Hi Hicky.

Back to very warm weather for me. Up to 24 degrees. No wind to speak of.

Got a few jobs done, including cutting a conifer hedge (hot work)

No, as every day goes by I'm convinced that there is some problem with my account.

Tonight I sent a test payment of £50 from my building society account, and if that doesn't get through I'll be certain there's a problem. At least then I'd have all the details for them to investigate without necessarily phoning my customers up. Although I'll probably have to do that at some point.

I've had the same current account since I was 17, so 41 years, and I'd be reluctant to switch. But I won't have a choice if the bank isn't able to fix the problem.

My only theory is that account was held at a branch that closed at the end of May, so it was moved to another branch. And I just wonder if that has confused the BACS system in some way. Seems too much of a coincidence that I'm having these problems just afterwards?

That's good that your OH was able to take you to your nurse's appointment. Pity you had a long wait again.

How is your injury healing now?

Good that you got fish and chips out of it.

Well done getting your new watering computer fitted.

No I didn't have any leak before. I think the plumber fitted a new nozzle which probably meant taking the fuel pump off, and he can't have refitted it properly.

Watched the footie match tonight.

Evening Emptybox.

Another scorcher today, 24c but sun sun sun, light winds of 8.

Started the new watering computer so thats in circuit now, the new moisture sensor hasn't come yet, have put some material hanging over it because i don't want it in full sun at any time.

Took quite a few chillies off the Jalapeño plants, sliced them and bagged them, they are in the fridge just now.

The Grape vine flowers are now baby grapes, so am rather chuffed.

Had a piece of toast for brekkie using my loaf, so good, will make another loaf tomorrow, with seeds in, am just making a Velvety Vanilla cake, but it's a cake mix.

Midday i had a stirfry meal with some sliced up Sirloin Steak and some of my pepper stirfry fresh veg pack i got yesterday.

Trying to get to making Samosa's and Spring Rolls but have to use up whats in the fridge first

If when your bank branch moved they had to change your sort code then that would cause a problem, but i would have thought you would know if it changed, i think BAX only has 3 criteria, Recipient, Sort Code, Account No.

If you looked in your account it would show the sort code.

If there is a problem with the bank or account i'm sure they can sort it.

The arm injury is fine now, after the nurse put the Honey dressing on Saturday the nurse yesterday redressed it and said the Honey had worked and after she dressed it said we don't need to see you again, i can leave this special dressing on for 5 days.

Hope your Boiler is all sorted now, thats one job done.

we went a walk around the block this morning, we both need to get some walking in for when we go to Australia again, probably in say January.

Watched a bit of Tennis, saw Federer, so good still.

both xxx

Emptybox

sorry to hear about your account problems. I think you could be right about the BACS number being mixed up. The reason I think this is because I had a problem about a month ago paying my accountants bill. When I rang my bank to transfer her payment into the same account that i had done for years,they read back a different sort code but the same account number!  So I refused to pay it till I spoke to her. When I contacted her, she knew nothing about a new account number, and said her other clients hadn't mentioned it. So she got worried and contacted her bank straight away. Then she got back to me, and said that yes they had changed her account number without telling her, so she now needed to tell all her clients! Can you believe it, they had changed her account number and not even told her! This was to do with one bank taking over the other, so they changed the sort code. 

So it looks like your case could be something similiar? Different branch = different sort code?

Glad you got a few jobs done despite the heat. Hope you are remembering you need to take in plenty of water. 

Ridiculous how the plumber comes and causes more harm than good! Has the smell gone yet?

Hicky

That is good news the honey dressing has done the trick and helped cure the wound. What wonderful creatures our bees are. Was it manuka honey?

I am sure your produce are in need of your computer water system right now in our current hot weather.

Baby grapes already, how nice. Are they green or black ones?

That is good you are making good use of yor bread machine. Fresh seeded bread is delicious.

Good idea to practice a bit of walking ready for your hols. Probably best not to go out when too hot though. We are taking the dog out around 8am as it is just too hot for her after that!

Gosh that England match last night was interesting. (and I usually don't like football!). We did have a long wait for Love Island though.

We had some rain today, such a nice change , and I was glad of it. I am tired of our house being like a sauna. It is hot and stuffy now, but it has been good all day with some rain.

I visited a local school today about a job. I had to put some forms in for a security check as it was working around children. It is helping out at their exam time, eg giving pencils out etc, so just a few times a year, so would suit me. My neighbour does it and she told me about it.

We are going to visit my mum's sisters tomorrow so I probably won't be around, as we stay till Friday. They are taking us to their local pub that has just been refurbished, so should be good.

Goodnight both xxx

Hi both.
Mostly cloudy here today, with just a few spells of sunshine. Very muggy though, up to 24 degrees. I was soaked in sweat while I was working.

Hicky . Glad your new watering computer is now operational.
That's good that you've got some baby grapes coming.
Pleased that the honey dressing seems to have done the trick for your arm injury.

I don't think the sort code or account number have been changed? They are showing the same on my online account, and they did say that they would remain the same (in the letter about the branch closure).
Also someone was able to pay me through DPC. It's just the payments through BACS that have failed.
Not sure exactly what the difference between DPC and BACS is? But those are the codes against the transactions on the statement.

But I do think it's something to do with the transfer to the other branch, and perhaps the fact that there are now two sort codes associated with that branch?
I'm just hoping that those payments are sitting pending somewhere, and can be recovered, and haven't been lost in the ether.
I'll have to wait a few days before I contact the bank, to see if my test transfer goes through.
I don't share your confidence that they'll be able to sort it out.

Mollie. Enjoy your visit to Brum. Hope you enjoy the meal in the refurbished pub.
I suppose some rain would be refreshing, as long as it didn't become a deluge.
Was a bit cooler here tonight, because of the cloud, but then got muggy again after dark for some reason.

That's interesting that your Accountant had similar problems with her bank account. Really stupid of her bank to change her sort code/account number without telling her.

 That's interesting that you are going for a job in a school, even if it's only an occasional one.
Yes, I suppose they've got to be careful nowadays, and get loads of checks done.
Hope you get the job.

Haven't decided about the boiler yet. Can't see any obvious leaks now, but it's still smelling badly. There might be a minute leak still, or it might be the kerosene got into parts of the boiler that can't be reached to get it cleaned out?
Lets just say I haven't thrown away the plumbers mobile number yet.

