Wasps

 Who invented wasps? and why? What nasty trick was God playing that day!?

There were three pears on my young pear tree ...................

............................now there are none.

And this is why. A friend said they sting the pears which gives them a way in to the flesh, but they don't. - they just nibble their way in, especially when the weather is dry and they are looking for moisture as well as food.

Actually on closer inspection the critter on the pear above could be a young hornet, it flew away anyway so didn't get killed. I'm sure it's not one of the invasive Yellow Legged or Asian hornets - thankfully.

Definitely smaller common wasps below on a blurry photo as I didn't get too close for this photo of dozens of them on the pear that had fallen off.

I'd already killed dozens more the day before that were on the ground drunk and dazed after they'd had their fill of the first pear.

I've not been stung yet this year - thankfully, but there must be a nest not too far away for there to be this many all at once, so it may yet happen. 

Yes,  they are good for pollination and some feed on aphids and carrion. But I'm still not a fan.

And isn't it odd that if a cat, dog or human gets stung in the mouth by a wasp it can be a nasty business, but birds eat wasps with no problem. A young Thrush was picking up the wasps that had fallen drunk from pear juice onto the grass, giving them a good shake and eating with no ill effects.

The wasps will be needing moisture over the next few days - as will the humans- the temps are set to rise for another mini heatwave ....that's an English heatwave not a Hot Country heatwave!  

Back Soon

Photos From The Week

 My new header photo is the vine that's on a bit of trellis hiding the shed. I didn't notice the spider until the photo was on the computer. The colours now are gorgeous but the rest of the year it's dull green and I have to keep cutting the darn thing back as it grows like crazy.

Nearly the last of the roses? brought these in last Sunday while it was fine before we had a wet Monday morning.

Wiped all the dirt from the butternut squash and piled them up in a basket on the kitchen window sill.

Mixed up a batch of pizza topping  for freezing in portions- onions, two tins of tomatoes without the juice, tomato puree and dried oregano.

Loaf of bread - 50/50 wholemeal and white.

Cheese scones for my garden helper

Brought in the last decent sized apples from my Falstaff tree. They are just SO good!

Hope everyone has a good weekend, I shall be back Monday.

Sue

Orchards and Apples

 I picked up the book below from the shelves in the village hall where we have the Keep Moving Group. They have all sorts of books in the entrance way shelving for people to buy, borrow or swap.

I think it's a book that I owned once and got rid of in one of the moves. I've donated several books in it's place.

It's not so long ago that supermarkets had very few varieties of apples for sale, and for several years Golden Delicious prevailed. Things are a bit better with usually more choice now. Yet there are several dozens named in another lovely book that I've had a while, that are never seen available to buy. 

In this country 2000 years ago the apples growing were crab apples, impossible to eat raw but they would have been fermented or cooked. It was the Romans who brought their knowledge of grafting and pruning with them and used them to improve the native stock as well as bringing trees over from the continent. Italy was one huge orchard according to the poet Horace (65BC - 8BC). Fruit trees even had their own God - Pomona. The ancient custom of feasts for Samhain coincided with celebrations for the God Pomona ( and later both were taken over by Christianity as The Feast of All Souls and All Hallows Eve.)

Apples have so much folklore connected with them and magical reputation in many countries. 

An Apple a day keeps the doctor away 

A bloom on the tree when the apples are ripe, is a sure termination of somebody's life

Sun shining through the Apple Tree branches on Christmas day foretells a good crop 

Orchards for cultivating fruit came here from the continent with monks and all monasteries would have had orchards of native fruits for eating and for making cider. Records of these have survived at Ely, Canterbury and Battle Abbey.  There were substantial orchards at royal residences too.  Later, farms would have had their own cider apple orchards as farmworkers were often paid in part with cider. After 1485 with the Tudors, things became more settled and orchards appeared more often in villages and towns with gentlemen gardeners in their country houses beginning to breed different varieties.

Here in my small garden I planted 3 Minarette Ⓡ apple trees. These grow straight upright and side branches are pruned with apples growing on these side spurs. This season was their third and only one, the Falstaff, had apples. This tree also had a few in it's first year of 2022 and they were so delicious that I bought a young ordinary tree which produced a few fruit this year - it's second year here. The other two Minarette are Charles Ross and didn't even flower this year, hopefully they will do better next year

Falstaff are a James Grieve X Golden Delicious, bred at the Institute of Horticulture, East Malling. Introduced in 1986 They are described as having a pretty red flush with stripes. Fruity, well balanced; crisp and juicy. Planted commercially small scale in Kent. Often heavy croppers .Picking - early October, will store until December.

