Allotment bounty.

 Hello everyone, how are you all today?

It seems the hot weather is not done with us quite yet, we did have some gorgeous rain the other night but it didn't last as long as we need and it had evaporated by the next morning, it was teasing us with it's big fat raindrops. I will never moan about blessed rain ever again.Our grass is brown, dry and actually crispy when you walk on it, you can feel the crunch under your foot. Everything is suffering,plants,grass trees and people.The Privet hedge at the bottom of our garden is wilting, in all the years we have lived here we have never seen it do this, the trees are dropping leaves at a rate of knots to conserve the water in them.It is like a tinder box in the garden, yet the neighbours had huge fireworks going off last weekend, we actually felt and saw the bits falling into the pond, bit daft in this situation. The fireworks didn't get that high before they exploded and the rocket sticks were all over our garden, we were concerned in case our hedge caught fire. Wasting my time trying to say anything as they were drunk and loud. As they say " you can't fix stupid".

The rain brought out all the Snails that have taken refuge in the big plant near my living room window, i looked out the bedroom window and saw them all out to get some much needed moisture.

The allotments this year are really suffering, no matter how much hubby and Iris water the veggies it really isn't enough. The news is full on warning folks that food prices are going to rise again due to the weather, i think we had already worked that one out, i feel for the poor farmers, if it's not one thing it's another, these people deserve an award for all the crap they get from people, governments and supermarkets that rip them off left right and center. These people feed us and should be celebrated not bogged down with paperwork and ever rising prices for fertilizers and feed.

As the allotments are not doing well  i am grateful when hubby brings something home. He really knows how to make me smile.

Cooking apples, fresh and free form a neighbouring allotment, blackberries from the back of ours. 

Apple pies, crumbles and cakes for the freezer, how wonderful.

I freeze them in bags and flatten them out so i can store them upright and they don't take up a lot of room in the freezer.

I also made Apple and Blackberry mix for puddings.

It smelt absolutely gorgeous and tastes divine. I will look forward to making puddings with these.

We also had Carrots which were done and frozen before i remembered to take a pic. I did freeze more Tomatoes as well , these will be for Chutneys and sauces. You can read all about our Allotments here at my hubby's blog.

https://simonsallotmentgardening60.blogspot.com

I made some Bolognese and froze that for snack day when i fancy it.

One packet is enough for me and add some fresh spaghetti to it and bingo a quick meal.

Now on to the Kitchen Saga. I did ring the Council again on Wednesday. Spoke to the lady again and she was perplexed as to why i had heard nothing from anyone. I did say that i was tired of it now and was considering making a complaint. Are they magic words i wonder as i was then told they would ring me back later.Lo and behold they did, made an appointment for early Thursday  for the Contract Manager to view it all, he arrived and was absolutely appalled that it had not been done and took pictures, i gave him dates i had rang and also the date it all started, he said he would ask why it had not been done also get it sorted with the contractors to just get it all done, he asked if anything else needed doing so i took the opportunity to ask about my leaky front door, he also took pictures  of that and said he couldn't promise anything as the Council are upgrading everything and resources are budgetted for but he would try. So at the moment nothing has been done but i have had a meeting with the Contract manager so fingers crossed for me that it gets done and soon.

I have started to paint  the front window sills in Black, they do look lovely and fresh., I had to climb over and into the big plant in front of the living room window, i have scratches and marks all over my arms and legs, totally worth it, next it's the upstairs ones, i can lean out  the windows to do them ,i do have to  ask my son to remove his Cacti collection before i do his, i am not touching them at all, they all have large spikes and some have those little furry ones, i have picked enough of those out of my  hands over the years and don't fancy doing it again. 

I cleaned out the front porch and weeded the little area in front of the gas box. That needs sorting out, its got a hole in it and the door falls off,  but also that is another bone of contention, the Council say it's the Gas Boards responsibility and they say its the Councils. Round and round in circles i go, so bugger them both, i am going to clean it up,fix it and paint it. I could buy one but it is upwards of £60, why should i pay for it when i didn't damage it, so i have found how to buy some stuff to fix the hole and then i will sand it down to paint. 

I have also bought some Sofa covers, i think i am addicted to these. I got Blackish /Green. absolutely gorgeous, now because i bought these i keep getting reminders that they have a selection of cushion covers to compliment the covers. So tempting but i will wait.

The sofa just looks so inviting .

Apparently they are scratch proof so the dog can lol all he likes . Which he does. 

Talk about comfy,he was snoring under there, i did try to move the cushions but he just snuggled straight back in. Lucky little fella falls asleep in minutes .

That's me all done for now, i am off to get lunch ready. Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Love to you all.

Ftm💙