Saturday 7th

My first very small vegetable harvest from my new garden at the beginning of the week.

 I've had a few strawberries from the 6 plants I brought here and  a few raspberries from the canes that were already here and then a small cucumber from the pathetic cucumber plant that didn't like being outside. .......very pleased to be able to add the 'Growing Food' label at the bottom of the post and I'm looking forward to next year already. 

On the table this week a small jug of Hydrangeas from the garden. This was the bush that looked half-dead when I moved here in May- caught by a late frost but it recovered well. I've looked up the right time for pruning as there are 3 different Hydrangeas here that provide late summer colour so it would be a good idea to look after them properly.

 

 

 

Catching up on Yesterday at the Olympics ..... Day 14

In between baking things I saw a bit of the Ladies Madison cycle event. I heard someone explaining it on the radio before Chris Boardman (one of GB's first cycling medalists from years ago) explained it on the TV and still hadn't a clue except there are dozens of cyclists on the track all at once and it's a sort of a relay with sprint laps, it goes on for 120 laps  and there were lots of crashes! Katie Archibald and Laura Kenny were just amazing, dominating all the way, in this first ever Olympic Ladies Madison. Laura has now won medals in  3 Olympics and has 5 Gold Medals!!

I need to make a note of the sports in a Modern Pentathlon because the question of which 5 events are included came up in a quiz once (Fencing, show jumping, swimming,running and shooting all on one day). I watched some of it and saw the GB lady Kate French win another GOLD - things are going well. Also saw Laura Muir get a well deserved silver medal in the 1,500 metres on the track.

There was another bronze on the bikes for Jack Carlin,a bronze in the women's hockey and yet another in the 4 x 100 metres for the GB women with the Men's 4 x 100 finishing with GB losing by a 100th of a second to Italy but a silver is really good considering some of the dreadful years when the baton was so often dropped.

GB ended day 14 with 58 medals and back to 4th in the medal table.

I'm going to miss watching the Olympics everyday but not too much as Eldest Daughter and Grandson are staying for a few days and after they go I really need to get back to gardening and moving the soil from bag to the veg beds rather than sitting about half the morning! But well done to the BBC, knowing we will be missing the Olympics they've started teasing us with news of the celebs (those known and those unknown!) taking part in Strictly Come Dancing later in the year.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend. I may be a bit busy over the next few days but there are a few posts in drafts so they might get published if I have time. 

Back in a short while 

Sue

The Church of St Peter at Chillesford (+ Olympic Update)

 The small church of St Peter Chillesford is set up a sandy track on the edge of this very small village in the Suffolk Coast and Heath area. 

The tower dates from the 14C and is built from corralline crag rather than the usual Suffolk flint. The corralline crag is found in a nearby small quarry.

From Wiki.........The Coralline Crag Formation is a series of marine deposits found near the North Sea coast of Suffolk and characterised by bryozoan  and mollusc debris. The deposit, whose onshore occurrence is mainly restricted to the area around Aldeburgh and Orford is a series of bioclastic calcarenites and silty sands with shell debris, deposited during a short-lived warm period at the start of the Pliocene Epoch of the  Neogene Period ^. Small areas of the rock formation are found in locations such as Boyton and Tattingstone to the south of Orford as well as offshore at Sizewell.

Crag is a local word for a shelly sand. Coralline Crag has sometimes been used historically in the Suffolk coast area for building and a number of quarries exist. The tower of St Peter's Church in Chillesford is one of only two built using the rock.

 

It gets mentioned in the 100 treasures in 100 churches book because of the amazing modern stained glass Ascension  window. Commissioned in 1991 and designed by Suffolk stained glass artist Surinder Warboys

 

In comparison the font dates from the 13C

 The chancel with the East window,  altar and lovely colourful altar cloth designed by Isobel Clover who is well known in Suffolk as a tutor of embroidery etc

The lovely Medieval Piscina - it would have been painted at one time.

 

The West window is also stained glass, this time Victorian

 

View through the church with an unusually narrow arch between Nave and Chancel. There is an ongoing debate over the two squints. (the two glass-less windows each side of the arch). They are not as old as the church but may have replaced older ones or maybe just made to copy another church.

 Is this the old path from the road through two rows of trees to the church door?