I should have thinned the fruit early summer, I would have got less fruit but they would have been bigger so I'm having to eat two small for my 'apple a day' - something I've been doing for years - and I don't get many colds so maybe it works. Although it's probably more likely to be due to living alone and not spending too much time in crowded indoor situations. I've still got some 'Cold Cure' soup in the freezer just in case and as I've got some cider vinegar in the cupboard I'm planning to make some 'Fire Elixir' too.

Back Soon

Sue

The September Garden Helps The Purse

 After cutting and giving away the six marrows that had appeared while I was away on holiday last month the courgette plants recovered and I've had 5 more altogether and the sweetcorn are finally giving me some small cobs. Also here is very last tomato from the greenhouse, no green ones to bring in this year - a really poor year. These all came into the kitchen last Thursday.

I harvested a few more beetroot from BiL's garden and took home a handful of windfall cooking apples that one of the Keep Moving Group had brought in.

A week or two ago I bought British Coxes Apples from Aldi and wished  I hadn't, they were nowhere near ready to eat and horrible sour. Picked far too early. So I tried the first of my Falstaff from the garden and they are delicious. Won't need to buy any  apples for at least 3 weeks.

Falstaff Apples from the garden

And finally I've been picking a bowl of raspberries every 2 or 3 days for a couple of weeks  from the late fruiting canes and one last runner bean!

It's handy that the weather is cooperating so far this month, we've had better weather than many parts of the country - lots of sunshine. The raspberries have almost finished and it will soon be the end of them if we get much rain. 

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Mabon/Autumn Equinox

This year the Autumn Equinox happens tomorrow, the 22nd. Mabon, as the Autumn Equinox is called, is a word from modern Pagan folklore, thought to be named after the Welsh god of mythology. It's a turning point in the wheel of the year and means Autumn is really here.

One old weather saying says.............

 A quiet week before the autumn equinox and after, the temperature will continue higher than usual into winter.

Ways to celebrate Mabon according to a website (you can tell by the missing letter 'U' in some words that it was a website from the US!)

1. Create an Altar:  Set up a Mabon altar with symbols of the season. This can include autumn leaves, acorns, pinecones, candles in fall colors, and representations of the harvest like fruits and vegetables.

2. Harvest Feast:  Prepare a feast using seasonal ingredients like apples, pumpkins, squash, and root vegetables. Share the meal with friends or family, expressing gratitude for the abundance of the harvest.

3. Nature Walk:  Take a walk in nature to observe the changing colors of the leaves and connect with the energy of the season. Collect fallen leaves, acorns, or other natural items to use in your rituals or altar.

4. Rituals and Ceremonies:  Perform rituals to honor the changing season. This can involve meditation, candle lighting, and expressing gratitude for the abundance in your life. Consider incorporating elements like water, fire, earth, and air to represent balance.

5. Divination:  Use divination tools such as tarot cards, runes, or scrying to gain insights into the coming season. Focus on themes of reflection, balance, and transitions

6. Crafts and DIY Projects:  Engage in creative projects that connect with the season. Make autumn-themed crafts, create a wreath, or decorate your home with symbols of Mabon.

7. Bonfire or Fire Pit Gathering:  If possible and safe, gather around a bonfire or fire pit. Fire is a symbol of transformation and can be used for rituals, storytelling, or just enjoying the warmth of the season.

8. Gratitude Journaling:  Take time to reflect on the things you're grateful for. Start a gratitude journal and write down the positive aspects of your life and the blessings you've received.

9. Feeding Wildlife:  Since Mabon is a harvest festival, consider sharing a bit of your harvest with local wildlife. Leave out birdseed or set up a bird feeder to attract birds to your yard.

10. Visit an Orchard or Farm:  Spend a day at an orchard or farm, picking apples or other seasonal fruits. Enjoy the experience of being close to the land and appreciate the hard work of those who cultivate it.

 

I hadn't thought about my seasonal display being an altar! but as soon as I put the room back together I'll be getting the Autumn bits out of the cupboard. 

Then I could bring in the first Butternut squash and cook up something and I need to walk up the lane for the September following a tree photos ASAP. That's numbers 1, 2 and 3 taken care of.

Not sure about rituals and divination? but I looked up 'Autumn Wreath Making Workshops in Suffolk' and there are a couple happening at  £65 for the experience - so I'll pass on that!

Not a good idea to have  bonfires here in my village garden - so that won't be happening and the only journaling I'll be doing is here on the blog.

