Back to London and Reality - W/E 14th June 2026

Having returned to London on Monday afternoon, we were excited to see how our garden and the allotment had fared in our absence. We were lucky that there had been lots of rain whilst we were away and as a consequence, we hadn't lost any plants. In fact, they were probably a bit over watered if anything. I spent a little while pottering in the garden, deadheading and checking up on all the plants and then later OH and I walked over to the allotment and harvested lots of lettuce, raspberries and strawberries. 

Everything had grown really well on the plot. The peas are growing pods and there are small fruit on the tomatoes and cucumbers. OH planted out a few more lettuce and I weeded a little. There was absolutely no need to water at all. There's nothing worse than going on holiday and coming back to dead plants, so we considered ourselves lucky that everything was okay.

On Tuesday, I got up and unpacked from the holiday. I had done my laundry the day before, but needed to unpack toiletries and other items. I had booked my usual Zumba class for 10am and I was very happy to get back to it. I got drenched in a torrential downpour on my way home. It was just as well that I was intending to have a shower and change when I got home, before heading out to do some grocery shopping out of town.

I set off at about 12.30pm and visited a few shops to get everything we needed. I used a £5 off voucher at Tesco and another £5 off voucher I'd accumulated at Lidl, under their new points scheme. It was good to get some food in the house, as there was virtually nothing fresh when we got home, save for what we harvested at the allotment. We had to just manage with what was in the freezer and pantry.

On Wednesday, I didn't have to get up early for anything, so I stayed in bed late reading a bit of both of the books I'm currently reading. I didn't really do much reading on holiday, so it was good to get back to it. I eventually got up and ready, did a bit of blogging and later in the afternoon headed out to meet a couple of friends for an early supper. One friend, like me, is celebrating her 60th birthday this year.

Anyway, I stopped off at Lidl, during a torrential downpour, to pick up a bottle of wine, and a woman was having a full on melt down, due to a security guard watching her. She was screeching at the top of her voice for over 10 minutes about how she was going to lose him his job and, of course, the staff were so distracted by her it took longer to get them to authorise purchases and other people used the distraction to try to shoplift. It was chaos. This is a perfect example of why I don't like to shop locally. There is very rarely any kind of drama when I shop out of town.

I jumped back on another bus and met my friends at the restaurant. It was good to have a catchup of everyone's news. Both my friends were celebrating birthdays this month, and the birth of a new grandchild is also imminent for one of them, so we managed to work our way through two bottles of wine between us, which was unusual. Eventually, we left and headed our separate ways home.

On Thursday, I was booked into aerobics at 10am. It felt like hard work today, probably because I was a bit hungover. My body felt like a lead weight. It doesn't help that I haven't been going as regularly, due to one thing or another. I didn't do a lot in the afternoon, save some laundry and have a nap on the sofa. I was feeling tired and completely lacking in motivation. I did start a new sewing project in the evening. I've decided to make an apron for gardening in, to hold gloves, secateurs, my phone, etc. I'm using what's left of some jeans I deconstructed. I'm just not feeling like working on my ongoing projects at the moment and needed a fresh challenge.

I didn't sleep well on Thursday night, as LB was out at a concert and with friends. I never sleep until she gets home, which was gone 3am on this particular occasion, so I couldn't get myself out of bed very early on Friday morning. When I did eventually get up, I showered and then pottered around the kitchen doing odd jobs. OH went to the allotment and harvested more produce, which I weighed and washed when he got back. 

I did a bit of machine sewing on the new apron project in the afternoon. It didn't take long. I'll post a picture in my monthly makes post. It's not been a very productive week, especially knowing that we're going to Yorkshire again next week for the funeral of OH's brother. I can't seem to settle into doing anything. The weather hasn't been great either, although it did finally stop raining on Friday and we got some long overdue sunshine again.