Watched 24 Hrs in A&E tonight.

Evening Both.

Another hot day, didn't seem as hot as yesterday, 22c sunny and a breeze of 8 to 12.

My mixer came, it's a nice one, a Andrew James make the same as the breadmaker, it's got about 5 speeds and 3 sets of differing paddle thingys for dough, cake mis and cream stuff, excuse the technical terms used.

The soil moisture sensor came as well, that is installed and ready now.

Just had a piece of my loaf toasted for brekkie, then later had another piece, for tea i had a pork and prawn Laksa with some chopped veg thrown in the wok.

We went for another walk around the block, think we will be doing it every day until maybe we can go further, o/h needs to find out how her knee can cope to go back to work.

The Grape Vine flowers have turned into lovely bunches of grapes, can't belive what i see, and so many Figs and Kiwi Berries.

I weighed the raspberries from the summer canes, 1.8kg not counting what guests have eaten, not finished yet either.

Am going to take the top off the fruit cage, o/h must have finished them off, found 2 cherries she had missed, it sure worked so the top can come off now, not sure whether to take the side netting off or not.

Might make a new loaf tomorrow as just about finished this one.

This Velvety Vanilla cake i made is good.

Sent more peas and some tomatoes through to MIL today with o/h, she sent me a nice email the other day thanking me for the produce she got.

Mollie, The nurse didn't say what honey it was but to have it on the nhs it must be the right stuff, she did ask if i was allergic to Bee stings before she put it on.

The outside vine has Green Grapes (Lakemont) the new greenhouse vine will be red ones, the new growth is so strong i'll just have to let it grow as i can't stop the growth

Hope your security clearance comes through, did you have to declare you frequent auctions.

I remember when i first went to Singapore, i wasn't allowed into the Bunker for about 5 days while i waited for the security clearance to come through, so i couldn't get in any building/office, and i'd already been in the Military Police.

That will be nice going to your mums sisters, and any meals out can't be turned down, have a good time.

Emptybox, I think you should have rang the bank straight away as soon as a payment was missing, because they can see your account, but think you have to be in the bank to put a card in the machine.

DPC is Digital Banking Payment, BACS. Bankers' Automated Clearing Services, This is an electronic system to make payments directly from one bank account to another. They're mainly used for Direct Debits and direct credits from organisations. The payments take 3 working days to clear, so money paid into your account on Monday will clear on Wednesday.

Hi Hicky.

A lovely sunny morning here, but cloudier and windier this afternoon, has calmed down again this evening though, so it's back to being quite muggy.

Took my van down for it's MoT first thing this morning, so i couldn't do any work.
They still have it this evening as they are going to do a retest tomorrow.
They had to replace the rear brake discs and pads and cables. If it fails the retest they will also have to replace the rear brake callipers as well, which would be a lot more expensive, so fingers crossed it passes the retest.

Found at least part of the reason that the boiler was still smelling was that the kerosene had seeped into one of the carpet tiles that are in the back kitchen. I've put that tile outside to see if it will dry up quicker. There are ventilation holes along the bottom of the side of the boiler case that the kerosene had seeped out of.

I'm more confused than ever about whether I'm having a problem with my bank account.
The test transfer that i did from my building society account went through fine, and that said 'BAC' on the statement, so looks like BACS transfers are working now at least.

Plus I ran into one of the customers that were owing money. In fact as I was walking back from taking the van down, he pulled up beside me and offered me a lift home.
I asked him if he had paid, and he looked a little awkward and said that he'd seen the bill lying there, but had been stressed with dealing with the sale of his house and hadn't got round to paying it. He pulled out a wad of cash and paid me there and then. And he was one of the ones that usually pays promptly.

So that still leaves three bills outstanding, but perhaps they all have their own reasons why they haven't paid? It's past 30 days since I sent the bills out, so they are all overdue now. I think the only thing I can do is send out reminders and see what that brings. If they all complain that they have already paid, then I can go to the bank at that stage.

I suppose I could have rang the bank before now, and asked if there was a problem with my account, but I couldn't prove that the money had gone missing without getting the details from the customers first. The bank wouldn't just accept my word that I should have had payments. Plus I was wrong about one of them anyway.
So for the moment the jury is out.

That sounds like a good mixer. Glad your soil moisture sensor came as well.
Good idea to do some walking every day, to keep things working.
That's a goodly amount of raspberries.
I suppose there's no real need to have the fruit cage up once you've had your harvest, if it's getting in your way.

Glad your latest cake has been a success.
I'm sure SiL was grateful for the food you sent her.

Watched Wimledon tonight, then the last in the 'Humans' series at 9pm.

Hi Emptybox.

Just spent an hour typing a post and putting the pictures in for Mollie, at the end it when i pressed Post Reply it said i had to agree with the Cookie setting, then it said it would reload the page and i could lose the post, well it reloaded and i had to sign in.

I had lost the lot.

Hi Hicky.
Your plants are looking well, and your loaf too.

Real pity you lost your post. I had to sign in on my computers again today as well, luckily before i had started to write this post.
Think it's got something to do with complying with the GDPR regs. At least the accepting cookies thing is to do with GDPR, but not sure why they had to log you off?

A bit dull here today, but quite warm as well.
Didn't work this morning because I didn't get my van back til lunchtime.
It was expensive (as usual) £684 , I suppose because of all the brake work they had to do, plus they replaced air, oil and fuel filters and both wipers.

Then when I got back with the van I had another crisis with the boiler.
I noticed that it had just suddenly started leaking water from the drain valve. It was steadily dripping, and there was enough water to start soaking the carpet tiles.
No idea why it would just suddenly start doing that??
I phoned the plumber and he suggested I try to tighten the valve/tap with some pliers myself. If not he would come out. So i found a pair of pliers with a long pointy nose that could just reach this valve. And by turning it a little the dripping stopped.
So i rang the plumber again and told him he didn't need to come out now, but I'd keep an eye on it.
It could be that the washer is failing, so will likely start leaking again, but hopefully not.

After that drama I only had time for one job, and when I got there they decided that the grass hadn't grown enough because of the lack of rain, so could I come back in a week or so.
Wasn't a totally wasted journey as he paid his bill that I'd only printed out yesterday.
Haven't had a chance to even think about the bank thing today.

Been watching quite a lot of Wimbledon, but tomorrow I'll watch the footie match. I've got to do one job, but will try to be back by then.

Evening Emptybox.