I've started bird feeding again and not had an invasion of starlings - so that's good and for number 10 my Falstaff apples are almost ready - there are about a dozen decent sized apples to enjoy and lots of smaller ones. I checked their proper ripening time and it's early October but we've had plenty of sunshine so I'll be trying them this weekend.

Mabon Sorted!

Back Soon 

Sue

This Week

 Proper Autumn weather now and when a frost got mentioned,  my Money Plant - which is the only house plant I manage to keep alive - has come indoors after it's summer holiday outside. It's looking very well considering how neglected it is most of the time, actually I think it ought to be re-potted but if I do that it won't fit into the pretty Portmeirion planter it lives in on the bathroom windowsill.

Lots of notes this week............

The flooring was done on Tuesday by two guys who didn't stop talking to each other all the time they were here - overheard such a lot about their families, friends and people they didn't get on with - much more than I wanted to know! They were working at the same time - thankfully - and didn't even take up my offers of coffee/tea etc - very unusual.

Had to re-think my plan for painting the living room. I really wanted to sand down and clean up the whole room all at once but then all the furniture would be in the middle of the room leaving me nowhere to move - and live. So two walls prepared and painted - only to find the Dulux Timeless isn't covering the grey very well. Two coats will be needed but I can't keep moving the plastic floor covering so will have to do second coat on the two walls before I get to the other half of the room. - Watching paint dry! Might take me a bit longer than I thought especially as my energy runs out after about 4 hours work. Oh well - I guess it doesn't really matter how long it takes.

Essex and Suffolk Water came and fitted me a smart water meter on Monday - replacing the one which was also quite smart  - but wasn't smart enough apparently, even though it was only fitted 2½ years ago.

I picked up a carrier bag with 3lb of cooking apples from last Sunday's car-boot sale for £1 but when I came to peel and chop the whole darn lot were full of codling moth maggot damage - UGH, only got a couple of small bags to put in the freezer. Shan't buy from that lady again. Her eggs are good though and apples and eggs were all I came home with. At our Keep Moving exercise group someone brought in a small box of windfall cooking apples and we all helped ourselves to a handful. I added a pear and made a crumble which was a nice treat for 4 days. I hope they bring some more next week.

If there was a prize for worst ad on TV at the moment it would have to go to  The Pure Cremation company ad with a fat man in a bath - it's quite revolting!

I've been watching some of the US crime series on 5USA ever since I found and watched all of NCIS but hadn't watched Blue Bloods because of Tom Selleck's moustache! Anyway I finally got round to watching despite the facial hair - but someone please explain to me how they can get away with the bloke playing T.S's father being only 5 years older than TS himself. Of course if they had to find an actor the right age he would need to be 105!

Strictly Come Dancing starts tonight - that's my Saturday nights sorted from now until Christmas.

I'll be getting on with the living room this weekend, visiting youngest daughter and maybe a car-boot sale early. It is Heritage Open Days weekend but nothing I really want to visit without travelling halfway across the County - so I probably won't bother this year.

Back Monday, when we will be into the second half of September............already!

Sue

Fruit

 I'm very disappointed with my Charles Ross apples from the 2 Minarette trees.

It's not the number - I wasn't expecting many as the trees are new, and it's not the size - they didn't get as much water as needed, but they are tasteless and  the texture is odd  -not nice and crisp.

They are supposed to be dual purpose but however small they are  I'm going to peel, core and slice and put them all in the freezer for winter. If I turn them into crumbles they'll be quite edible.

I hope next year the other Minarette, which is Falstaff, will have some delicious tasty apples like it did in it's first year.

In contrast to poor apples I've been eating a bowl of Autumn raspberries every other day for a couple of weeks and they are a really good treat.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

A Clematis That I Didn't know Was Here

 This is my third June here so I was quite surprised to find this lovely large dark purple Clematis flower among the honeysuckle. It must have been here all the time and never flowered before. 

Beautiful huge rose. Red in the bud but opening to this

Something tiny growing among a perennial geranium. Can't remember what it is.

Glorious poppy

The small pear tree covered in flowers in April

but just two fruit have set.......will they cling on and grow?

(and this photo was taken when the Ceonothus was still covered in blue flowers - now it's green and the ground below is blue instead)

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Growing Well

 I had a fright one morning in the week before last - looked in the greenhouse and all my babies were looking a bit limp - of course it was a night when they'd not been covered with fleece and the temperature must have dropped lower than the forecast. Thank goodness a while later they were all standing up straight again....phew!

