Wednesday 30 June 2010

Tightening up

"Have you heard? They're talking about tightening up on Incapacity Benefit now," whispers an anxious PD at the Pub.

I assure him I had. It worries me too, but at least I have substantial physical problems too. His incapacity to work is related to his mental health problems, a rather more invisible problem.

"Oh, I should be okay," he assures me, "The government won't want to have to take the responsibility of so many depressed people killing themselves." I'm not sure who he is trying to reassure, me or himself.

I wish I had such faith. As far as I can see the government won't even believe suicides are a possibility, & if it did happen, they wouldn't believe they had any responsibility for them.

When I first became disabled I hot paced it to the Job Centre to see about getting re-trained to do something feasible in a wheelchair, go back into law or try translation work for example. I couldn't even cope with the assessment day let alone a job at the end of it. Nonetheless, I still had the Benefits Agency not long afterwards advising me I was fit for work. I wrote a stiff letter back, explaining I was more than happy to work if they could suggest a job I could realistically do. I didn't hear any more from them on that occasion.

Since then they introduced the point system. I've sailed through medicals with the doctors just wondering why they were wasting their time & mine when I was so obviously not able to work.

But the problem with these "tightening up of the system" schemes, is there is a temptation to reduce the number of successful applicants numerically without really considering the medical conditions & consequent restrictions of the applicant before them. They look for a reason to reject an applicant regardless of their qualification for the benefit.

PD & I will be holding our breaths & hoping we won't have too much trouble as a result of this tightening up. Our consolation is that we're both growing older & so will soon be out of this particular system as we settle into old age pensions instead. PD is already 60. I've got a little longer to go but at least now I'm well into my 50s.

It would be rather more helpful if money was put into finding a cure to our medical problems so we could work & live a more productive, less dependent, life, rather than into increasing our difficulties by adding these extra stresses onto our already stressed lives.

Monday 28 June 2010

The herb garden

When I first thought of making the front garden into a herb garden, folk pooh-poohed it. Part of my original idea was that I was aware of just how much of the time our back garden is under water, or at least you have to paddle through it to get to drier parts. Herbs I regard as essential for any enthusiastic cook. They provide such a wide range of extra taste sensations.

I went ahead and planted the garden. Now I look out & am glad I did.

The highlight at the moment are the clear bright simple daisy flowers of the chicory. Behind them is the tall feathery bright green of the fennel. Just beyond that fennel is a bronze fennel bringing with it a change of colour to a browner colour. To the right of the chicory is a mass of tiny white flowers on the coriander. In front of the chicory itself is the curry plant, full of yellow flowers & grey-green leaves. Then as you go left you come to a great stand of pink flowered chives. Peeping through the chives & curry plant are the purples of the lavender & the purple sage. Next to the purple sage is another sage, variegated this time with green & yellow leaves. Beyond that is the rosemary with their spiky leathery leaves. The sage bushes are also wrapping protectively around the bay tree. Further left still you come to the deep blue flowers of the borage and the mauvey white flowers of the yellow-green leaved oregano. Then there's the mint. Other herbs are scattered throughout - tarragon, bergamot, garlic chives, lemon thyme, chervil, lemon balm to name but a few. In places there are little patches of violas happily waving their smiling faces.

Throughout the year new things catch your eye. In the early spring there were the crocuses. Next year I'm hoping the snowdrops I transferred this spring will come up. Then came the brightly variegated leaves of the lemon balm, all yellow & green. The colour seems to be less vibrant as the summer progresses. In the early summer the reddish buds on the attractively leaved salad burnet starred. Soon the fennel will be spreading out its great umbels of golden flowers & hopefully the red flowers of the bergamot will appear. Bergamot is a new plant this year. I hope it takes & thrives. The nasturtiums will hopefully soon be cascading over the walls with their orange and red blooms.

Some plants have been casualties.The echinacea of last year doesn't seem to have survived the harsh winter. Equally the horizontal rosemary quickly gave up, not too big a disaster as the more usual bushy variety have kept growing year after year.

Some plants on the other hand have surprised me with their resilience. The tarragon plant, an annual, must have self-seeded itself. This year it not only reappeared, it is flourishing into quite a little clump. Oh, and I do love its aniseed flavour, especially with chicken. For that matter I'm surprised that the violas are still flowering even though I planted them last autumn & they've shown their faces ever since.