Not done a lot today, what with the F1 being on most of the day, then Tennis, then Football.

Had a round of toast at 09.30 then some bacon and Asparagus with corn on the cob when the shopping came.

Was going to make more spring rolls but found loads of them in the chest freezer so my next batch will have to wait.

Have ordered a fish/steak BBQ basket as i have some Bass Fillets to fry, i want whole fish but so so easy to get here.

My neighbour has gone away for a seek so will have to eat more of my produce.

We might be having a couple of weeks in Cairns with my lad and his o/h as well as a couple of weeks in Sydney, he is also looking at an open flight which would be better.

I hadn't noticed there was a problem before i posted, the post reply icon was there, but then it cam up with a notice about agreeing to their terms etc, i clicked ok then it came up with the Reload the page, you may lose your post.

Thats a lot for the van repairs, good job you only have 1 mot a year on it.

 If the drain valve started leaking maybe the washer has shrunk, the tap is unlikely to have come loose any other way, the plumber didn't have the tap off did he?

I can understand the grass not needing cutting, as i went around the block the other day most grass looks awful, glad i don't have any.

Watched 24 hours in A&E last night, and some good Darts on from Vegas.

Hamilton got pole again at F1 

Hi both xxx

well that was a bit of fiasco...cookies thing, then sign in again, and I couldn't remember what email I was on here, let alone the PW. But eventually am back here.

Emptybox

gosh you seem to go from one thing to another at the moment....what a mess this boiler has been in since that damn plumber got his hands on it! Let's hope this is the end of it now you have wasted so much time trying to solve it.

Sorry to hear your van was so expensive.

Now that would be a real coincidence if you did have all 3 of those customers not paying at the same time. But it would not surprise me if it was just that now you have confirmation one had not paid. Good job he gave you a lift so now you know what happened with him, plus he paid you on the spot. I have heard peopel are struggling now more than ever to get hold of cash, credit cards drying up, remortages too now house prices not going up. etc. Hope it gets sorted soon one way or another so you know what has gone on.

I am not surprised you have been so sweaty doing your work in this weather! What a hot summer this is turning out to be.

Hicky

Thank you for the lovely photos.   I can see how well all your produce is coming on now.

Considering it is not near autumn yet, your apples look big.

That seeded load looks delicious. How annoying you lost your post after spending so much time on it.

Well done getting on with your walking programme. As you say not only does it get you used to walking before you go away, but also gets your OH to test how her knees are going. Hope they are improving. That should be interesting going to Cairns for a couple of weeks. I have heard it is nice up there. It will be "the wet" when you go up there in winter, but as it will be so warm, at least the rain will not be cold. 

We had a nice couple of days away with mum's sisters. Considering they are in their 80's, they get out and about a lot and both enjoy going to dancing. The pub they took us to was much nicer now they have done it up and they had added battered hallumin to the meal, which pleased me, as it was delicious. OH is not a veggie, but wished he'd gone for that. We got held up on the way on the M5 just sitting still for 45 mins as there was an accident. At least it looked like no one was hurt though. Then got held up on the way back as it was the Monmouth show! Could of been worse I guess as Fridays in good weather are always bad on the roads to the coast especially.

We also visited one of my mum's best friends who was pleased to see us as she misses mum not visiting her now. She looks after injured pigeons and has lots of them, which is hard work as she is in her 80's.

Went to Costco today, which was nice as it was cool in there, so we had lunch there. And enjoyed the free samples too.

I watched England match, they are doing well. I was watching how the manager with the waist coat treated them and I think he may have a huge part in now well they are doing. He looks so smart and also calm and he hugged each player individually today after the match. (tha'ts my theory anyway).

I had acknowledgement for applying for my clearance for the job, I certainly hope they do pass auction attendees Hicky.

Usual weather here again....hot, hot, hot and sunny.

But I found it even worse when we were in the midlands, no sea breeze at all there!

No love Island today, so didn't watch anything, as OH was watching 2nd football match.

Goodnight both. xxx

Evening both.
Another lovely warm sunny day here.
It's supposed to be cooler next week, which should suit you Mollie.

The job that I was going to do was another that didn't want their grass cut yet, but luckily I had another couple of smaller jobs nearby that I could do instead. Hedge and grass cutting.

After that I watched the England game and then cut my own grass, which is actually still growing despite the dry conditions.
I agree that the manager has played a big part in England doing so well this time Mollie.

After that i watched more of the tennis. 

My dramas with the boiler aren't quite over yet, as there's still a little leak of kerosene.  
If you remember I said that when the plumber came to fix the leak he first thought it was from a flexible pipe which he replaced, before he found it was the oil pump that was actually the source of the leak. Well I think the source of this new leak is where he joined the flexible pipe to the copper pipe bringing oil into the boiler. I don't think he tightened it up properly.
I could be wrong, but I definitely felt a drip on that tonight.
I can probably tighten that up myself without calling him out again, but really a qualified plumber should be able to leave a system without leaks after doing a service surely.

Don't understand about the water leak yesterday Hicky. Can't see why the plumber should touch that valve at all. Perhaps that was just a coincidence that the washer was playing up just now?

Hicky. Pity your neighbour that you give your food away to has gone away. Perhaps you'll be able to find a different neighbour who might take it off your hands?
So you might be away for a month over Christmas again this year? That'll be interesting seeing a different part of Australia.

Mollie. Glad you enjoyed your time seeing your Mum's sisters. They seem remarkably fit for their age.
Must admit whenever I see my Dad's brother I have a wee guilty pang, because he is now a lot older than my Dad when he died, but is still going strong. I mean I'm pleased that he is healthy, but just a bit sad that my Dad couldn't have lived longer.
But it only lasts a moment.

I googled "hallumin" to see what it was, but there were no results, so I have to conclude it is one of your...er...unique Mollie spellings?
Perhaps you meant Halloumi, which is a type of cheese? Glad you enjoyed it anyway, whatever it was.
Yes it's always slightly cooler near the coast. I missed that when I moved here, which is inland and surrounded by hills.

That's good that you got an acknowledgement for those job checks. Hope you get the all-clear and get the job.

I deliberately haven't looked to see if anyone else has paid me, because I just get stressed when they haven't, and I've been having symptoms today anyway, so wouldn't want to make it worse with stress.
But I'll check at the beginning of the week, and send them reminders if the money is not in my account. I think that's the only way this mystery is going to be solved.