These photos were taken on Saturday - Before the Coronation I worked in the greenhouse for an hour filling up some of the big pots ready for all these to go into later.

There are too many peppers and  too many aubergines here...........

and too many tomatoes too!

and just one cucumber............so far. There are two more babies on the living room windowsill although I only need one because the plan is to sow another cucumber seed in June for a later crop.

Also on the living-room window sill are some teeny squash seedlings - a second sowing after the first three didn't germinate - thought I was going to have to buy new seeds but they seem to be OK.

The raspberry bed is looking more hopeful, considering how sad they looked through the heat of last summer when there was no sign of any new canes appearing. Brother in Law hammered in two metal posts - from his neighbour's old gazebo- early last year and now I've put string along the top and two rows of wires below and fixed a new piece of netting right over the top. The netting cost me over £20 and I wondered aloud if I would get the value back in raspberries but as Lesley (who sold me it ) said -"well without it you won't get any!" - Very True

One more thing looking good is the plant stand. The pots have been standing on the patio all winter after the trellis collapsed but now they are back and the whole thing is tied to the post. There is someone at the car-boot sale who sells succulents so I may be tempted to buy two small ones for the top two shelves and I lost a lovely pink flowered Saxifrage over winter so could replace that.

 You can see the difference in temperatures this spring compared to last if you look at THIS PHOTO of the Plant Stand taken at much the same time last year.

And my 3 Minarette Apple trees are in flower. I know it looks weedy around them but the plants there are mainly Phacelia which are a green manure - self seeded from last year - and after they've flowered for the bees I'll hoe them up and leave them on the soil as a mulch.

Fingers crossed for an edible harvest later.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Saturday 15th

I've planted two little Pear Trees in my small garden, they were supposed to flower at the same time to aid pollination but the Conference is covered with flowers already this year and the other one is still weeks away from flowering.

I know there's no chance of the tree having as many pears as flowers - sadly - they never do.

This week I am Grateful for

• My Children and Grandchildren
• Vegetable seedlings growing
• Lots of good books to read

Back Monday

Sue 

Wassailing Again

Apologies as I've probably mentioned this nearly every year (shortage of ideas for blog posts every January!)

On Twelfth night in the past there were two distinct types of Wassailing. The first was moving door to door around the village singing and carrying a wassailing bowl and the second was a ceremony taking place in orchards, blessing the trees for a good crop next year.

 Wassail  (From the Norse Waes Hael") means "be healthy" and as farm workers were often paid in cider during the harvest it was important the trees were healthy and produced plenty of fruit......... at one time there were 400 varieties of cider apples and an orchard on every farm with apple trees in every cottage garden.

Around the village they would sing this old traditional song which I've always known, from somewhere...primary school perhaps

Here we come a wassailing among the leaves so green

Here we come a wassailing so fair to be seen

Love and Joy come to you and to you a wassail too

And may God bless you and send you a Happy New Year

And God send you a Happy New Year

God Bless the master of this house and Bless the mistress too,

And all the little children that round the table go,

Love and Joy come to you and to you a wassail too

And may God bless you and send you a Happy New Year

And God send you a Happy New Year

And in the orchards this poem would be chanted while drums were banged, rifles fired through the tree branches, bread soaked in cider laid on the branches of the oldest tree and cider poured on the roots.

Old apple tree we wassail thee
And hoping thou will bear
For the Lord doth know where we shall be
‘Til apples come another year

For to bear well and to bloom well
So merry let us be
Let every man take off his hat
And shout to the old apple tree

Old apple tree we wassail thee
And hoping thou will bear
Hats full, caps full, three bushel bags full
And a little heap under the stair

Hip! Hip! Hooray!

Wassailing the apple trees is still happening in parts of the country - specially in the cider orchards of Somerset and Herefordshire and now Morris Dancing sides or Community Orchard Groups have got the tradition re-started in many places. I only know of one in Suffolk, at a country pub with the Old Glory Molly Dancers performing, but a bit too far away for a visit.

This is a book I found a few years ago at a boot sale written by the same people as my Ogham Tree Alphabet book. It's a fascinating look back at traditions - old and new. 

It's also a Full Moon tonight, January full moon is called the  Wolf Moon and is a micro-moon, which is the opposite of a super moon, so the moon will appear smaller than usual at it's furthest point from the earth.

I only need to step across the patio and out onto the lawn to do the Wassailing tonight. Then it's up to nature to do the rest.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

26 Blogging Days and A is for Apples

 If I don't write on a Sunday   there are 26 blogging days in November, so one for each letter of the alphabet.