On Saturday, it was lovely and sunny, so I spent the afternoon pottering in the garden. I potted on one of the white borage plants I grew from seed. Here it is in it's new pot:

It's growing to a good size, but should get bigger. I'm hoping the bees like it and the leaves are also useful for plant food, besides being pretty that is. I've got a few more plants and want to put some at the allotment and some in the garden.

My old cactus seems to be happy at the moment and is sending off lots of flower buds, some of which have opened. I always love seeing this plant flower.

I picked the rest of the blackcurrants from the garden bush. I picked a few before we went on holiday and froze them. I weighed them all together to add to my tally. Not a great amount, but there's another bush at the allotment, along with lots of gooseberries, which when put together make a nice jam. We've still got four jars of jam that I made last year, but I will be making more once I've harvested everything.

I also ate the ripe black mulberries from my tree in the garden. They are so sweet. Again, not a huge crop, but very tasty.

Later on Saturday, OH and I took a stroll over to the allotment, where he harvested a row of new potatoes and I did some weeding and planted out a couple of dahlias I'd bought whilst on holiday. I also harvested some of the gooseberries. The paths that I'd cleared of weeds a few weeks ago, had more weeds growing through, so I cleared them all ready for the inspection at the end of the month. I may need to do a bit more if they grow back in the next two weeks.

On Sunday, I got up, put lots of laundry away and then got ready for the gym. I'm having to virtually drag myself there these days, but I need to go really and my gym session went okay. I didn't do a lot for the rest of the day. I read just my library book, which was due back the following day, so I needed to finish it.

Hope you've had a good week.

A Week Away in Lincolnshire - W/E 8th June 2026

I was very excited for this week, as it was going to be different from the usual.  We were going away for a week and LB was coming with us. For this holiday, we decided to stay in the UK, what with all the hooha over aviation fuel and flight cancellations, not knowing when OH's brother's funeral was going to be and the fact that OH was going to Europe for 10 days cycling the following month. LB and I were happy to have a UK holiday, on the condition that we at least had a hot tub to relax in, so we set about looking for a comfortable place in a countryside setting with a hot tub.

I was quite surprised at how expensive it is to rent accommodation for holidays in the UK now. It has doubled in price since before Lockdown. Sadly, the days of renting a lovely cottage for £500 for a week are long gone, in most places in the UK.

Anyway, after a bit of tooing and frooing over whether to go to the South West or Suffolk/Norfolk, we eventually decided on South Lincolnshire, near The Wash, mainly for it's proximity to Yorkshire, in case the funeral was going to be that week, although it wasn't. We hadn't really visited this area much and it is close to the Lincolnshire Wolds and there are lots of other interesting things to do in the area. We rented a converted Windmill with a hot tub, near the coast on the edge of The Wash. 

LB and I don't like super hot weather, so we were quite relieved to find that the week we were going, things would be cooling down a bit and we'd even have some rain. (Which was good for the garden/allotment whilst we were away!)

We were staying Monday to Monday, so on Monday lunchtime, we packed up the car and headed north. It was probably a 2-3 hour drive from London, although it took us more like 4-5 hours, as we stopped for lunch in one of the oldest pubs in the UK, which was also purported to be haunted by a ghost from the 11th century. We also stopped off in the largely Georgian town of Wisbech, Cambs. for cake and a cup of tea in a lovely cafe, before finally getting to the windmill. Here's a picture of it:

It was lovely inside and out, but did have very steep stairs to each floor, which were much easier to negotiate coming down backwards. We spent the first evening settling in and I slept really well, which was good.

On Tuesday, we headed into Boston, Lincs. mid morning and had a wander around. We explored the town, which we enjoyed, picked up a few bits of food shopping, had some lunch in a cafe and then drove as near to the Wash as we could and went for a walk along the newly named King Charles III coastal path. We did a bit of bird watching and then got completely drenched walking back to the car, as there was a heavy rainfall, so we then retreated back to the Mill for the remainder of the evening to dry off and chill.

