Sunny.

Bright at times and cool in the shade and wind. I got some washing out on the line and it dried nicely in the wind.

Today I bought the new kitchen sink which should be arriving at the builder's on Wednesday. I rang the company and the process was pretty easy, not so buying the cupboard to go underneath. It was a basic unit from Wickes but when I tried to arrange delivery the web site froze. I rang the help line but all I was told was to ring again and press 4 to speak to a different department but delivery would be at least two weeks. I'll have another go tomorrow or even use a different company.

I haven't done very much today due to lack of sleep. I've arranged a phone appointment with my doctor on Wednesday as now I'm wondering if I've got a long term chest infection rather than muscle strain. It's no fun getting old. When I spoke to the receptionist at the surgery I reassured her that it definitely wasn't Covid.  It's been on and off for a year, I don't have a temperature or a dry cough and my oxygen levels are around 98%.

We sat outside for a short time this afternoon. My attempts to capture the bumble bee in flight resulted in 40 frames without any bees in at all.

More Shopping.

Much the same weather today, hot when not in the shade of the many clouds with a cool wind.

Peter had ordered some beer so I drove over to Asda's click'n collect but for some reason the order had been cancelled. When Peter phoned them up it turned out they were out of stock. They could have sent him a text before I went out and saved me a trip. However I went to Tesco's as well. After Peter's mishaps with the mandolin he asked me to get the medium sized food processor which I spotted on sale there. However it turned out there was only the display model. I did my best to get them to sell me the display model but they weren't allowed. As I pointed out there was no point in having a display model if there weren't any to buy but they have rules. You can't order, they didn't know when the next delivery would be and the sale offer ends on the 19th. That's a shame. 

What I did buy were these four mugs in a duck egg blue that matches the wipeable tablecloth I bought a while back. I also treated us to a set of white towels in different sizes which were also half price. I would have liked a couple of hand towels in duck egg blue but they were 'New In' and quite expensive though I may still end up getting them.

Once home and showered I sat outside with Peter in the garden for a while, chatted to our neighbour over the wall then watered the plants.

Colder.

Once again it was hot in the sun with a cool wind but eventually the clouds covered most of the sky lowering the temperature noticeably. 

We set up the loungers and sat outside while it was still hot. I think it's going to take a very long time to finish mending Peter's t-shirt as Lillian Beckwith's amusing account of Hebridean life wins every time.

I had a baking session before I went outside. I was going to try to bake a coffee chiffon cake. Had a recipe and all the ingredients but when I tried to separate the eggs they weren't fresh enough and two yolks broke into the whites before I could fish them out. I had a quick look through a recipe book and went for a madeira cake instead, but with coffee in. 

I wasn't sure how much coffee to add so went for 20gms which was the amount needed for the chiffon cake recipe. The cake was slightly bitter so I used up the remains of some icing sugar to make some icing. More of a sweet coffee flavoured icing would be perfect if I make this cake again. 

I discovered why there were drips of blood around the place after Peter's mandolin misadventure. he'd nicked three of his fingers! The mandolin came with a spiked guard to hold whatever you're slicing so I'm not sure what Peter did. BTW make-up wipes are perfect for wiping blood off painted walls.

Sunny.

With barely a cloud in the sky it was deliciously hot so long as you weren't in the shade which was cold in contrast.

The first event of the day was a lady coming to collect some garden plants. She'd put out a request for them on the Don't Bin it FB group. She's supporting a group of people (with some type of needs) in a house which has a bare garden. I offered her my spare hardy geraniums and yellow loosestrife which she was happy to accept.

Once the plants had been collected it was time to go OUT. I needed fresh fruit and vegetables from the supermarkets but my first stop was BJ's which is now open. As well as their garden centre they sell household goods, pet supplies and some food items. It was great to have a wander around though it was really the garden centre I needed. There I bought more canes for my climbers and then spent a gift voucher I'd been given for Christmas. I wanted some pots to match the grey ones the acers are in. All they had left in the same colour were some wide dish type ones which are nice but really expensive and a single large pot which I bought. It's so big I think you could plant an oak tree in it  but I'm going to repot the red acer into it and then a small red acer with feathery leaves can be moved form the small pot it's in to the smaller ribbed pot. 

