At last, half term has arrived, and last night Becky and I went to see Chicago in Bristol. I enjoyed the show, and I enjoyed the Italian meal we had beforehand at Moltobuono 59. What I didn’t enjoy was having to get up at 5am this morning to take Becky to Bristol airport – she has flown to Edinburgh to visit an old school friend, and returns on Wednesday. I have felt tired all day, and my afternoon nap hasn’t completely refilled my batteries. I’m sure an early night tonight, though, will do the trick.
And having enjoyed a wonderful May so far, it is typical that the weather has changed in time for the holidays. It rained last night, has been dry today, and windy, but the forecast for the next few days is for rain. Which did mean I’ve tried to make the most of the outdoor weather today – changed the oil in Becky’s Ka, took down the Box hedge/tree in the front garden – it has been demolished by a caterpillar, a shame to lose it but it was just a skeleton of twigs.
On Wednesday I got my first sunflower seedlings planted outside in the big trug and, fingers crossed, they seem to have taken hold. The alliums look great, but are just beginning to turn
But not to worry as all the Love in a Mist are beginning to flower to give a burst of blue and white across the lawn.
On Monday evening I took Sam to Bridgwater station to return to Cardiff – I head up there later this week to bring back a car load of stuff – his time there is nearly done.
On Monday, Becky and I went to Bristol to see Tony Ann, a young pianist and it was a wonderful evening of culture, a rare outing on a school night!
Having parked up, we ambled across College Green in the warm evening sun, before sitting for a drink, al-fresco, at an Italian on Park Street. It did feel a million miles away from home, and was a lovely evening.
It helped that the glorious weather continuous. We’ve been treated to blue skies, sunshine and (almost) uninterrupted dry weather all week, culminating in another lovely Sunday, spent outside, pottering, reading and snoozing.
I say “almost” because on Tuesday evening the sky darkened, thunder rumbled and then the sky was rent asunder with lightening.
For about 30 minutes, it was quite some storm
but the water was welcome. I suspect we may end up in a drought this summer – a price I’d happily pay for the wonderful weather to continue. Its only mid-May, so everything still looks fresh and green, and my sunflower seeds sown a couple of weeks ago show great promise.
And we’ve been blessed with a visit from Sam. He came home on Friday afternoon, and returns to Cardiff tomorrow evening, but its been lovely to have him home for a short while. He has completed all his assignments, he just has one exam to do on the 6th June, and then that’s his university days done. I think he is looking forward to finishing, there are times when it looked like he’d never be a university graduate. but now that’s a racing certainty. He’s not sure what the next steps of his life will be, but I’m sure he’ll work it out.
After a dry, but not necessarily warm, week, the temperature rose for the weekend, giving us a couple of days of pleasant temperature, blue skies and sunshine. Certainly “usable” weather, and we’ve spent much of Saturday afternoon and Sunday outside. The alliums are currently the “pic of the crop” providing crowns of colour against the green backdrop. They look particularly good in the lawn, and in the trugs by the lawn. I will admit to being disappointed with my alliums in pots – they dried out whilst we were in Crete and now are only producing a few feeble flowers to offset brown, curled leaves.
The difference a few days can make – above are the alliums yesterday (Saturday), below was them on Wednesday.
Have provided us with plenty of blossom flowers, the apple tree is now laden with young fruit:
The hostas are looked full and green, and new to us this year, some dahlias are providing a splash of colour.
Across Saturday and Sunday, I dug up all the bulbs from the front trug – a job that seemed easier this year than I remember from previous years. I suspect it was because the soil was so dry and friable – March, April and now May have been very dry months.
All this work can be tiring, so I took the opportunity to take a quick nap ….
(and just for info, today I planted 5 pumpkin seeds (why five? that’s all I had!) and most of the sunflower seeds planted last week have sprouted.)
