Bridlington with Darren and a bit of gardening

I will start today’s blog with a picture from National Geographic. It isn’t just a stunning picture but has interesting facts as well. It is a Philippine eagle and is one of the rarest birds in the world with just 400 pairs left.

Darren had a day off today and fancied a trip into Hull to go to the gaming shop he plays at. They have a new premises now which was pretty impressive. I got some brushes and a few more acrylic paints. I then had a bit of a wander while Darren chatted to the guys. We had parked a good way out and as I was struggling Darren suggested we call into a church cafe and had a drink. Really lovely in there so one to remember,

When he had finished in the shop we made it down to the harbour. We had lunch, not too much social distancing or cleaning going on but we were away from others and had sanitising gel with us! Took a couple of pics of the harbour.

Darren took a different route back through the town and we got a bit snagged up in back road traffic, but were soon on our way back home. It was a lovely little trip and Darren was very patient with me hobbling along!

This afternoon I went out into the back garden and worked on tidying up along the side of the house.

I had a surprising amount of stuff to take up to the garden bin, took a couple of pics in the front garden. The variegated buddleia is very attractive.

Two gladioli opening up.

I worked steadily for a couple of hours or so and even got some bits plants in one of the sinks after I had cleared it.

I watered the bonsai trees and filled the watering cans, just taking it easy now.

Memory, leaving party in Ghana

When I had stayed my two months in Ghana I arranged to have a party at the orphanage and ordered pop and some goodies. The children had three meals a day, very much the same and only ever drank rainwater or from the well. They all wore their school clothes and it was lovely and sad at the same time. I had loved being there although it was very hard at times and the thought of coming back and having decadent things like warm water was a pleasant thought, and even more so a proper toilet!!

Back to today, I made a flap on the throw I use as a cover on the chair in the hope that I would not be fighting to keep covered in the night. That worked, which is good, just need to sort out the pillow now!

I have been really achy for a couple of days now so walking at the moment has become less than enjoyable, but went out with 

Tina today and we enjoyed it, and not too much walking involved. We went and had lunch at a garden centre and I bought some bird food for a change and a very pretty plant and a few veggie plants. The foliage plant is a coleus but I have never seen one in this lovely colour before.

Then we went and did a grocery shop at Lidl near Beverley. Not overly busy in there but I was feeling weary by the time we were back at the car.

We sat in the summer house for a little while this afternoon and I got Tina doing one of the quite complex puzzles I have take a liking to. We enjoy working on puzzles together, keeping the brain cells active!

Tina ordered a dear little solar fountain a while back, it is very tiny and does work, it was gong a bit higher than this earlier!

Took this last picture when I went out to water the bonsai trees. This tree has been in a pot left to it for a couple of years now. Looking beautiful, time I found it a nice pot I think!

I lied! Not the last picture, took one of the sky while I was out there!

Gardening, bus ride and chips by the sea!

Yesterday evening we put the water feature on again to see how it lit  in the dark. Not a great picture but a cute little feature.

This morning the first job in the garden was digging up the English Bluebell bulbs ready for replanting in the autumn. They didn’t flower well this year and they had gone quite deep and crammed together so hopefully we will have a show of them as well as the Spanish invaders! I hoed round the edge of the large flower bed and then decided ai needed to try and get the teasels off the ground!

They had been really tall but the winds had almost flattened them and they were crushing any plants underneath as they have huge stems and are heavy as well as extremely spiky! I started with canes and a cast iron plant stand I had, they were just not man enough for the job and I was getting well scratched! I spotted the four pronged weed remover and thought that might be strong enough to support them alongside the plant stand, it was a bit of a battle getting the string round the stems and hauling them up, but they are not sort of upright. They are misshapen at the moment as the were frowning up towards the light from the horizontal position.

After a sit down and coffee I did a bit more clearing in the bed, it won’t last but looks better for now!

This afternoon I caught the bus up to Freeport. Quite busy there so I kept the mask on. I caught the bus back as well as my legs have been pretty painful today and I was struggling, especially after ai had queued to get served at Pound Stretcher.

I have spent some time doing a complex puzzle, a sort I haven’t done before. Difficult to explain and I really thought I would never get the hang of it but persevered and actually completed it without cheating!

Tina suggested we go and have chips by the see, we did just have a portion of chips each and a cup of tea. It was surprisingly quiet and we got a bench. It was a beautiful evening although the breeze was chilly.

When we got home had to take another picture of the yucca flowers.

I am loving my leg rest, it is so comfortable even when the legs are being tiresome.

Going to watch a program and Princess Anne at seventy this evening,

Pruning, chores and watering!