Now there is a car park and a walk up a small mound  through the long grass.

Unlike most of the churches I've visited which are spick and span with flowers and well polished, Chillesford was dusty and full of cobwebs. It looked as if no one had been in for months - a bit sad.

There's more info on Simon Knott's Suffolk churches website HERE  

What happened on Day 13 at the Olympics ?

 

 

Had to go shopping ready for the weekend visitors first thing so missed lots of the live events but I turned on the TV when I got in to hear about a Gold in the Velidrome for Matt Walls and a Bronze in the men's sprint canoe and then watched  as Holly Bradshaw won a Bronze in the Pole Vault which is brilliant because at the last 2 Olympics and world championships she's just missed out on a medal. 

This took GB to 51 medals but we dropped back to 6th in the medal table as Australia have more golds although they only have 41 medals in total. 

Today I'll shall be in the kitchen doing a bit of baking  - with Eldest Daughter and Eldest Grandson arriving here from Surrey later it will be a big get together sometime over the weekend - biscuits, cake and cheese straws will be needed.

 

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Useful and Decorative

It was a pleasure to be out and about early yesterday morning at Needham Market boot sale - a  beautiful clear sunny morning. More people selling than recently but still not back to pre-covid numbers. I found  a few useful bits.

There's been a van there several times selling on behalf of The Elizabeth Hospice, things that they've not had room for in the shops due to them all being shut for so long. This week they had crockery, kitchen bits and  jewellery. 

There was a whole pile of Johnson Brothers Summer Chintz which is what I use all the time but I knew I didn't need anything except dishes and luckily 3 were un-chipped and bought for £1. 

 

 

 The Really Useful Lock and Lock boxes (£1) and the two gorgeous plates in the Villeroy & Boch Les Quatre Saisons series also £1 came from the same place...... So I count that as a £3 donation to the hospice!

The box of  Duplo always comes out whenever the youngest Grandchildren are here so I added 3 more bits for 50p  mustn't buy any more now as the box is full and there's only one more grandchild on the way.

Things That Go is a box of 15 x 2  piece puzzles and a really good find as it was new and un-played with and only £1  - ideal for youngest Grandson who loves his cars and tractors.

And finally a humourous book by Hunter Davies - The Joy of Stamps, this was also 50p. I've read  his books of long distance walks and about his childhood in the past and, as a lapsed stamp collector, this looked interesting.

Buying the lovely plates (and btw these sell for around £20 each on ebay!) has nudged me to get the box of mantel shelf seasonal decorations out of the garage. I no longer have a fire or mantel-piece but there is  the top of the bookcase or maybe the window-sill and I used to enjoy displaying a few treasures as the seasons change.

 Day 12 in Tokyo and Spider-man is NOT science fiction! The Sports Climbing is a new event and the speed at which they get up the wall defies gravity.Then a 13 year old won a Bronze for GB in the skateboarding. Can you imagine going to the Olympics when you were 13? Earlier there had been another Gold in the women's sailing putting GB at the top of the Regatta medal table

So sad to see Katherine Johnson Thompson pull up with an injury in the 200m part of the Heptathlon and then I had to hide behind the Radio Times to see if Ben Maher would have a fast + clear round in the Showjumping final, he did and held onto the lead to win a Gold - Brilliant. That Gold medal moved GB up to 4th in the medal table and a total of 48 medals. Not sure they will hold onto that place as there are very few hopes of medals in the athletics because of the injuries. But still pretty good to be up there for a while just behind China, Japan and the USA. All "slightly" bigger than our little ol' country.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

  

Olympics and Another Footpath

 Summer of Sport Olympic update.

Day 11......When I woke and  switched on the radio on Tuesday morning the 5Live studio were going potty with excitement over the sailing where there had just been a extremely close finish and a Gold Medal and before I'd even got up there had been another sailing Gold medal in one of the other classes quickly followed by a silver in another style of boat (you can tell I know nothing about sailing- they are all just boats with sails to me!)

Next on TV was the individual 3m springboard diving and that resulted in a Bronze for Jack. Quickly over to the Velodrome and the Womens Team Pursuit where the British girls broke the world record set by the the Germans in the heats just a day earlier and the Germans then took the record back in the next round. Which meant it was GB v Germany in the Final...... Germany won giving GB another Silver Medal. This was speedily followed by the Mens Team Sprint and another silver and all before 10am our time. So Mr and Mrs Kenny both got Silver medals to add to their medal cupboard! Well done Laura and Jason. 

