A plague

We have been suffering a plague of flies this year, I thought it was just around here but my brother who lives down on the South Coast says it's been bad down there. It is quite fun to watch Boris try and catch them as they land on him, the cats chase after them as well.

My neighbours tell me that this was a common problem in the village in the past. The village is a medieval ring village, which means that the houses were built in a ring around an open area. Until recently (thankful before we moved here) this area contained a pig farm. Apparently it was impossible to open your windows at times due to the flies!

A new week

Well I am so pleased the last few weeks are over and life can get back to normal. I have a wedding to go to later this week and I have been asked to take the photos, I am really looking forward to it and feel honoured to have been asked to do the pictures.

As I am writing this it is yet again raining, the last couple of weeks seems to have been nothing but showers. It has made it impossible to get out in the garden to mow the lawn and I find weeding in the rain tedious to say the least. I really do feel sorry for the farmers , harvest has started and they need to get the crops in dry or spend a fortune drying the grain with large oil burning heaters. We had a dryish day yesterday and the combines were out, when we went to bed last night they were still running eventually finishing about midnight.

One positive thing about the rain is our blackcurrants have all swollen up with juice and the marrow I am growing for the village competition is doing really well. More good news is that all 3 hens are now laying, the bad news is none of them could be bothered to lay yesterday, mind you seeing the size of the egg to that of the hen can't say I blame them. ouch!

Goodbye to my dad

Yesterday was my dad's funeral which was a sad day for all of us. As part of the service my nieces Polly and Charlotte read the following poem. It was written by Polly who is only 14.

Hail and farewell

They say each person has their time, and I guess that's
true.
They say life flashes before your eyes, but that's really
hard to prove.
It's sad to have to watch you go. but I hope you're happy
where you are.
It's sad to see and sad to know, but you're still here in
our hearts.
It isn't always how you thought it, and I never said
goodbye,
It isn't always how we're taught it, but you wouldn't want
us to cry,
I'm sorry that you had to leave, and I'll miss you
everyday.
I'm sorry that time has to flow, and that you couldn't
stay,
We'll remember everything, all the words you said,
We'll cherish each little thing, and rejoice in the life you
led,
Time must pass and time will heal,
But to us you'll still be real,
You're always there,
You're with us now,
So we say goodbye,
We say goodnight
We wish you well,
In future.
Farewell Grandad, we'll miss you so,
Goodbye for now, we won't let go.

Bloodsports in the veg patch

Now I don't really approve of bloodsports, I was the first in the queue to sign petitions to ban fox hunting, and still am against Bull fighting. I will hold my hand up and admit to being partial to a nice pheasant but wouldn't shoot it myself. Anyway I have discovered a new one and it involves Betty whose picture is here, Slug and Snail baiting. Yesterday as I was working in the fruit cage I moved the pots the Blueberries are growing in, underneath were a collection of large 2 inch long yellow slugs. Before I new it Betty and her mates dived in an they were gone. She is just as good with snails eating them shell and all, they reabsorb the calcium from the shell to use in the their own egg shells. Having seen how efficient they are I can forgive them for stripping all the gooseberries off the bushes. They also love it if I do some digging, they fight over who gets to the fresh soil first, I do have to be careful as they stick their heads between the tines of the fork in their eagerness. I am looking forward to their help in preparing the soil on the veg patch in the autumn, grubbing out lavae.

Wheelmarrow

This is my Wheelmarrow, I planted it up as part of the village gardens competition but it is doing so well in the front garden that I am going to leave it there.

I am sorry that I have not been around for the last week or so. Lots of things have been happening, some good, some bad. The bad bit was my dad died a week ago, he was 83 and had various medical problems but it still came as a bit of a shock.

Anyway the goods bits, the village had a great feast week even if I didn't win the container competition (you wait till next year!). I missed the barn dance as I was down at Wimbledon with Sharron. She had a great championship and was a line judge on the mens final.

Yesterday the village was judged for Anglia in Bloom, I helped escort the judges around the village. Sadly we have had a couple of days of very heavy rain which prevented a lot of the manic grass mowing that usually occurs before judging, also it has flattened or knocked the blooms off a lot of flowers. I think the village still looked lovely and I think the judges were pleased with what theu saw.

I am also pleased that Storm here has been producing some lovely eggs for the last couple of weeks, hopefully the other 2 will start soon.