We were on holiday last week at a gathering of the clan/family get together, in three forest lodges just near Matlock. I spent most of my time hiking with the kids, when we weren’t eating. Naturally I took my own salads and granola! As a result we didn’t do a...

After a couple of weeks of cloudy, windy and drizzly weather, we’ve had a week of extremely sunny/mild weather and it’s been used to good effect on the allotment. I’ve had nothing to sow this week, but I’ve been busy clearing beds and planting. Unfortunately the nights have also been...

Although the weather is predicted to improve next week, summer definitely seems to have finished here. The outdoor summer plantings are definitely feeling it too. The high winds have battered the climbing beans, the constant damp has stimulated an explosion of snails and slugs, the outdoor tomatoes are showing signs...

It’s been an unusual week for me, dominated by the decision to have one of our lovely cats put down. We knew he didn’t have long, as he was in end stage kidney failure and the vet had given him between 2 and 8 weeks to live. That grim verdict...

The hoped for rain finally arrived, after 100+ days of near drought. The rain’s not finished yet, but we are hoping for total of 40mm, which will be amazing and make a huge difference to our workload for the rest of August and of course the plants growth. Despite the...

The hoped for heavy rain didn’t arrive this week, I think the predicted 35 mm turned in to 10mm which is almost always the case here. It was cloudy though so I didn’t have to water as much as usual. I’ve done very little gardening this week, no sowing and...

It’s been another hot and dry week. These hot days really sap my energy and the hot nights make it very difficult for me to sleep. I’ve made it through the nights with a cooling mattress, supplemented by frozen ‘hot water’ bottles. I’ve managed to spend a couple of days...

It’s been another week with almost no gardening. Anna and Thom went back to London on Sunday, Steph and Graham arrived to take their place (with a 2 day overlap). That meant I got to enjoy some lovely hiking and lots of time in the gym and the pool. I...

I’ve done almost no gardening this week as we’ve been concentrating on family. Anna, Thom and Mimi are visiting us from London. We’ve been out on the beach every day walking and playing with Mimi (the dog), I’ve been hiking with Thom and we’ve spent loads of time in the...

Two of my four daughters live very close by, but the other two are in the London area, which is a 5-7 hour drive away, depending on the traffic. As a result we only see them a few times a year and they – and their families – are staying...