My Garden in June

After a visit to Gardener's World 2 weeks ago, there has been much inspiration for the garden and quite a lot achieved.

Peter is going to build me one of these for the bins, but without doors.

I've thinned out and repotted the succulents with the intention of growing them on top of the bin tidy.

Then I saw this at Gardeners' World and want to do this instead.

I've taken a lot of inspiration from this show garden.

The second smaller shed finally came down. It's amazing how much space we now have in the garden.

It was reduced to 3 large sacks for the tip.

A green house was purchased and erected. It was an easy build.

And looks so much better than this temporary one I've had for 4 years.

Compost and new pots were purchased with my birthday money and more cucumber, pea, bean and courgette plants from the students at work were purchased now they have a home, safe from the slugs and snails we seem to be over run with this year. Plants from our trip were potted up.

No idea what this plant is but I loved the colour so bought it.

Next up is the construction of the raised beds. We're in two minds as to have them uniformed and fill this gap as per the plan or go a bit rouge and have random shapes. I'm so looking forward to getting rid of all this excess soil and remove the conifer to create a new path.

We still have the sun umbrella to be erected (it's been lying in the lounge for months) At least the sun has been out recently, which makes a nice change.

We're still undecided about the front garden. I'm considering clearing the bed under the window and moving the fig tree there and train it along the wall, similar to what my friend has done at her house with a different plant.

In the rest of the garden there has been a crop of potatoes.

The side of the house has been tidied up. This is the before shot.

There have been BBQs, letter writing and reading taking place in the garden.

I had some lovely gifts from my friend in South Africa.

And I finally identified the pink flowers that have been growing in gardens I've owned for many years.

How's your summer garden going?

One Daily Positive - Week 18 - We're going to be grandparents

I have no idea what day it's been any day this week. Arrived home in Dubai to wall to wall sunshine, no rain and temperatures getting higher. There's been a gentle breeze this week which has made life more bearable but it is a relatively warm one. By Thursday my body clock had adjusted and I was awake around 4-5am to be able to walk the dog and to do some gardening. When I get up early like this, I'll often go back to bed for an hour or two in the middle of the day.

Been sitting on the news that we're going to be grandparents in September until child 2 and 2a shared their news online. Blog posts have been scheduled for 15 weeks now and I'm so excited to be able to talk freely now. Have really respected 2a's wishes, just found it frustrating as I was worried I'd slip up.

118 Sunday A round of goodbyes with my mum, a friend and the twins, niece and the Things a pub lunch and a pint and back to mums to finish a small DIY job and then another friends in the evening. Packed and had an early night.

View from a friend's house in Wales.

119 Monday Up early, dressed and out for breakfast and coffee while the washing machine was on, then drove to Birmingham airport for our flight home. Uneventful flight other than a minor scuffle with a few passengers that got them moved and I took advantage of the 3 empty seats.

We rarely fly together.

120 Tuesday A lie in then off to the nail bar, collected the cat and dog from boarding, went for a swim and unpacked the suit cases. We had an early night.

Opposite weather, although both drives us indoors.

121 Wednesday Went swimming then had breakfast before enjoying a coffee at the Souk Madinat then off to the Doctors for an iron infusion, drove home stopping off for a McDonald's, went to bed to finish binge watching Line of Duty, took Bob for a walk then bed at 8pm.

It would appear neither of these think they got fed while we were away.

122 Thursday Up early to walk Bob and take some photo's of the train station and local construction, did a bit of gardening (sweeping sand) then retreated indoors to do some batch cooking. Went out at 9am for a coffee and get the zip repaired on my Coach bag, followed by a swim in the afternoon.

123 Friday Off early to the beach, spent 3 hours there, people watching, swimming and reading. Home and nothing till 6pm when we got ready for dinner with friends.

The view from the 68th floor looking down on Iris Bay.

124 Saturday A trip to the Mall and coffee, then off to the beer and wine shop, followed by a food shop on the way home. We BBQ'd in the evening and off for an early night.

On the blog this week:

Dubai and the UK April Round up Home and Garden.
Why I've ditched the linkys.
Spot the difference. View from Dubai Festival City. Before and After.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

One Daily Positive - Week 17

Fantastic news this week Child 4 asked 4a to marry him on Sunday. She said YES. It'll be a while till the wedding as they're saving for a house.

It's getting uncomfortably hot now. Averaging 35c in the day, with the car temp reading 10c higher when it's been sitting in the sun on the drive.