Today the weather has been glorious, resulting in our first lunch in the sun of the year. I’ve taken advantage of the blue skies to paint the gate. Late yesterday afternoon I got it into my head to do it. so I wire brushed it and washed it ready for this morning. I’ve applied two coats of Cuprinol grey paint (found in the shed from when we painted the shed. Nearly a full tin and, once stirred, as good as new) I’m pleased with the result, it was beginning to look a little weathered and tired (perhaps the look I too often sport!), now looks a little smarter and more cared for.
Returned to school on Wednesday, but before that on Tuesday it was time for a bit of tree surgery, lopping off some branches from the tree in the corner above our compost bin. Does look better, although if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t think we’d taken anything off.
The garden is looking good, the lawn in particular, with drifts of forget-me-nots, swathes of daisies, a few tulips to provide a splash of colour and the first of the alliums about to flower. It has been lovely to spend much of today outside, soaking up the sun, reading, and also finding time for a small little snooze!
(and just for info, to give a point of reference in time to my blog, this week, on Monday the Pope, Pope Francis, died.)
The first tulips are beginning to bloom, bringing a splash of red to compliment the magnificent yellow of all the daffodils that are in flower. Wednesday, and particularly Thursday, we had a burst of warmth and it was wonderful to see the sun shine and feel its warmth permeate through winter cold bones. The temperature has dropped back to more seasonable norms, but pottering around outside today it did feel like we have moved into a new phase, and with lengthening days and a more tolerable temperature it does feel like one can venture from indoors, and start to contemplate all those spring and summer projects.
The tiredness reported last week has embedded itself further this week – I have just woken from a delicious 40 minute nap, a real Sunday treat. I go to bed at a reasonable hour, and sleep well, and don’t necessarily feel tired but I’m conscious that I’m just a little slower in mind and body. I ran today, I enjoyed it, 7K, but each k felt slow (and was slow!) on my heavy legs. Anyway, last full week of the term to come – grind it out, and from this time next week its downhill all the way to Greece!
At last the weather has changed and blue skies and sunshine have arrived with the start of meteorological Spring on Saturday (1st March). The start of the week was wet, wet, wet, but by Thursday, for what seems like the first time in ages, we have enjoyed a period of settled sunshine, and it promises to continue into next week.
The daffodils are beginning to bloom and they make such difference to one’s mood. I did think to myself in the week that the £100 or so that I spent on bulbs in late summer/autumn is the best money I spend every year. The flowers, the light, the blue sky and sunshine give sense of hope. The winter has seemed long, grey and boring – not exciting storms, or extremes of cold, just a deep, penetrating cold dampness that persisted all the way through to half term and beyond, but now we have stepped through the door into brighter and better days to come.
Today I spent a while enjoying the sunshine and pottering in the garden, continuing to cut things back. I took more off the top of the buddleia, took a lot of ivy off the “post” at the bottom deck, and cut the Miscanthus (the swishy swashy grass) back, ready to grow again for the new season. I suspect that we are on the cusp of a green explosion – everything still seems dormant, but I am sure growth will be rapid over the next few weeks.
On both Wednesday and Saturday I refereed 80 minute games without trouble from my calf. I did “feel it” after 50 minutes on Wednesday, but yesterday was fine throughout – although I was aware of a tightness last night and this morning – it was good to get some exercise again, still not running, maybe next week.
On Friday Dad went into Taunton Musgrove hospital to have a polyp removed. I don’t think it went as smoothly as had been hoped, but now he seems on the road to recovery. They have kept him in over the weekend for observation, I suspect he will return home in the next day or two.
And today we booked our ferries for our summer trip to Greece – looking forward to it!
Half term comes to a close and its been varied and full.
On Thursday we went up to Cardiff to look round a few houses with Sophie (whilst it proved valuable in helping her understand what she actually wants, she didn’t end up putting in an offer on any of them) but first we met up at Llanishen resevior for brunch, meeting with Sam as well. The pic above was taken with my new phone – with which I am pleased, and also I woke up on Tuesday morning to find that Lebara had resolved my problem and internet was restored to me.