Evening Both.

Another warm day here, 25c sunny and light winds of 7 to 10 later.

Didn't do a lot, had a round of my bread toasted for brekkie, just had a BBQ, corn of the Con, bacon, sausage, chops, tomato and mushrooms.

Did some apple branch supporting this morning, made a framework form bamboo canes etc and tried to suppord the branches of the vunerable apple trees, might have to do other apple trees as well, the Bramley tree certainly needs support.

Been watching F1 since 11am, too hot to be outside.

If this hot weather keeps up i might have to go to watering system on twice a day.

Ordered a bamboo thingy which helps me slice through the bread better than i do now, the back of the slice never natches the front so hopefully this will help.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bambo...CBXBT06Y9BWB2HFM5WZ9

Mollie, I'm very pleased with the fruit and veg growth so far, i am amazed to be honest, never seen anything like this.

Glad you had a good visit with your relations, the traffic is such a problem, why so many accidents all the time, wish drivers would take more care.

The England match was good, saw some of it, well done to them.

I always found it rained as i drove past Birmingham on the way to London when working, usually every 2 weeks or so.

Missed love island but it's on tonight, with Aftersun after it as well.

Emptybox, It's hard to believe you can have these problems after having a service done on a boiler, maybe he's a joiner.

I'll just have to eat more fruit and veg, i have some big Toms, beefsteak, i usually give them to my neighbour, i'll have to eat them, don't think i can leave them a week.

It looks like we could be going away in January this time as they have relations going before that.

He is thinking of a Suite in Cairns were we could all be together, not sure were we would stay in Australia.

both xxx

Emptybox

oh no, not still leaking! I agree, a qualified plumber should not of left it like that! So unprofessional. Makes you wonder if he is a registered and qualified  plumber at all  and not just a cheapo labourer the landlady has used! Yes and makes you wonder if he was responsible for the water leak too, other wise it is a huge co-incidence!   Flip me what with this and the bank puzzle I think you need your own Sherlock Holmes to figure it all out!

Yes you just need to cope with sorting the bank out when you feel up to it, especially as your sympoms have started up. (no surprise really). Hopefully the plumber problems will end soon and the bank riddle sort itself out too soon.

Yes I have been fascinated by watching how well the England manager interacts with his team. I could see how they were all really listening to him on the game before last at half time when he spoke to them all. (the game where the other team were playing dirty). so I think they trust him. I also like his smart waistcoat, at least he looks professional, and I like how he hugged each player at the end of the match.

I know just what you mean about fleetingly wishing your dad lived longer. I do that about mine , as he died at age 68.

As you guessed I did mean halloumi, but hadn't a clue how it was spelt!   It is delicious though when battered or cooked on the BBQ.

Hicky

I like your bamboo cutter, looks real usefull as I know fresh baked bread is so hard to slice. I have never seen these before.

Do you think it is the weather this year that has made your produce growth take off so well, or do you think it is because you now have more experience of how to care well for them?

Bearing in mind the difficulty with travel over the Christmas break, I think January would be a better time to go away for you than Christmas would of been anyway. That would be nice for you all to share a suite in Cairns.

Far too hot here again, no wind and around 30c. OUr house is sweltering now as the sun is on the back all afternoon. Forecast is for 30c again tomorrow. I have to leave the fan on the dog all night and she sleeps on her doggie cooler mat.

Stayed in as couldn't face going out , did some washing and took dog a walk firs thing though. Caught up with Corrie that I missed when we were away.

Watching Love Island now. REally good right now.

Did you see Antiques Roadshow? Wow at the original music score being worth £80 to £100k! It was at Cardiff castle, it is not an old castle but lovely inside.

Goodnight both xxx

Are you both aware of this?

I have some frozen sweetcorn with mixed veg in freezer, so will be rapidly getting rid of it now!

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/...-list-tesco-12861882

Amazing how the posh expensive supermarkets here used the same supplier in Hungary as the cheaper ones do! 

Hi guys.
A nice day here. Quite cloudy, but when the sun came out it was very hot. About 28 degrees in Lidl car park this afternoon.

Had a shot at tightening the connection in the boiler. Not sure if it's made a difference yet. Will monitor for the next few days to see if there's still any drips.

Hicky. Good idea to support the apple tree branches.
I see my 'apple' tree has a few tiny apples on it, about the size of cherries. They never get any bigger and are as bitter as anything, so not any use really.

That bread slicer looks like it would be useful for you.
Oh yes, I forgot that you would be going to Oz in January rather than over Xmas.

Mollie. Oh dear, yes that was young for your Dad to die. At least mine got to 80.
Very hot for you again. If it's going to be 30 for you again tomorrow, that'll be much hotter than for me, as only 18 degrees is expected up here.
At least doggie will be cool, with her fan and cooling mat.

I saw Antiques Roadshow but missed the valuation of that music manuscript. Pretty impressive.
I saw that item about the recall of frozen veg a few days ago, funnily enough when I was just about to eat some sweetcorn. Luckily it was tinned stuff from Lidl and not frozen.
Yes, it's strange that all the supermarkets buy from the same source.

Evening Both.

Not done a lot today, did my clothes while o/h was out at her mums, got them dried ok as well.

22c today, sunny intervals, a nice breeze of 12.

Found another Water Melon growing in the greenhouse, noticed it from outside when i was passing, couldn't see it inside, the 1st one to grow is now about 6" so about ready to come off, i have it in a net bag to take the weight off the plant, the greenhouse has support wires running around on 3 sides.

Made a Madeira Cake today, will post a picture, o/h has all ready had a slice before i tried to put icing on it, quite a big cake, a Mary Berry recipe.

Just had a round of my bread toasted for brekkie and have just had the other half of the curry i made the other day.

Mollie, I think the weather played a big part in all the fruit this year but of course fruit trees always do better in certain years, also trees become more productive after a certain period and also i have moved lots of the trees around.

I don't watch the roadshow, too boring, i watch the Antiques Road Trip.

I saw the notes about the Mixed veg scare with the sweetcorn, i don't have any of that, all my veg is unmixed.

It would be great if we were all together in Cairns, fantastic.

Emptybox, Not sure what apple tree you have, are they crab apples?

I don't seem to be able to cut the bread straight, am sure the guide will help as o/h goes mad if i cut the bread, or meat.