I'm going to try and think of something with some sort of connection or something I've done, right through the month. 

(Thank you and apologies to Trundling Through Life blog for the A-Z idea - hope you don't mind me pinching it!)

November 1st and A is for apples

The best apples I've ever eaten were the 6 and a bit from my new Minarette tree. They are a variety called Falstaff. Juicy, crunchy - delicious. I just wish I'd bought 3 of these instead of 1. The other two Minarettes look to be a year younger and had no fruit this year, they are called Charles Ross and are earlier and can also be cooked. 

The Falstaff were so good I've ordered a bigger tree to put in the lawn - I seem to be turning my small back garden into an orchard - Must NOT move again.

I eat an apple most days - some are better than others. At least the varieties are now named and often a few different ones available. It's not so long ago that the only apples in the supermarket were Golden Delicious - bland and boring.. I tend to buy whichever are cheapest (avoiding the Golden Delicious) and it's often the small ones labelled for children or bigger packs containing more than the usual 6. It's crazy that to buy loose, IF there are any loose, they are always more expensive. 

I seem to remember many, many years ago that one of our  Family Sunday Drives (did you have to endure these?) would be out to a big orchard where we would buy a whole box of Coxes apples. Layered in a box in special shaped trays they would last for weeks although my Dad ate two or more a day - core, pips and all until nothing was left except the stalk. Colin was the same. I'm Not.

Apparently 2022 was a very good apple year, so there should be plenty around all winter.

If you have any ideas for things I could write about for each letter - please let me know. I have plans for B,C,D, F and H so I need E and G very soon  but what on earth will I do for Q, X and Z!

Back with B tomorrow

Sue

The Ogham Tree Alphabet - The Apple

Here's another bit I'd missed from the book about the Ogham Tree Alphabet when I wrote about most of the trees/letters through 2021 (all the rest are HERE ) 

(The Ogham Tree Alphabet is the only native British writing system, devised over 2,000 years ago by Celtic Druids)

 This is the letter Q and it's tree is the Apple which rules the light part of the year from May to October.

It's hard to imagine, now that we can buy any fruit we want all year round, just how important apples were in previous centuries.

Here's a you tube clip from the Tales of the Green Valley, shown on TV in 2005 and at the end Ruth

is up in the loft of the C17 farmhouse where the apples and pears were stored through the winter.

September blow soft 'til the fruits in the loft.

Not just for eating of course as they were used for cider, which like beer, was the main drink for many people when water wasn't safe to drink. Many farm workers in the main cider areas in the  south and west of the country had cider as part of their pay.

My only apples here this year are 7 on one of the new Minarette apple trees and I probably should have taken these off at bud stage as it's a new tree, but I was so excited to see them!

They are still hanging on and I've been checking regularly as they shouldn't be ready quite yet being an early October apple. The other two Minarette and the small Bramley seem to be much younger trees so no fruit on them for a few more years I think

But on Tuesday morning I looked out and one was on the ground - bother. So picked it up and it looked like this .....

and all because a wet leaf had got stuck to it and turned it rotten underneath. 

At Clay Cottage we had planted a couple more Apple trees to add to the two that were there when we moved in but back at the smallholding in Knodishall there were three when we moved in and we planted several more so that after 23 years we'd just about got to the stage when there were some to eat every day from September and to store for the winter too.

Back Soon

Sue

More Things for the Garden

 I decided to go and get another couple of bags of multi purpose compost on Saturday and popped into a few charity shops (nothing found) in my circular trip round avoiding road closures. The Age Concern charity shop just out of Stowmarket has a Poundstretcher store next door  and out the front was a load of fruit trees for sale and somehow I found myself buying a good sized Bramley Apple for £8.99. Worth a go at fitting it in somewhere at that price.

The garden centre had primroses at 99p each - so I got 3 of those (primroses and primula are another plant nearly absent from the garden) and a couple of packets of bee-friendly wild flower seeds too. Never had any luck with growing wildflowers from seed before but I'm ever hopeful. I've also got some that came with the bee identification chart from Friends Of The Earth last year. I'm thinking to sow all these seeds in the bare earth under the Minarette apple trees. They won't take a lot of nutrients from the apple trees and I'll know exactly where I've sown them.

