Another Hot day.

A day like today was too good to waste so this morning we went for a leisurely 2 hour stroll around Morte Point. Going in the morning meant that we had no trouble finding a space in the car park and we weren't held up by traffic heading down to the beach at Woolacombe. On our way home we felt really sorry for the people stuck in the traffic jam which started by the turn off to Lee Bay (that's before the pink house at the turn-off to Puts). Peter estimated that it would take about an hour to get down the one road into Woolacombe but after a couple of weeks of grey or wet days you can't blame people wanting to get to the beach.

Out on the cliffs there were very few people around, just a few sheep and some birds. 

Looking at Rockham Bay  we could see that the steps down had been repaired since our last walk that way. The edge of the campsite can be seen slightly to the right of the centre of the picture. It must be lovely to walk down to the beach in the mornings.

There were 3 or 4 seals at the usual spot and one fluffy one that was sunning itself out on the rocks.

Coming around the Point we could see the crowds on the beach and the glint of the enormous summer car park in the fields behind Woolacombe.

We were surprised to see our usual way along a sheep track deliberately blocked by dead furze bushes so we had to take a slightly longer route. Later on we found that another of our paths had been widened (by National Trust volunteers I expect) making that section a lot less  hazardous for my bare legs.

These ewes were keeping their bottoms warm in the sun and their heads cool in the shade.

At home I had taken advantage of the hot breezy day to air out all the tops in one of my storage boxes. They've now been packed away again, all freshened up minus 4 tops that can go to the charity shop. Before I succumbed to an afternoon of sitting out in the sun I sharpened the shears and cut the grass on the steps and paths that Peter hadn't been able to get to with the mower. I've also been picking up the fallen leaves and blossom from the stone raised bed every day. At first that might seem a bit obsessive but at some point I would be picking up all the leaves and blossom anyway. Leaving them to accumulate not only spoils the hint of a Zen garden but over time the leaves either dry up and crumble into a dozen pieces when you pick them up or turn into an unpleasant sludge which sticks to the stones. 

Sunny.

The sun has been shining all day making it feel like a proper summer's day. There's also been a  light breeze to cool things down a little. Peter suggested going for a walk on the cliffs but I don't think my back is up to a long walk yet. I still can't do much gardening but I cleared the hardy geraniums that were growing under and through a miniature rose bush by the patio. At one point I had to retire indoors when I was plagued by horrible flies.

I finished off a morning of housework by driving up to the road with our rubbish and re-cycling, both to be collected tomorrow morning. 

I stopped a while to watch the wheat swaying gently in the wind. This afternoon there have been sounds of much farm machinery and apart from the muck spreading which has been evident by the awful smell I suspect that the wheat was being harvested.

Once my list of jobs was done I had a lazy afternoon sitting out in the sun. Peter mowed the grass for which I was very grateful. He plans to do it all the time but recently he was suffering from an immune system arthritic flare-up. It started in one finger which swelled up in just an hour and then moved into his elbow. Rest and medication have sorted it out and he's back on his fitness regime.

Sunny Evening.

The day was overcast right up till about 5.00 when suddenly the clouds disappeared leaving us with a glorious evening. I'm still having to rest my back so I spent most of the day working at my PC. I did take a few breaks outside and just happened to cut back some of the hardy geraniums. And as it was so lovely later on I spent an hour reading up by the scree garden at the same time as drying my hair in the sun. 

Sunny Afternoon.

Yesterday evening I put a sun lounger in the back of my car ready to drive up the hill to watch the Perseids but unfortunately the cloud cover never shifted and there was no chance of viewing any meteor trails.

Today we woke to steady rain which  continued all morning but then suddenly cleared giving us a sunny afternoon. 

It was so nice that I treated myself to a lazy afternoon of outdoor reading surrounded by cats. I just had to ignore the sudden cold spells when clouds blocked out the sun. The buddlia bushes and golden marjoram were covered by bees and butterflies glad at last for some sunshine. Squeaky is still outside having found a sheltered sunny spot but the other 2 cats are already curled up by the rayburn.

Overcast.

Still overcast and windy, not a good prospect for viewing the Perseids tonight though Metcheck gives 52% cloud cover for tonight which isn't too bad.

