Is Summer Back?

Okay, so one moment I hear that we are due snow in October and then I've just been checking the forecast for next week and it is saying 24c! What's that song? Four Seasons in One Day? Well in this case it will be Four Seasons in One Month. Now as a true Brit I often go out with sunshades and an umbrella to cater for all eventualities so will it now be suncream and a snowsuit? I think scientists are still divided on whether this is due to climate change/ pollution etc or whether it is a cyclical pattern that happens over centuries. Even if it is the latter I believe that we should still be finding sources of clean renewable energy as the earth's natural supplies of oil are running low and we are now shipping in from the Middle East therefore hiking up our fuel bills and anyway the burning of oil produces so much pollution too. But what is the answer? Personally, I don't mind the wind turbines but they have had a bad press in terms of how effective they are and their short lifespan. There is a lot of work going into tidal energy so that may be a the answer. I try and do my bit to limit my carbon footprint for example, using rainwater in the garden, recycling paper, plastic, glass, foil and waste food regularly, I buy second hand when I can, turning off lights when I leave the room etc etc etc. But I think that we need to look to larger companies and businesses to do their part too rather than all the burden put on individuals. Anyway down from the soap box now!

Have had more success with feeding my little girl this week - she has enjoyed beef casserole and cannelloni! So at least she has been getting the iron! I went to the local pound shop and bought lots of feeding items for her including a new messy mat, a bib with sleeves and lots of small tupperware pots for freezing separate portions and these have been put to good use already so we now have frozen cannelloni and green vegetable Thai curry filling up the freezer! All for £9 so will be venturing back there soon for more bargains.



I used up some apples and blackberries I picked at our nearby heathland and made a fabulous crumble courtesy of The Hairy Bikers also using frozen cranberries which went down well. Have been enjoying The Great British Bake Off on TV and would like to master pastry making next so will be having a delve through the cookery books this week to see what I can start off with.

On the theme of food, my daughter and I went to a messy play session at the local Children's Centre and had fun painting with ketchup, getting hands gooey with wet and slimy spaghetti and painting with toothpaste! Even though she was wearing an apron she still needed a wardrobe change when we got home. But some good ideas for wet and cold winter days.

A productive weekend for once! Yesterday was spent at a Ladies Pamper Day......working .......on my Jamie at home stall but as the sun was out it was very quiet but I should have a party booking in the pipeline from it so all worthwhile. Have a lot more events coming up over October and November so be sure to sign up to my facebook page for more details of forthcoming fetes and Shopping Evenings etc.

Today my husband and I took shifts with the housework and playing with our daughter and it worked a treat! I cleaned the ensuite including the shower curtain and the floor so it is looking spotless now! I then cut the grass and redesigned part of our flower bed in the garden. We have a narrow strip of flower bed that has started to look a bit tired and plants were not in the best positions. So I moved our Cordyline from a shady spot out to the back part of our garden which is suntrap with white washed walls etc (Photos later) and planted instead a small Fern, a Box plant and more into the shady spot where they will hopefully thrive. As you can see there is already a Fern that has erupted as has the Bergenia (which I should probably split but do not have any space for it to go until we get the front garden re-landscaped.

I then split my Golden Rod into several sections as they were getting quite dense and crowded. So I split them and lined them up in a row so they would cover the brick wall in the summer as they can grow to 6ft. Now I just need to tackle the Hollyhock and Lavender bush as they too are a bit jaded. I have so many things in pots that I thought it was time to plant them out in the bed so that I had some evergreens there in the winter rather than bare soil.  So very productive and we'll be doing this shift format next weekend!
Enjoy the sun one and all! x