderful to have the weather to “use it” every day this summer. I did buy some extra geraniums and bizzie lizzies from the garden centre at the bottom of the road to fill a few “holes” – a bargain at £1 for a tray of annuals. Hopefully the weather will continue long into September and beyond and they will continue to provide colour for a long time to come.

In this heat (and wind – it has been quite breezy on occassion) the sunflowers have needed a mid-day watering (not much, but some) to stop the looking all dried up and shrivelled.

I have a couple of pumpkins that have “taken” and are beginning to swell, the one above is the one out front and leading the way.

I spent a while yesterday repotting monstera plants, first the four that Dani from school gave me at the end of term, and then, having practiced on them, I tackled the monster monstera in Sam’s room.

I am quite pleased with the results, it looks much more “organised” and plant like in its new (bigger) bowl and suitably supported.

On Thursday we went to Cardiff for Sam’s graduation – a 2:1 in History and Economics from Cardiff University. If truth be told, there were times when we thought this day would never come, so particularly proud of his achievement.

Joining us for the day of celebration was Sophie, Poppy and Smithy,

It was a great day – a “fun day” rather than a day of pomp and ceremony.

We’re very proud of him.

I’m posting a bit of synch, on a Saturday, as we’ve been away for two weeks to the Sporades (Alonnissos, Skopelos, and Skiathos) and had a wonderful time, and later today we head to Nice for a week.

We enjoyed lovely weather whilst away, it was also hot and dry here. Sophie came home to escape the heat, and helped keep the garden watered – its looking good.

Not sure how it will fare with another week of neglect, time will tell.

So after 4 years, a course change, and two different houses, Sam has finished university! He had his final exam on Friday, he think it went well, we now just have to wait until 2nd July to find out his grade. There were times (ie the first year) when we thought he wouldn’t complete university, swapping from Chemistry to History & Economics was the making of his degree and he does seem to have been engaged and interested in his studies, although he admits he is glad to have finished, and won’t be racing back into education anytime soon. What next? Who knows – like a modern day Dick Whittington, he’s going to head to London where the streets are paved with gold to seek his fortune.

Back here in sleepy Somerset the garden continues to look good. The Love in the Mist are beginning to go to seed, but the ox-eye daisies have bloomed to keep the interest going. It still takes a leap of imagination to see my sunflower seedlings go from the spindly things they are now into the big, bold, strong sunflowers I hope they become, but they do seem to be heading skyward. And the pumpkin seedlings have had a growth spurt and are looking strong and healthy, ready to swamp anything in their path.

Last Sunday was the first day of Summer – after the driest Spring on record, summer has not lived up to its billing, being mainly grey, often wet (big rain yesterday) and a little chilly.

On Thursday evening, circa 9.30pm, whilst sat watching telly I spotted a hedgehog that appeared near the shed and rooted around for a good twenty minutes or so. Last night we saw it again, it came from the far end of the shed, and ultimately returned to the compost bin area. A welcome visitor!