There was no queue at Lidl's and only two people in front of me at BJ's but a much longer queue at Tesco's.  I bought most of the items on my list at Lidl's and crossed them off while waiting for the check-out. When I went to look at my list while I waited at Tesco's I couldn't find it which was annoying as I don't trust my memory for such mundane things as a shopping list. As the queue was so long I put my shopping bag on the floor and called out to the person behind me that I was going to get my list from the car which wasn't too far away. I sprinted over to the car but there was no sign of my list. Ran back to my place in the queue and tried to write down the things I needed as I waited. Surprisingly I only missed out one item, oat bran which we haven't run out off but I like to keep a packet for a spare. When I got back in the car I looked again thinking it might have fallen on the floor but no sign. It was only when we unpacked the shopping that I found it underneath a six pack of cat food tins. In Tesco's I had fun at the photo printing machine. I printed out the sea pictures to check how well they will do when printed out much larger to frame and display. They came out so well I might print all three. Today's photos were 8" x 6" and cost 49p each which I thought was pretty good. The garden photo is to draw on with wipe-off marker to plan the new landscaping.

On the way home I dropped off a few things at my friend's house including a birthday card suitable for a man. In Tesco's I picked two cards that I thought might do and then accosted a male member of staff and got him to say which he thought was better. I also bought myself a new dumb phone as the other one stopped working. Because of distancing the chap couldn't put my sim card in it so I'll have to get Peter to show me how to do it. Maybe when his hands are better. I bought him a mandolin slicer/grater with a number of fittings and the first thing he did was slice a bit of his finger, oops. He went upstairs for a plaster and left drops of blood up the wall and on the windowsill. That was after we spent the end of the afternoon sitting out in the garden. Even though there is little covid in this area I still wash all my clothes straight away and have a shower once I come home from the big wide world. Better safe than sorry.

Sunny.

The cold wind is still here but with hardly a cloud in the sky it has felt a lot warmer today. Perfect drying weather. Any sheltered corner, such as the front garden, was a real hot spot. We spent an hour or so sitting out in the back garden enjoying the relative peace and warmth.

While sitting out in the garden I attempted to take an action shot of the bumble bees. The smaller Early Bumble Bees (Bombus Pratorum) this time. Peter eventually reminded me about the 'action' setting on my camera. I'd used it before and had trouble loading a frame to my files but this time that wasn't a problem. Instead I had difficulty starting and stopping the camera and got a lot of frames without any bees in at all.

I'd planned a day of sewing today which began well as I measured and cut a 12" strip of the largest of the blue towels (I bought 4 more of different sizes yesterday, might as well grab a bargain). I had some bias binding or the right colour but it is about 8" too short. 'Never mind' I thought,  'I'll use the card of black bias binding instead but it was too narrow. So now I've bought 5m of the right colour and width on eBay. Next I began pinning the legs of the summer trousers I bought from Tesco's. The fabric weight and design are fine but the cut is a little of the 'Cossack' style, baggy round the thighs. I plan to make the legs narrower which looks a lot better. I stopped at the pinning stage as it was too nice to stay inside. Instead I took out a favourite t-shirt of Peter's which had more holes around the neck. I've already mended it once so this time I'm patching on some black fabric behind to give it a bit more life. I may even use the narrow black bias binding on the neck which is very frayed. I did upset Peter by informing him that another t-shirt which is more hole than shirt is heading for the rag bag.  

I've noticed that after Sunday's announcements regarding easing the lockdown I've seen a number of cases here where the instructions regarding visitors are not being followed to the letter. I know that some at least of the 'offenders' are very quick to condemn infringements by others but it has been 8 weeks and there are very few cases in this part of the county.  

