Woke up to the (currently) loveliest sound in the world - falling rain...
The garden has survived the drought reasonably well so far, except for my blueberries (my fault, didn't water them enough, but they're recovering) and the beautiful bush right outside the patio doors. It's an evergreen, but the lower half's leaves have gone brown and lots of them have dropped. It may recover, but if not I'll underplant it with something tougher. Will search next time I'm at a garden centre.
On the subject of rain... After Tom and co. removed the old system from the loft, we were able to get rid of everything except the big water tank. I don't particularly want to pay BCC £25 to take it away, so it's just been sitting outside the cat flap. Then inspiration struck. Kai has fashioned the three pallets we had left from when the pavers were delivered into a stand, I've cleaned out the tank (more or less), K&K have sealed the hole for now - we'll get a tap when we can find one that fits, it's an ancient system not using metric - and Kai and I changed the guttering on the greenhouse so one side now feeds into it. It's already full, so I have an additional source of water for garden and greenhouse.
It holds 21 gallons so will be very useful in future! Planning to grow peppers in the greenhouse again next year, since they did so well this year.
Still not having much success with tomatoes though...
The hard plastic 'mat' I bought last year to go under my office chair to protect the new carpet has started cracking, so we're going to cut it to fit and use it as a tank cover (I have a thick warm rug under my chair now!)
Remember that huge plant that was growing around the corner and up the hill? Finally discovered it's an echium pininana (what a cute name!), and T&M sell seeds! (Alas, they are out of stock atm, so have left an alert on their system to let me know when they're back in stock. At just £3.99 a pack of 5 I'm happy to give it a go...)
Media...
Watched The Sandman on Netflix... Hm. It's very slow, but once we got into it we enjoyed it. Maybe admired it would be a better description. None of us have ever read the comics, so it was all completely new... it's intriguing, and the basic concept is hugely appealing (and I really loved Death!), but not the easiest of thing to get into to. But the cinematography and fx are glorious.
Kai and I (and sometimes Ken) have watched all of Prison Break now (well, last three eps of season 5 tonight). It's fun, compulsive viewing, although I think they're milking it now. Great fun though.
Picked up Drive Angry along with a couple of other things (incl Oldboy, see below) to make it up to free delivery from amazon. I like early Nick Cage films, and this was great! Leave your brain at the door and get out the popcorn sort of film.
So, Oldboy... It's really good, with a somewhat shocking ending, but certainly not for everyone. Kai opted not to watch it, but Ken and I appreciated it.
I finally got to watch A Street Cat named Bob, which I picked up after thoroughly enjoying the book. It's a terrific film, true, and moved me to tears, and there's not much does that these days!
There's been a whole lot more happening, of course. GoodTwin and Sue came to visit 1st Sept:, first time in nearly three years, so a lot to catch up with and a lot of fun and laughter. Great to see you both: can we do it again soon? Kai and I were planning to go down to Exeter (where I was born and spent the first 16 years of my life) to see what changes have happened as it's been years since I visited, and meet up with Wendy, but the first date was middle of the heatwave, and the second was during the storms, so we chatted on the phone instead and plan to get down next month, fingers crossed...
Ella's definitely now part of the family, and very vocal. Might be because I talk to her a lot of the time. She has some extraordinary noises too - she went out for last garden while the storms were on, raced up the garden, took a minute for her business, then raced back in very wet. I snuggled her in her towel - she absolutely adores being dried off with it, and will carry on getting tangled in it and nudging you to rub her head for as long as you're willing to oblige her - and at the end stretched (downward dog position) and made the most extraordinary noise. Kai discorded me to ask if it was her as it sounded like a mountain cat roaring!! I'm sure it was her 'Oh, I REALLY enjoyed that!' exclamation...
Last week we had one air spider in the corner of the lounge ceiling. This week we have two and a tiny clutch of eggs! There will be minute spiders scuttling around the lounge in the near future... Just hope they can trap the blasted fruit flies we're being bothered by at the moment.
Tomorrow I'm off to St Michael's Hospital to have my gall bladder removed. General anaesthetic (which I really hate), keyhole surgery, and should be home by the evening. Appt is at 7.15 in the am, so have booked a taxi for 6.15 (oh joy) and Ken will come with me as they say someone needs to be there until I'm settled. NOT looking forward to it, but at least it will get it done and the occasional bouts of pain should stop. Will report back later!
Labels: Ella, films, friends, garden, hospital, visits
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Joules *Dances with Haddock* Taylor
pontificated this at 3:02 pm
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