All week Becky has been painting the stairs and it is finally coming together. Looks good and will be even better in a little over a week when the carpet gets laid.
Thursday was wet – we spent much of the journey up to Cardiff, and quite a bit of it back home, in the rain, but it did mark a change in the weather, and it has warmed up a bit and, on both Friday and Saturday, we did see some sunshine. It is grey and v windy today (and rain is forecast, but not yet arrived) but it does feel like we are entering a new, more hopeful, phase. I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the garden, and have been quite vigorous in (some of) my cutting back, particularly the ivy on the back wall, but also on the raspberry/blackberry bed by the side door, much to Becky’s chagrin who thinks I’ve been too vigorous and ruined any potential blackberry crop to come. The bulbs in the lawn are looking good, and those in the pots and front wooden trug are showing great promise. Hopefully over the coming weeks they will burst into bloom, giving a much needed lift was we march through March on the way to Spring and greater greenery. I also found some bulbs in a box in my shed – these would have been from the wooden trug from last year that I hadn’t planted out – that were sprouting, so I planted them out in various places – nothing ventured, nothing gained ….
One negative by product of my gardening yesterday, as we were finishing lunch I felt something in my eye, probably a bit of leaf or twig from my mornings labours. I tried washing it out, but couldn’t seem to get rid of it. I got increasingly irritated by it, stripped to the waist I went outside and poured bottles of water over my eye to no avail. Had a shower and basically forced/held my eye open in the water stream, but I could still feel something in my eye. I found if I sat still it helped, so read for a bit, then had a snooze. Awoke to it feeling a little better, but still not good. Becky & Sophie had been to the cinema in Wells to watch Bridget Jones (they both said it was very good) – Sophie then kindly took me to Glastonbury Minor Injuries Unit. I was seen in about 10 minutes, my eye was examined, nothing in it, but their had been and my cornea was scratched. I was given some cream to apply four times a day, for five days, and by the evening was feeling much better. I’m still “conscious” of my eye, but it no longer hurts and is well on the way to being fully recovered.
Whilst on my “health” (and as I age, it seems that more and more I am reporting weekly on minor ailments and the weather – is this my future?!) I’ve done little (no) exercise this week in an attempt to give my calf plenty of time to recover. This morning, when I got up, I spent 10 minutes doing stretching exercises – I still wouldn’t want to push my calf too hard, but I could stretch it without pain when I couldn’t last Sunday, so that is encouraging.
And just a little follow on note from last week – the repair of my car tyre went well, easy to do and (I’ve just checked!) the tyre is maintaining its pressure of 30psi.
So the week begun with biblical weather: dark, dark skies, strong winds and heavy, heavy rain, but by the end of the week – on Thursday in particular – change had come and we enjoyed blue skies, a bit of warmth in the sun, and a sense of promise and hope that Spring will, one day come.
The back road to Glastonbury has been closed for much of the week due to flooding, although by yesterday it was open again and I had planned to go for a run this morning and see, at first hand, the results of the flooding we have endured of late. But my plans were thwarted yesterday when 20 mins into refereeing a game (on pitch 1)I felt a spot on my right calf go “pop”. I knew instantly it wasn’t good. I tried running, but couldn’t. I seriously thought I’d have to come off, but I gave it a few minutes, walking in the area of the centre circle. By half time, it wasn’t so bad – I could run slowly, and so kept going for the rest of the game, gratefully hobbling off after 90 minutes. It stiffened up on Saturday evening as I sat with my leg up, and an ice pack strapped to my calf. Today I can certainly still “feel it”, but its not as bad as I feared. I think I will put myself “off-games” for Wednesday, but I’m hopeful that I might be able to give it a gentle run out on Saturday.
