It has been very hot up north, with temperatures around 30 degrees today. And before we left last week I dismantled the watering system, thinking that the weather would become cooler, and there would be rain. In hindsight this was not a wise decision. One can never accurately predict the weather in Great Britain. And I am not there to do anything about watering the back garden either. Oh well.
Looking back over the photographs below I can see that the garden was very productive. And we were busy keeping up with it.
The tomotoes ripened and were delicious in salads.
The rhubarb continued to grow, and I was hoping to harvest the last of it when we returned home in two weeks time. No doubt they have now flopped completely through lack of water. Still I have managed to freeze quite a bit.
The cultivated blackberries were prolific, and we made jam, put them in the freezer and ate them on our desserts.
The potatoes were eaten weeks ago. They did tend to become mushy very quickly, when boiled, but were great mashed though, with plenty of butter.
The Victoria plum trees were loaded down with fruit, and we made jam, stewed them for freezing as well as ate them for breakfast. I picked some of them as they were beginning to show some colour, but I should have let them ripen completely as we hardly had any worms in them this year. I think I have broken the moth/worm cycle.
I also managed to freeze some gooseberries, but the blackcurrents decided to not produce much fruit this year. Not sure why. Perhaps the bushes needed a rest. And the foxes managed to get most of the raspberries. I hope they enjoyed them. Hopefully we have apples to eat when we get home. A good year in the garden, no doubt due to plenty of rain and sunshine early in the season.
My new mixer. My birthday present from the family this year. I love it.
And our current concern, although a little unreal at the moment. Our kitchen cupboards smell musty, and the end wall looks damp. Now we really need a new kitchen, which we have been putting off, as we prefer to spend our money travelling. But we can see that it is a job we must attend to, sooner rather than later.
In the meantime we need to sort out the causes of the damp. And we did not have to look far, as the outside drain was cracked and the pipes leading from the upstairs kitchen, our kitchen and the gutters were directing the water onto the side of the house. So Walter added pieces of pipe so the water now goes straight in to the drain. Something we should have done years ago. I sealed all the cracks and broken plaster with some 'you can do it' waterproofing plaster.
On further investigation we found the tap was dripping every time the watering system came on, and a pot plant by the wall was getting too much water from its dripper and the excess water was being directed to the house.
So with a bit of luck all the current hot weather is helping to dry out the wall.
Perhaps now there is no moisture on the back wall, the resident mole will go elsewhere. Yes, there are two mole hills against the back wall. There is no escaping the pesky moles.
And currently we are in the south of France and the busy month of August feels such a long time ago.
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