I went into the front garden to continue clearing the side bed. There has been a half dead tree there for some time so today I got the saw and decided to prune it. Also did some clearing and got quite a lot done in just over an hour, I was surprised at just how many branches I had pruned!

The electrician was here for most of the day, getting a radiator into our downstairs loo and fitting an outdoor socket. He also changed the lights in Tina’s office. Very nice guy who worked hard and left no mess. Very swish double outside socked which meant I could get the water feature going!

We have had the little water feature for over a year, it got damaged and I eventually got round to a repair, not a great one but made it useable. I had to hunt for the pump but when I found it and got the feature cleaned cruelly got it working!

While I was in getting things done mode. I reported the spider plant into the container with the face on that I got last week.

Have spent getting on for tow hours watering the gardens, Tina did the front while I did a bit of weeding then I did the back. The ground was very dry and some of the plants were beginning to wilt. I bought an insect repellent roll on yesterday, used it literally today in the hope that I won’t get any more horrible bites! 

Must try and do a bit in the back garden tomorrow,

Frustrating day!

I went to the post box this morning as Tina had left a letter on the side that needed posting. It had rained in the night but was just a bit drizzly when I went out. Then fed the birds and saw to the cats. Pandora decided to jump on me, quite rare these days, but it would actually be quite comfortable now I have the new leg rest!

The yucca plants are in full bloom now and absolutely stunning! Deserved a close up as well.

Last week I bought some shiny pieces of material with making a bag for Sarah in mind. I had planned patchwork both sides and to even make a little bag to keep it in! That was the plan...... The machine had been skipping stitches a bit and still was and then began to get worse. I tried the tension, no change tried retreading and checking the bobbin, no change. Time to get the instruction book out. That said skipping stitches could mean wrong sized or blunt needle. So changed the needle and it wouldn’t stitch at all, just making holes! So changed the needle again and used different thread, it still wouldn’t stitch at all. Getting close to giving up now. Thought I would try it on cotton material and it stitched fine! I had managed to get one side done while it was being temperamental so decided to settle for that. Had the other side laid out, it may just go in the bin!

I had some purple material for the rest of the bag and had enough of some pale green for a lining. Got it all made up and made some handles, measured and lined them up and sewed round the top twice to make them secure, only to realise when I turned it right side out that the handles were inside! Deep breath and spent about half an hour unpicking the double seam! Got it right the second time then managed to snip the material cutting a thread, the air was a bit blue but I was calm and darned the little nick! But was visiting Sarah tonight and decided she could have it now, will get flowers or something for her birthday next week!

She was happy with it and doesn’t sew so wasn’t seeing the many imperfections! To say that the day ended up frustrating was a bit of an understatement....

Busy boot sale, painting and fruit from the garden

I have a lot of birthdays to remember in August and am trying to make personal ones that are relevant to the recipient. The one last night does not actually meet that except that Sarah is a lover of all things pink and purple! No real interests to home in on but ai think this will be well received.

This morning I left at seven thirty with Darren to go to the boot sale. It was busy, but although we did enjoy it the crowds were acting like there was no pandemic, so our masks and gel were put to good use! I got some nice things but particularly pleased with the foot rest. I have a stool that matches my rocking chair but it is too high for me to manage to have me feet up for long as it puts to much pressure on the unsupported knees. This however is perfect and I sat without moving for an hour this afternoon and was very comfortable!

I also got a pretty little clock which had a leaked battery in but Darren cleaned it up and replaced the battery and it is working. Also a colouring book and a couple of little plant guides which seem to be pretty good.

I decided to do a painting for a change and am pretty pleased with the result.

I went round to the church with Tina for an hour and helped put stuff in envelopes and did a little bit of hoovering, then when the tea as brewing when we came home I went and gathered some fruit from the garden. The gooseberry bush has lethal long thorns!

Sat with my feet up for an hour and then went to get dinner and made two crumbles as Darren really doesn’t like gooseberries! They were tasty and made with fruit fresh today!

The forecast is for rain in the early hours and tomorrow morning so I walked along to the post box to get the masks I made sent off. Took a picture of the church through the plants and trees on my way there.

Going to start watching A Suitable Boy this evening.

Mostly indoor day

The new bed chair was comfortable, different to the old one so getting used to it.good to know that it won’t start moving on it’s own,

This morning I went to do the weekend shopping soon after eight, before too many holiday makers were around. As I have a lot of really nasty bites I decided against gardening, but when I looked out of the laundry room window when I was hand washing some new material I could see that I needed to go out and at least get the sunflowers supported. One is almost to the top of the wall and the flower is nowhere near ready to open! So, for now they are looking okay, but we do get a lot of wind.