I am not the only appreciator of the garden. The bees are constantly buzzing around, hairy bums half sticky out of flowers.

All in all I'm pleased with my herb garden. Not only does it provide us with loads of extra flavours for our meals, they are also a visual & olfactory delight. Step outside on a hot summer's day, as we're having at the moment, & the scent of curry wafts across. Not only is there colour in the various flowers, there is colour & texture in the various leaves. Plenty of variety & interest, as well as usefulness, throughout the year.

Saturday 26 June 2010

A scorcher

It's set to be a scorcher today. The temperature is mounting rapidly. And I've got a joint of pork to cook for dinner! I'm already beginning to think I should have gone for a salad instead.

Luckily the eating area of our garden is just outside the kitchen door. This means we can stay outside during most of the cooking time, with just the occasional pop in to check nothing is going up in smoke.

This is such a contrast to our previous home. Then we lived in a first floor flat. Being upstairs you soon realised heat rises. The kitchen was tiny - so tiny it didn't even constitute a room on the census! By the time you got the cooker on you sweltered. (If you shut the door you even sweltered there in the middle of a freezing winter with no heating on, let alone on a hot summer's day.) Instead of cooking, even having salads, we used to spend most such afternoons/evenings in the beer garden of a nearby hotel, the Silverdale Hotel. We would eat there too. Anything to not have to return until the temperature had gone down a bit.

Having a ground floor kitchen and a garden to sit out in certainly makes life so much more pleasant.

Friday 25 June 2010

Musings

For the first time in a while, I managed a stroll down to the far end of the garden this morning. When we first moved here nearly 10 years ago I did the walk daily, eager to see what was new in plant & animal life. These days I can't cope with that - a sign of my slow deterioration. Still I can appreciate it from afar, appreciate the odd splashes of colour as the crocosmia, irises, escalonia, peonies etc come into flower. I can love the sense of privacy this private park gives me, enjoy the peace broken only by the sound of the birds.

On my way back I called out hello to a neighbour on one side. She stopped for a chat. I was quite shocked when she told me she'd got divorced last August (that goes to show how long ago it is since I last ventured so far up the garden) & was still having problems with lawyers & her ex.

I can't help feeling how privileged & grateful I am never have had to face that torment. Instead we are coming up to our coral (35th) wedding anniversary later this year. Like all couples we've had our ups & downs, but we've never seriously thought of going our separate ways. There's never been a question of not loving or being loved. And we continue to hope for a good many years together yet.

I'm hoping to venture into the garden to do a bit of clearing later today. My hand has now cleared up sufficiently. There remains a rather pale, scabbed area about the size of a 10p to indicate where I poured the boiling water, but that's all. Now it's just a question of having the energy levels, & the knees, to cope with the effort of gardening.

Thursday 24 June 2010

A quiet shop

We've finally discovered the secret for a quiet easy shop. We discovered it once before, then forgot. Go when England is playing. Off we went shopping yesterday afternoon. We couldn't believe how quiet the supermarket car park was. Inside there was barely a soul. The stackers were ensuring all the shelves were filled ready for a late onslaught. We even had a choice of tills, with no queueing. Afterwards we stopped at the supermarket forecourt for some petrol, going straight to a pump. Easy. The reason for the quiet was obvious. England was playing the all important football match yesterday afternoon. As non-football enthusiasts we were among the very few not stuck in front of a television screen.

As I say we did do a similar thing once, no twice before. Once when England was playing rugby, the second time was when Morecambe was playing a football match which would result in entry into the league division table if they won. Both were on Saturday, in the afternoon, & both Saturdays we managed the supermarket dash without undue hassle. (We normally avoid the place at all costs on Saturday afternoons. Far too many people for us.)

Today may be different. We're off to the Farmers' Market. They've changed the time of the market until the afternoon. They tried this once before & it seemed to work better. People seemed to be stopping on the way home after work as the market didn't close until 6pm. It's certainly more convenient for us.

When we mentioned the change of time to PD the other day, he pointed out we may have difficulty as there is a school nearby which means the mid-afternoon school run. We can't imagine it's going to cause too much difficulty & if it means a few parents go early or stay on a bit to look around the market so much the better. I'm all for our local farmers getting more customers, & profit.