Wednesday, OH went off on a bike ride, so LB and I headed to Skegness 12 miles up the coast. I remember having childhood holidays here with my sisters and parents. Unfortunately, it started to rain heavily when we got there. We dived in and out of a few shops and then drove up to meet OH at a cafe a few miles away. After lunch, we drove up to Mablethorpe, which has a lovely sandy beach and took a little walk on the beach and had a 99 ice cream. Got to be done at the seaside. On the way home, we picked up fish and chips in a beautiful little village called Wainfleet St Mary, and took them home to enjoy, followed by a soak in the hot tub which was lovely. (Finally!)

On Thursday, we drove over to Lincoln and visited the norman castle there, which houses one of only four remaining original copies of the infamous Magna Carta. It was something that OH has wanted to do for ages, so he was very happy to go. 

We visited the victorian prison that was subsequently built in the castle grounds and also walked part of the castle walls, as part of our admission ticket, which gave great views of the historic part of the city which you can see in the photo above, with it's cobbled streets and small independent shops. OH also took a look in the Cathedral, but a service was just starting, so he couldn't stay for long. We had lunch in a pub and then, as we were only 1 hour away from OH's mum's house, we decided to pay her a visit for a few hours. We also visited his brother's partner too, before returning to Linconlshire and our rental.

Friday, OH was heading out cycling again, so LB and I headed to the town of Spalding this time, to do some thrifting. There were lots of charity shops in the town centre and they were so reasonably priced. We had a lot of fun visiting them. I spent £15, but bought three tops, a dress and three new, uncut sewing patterns, two of which cost just 10p each, plus a few other sewing bits, as some of the charity shops had great crafting sections. I'm hoping they'll help get me back into making some of my own clothes. The clothes I bought will be included in my monthly clothing purchase post at the end of the month. We were both thrifted out by the end of the day. We met up with OH later and had lunch before returning to the mill.

On Saturday, I had been looking forward to visiting a local car boot sale, but unfortunately the weather was awful with high winds and rain. I figured there'd be very few sellers braving it, so I looked online for something else to do and found a National Trust property that sounded interesting. LB was happy to stay at the mill and OH had booked himself on a Brewery tour, which I wasn't really interested in. I dropped him off and then made my way to Gunby Hall and Estate. Here's a picture of the house:

It was £12 entry to the house and gardens, and as I particularly wanted to visit the walled garden, I opted for this. The house was interesting, or should I say, the family who lived there were super interesting. The volunteers in each room were very knowledgeable and were very happy to tell you about the history of the house and family. I really enjoyed it. I then had a walk through the walled garden which was a mixture of flowers and fruit/vegetables. I always love visiting walled gardens and this one wasn't a disappointment. It was definitely a good choice of somewhere to visit. Here are some pictures of the walled garden:

In the evening, we all went out to a local bowling alley and booked a lane for an hour. We managed to squeeze in 3 games, which was fun. On the way home, we picked up an indian takeaway from a shop in the village. The food was amazing and it was a rare treat for us.

We finally got to a car boot sale on Sunday in Adderthorpe. OH cycled there and met LB and I once we'd finished browsing. I didn't buy a lot, but I did get 4 plants for £5 in total. One thing I loved about Lincolnshire, was that there were lots of houses selling plants outside and you just popped the money in a tin. I bought two more plants from such a stall, but could happily have bought more if we'd had room in the car. Here's a picture of the ones I bought:

They included two dahlias, a rosemary cutting, spearmint, a purple verbena and a purple sedum, the latter two were bought from the stall on the side of the road.

After leaving the car boot, we drove to Skegness again, for OH to visit this time. Luckily it was a  lovely hot day. We had a game of crazy golf, (which is a family tradition at the seaside) walked the beach and pier and had an ice cream, before returning for our last night at the mill.

We had a lovely stay, despite very changeable weather, and it was very restful. A wonderful change from the hustle and bustle of London life.

Monthly Clothing Purchases - May 2026

This month, I have once again bought quite a few items of clothing, all second hand from both Charity shops and car boot sales. I haven't spent a huge amount and have tried to stick to summer clothing, mainly in natural materials.