Today saw me back in town, I was getting desperate for new library books and as ever fresh fruit and veg were needed along with some basics. While I was shopping in Tesco's I got excited to see that some tunic tops I'd had my eye on were now on sale at half price. I tried some on but they only had the bigger sizes which were too big. So no luck with those. I did find the green re-cycled wine glasses that we have for everyday use were half price so I bought another 2 in case of breakages. In town I bought more plastic plant labels and have been up and labelled more plants in the propagating beds. I've already forgotten what colour flowers some of the hardy geraniums had and as I ran out of labels when I planted them I'll have to wait until next year to see what varieties they are.

Jam Day.

The weather was much the same as yesterday, a deceptive blue sky very early on which soon changed to overcast with a persistent cool wind. There were very occasional and brief sunny patches and I only saw a few solitary butterflies trying to warm up on the ground. 

Most of my day has been taken up with making what may possibly be my last batch of Dingles Farm blackcurrant jam. I thought I was doing really well having pushed the blackcurrants through the sieve, added the sugar and water and cleaned up all without getting any purple splashes around the place. Then I went to the freezer to look for some cubes of lemon juice that I had frozen after making lemon cupcakes the other day. I never did find them even though I dug right down in the freezer but I did unearth more frozen blackcurrants. So there was a halt in the proceedings while they were cooked and sieved and a new calculation made for the extra water and jam sugar. Then started the boiling of the jam. My jam kettle (doesn't every housewife have one?) was now rather full so I worried that it might boil over and I didn't fancy having to clean burnt jam off the hotplate. There followed much stirring, one quick removal when the jam rose up and a lot of watching of my jam thermometer. The temperature seemed to get to 219F and no higher when my book said I needed to get to 220F. More stirring and watching and testing of jam on a cold plate to see if it wrinkled. But how wrinkly did it need to be? That was the question. Eventually the jam was up to 220F, looked wrinkly enough and was carefully poured into 13 jam jars which was all I had. (Handy hint - not having a jam funnel I cut the top off a plastic drink bottle and used that.) Peter doesn't eat jam and for most of the time I don't eat bread so I guess some of my Christmas presents are now sorted.

It's been a 'bird' day today as well. This morning I was idly staring out of the bedroom window when a sparrowhawk flew past just above the hedge. That was notable as I don't see sparrowhawks here more than a few times each year. Then, as I sat loading photos on this blog a buzzard few past the window and landed by the house wall in the corner by the conservatory. It was so close that all I could see from the window was its back. I ran upstairs with my camera but by the time I looked out of the bedroom window it had gone.

 Too chilly today for anything except the bumble bees.

Cold.

It has been on the cold side today, apart from a couple of brief warm and sunny moments and also fairly heavy showers. I ignored my self-imposed gardening ban and pulled up some brambles growing out of the rocky bank but that was the limit of my gardening.  Standing still and watching the wild garden I was able to spot all sorts of flies, beetles and this tiny grasshopper.

First thing this morning I had a phone call from the estate agent cancelling the viewing leading to some sceptical wondering if it might have just been to keep us happy ? At least the house is looking good which I enjoy.

I don't think we have ever had a door handle on the kitchen door so today I thought I would have a look in our collection of handles to find something a bit better than the strap we had threaded through the hole to help us pull the door closed. Our kitchen door is more often than not open so it hadn't really bothered us. There on top of the box was a pair of handles with a latch in the same design as the front door handle but a smaller version without a lock. I thought it would do so after some help in taking it apart I polished up the brass. But when I went to screw it into the door the hole for the lock was so big there was nothing to screw the latch bit into. A further dig into the handles box revealed the right door handles but this time with no spindle or lock and the brass coating is in a very poor state. They still stock that design in B&Q but it is hard to know what size lock we need to buy and all the ones in the store are in sealed packs so you can't really measure them. I'll have to unscrew the handles and lock from the front door and take them to B&Q. I've just looked up how to measure the lock but as we don't have the original lock I still need to dismantle the front door one. I'd rather wave the whole lock at a member of staff than rely on my measurements anyway.

This afternoon I started making blackcurrant jam. Today I dug all the frozen blackcurrants out of the freezer and am cooking them slowly to soften them up. To save top and tailing them tomorrow I'll push the whole lot through a sieve at which point I'll weigh them to see how much sugar to use.