Trying to fit everything in and a drugs raid at the barbers.

 

It was a very busy but bitty weekend.  S fixed the cutter deck on his mother’s lawn mower.  He also made a replacement frame for my small raised bed.   Frankly, it did not look that small but it is now in situ and the measurements are fine.  The bed really isn’t.  I haven’t had anything in it for the last couple of years and it is showing serious signs of neglect. 

The top growth has been strimmed off but everything is so dry that I have only been able to take the worst out so it has been levelled off with a couple of bags of muck.   A thick layer of cardboard has been applied and dampened down (considerably).   Currently not attractive but once I am happy that it has the capacity to break down I will heap some more muck and compost on top and with a bit of luck it will come good.

I have watered, then watered some more and watered a bit more.  Picked lettuces, strawberries, turnips, marjoram, blackcurrants, blackcurrant leaves,  gooseberries, then some more gooseberries and blackcurrants, peas, broad beans, red currants and one raspberry which as an autumn raspberry has no business being ready yet.  The above have either been frozen, eaten, dehydrated, distributed, turned into jelly or pickled.  I am currently ignoring purple French beans and courgettes.  I will regret that but …….

The usual weekend chores were, much as usual, done in part.  Washing, ironing and changing bed linen all done.  Not all cleaning done. The spiders are getting pretty confident that their webs will not be disturbed but generally that went better than it has in recent weekends.  The weeding wasn’t quite so successful but some of the box got trimmed.  That is the bits not housing birds right now.  

I went to my parents taking a Fathers’ Day card for Dad and a carrier bag of blackcurrants for Mum.  Sorted 2 stage authentication on something for Dad, showed them how the battery comes off and charges on the strimmer, logged Mum back in to the mower app.  This is pretty standard when I go to my parents, much as sorting the lawn mower/pond pump/tumble dryer condenser is for S when he goes to his mother’s.  I wonder what our key areas of struggle/lacking confidence will be in 20 years time?

Dinner with friends in their glorious garden reminded me what a garden can look like if one is more fastidious than I am about pruning and weeding.  One day!

I clocked up my ‘annual’ financial review.  This did not happen last year and I have never met (via Teams) ‘my’ (new) financial adviser, the first time I have spoken to him was a week or so ago.  I am hoping he is going to hang around with this firm/me rather longer than the last one.  When it comes to what to actually do with my pension pot I am going to need some advice and it might be nice to get it from someone I can at least recognise on a Teams meeting.  For now, however, I think he may be finding me something of a disappointment.  He is clearly keen to get into advice re the forthcoming IHT changes and for reasons peculiar to our particular circumstances, that is not my priority.

My sister having got first place for the family ‘notable event’ the week before last (she and my BiL sailed from the west coast of Scotland over to Belfast, just in time for the riots), had to cede the award to my Dad this week. 

He went for a hair cut.  His usual barber was closed so he went elsewhere.  Hair cut was interrupted (though then allowed to finish) by the Police, seemingly undertaking a drugs raid.  It comes to something when you can’t have a hair cut in peace.  Hot towels, head massage are just not going to compensate! Personally, I would be slightly nervous about having my hair cut whilst the barber was being supervised by the Police but I suppose once started…………….    I don’t think he will be going there again though it is a pretty good cut.

I’m hoping to avoid getting into any competition for next week’s award though those spiders do need evicting.