 

From the garden catalogue, which I've been happily perusing, I'm not going to get Alstromeria after all

 

  but instead ordering the annual Osteospermum "Berries and Cream" and perennial  Achillia "Summer Berries"  both variations on pinks and reds for the front border which is the sunniest spot. The back garden border gets the sun in the mornings but then in shade for much of the day. Think I'll wait to see what comes back along there from last year and then pick up some cheaper things to fill the spaces from car boot sales later in the year.

The sunniest border in the back garden is the bit under the living room window which is still full of Hebe-geebies. Next year I'll concentrate on replacing at least two of the three with something I like better.

Garden catalogues are a disaster on the bank balance - what a good thing I'm not also addicted to clothes, make up, handbags and house furnishings.................but"only" books and plants!

Back Tomorrow

Sue

The Weekend and Another Pear Tree

 The weather was a bit dreary on Saturday and I decided to head out early so I could visit some garden centres and nurseries for another pot grown pear tree and call in at a Christmas Bazaar too. Both the nearest places don't have fruit trees at all, another only has open ground trees and isn't lifting them yet but I got one in the end, a Doyenne De Comice  - and hopefully the   right pollinator group to go with the car-boot Conference tree.  The new tree is a couple of years older and taller so it was rather more expensive!  

(although when I got home and looked at the Ken Muir book on growing fruit they are in neighbouring groups rather than the same - but should still be OK, perhaps I need one more pear tree just to be sure 😋)
 

At home I found the new compost bin sitting outside the front door so I moved it round the back and forked everything from the old dalek-bin into the new one -it doesn't look much like "crumbly friable compost" yet!

 I started to dig a hole for planting the pear tree but just kept hitting tree roots - probably from the flowering cherry - then it started raining, so I'll have to try again in a slightly different spot during the week.

 

The Christmas Bazaar had lots of stalls but after looking around them all nothing was bought. I felt a bit guilty because there were so many crafts (jewellery, knitting, Christmas tree decorations, jams, wood turning etc etc) and people work so hard to make things but I'm just no good at buying things I don't need! 

Saturday and Sunday afternoons were all about watching Rugby on TV  and reading - all library books now finished. The mobile's round again on Thursday - eight books waiting (so far) for me to collect. I need something off my shelves to fill 3 evenings reading - although Monday is quizzy TV night and Tuesday is WI so maybe I'll just hang on until Thursday because 7 out of the 8 are crime fiction including the new books by Richard Osman and Donna Leon. Like I said on my Friday post - never short of crime to read nowadays!

There's a lovely list of things to do this week - Making pastry cases and Naan breads, writing letters for overseas Christmas cards and planting the pear tree. Also need to find out the dimensions of water butts and the stands they sit on so I can lay a slab each side of the greenhouse to collect the run-off.  I was going to see my nearest grandchildren who I've not seen since they all went to Surrey, but the whole family have been poorly with the really nasty colds that are doing the rounds. Perhaps it was a good thing I didn't feel up to the trip.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

A Week Is A Short Time In Suffolk

A Week Is A Short Time In Suffolk.....in other words ............. Saturday comes around far too quickly.

 

Thank you for comments yesterday, all interesting views - even from someone called Boris! (surely not?) I'm no further forward in understanding how my life is being completely destroyed as it certainly doesn't feel like it. 

My favourite comment was from Jane! 

 

 Last Saturday's car boot sale was busy with buyers and lots of the sellers had Christmas decorations and other seasonal bits for sale.

The small things I found weren't a big spend.......2 cards, 1 book for Middle Grandson (he used to be Youngest Grandson but has now been promoted!) , a book about Suffolk that I'd not looked at properly before, some crocus bulbs and a Candlestick Press instead-of-a-card booklet......  total spend £3.20.

But then I bought a pear tree for £12. A pot-grown Conference pear tree from a boot-sale is a bit of a risk  but at half the price of something similar from a tree suppliers catalogue it's worth a try. In the past we had success even with the cheap supermarket trees. This one was a good size and probably a reject from a nursery as it was a bit wonky in the pot.

I got it planted the same day, straightening it up as I planted. It could really do with staking before windy weather. Another bit of my plan to fit in as many productive things as possible into my small garden.

This week has been another week of mixed weather - typical Autumn. I went shopping on Tuesday and got really warm walking through town and even Morrisons felt warm, when I got back to the car I found out why.............. I was dressed for Autumn but the temperature was 20℃. There were some spells of heavy rain too during the week - I choose to go for a walk through the woods one morning after heavy rain - t'was a bit muddy, which must have put people off, as there wasn't a soul about. The new header photo is of the colours on the edge of the wood.

