Windy.

It was still hot today but the weather is definitely turning. There was a lot of wind and now it is overcast and cooler. Still we have had 5 sunny days.

As I drove to my dental appointment this morning I wondered why there were still youngsters waiting for the school bus. A quick glance at my watch showed that it was 8.20 not the 9.20 I had thought. With an hour to kill I went and to Tescos and BJ's both of which I had planned to go to after the dentist. At the surgery the dentist took x-rays and tapped my teeth but could find no signs of infection or decay. Only a tiny bit of decay which can be fixed later but nothing to explain the amount of pain I had been in. He checked the hole under the crown on my lower jaw but my dental hygiene is good and there is no problem there. He did check the bite between the upper and lower molars, both of which have crowns, and found that they were only meeting in one small area. That hasn't been a problem before because until I lost the molar on the other side I never chewed on the left side of my mouth. But for the last 6 months that has been my only option. He ground down the top surface of the crown so that the teeth meet better and hopefully that should do the trick. I was sure that I was going to lose at least one tooth which would have left me unable to chew, only nibble with my front teeth. But thankfully that is not the case, at least for the moment.

I was working in the scree garden this afternoon when the hen started the 'I've laid an egg.' cackle but even though I searched through the long weeds of the orchard, and got stung by stinging nettles for my pains, I couldn't find an egg. Perhaps she was just thinking about laying an egg. 

Fields of Gold.

Having decided to go to the dental clinic at the Health Centre after school I woke to find that my toothache had subsided to a dull ache. I take anti-inflammatories  for my joints which may have helped reduce the pain but I haven't needed to take anything else. It still feels not-right so I'm glad I'm seeing my dentist tomorrow.  I might just mention that I still have pain from the extractions I had about 6 and 9 months ago.

My car has also been not-right with a tweeting noise coming from the engine. Alec had a look at it this afternoon and replaced the fan belt and something else that was old and cracked. The cover for the CV joint ?? is also cracked and he'll replace that next week. 

On the very edge of town as I head home, is an interesting old stone property down a long driveway. As I went past today I saw a group of ponies, knee high in buttercups, happily grazing in the field. 

They were mostly small fat ponies, probably Shetlands,

and a larger rather magnificent pony, I'm thinking a Welsh section B or C.

My route home takes me to the right across the picture then the road passes the houses and off to the hills in the distance.

At home after changing out of my school clothes my first stop is to check my emails and Facebook. While I was doing this I was interrupted by an agitated bumble bee flying at the window by my pc. I trapped it in a plastic jug and then feeling a little concerned that the envelope I had slid over the top wasn't a good barrier I took it outside and let it fly away. When I came back I looked down at Speedy and saw his nose in this state. "Oh dear, he's been fighting." I thought until I realised that it wasn't blood but the remains of a small pot of low calorie chocolate pudding I had been eating. That cat puts his nose into everything.

It's been a beautiful day and even now the sun is shining on the hill but sadly not in the garden any more. Peter is out rowing and I did some gardening as well as simply sitting and enjoying the lovely evening.

Breezy.

Even though I rang the dentist first thing this morning all they could offer me was a 15 minute appointment on Friday to asses the problem and give some pain relief but there were no long appointments until the end of next week. Luckily the pain killers I have at home are keeping the worst of the pain at bay and I took the Friday appointment. Peter tells me there is a drop-in dental clinic at the Health Centre in town so I shall try that after school tomorrow. 

It has been sunny again today with a brisk breeze blowing. Perfect drying weather but I'm running out of things to wash. I was debating washing some curtains but I've already got bedding to iron so instead I've been finding random items such as jackets, bathroom mats and the cats' blankets. I've tidied most of the scree garden and hopefully it will all be done before we have rain. Then I can move some plants around to fill in the gaps.

The weather was so lovely that I ended the afternoon by taking the Reception children down to the Secret Garden and reading them a story under the giant weeping willow. After school we had a staff training session  (which I hadn't known about) on Executive Functioning Difficulties (cognitive abilities of the brain adversely affected by medical and psychological damage in the early years) and strategies we can use to help children with these problems. It was very interesting but the pain killers were wearing off and my tooth-ache was a bit of a distraction.

Driving down the hill I noticed that the ponies' fields were a mass of daisies and buttercups. Pretty but probably not very nutritious.