There were more disappointments out on the track and field but 3 GB women in the 800m final resulted in another Silver medal. I'd lost count on medals by now but GB ended day 11 still in 6th in the medal table but now with 43 medals. Amazing.

 

From Tokyo to Suffolk and a short walk along a footpath close to home.

A kissing gate is the way out of the back of the churchyard. A few weeks ago it was waist high nettles but someone has strimmed it to make it accessible without long trousers 

 

Through a little bit of woodland. There's a deep ditch on the left that's marked on maps as an old moat.

Over a ditch and out of the trees

and the footpath goes along the edge of a sugar-beet field

 

At the end of the field the path joins a track to a big house. There's also a barn conversion here on the right

The old Manor House through the trees

The footpath was diverted around the back of the new house, instead of the front....or as the sign say "Official Path Extinguishment"!

 

A few yards down the track and the footpath goes onto land belonging to the Manor house. I wasn't sure which way the path went across the meadow so backtracked and walked back down the Manor driveway and onto the road.

 

Along the road just a couple of 100 yards to the village and passing another field that now has permission for building............... 2 bungalows at the moment but it's likely the 3 acres behind will get permission sometime. £195,000 if your interested in a plot of land with permission to build on the edge of a Suffolk village.

 

And then I was home - for a long drink of water - as it was very hot and humid out despite the overcast sky.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Catching Up..........................

.................. on the Summer of Sport 2021 -

I woke up early  Saturday morning - stuck out a hand and switched on the radio to hear the lovely news that GB&NI had won their 7th Gold medal, this time in the Mixed Triathlon. Then had to wait until 3.30pm until they eventually showed the race again. 

Did you see Novak Djokovic's behaviour when he lost the bronze tennis match? It certainly explains why I'm not keen on him. First he hurled his racket up into the stands - luckily no one got hit and then smashed another racket against the net post......really childish.

Woke up Sunday to hear about more medals overnight in the BMX Freestyle and a record 4th medal for Duncan Scott in the pool. Later in the morning we had the amazing Max Whitlock in the Individual Pommel Horse final. He went first and had a perfect routine then had to watch the next 7 men competing. His high score was unbeaten so another gold - retaining his title from 5 years ago, our countries best ever gymnast with a total of 6 Olympic medals.

Outside in Track and Field GB don't have as many good athletes as we once did and Dina Asher-Smith had to pull out of the 100m due to injury. I loved watching the Men's High Jump when there was a shared Gold medal for Italy and Qatar.

I think GB&NI ended Sunday with a total of 32 medals and in 6th place on the medal table. A long way behind China and USA but not so bad for a small country.

Missed quite a lot of Monday morning Olympic TV due to dentist appointment but on the way home I heard there had been a Gold in the Three Day Equestrian Event. Home in time to see the individual competition where the top riders from the team event do another round of jumping and there was a silver medal. That brought the total to 34 and the 35th medal - another silver - came in the one of the women's weightlifting weight groups - a GB first ever.

 

Next.............catching up on the weekend away from the TV...........Headed out to the Saturday Needham Market car boot sale which I used to call the BIG boot sale but this year it's never been big and is as small or even smaller than the Small boot sale! There wasn't much to find. No clay flower pots but I found two clay saucers to put under the pots I already had and an interesting Christmas book - which may well feature in 'Photos in Advent 2021 posts'............that's what you call Being Prepared!

 Later Saturday morning Son, DiL and the two Youngest Grandchildren came over plus BiL, and the 2 men got the thing hammered into the ground to hold my whirly washing line - seems bigger than I thought it would be, I really need to get my head around centimetres!  I treated us all to fish and chips (very handy living close to the chip shop) Youngest Grandson has finally got around to walking, he has  so many words but was a bit slow crawling and walking - it's so interesting how children change and the different ages they do things.

Sunday morning at the other boot sale and that was strange too because there were several 'booters' selling but hardly anyone buying  - really quiet and odd. All I bought were a couple of birthday cards for 50p each with Grandson and an age - which will go away for when Eldest Grandson is 8 and then 10 (also being prepared!) These are quite expensive in the shops where it's easy to find either Grandson OR an age but not both.