Wednesday 23 June 2010

Budget Blues

I listened to the budget yesterday on the radio. My heart sank as I heard the proposal to tighten up on Disability Living Allowance. It isn't an easy benefit to get as it is, without making it harder. As for the forms! I've already said enough about them over the last few weeks.

The idea of a simple medical is great, but I don't trust the doctors sometimes. My DLA benefit has been refused twice, to be granted at
tribunal. On the second occasion I even had to appeal to the Lord Chancellor as the hearing had been so unfair, before being a given another tribunal & being granted my benefit.

And the cause of all these difficulties? My then GP had happily filled in a form, without seeing me, saying that I was able to cook, was not suffering depression, could walk for miles, indeed had no care or mobility needs. And this at a time when I was already using a wheelchair most of the time & certainly wouldn't walk anywhere without a stick that could convert into a stool so I could sit down. As for the cooking, how do you cook without walking to the kitchen, moving from fridge to work surface to sink to cooker, or carry heavy hot pans with one hand supporting you with a stick? Throughout the period that same GP continued to prescribe me with anti-depressants without any hesitation despite indicating to the authorities that I did not need them. Nuts! Needless to say I changed GP the moment I got hold of these facts. But you can see why I'm having the blues now, especially when that form is still so fresh on my mind.

My horror is not just for myself. For many years we lived on a very low income. This makes me only too aware of the effect of the increase in VAT, reduction in housing benefits, freezing of child benefits etc can have when you only just have your head above water as it is. For that matter I can see the reduction in council services is likely to result in making some poor services even worse. I'm thinking particularly of services for home care for the elderly & disabled, & child protection. The wealthy can afford to pay more, those near the breadline can not. And the fact you are poor is not necessarily a reflection of idleness. Indeed some of the hardest working people are the poorest paid. The need to apply for benefits is often the result of circumstances beyond your control such as ill-health, redundancy, old age etc.

The only cheering things that are keeping me going are the continued warmth & sunshine. And a small incident that happened this morning. I was having a look over the bog garden. I noticed a ligularia leaf had become half buried under the bark topping, so I gently lifted it out. Below I found a pair of beady terrified eyes Yet another frog, just a baby from the size of him. I duly apologised for disturbing him, and hastily covered him with the leaf.

At least the government hasn't found a way of taxing such pleasures. I'm sure they would if they could.

Monday 21 June 2010

Belgium

When I returned home from church yesterday, I hastily put Radio 4 on to listen to """The Food Programme""". The topic under discussion turned out to be chips (French fries as far as any American readers are concerned).

Apparently one of the best places for good chips is Belgium. They even have a museum dedicated to chips & their history. Belgians still believe in peeling potatoes, rather than using the ubiquitous frozen ones, & then deep frying them in beef dripping. I couldn't agree more. I hate frozen chips. They have no flavour. As for oven chips, enough said. They're just an abomination to be endured, rather enjoyed. I confess we're tempted to go back to dripping as the frying medium. We moved to oil in an attempt to reduce my blood pressure but I really do wonder how much difference it would make if we went back to dripping. It's not as though we eat chips every day & they would taste so much better.

It got us thinking about Belgium as a place to visit. It certainly has got some good things to be said for it. Decent chips by the sound of it, wonderful chocolates (for me), good beer (for the Fox, though I'm not sure how much fruit beers appeal to him). It's also easy to get to from here, just a quick trip over to Hull then on to the ferry to Zeebrugge.

Later on, after dinner, we indulged in some wine to the sound of some Belgian music ie Jacques Brel, followed by Django Reinhardt, and talked about Belgium. As a country it only became independent in 1830, very recently. I remember reading Charlotte Bronte's ""Villette", set in the early days of the new country. Yet since then it has produced some remarkable characters. In the field of art there is Magritte. Literature brings Simenon with his Maigret stories & Herge with Tintin. In music, apart from those already mentioned there's Franck. Or how about the beautiful Audrey Hepburn. All international recognised figures in their fields.

No. One of these days we ought to go an investigate this small, but clearly culturally rich, country. When, that's a different question.

Saturday 19 June 2010

He jumped

WE were just drinking the last of our wine, feeling full of the chicken vol-au-vents we'd just eaten, when the Fox jumped.

