Rain.

While the rest of the country basked in the hottest weather of the year we were stuck under the weather front. We had heavy rain all morning which as the front moved away turned to fog and finally by the late afternoon we too were in bright sun. I was able to do some weeding of a bank which didn't involve too much bending. Only this morning I was reminded by a sharp pain when I picked up something from the floor that my muscles are still not fully healed and I need to take things easy.

Cold & Wet.

It has poured with rain for most of the day. Apart from going out to check on the dams on the road once first Peter and then the postman drove over them, I've done very little. There have been a few very brief dry spells but it has been much cooler. At one point in the afternoon the stream ran red where a lot of soil had been washed into the water. I did spend quite a lot of time battling with Google Chrome as many of my favourites had not transferred across from my broken Internet Explorer.

Windy.

It's been a wild and stormy day today. I got up early while it was still dry, and surprisingly warm, to check the side dams up on the road to protect the drive from any heavy rain. After doing my morning jobs I then snuck back into bed as heavy rain fell. There were some dry and even sunny spells but they were very short and didn't encourage me to go for a walk or start any garden jobs. Instead I ironed the bedding that was washed yesterday. Apart from that I haven't done much. This disheartened me until I realised that as I become more mobile and more flexible I push myself that much more which can leave me feeling tired.

Heavy Showers.

I've just come home from a warm evening in Barnstaple taking Linas to a job interview. It's for a position in a local building society (like a bank). He was in a group of 6 and we don't know how many people were being interviewed for how many jobs but at least he is trying. He came out feeling very positive but realistic at the same time. I did some shopping while I waited and then took some photos from the river bank.

The day started bright with some very heavy showers later on. I got up early (with Peter), for once so that after my morning jobs I was out on my walk at a sensible time. I don't walk quickly but I try and speed up a little going up the hill and walk further each day before taking a breather. Although I don't break out in a sweat I can feel my heart pounding so I know that I am doing some good for my general fitness. Once I get to the flatter section I focus on my posture as I walk along, shoulders back, stretching tall - that sort of thing. Being tall I slouched as a teenager then my working life in the garden and bending down to communicate with small children reinforced my tendency to stoop. And that is not good, neither in terms of general look but also the physio explained that my shoulder problem was caused by strain on my neck due to poor posture.

Back home my first load of washing was ready to be hung out though we had to run and rescue it before the next heavy downpour soaked it all again. And that was the pattern for the day, hot sunny spells followed by heavy rain. I sat outside whenever possible because the weather is supposed to close down again soon.
Up in the scree garden the crocosmias are coming into their own though the taller 'Lucifer' has been weighed down by the rain and is flopping down onto the path.

Overcast.

I was disappointed that I hadn't gone out for a walk yesterday so even though rain was threatening today I took myself up the hill. It was warmer than I had thought so I left my bodywarmer on a fencepost halfway up the hill. I was mainly concerned about protecting the camera if it did rain but I only felt a few drops when I was on my way back.
Walking along the crest of the hill towards Oakwill I was refreshed by the warm wind. With the noise of the wind in the trees it felt as though I was walking by the sea. From the gate at the bend in the road I could see right down to the sea. Today's walk was still only about 2 miles. Of the circular walks from our place there is only one short one and you have to cut back across the fields off the footpath which I don't really like doing. The other circular walks have long sections along a busy road or between high hedges. However it is still lovely to be able to go for these short walks.

At home I got down to some gardening, cutting back the alchemilla around the pond.

Last night I watched the Olympics closing ceremony and I enjoyed every minute, in fact I thought it was much better than the opening ceremony.
Although I have had the opportunity to watch the Olympics I'm just not that interested. I've watched the occasional competitor and taken note of the medal table but I think I'm more in tune with Mary Beard - read her blog here
I think the most impressive aspect of the show was the pixel array which created a lightshow across the whole of the seating areas. For sheer spectacle the prize must surely go to Annie Lennox singing 'Little Bird' aboard Dracula's ship. Though as I am easily pleased the taxi that turned into an enormous octopus during Fatboy Slim's set came a close second. For emotion I would pick the sung & signed rendition of 'Imagine'. I will admit to singing the whole of that with tears running down my cheeks. Eric Idle singing 'Always look on the bright side' brought back the memory of a day many years ago when I was laid up and feeling miserable. Peter taught the song to the the boys, who were very young, and then brought them up to sing it to me and yes it did cheer me up. It was great show last night but the cynical side of me can't hep thinking 'Bread and circuses'. (Juvenal.)
Photo from the web.

Bright And Windy.

