There's a very strange old woman staring back at me from my new bus pass card which arrived in the post this week. ED helped me with getting it when she was here last month as I kept getting stuck moving photos from one place to the online form. It won't get much use while I can still drive, we only have a couple of buses each day passing through the village. They go to all the wrong places and take three times as long as driving and I don't really enjoy bus travel anyway - did years of it in the past- but it might be handy sometime.
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I'd been waiting for this pepper to turn red. It's from the plant bought from a boot sale when my own plants were so slow to get going.
Shouldn't have waited because when I sliced into it some of the inside had gone black. No idea why - but I'll blame the weather. A little was usable and went into a quiche.
I'll bring in two others that are not quite red later today and chop them for the freezer, if they are OK inside.
My four home grown pepper plants have a few peppers on them but they're still green.
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The rain that was forecast for Mid Suffolk for the 13th has disappeared from the weather charts, now there's nothing until perhaps the 17th and the long range forecast says above average temps and below average rainfall right through until September. With the constant heat I seem to have sunk into weeks of achieving nothing much..................and I don't know how I'm going to get out of the slump- it's very worrying and feels like depression creeping in.
All I've been doing is reading, doing all sorts of different puzzles in my puzzle books, going to exercise group, occasional bits of food prep in the kitchen and shopping and too much TV again for company.
I decided......had to force myself............. to go out yesterday to Pot Fest - a celebration of potters, sculptors and their work. I went last year and enjoyed looking at all the creations. It was very hot and dusty there so I didn't stay long - photos next week.
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| Grass on the park was dry as dust |
Hope you have a good weekend, there doesn't seem to be anything interesting to go to so it will be just the boot sales for me again then.
The heat (and my lack of diligent watering) has really affected my veg crops
ReplyDeleteI've been keeping the greenhouse stuff watered and courgettes and squash but the beans all went hard and horrible and the sweetcorn didn't do anything much at all.
DeleteI'm sad that I haven't grown any veg at all this year because of the building work.
ReplyDeleteGetting out of a slump is uphill work, especially in hot weather. You deserve a pat on the back for getting out, and doing a few bits in the garden!
Always next year - it will come around quickly as usual!
DeleteI could have written your sentence about a slump and feeling as if going into depression. I’m in Dorset and it’s forecast 30 deg every day until Thursday. I’ve done nothing outside apart from keep one raised bed of veg alive. Lost shrubs and perennials, just dead and crispy, on a water metre so can’t afford to water apart from throwing the contents of washing up bowl over lawn. Living alone certainly has its challenges. Sandra.
ReplyDeleteI abandoned almost everything except food crops - just have to hope things come back after we get rain
DeleteI think the heat and dry is making a lot of us feel the same. We're not used to it and it's sad and frustrating to watch the garden suffer. I take a bucket in the shower each day and partially fill it while the temperature sorts out. A chosen plant gets it later on. But, I've missed buying plants - there hasn't been any point because the ground is like rock and I wouldn't be able to keep them alive. It feels like we all just waiting.
ReplyDeleteGarden like rock here too, I hope a few things survive
DeleteThe weather definitely affects my get up and go and I keep hoping it will be cooler soon so that I can do some useful things. Enjoy the boot sales -I always enjoy seeing your buys. Catriona
ReplyDeleteBoot sale finds are few and far between this year which is good for the purse.
DeleteSorry your weather is getting you down. I'm glad you got out a bit. Hopefully, August will fly by and the weather will improve for the Fall. Do you have a college campus near you? My son and I enjoy walking inside the local community college with connecting buildings and student work up on the walls here and there. It's got A/C. :)
ReplyDeleteLack of enthusiasm is the problem .
DeleteNowhere to walk with A/C out in the countryside!
Same weather problem here in Virginia...if I can get into the garden before it gets too hot and buggy I can weed or prune, but if not I feel trapped and although there is plenty that needs doing inside none of it seems to be inspiring me, and the black dog of depression starts to sniff around. Trying to adjust my attitude is laborious but needs to happen!
ReplyDeleteCeci
Yes I'm watering early and late and cutting things back as usual and trying to get up enthusiasm for doing other things.
DeleteI'm sure the unrelenting dry weather affects the way we feel. A good downpour would clear the air and fill the rivers and streams, but it seems we have to wait even longer. I hope your lethargy and low mood lift.
ReplyDeleteSo do I - it's boring being boring!
DeleteThe pot fest sounds fun -- too bad it was so hot. I'm really feeling for you with the drought. The New York Times showed photos all over England of dried up, brown grass. Seeing Stonehenge surrounded by all the brown felt especially jarring. Red peppers! I don't know why I don't grow them because I spend a fortune buying them at the store!
ReplyDeleteIt's the TV programme called Great Pottery Throw Down that's been on each year recently , that's brought the enthusiasm for pottery things. I wonder if you can get it there.
DeletePeppers need a good hot season - they've certainly had it this year
This weather is wearing on all of us. Too bad about the pepper. It's weird that you saw no signs of deterioration from the outside.