Monday was dentist - 4th out of 5 appointments.........thank goodness I'm nearly at the end.......for now! The washing dried well on the new whirly washing line. I've got it positioned so I can hang the washing while standing on the patio - so no more wet feet. 

And today is Tuesday and I need to start by apologising for hardly leaving comments anywhere....again and for not replying to comments here.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Last Day of July

A Saturday and a last of the month round-up.

It's been a mostly dull week........... that's the weather...... not my life........as I'm having a great time making the most of the opportunity to watch as much Olympic sport as possible!

Once Upon a Time I used to do a round up of frugal things on the last of the month but as this month I paid for the concreting of the greenhouse base, the greenhouse itself and a whirly washing line and May and June were equally spendy there's not been much thrifty-ness for ages. Am I right in thinking prices of fruit and vegetables seem to be at a high - or is that just because I've got none of my own and I'm just not used to buying.

With my first proper State Pension going into the bank and HMRC now 'kindly' taxing my spouses pension, I now know what my monthly income is and hopefully I won't need to dip into the downsizing savings/kids inheritance quite as much as was needed in the last 3 years.

There should be much less spent in August as all I need to do here has been done for the moment. I also need to spend less to fund the second-hand book buying!!

 Shopping in Asda in Stowmarket is now a frustrating business, they are still re-arranging and modernising the whole store so it's a muddle with lots of empty spaces (due to the delivery driver shortage I suppose) but my biggest gripe is the absence of manned (or woman-ed!) check-outs. They've cut down to just 3. The rest of the space has been taken by a bigger area for self-service checking out - one bit for trolleys and another for baskets as a staff member bossily told me when I entered the wrong bit - oh dear me! They've also got a huge bay of hand held self-scanner things  - no idea how they work. I guess you have to have a credit card registered before you can use one. 

'Flowers on the Table' this week - although they are on the bookshelves for a change - are a mix of colour from the garden. Mostly Dahlias - gorgeous big orange and dark pink.

 Summer of Sport Olympic update........

it's getting more and more exciting...as the athletics begins.

It was raining and dull yesterday morning(Storm Evert apparently) and I got up late for me, so by the time the TV went on GB had won loads-a-medals on Day 7. Duncan Scott in the swimming pool won his 3rd of the games. Then another Bronze in the pool. A medal for trampolining. Then 2 medals in the BMX .... A gold for Bethany and a Silver for Kye. The first sport I watched was the men's Kayak slalom but a mistake saw the GB man come 6th.

Much discussion today about the lack of medals for the Rowers after the last 3 Olympics when they won several. Lots of money thrown at the sport so there will be talk of them losing funding no doubt.Watched some hockey, football and on the track the 4 x 400m mixed relay. I think GB& NI ended the day with 24 medals.

This week I'm grateful for

• Enough fine weather to get the grass cut
• Lovely heap of library books 
• Being able to watch all the Olympic sport from the comfort of my armchair
  

I'm hoping for some help with getting the whirly washing line sorted this weekend. BiL will supply the tools and knowledge and son will provide the brute force to get the spike in the ground. (BiL is now waiting for all the hospital stuff connected with needing a stent - just like his brother in 2013, so is having to be a bit careful. I've re-assured him that Col was fine after having the stent and it had nothing to do with all the later illness)

Also hoping to get a car boot sale (or 2) this weekend - the weather has been dismal every boot sale morning so I've not bothered to go for ages..............well, just a week and a half but  seems ages to me!

Have a lovely weekend

Back Monday

Sue

The (2nd) July Library Book Photo

 Nowadays I never seem to read every book I request so thank goodness library requests are free in Suffolk!.......they charge in some parts of the country........poor people.

How many of the 10 books or really 12 (the Ngaio Marsh is a 3 in 1) that I'd requested and picked up from the Mobile Library yesterday will be read? 

From the bottom up 

 

James Strawbridge - The Artisan Kitchen. This a how-to-do-it book about all forms of preserving and outdoor cooking. I don't want to build a pizza oven or a cold-smoker so this book will go back to the library quite quickly.

Neil Ansell - The Circling sky. One of the books nominated for the Wainwright Prize I've read a couple of his other books.

