Grandparenting duties.

We see quite a bit of our newly eight year old grandson in the school holidays, it's a wonderful age. He's dropped off at our house in the mornings before his parents start work. He comes with a load of equipment; paints, marbling kit, modeling clay, puzzles, construction kits. scooter, pogo stick, (I'm sure it has another name these days) the list goes on. I think how simple and uncluttered my own childhood was, post-war austerity left us to make good use of our imagination. So I was amused, and quite delighted, when he ignored his wealth of equipment and played for a long time with two of my clothes pegs. He has various jobs when with us, one is to set the table. As you can see in the photo, he made an off-the-table placement for his cutlery with the pegs and then set us the challenge to do the same but in a different pattern. I was only too happy to delay lunch, he was so involved and happy exploring possibilities with us.

Trips to the beach involve another load of clobber; goggles, snorkel, large flippers, body board, ball and bats. 'You want all that, you carry it' says Nana. And he does.

What does he play with the most? See the old metal spade with the worm-eaten handle, at least half a century old? That's the plaything that sees the action!

Another dry day

I went to the allotment to harvest some veg. What a sorry sight it is. I chucked a few buckets of water around the pear tree and under the squash plants but to little effect. Many of the plots look as though they have been completrly abandoned.

Daughter was home from London for the weekend so we packed our swimsuits and headed for the beach. We went early, before the weekend crowds and had a wonderful swim in calm waters. We set up a small windbreak but have yet to purchase a rubber hammer!

Aah, just the job!

We left just as it was starting to get busy and spent a lazy day at home.

RAIN!!

At last we've had some rain, ten minutes of torrential downpour. We really should have cleared our gutters beforehand because many weeks of tree debris had clogged the corners of the guttering and some of the downpipes. The water shot off the blockages and fell on newly planted seedlings, washing them away. When the rain stopped Himself put his hand down various drains and removed a load of matted pine needles and a dead bat! There wasn't enough rainfall to fill the water barrels but I'm very thankful for something rather than nothing.

All is well in the conservatory,the 'Red Cherry' tomatoes ripening nicely. We've been eating the yellow tomatoes from the allotment for weeks now, they are very prolific and I'll certainly grow that variety again.

I'll still be saving my bathwater tonight to go on the garden. I hope that wherever you are the weather is doing what you want it to do!

Poole

It's the school summer holidays and this week we have been on grandparenting duties. Yesterday we went to Poole Quay to take a boat trip round the islands. The boats ferrying passengers to Brownsea, the largest of the islands, were full of holiday makers, including groups of scouts and guides. A photo opportunity for Himself and The Boy beside the sculpture of Baden Powell who started the boy scout movement on the island.

We had a wander along the harbour front while waiting for our boat. There are a great many pubs, it was obviously thirsty work in the olden days working on a sailing ship!

There are some old buildings that give an idea of how Poole must have looked, but they are greatly overshadowed by more modern, large and ugly buildings.

We had a look at the moored craft and looked around the old lifeboat station. No takers to man the lifeboat!

Our boat took us first to Brownsea and then around the smaller islands. The castle on Brownsea is now a hotel.

I do enjoy a boat trip!

A weekend with friends.

It was our book group meeting last Saturday and I was introducing the book, 'Old Filth' by Jane Gardam. We stayed overnght with friends and had a great catch-up with everyone. In the morning it rained. I very much hoped that it was raining back home in Bournemouth! I borrowed a pair of wellies and we went to look at the nearby National Trust property, Tyntesfield. We used to live in a former farmhouse that had been part of the Tyntesfield estate, before the property was aquired by the National Trust. At that time one man lived in the house. It is rather a large place for one!

It was very stuffy in the house and I much preferred to see the walled vegetable garden. It was an impressive sight, all managed by volunteers.

Everything was so well done. Next year I am going to grow my cucumber and squash netted like this so that the crop doesn't lie on the ground. Lovely old brick walls to hold the heat for the fruit trees.

At our friends' house we did a lot of sitting about, laughing and chatting

before meeting up with more friends for Sunday lunch. We chose to sit outside - until it rained again and the water dripped down the back of our necks from the umbrella above.

Aah, normal Blighty weather resumed. It has rained again today. Hurrah.

Perfume!

Having complained mildly about the loss ot perfume in my sweet peas the other day I opened the conservatory doors this morning and was met with a waft of delicious perfume, a combination of lilies and lemon blossom. It's a green oasis in the conservatory while outside is a parched landscape, impossible to do much about it. School breaks up tomorrow and we shall be looking after The Boy so I dare say the weather will change then!

St Swithin's Day

St Swithin'Day and no more than a spit of rain. Fifty-eight years ago, on our wedding day, we had a downpour! Watering the garden and the allotment by hand is hard work and not very effective after so many weeks of drought. Pickings are rather slim at the allotment although I did a swap with Teresa, two plots down from mine, and came home with enough basil to make a tasty pesto and a ball courgette that I stuffed and baked.

I'm picking sweet peas every morning. This year I planted old favourites that I know perform well, 'Noel Sutton' and 'Leamington'. Last year I tried a dark blue variety and it was very disappointing.

Don't now ask me which is which, I haven't got a clue. The blooms vary somewhat, mostly a clear colour but sometimes more striped and with a darker colour. It's a lovely task to go out each day to pick the flowers. I'm not as aware of the perfume these days, I think I am losing my sense of smell. (Don't get Himself started on what's happened to the flavour of new potatoes. Even Jersey Royals don't seem to come up to scratch these days.)

I'm watering my phlox, 'Miss Kelly' every day, I don't want to lose her. (You can see how fond I am of this soft lavender colour.)

Wedding Day 1967, up a tower at Bolton Castle, Wensleydale. The rain had stopped, I was about to throw off my shoes and start dancing!