It's Saturday Again

 Have I done anything really interesting this week?

No.

I finished a small  book - On This Holy Island by Oliver Smith, he visited places of pilgrimage past and present.

and found book another in a charity shop in town (50p). Colkirk Tales by Alfred Absolon....love the cover.

but otherwise it's been too much TV (still watching Bull) and tackling a 16 x16 Sudoku in a Puzzle book.

Of course there was the usual house work, washing, shopping and Exercise Group. I've put so many batch made meals in the freezer over the month that I've run out of boxes so no more will be made for a while. I now have a choice of Quorn Korma Curry, Nut Roast, Pizza topping and bases, Quorn Spag Bol sauce and Pasta/broccoli/ salmon bake for whenever. 

At least I got some gardening done with planting out two courgettes and the squash plant   (I think danger of frosts really has gone) and putting two cucumbers, one pepper and one aubergine into grow bags in the greenhouse. Plus the Climbing French beans out to the garden.  There will be 4 tomato plants in the other grow bags and more peppers in pots next but they are still a bit small.

The roses in the garden are all flowering so I brought a few in

We are in for a heatwave, with record breaking May temperatures forecast over the next few days - a sunny Bank Holiday weekend will be nice. Bank Hol weekends come around quickly with  Easter, Early May and Late May all happening with a few weeks...........then we have to wait to late August for another one.................which is probably a good thing as  I made scones  for my Bank Holiday treat again!

There are a couple of things I want to go to over the weekend but decided it would be a bit too hot to stand outside selling at a car boot sale, so my boxes of 'stuff' remain in my bedroom.

Have a lovely weekend - don't forget the sunscreen!

Those Who Died Too Soon

In history thousands of well known people have died much sooner than their 'Three Score Years and ten'. There are long lists online.

Apart from Colin who was only 61, here are a couple of others  that I missed when they died. 

The first was Richard Beckinsale. The actor who starred alongside Ronnie Barker in the comedy Porridge and at the same time was  in Rising Damp with Leonard Rossiter and Don Warrington who of course is still going strong in Death in Paradise.

He died in 1979 aged just 31.

 Paul Hunter, who was a talented  snooker player he died in 2006 aged just 27. He would have won more titles for sure.

And what other incredible music would Freddie Mercury (45) and Amy Winehouse (27) have gone on to give us if they were still around.

People often say they know where they were when they heard that famous people died (JFK and John Lennon are often mentioned) but the only person I can say that about is Princess Diana in 1997. I came downstairs to make a cuppa early on the Sunday morning and youngest daughter had the TV on - that was when there were childrens programmes on early mornings at weekends. She said " Princess Diana has died" and I said "are you sure - she's much too young, maybe you mean Princess Alice or one of the others". Of course I soon found YD was right and then we had the weeks and weeks of news and mourning which all got a bit too much.

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Apples From Blossom

I took these photos about 4 weeks ago when the young apple trees in the garden were covered with blossom and I thought how wonderful it would be if all the blossom turned into apples.

 

Somewhere in one of my books is an old saying about not  being able to count the apple crop very soon in the year but I've searched and can't find it.............It's a bit like chickens, eggs and hatching. 

There must have been lots of pollinators because this years flowers to fruit percentage is good and  the Falstaff - above- is looking hopeful for a good crop, so much so that I'm going to need to do some thinning out and there's the 'June Drop' too which is the way the tree copes with dry weather and too many fruit.

I looked in labels and found the Apple Blossom Fairy  from Cicily Mary Barkers books hasn't been on the blog before although 36 others have appeared. She painted 168 in total so there is a way to go.

When i googled to find out how many Flower Fairies there are, up popped an ad from Oxfam Shops Online where they have for sale a 1950s copy of three of her books together in one volume. They want £140 for it!!

I know charities need the money and charge the same as on line sellers but £140 for a book donated to them seems a bit excessive. If no one is willing to pay that much what will they do with the book?

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