Ngaio Marsh -  This is the 3 in 1 volume starting with Clutch of Constables. Crime from the 1960's

Hope L Bourne - A Little History of Exmoor. Borrowed  this because of  THIS POST

Hilary McKay -  The Swallows Flight. This is a childrens book. A follow up to The Skylarks War.

Ronald Blythe - Stour Seasons. The 10th collection of his Word from Wormingford columns from The Church Times.Every time I read one of his books I always check he is still alive - and yes, he is now 98 years old! I wonder if he is still living in the wonderfully named Bottomgoms farm on the Suffolk/Essex border.

Chris Nickson - Brass Lives. Crime Fiction latest in a series set in Leeds in 1913

Charles Foster - The Screaming Sky. A small book about Swifts.Also nominated for the Wainwright Prize.

and the 2 on the right are

Jessica Bruder - Nomadland. Borrowing this after watching the film it's only recently been published here.

and finally a British Library Crime Classic - Guilty Creatures - Short Stories from authors from the past.

Quite a variety this time.

 

Day 6 of the Olympics in the wonderful summer of sport and I turned on the TV just in time for the women's slalom canoe final with a Silver medal for GB. The 18th medal had come at much the same time in the trap (clay pigeon) shooting - and that was a Bronze. I think they were the only medals as there were a couple of 4ths in the rowing including Helen Glover making a comeback after retiring and having 3 children....mad!

Didn't watch much yesterday as the weather was better so it was a grass cutting and weeding day.

 

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Devorgilla Days..............A Book About Hope and Healing

 This is the second book I've read recently about women who have serious health problems. In June it was Josie George's book 'A Still Life'  The  memoir of her life with an unexplained painful illness that sometimes reduces her to having to rest for days on end. She writes about her small world between her home, her son's school, her friend's home and the community centre. It is beautifully written, noticing all the small things and finding joy in life as it is for her. The book sprang from her blog.

Now I've just finished "Devorgilla Days" by Kathleen Hart and this time her book came from her Instagram Account. 

 

Eight years ago Kathleen Hart was diagnosed with breast cancer but there were many complications after her surgery and she was ill and in hospital for months. But even before that she'd had other health problems so that eventually her partner left her and bailiffs took away her furniture as he'd not been paying bills. She was advised to try yoga to recover from her illness but then had serious back problems and ended up flat on her back for months and it was just after getting back on her feet that she came across the details of a small cottage for sale in Wigtown - Scotland's book town. Hundred's of miles north she visits and buys it straight away.

She names the cottage Devorgilla after a feisty Scottish C13 princess. The book is about her first two years there, the friends she makes, learning about bee-keeping and Scottish dancing and getting really immersed in life in the town. The book also charts her cold water swimming in the bay at Garlieston and the people she meets who all help in her healing.

 

Many years ago me, Colin and Lucy the dog, stayed on the Caravan Club site at Garlieston on our tour of Scotland - and Col decided it was somewhere he would love to live. We visited the bookshops in Wigtown and drove to the pilgrimage village of Whithorn and I can remember many of the places she mentions in the book.

 

Summer of Sport 2021 - Olympic Update Day 5

Woke yesterday  to hear that there had been another Gold in the pool - 4 x 200m freestyle relay, Andy M had been knocked out of the Tennis Men's Doubles and the GB team in Rugby 7's had lost their match too and then the first thing I watched was the 3m springboard synchronized diving. It was a bad day at the office for the GB lads. I'm just amazed at how they fit all the twists and somersaults into 1.8 seconds between board and water.

There was an unexpected medal in rowing but  then the other men's 4's didn't get a medal they were supposed to win. Swings and roundabouts  So many things going on at once that BBC kept flitting between one thing and another and then changing from BBC 1 to BBC 2 for some reason that only they know. After a look at Gymnastics they changed to the Individual Dressage in time to see Charlotte Dujardin. (How on earth do they get the horses to lift their feet like that?) Charlotte won a Bronze  - her 6th Olympic medal in total - more than any other British woman.

I think GB ended the day with  a new running total of 16 medals

Back Tomorrow

Sue

The Buddleia appeared..............

...and so did the butterflies.