Over thirty of the hollyhock seeds have germinated now, really good as I only counted thirty five seeds when I was planting them.

The next job was to see why the sewing machine wasn’t behaving last night, changing the thread and rewinding the bobbin didn’t sort it out, so changed the needle. Then all was well! So I was able to get the two smaller masks made that was a request, hopefully they will fit.

After that I decided to get the gecko that Tina had embroidered for me on Heathers fancy machine into a hoop. I have hung it on the bird cage for now.

This afternoon I have been making some birthday cards, I have nine birthdays to remember in August. Pleased with the ones I have made but no pictures as recipients do check in on the blog.

The reason hasn’t really arrived here, we had just a few spots, so hopefully we will make it to the boot sale in the morning.

New ‘bed’ and unexpected visitor!

A short entry today, it has been quite a strange one and I need to lie down in a darkened room, or would if lying down didn’t make my knees hurt!

Yesterday evening, after doing some clearing up in the bedroom, I did a couple of ideas of the sort of thing I had in mind before I found that all the barge painting images were quite complicated roses.

This morning I phoned the mobility shop to see if there was any news on when the chair would arrive and then went out into the front garden for about an hour. I stopped because I was quite achy today and I didn’t take any pictures, was just weeding and cutting back dead leaves etc.

I then spent some time firing up the laptop as I wanted to see if I could get into the program I used to keep my photos in. I haven’t used it for ages now and had to get it charging. I had forgotten how slow and noisy it had become. But the program was still there and I could get into it. I wanted to find pictures of the dolls house I had made quite a few years ago, before I had used Google Photos. I can find them, but trying to get them off is a whole other story!

After lunch Tina said she would call in at the mobility shop as I hadn’t heard anything and was beginning to have a bad feeling that I wouldn’t have a useable chair to sleep on tonight. Anyway, he said he has messaged me with a time but ai hadn’t received it, so we were both sitting and waiting to hear from each other. Anyway, he still had time and it arrived soon after that. He said the price had just gone up when he bent his very expensive screwdriver trying to get the old one apart! Looks good, but tonight will be the test.

I have a request for a smaller face mask so started getting it cut out this afternoon. I had also thought of a different way to make the pleated ones so thought ai would try that out as well. I was just beginning sewing when Tina asked if I would go downstairs. The reason was that a very poorly man, who  lives in a local supported housing establishment had arrived in a very distressed state. He shouts and swears about the town and severely psychotic today. We spent about an hour and a half with him when the paramedics arrived. Tina had phoned reasonably early on but they were held up by road closures due to a frond traffic accident. Anyway, two very kind male paramedics eventually got him into the ambulance. Tina and I was exhausted by this time so Darren, who had arrived home from work in the middle of all this, kindly went and got us fish and chips for our tea.

Not sure if I feel like dong anything right now, but won’t be lying down in a darkened room!

Lovely visit to Driffield

This morning we had decided to go Leven as we had been told there was a sort of farmers market in the pub car park. This turned out to be false information so Tina suggested that we take a trip to Driffield. We have only been once before and we really liked it. We stopped to look at the canal where we had a picnic just before lock down.

Although it was green on the surface where the lock hadn’t been used and opened the water was actually still very clear.

There were so many tiny hover flies on the weeds and grasses. I tried to get a picture, if you zoom in on this one you should see a couple!

We managed to get a place in the free car park in Driffield and walked into the main town. Had a browse in the market and then had coffee and a delicious piece of lemon cheese cake at a delightful little cafe. Then we went to explore and found a fabulous shoe shop that had 20% off everything. Lots of lovely leather shoes and sandals and wide enough for my feet! I am delighted with my purchase and Tina got a nice pair of sandals too.

We got some bird food supplies and more paints, tester pots, and I got another tin of quick drying varnish! Then we drove to Cranswick Garden Centre, we had never been before but it was lovely. We had lunch and the cafe was very well organised for safety and social distancing. I took a phot of the van because we loved the name of the street!

I bought a small flower pot because I liked it and it raised money for Mind. Also got some great bargains of the one pound offer table!

Tina bought a weed burner which she was very happy about and has been out playing with it tonight!

I watered the back garden and took pictures of the teasel and the shaggy daisy!

Last night I had to give up on the chair as it seemed to have given up the ghost completely. But today I have managed to get it into a reasonable position and have unplugged it, so fingers crossed it won’t be moving in the night! Fingers crossed the new one will be delivered tomorrow.