The first item I bought was from a charity shop on our local high street. I bought this pair of black leather Mary Jane style shoes that cost £8.

I thought the price quite reasonable for leather shoes from Hush Puppies and they were in very good condition. They looked and felt comfortable too, which is essential for me these days.

I then bought this lovely 100% cotton print dress for £5 from a car boot sale. Unfortunately, when I got it home, it didn't look very nice on. I tried to make a few changes to it to make it more flattering, but I couldn't get it to work for my body shape and it now can't really be donated, so I'll probably just use the beautiful fabric for a sewing project. It was a bit disappointing really, but you live and learn. This sometimes happens when I can't try something on, but I liked the print and fabric so much that I wanted to take a punt on it. It's a beautiful lightweight cotton, so I'm sure I'll find a use for it.

We then made an emergency visit to Yorkshire and I did visit one or two charity shops whilst there. I bought this very comfortable looking pair of sandals for £3 in one shop:

You'll notice that there's only one sandal in the photo, as on my second time wearing them, the sole of the second one completely detached from the upper. We're going to try to glue it back on, but I'm not optimistic. It was a great pity, as I liked them. 

When we returned to London, I visited my favourite out of town charity shop and spent £3 on a floaty short cotton dress, which I promptly cut down to make this top. This is another lightweight cotton and should be a good option on hot summer days. I also bought a pair of brand new black jersey cycling shorts for £1, to wear under dresses on hot days. For £1, they are super useful to have.

I also paid a visit to my favourite local charity shop nearer to home this month and bought this pair of leopard print pants. They are polyester, which I'm not keen on, but I do like a bit of leopard print and they fit comfortably and were reduced to £2.50 on the sale rail. I decided, after taking the photo, to elasticate the ankles to make them less formal and more jogger like, as it's my preferred style in trousers. I will probably wear them in the winter months, as polyester is too hot to wear in the summer. I can see me wearing them with a big sweater and boots.

Finally, on the second Bank Holiday weekend, we made a visit to a different to us car boot sale and I bought a few pieces of clothing.  First was this bright green cotton dress for just £2,

I do like this dress, but for some reason it makes my bust look very, lets say, matronly, which isn't exactly a good look. I'm divided about whether to hang onto it in case I lose a bit of weight in that area, add some iron on embroidery in this area to detract, or to cut it down to a skirt. I'm not going to rush into making a decision. I'm going to see if I can find some embroidery patches first. I have one, which did make a big difference, but I need two, one for each side. Hold fire for a possible transformation.

I also picked up this 100% linen shirt for £1, which I couldn't leave behind,

some cotton blend loose fitting pants for £2, again jogger style,

and finally another cotton (jersey) dress for £3. This last dress was a bit of a gamble, as it was size medium, but I bought it anyway, and when I tried it on, it looked okay. It's a very simple sleeveless tiered maxi style, very easy to throw on on a hot day. I'm very happy with it.

In total then, I spent £30.50 on clothing this month, but I did get a lot of different options for my money.

A Normal Week And A Gallery Visit - W/E 31st May 2026

This week began with a Bank Holiday on Monday. OH went out cycling in the morning and I got up early to take our canine visitor (next door's dog) out for a walk before it got too hot. We had a nice long walk and were back home by 10.30ish, where it was lovely and cool and we could just chill inside. I can't really tolerate too much heat these days, so I'm happy to stay inside when it is over 30 degrees. 

I was a bit tired after getting up early, so I had a little snooze on the sofa in the afternoon, which was lovely. After supper, we headed to the allotment to water at the end of another scorching hot day. OH planted out our sweetcorn plants and a few more lettuce. That's most of our plants put in now. We just need to tend/water them, watch them grow and harvest the produce. 

On Tuesday, I was booked into my usual class at the gym. I was looking forward to going back, as I'd had to cancel my classes the previous week to travel north. The teacher was actually on holiday, so she'd got cover for the class, but it was a teacher who'd covered before, so she was good.