This is the cake, i premixed it then took the paddles out of the machine, covered the paddle posts with greaseproof paper and lined the bottom of the pan with the same.

both xxx

Emptybox

lets hope your fix it job on the boiler works now.

How did you manage work wise yesterday as it was so hot?  Any cooler today?

Yes such a shame my dad never lived to see his young grandchildren grow up as he was so fond of them. He got stomach cancer. Your dad didn't do bad to get to 80, but no matter what age, it is still hard when we lose them. Even though my mum was a good age when she died and had advanced dementia, I still found it so hard when I lost her.

That is lucky you had gone for the tinned sweetcorn and not the frozen ones!

Do you miss your newspapers now you don't have them? I am guessing you don't as you can get most news online and you still get the local newspaper  don't you? I bet you are glad to save the cash from the bill for them though. 

Hicky

Yes it sure was a good drying day for the washing today. I pegged mine out and got them in just an hour later, and all dry.

Is your melon the red type one? Should be nice and refreshing to eat in this summer weather.

Your cake looks like it will be very tasty. Did your OH like it despite trying it before it was iced? And how did you like it?

Hot, hot  and hot here again today. I went to seafront for a lemon sorbet and sat with everyone else outside the cafe in the shade. No one wanted to sit in the sun today.   The sun was just so strong. But it was lovely in the shade.

Watching Love Island now, really good.

Goodnight both xxx

Evening both.
Rain here this morning. That certainly wasn't forecast. In fact my weather app was saying there was only a 2 % chance of rain, all the time it was raining.
It dried up this afternoon, and there was a little sunshine, and quite warm as there was not much breeze.
Got a couple of jobs done this afternoon, but the grass stayed slightly damp, which makes a change from bone dry I suppose.

Fingers crossed I seem to have sorted the leak in the boiler. At least I've seen no drips today, and no smell of kerosene either.
Also one of my customers that was owing money from last month paid online, so i know that internet payment is working now at least..
Only two outstanding now. I'm still unsure if they've just forgotten or if there was a problem with my account in late June that's now been sorted? So I'll still send reminders to those two, if they don't pay in the next few days.

Hicky. That Madeira cake looks like it would be delicious, Even if it's not all that even.
That's good that you found a water melon you didn't know you had.

Yes I'm fairly sure it's a crab apple tree that i have. I've actually got two apple trees in the garden, but I've never seen fruit on the other one. There's also a cherry tree, or something in the Prunus family at any rate.

Mollie. Yesterday was Sunday, so not a work day for me.
I don't miss the newspapers really, as I didn't really have time to read it when I came in from work. Perhaps I'll miss it more in the Winter?
When I gave up the daily papers I intended to buy the local weekly paper from the shop, but I've only actually done that once. I find I don't miss that either.

When I remember I go on their website to read the death notices, to see which of my customers has popped their clogs this week. But I often forget to do even that.

Your lemon sorbet, in the shade, on the sea front sounds heavenly.

Evening Both.

Didn't do a lot today although it was pretty cool, 21c cloudy and a few glimpses of sun, light winds of 4 to 9.

Made a frame work for another apple tree, the Red Falstaff has too many apples on some branches, just trying to help support the load.

Just had a piece of toast for brekkie and for tea i decided on using one of the packs of frozen Turkey mince with some veg from the freezer and some fresh bean-sprouts i have, added some spices and chicken stock, very tasty, o/h wasn't impressed.

Been watching some of the tennis, i like the top ones best.

My BBQ fish cage came and the bamboo bread cutting aid came, might be able to test both tomorrow.

Took the plaster off my arm yesterday, it doesn't look too bad, the area that had no skin at all had healed over a week ago, the part with the skin that was put back over the hole looks a bit like that skin my come off in the future, can't tell yet.

Mollie, The big melon is a water melon, the red flesh type, and a smaller one, the other 2 are not the water melon type, they are the yellow flesh ones.

Don't think o/h was struck on the cake, she could taste spice, wasn't impressed with the ground almonds or the lemon zest so will have to use another recipe.

It's good to go to the seafront, you don't need to sit in the sun, think people are getting fed up with it.

Love Island is good, think Laura is getting desperate, not keen on her myself

Emptybox, Thats strange, 2% and it was raining, you must have the wrong area or postcode surely, 98% wrong isn't a near miss.

When you say a customer pain online do you mean using BACs? 

I might make some butter icing tomorrow to put inside the cake, i am not a lover of plain cake and o/h said do what i want as she shouldn't be eating it anyway.

I wonder why the other apple tree doesn't have fruit, does it flower in the spring? or it might need a pollinator if it flowers but no fruit, also does the crab apple tree flower at the same time?

Do you get any cherries? one of my cherry trees doesn't seem to have any new growth which doesn't look good.

  both xxx

Emptybox

glad you got a few jobs done, odd how 2% chance rain actually did give rain.

That is a relief there is no drips or smell today, fingers crossed this carries on.

Also with any luck it looks like the bank payments could be sorted.

Hopefully a couple of reminders going out will give you a firm answer and solve it soon.

Can you not use crab apples to make something, eg jam?

If you don' t miss the newspapers now, I am guessing you won't in the future as we have so much info online now.

Hicky

hope you are pleased with your BBQ cage and bread cutting thing when they arrive.

Glad your injury looks a lot better, let's hope it will be fine now.

That is nice that you even have both types of melon.

Shame OH was not keen on the cake, don't think I would be keen on spice or almonds in a cake, so maybe she would prefer it with just the butter icing?

Did your cherry tree bear fruit last year? Is so wonder why it is not doing so well this year? Maybe it doesn't like the hot weather?

A bit cooler today but still hot at around 27c though. But at least it was cool enough to sit outside on the swingchair with the shade down.

I had a 33% voucher off at Pizza Hut so we all went there for tea. Very nice, I had goats cheese and caramelised onion pizza , and plenty of salad from the help yourself cart.

Enjoyed Love Island, yes I don't think I am keen on Laura either, but that new lad is not nice either deceiving her by what he said about Jack going in for that kiss! Wonder if production staff told him to do that to cause trouble and interesting viewing?

Goodnight both xxx

Hi both.
Dull and cooler here today. It did get warmer as the afternoon went on, with some sunshine this evening, but never got more than 18 degrees.

Familiar story now, in that I turned up at two places only to find the grass hadn't grown in the last fortnight. In fact one place was completely yellow.
But I did find one place which benefitted from a cut, as the weeds were making the grass look untidy, and I cut hedges at another place.