Inside the house a large bumble bee was crawling across the hall carpet. I let him crawl into a plastic jug and then took him outside to the aquiligeas. There he spent some time stocking up on pollen or nectar. That was my good deed for the day.

Sunny.

I've got raging toothache so I'm off to groan in bed. I foresee yet more teeth having to be pulled!!

Sunny.

Peter was back at work today so i was left on my own to enjoy yet another day of sunshine. It was far too nice to lie in bed so by 9.00 the washing was on the line, kitchen jobs done and I was enjoying a cup of coffee outside. The rest of the day has been spent picking leaves and moss from the scree garden interspersed with long tea breaks.

Imagine a cross between a home made go-kart and a pony trap (scaled down) and that's what I saw when Jack came visiting in the afternoon. Neville the terrier, who stands no more than 12" at the shoulder was pulling this contraption. It was very funny to see.

Still Sunny.

We started our day by having breakfast outside in the sunshine. That was after I had a chat with Vytas on Skype so things couldn't have been better.

I still wanted to get a few things done so while Peter cut the grass (maybe this will become a regular event), I tidied up a flower/stone bed by the scree garden. As always it took longer than expected but I don't like leaving a job with the last bit not done.

As it was such a sunny and breezy day I took the opportunity to bring down this chest of drawers from Romas' bedroom which isn't heated and has hardly been used in the last 4 years. I gave everything a wipe down and then left it to dry thoroughly in the sun before polishing it with beeswax polish. We've now put it in one of the other bedrooms.

We ended the afternoon with a barbecue though Peter was muttering darkly as he hasn't yet mastered the art of making burgers that don't fall apart. Even the cage thingy (for fish) didn't make a lot of difference. He also grilled some Boerewors (venison & beef sausage) which he bought from a butcher in town that specialises in exotic meats. It wasn't too bad though I'm not that keen on venison but it was too salty for us. We use almost no salt in our cooking so eat a minimum of processed food because it always has too much.

Had to laugh when Google worked out that I would quite like to go the Isles of Scilly for a holiday and offered me a list of self catering holiday cottages on Tresco. At £1,670 for a 1 bedroom cottage, for 1 week,  I don't think we'll be having a holiday on Tresco any time soon. Or if there are 6 people, you could pay up to £4,500 for a week!!

Summer.

Unusually for me I've been off-line for nearly 24 hours so it wasn't until today that I saw my friend Claire had given birth to twins, a boy and a girl. Such exciting news. She had been keeping quiet about about exactly when she was going in and also hadn't wanted to know what sex they were so we've all been looking forward to this day. Her hubby posted such a lovely photo with Claire smiling so proudly. 

It's officially the first day of summer and the shining sun tempted me outside for the whole day. A cold breeze has made things chilly at times but was perfect for drying the sheets I put in the machine first thing. They're already ironed and back on the bed. I love the feel and smell of fresh ironed sheets while Peter says he can't tell the difference. To him ironing sheets is a waste of time. He's been out all day at the gig club's regatta at Instow. He's home now having had a great time and a satisfying race as well. Supper will be a couple of large trout given by a friend who goes fishing but doesn't like eating fish.

I've been trying to pace myself to lessen the impact on my knee and back but I have managed to tidy most of the ornamental grass bed. As I dug up some of the invading runners I came up with a plan (for a future garden) of growing each grass in concrete pipes disguised by gravel. In between gardening I've been reading The Horse Dancer by Jojo Moyes. This was a library book chosen almost at random as I flew through the library on Wednesday. I'm really enjoying it because the main character keeps her horse in an East End yard under railway arches so similar to the ones I knew 30 years ago when I looked after people's horses in London. Even in those days there was only one similar yard and a couple of even smaller ones in Stepney though there would probably have been a few more scattered around the east of London. The characters and the yard are so evocative that I'm wondering if the author had experience of that yard. 

2 nights ago when I couldn't sleep and was listening to Radio 4 I had another evocative experience. The theme of the program was darkness at night and a large part was about Lundy. Lundy was featured because it is not on the national grid but electricity is supplied by 2 generators which are switched off at midnight, or thereabouts. At one point I only had to hear the clang of a door and the clunk of footsteps to know exactly where they were - The Old Lighthouse. I even felt I could almost tell how high they were as they climbed the steps to the lantern room with its 360 views over the island. Happy holiday memories.