Foraging starts!!

 After dropping the car down the road to the local garage....and having morning coffee....foraging was the order if the day.

A leisurely walk down the big hedge in the field 

Normally you can see Arran....

The hedgerow looks promising.

They aren't ready yet...and there is only one sort of pear and practically no plums this year....the wrong weather at blossom time, cold and wet, must have done a combination of damaging the blossoms and stopping the insects from flying.

In the other big hedge I found small apples...like crabapples but bigger...and small cooking apples, which I thinned out a bit, taking the bigger ones and the windfalls. Also haws, rowan berries and brambles.

I collected the car after lunch. Tyres ok for another month but keep an eye on the safety wear markers. One bit of the front suspension at one corner had gone...the potholes are playing merry hell with everyone's cars, however carefully you drive...

And there was a knocking noise....so back to see Davey.... possibly the apprentice could have tightened the wheel nuts a bit more...so everything was checked for play...and the nuts done with a proper torque wrench, not just the setting on the air driven tool...

Now it doesn't sound like "Three wheels on my wagon" is imminent!!

There is a wee bit of play in the steering rack...but nothing serious...we'll keep an eye on that too. All in all, not bad for a 20 year old car!!

Arrived home to a fleabay sale....hooray!! I probably should list a few more things...one every four weeks is not enough...but at the moment with all retail sales struggling...and with bikes, Wiggle et al ( now owned by the owner of Sports Direct.....) are selling things at knockdown prices....

People are expecting me to sell quality goods at knockdown prices.

I don't play that game...I will be patient....

Catching up jobs

 Doing jobs which have been waiting... ironing and keeping clothes..then potting up all the houseplants

I need to find new homes for some of these once they are settled!!

Doing some housework...now I have to do it all...clean floors today anyway.

Still damp and windy, so going out even for a walk wasn't an attractive idea..I did venture out for a bit..

Possibly the last rose this summer? The Bourbon rose Reine des Violettes I think...

Then carrying on with mending. 

Now the days are drawing in, with it getting dark at 9 and light about 6 I am ready for bed after 9...and doing my best not to lie in in the morning. We need all the daylight we can get!!

A day of bits

 A day of jobs going one step and others being finished...washing dried, ironing still waiting.

Kitchen mixer taken over to a retired electrician friend of ours to see if it can be fettled...the motor might need new brushes..

Shopping done..in two places, mostly reduced items...

It turned warm today...so was quite hot in the car for a change.

Received a phone call...well a verbal message...how do they manage to just leave an answer phone message instead of speaking ?! At least I know that pension calculation is ongoing....

Picked kale, young beetroot leaves, tomatoes and peas!!

The peas and leeks are looking good.. if windswept!! And the green manure has germinated.

And to finish the day a little mending whilst watching "Time Team" on U tube....they are fascinating!!

And finding some older photos of myself, after someone commented on one that I hadn't changed...

1976..Cardiff College of Art, mature student (23)

2011, the year that Mountain Man died, and I was part of the Black Mountain Circle and the cooperative gallery near Abergavenny..it has now moved into the town.

And 2024....sporting a new fleece gilet, £4 in an op shop today!!

Evening.. earlier

 Nine o'clock sunset already.

Going back home

 It was a long day yesterday...showery to start with in Wales, getting warmer by Oswestry..I went across to join my usual North South route on the A49...and when I saw the traffic on the M56, carried on on the A49 through Warrington...still jams for the M56 so I carried on on nice roads , to join the M6 that was fairly full but flowing steadily at 50 mph. 

It was really hot, so a nice salad lunch at a service station...and  a rest...and onwards..

A radio traffic warning of a collision near Shap saw me heading off on the A6 north of Carnforth, back to mainly nice roads and rolling along at 40-50 apart from through villages and Kendal...and who wants to dash through and miss all the interesting bits!!

The only congestion I had was coming into Penrith..I wonder how many others had had the same idea....but the combination of several sets of traffic lights, a narrow bridge then more traffic lights on the bypass A66 was more likely the reason. 

On up the A6 after Penrith...a nice rolling road with little traffic...and back on the motorway at Carlisle for the short hop to Gretna.

A stop there to browse in the outlet shops and have a good leg stretch.

Driving is all very well, but doesn't do the body much good!

Coming back into Scotland, I met damp roads and rain showers again, and warnings of heavy rain....but fortunately only light showers on the old road through Annan and all the villages on the nice road....and back to the A75 to Dumfries then head north on the 76... shopping at the co-op in Thornhill..picking up a few reduced items for a no cook supper..and an hour left to go to home...37 miles...and home by 6.30pm as the heavier rain gradually started!!

It rained hard and the wind blew all night....it eased off a little, but not enough to venture outdoors until after 4pm this afternoon.

This morning's view....

Indoor jobs , tackling paperwork and phone calls.... not my favourites, but good to have them done.

Now for some mending.....

Family day out

 Bright and early start today...well sort of...the rain eased a little and we were off soon after 9!!

Just under an hour and a half to Llandrindod and we met son#3 , wife and daughter at the café by the lake..a cuppa to start with then a stroll around the lake.

Some duck feeding followed by a light lunch in the café.

Then to another park the other side of the town..

Walking curtailed by mud, steep slopes and rain...but we all had a good chat at the end before heading home.

Son is at a farm campsite outside the town..very basic but very relaxed.

With the music festival at Lovesgrove outside Aberystwyth we took the mountain road by the Nant y Moch reservoir...which will be closed for the Rali Bae Ceredigion next weekend..it was interesting seeing the different markings and signs ready for the rally cars...but I was too busy hanging on to take photos..plus we were in the clouds much of the way!!

The road comes out in Talybont where daughter used to live. 

Everyone is now chilling out after the travelling...and I am planning the route home tomorrow.

Rest day...sort of

 After the stay away and travelling today was quieter..the wind was just a gentle breeze ( but it is up again tonight)

SiL took the boys out on their bikes for an hour between showers and I took the opportunity to do more sewing.

Then lunch and I did a couple of hours weeding..but when I went in for a rest I was asked to go and sit in the garden.

Apparently the piano hasn't been touched because I am here ...the joys of autism.

But noone thought to say anything until it became a grumble...the joys of ADHD parents....where did she think she inherited it from ?!! No arguments...but she should know by now that if she would like me to do something, I need to be asked, and if it is a job, explain exactly how it should be done.

Anyhow the practice was done...and I had a nice sit in the sun!!

I had peace and quiet when they went to see a film about Tornadoes and tornado chasing..and the cat decided to sit on my lap!

Now it isn't just raining and blowing it is thunder and lightning as well. Should make the garden grow well.

Good thing it was dry yesterday for my walk around town...I got a few interesting photos...