"It moved!" he exclaimed in astonishment. The "it" turned out to be a leaf which in reality was a frog.

I twisted round in my seat to look at the creature. Sure enough there, on the crazy paving patio was a "leaf". And before long it leapt, its long legs propelling it quite a distance forward.

"I wonder where he came from," mused the Fox. I suggested from the shade between the bags in which the Fox is growing some potatoes.
The frog hopped on.

"Now where is he off to?" wondered the Fox. The frog rounded the garage corner. I suggested the lily bed. That's always a good place for frogs. They've done a great job on reducing the number of slugs & snails there. You can usually find one or two balancing on the leaves.

But no, the frog reappeared. This time he jumped the steps, several inches deep, to the garage door. As he reached the top we heard the thud as the frog jumped onto the top step, head first into the metal garage door.

"That will give him a headache," we couldn't help thinking. We were still marvelling at the acrobatics required for such a small creature to jump such deep steps. Eventually the frog got moving again. He turned right.

"He must be off to the hostas (in pots on the shelf around the garage) or the triangle. They both attract a lot of slugs & snails." I commented.

At that the frog did an about turn and hopped back the other way. He continued past the steps, then leapt over the edge to the ground, a good foot down. We couldn't help thinking that was like jumping off an enormous precipice without a parachute. Still off he continued to hop, straight into the lily bed, there to disappear from our view.





Friday 18 June 2010

Circling the tree

I popped over to the garage ie our wine cellar for something to chill for dinner. As I went my eyes were drawn into the garden. In the central rockery there is a columnar evergreen tree. Al, our gardener, had volunteered to take it down earlier this year as it is largely dead. The leaves have been browning & falling rapidly with just the dry brown twiggery left. I'd said leave it a bit longer. While there was still some green it might as well stay there. At least it stops weeds growing in that spot & I hadn't thought about what to do to replace it.

Anyhow around this tree, half a dozen small birds were circling, occasionally diving into the twiggery. I just had to investigate the phenomenon. I slowly neared. Once the birds noticed me they flew off into another evergreen tree nearby. I'd got sufficiently close to see they were some sort of tit, though without my glasses (I'm short-sighted), they were too small for me to identify which. I looked at the dead tree. No nest, so what was the attraction? I went back to find the wine.

An hour later the birds were again circling the tree. This time I got my glasses before I ventured out. Again I approached the tree. Now I could identify the birds as coal tits, a whole family I presume.

And the attraction? I suspect the dead tree was crawling with insect life, in other words dinner was the attraction. Even if it doesn't look very pretty, maybe we ought to leave that dead tree there longer....

Thursday 17 June 2010

Anxious thoughts

I heard the news on the radio at lunchtime - floods in the south of France - but no details. In the afternoon, after a spot of gardening & a catch-up chat with one of our neighbours we adjourned to the pub. Our village pub sports a TV, sound switched off most of the time. It was on a 24 hour news programme. Inevitably pictures of the floods came up. I strained my eyes to see exactly what part of France it was talking about - Draguignan. This really gave us concern. Draguignan is not far from where we holidayed only a few weeks ago. We instantly found ourselves worrying about our hosts, such kind people. Needless to say we made of point of watching the news last night. Only Draguignan was mentioned, not the villages around. We continue to worry

The French Riviera region seems to be having very odd weather at the moment. While we were there, they had unseasonably wet weather. They were commenting then it was "bizarre". Our host was a fireman, more used to coping with forest fires than floods.

We gathered it had snowed there for the first time in a decade or more this winter. And, as for a couple of days before our arrival, a mini-hurricane had hit the coast, devastating much of the coastline. At Nice the big clear-up was still under way. All the on-beach restaurants were just mangled bits of metal & wood rather than tables & chairs.

The bizarre wet weather has obviously continued. Now it seems it's floods.


Wednesday 16 June 2010

Putting things in pespective

It was great yesterday for it to be warm enough to sit outside to have our meal to the accompaniment of birdsong. Up the far end of the garden I could just see a bit of yellow peeping around an evergreen shrub - our second stand of yellow irises.

To some extent it made up for our various niggles. We were both worried about how the chicken laksa would turn out (for that look at the Fox's blog). On top of which the Fox is suffering with tinnitus at the moment. The persistent ringing is getting him down. It's not helped by the fact he is feeling so blocked up as hay fever season peaks.

