Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2024

Good morning all!

 

Re the cucumbers @floralies They are all bitter - although not inedible. I wanted to know if anyone had done bread and butter cucumbers with bitter cucumbers and if the bitterness was "rinsed" out of them by brining them in vinegar, salt, water and spices for a couple of weeks.

The first ones were dark green and good. This lot is a lighter green and although I have kept them well-watered, it has been far too hot for them and apparently they go bitter with the heat. The same thing happened last year but I have about 4 monsters and I feel a bit wasteful to throw them away.

Cooler this morning - in fact quite cold. Instead of 24/25°C in the early morning, it was 18°C and we have still this jolly strong wind!! 30°C expected this afternoon. So - I had better get away and run the dog. I have an anethetist appointment later this morning for my forthcoming hip op.

Have a pleasant day.

 

You've made it easy, @Ladybird4
Dunnottar Castle.
Is that your local!!

 

My local is Garlinge Castle. Not much there now.

 

@RowlandsCastle
Sadly no - not my nearest castle which I think is this one:

@Tui34, it has definitely got cooler here too. Definitely an Autumnal feel now.

 

Morning all. A day to myself today
My biggest water butt has sprung a leak. I've worked out that it must be at least 16 years old as my eldest brother bought it for me. I don't think it's going to be fixable as the hole is in the base and there must be a huge amount of pressure on it when it's full - silicon sealant is not going to do! Will order a new one today but I hate the thought of all that wasted plastic so if anyone has any bright ideas for what I could do with it I'd be grateful.
I'm very much enjoying the hedgehog updates @Liriodendron - I hope eventually all becomes clear. Whatever the number or relationships, it sounds like you have quite an array of hogs there. Apparently that's the collective noun - the alternative is 'a prickle', which is cute but I suspect a recent coining.
Hope all the preparation for your trip is going smoothly @redstar - it sounds like you're so well-prepared that maybe there is nothing 'last minute' to do.
Good luck to your grandson this week, @lizzie27 - what is he doing next?
Hope your neighbour Jack is okay, @Ladybird4
Lovely temperature here at the moment - 17°
My kind of gardening day :-)

 

Oh I meant to say (primarily to @Liriodendron as a choir person) that Trill is singing in the Planets this weekend: Prom 46. It's on BBC Four on Sunday.

 

Our nearest "castle"

 

@LG_ how about using it as a compost bin? Bit of a pain getting into it I guess but if you have the room anywhere in your garden you could use it just for composting leaves as it would be easy to tip it up to extract the leaf mulch. I've checked on Jack this morning and spoken with his daughter. He had told her about the emergency call situation and she was very puzzled as to why she hadn't had a call but she did say that she was out in her garden and may not have heard it. Apparently this is a new emergency button Jack has. She is going away to Bowness for a few days so I told her not to worry as I will be keeping my eye on Jack

 

@Bluejayway that's Gwrych. We have a few to choose from in Wales!!
Here's one that isn't so well known

 

@Penny_Forthem Even though we live within walking distance of Gwrych we still haven't visited, perhaps because it's not genuine! Plus, you have to book these days ...

 

At first I thought it was Rhuddlan, but I give in ....

 

Thanks all for the well wishes about my trip. Just clothes to pack. And cooler, and bag with snacks, or non perishables. Bottles of water. As most places have W/D, I will keep my clothes minimum, just enough. Making sure all bills are paid, or taking some with us, I don't do online bill paying. Have laundry pods in the car, sun hats. etc. a pound of coffee etc. its all in the details. maybe a scented candle or two. Sorry, my mind was roaming. Happy Monday. Raining again. almost 9AM. Later.

 

I hope you enjoy your trip @redstar.

Did a load of washing and deadheading this morning. Just been to Lidl for wine and a few things. They had huge Gambas prawns on special offer.

 

Good afternoon,

Have a good trip @redstar. Your itinerary sounds very interesting and full.

A change in the weather today, it feels quite a bit cooler. The rain hasn’t arrived yet though, but it is forecast for this evening, which means it will probably be too cloudy to see the blue moon. (I forgot to look last night ).

Some nice castle pictures today.