......with a lot of high cloud keeping the temperature down to around 23C. Right now there is almost 90% cloud cover which does not bode well for sightings of the Perseids which are due to peak tonight. However last night just before I headed upstairs for bed I had a quick check of the night sky. And was greeted by a sky full of stars with the Milky Way stretching overhead. Then ... Woosh, a meteor streaked across the sky. I needed no further invitation. I layered up, grabbed a torch and a jam sandwich (my current alternative to chocolate) and went out for some meteor watching. Usually we go up to the top of the hill and spread cushions on the road so we can lie back and view the night sky. Last night I decided I would be better off on a reclining garden chair so I only went up as far as the ponies' field above our garden. I had to position the chair right up by the fence and as I lay there I could hear Coral prancing about in the field clearly unnerved by this unusual object right by her fence. I stood up and called her over but she was still a little wary. So I went against my strict rule of never feeding horses (it makes them bite), and gave her a small wholemeal crust from my sandwich. Greed overcame fear and she was my friend for life. As I lay back marvelling at the beauty of the skies there were frequent hufflings in my ear as she waited hopefully for more. I was also joined by Speedy and Patch who took it in turns to sit on my lap. Although it wasn't the peak night for sightings I did see 27 meteors, that's not counting satellites, planes and a helicopter taking someone to our local hospital. I stayed out until moonrise simply taking in the glory of the night sky. It's so hard to get your head around the fact that each star is a burning sun with its own planets. And as for the Milky Way, that is too hard to visualise so many distant suns. The brisk weather had me off up the hill for another walk before breakfast.
When I got to Ashelford Corner I turned off the road down to the lane that leads back towards our valley and Paul's hayfield.

It was hot in the lane but when I got to the end the wind was so strong it nearly blew my hat right off. I had a quick walk in Paul's hayfield and saw that he has been able to make about 200 big bales of hay(lage) in these last few hot days which should keep him going until next year. I checked out the blackberries along the lane but they didn't look too abundant.



Back home I hoed the vegetable patch and to the best of my ability cleared up leaves from the front patio and off the raised bed. Even if I can't do the job properly every little helps. Peter was out rowing in Ilfrcombe Regatta. He came home very pleased as both the Veterans and the men's B crew came 4th which apparently is a really good result. Linas mowed the lawns and prepared a barbecue which we had when Peter got home. I was limited to grilled courgettes and boiled new potatoes but they did taste very nice.


Update ..... I interrupted my blogging last night to watch a film with Peter and Linas ( yet another B grade disaster movie), and then not only did it rain but we had a thunder storm that went on till the small hours of the morning. I did hang out of the bathroom window to watch the lightening and saw one meteor cross the patch of open sky.

Low Cloud.

1.00 today the clouds were down to 180m so that our valley and the surrounding countryside were encased in the soft drizzle of the cloud layer. Linas had an appointment at the job centre so we spent an hour in town along with many poor holidaymakers who had been driven from their tents and caravans. It was mostly dry but very humid in town.
It is brightening up a little now but we are still lagging behind the rest of the country which is bathed in sun.

While in town I bought myself some more ........ vests! In the usual colours, 2 black and 1 white. That freed up my favourite black vest, which had become faded with much washing, to being revamped with some bleach. It's a matter of trial and error and I would have preferred it to be a little darker but I'm still happy with the result.

When I stopped to take photos my eye was caught by the beauty of these flowering grasses each seed encased in an ephemeral crystal of water.

Rain.

The weather men keep saying that things are getting better but all we've had today is rain, sometimes steady, sometimes torrential. All I hope is that it clears up before the weekend as it we've had cloudy skies for the last 2 years during the Perseid meteor shower. I am fascinated by such natural phenomena, if money was no object I'd be straight off to see the Northern Lights.
For the last 2 days this cheeky squirrel has been raiding one of the bird feeders hanging over the stream. It must have perfected the art of leaping from the bank without falling in the water below. It jumps off when I bang on the windows but then returns so today Linas fired off a loud smoke grenade (airsoft) which hopefully gave it a proper scare.
I've got on with more paperwork today and taken things easy. Linas and I completed all the sections of the puzzle and now Linas is assembling the Taj Mahal. Unfortunately there is one small piece missing but Linas has been able to make a new one with some foam board and will photocopy the pattern from one of the other towers.

Thunder.

I'm blogging early today because it looks like yesterday's thundery showers are about to resume. All afternoon and evening there was one heavy downpour after another accompanied by thunder and presumably lightening. That's the signal for us to switch off the PCs because even the surge protectors are not always enough. As I type the sky is getting blacker and blacker once more. The drive got washed away, but not as badly as before. Perhaps if people would listen to me about putting out the wood and concrete blocks we use to divert the water there wouldn't have been so much work to do this morning. We all worked together and got the big defences up, the drive repaired and secured the water pipe that lies in the stream. The rain's started so I'll sign off for today.

