Thursday 9th June

Beautiful morning, attrocious night.  I went to bed quite early and woke up at 11.30 last night and thought I had slept for hours....wrong...got back off again and at 1.30am woke up with cramp in my knee that sort of went down into my calf muscle so did a tour of the house and eventually got back off and then woke at 4.38 with the same cramp so down to the kitchen, back to bed with coffee and settled in to my war book.  Didn't bother trying to go off again and decided that it's going to be an easy day today.  Bench preservative going on, covering the foam for the said bench and making outer covers....and that's a dam site easier than shifting soil.  Oh and I might just move some nasturtiums into the new bit, plant some sweet peas, do some gardening and , and, and...finish my book

Thursday continued

What a day of variances.  I've had a problem with my bank.  Every week they send me a message to tell me how much is in my current account and the transactions therein.  This has worked for goodness how many years, no problem.  Last week....thirty three messages exactly the same and to date this week three so far.  Now I pay to receive, they obviously pay to send, so I phone them up.  A kind lady phones me back and I spend two minutes listening to the music of digital support until this other lady tells me that it is my service provider who is not doing their stuff.  Apparently the bank waits for a return code to say that the message has been received and if no return code, the message is resent.  At least I know the cause...40 minutes wait in a queue for my service provided isn't on so my service is temporarily suspended.  I'll check it online...technology...pah....

So what else happened.  My neighbours with three cows and a donkey popped round for a chat, closely followed by my avatar who wanted to borrow my pump to blow up the tyre on her wheelbarrow and my other neighbour just came by to see what was happening.   All went as quickly as they appeared..they have work to do...I have my list.  And what did I achieve...only the first...I woodstairned the outside sofa and made a shelf unit for under my outside table so that I can put my tee lights and candle jars under there out of the way and off the window sill.  Unfortunately thunder was lurking so in I went and got my supper into the slow cooker to save time later and then the heavens opened.  Huge spots of rain, then hail that bounced round the patio, more rain and now it has serttled into a beautiful evening.  Supper complete, brandy and water, just come in from outside and thinking about bed and hoping that the cramp stays away tonight.  LN...just want to post pickies and then I'm done for the night....

And my screech owl has just kicked off...young bird by the sounds of things.....crickets belting out...how noisy is nature at this time of night....

Friday 10th June

So after the downpour yesterday and partly through the night the weather wasn't sure what to get up to today.  It dried off this morning, I got out there with the shears at about eight this morning after lingering with Norman Davies and his Europe at War and now it's done and dusted.  An historians view of the war and so different of the concepts that I have held for the last sixty or so years.  That's propaganda for you.  I thought Churchill had done it on his own with the Americans helping out.  So now I have to read more.

Strange one this morning on the pc.  Got into all my usual programs no problem but one of the sites that I go on to has changed some of its settings and now I get this security application that provides some some unintelligible password that you have to enter, a button that you press which goes absolutely nowhere and I end up with a message that there is an error on the page.  If you are reading Danuta, can you please advise Danny that I can't get in...ta.

So the rest of the day moved on to another rainy episode so I read for about an hour downstairs, realised that my little eyes were dropping somewhat and decided that once the thunder started again a comfortable place to read would be upstairs on the bed and at six this evening I woke up.  I suppose the tiredness had built up and I had thrashed myself with the stone moving and new garden creating in extremely hot weather so now I have energy reserves for the next thrash which is the scything of the rest of the garden.  I did get the measuring stick out and the material for making the cover for the foam cover for the bench but, tomorrow is another day.

The weather has settled out now....still cloudy but dry, crickets obviously not water logged or perhaps crying for help but the gardens certainly look better for it.  Since I have prepared nothing for supper, I better go and raid the kitchen to see what I can come up with.....LN...

Hi Elsa
I have had real problems too today. And I am not the only one.    It is all to do with the new system Danny put in.  I could not log in for a long time.  Try going in and before you try to log in refresh the page and try again.  There are still lots of things to be sorted out seemingly.

Just love your photos.  

Hope this helps.

I have had problems too and emailed Danny. Glad to know it is not just me  . Can you send some rain up our way, we have had about 5 minutes today and that was it.

Friday udpate

Thanks to my lovely two buddies from my other site....update...I am back in business after reviewing the updated changes website, I reckon I had been blacklisted because I'm in Bulgaria and you probably had the same Joanna being in Latvia.  It's probably an American site and they believe that the iron curtain still exists....as for the rain Joanna...I'm out there blowing for all I'm worth against a prevailing wind....and with Danuta doing it from the other side, you should get it about Wednesday....

