The Summer of ‘24

Hi there everyone 😀

Whilst the summer of 2024 won’t be remembered as being one of those glorious summers, with constant wall to wall sunshine and blue skies it did have its moments.

Officially summer begins on 20 June and we were to be found in the garden putting the finishing touches to our new raised bed … a job that has been on the list for the last few years …

Before we headed off to the lodge for a three week break in July I managed to make it to my monthly craft group … where I had my first go at felting, trying to recreate my favourite border from Powis Castle …

It was then nearly four weeks of friends, family and fun at our lodge on the Llyn Peninsular before coming home to plant our first plant in the new bed … a climbing rose, The Generous Gardener, we’d bought whilst we were away … another inspiration from Powis Castle …

… and to make the most of the French bean harvest …

There was a very nice afternoon tea at Coombe Abbey with some good friends …

… where … big news … I wore a dress …

There were a couple of ‘Bobby days’. Firstly to Shugborough with Mum and Jackie, Phil and Erin …

… and then just us and Bobby to the Museum of the Staffordshire Regiment …

We managed to squeeze in a family BBQ in the sunshine in between everyone’s holidays …

… after having a quick tidy up to make the garden look presentable …

We had the first flowers on the new climbing rose …

… and did a mega pot and saucer washing session …

There were some new additions to the house plant family with a bit of propagation going on …

… and a brand new purchase of one I’d been wanting to get hold of for quite some time …

It was then back to the lodge for another 10 days taking in the August Bank Holiday 

We came back for Martin to have a pre-op for an operation to replace one of his knees … he’s been on the list for just over a year … to find he had a surprise cancellation and we had just three days to prepare ourselves.

There was plenty of batch cooking done ahead of his op …

Then he was in for four days undergoing his total knee replacement procedure …

In between visiting I managed to make another craft group where this time we were making autumn garlands …

Martin is now home, recovering well and we are getting into a routine of exercises, pain meds and ice packs. Hopefully it won’t be too long before he is up and about testing out his new knee 🤞🤞🤞

And while, officially, summer isn’t over yet there is now definitely an autumnal feel in the air. It’s definitely feeling like it’s time to pack away the outdoor furniture cushions for this year … I think we’ve actually only managed to use them a couple of times. 

In fact … we’ve already had both the heating and the gas fire on 🙈🙈🙈

As always … autumn is looking to be a busy one, with lots still to do to bed the garden down for the winter, lots of birthday celebrations, including my 60th, and a special wedding anniversary celebration for good friends. Hopefully we will get a couple of sneaky visits back to the lodge in too. 

🌿🌱🍁🍂🌿🌱🍁🍂🌿🌱🍁🍂🍃🌿🌱🍁🍂