Half-dry, Half-wet.

We had a sunny morning then heavy showers in the afternoon. Unfortunately I missed the sun as I was busy 'resting' in the morning (watching TV in bed) and did some cleaning before venturing outside with a coffee and a book. 20 mins later the first rain fell so back indoors I went to tidy up the small pile of paperwork that always seems to grow in the kitchen. I'm fairly good about filing my paperwork and next week I plan to go through my folders clearing out old un-needed paperwork.
Linas took advantage of the morning's good weather and walked into town. I'm so glad that he isn't totally depending on me to drive him around. He met up with Peter and came home bearing a bag of fruit for me. At the moment I don't seem to be able to tolerate any fat at all, not even chocolate so for treats I eat fruit or Ryvita. I wasn't planning on changing my diet quite so soon but it won't do me any harm and I might even loose some weight.

Cooler.

A little cooler still today. We lost the sun in the afternoon and had a few showers. Had another medium gall stone attack today so I think I'll have to go 100% fat free until I have the op. It's a little earlier start to my diet than I was planning but I'd rather not take the risk. I haven't done very much today, the back is improving but I'm getting more pain from the nerve that runs down my leg. I only hope that this settles down as at the moment it is worse than before the op.
Linas saw the fox walking down the drive today, I hope he's not trying to work out how to get to my two old hens.

13C.

It was all change with the weather today. The temp was down to 13C, there were clouds in the sky and even the occasional heavy shower. After yesterday's excitement and staying up late last night I was quite tired today. I got up quite early and hung washing on the line but the 2nd load of washing has spent the whole day swooshing around in the machine. That machine is so on its way out. I've just tried switching it off for a while and seeing if that is any better but I think I'll have to listen for the end of a spin and then switch it off again to rescue my sheets.
Obviously I was up late watching the Olympic Opening Ceremony. I'm in 2 minds about it and overall I don't think it matched the Beijing ceremony. Parts were impressive but others seemed to be quite obscure and by the deafening silence of the commentators they didn't get the references either though was Hobbiton deliberate or not? I loved the use of children and the fact that our NHS was highlighted but jive? And while we all love the Beatles and having the whole stadium singing Hey Jude was brilliant am I the only person who thought that Paul McCartney's voice let him down, (no fault of his after all he is 70)? On the other hand we enjoyed all the music references. Indeed Tubular Bells is the album on top of the pile next to my PC waiting to be transferred onto the hard drive. The cauldron concept was brilliant but my very favourite moment of the whole evening had to be Ronald Atkinson in the persona of Mr Bean. That was a real laugh out loud moment.

Still Hot.

I'm not sure where the weather people get their stats from 'cos yesterday the highest temp was supposed to have been 29C, ha! I saw a few clouds yesterday and this evening it is beginning to be overcast. I guess the end of this hot spell is on its way. I did not get my usual lie-in this morning because Linas HAD to go to the bank. For once I paid to park in the middle of town and spent an hour doing a bit of shopping and getting some new books from the library. I started out trying to stand up tall and walk normally but I began to tire after a while and was nervous about people bumping into me. After all that it transpired the nearest RBS branch is in Exeter and Linas was able to sort everything out on the phone at home. I kept my eagle eye on the car's temp gauge (not hard when my Micra only has 3 gauges; speed, temp and fuel), and it stayed normal thank goodness.
The 3 swallows' nests up in the outbuildings are filled with chicks again. I couldn't stay long to take pictures as the parents were getting rather distressed having me standing there in the doorway.
I spent the afternoon in the shade reading yet another library book.

This book is a mixture of a story and an account of how this teacher was pilloried by the teaching authorities for the amazing work she did with a group of very difficult boys. I found it a very good read and you can read the start (or maybe all) of it online if you follow the link more info . The final section has a lot of thank you's and I was most surprised to see close friend of my mother named there and described as 'the coolest woman I ever met .... '.

I am having some friends round tomorrow and Linas helped me make a cheesecake. Last year I couldn't find the curd cheese that this recipe uses and tried an alternative with not very good results but this year I found the curd cheese in a tempting deli in town. It's a no-cook recipe that I have made successfully many times so hopefully it will be fine.

Hot.

Do not fear Dear Reader, we were all talking to each other before bedtime so all is peace and harmony (ish) once more. Not such a restful day today. Linas went in early with Peter as he had to catch a train to Plymouth and I had volunteered (to maintain the peace and harmony), to collect him from the station in the afternoon. This was also a good opportunity to do some shopping in Tescos. Such a relief to get some fresh fruit and fruit juice.

