- Few strawberries from my plants each day early in the month.
- Then raspberries (until I discovered that the dry weather had made their seeds really hard and they were upsetting my stomach which is Most Annoying)
- As usual dishwasher only used every other day
- and washing machine mostly only twice a week.
- Another large cauliflower from boot sale for £1 - fed me for several days.
- Very Big bundle of beetroot from boot sale for £2
- Reading library books for free.
- Home made bread from the bread-machine (I worked out a 400g 50/50 white /wholemeal loaf costs just under 50p)
- Eggs still £2 a dozen from farm gate stall
- Tumble dryer not used all month
- No flowers, jewellery, make up etc bought
- Free physio appointment and then free exercise and arthritis management 6 week course
- First of the climbing French beans - they were delicious.
- First courgettes
- First cucumbers
- Two Vileda mop heads for £2
Monday, 30 June 2025
End of June Financial Round Up
Saturday, 28 June 2025
Saturday - Almost the End of June
I've enjoyed watching some of the Wimbledon qualifying on TV and found a series on the free Pluto channel called 'Flashpoint' which dates back to 2008 - 2012 and is a police drama from Canada. Really odd to see one of the main character actors (Enrico Colantoni) was also in 'Person of Interest' - a US thriller series from 2012 - 2016 which I was watching a few weeks ago. He must have gone straight from one series to the other - a busy actor. ( I looked him up and he's never out of work).
Had the first two small courgettes this week and the first of the French Climbing Beans- so delicious.
Sorry I didn't reply to comments yesterday and apologies for my mop-heads being boring rather than beautiful!
It's supposed to be a hot (for England) weekend here with temperatures in the 30's C [ I looked it up for US readers! (30°C × 9/5) + 32 = 86°F ] - so not a lot of galivanting will be done!
Have a good weekend, I'll be back Monday with the end of the month frugal/spending round up.
Friday, 27 June 2025
Mop Heads
Good bargain find at the car-boot sale last weekend. Pack of two mop heads for £2. Handy.
And a big bunch of beetroot - nothing else.
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Thursday, 26 June 2025
Debenham Church Art Exhibition
Last week I went to have a look at this art exhibition in Debenham church - it's one I try and get to every year and this year it was huge with over 500 pieces to look at as well as lots of unframed art and greetings cards.
It was very busy too, lots of people looking and the sun shining, didn't make for good photos so I didn't take many.
Lino Cuts by Judy Holloway -£155 each |
Realistic still life oil paintings. Strawberries, satsuma and marbles by Cate Swinfen £395 each! |
Lino cuts in muted colours . The middle one is titled Softly Suffolk. By Anne Townshend £185 each |
Giclee Print of original mixed media work. Covehithe Coastline by Alfie Carpenter. ( A local artist and musician who died from cancer age just 33 in 2023) |
Display of small art work in various mediums |
Mixed media - looks like glass but is a pourable plastic? whose name I can't remember by Mark Wheeley. Really bad reflections makes a poor photo. |
Beach huts by Shirley Harvey and Red Sails by Kay Lucas |
Wednesday, 25 June 2025
A Garden Full of Twittering
One day the garden was full of puffball baby Bluetits, little things shouting for food which the parents were giving them from the sunflower heart feeder. I couldn't get a photo as nothing sat still long enough.
A week or so later it was the twittering of baby Goldfinches and parents, the babies were being fed from the Niger seed feeder. Neither birds had nests in the garden but they seem to have brought the fledglings here for their meals.
Thank you to everyone for comments yesterday about the nearby growing crops and vegetarian/ omnivore. My diet includes very little meat now - definitely no beef, but it's good to have a choice. I've lived all my life among fields and farms so grown up knowing about all sorts of crops and how things work.
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Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Field Crops 2025
I took a walk up the lane with the camera to see what crops were growing this year. No sugar beet this year but field beans on one side, barley on the other and further up the lane some very tall oil seed rape.
Field beans are an important part of many livestock feeds, being high in protein. |
Barley for malting and brewing or for animal feed. In some parts of the country it might be used for human consumption but here we have one of the main maltings companies not far away and Green King Brewery too. Barley straw was the best for goat bedding. Wheat straw was tough and not so good. |
Oil seed rape is grown for it's oil-rich seeds which are used for animal feed, bio-fuel or cooking oil. |
Monday, 23 June 2025
St John's Eve and Midsummer's Day
"Never so little rainy"?
Saturday, 21 June 2025
A Saturday Post Including Tennis, Book News and Comment Questions.
Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959: At the end of a scorching hot day, beside a creek on the grounds of a grand country house, a local man makes a terrible discovery. Police are called, and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most baffling murder investigations in the history of South Australia.
Many years later and thousands of miles away, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for two decades, she now finds herself unemployed and struggling to make ends meet. A phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother Nora, who raised Jess when her mother could not, has suffered a fall and is seriously ill in the hospital.
At Nora's house, Jess discovers a true crime book chronicling a long-buried police case: the Turner Family Tragedy of 1959. It is only when Jess skims through its pages that she finds a shocking connection between her own family and this notorious event – a mystery that has never been satisfactorily resolved.
Friday, 20 June 2025
Solstice 20th/21st
From the Latin Sol meaning sun and sistere "cause to stand still"
Thursday, 19 June 2025
Focaccia Bread
I discovered the recipe I use for Focaccia Bread had never been added to the separate recipe page when someone mentioned needing a recipe several weeks ago. Then I forgot to do anything about it.
But I'd almost run out and made it again last week, so now it's been added the recipe page for future reference.
This is the recipe I used which turns out well. I do the mixing in the Kenwood with a dough hook..
Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Roses
It's a good year for the roses - I'm sure that's a line of a song? There are 6 different ones here and I've no idea what they are. I only know that there's white, red and shades of pink and orange. There's another that I have to keep cutting down as it's really in a wrong place. Three are climbers. My sister gave me a yellow rose in a pot for my birthday. I don't think its a miniature - the flowers are bigger - those miniature roses never last long for me.
I think it's wonderful that many people know exactly what varieties they have growing but I'm not a massive fan, and have never gone out to actually buy any anywhere I've lived and I never know how much I should be cutting back each year. But it is nice, at this time of year, to be able to bring in a few now and again.
This is the biggest and most showy of all the roses, it's in the front border so gets the most sun.
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Tuesday, 17 June 2025
Out Early
When I wake up I often feel old! Specially if it's been a disturbed night - traffic, heat, aching knees etc. But if the sun's shining I don't have a problem getting up and Sunday morning I was at the car boot sale at 7am - It was the most glorious morning for being out early. The rain on Friday night and the breeze on Saturday had cleared the air, so all was fresh and lovely.
The car boot bargains were minimal - nothing unusual nowadays - I'm definitely counting car boot sales as an early morning walk rather than a treasure hunt.
My "what to look for list" in March included a plate for Spring to make a change for the seasonal display. I was thinking of something a bit bigger than this little Spring Brambly Hedge plate but as it was only 30p it seemed a good idea.
The very pretty birthday card on the left was 10p from the same seller and the cards above are a pack of 6 Christmas cards. I paid just 20p for these. The design is by Carry Ackroyd whose illustrations from her book "A Sparrows Life as Sweet as Ours" I often put on the blog because they are so good.
Now I've got to look out for a very small plate stand for this very small plate as it's too small for the one I have - it wasn't the plan to Add to the 'looking-for' list!
Later in the morning I went over to son's village to look round the garage/yard sales there and to see how they were getting on with selling their unwanted stuff. Unfortunately there were only 18 houses selling and they were spread out all around what is now a large village. The family were hoping for buyers but the morning got more overcast, hot and humid as I was walking round, there was nothing I needed or wanted anywhere, so back to son's house to get the car and then home.
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Monday, 16 June 2025
How Long Did Covid Last?
I was talking to my sister about moving here during covid and the time in holiday lets that could only be used if you were moving and needed somewhere to live and people were banned from actually using them for a holiday. She said " in April 2021? I thought it was over by then."
That made me look back at some of the "Strange Times" posts I did at the time. The last post with that label was in February 2022 - almost two years after the start.
It made me smile to re-read these headlines of the time from another Strange Times post...............
Saturday, 14 June 2025
It's Half Past June Tomorrow, Things I didn't Know and Thank You
Friday, 13 June 2025
Getting Annoyed With One Book And Giving Up on Another
OK - Fiction is fiction, it's made up but when a story is set in the 1940's during the war, and facts are easy to verify it's just really annoying when an author says something that just sounds so wrong.
Here they are, a lot of London policemen, in wartime London discussing what's going on at Bletchley Park - this was so secret that hardly anyone knew what happened there until it was revealed much later. Yet in the story they know it all - the machines, the clever code breakers and even the name Enigma and what it was going to be used for.
And then one of the policemen pops home to have a shower. Bath -yes - but showers were rare in private homes until later - even if he was a top cop with royal connections!
Does it matter - I suppose not really, just makes me cross.