At the WI......where I've now joined properly,  most people had a Fish and Chips meal (a celebration of being back to normal meetings) but I opted out as I don't like eating a big meal as late as 7.45pm. Then we had a man from the village talking about how he's now self published 4 children's books and one of the committee members talking (going on and on actually!) about the large sack of daffodil bulbs which she has bought for members to plant around the village.(Just hope she never becomes President as no one else would get a word in !)

Thursday was library van day - book photo coming Monday. Friday was blinkin' chilly, very different to Tuesday. 

I picked up a free newspaper when I was out, there was a page about pensions and the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association. Apparently there are three standards that are constructed to give people an idea of the lifestyle they want at retirement and therefore how much they should be paying into a pension .

"Of course most of us would want to slot contentedly into the comfortable retirement living standard, the threshold for which is £33,600 for a single person and £49,700 for a couple. At this level of income retirees can expect to enjoy some luxuries like regular beauty treatments, theatre trips and three weeks holidaying in Europe each year".

Ha! Sadly I don't quite slot into this "comfortable" living standard - Thank Goodness!!

This week I am grateful for......

• Freedom of speech in Blogland
• A quiet week
• Some good reading matter

 

Have a good weekend.

I shall be back Monday

Sue

Second Saturday in October

What a week of mixed weather we've had. Sunny and cold, very very wet and then milder but cloudy. 

I've not  been far at all this week, I had no idea what the petrol station forecourt situation was like so thought I'd hang onto my diesel.

 

On the dry bits of the week I shifted some more soil from the builders bag out the front to the veg bed out the back - the job's nearly done.

 

Then I  made a start on one the garden things I wanted doing - seeing as I can't get a man in to do small jobs it's down to me! I've removed the two bullies of climbing roses  and the honey suckle that had mildew which were on the other side of this trellis. I've left a Jasmine there as it's not so vigorous.

   I now need to take up the 5 paving slabs from the patio side of the trellis and cut away the membrane that's underneath. This will give me space to put in 3 of those Minarette Apple  trees that grow straight upright. 

I've ordered the trees which are bare-rooted and will arrive sometime after the end of November. Now I 'just' need to borrow a crow bar from BiL, shift the slabs, add some compost and dig the holes.

The "after" photo will follow.............sometime!

 

A couple of weeks ago I found three more early Ladybird books for 50p each at a  boot sale . I'm sure we had all these back in the day and the puzzle book is one for younger children. I'll pass these all on to the grandchildren.

 

Yesterday I went shopping, filling up with diesel at the local filling station on the way out (they had diesel but not petrol at all the pumps) The price of diesel has gone up by 10p a litre in two weeks. I met up with Rachel-in-Norfolk for a coffee in Morrisons where my cappuccino had gone up by 25p since our last visit. Think we'd better get used to things going up - anyone can put up their prices now and blame it on Covid/Brexit/world wide shortages/increased wholesale gas prices/staff shortages/delivery problems.......... and no one will know any different.

 

 

Eldest Granddaughter is 5 on Monday and tomorrow I'm off to her birthday party....... with bouncy castle ........which I won't be going on! She started proper school in September, it's at the same place she was at Nursery so not too big a change and  thankfully she is enjoying school. 

DiL has been puzzling over Primary Schools for Youngest Granddaughter in 2022. She visited the one in their village and found it extremely dirty (no cleaner or caretaker!) and only one properly qualified teacher among the 4 that work there (for 60 children) and none of the teachers work full time. The problem is that any other Primary School will mean driving, although many of the people in their village take children elsewhere so they'll perhaps be able to share journeys.

 Once-upon-a-time everyone just went to their local school - no choice - and all schools were under the care of the County Council and no one knew if they were good or bad. And believe me some village schools in the 1960's were Very Bad. Now it's all about money and schools are run by Academies, all doing their own thing and all trying to attract more students so they can get more money. I have no idea which is best.

 

Before the party tomorrow I'm looking forward to Strictly tonight. It's movie night and everyone is dressed up and there's no one to cringe at this year so it's a joy to watch all of them. 

But what I really need is an exciting weekend (apart from the the bouncy castle and a whole lot of 4 and 5 year olds!) so that there's something to blog about next week as at the moment I'm at a loss.

 

I hope your weekend is as exciting as you want it to be.

Back Monday

Sue

PS and before someone picks me up on saying that everyone went to their nearest school in the past - I know I'm generalizing a bit.

A Week Isn't Long in Suffolk..............

