Wet and Warm.

We seem to have caught the tail end of  the latest hurricane, very little wind but quite wet, Met Eireann had given dire warnings, we were all going to suffer flooding, sandbags should be at the ready, etc.etc. it's great to read so negative  forecasts, when it doesn't happen everyone feels good.

We had a lovely trip to the West Mayo coast last week, it was an area that we didn't know, we were headed to Belmullet but never made it. The sat. nav. missed the turning we needed completely and we ended up north of Newport at a place called Malranny.

It is beautiful and very different from the Sligo coast, the bay is surrounded by mountains, the lime stone slab is a lovely purple. It was a great day out even if it wasn't our intended destination.

The tomatoes are now ripening very quickly, the OH. has picked just over ten pounds today,

Sliced, ready for dehydration.

these have been sliced, lightly salted to remove some of the water content and are now draining, next we will  chop some basil, mix it with a little sugar and sprinkle  on the tomatoes slices then place them on the shelves of the dehydrator, once dried the slices will be dipped in wine vinegar ( needed to lessen the chance of botulism), drained and then packed into jars and covered with olive oil. Apparently tomatoes done this way are good for sauces and great in a cheese sandwich. Time will tell.
Despite the weather now turning wet we have at last got lots of butterflies and bumble bees, where they were earlier in the year is anyone's guess.

First of this years birds. 5.8oz oven ready.

We have harvested the first bird of this years table birds, a couple of weeks earlier than normal but we were getting fed up of lamb every  weekend, we have run out of pork and there wont be any available until Oct or Nov. We are also waiting for our normal producer of beef to have a beast ready for slaughter, so Sunday dinners are down to lamb or chicken for a while. This first bird weighed in at five and a half pounds oven ready.
Runner beans are still coming thick and fast and the next lot of garden peas are now flowering. For once we don't have a glut of courgettes, we have only two plants this year and we are keeping pace with them, so far, none have made it to marrow size.

Love the colour of the gladioli.

The flower gardens are full of colour, and we have decided to rearrange things a bit.

The golden rod is over six feet high and is taking over the bed.

Some plants have multiplied and have taken over the bed,

The agapanthus is being swamped.

and some are so tall that other plants don't stand a chance.

Crocosmia Emily Mckenzie.

So  new compost bins have been made and the old compost area will now become yet another flower bed.

This new bed is to house things either too tall or too dominant. The bulb catalogues are now out and my order placed. I will not look at any bulbs on sale in supermarkets, we don't have room. If I keep telling myself that we might make some head way controlling the flower gardens. The lilies have been wonderful this year and they all have a wonderful perfume.

 

 

 

I'm still doing the pottery course, and although I like the shape of this last piece, I'm not too keen on the colours