I knew it was a Buddleia  but didn't know what colour, so pleased to find it's a lovely dark purple. As soon as the flowers were out they were visited by butterflies - and this was only a day or so after commenting on Simon's blog (Careering through Nature) that I'd not seen many in the garden.

Small Tortoiseshell

Red Admiral - this one is on the bag of compost that I'd laid on the veg bed, sunbathing on the warm plastic. Altogether there were 3 flitting about the bush

There were a couple of Peacock butterflies too but they were up so high I couldn't get a photo.

The weather men have been forecasting rain for days but it finally fell yesterday afternoon, came down in torrents just for a few minutes. I'm glad my bungalow is up well above the road level.

There was soon a small river flowing down the hill.

 

Summer of Sport 2021 Update.... Day 4 of Olympics

Woke up yesterday morning to hear there had been Silver medal in the women's triathlon (despite a flat tyre) to match the men's yesterday and a Gold AND Silver in the men's 200m Freestyle swimming, the race was shown later and they both came from behind to win......well done them! As some sports aren't being shown on BBC (lost the rights a few years ago - thanks to Dc at Frugal in Norfolk for that info) we seem to have seen more Taekwondo and it still looks a bit vicious to me but there was another Bronze Medal.

 

The women's team gymnastics came on TV and the electric went off! When it came back about an hour later I found that they'd won a Bronze medal - first time a GB woman's team had been on the podium since 1928 I think they said.............that's quite a while! Also another medal with the horses in the team dressage. One statistic that was amazing - a German lady won her 7th ......... 7TH! Olympic Gold medal in their team dressage.

  My neighbour came home to find the electric off and knocked on my door to see if it was just them or a wider area. Luckily I was able to tell her about the UK Power Network Text Messaging service, where I'd already rang and found out that there were 400 homes off. I knew all about power being off and the Text message thing as at Clay Cottage the electric went off at least every few months. Here, if it goes off in winter I'll have no heat - that's when I'll miss the woodburner. I must get my gas camping stove back from BiL who borrowed it for an overnight trip to a stock car meeting. I've still got a wind-up radio and a re-chargeable lamp plus candles and a torch of course.

 Going back to BBC losing the rights to show some sports at least they have Wimbledon for a few more years until 2027 but we won't see the French Open on terrestrial TV here any more as Eurosport - a 'paid for' channel now have exclusive rights. And I'm not sure that BBC will show any of the Olympics live in 2024 as Eurosport seem to have the rights for that too. It's all about the money.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

 

The Vicarage Plantation

 After the photos of the old part of the village took my camera again for another short walk to show you a bit more.

A garden outside a house just down the road is what I call a glorious muddle!

 Turn right up a footpath, sadly there is permission to build on the field on the left.

A good amount of Rowan berries on this tree

 

The old primary school - in a terrible state of repair, it's in some sort of trust connected to the church and there is no money to do anything with it and it can't be sold either.

 Along a field edge to the village woodland

 

Footbridge over a ditch into the wood. This is one of three ways in

 

It's not many acres but is now protected against being built on

 

Well used paths. Not sure how muddy they will be in winter, but good and dry now

 

Younger trees planted more recently. The wood is shaped like a backwards capital E with the big  Victorian vicarage in the middle of one space and the fields in the other.

 

In among the trees are two open fields for a change of habitat

 

This small area is fenced - maybe for flowers- I don't know

I didn't go right round as it  was gradually getting hotter so out of the wood onto the road and home.

Summer of Sport 2021 update............ 

 

Turned on the radio when I woke up and heard the news that Adam Peaty had won a Gold in the pool, then they started talking about the start of the Diving so got up to watch. Tom and Matty had some amazing dives. You don't have to understand the scoring and judging system (I don't) but it's easy to see the synchronicity and amount of splash and I'm so pleased they got the Gold. Then they showed the Mountain Biking and another GOLD! That made a total of 6 medals by 8.30am our time and 4.30pm Japan time on the 3rd day. Later there was more Taekwondo with another Silver followed by Gymnastics and a quick look at one or two other sports. So by the end of Day 3 GB had 7 medals.😄

I can remember the bad years when GB hardly won any medals and it almost (but not quite) makes me feel guilty for never playing the National Lottery - as that's where a lot of the money has come from to fund the improvement.

Back Tomorrow

Sue