With the weather dry – and even a bit of sun at times – I took the opportunity to do a bit of work in the garden today for the first time in a long while, cutting the apple tree down a little, and thinning it out, and also taking a few branches of the buddleia down. I hope that half term – in two weeks time – offers similar weather so that I can get out and get the garden ready for spring. This is a good time for chopping things back, just before they burst into like again. Lots of my bulbs – in wooden trugg, pots and lawn, are proudly pushing through the cold soil, some snowdrops are providing flashes of white, and a couple of daffodils are threatening to flower.
I’ve begun the big migration from BT – have bought myself a new mobile sim with Lebara, £5 a month for 5GB, monthly rolling, no contract. Its working fine so far – on Tuesday it should take over my old BT number. Then I need to move Sophie & Sam off their mobile sims with BT and then change broadband.
On Friday & Saturday Becky went to Cardiff to take Sam the stuff he’d left here after Christmas, and also go house hunting with Sophie. They looked at one house, but didn’t like it; she has another to look at on Wednesday, and this one seems more promising …
Back to school, and its been a cold week! The temperature really started to plummet on Tuesday, and its been cold ever since, with sub-zero temperatures most nights, and not much warmer during the day. I’ve used a fleece blanket over some geraniums that have still been flowering (on the shelf by the back gate) – looking at them today, they are still hanging on in there, whilst any that were unprotracted have been turned to a blackened mush.
I didn’t get to see it (sadly) but on Wednesday we had a Greater Spotted Woodpecker in the garden (well, next doors), a visitor we’ve not had before, and its not been seen since, but feels a little more “exotic and exciting” than the normal robins and blackbirds.
Car woes …
Wednesday was cold, but initially dry as I began refereeing at Kingweston, but then the snow started to fall and everything got damp, and much colder, and by the end of the game my hands were freezing, despite my gloves. Anyway, I put my bags in the boot of the Micra ready to head home, turned the key, and nothing, nada, zilch. Bugger. I grabbed a lift home, and then had Becky drive me back to KW, connected up the jump leads and old faithful burst into life. I don’t think the battery had drained – I think this is the problem Sophie had back in April. I’m annoyed that I didn’t think to just disconnect the negative terminal and reconnect it – it would have helped the fault diagnosis – but I didn’t. I was also annoyed I didn’t have my jump leads or booster battery in the car in the car, I do now. Used it again without incident on Saturday …
Today I’ve enjoyed pottering, both inside and out. Having lost my jeff and info @dotsandspots emails (due to my server migration – I hadn’t considered this), today I resolved the problem by buying email hosting from Ecohost – £20+VAT for the year. Took a little head scratching to get it all set up, but not too tricky, a good job well done. And I also trimmed down a “bush” in the front to bring its height down level with the others. At the moment its just dead/dormant brown sticks and twigs, but before too long it will, I’m sure burst back into bloom; much easier to manage in its dormant state.
I was “aware” of my tweaked hamstring when I refereed on Wednesday , back was fine, and by Saturday’s game my leg was fine, too. But, with about 20 mins to go, I felt a similar niggle on the other leg, so decided not to run today.
The temperature is due to creep up a little this week, I hope so, I’m not a fan of the cold.
On Monday it got cold, and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night saw the first frosts of the winter. I think it is the end of my nasturtiums, although my geraniums seem to be hanging on in there,
On Friday the temperature warmed up a bit, but on Saturday and Sunday storm Bert hit, and its been particularly windy, and pretty wet.
I did have to check myself earlier in the week when telling my class it was the 21st November – I’m not quite sure how we have ended up so far through the month! Hard to believe that we are a month from Christmas eve, and hard to believe that we only have two weeks of term left, although last week was particularly busy, and the coming week will, I suspect, be similar.
And my shoulder/neck still hurts. Thought it was getting better during the week, but on Friday it hurt pretty much all day; yesterday and today its been on and off with the pain. Now regularly taking Ibuprofen and also applying a cold pack each evening. Hope it gets better soon.
