Hot.

A Borthbados day. The temperature on the terrace is still 40C/104F.

The beach was busy and the sea nice and calm for paddleboarders and swimmers.

I planned a sewing day but while Peter was using the exercise bike I went out to the back garden to do some much needed weeding. Some of the weeds on the 'wild' side of the garden had shot up to 4 and 5ft. I'm pleased to report that they are now in a full bin bag ready for whoever goes to the tip next. I'm letting the Welsh poppies, aquilegias, garden foxgloves, linaria and valerian all go to seed before I pull them up as I'm happy to have them popping up next year. 

Then it was time to sew. I began by hemming the lining of the curtain which was a relatively easy job. Then came the more tricky task of adding an extra strip to the muslin curtain. Naturally it had to be at the same level as the strip added to the other curtain. But did I do that? No, I measured, pinned and machined only to find I'd been measuring to the wrong mark. Being fine matierial I had to unpick it one stitch at a time but it got done eventually. Taking more care I sewed it on in the right place this time. I've begun pinning the hem but when I hung it up I could see I need to make adjustments so I've left it for tomorrow.

One thing I did notice with all the hanging up and taking down of the curtain and the blanket curtain is how much nicer the main curtain looks without the blanket behind giving it a golden tint. Peter says it matches the laminate floor but that doesn't make it better. I've now decided the blanket curtains will go up for winter as extra insulation over the large expanse of glass but stay off during the summer months. To cut out the light interfering with Peter's tv viewing it will have to be (white) blackout blinds on the windows and doors. For the time being the heavy curtains will stay up until the blinds arrive.

Peter has been busy today working in the garage where he has begun painting the walls white. There's plenty of spare white paint left over from Broadgate that might as well be used up as it wouldn't match the white used in the house. Then he fired up his beloved barbecue and grilled some lamb steaks that he had marinaded earlier. They were so tender and tasty, one reason why I'm a flexitarian and eat meat occasionally rather than a vegetarian. Speedy also enjoyed the tiny bits he was given as a treat. He had to have his worm tablet earlier but I was able to push the tic-tac sized tablet into a chunk of his tinned food and he ate it without any fuss. I think making him wait for his dinner helped though I wasn't going to take a chance and see if he would eat the tablet if I put it on its own in his bowl as he did once when he was young.