In the afternoon, I headed out of town to do some shopping. I had a limited budget with it being the end of the month, so no visit to the charity shop this week. I did overspend a little to get everything we needed. It will just have to come out of next  month's budget. It was another steaming hot day, so not a great day to be out shopping. It was also the day before Eid and the car park where I go to Home Bargains, was rammed with people getting ready for their celebrations. It took a while to get out as it becomes a bit of a bottle neck. Everywhere else was okay though.

On Wednesday, I didn't have a lot planned. I enjoy the days when I don't have to be anywhere and can do as I please. I only needed to take a walk up to the library to take a book back and buy a stamp to post a card and that was it. It was a little cooler today, but still quite hot. I needed to make some banana muffins, as I'd taken some overripe bananas out of the freezer the previous evening, and I also needed to cook some chicken drumsticks, so I did that first thing, along with some laundry. OH wasn't best pleased as it increases the heat in the kitchen, but it had to be done. That's the thing about hot weather, you just don't want to cook and make the house any hotter.

One good thing though, is that I can get my washing out on the line, which I did again. You can't beat air drying it outside. I've started being careful to turn everything inside out, so as not to fade the colours and keep my clothes looking better for longer. I resisted doing this for many years, but have finally been converted, especially as most of my clothing tends to be darker colours.

I made my way up to the library, returned one book and got another one out. It sounded interesting and I'm enjoying reading it.

On Thursday, I was at the gym for an aerobics class in the morning, which was good. I went on a few machines at the gym afterwards and then came home. After lunch, I did some financial reckoning, as it is almost the end of the month. Next month is going to be a little tighter finanically. I can't do anything about it, but I do need to rein in any spending habits this coming month. I don't really have any big expenses on the horizon, save for a meal with friends, so this will help.

Later, I decided to do a bit of sewing on my machine. I needed to re-hem a top I got from the charity shop, that I had cut down from a short dress. I then made some more fabric yarn with some jersey strips, cut from some old t-shirts. I have just one more set of strips to join, but I needed a thread change, so I left it for another day.

Friday, was another day where I had nothing planned. I went to the allotment with OH for a couple of hours in the morning. It was a lot cooler today, thank goodness. I spent most of the time weeding between plants and also weeding the paths again, as our main plot inspection is coming up at the end of June. We got most of what we needed to do on our plot done. I'm sure a few more weeds will surface between then and now, but we'll just pick them out as we go.

We harvested more strawberries and lettuce, but the strawberries aren't looking so good this year. I think we need to dig out our old plants, buy some new ones and create a strawberry patch in a different part of the plot next year. They've been in the same place for quite a few years and are looking very much worse for wear.

After lunch, I was going to go out to a local museum, which has a lovely garden and have a walk around. I set off to get the bus. but by the time I got to the end of our street, the sole had completely come away from the sandals I was wearing. I'd only bought them last week (from a charity shop) and had worn them once. I was a it disappointed as I liked them. They may be glueable, but I'm not sure. Anyway, it put me off going out, as I was already leaving it late in the day, so I decided to stay home and sat reading in our new deckchair for an hour or so, as it was actually bearable to sit outside for once. 

On Saturday, I puttered around in the morning, whilst OH was out cycling. I did a bit of sewing, creating another ball of yarn from t-shirt strips. In the afternoon, we headed out into Central London, to visit a gallery in the St James area of town, where one of OH's cycling buddies had an exhibition of his work, using found ceramics. It was an interesting and thought provoking exhibition, that was also funny. I didn't take photos, as it was a swanky gallery and I wasn't sure if it was appropriate. We enjoyed looking around though and then retired to the nearby pub for an hour, before heading into Soho for a walkabout and to grab a burger. 

We caught the bus home, which was not a good experience. The bus seemed to be overheating and was belching out smoke and fumes. We were worried it was going to burst into flames and couldn't stomach the smell or the smoke, so we jumped off and got an Uber the rest of the way home.