......................although when it rains almost everyday it feels much longer. The only day completely fine was Wednesday and it's turned much colder too, the wood-burner has been lit every afternoon so it's back to carrying wood about again and always making sure I bring some across from the woodshed to the garage when the weather is dry.

Between rain storms/showers I managed to get some jobs done outside - there is garden tidying to do everywhere I look but now it's so wet underfoot - no good for grass cutting although it's still growing. 

The Allium bulbs from Tesco have been planted in the quarter circle garden by the patio, I cut back the huge Rosemary and cleared a whole patch of Snow in Summer and some pale Chrysanths to make a space, and the cheap Stocks plants have been planted over the bulbs. Also got round to cutting down some dead stuff  out the front. 

The last and  best of 3 sorts of the eating apples that were already here when we moved in are now ready.

Falstaff Apples - Juicy and crunchy.

 

 

They are on just one small branch of the Family Tree and not very many this year which is a shame, as they have lovely tangy crunch. The lady who used to live here was sorting some paperwork and came across the original label from the Family apple tree from when it was planted about 25 years ago. She brought it round so now I know the main part of the tree is definitely a Bramley and the two different grafted branches are Scrumptious and Falstaff. BUT what should have happened was the Bramley bit should have been pruned to keep it small, it hasn't been, which is why the two grafted bits are producing less fruit each year. Oh well.

 

And now it's the weekend again and I'm not sure the weather is promising for a car boot sale visit even though one of the bigger boot sales has now restarted. It's on sandy soil on a slope and in a normal year runs almost all year round. I've not heard about the smaller local one but they've probably stopped due to all the rain. 

But I do know I'm going out to deliver card and pressie to eldest Granddaughter who has her 4th birthday this weekend, maybe I'll go and look at the sea while close to the coast.

This week I'm grateful for

• A quiet swim - still managing three swims every two weeks
  
• A new book in the post
  
• Knowing there is plenty of wood for the colder weather

Hope your weekend is a good one

Back Monday

Sue

Apples and Pears

Firstly must say hello and welcome to two new followers, hope you enjoy reading.

Apples and Pears might be Cockney rhyming slang for stairs but here they are the real edible things and what a good crop this year, so much better than 2019 when I only put a couple of bags of apple slices in the freezer.

The apples are good old Bramleys, they are being peeled, cored, sliced into a bowl of salt water - which keeps them white without giving a salty taste and then bagged for the freezer.

 The pears are a problem. From experience I know they go slimy when frozen. They are also a bit tasteless. Rock hard off the tree and often going brown in the middle before actually getting soft enough to eat. No good leaving them on the tree to ripen either.............they fall off too easily. So I've been cooking up a few at a time with some lemon juice in the water so they don't go brown. They are edible like that so not going to waste but given a  choice I'd rather eat almost any other fruit!
The other pear tree has pears of Conference shape but I don't think they are Conference  they don't freeze well either and yet at the smallholding my definitely Conference were fine frozen. They are a bit later so still hanging on the tree.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

The First Week of Lent + Thankyou

 First of all thank you to everyone for comments yesterday. As everyone said - they grow so quickly so getting photos at this age when we are all together is a good idea.
No, we didn't have snow just another lot of rain lasting half the night and all morning - it has to stop soon - Right?
(Thankfully Not as much as other parts of the country when people are still getting their homes ruined again and again, I can't imagine the distress it causes.)

 ********************

We know about Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday but according to my little almanac book each day of this week has a name..................

Collop Monday
This was the last day for eating meat. Any fresh meat still available would be sliced and salted to preserve it until after Lent. = A Collop - a Scandinavian word, means a slice of meat.

Shrove Tuesday
The last day before Lent when it was customary to make confession. In the past it was a day for merrymaking and fun and feasting on the last of the eggs and butter before Lent fasting

Pancake Tuesday is a very happy day,

If we don't have a holiday we'll all run away,

Where shall we run,up High Lane,

And here comes the teacher with a great big cane.

(a children's rhyme from the past taken from the Cattern Cakes and Lace book)

Lacemakers had to stop using candles on this day, no matter the date or the weather conditions.

Ash Wednesday
The first of the 40 days of  abstinence. The word Lent comes from Anglo-Saxon 'lengentide' which means spring or lengthening of the days. Originally only 1 meal a day was eaten during Lent.


Fritter Thursday
Maybe because of the dough fritters that were often eaten in meatless Lent or perhaps using the last of the stored apples dipped in batter?


Kissing Friday
Once this was the day when boys had the right to kiss girls without being told off !


Who Knew!


Back Tomorrow
Sue