Bright.

Lots of clouds today, some of them looking quite dark underneath but so far no rain has fallen. It was warm in the sun but as soon as a cloud blocked the sun's rays it felt chilly.

The relaxation of the lockdown now includes house sales. Good news I hope for Vytas and Sally who along with millions of others had their house purchase halted mid-process. House viewings are also allowed, not for speculative buyers ie those who haven't sold their own property and social distancing should still be followed. There was also mention that you should wash down door handles etc after a viewing but I think offering viewers latex gloves from our large supply would be better. With the possibility of viewings comes the need to keep the house in a respectable state. To that end I blitzed the bathroom. Dead bits cut off the plants and the clear containers wiped clean. The bath needed washing, a task that I resent as we don't use the bath but it still fills with dust and fluff from the towels. I try to change my grumbly mood by thinking it's a bonus in terms of the house sale to have a separate bath and shower. The shower had an extra scrutiny and scrub once I put my glasses on. While I was waging war against the dust I tackled the horror behind the tv in our bedroom. Being careful not to upset the electricals with my damp cloth using paper towels for the sensitive areas I removed an awful lot of dust from the wires and back of the tv. 

Later in the day I discovered a patch of mould in another corner of the window sill of my study which was dealt with more bleach. Then when I thought I was done I caught a whiff of damp in the bedroom and found more mould behind a wooden box on the bedroom window sill. Not much but not good. A final attack with the bleach and at last I was done.

In between my cleaning I repotted three more clematis I had bought at Asda yesterday, £5 for three plants. Dark pink, light pink and a light blueish purple one.  

I sat out in the garden for a short while with a book and a cup of tea. The young blackbirds are now cheeping in the nest, no escapees today and the parents have been back and forth with worms and insects. I also surprised a sparrow at the tray of water. Don't know if it was just drinking or maybe even having a wash.
PS I haven't been able to read the comment at the end of 11th's post as it takes me to a UK newspaper article.

Leaving the Nest.

Another bright day with a bite in the wind. 

Our usual schedule was abandoned today as both of us had a bad night. I had to make an extra trip to the shops today as Peter needed some Corsodyl for his gums and was almost out of frozen vegetables. He usually cooks for himself but this evening I shared the cooking and eating of the vegetables (peas, French beans, broccoli and potatoes)  while Peter roasted some chicken. What a lot of extra work that is. My plate of salad vegetables takes 5 minutes to chop and another 5 in the microwave and to be honest I prefer it to today's veg which I had with tinned herring in sauce. Each to his own. Peter says he enjoys cooking and he usually cooks enough for several meals in one go.

When I went downstairs this morning the blackbirds were creating a dreadful racket with their alarm calls. I went outside to check if a cat was threatening the nest but instead found one of the fledgling blackbirds sitting on the trellis.

It's still got a few bits of baby fluff and a big yellow beak. What the photos don't show is that it doesn't have any tail feathers so can't really fly. 

After I came back from my shopping trip we decided to sit out in the garden to enjoy the sun. As I joined him Peter said the blackbirds were once again making a lot of noise. No surprise when I discovered the fledgling stumbling about in the plants behind Peter's chair. 

For the rest of the afternoon the youngster hopped about the garden, under bushes and even right down to the house. The parents kept arriving with more food for it and for the remaining youngster(s) we could hear still in the nest. At times the wandering fledgling was able to flap up a couple of feet into the  ivy on the fence so maybe it has made its way back to the nest though it may be hiding under the bushes.

I posted off the contract for the remaining windows and doors for Red Roofs but we have now hit another setback. There is no plaster to be bought in the whole of Wales and the plasterer needs 25 bags to skim the walls before the decorating can be done. Peter even phoned up the company that manufactures the plaster only to be told they are not in production yet. He may have found a way to get some before the 6 weeks most suppliers have been quoting. I do hope so.