LN

Saturday 11th June

And did I suffer for having a long sleep yesterday.  I finally had to get up and put my phone on charge.  You know what it's like.  There is this bleep, bleep and because you have to get out of bed, your language would normally contain the same amount of bleeps.  So out of bed and getting coffee at 6.00 this morning but then took Aldous Huxley back to bed with me...The Island.  Well, I'd obviously heard of him before but not read any of his works and so far so good.  It comes from the Dom Library in Samodiva and I suppose at some point we'll have a reckie of whose books are where.

Eventually got out at 7.30 to do emails and 'stuff' on the pc and despite the fact that the other site is up and running again, it still seems to take ages to load the threads and to post but apart from that I can see what is happening.  As to the weather this morning...dull and overcast so the washing from last nights night-time cheap rate was out on the balcony on the cloths airer while I looked at the garden that I'd promised a weed free hair trim.  Only part of it got done, the grass was too damp to get the scythe through so again, it's for another day.  I'm also going to use Roundup on the brambles.  They never produce good fruit, it's too hot out here for them they end up looking shrivelled.

Having looked at all the options this morning....I decided it was a bacon, fried bread and eggs day.  Cooked it and sat out on the terrace and thoroughly enjoyed it and then felt too stuffed to get the shears out....but I gave it half an hour and then went for it and cleared down to the kimono so now it does look a lot tidier.  It was then time to move some nasturtiums around, move the sweet peas into a bigger pot and put up the supports for the cucumbers (that I don't even eat) and the sweet peas and prepare the bed for the ornimental gourds that are ready for putting out.....well they are gourds or honey dew melons....let's see what we get.

Now time to get a beer out, the sun for what it's worth is over the yardarm, the bee eater birds are looking for rich pickings in my garden so I doubt there'll be anything settling in Bekir's hive.  There sounds like a constipated cow somewhere around (but not in the garden but note to self...fix the fence, one got in yesterday), crickets are going for it and so are the noisy frogs in the pond down the hill.  LN....must get on.....a demain....

Sunday 12th June

Had really vivid dreams last night....note to self....go steady on the local beer....

Woke up to rainy skies, rainy garden, rainy everything...so decided that a coffee in bed was by far the most educated guess at life...so what did today hold?

This morning I played Freecell until I was bored with the thing, did my emails and played Bejewelled again until I was bored with it which took all of  two games and then decided that life held more than this.

My outside cushions for the new bench were on this list of 'to do's' but you must know what it's like.  The material that you have for the job in hand is not quite right but you carry on regardless until you know that you were right in the first place...you change the design somewhat and it works...but only you know the 'codging' that has taken place.  I have covered the foam for the outside bench...if I'd have gone to the shop and got new material it would have been better...but it works for me.

I planted up more sweetpeas that had been soaking overnight and in hindsight it I had put them in they would have been fine.  They are to adorn the new garden and the wreck on the east/northern wall.

Checked on my honeysuckle and I have lift-off....my sweetcorn has come on in leaps and bounds....and here is the one sweetpeat...now plucked and in the hall.

My avatar came round this afternoon with my lunch/supper...it was lunch ...the rest is in  the fridge.  Fire going tonight...it's chill, it's still rainy despite a brief interlude this afternoon when I sat out and finished the cushions for the outside benches/chairs...Les Miserable has just finished disk one and I am about to start on disk two...I just love it and it reminds me of the time that I booked tickets to see it with Princess and the baby Frog...and baby Frog chose the venue....not bad for and ten year old....if you know it you would appreciate 'Master of the House'....I think that's what he  enjoyed most.

So tonight, LN....no supper...had a big lunch....maybe a little drink later...and now for the pickies...

Well thanks for blowing the rain our way, the first wave hit this afternoon, but didn't reach out to our land unfortunately and this evening looks like it should rain but isn't. At least the temperatures are down a bit, it is the first time I have seen our living room below 26C for about a week now - it's 25C and 10:20pm  

12th June continued

Looks like my blowing did the trick in Latvia and goodness knows that took some puffing and thanks to Danuta, I wouldn't have made it on my own.....two days of rain and I've have enough...I love my house...but I love my garden more..sleep tight...all of you..speak tomorrow.....   time I was in my bed...I have a date with Aldous Huxley on his Island....