As for me, I'm still suffering with a rather sore hand. Last night, while watching the TV, the Fox lovingly took my hand to have me almost flying off up to the ceiling with a yelp of pain. I'm telling myself give it time. It will heal over by itself. Just keep it clean in the meanwhile.

All these are just niggles as I say. A fact that was underlined to us as we heard Dick Gobble at the Pub tell us that he'd just come back from seeing his wife in her second home, the hospital. Poor Jean has been in and out of the hospital with severe stomach pains for well over 6 months now & they still haven't decided what the cause is. She now even has to have morphine injections available at home & yet she still ends up being rushed into hospital. At this rate she will be a morphine addict before they've come to any diagnosis, let alone treatment. Needless to say, the worry is taking its toll on both of them.

Tuesday 15 June 2010

Self-indulgence

The sky is once more blue. I have nothing much to do. The benefit form is now in the post so all I have to do is wait for their response. The Fox is cooking today. He's making a chicken laska for a change. The only thing I really need to do is decide what I can make with 3oz of roast pork for tomorrow's dinner.

Oh, and feed the birds. The table is pretty bare, but there's enough to keep them going until later on. I thought I'd wait to refill until the washing had dried. The line passes near the bird table & I don't want heavenly gifts landing on my clean clothes.

Needless to say there's plenty to do in the garden. The bog garden is now fully covered with bark. Each day I replace some. I suspect the birds are rootling thoroughly through it, scattering bark everywhere, leaving bare patches of earth for the weeds to grow. The next area I intend to tackle is the rockery. That's become well & truly overgrown. We bought some slate chippings earlier this year which I thought I could put down as I cleared. It would be nice to get a few flowering plants for the area. It's got plenty of evergreens in it, giving it structure, but very few flowers to give it colour.

But at the moment I'm having a break from the garden. Last week I manage to pour boiling water on my hand when I was making up some stock for dinner. Last night the blister popped, the frail upper skin peeling apart to reveal a rather raw, very tender, patch of flesh. I don't want to risk infecting it. And I certainly don't fancy scrubbing it.

Still, as it's a sunny day, maybe I'll just sit out on a chair, a mug of tea beside me, and read. How's that for self-indulgence! That's the sort of thing to do on holiday!

Monday 14 June 2010

Parochial frustrations

I'm feeling a few frustrations this morning.

The Parish Magazine arrived last night, two copies. Since John, our last vicar retired last summer, my delivery of the magazine has been erratic to say the least. I have it delivered as sometimes I can't get to church myself for weeks at a time.

For me the magazine used to enable me to read the same sections of the Bible on Sunday as my fellow parishioners heard at church as so feel part of the same church family & their worship. It also enabled me to keep up with what was happening in the church, any coffee mornings etc.

These days the readings are no longer in the magazine so frustrating the first point.

And now I get two magazines at a time, in this instance May & June issues. But by now May events have come & gone as well as quite a few of June's. I feel I'm just reading about old news.

Lately my church went on line. I have tried going there in the absence of the magazine arriving. I looked just last week after hearing a new priest had been appointed & was moving into the vicarage. But the site hadn't been updated. That still was dealing with news & events in April!

Roll on the new vicar, maybe things will improve then.

Flowers

As the washing was spinning around, I had a look at the Fox's veg. The potatoes have been growing taller by the day. But what caught my eye was the Black Russians, they're budding up with the first signs of yellow between the sepals. The other variety of tomato is not showing many signs yet, but we are reassured. We had been wondering if the tomatoes were progressing at all. I'd been telling myself they had bushed out & were taller but the Fox didn't believe me. But now we have definite signs of progress in some at least.

This morning saw me bringing in some yellow irises that had been blown over in the winds over the weekend. It reminded me I hadn't told you about our more floral impressions in France.

We had been to Provence once before but that was to near Avignon and at the end of April/beginning of May. On that trip I came back with a greater appreciation of Van Gogh's "Irises". At the time they were blooming in every hedgerow.

This time the image was Monet's "Poppy Field". Their red blooms cheered every patch of grass, bringing a smile to both our faces.

My other floral memory I've already mentioned, the delicate pale yellow snapdragons growing in rocky crevices especially along the Vallee du Loup.