From what I can gether from the forecast, we might be in for more rain than we would want, if this Storm Chris comes across to the UK.

Hicky. That's good that your fish basket and your bread slicing gadget came.
Pleased that your wound seems to be healing well.
Yes, I would make the cakes to please yourself, as your OH doesn't seem keen on them anyway.

Yes the customer paid through the BACS system, so that proves that it is working on my account now.
Doesn't prove it was working in June, when I expected these other 2 to pay, but I suppose the most likely explanation now is that they have just forgotten the bills and will need a reminder.
Strange, as one was a new customer, and he asked a couple of times when I was going to send him a bill. So I don't see the point of hassling for a bill and then not paying when I send it to him. But people can be strange.

I haven't paid a lot of attention to the other apple tree as it is tucked away in a corner, and I only prune it if a branch gets too long or too tall. I think it gets white flowers on it, but I couldn't swear to that.
The crab apple has red/pink flowers and is more prominent in the garden, so gets pruned every year.
The cherry/prunus tree gets little cherry like fruits, but I've never seen them ripen properly. They are only tiny at the moment.

Mollie. Glad it was nice there, and you could get a swing in the shade.
That was good, having a discount voucher for Pizza Hut.

I suppose I could make crab apple jelly with the little apples, if I could be bothered? But they are so small, and so few of them that it wouldn't really be worth the effort.

Evening Both.

A bit warmer today, 23c sunny intervals with light breeze 5 to 12.

Didn't do much today, altered the position of a few spray heads for the greenhouse tubs.

Just had a round of my toast for brekkie, o/h went to see her sister, put a few spuds in the oven for when she gpt back, i had a piece of salmon, this was just after 2pm

Been watching Federer this afternoon mostly, we nipped to the local mini market for some milk, got some sugar and mixed fruit to make a fruit cake in a few days.

Picked some more raspberries, got about 2 kg now.

Mollie, You make crab apple jelly with crab apples, don't think you make jam.

The BBQ cage and the bread slicer gadget came yesterday, have used the bread slicer, that works fine but need a linger knife so have seen a 12" one that i need, you can also use it for meats etc as it's thin sharp and long.

The cherry tree had fruit last year, the strange think is, i have 2 of the same type, this one was very late with the fruit, weeks behind but it has no new growth which is bad news, will give it another year, the fruit did catch up with the other tree though which is strange.

You can't go wrong with a 30% voucher, very nice to.

Love Island, yes, naughty saying that to Laura, but he wants to get in her good books, but the truth always comes out so he will lose, i don't think the production staff would want to be seen to get involved, it could come back to bite them.

Emptybox, I'm going to try and get o/h to take me to the Birkenhead fish market, i want some whole fish for the BBQ, i fanyc cooking them in the basket i got.

When we got bills at work, if it was in before the end of a month it got paid in the next pay schedule which was the end of the next month.

If an apple tree is tucked away in a corner then that could be the reason it doesn't do much, crab apples only grow very small anyway, probably the size of a golfball. i think.

Unless the cherry tree is self fertile it wouldn't bear fruit on it's own but if they are small it might be because of your weather. 

both xxx

Emptybox

pity you are missing out on business due to non grass growth. I am sure the rain is not far away now though if the forecast is to be believed.

Maybe it is a distraction technique, and it is the one who asks for the bill who is not likely to be a good payer!

Oh yes, it is crab apple jelly I have heard of. but sounds like it is hardly worth the hard work as the crab apples are so small, it would needs lots of them.

Hicky

hope your fruit cake turns out nice when you make it.

How is your OH's knees now? Is she managing to go back to work now? Does she still need to take the meds?

Shame you have to get another knife to enable you to use the bread slicer.

Looks like the cherry growth is going to be unpredictable, but hopefully it will come good sooner or later.

I told OH about the fish basket and BBQ plans and he fancies giving that a try. Let us know how yours turns out.

Bit cloudy today, but hot and humid. Son was going for hair cut, so I went with him and had a walk down seafront and a lemon sorbet.

Love Island time.

An hour later tonight, so hope it is worth waiting for. (it usually is!).

Goodnight both xxx

Hi Hicky.
A nicer day here. Mostly sunshine and up to 21 degrees.
Did a little mowing, but mostly strimming and hedge cutting.

Had a look at that corner apple tree, and it does have a few little green apples on it after all. The other crab apple has little red apples.

I see Federer got knocked out.
Watched the England game. Strange game. England dominated the first half then completely lost momentum and gave it away. Lost opportunity really.

Pity you need a longer knife for that bread slicer.

Businesses often take longer to pay than private customers, but I usually allow 30 days from the date of the invoice, after that I start to have bad thoughts about the customer, and they go to the back of the queue for future work until they pay.
The new customer is a Joiner, so perhaps he is applying business rules to my invoice?

ETA: Oh hi Mollie. You popped up before me.
That was fortunate, your lad needing a haircut. Allowed you to have a lemon sorbet on the seafront.

Evening Both.

cooler today, 22c, light cloud, rain, sun and wind, 6 to 8.

Just had a round of my bread toasted for brekkie.

O/H rang up, she was shopping with her mother and had forgot to ask me to cook the chicken that was in the fridge, so i did that.

Then she decided we could go to the Claremont Farm shop for some fruit and meat for the weekend.

Mollie, O/H has a docs appointment next Thursday, to see how to proceed with her knee and whats next, she's taking tablets to ease it.

I've ordered a longer knife to make it easier to slice the bread in the new gadget, the width of the gadget is 190 and the my knife is 200 which isn't ideal, the new one will be 300, but it doesn't just slice bread.

The fish/food basket i bought would be best for whole fish, which is what i bought it for really, it has plenty of room inside for lots of items.

Love Island is interesting, Laura with 2 fellers, i think they will be sorry as she's not looking for a boyfriend, she wants a husband. 

Emptybox, I saw some of the England game, i agree, they gave it away, so easy to do and could see it happening.

I think you are supposed to put the payment terms on the invoice unless they have had prior paperwork to explain your rules.

If the corner apple tree has a few small apples then at least it is getting pollinated, small apples can mean lack of sun, lack of food, lack of space, too many apples on the tree or it's getting old so unproductive.

I think we had a little rain today, didn't see it but i saw some wet on a few bits of blue slate.

both xxx

Emptybox

glad you got a nice day again. Sounds like you made good progress work wise. Hope the same happened again today.