ReplyDeleteI found a slug inside one of the other peppers, growing fat!
DeleteHeat is a problem all over. I went out early this morning to do some major weeding and trimming. I'm amazed I lasted three hours but I was intent on finishing the task.
ReplyDeleteI do watering early and late, thankfully it's done quickly
DeleteYou are wise to lay low in this extreme heat. It’s very dangerous for older people to exert themselves as heat exhaustion/stroke sneaks up. It’s only a temporary situation.i live in California and we have long spells of heat over 100 and we just wait it out. I love to read your blog as it’s so interesting. Lini in petaluma
ReplyDeleteI didn't know I was old until this years heat!!
DeleteI'm glad you enjoy reading - I enjoy writing - unless I run out of ideas
We're not on a hosepipe ban - YET! I'm watering the pots and baskets every day and my 1 raised bed once a week (tiny garden). Veg and washing up water gets thrown on the lawn. My bus pass/passport photos are awful, and when I look in the mirror I see my Mum, but OH says but your Mum was really pretty - think he's just being nice. Xx
ReplyDeleteWe have hosepipe ban here, I'd filled the water butt from the mains just before. Now have to prop watering can under outside tap. I want to keep greenhouse stuff alive, courgettes and herbs in pots.
DeleteThe high heat is getting to all of us! I go outside to walk with my dogs and then water my garden and want to be back inside with the AC. Even my dogs rush back in for the AC.
ReplyDeleteJust heard temps of 30 C + for next week again. 5th official heatwave - unheard of before.
DeleteOoh, I went to our pot fest in June, it was great. I bought a smallish jug vase from a Japanese potter, who lives and works in Cambridge. It was pricey but nowhere near as some of the others. Always loved pottery and tried evening classes once. I really enjoyed hand building things but was a complete failure at the wheel.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many talented people and beautiful things and lots of people spending too - I was very restrained
DeleteThe heat is debilitating and some meds make it harder to deal with this excessive heat. It's no fun going out in 30 degrees heat, so I tend to stay at home with the curtains closed, reading. I read 6 books last month,a high number for me. I have read Wolf Hall and the next two books, which I enjoyed but it's a lengthy read indeed.
ReplyDeleteI used to read Historical fiction back in the 1980s but now it's mainly crime, I don't know why I changed.
DeleteHeat arriving here as the week goes on - Again!
I still feel in a slump too, Sue. We're not doing much or going out anywhere unless we have to and it's really getting to me. Re the peppers: the ones in our greenhouse are yellow Lumos peppers and they have just begun to ripen (quite rapidly now) so I'm hoping to pick a couple of them later this week. Fingers crossed that they will be ok inside.
ReplyDeleteI have been taking a lukewarm bath lately so afterwards the used water is scooped up in a bucket and used to water the poor parched garden. There's no sign of any rain here either for the next week at least :(
Angie
I'm just trying to keep the food crops alive but sweetcorn died .
DeleteNo choice here but to use mains water for watering what I need to keep alive.
It's not a very exciting lifestyle at the moment - at least there's stuff to watch on TV -( Paul Heaton and Beautiful South Music on last night and on iplayer) and books to read
Looks like a few of us are experiencing the heatwave slump.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the pepper heads up, perhaps I won’t leave all mine on the plant too long - I’ve never grown them before.
By the way I went on an hour long bus trip the other day - first time in ages, what a bone shaking experience that was!
Alison in Devon x
My first job was a one hour bus journey each way - I was glad when I passed my driving test and Dad let me drive one of the old builders vans to work. Then lots of bus with children when Col used the car for work in the 80's - 2 children, pushchair and shopping!
DeletePulling back the curtains each morning only to be greeted by the bright sunshine is actually getting quite relentless. The one morning when it was overcast and cool and then we had some rain, I actually said 'Yay' as I pulled back the curtains. We aren't geared up for this constant heat in our country ... us or our gardens.
ReplyDeleteLast time I spoke to BiL he said he was actually getting used to working in this heat - I don't know how - it's too much for me.
DeleteTemps in the 30's for here again after tomorrow for at least the rest of the week - oh Great Joy!
My heart sinks when I see sunshine AGAIN each morning. You can have too much of a good thing. Remind me this in January when it is drab and grey and wet . . . I wouldn't mind, but I struggle in the heat and can't do much outside.
ReplyDeleteSome of my bigger tomatoes are finally ripening, and I shall grow the Red Zebra again. I am at least having a decent picking of runner beans daily.
My sister and I are in Cornwall this week . We bought a very simple cottage near a beach decades ago - both being in education and having 4 children each meant we spent most of the long
ReplyDeletesummer holidays here . The cottage has paid for itself many times over . As I write my oldest son and his partner are participating in a silent disco on the beach ( it looks hilarious ) and four horses have just entered the water for a swim . It’s much cooler here than at home, and I am enjoying the break from the heat .
Please do take care if you feel your mood lowering - why not allow yourself a treat or two this week
Miriam