It was on the journey home that problems began. I had looked at the temp gauge in the car on the way out and it was reassuringly low. I didn't look again until we were nearly home, shock horror! it had swung up past the red to the max!! As we were nearly home I took a chance and continued on, coasting down the last few hills. Not surprised to find the radiator empty. Hmm, Only had a service and MOT a few weeks ago but I am assured by those who know that leaks can happen all of a sudden. We've poured in lots of water and will see how much comes out by the morning. The other problem is that I still need a few items of shopping which I was planning to get in Ilfracombe tomorrow but Linas needs to go to the bank asap and that's in Barnstaple. Funny, I thought I was supposed to be convalescing.

It's lovely sitting outside in the cool of the evening. I think they must be having Pony Camp next door as the sounds of childish squeals are ringing up the valley.

Am I an old fuddy duddy to think it important to wear a hat in such sunny weather? As I drove around town I saw only one person wearing a hat of any sort, and he looked distinctly continental. I wore a straw hat which I had to hang onto a few times in the car as I had the windows and the sunroof open. More people were wearing shorts but there was a fair amount of overdone too-pink skin to be seen. I know that this kind of weather is unusual but will they never learn?

Blue Skies.

Not a cloud in the sky today. From a breakfast sitting outside to the barbecue we are soon to eat my day has been spent outside mainly reading yet another library book. I wake each day in happy anticipation of good weather and an improvement in my pain levels and so far I have not been disappointed. The novelty of being carers has worn off and I find that requests from me are met with heavy sighs and lists of things they have already done. Never mind, I am used to doing things within the bounds of my physical limits and I have been very careful. The only thing I really struggle with is picking things up from the floor so that I don't attempt. There is also so disagreement as to what constitutes 'finished' for some of the bigger jobs. I'm one of those fussy people who like tools to be put away, rubbish to be cleared up and the area put back to the way it was before. Blokes, or at least the ones in this house, simply don't understand.

Hotter.

It was sunny again today with less breeze making it feel hotter. Let's hope that we're in for a long hot summer, or a couple of weeks at least.My back pain as continued to lessen and I was able to sleep the morning away while Peter and Linas went off to help with the Green Man Day, our local festival. Peter was there in 2 guises, firstly to help pull one of the gigs up Pilton Street and set up a publicity stand for the gig club and then with Linas to act as a marshall for the procession. Linas was taking my place a marshall which consists of having a briefing from Gareth our local PC, wearing a high-vis vest and stopping traffic as the Green Man and his followers danced through the streets. It was a shame to miss the festival with the music, stalls and craft stands as well as the owl man but I'm not ready to go out yet.
I spent the afternoon reading outside and enjoying the sun. It got so hot I had to sit in the shade with just my legs stuck out into the sun. My poor legs seem to take forever to even turn a shade browner. When I was a small child my days were spent on the beach clad in nothing but a sun hat and I was golden all over but then there came many years of living in London with my legs hidden by jeans. It is only now that I have slid into disreputable middle age that I spend all my summers in shorts, (It is very rare to see anyone over the age of 20 wearing shorts in this country, blame our rotten weather and natural reserve), and my legs stubbornly remain many shades lighter than my arms. (I only wish for a light colouring and a dark tan is not something I aspire to but fish white is not good either.)
While I relaxed Linas strimmed all the grass that the mower hadn't reached and he and Peter cooked up another barbecue. They are still working on their burger recipe to make burgers that don't fall apart on the barbecue. I then retired up the hill to catch the last of the sun before escaping, still in my PJ's to walk up to say hello to the ponies, and get bitten by a horse fly.

Sun.

Now today was so much better, both pain and weather wise. It was sunny for the whole day with a gentle breeze keeping it not too hot. As sitting and walking are fairly comfortable (with the aid of a few pills), I have been up for the whole day. I started by having my breakfast sitting outside in the sun. Then yes, I did some gardening! it was only deadheading the hanging baskets and sprinkling more slug pellets around the squash plants which are under constant attack. Then, after washing up I retired to my pc to catch up with the omnibus episode of The Archers which for a second time I had failed to record on the Sky+ box. Because of our slow download speed we can't watch TV programmes on i-player but luckily radio works. Later I moved outside to spend the rest of the day sitting in the sun, in my short pj's, reading a book. That was more how I envisaged my convalescence to be. Luckily the wooden garden chairs that came with the garden table I bought last year are perfect for me at the moment. The high slightly curved back supports me well without putting pressure on my lower spine and most importantly the sturdy arms make it easy for me to lower & raise myself supported by my hands. Linas has brought one of these chairs into the sitting room as there is no way I could get in or out of the armchairs or sofa. It was so much nicer watching TV in here than lying flat on my back upstairs. He also has put one up by the scree garden as the chairs I keep up there have lower backs.