Sunday 13 June 2010

A change from the norm

It's finally done. All that remains is to get the form posted off tomorrow & then await the results. It's a weight off my mind. Maybe now I'll be able to relax a bit, sleep a bit better & generally get over my holiday.

Yesterday we had, for us, an unusual vegetable with our roast chicken. The veg was roast butternut squash.

Squashes never appeared in my childhood - except the liquid type you dilute. The only time you really saw them around was at Halloween & then with funny faces cut out of them & candles burning inside them, definitely not something to eat. And that was more a pumpkin shape. Yet today butternut squash, in particular, has become quite an in vegetable.

This is not the first time we've had them. Indeed I did once make a velvety butternut squash soup once.

What always surprises me is just how hard they are to cut open when you are preparing them. The flesh is so solid. Yet when the vegetable is cooked it becomes so silky soft & sweet tasting. You can see why the Americans use the same family of vegetables to make pumpkin pie, a dessert. Maybe it's that very sweetness that deters me from using them more often, that causes me to think of them
not as a vegetable but almost as a fruit. Certainly the bright orange colour is very attractive. It made a very acceptable change from the norm.

Saturday 12 June 2010

An odd couple of days

It's been an odd couple of days. Thursday was a real wash out. Readers of the Fox's blog will know he's not been feeling too well at the moment. He's still having tummy gripes though I think it is easing a bit now.

Wednesday night saw me flaking out. Straight after dinner, before it was even 7 pm I was in bed fast asleep. I dosed in and out to eventually surface at 7.30 am. By the time I'd had a shower & breakfast I was ready for bed again. So I dosed a further 4 hours, until the afternoon. I don't think there's anything wrong with me. As I said that ***** form is draining me physically, mentally & emotionally. We're hoping to get it completed today.

While I was dosing through the morning the phone went. I was surprised to discover on the answerphone later that it had been my cousin Pat. I was somewhat anxious. She doesn't ring often & usually only if something dire has happened. I was not reassured by the rather flat sound of her voice. She rang back later in the evening. Her husband, Tedward (When they were engaged to be married, he was called Ted when he was in Pat's good books, Edward when in her bad ones. My Aunt Jan gave up because she always picked the wrong name to refer to him to Pat & then got told off so in the end she decided it was safer to call him Tedward, a compromise name. It stuck.) anyhow Tedward had died. He was 74, no great age these days. He'd died suddenly & unexpectedly.

So it is that today my cousin Trudy rang. She wanted to make sure I'd heard the news. It's strange how deaths seem to bring families together. There is a need to put a protective blanket around the grieving members, to give them some support as they try to pick up their lives again.

I suspect there will be more such calls. I am one of the youngest of the cousins, & I'm in my mid 50s now. I can't help thinking it's a pity it isn't for a more joyous cause, a wedding, a birth for example. Perhaps it's just a sign that I'm growing older.

Wednesday 9 June 2010

That form

And still we continue on with my Disability Living Allowance form. Now we're on it together. It seems endless. Frustrations erupt on the section about why I fall or stumble. In the mobility section of the form we answered this question as fully as we can. Then when we reach the care section, the same question comes up, only now it's in the context of difficulty moving around the home. I could scream. We hastily escape out for a drink.

Today I'm hoping to get what we sorted out yesterday on the actual form. But that's it. This afternoon we're off to do the food shop. It's not often I look forward to doing that but at least it will get us away from that form.

And at the end of the day I hear the government is questioning the giving & level of benefits. If they reduce my present level, I for one will be making noisy complaint. Just filling in this form has left me feeling a wreck, physically, mentally & emotionally.

Tuesday 8 June 2010

A satisfying afternoon

We had no call from PD yesterday. This is unusual & a little worrying. We ring him. He's just decided against going the Pub. There's nothing actually amiss.

With peace of mind we hastily get into the garden . This is an unexpected chance to get a few chores done. While the Fox earths up his spuds again, I continue clearing the bog garden.

During our holiday the bog garden had become green. Unfortunately it became green with weeds rather than plants. I know, weeds are only plants growing in the wrong places, but that doesn't stop me wanting to look at the dogwoods & hydrangea rather than chickweed & grass.

