July round-up

It's been hot. Too hot for comfort at times. But we survive.

 Two of my blankets and my first Dream-Catcher went off to their new homes this month

 My first fairy is finished, but I'm not totally happy with it, so an alternative is being made for my "customer", GD6

 The book cover blanket progresses

 

Fortunately, extremely fortunately, although we've had very little rain this month, we here in the Wildshire are not yet on a hosepipe ban, so the yarden is at least looking pretty green and the veg are coming along nicely. Figs and carrots have been enjoyed.

 

 

My little car, Natalya, had a significant event this month, she's 12 years old now, so this isn't too bad, and she'll last me a deal longer yet.

 

My lovely new Lumix camera is just as good as its forebears, and given it's only really a point & shoot camera, it takes a mean shot of the full moon

 GM and I enjoyed a picnic lunch out at Chalfield Manor, not far from us, we sat people-watching, and although we didn't see very many, these riders passed us by.

 School's out for the summer, and GD5 will be spending a few odd days with me before she goes off to Scout Camp, and then on holiday with her family. 

 My tree is looking quite resplendent, and doesn't (yet) seem to be suffering from the shortage of water.

 I missed a couple of days of Woodoku this month, no excuses.

 If you have reached this far, thanks for sticking with it. How was your month?

I went to Yorkshire . . .

 . . . to spend a few days with my friend Sundy, who lives just outside Skipton. I had such a lovely time. 

She took me to see the Cow & Calf rocks, just above (literally) Ilkley, we had some fun

 

 

 No, that's not her abseiling!

From there we went on to Bolton Abbey for lunch

 

and then a walk down to the river Wharfe (no, I did not attempt to cross the stepping stones).

 Both Sundy and I belong to a fabulous (Facebook) group of over 50s ladies, called the Silver Tent (contact me if you would like further details), and another Silver Tent friend, Ali, who lives nearby in Haworth, arranged a get-together of local-ish ladies. I already knew some of them (Catherine and Elizabeth)  from previous get-togethers at Glastonbury and Tavistock, and it was lovely to meet others (Suzi Joy, Jo, Heather, Helena and Emily) for the first time. 

There was just enough time before the lunch-time get-together to pay a quick visit to the Haworth Bronte Museum and Vicarage

 And that evening was the fateful England v Argentina game, Sundy joined me in my room to watch the match

 

For my third and final full day there, we went on an amazing Magical Mystery Tour, well it wasn't a mystery for Sundy, she was doing the driving, but it was lovely for me. We stopped for coffee/tea in Settle, where there was a Flowerpotman/Scarecrow display, 

 then across the moors, for a glimpse of Malham Cove,

 and lunch in Hebden, where we came across some very hot cows sheltering in the shade

 

That evening we went to a one-woman show at Skipton Town Hall, called "Susie, Homemaker". If you get an opportunity to see it, I would highly recommend.

Sundy very kindly sent me a colour-coded  map of where I'd been, Tuesday's trip is yellow, Wednesday's is red, and Thursday's is blue.

 

I had an amazing time, which passed all too quickly, and now I'm back home again in the Wildshire. Thank you Sundy, Ali and all for making my trip such a memorable one.

Ten on the tenth, July

Here in the West of England we are experiencing a rather prolonged heatwave, we are simply not used to these temperatures, and it's very tiring.

Apart from watering my yarden, all I want to do is sit and flop.

Scenes from the yarden early in the morning before it heated up

1. Gladiolus and a couple of hollyhocks

 2. Not very tall sunflowers

 3. A hanging basket on the side of the garage

 4. Raindrops on roses, except, of course, they're hose droplets rather than raindrops.

 5. My all-time favourite flower, Crocosmia Lucifer

 6. I'm growing blackberries for the first time this year

 7. This was the temperature in our hallway at 9am

 8. Mashed banana and strawberries mixed in yogurt make a refreshing mid-morning snack

 

9. I'm knitting a fairy for GD6, it's a first from this pattern, I think I'll adapt it if I do any more, it's a bit too long.

 10. This will be one of the wings

 

How are you coping with this heat? That's if you've got it, of course. The temperatures are record breaking.

June's Photo Challenge, Broken

I had two trips away in June, the second one crossing the end of the month, which means I didn't really have much time to concentrate on Eileen's challenge, which was "Broken".

I didn't even manage the minimum requirement of 5 photos! So here are the 4 that I did get at the beginning of the month.

 Thanks Eileen for organising the challenge, and for this month I'm happy to accept "could try harder", the background commentary to my entire childhood!

Next month's subject is "Black and White", so I'd better get my act together.