Yes the England game was real weird. Such a promising start then all went to pot. Shame as you say, a lost opportunity.

A customer who is a business person himself..... as you say sounds like he might be treating your payments like his customers do his. Fingers crossed your payment turns up soon.

Hicky

good job you were able to cook the chicken as OH forgot.

HOpe the doc can help sort your OH and he knee problems next week.

Yes I agree about Laura, she is a lot older than most of them, so looking to settle down as opposed to just a bf. I find Samira's reason for departure a real puzzle. Was it really was down to Frankie? After all we hardly saw her spend any time with him, she only knew him a few days? So why would she leave for him? She spent more time with Alex. I read a while ago she had walked out working on a contract from a show to go on Love Island and they may sue her, so perhaps that was why?

That might be a good idea to put the payment terms on Emptybox's invoices, you often see that on invoices.

A bit cloudy today here, but still very warm and humid.

Went to the chippy for tea as i couldn't face cooking in the hot humid kitchen. I had cheese onlon pasty, peas and chips. Very nice.
Today I met mum's ex carer and her friend for coffee ins Sainsbury cafe. It was  so cool in Sainsburys that I wore my cardy. Can't complain as it was a nice change from feeling so hot and uncomfy. So we stayed and chatted for ages. I am now well behind on washing, paperwork etc, but don't mind as it was nice change.

Have a good evening both xxx

Hi both.
Mostly cloudy today. A little rain at 10am but didn't come to anything much. Up to 20 degrees.
Got 3 jobs done, strimming mowing and weeding.

I haven't got a payment date on my invoices, mainly because if you say "payment within 30 days" then most people will wait for 29 days before paying, and I want paying before that.
Presumably people want me to keep on doing their gardens, so if they want that they need to pay promptly.
The two people who are overdue are trying to sell their houses, so need the gardens tidy, you'd have thought?

Hicky. Good job your OH rang so you could get that chicken cooked.
Yes all my trees are old and really need a proper prune on the inside branches to open things out.

Mollie. That must have been nice, meeting the carer in Sainsburys cafe. A relief for you to be in the cool.
A chippy tea sounds nice as well.
I'm sure you'll catch up with your washing and paperwork soon enough.

Watched that new drama on BBC1 starring Eve Myles 'Keeping Faith'. Looks promising.

Evening Both.

Cooler today, cloudy as well, had a little rain overnight, a bit more this afternoon, 21c, very little wind.

Been watching the tennis this afternoon, pulled up the potatoes, got half a bucket, chopped the peas down as they had finished.

Had black pudding, bacon and egg for brekkie.

for tea cooked some of the baby spuds from the garden and cooked a piece of salmon in the oven.

Will make another seed loaf tomorrow, love those.

Mollie, I thought Samira and the feller were getting on well, he was the first one that she felt something for and she didn't think another one would turn her head, i think she did the right thing.

But who of the 3 lads will get picked tonight by Alexandra?

You must have hit a key to change the size and the font.

Emptybox, The seller is supposed to dictate the terms of payment, if you don't state any then you can't say they paid late.

If your fruit trees haven't been pruned then they will be suffering as trees don't have very big brains, of course the type of tree it becomes is determined when it was a maiden stem, each type of growth pattern has a different method of pruning.

Yes, if it is grown as a goblet style then the center should be open, any branches growing towards the center are cut off, same as any branches growing downwards, new growth cut back to 30% in August.

both xxx

Emptybox

I guess you could say payment of invoices by tomorrow please?

Very odd though how up till now all had been good payers, but now there seem to be a few delaying. Maybe they are broke, so that is why they have to sell their houses, so are not in a rush to pay?

Glad the weather was good so you got plenty of jobs done.

I missed that new bbc drama, might catch up on iplayer.

Hicky

I bet your home grown baby potatoes were nice, and I am sure now you have practiced your seeded loaf it will turn out good.

I guess you are more a romantic than me as I think there was something else behind Samira's going after I read about her job contract problems. Plus I just don't think she spent much time with Frankie, I even had trouble remembering who he was.

Yes tonight it should be interesting to see who Alexandra picks out of the 3 lads. What a beautiful looking lady she is. Seems more mature than the other girls. (but imo not a wise choice if she goes for that rather big headed lad who lied about the kiss).

Was quite hot and sunny again today, but we now have a cooler breeze which is nice, but no rain.

Viewing day at the auction, which was nice. A few things i liked again. Took a week off the auction last week when we went to visit my aunts.

My friend came for coffee today and she was most impressed with our new 6 wooden frame brown fabric dining room chairs we now have in the kitchen, that we bought the week before last. (our old ones were all wobbly and peeling). Only problem is they look so good, they make the table look even worse than it looked before.  As you probably guessed we bought the chairs at the auction. About £110 for all 6 of them.

Today I had an HMRC asking for £160 for mum's tax, only thing is a few months ago, they sent her a cheque for around £25 for overpayment of her tax! Eeeehh? Everything that tax office does lately seems to be one mess after another. I have had enough, I am sending it to the solicitor to sort. He had already paid the cheque into the estate, so now he will have to pay the bill out of the estate! And that damn probate is still not through yet, although they said last week it should be done within 7 working days. (fingers crossed it won't be long now).

Time to watch Love Island.

Have a good evening both xxx

Evening both.

Dull today but very muggy. Above 20 degrees at some points. Heavy rain came on at 4.30pm, but luckily I had finished my jobs by then.

Looks like it might be fair over the weekend, but the forecast for next week for me seems to be rain rain rain.

At least it'll put an end to the very dry conditions and get the grass growing again I suppose.

Got a couple of grass cutting jobs done. These were ones that had refused me a week ago, but there'd been enough growth since to warrant a cut.

Since I've got home I've been watching the tennis. Great that Jamie Murray is through to the mixed doubles final.

Hicky. That's good that you could harvest your baby potatoes.

I'm afraid my fruit trees get quite neglected and I only have time to do any pruning over the winter.

You've got to remember there's a different dynamic between me and my customers and your old company and your suppliers.

They would have depended on your company for business, but I don't depend on any one customer. If they don't pay then I stop doing work for them until they do.

I only had one that completely failed to pay, and that was quite early on. I'd looked after his mother's garden for a few years, and when she had to go into a Home, her son asked me to carry on keeping the garden tidy. He paid the first bill promptly but didn't pay the next two bills despite numerous reminders, so I stopped doing any work for him.