By the time the spuds were topped up we were ready for a break. Off we popped to the Post Office to return some goods bought on-line. By then we were ready for a drink so we popped along to our local pub for a change.

After a couple of drinks, and still not 5 pm, we set off to buy some bark to cover the largely cleared bog garden before the weeds start reappearing again.

We've pondered long & hard about what is the best mulch for this area. We put bark down last year. The disadvantage we discovered, is that when the bog flooded into a pond, the bark floated off the soil all over the paved area. How about gravel or slate instead? In many ways that appeals. The problem is we suspect the weight of the stone would mean it would just sink into the bog. At least you can sweep the bark back over the garden. On this basis we've bought some more bark this year.

I've still not cleared the entire bog garden, but at least two thirds is done & covered with bark. Hopefully I'll get the rest done soon and we've still got one bag of compost to put all over the ground the moment it's cleared.

All in all it was a satisfying afternoon. We both felt we'd achieved something worthwhile as well as enjoying our drink out. We duly celebrated our efforts with a bottle of pinot grigio & some jazz in the evening.

Monday 7 June 2010

Further France




Mist rising in the mountains near Greolieres

This mountain road gives you a different impression of the area of Provence we visited recently. The sun has been replaced by the mist rising up from the valley floor.

Just the other side of Greolieres we turned off this particular road into the Valley du Loup. Here the valley got narrower, with steep cliffs either side. As we continued down the east side of the gorges we discovered it was peppered with waterfalls. Perhaps the most spectacular, were the Cascades des Demoiselles.



Cascades des Demoiselles

We returned up the east side to explore the west side. Here we discovered the village of Gourdon sat on a rocky outcrop. It looked of interest & we noted there was access for disabled parking up the steep slope of the outcrop. We returned later in our holidays specifically to look around Gourdon, its castle & castle gardens, the views along the valley towards the Med, it's innumerable gift & craft shops.

Sunday 6 June 2010

A bit more France


Corniche de l'Esterel

I thought it was time to remember a little more of France & our recent holidays. (And my, they seem a long time ago now.)

Our first week we had bad weather a lot of the time. However, we did find one good day to drive along the Corniche de l'Esterel between Frejus & Cannes. As you can see it was fabulous. Here you see why the area is known as the Cote d'Azur. Doesn't that water look a glorious shade of azure?

The real surprise for us, is that the drive from the villa we were staying in to Frejus was through limestone country & thick woods. As you turned along the coast road the rock changed to this amazing ox-blood red. So unexpected. Cap Roux (red cape) is well named after its colour.

Looking at the photo, it is difficult to believe that same evening we decided to dine out. It was throwing it down. It eased sufficiently for us to get inside reasonably dry. We dined to the sound of thunder. By the time we were coming back we were given a show of sheet lightning, with the odd bit of forked lightning thrown in, & a cacophony of rolling drums of thunder. Such a contrast with earlier in the day.

Saturday 5 June 2010

A quiet day

The last couple of days it has been great to have our dinner outside. We get serenaded by the birds, especially Mr Blackbird who takes his spot on next door's chimney pot or on the top of the evergreen in our garden.We can never understand why people like to pollute the air outside with loud music, when there are so many natural songsters only too willing to entertain you.

Al, the gardener, is intending to come round today. I think he will be impressed by the progress of the Fox's potatoes. They've really come on this week. Every day they've visibly grown. I hope Al approves of our efforts with the tomatoes & onions, and will give us a few tips on what needs doing, especially with the tomatoes which we've never grown before.

Otherwise it should be a quiet day. We need to get out at some point to buy some bread but that's about it. Who knows I might even get the bog garden tidied up while it still not a lake.

Friday 4 June 2010

Trip out

I'm just back from a trip in the Mean Machine, my electric scooter. Going along the prom, my eyes were inevitably drawn across the Bay to the Lakeland fells. They looked magnificent. Quite sharp against the blue sky. I couldn't help thinking it was difficult to imagine that such beauty was the setting for so much carnage earlier in the week.

A lot of the journey I went along with a fellow parishioner, chatting as we went. We've never really talked much before, just greeted each other & passed on the sign of the peace. It seems a new priest is moving into the vicarage this week. We're having a lady priest. I gather it's caused quite a stir in the parish. The congregation doesn't like change much. I'm curious to see what happens. So is Meg, my companion.