My medical aid approval for the Bone Marrow test still hasn't been approved, they're waiting for my blood test results, but didn't ask for them.....doh!

Made the monthly phone calls home on Saturday, lovely to speak with everyone. It was also Thing 3's 1st birthday (my great nephew) on Saturday (it has been noted that no cake was saved for me lol) and 3a broke her ankle in a trampolining accident in Australia at the day out she'd arranged for Child 3's birthday.

112 Sunday started with cleaning the kitchen and dining room after yesterdays roast dinner. Spent the day sorting out some art and craft projects I want to do. Went for a swim at lunch time and spent the afternoon taking photos at the beach and the evening at Dubai Marina wandering around after dropping Peter at the train station as he was off to airport and spending the week in Kuwait.

113 Monday I was bored by 10am with nothing to do so I visited the Garden Centre and called in to see a friend, home via McDonalds for Bob's 5 year anniversary meal and spent the afternoon sorting through photo's and doing some gardening once the sun set and it had cooled down.

114 Tuesday Took Bob to My Second Home for a couple of hours run around. Spent the rest of the day just chilling out and got distracted by my new sequinned cushions, so took my laptop out and had a coffee, putting together a couple of sponsored posts for May.

115 Wednesday Spent the day with a friend at Festival City. Stopped off at Ras al Khor Nature reserve and forgot to bring my camera battery. Peter arrived home mid evening.

116 Thursday It was a very windy and humid day, spent most of it sweeping up the sand and managed to drag myself out to do a food shop after a migraine.

117 Friday We went for coffee and had lunch out at Dubai Mall, wandering around the new Fashion Mall. Spent the evening in front of the TV.

118 Saturday woke to another water leak in the bathroom and no electrics. Peter cleaned the garden and outdoor furniture. I popped to the shops and had a coffee. Had friends round in the evening for a BBQ and made our monthly phone calls to the kids and 2 Mums.

On the blog this week:

My Sunday Photo - Can I visit the Burj Al Arab? 
TriumphantTales, TweensTeensBeyond and PoCoLo - Women only in Dubai

How do you braai?

Another weekend and another opportunity to invite friends round and to have a Braai.

But how do South Africans Braai? Well some swear by wood, others by coals, all seem to have their favourite way of doing things and keen to share their hints and tips with you. But what about the protocols of holding or attending a braai?

 
Give me strength, there are no set rules. Well none I can find anyway.

In the UK if you invite someone round for a BBQ and they say 'can I bring anything' you usually reply...'No, its all organised' and you end up with left overs for a week. Your guest will usually turn up with a bottle of wine or maybe some flowers.

In South Africa things are different.

We've been invited to Braais where the host has added 'please bring your own meat/drinks'

We've been invited to Braais where the host has added 'please don't bring anything'

We've been invited to Braais and asked 'can we bring anything?' and the host has responded with 'bring meat/drinks/ice/swimsuit'

So how do we issue our Braai invite?

'Would you like to come for a Braai' 'Must I bring anything?' 'Yes, your own meat, we will supply the rest oh and maybe some ice'

I'm not sure if we're doing it right, but to date it seems to have worked ok.

We had a Braai in January with 20+ people. One woman turned up with a cooler box, her own chair, all her own food, including crockery, a bottle of gin, tonic water and a sharp knife to cut a lemon slice, she even brought an individual desert.

 

A day out in the Forest of Dean

Beechenhurst Lodge is situated in the Heart of the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire on the Speech House Road.



Parking is £3.50 a day, and there is plenty of it, or you can buy a yearly pass if you live near by.

There is a café, a small gift shop, you can discover the sculpture trail, the paths are clearly sign posted or spend time at the climbing tower (there is a charge for this)

There is a fab play area behind a fence for added safety, with bark chips on the floor, a zip wire for older children, climbing apparatus, swings, etc. Plenty of open space to play football, cricket or rounders. Ideal for bikes and scooters. An excellent stop off point for refuelling, if you're enjoying a day out cycling.

There is plenty of space and trees to provide shade. You can take food for a BBQ, a picnic or eat in the café where they also sell drinks and ice creams.

 

 

               

 

 

 

 

Too much hard work

I dread those words.....'do you fancy a Braai (BBQ)?'

me: er no not really
him: I'll cook
me: yeah I know you'll cook, but I don't want to be your skivvy
him: you sit down I'll do it all

and you know the rest.......

I haven't stopped

I made the salad
I got the trays out
I marinated the meat
I've held numerous plates, items of cutlery
I've fetched drinks, laid the table, found 'things'

Is it the same for you?