Linas and Peter finished putting in and burying a drain pipe to take water across the small lawn so that is another job done. Then the 2 of them went off to town leaving me in utter peace and when they came home Linas tackled the lawns that had shot up in all the recent rain. Meanwhile Peter prepared a barbecue which we have just eaten up by the scree garden.

There has been a noticeable lack of butterflies this year and so far I've only seen these dark brown Ringlets and a few Skippers. While I was enjoying the sun I saw my first Golden Ringed dragonfly which patrols the garden like a mini helicopter.

The Sun Reappears.

Oh Dear. That was quite a moan yesterday. Happily today my pain levels, like the weather, are improving. Yesterday was mostly wet while today it has been mostly sunny. Perhaps that good weather is on its way after all. Briefly; standing is almost pain free,

walking about slowly is OK,
sitting in my office chair is tolerable,
moving from sitting to lying & vice versa is ouch,
lying on my side gets painful and lying on my back is OUCH.
But everything is much better than yesterday. So that's good.

I spent at least an hour up this morning, first tottering around the garden before it started to rain and then a good long catch up with many of my favourite blogs. My blog counter has disappeared and the handy statistics site which told me who was visiting the blog closed itself down some time ago. Today I found another visitor map and Linas helped me put it on the blog. It was always fascinating to see where my visitors were based.

Mostly Rain.

It has been raining for most of the day but nothing like yesterday's downpours. Eventually the sun came out and I was able to get outside. My first job was to clear the gutters at the back of the house as I am the only one who is prepared to climb ladders. The back gutters are not that high but clearing the smelly leaves is not the most pleasant of jobs.
I also cleared away the sticks and leaves caught on the pipe and the fence that cross our stream. There was even a small metal stool that had washed down the stream but 2 of the 3 legs are broken so it will have to go down to the dump. Peter and Linas had gone into town and I was tempted, briefly, to start on repairing the drive but then decided my time was better spent weeding. It is good to have a few more days to get rid of those pesky weeds. Normally I work on the principle that I can ignore any weeds I can't see but today I was searching out every tiny seedling. Any weeds left will have 2 months to grow unhindered so I want to clear everything.
This evening I had a phone call from my GP (doctor) regarding the results of the ultrasound I had done last week. He cautiously approached the subject of 'discussing options' whereupon I told him I was quite happy to have the gall bladder taken out asap. Now all I have to do is wait for that operation but the waiting time should be weeks not months.

Nearly Flooded.

It's been quite a stressful day. Last night I went into a bit of decline over the cancellation and then I spent the morning waiting to find out what the next step would be. I even got up early and ate some cereal at 6.00 and then went nil-by-mouth in case a miracle happened and they rang to say they could fit me in today, but no that didn't happen. When I hadn't heard by 12.30 I phoned the hospital, that's quite a change from my normal passive accepting state. I was told they had a theatre slot available for first thing Monday morning but they were still waiting to confirm that there was a bed available. Eventually I had a call saying that I should come in on Monday. Now I will be worrying each time the phone rings in case they cancel again.

I didn't do much in the morning except stay snuggled up on the sofa listening to the torrential rain. That is until I chance to look out of the window to see 2 rivers flowing down our drive. I flew outside and then yelled for Linas as the amount of water washing away the drive and then flooding into the waste water treatment tank was horrendous. We got some wood placed across the road diverting the road water into the fields and I reinforced them with clods of soil & grass while Linas used the washed down gravel to create a barrier in the yard and divert the water away from the tank. This really has got to be the worst we have ever had it. We walked over to Paul's and the water at the end of the lake had flooded over the road. Water was pouring out of the overflow pipe but unfortunately Paul has built a parapet along the road and we suspect that the height of the parapet is the same as the lawn protecting the back of the house.
So far everything is holding up but in case the worst happened I went and checked out out contents insurance. Guess what? We are not covered for flood damage, or fire, or storm in fact I can't see what the hundreds of pounds we pay each year covers us for. Even the boiler is excluded because it is over 10 years old and any personal items. I tried to ring them to find out what is covered because all I can see in the booklet are exclusions but I couldn't get through. The renewal comes up in a few weeks and I don't think I shall bother thank you.


Earlier in the day I spotted this squirrel who had managed to leap onto the feeder hanging over the stream. When I went out to chase him off he went straight down, possibly into the stream.