Meg is 83, but nonetheless does her best to keep up with technology. She's a silver surfer, loves her digital camera. She's clearly anxious about her young brother, who was rushed into hospital this week. It was good to have chance to chat a bit, get to know each other a bit.

We parted our ways. I went on to the pet shop. The garden birds had just about eaten all their food. Then it was on to the fish shop for a nice bit of cod for dinner tonight.

All together a pleasant trip out.

Thursday 3 June 2010

Busy morning

It's been a busy morning.

It started by getting some plants in the ground. When we were shopping yesterday, I saw some sweet pea plants. As ours were more like brown paper due to the lack of rain during our holiday, I bought some more. They are now in tubs near the back door.

Having been inspired that much, we popped into Homebase, which is more or less next door to Morrisons. This time we bought some antirrhinums. They are now in the pots weighing down the bird table. I chose snapdragons partly because they were another favourite of my mother's and partly because they grew wild around Provence. I've never seen them wild before. Each time I look out to see the birds, I'll be reminded of a wonderful holiday.

Then I turned my attention to dinner. Potatoes are peeled and I also made a salsa ready to go with some grilled chicken this evening. I just need to add some avocado & that should be delicious.

Finally I settled down to this. I've already had two interruptions. The first was a much needed delivery of wine, the other an awaited phone call. Next we're expecting a visit from someone from the Office of National Statistics. Heavens knows what they want.

Wednesday 2 June 2010

Drought!

The day is finally beginning to brighten up. When I've done this, I'm intending to get out into the garden. I'm hoping to tidy up the front garden & plant a second Basil Bush out. The old one is reviving a bit. I think it was suffering drought rather frost, but I bought some more last week just to make sure we should have plenty for the summer months. We do enjoy Italian food & it doesn't taste the same without a bit of basil, not to mention oregano. The latter is threatening to overwhelm the rest of the herb garden.

Mentioning drought I was amazed to hear that we in the north west are being asked to try to conserve water. It doesn't seem that long ago we had flooding in Cockermouth & Workington. Most of the winter we've not been able to reach the greenhouse & compost bin for our extra lake. I can only assume folk in Manchester must drink an awful lot of water! Or is it the number of baths & car washes?It certainly doesn't say much for the water authority's ability to conserve water. Plenty has come down over the winter months.

I accept by all accounts April & May have been dry. I gather while we were away no rain fell here. I can believe our friends when I saw just how dry the garden was when we got home. Basil Bush & our sweet peas have both virtually dried out & withered. We're very glad we didn't plant the veg out before we went. Al, our gardener, had agreed to give them a good water while we were away, but, as he never arrived, they would have got very thirsty by the time we were back.

Tuesday 1 June 2010

An escape

Some things got done yesterday. Not as much in the garden as I'd hoped, but nonetheless important things. After a further couple of hours on it, I finally finished the first draft of my Disability Living Allowance form. Now all that needs to be done is to read through it, make sure I've not made too many gaffs, fine tune it a bit & copy it all in to the actual form. I'm hoping the Fox will help & make sure I've not made too many boobs.

I always dread this form, partially because it involves trying to be realistic about how much my health has deteriorated in the last three years, partially because the actual money involved is an important part of our income. But above all because I know apparently simple questions are usually traps. Your answers seem to be read seeking excuses to not give you the money, rather than to gain a clear picture of how your disability affects your daily life.

Still, the worse is done now. I hope.

In the afternoon we were out in the garden. The tomatoes, onions & some more potatoes all planted. They are now being divinely watered in by all the rain we've had this morning.

As for the meal, it was a great success. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. It succeeded in bucking up a few waning spirits. In our absence both Fran (a badly sprained & infected ankle) and Mrs B (an ear infection that caused vertigo) have not be so well. Den was the only quiet one, but I think that was just because he's anxious about Fran, his wife of just 7 months. Helen, MK's widow, enjoyed her holiday on her own in Cyprus. She's come back looking more relaxed & less tired than she has been for a while. Linda, Dave C's widow, bubbled cheerily away. She's planning a holiday soon - two weeks away, the first week by herself for the first time, the second joined by family.

Life goes on. By the time we left the restaurant everyone seemed in good cheer, their worries left behind. And we all need that escape from time to time.