Sunday, I had a lie in and then got up and ready to go to the gym. I spent an hour or so in there. I hadn't been for over a month, since I hurt my back. I needed to get back to it. The rest of the afternoon was spent pottering in the garden, dead heading, watering and just generally tending to plants. Next door's cat viciously attacked a wood pigeon in our garden when we got home from town yesterday. I wasn't impressed. Luckily, it managed to fly away, leaving multiple feathers behind. I just hope it wasn't too injured.

A relatively normal week this week, thankfully. Hope yours was a good one.

Monthly Makes - May 2026

This month, I didn't give myself a huge list of projects to complete, I mainly just wanted to complete a couple of small ones and then continue to work on a couple of longer term projects.

The first project that I completed, was to make a new patchwork ironing board cover for a second ironing board I have. I decided to use lots of floral pink/orange fabrics that were in my stash, that I wouldn't really use for anything else. I'm not big into pinks and flowery prints all that much, but I wanted to use these as they are quite pretty.

It took a couple of weeks to make enough large hexies to cover the board and then stitch them together. I backed the patchwork with the original cover and then added an additional backing to cover the print on the original cover, which I didn't like. It just neatened it off well and used up a bit more fabric. Here's a picture before I put the binding on and string in:

I then bound it and attached it to the ironing board and I have to say that I'm pretty happy with the result. It's very pretty and the colours seem to blend well. A satisfying little project. Here's a final photo:

The next project I needed to work on was the denim cushion cover for my chair at the kitchen table. This originally started as a cover for the ironing board, but I decided the fabric was too thick and I think I made the right call. Instead, I decided to make a cushion cover for my chair at the kitchen table. I do spend quite a bit of time sat in the kitchen on a daily basis, sewing or on my laptop and a cushion makes it much more comfortable.

Having already made the cushion top, I cut out some denim fabric for the back, added a zip and then added some ties, which I made from some denim scraps that I sewed together using a zigzag stitch, as I do with my fabric yarn. Then it was just a case of sewing them in place and stitching all around the cushion cover. It turned out well and here's a picture of it in situ:

I'm very happy with the result of this project.

I did start one new project this month. I decided to try something completely new to me, that I'd never done before, which was to make some Suffolk puffs or yoyos. I saw an Instagram post and it looked so easy and seemed a good way to use up small pieces of fabric. 

I had a long narrow strip of fabric, that I was going to use to make fabric yarn, but after making a puff with some of it, I decided that I was going to use the whole strip to make puffs. I cut out circles the full length of the piece and I'm gradually sewing them into Suffolk puffs. It's something that I can do whilst travelling or sat at the kitchen table, it's very portable. I think I'm going to use them to decorate a cushion cover. It's fun to try something new, but I've got a way to go. Five down, 18 more to make. Here's a picture:

For the remainder of the month, I continued to focus on progressing the kingsized hexi quilt. I've been working on it for so long that I just want to get it finished now. I've been doing a bit here and there whilst watching TV. 

I've also been doing some work on the scrappy shed quilt. I managed to machine quilt a few more rows this month and am now half way across. I'm still struggling with the thickness of it though, and it's not at all perfect with a few puckers here and there, but it's for the shed. It doesn't need to be perfect. I had to do a bit of a clean of my machine too, as there was way too much fluff clogging it up. I should do this more regularly.

The only other thing I've done this month is to stitch together some strips of jersey from old t-shirts into fabric yarn balls. It's a job that's been sat waiting to be done for a while, so I'm trying to get it done and limit clutter. I created a couple of balls of yarn.  I have a vague idea of what I'm going to use them for.

Not a super productive month, but any fabric from my stash being used and any project completed is a win in my eyes, so I'll take it. LB has also started to help me use up my fabric stash. She wanted to make some bunting for her bedroom and went through my stash, picking out quite a few fabrics to use. I'm more than happy for her to use some of it and help me get it down.