This was the book, it's the 8th in a series set in wartime London and featuring DCI Coburg, Sergeant Lampson and Coburg's wife- a well known pianist and singer. As well as murder in the cathedral there is also a murder at the Ealing Film studios. This author is very prolific and seems to write two or three books each year. I did finish it and the story and details about the people working in the Cathedral during the war are good.
Thursday, 12 June 2025
Third Jigsaw Puzzle for Autumn/Winter
I'm nearly sorted for autumn and winter with the finding of jigsaw puzzle number 3, from a charity shop this time. Another House of Puzzles jigsaw that I'd seen online and thought it would be a good one to do. Hope the rough seas aren't too difficult.
I just need to find one more then I'll have one each for October, November, January and February. That's enough or I'll never have time for reading!
It's handy that they are easy to spot in Charity shops because of the box size and the small illustration on each side of the boxes. I'm looking out for a couple that I've only seen on line -( there are hundreds on ebay to look through but I'll try to find locally to save postage)- one is the signalman and the inside of an old fashioned railway signal box, with steam trains passing by and another of farm buildings with someone repairing a tractor.
There are several from House of Puzzles that I wouldn't want to attempt - one called Frosty Morning is all snow, sky, trees and sheep - all much the same colours and there's another of an old fashioned shop with dozens of small packets on the shelves - that looks difficult to sort the pieces and a Christmas one just has lots of similar looking and similar colour Christmas cards. Those need more patience than I have!
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Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Free Cake at the Castle
English Heritage kept sending emails to remind me that as a 'Senior Member' I could get a free cake (but only from a choice of three - they aren't That generous!) with any drink on Wednesdays, anytime this summer.
So last week I thought a visit to Framlingham castle - without Grandchildren - would be a plan. The last two times I've been I've had small people's company who aren't interested in the museum bit .
There was much confusion actually getting into the castle at 10am, with the lady at the gate saying a wristband (and paying for non members) had to be done at the ticket office in the car park while a sign at the ticket office said to pay in the castle at the shop! There was definitely no-one in the ticket office even though the lady at the gate said she had seen the ticket office person going in. Eventually gate lady came and shouted through the keyhole of ticket office! - By this time there were about 20 people waiting, all very amused at the confusion...someone did suggest we "storm the castle walls!". Then finally she rang up someone else and found that the sign at the ticket office was correct and everyone needed to show membership at gate and get wrist band at the shop. By then it was well after 10am and I decided to have my coffee before looking round!
From a distance it's the remaining towers and their chimneys that are noticeable. The first photo is over the gates on the way in.
I took a few photos in the museum but the light wasn't good.
Below is a then and now photo of the Methodist/ United Free Church. It was the place where the Country Markets organisation sold produce every week. I used to take some cakes and cards. The market stopped several years ago when there weren't enough bakers or buyers.
HERE are photos from my 2021 visit, I didn't take any photos last year when I went with EGD and joined English Heritage for the year.
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Speedwell
When we were young we called it 'Bird's Eyes', one of it's common names, along with Angel's eyes. It grew in many places and was very common.
It's real name is Germander Speedwell and it's part of the large Veronica family (Veronica chamaedrys). There are garden varieties but the photo is of a tiny patch growing in the grass on the edge of the 'lawn'. It spreads by creeping and does no harm, yet according to the RHS website some people need to know how to remove it from their pristine lawns.
I won't be digging it out as per the RHS website but will leave it to spread as far as it likes.
Monday, 9 June 2025
Tennis + Two Old Books + One New Book
What a fantastic final at Roland Garros in France yesterday. Amazing tennis, two finalists, Spain versus Italy, both born this century - frightening thought - and as the commentators said we could be watching them in finals for another 10 years or even more. Both fluent in English as all young people in Europe seem to be now and they both seem nicer than moany Djokovic. I was pleased to see Andre Agassi there presenting the cup - a favourite of mine from the 90's and early 2,000s.
( The Tour of France Cycling is only on Channel 4 for this year and then that's also lost to Discovery+ & TNT)
Last week I read two books from my shelves while waiting for my library books to travel to Stowmarket.
Saturday, 7 June 2025
Saturday 7th. Random Notes.
Friday, 6 June 2025
Just Two Cards but I Need Another List
Last Saturday the car boot sale was GIAGANTIC. Even at 5 past 7 the car park was filling fast and there were no more spaces for people selling.
I scanned the tables and boxes for interesting things but just came home with these two cards and some butternut squash and sweetcorn plants.
In my box of birthday cards there are several with various ages waiting for the 5 grandchildren, two great nephews and one great niece's birthdays but of course when I'm at a boot sale I've no clue what's in that box at home.
Need a list. Always a list!
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