Bank Holiday Car Boot Visit - 24th May 2026

During the Bank Holiday weekend, on the Sunday, OH took me out to a Car Boot sale as a treat. He knows it's one of my favourite things to do. It was a nice little trip out to Chelmsford in Essex, about a 45 to 50 minute drive away. It was going to be another hot day, with temperatures up to 34 degrees centigrade forecast.

We arrived at the Car Boot sale for about 10.30am, as I had slept in longer than I anticipated. There were still lots of stalls to look around though, so we both headed off, OH albeit at a much faster speed than myself, as it's not really his bag, whereas I like to check out every stall. 

This particular Car Boot sale was one that we'd never been to before. It was on the car park of a Park & Ride, just outside the centre of Chelmsford. It was pretty good though, in that most of the stalls were selling second hand goods, not new goods, which have sadly crept into the Car Boot that we usually frequent.

I spent a nice couple of hours wandering around in the sunshine. I bought a few items of clothing, in natural fibres. I'll post about them in my monthly clothing purchase post, a brand new carry bag for my sewing machine for £4, two natural soaps for 50p each, some bun cases for 50p and this little tiered stand for £1, which I'm going to use in the garden. I might sow herbs into pots and put them in it. I've temporarily put a few pots inside to give you an idea.

OH probably bought the coolest item. He bought this traditional deck chair for £8 and it looks great in our garden alongside a footstool that we already had in the shed. It will be a nice place to sit and relax in this hot weather.

We had a BBQ after this photo was taken. I'm not planning on going anywhere for the rest of the weekend, so it was nice to at least get out for a morning, doing something I enjoy. How was your Bank Holiday weekend?

A Garden and Allotment Update - May 2026

It's been a while since I did a garden and allotment update, so I thought I'd post one. Although it is still early in the year, our garden is bursting out all over. It is probably at it's best at this time of year. 

My philadelphus or mock orange is currently in bloom. This is one of my all time favourite plants. I did cut it back very harshly a couple of years ago, but it is starting to fill out again.

These little pink/purple geraniums have taken over this border, but I don't have the heart to reduce them, as the bees love them so much and they are so pretty. They come back year after year and form a carpet of flowers.

My white rose bush is also blooming, as are my Johnson's Blue geranium and another small white geranium that I added to my garden last year. (I don't know it's name) It has self-seeded in virtually every pot in it's vicinity. I have potted up some of the seedlings, some of which I may take to the allotment or plant elsewhere in the garden.

I have a table full of plants to plant into the right hand border and the allotment. I'm waiting for this fruiting plant to finish fruiting before I remove it and add the new plants. It's a plant that is definitely in the wrong place and I think I'm going to move it to the allotment, as it seems to want to spread outwards. I'll try to train it up the fence there instead.

Otherwise, this border isn't looking too bad, but it does need a few more plants planting into it for more year round interest.

I moved around some of the plants and trees that I have in pots on the decking, so that they are not too crowded. The decking is looking a little less congested as a consequence of this and also the fact that I washed and put away all of the dirty plant pots this weekend. I also got out my little fountain in a pot and cleaned it and set it up. The fountain isn't working too well, but it's good to have some moving water in the garden.

The allotment is doing very well this year under OH's care. I'd not been for a week or so, as we had some rain and didn't need to water, then we went to Yorkshire for 4 days. We went there over the Bank Holiday weekend and I took a few photos:

Everything seems to be growing well. The only plants left to go in are some more lettuce plants. I also have a few small kale plants and some white borage, if I can find the space for them.

We've been harvesting lettuce for a few weeks now and have just started getting strawberries. We had a bit of asparagus too, a month or two ago. I'm weighing everything as we harvest it and keeping a proper record of how productive the plot is, for the first time ever. 

OH has really got to grips with successional sewing of lettuce this year. Unfortunately, I've gone right off salad at the moment. I need to get back into eating it, so nothing goes to waste.