Unfortunately he lived in Newcastle, so very difficult for me to get my money, so I had to eventually write it off. (about £100)

I think everybody else  has eventually paid up.

Mollie. I don't think my customers are broke. Not sure why the Joiner hasn't paid. It's probably just been forgotten.

The other one was a good payer last year, but the house has been on the market for over a year now, so perhaps he's lost hope of getting it sold?

Nice that you got another sunny day. 

Glad that you are pleased with your dining chair purchases. You'll have to look in the auction for a new table now.

Strange that HMRC are asking for tax from your Mum's estate after giving a rebate. Perhaps it is for different tax years? 

Hope the probate gets sorted soon.

Evening Both.

Warm again today, 24c sunny and light winds.

Just had toast for brekkie, bagged the old potato growth to put in bin, also put the pea growth in.

Made a frame to fit the watering spray nozzles for the bug hotel as the method i had wasn't good enough

Watched the tennis, had a feeling Nadal would lose, you would think if he lost a point he would die, strange man.

Watched the womens final, ended as i thought it would.

I made a small fruit cake, but it seems to be overcooked, it tastes lovely it seemed a bit dry when i put it in the bread pan, not sure why, i used the bake setting and covered the paddle posts with foil.

For tea i had a sweetcorn cob and some sliced tongue on crisp-bread.

Mollie, Yes, the potato's were very nice, got loads of them, meant to put them in the garage.

I thought Samira really missed the only feller she seemed to have a connection with and would jeopardize it if she stayed and had to link up with someone else.

Glad Alex picked Alex, at least he has someone to cuddle he likes.

How did your mum owe that tax if she had had a rebate? i wouldn't have thought she would have paid tax anyway as the tax free allowance is so high these days.

 No Love Island tonight.

Emptybox, Glad the grass is growing again, problem is when the ground is dry it just runs across the ground.

With Apple trees and pear trees the main pruning is done during winter, thats when you prune the main branches, crossing ones, dead ones etc, in August you just prune the new growth to keep its size manageable, it then puts it's energy into forming buds for the apples next season, the saying is summer prune for fruit, winter prune for shape.

I saw quite often companies going bust at the time they are supposed to pay another company a big bill, we used to negotiate a payment method whereby we could invoice 10% of the bill per month with proof of money spent etc to show what had been bought and what work had been done.

For many years we used to pay the vat on an invoice when they paid it, we had a visit from an inspector who pointed out because of the size of our turnover we now had to pay the vat on and invoice when we sent the invoice, which of course meant we were paying out money which hadn't come in, that method can bankrupt some companies if they don't have the spare money to pay the vat when it's due.

Making another seed loaf tomorrow, love that bread.

Hi Hicky.
Nice day here as well, sun all day.

I watched the tennis as well. Quite glad Djokovic won his semi final.
Enjoyed the Women's final, but it was over very quickly. Don't think Kerber would have won if Serena had been on top form.

Well done perfecting the watering for the bug hotel.
Pity the fruit cake wasn't perfect, but as long as it tasted good.

I know you are supposed to do some pruning of apples in Summer, but I don't really have the time or energy to do that for mine, as I'm not being paid.
Luckily my turnover isn't big enough for me to worry about VAT.

Watched the tennis most of the day, then the Star Trek film this evening.

both xxx

Emptybox

sounds like you have been enjoying watching the tennis. I guess you watched it again today?

Nice day there again I assume as I think you said the rains aren't due to arrive until in the week? Wonder if you did your own garden as I know you usually take a day off work on Sundays?

It is lucky that up till now you have only had one customer who didn't pay up. Let's hope that continues. Nothing more annoying than people fiddling you when you have done work.

Hicky

that's good you have got the watering sorted now for the bug hotel.

Shame the fruit cake was a bit overdone but at least it tasted fine. I am sure you will perfect this before soon.

I checked mum's tax and this ridiclous refunded cheque, followed by a bill, was for the same tax year! For goodness sake, they can't have something more definate and unchangable than someone has passed away. I really can't see why they would be saying she now owes tax.

Looks like I either forgot to post here or forgot to press the submit button yesterday.

Didn't do much though, just went to costco for a bit of shopping and had lunch there....big jacket potato with beans/cheese for £1.50.

Today and yesterday has been hot and sunny, about 27c today, but thankfully a bit of a breeze. We went to the local show as it was free entry and free car park. Very nice it was, saw the goat and horse show, lots of chickens, geese etc for sale, saw the big burly wood choppers, and an air ambulance land/take off. But that was not supposed to be part of the show, someone passed out, so the doc came in air ambulance, checked them out, then an ordinary ambulance came and took them away as it wasn't serious enough for air ambulance. Then when we left there was another ambulance at the other end of the show, someone else had collapsed! It must be the heat, some are out in it all day and looked bright red! We weren't in it that long, but the sun was incredibly strong and I got a headache.  Still have it now, so taken paracetomol and am drinking lots water. The wood chopper guy said they went round doing competitions and at shows.... gosh it looked incredibly hard to do, they were real big guys. They made 3 little chairs from a stump of wood and gave it to kiddies in the audiience. They showed the special metal stockings they wear to protect their feet and legs. He said one woodchopper in Oz chopped all his toes off! But they sewed them all back on and he was such a tough guy, he was back wood chopping 16 days later! We saw some of the children from the local Welsh school singing in Welsh. I couldn't understand any of it, but OH could as its his first language. 

Looking forward to Love Island tonight, will record Forgotten.

Have a good day both xxx

Evening Both.

A nice day, 24c sunny most of the time, very light wind.

went out for brekkie to Carr farm, had sausage, egg, hash brown and beans with toast and tea, bought a pack of Bic black pens, have loads but hard to get some to write, got 2 packs of bacon rims but o/h thinks they don't smell right, she has left hers, just cooking mine so i'll see in 15 minutes.

Threw the cake away, too dry, just made another, it seems ok will test after, just making another seeded loaf for tomorrow.

My neighbour back from her weeks holiday, gave her some Toms, Cucumber and spring onions, she didn't need spuds today.

Enjoyed the Tennis Final, thought he would win, his return is second to none.

edit:

The new cake didn't rise, not sure why, but the new seeded loaf looks good, made it on the dough setting then baked it on the bake setting, thought it looked pale when finished through the top inspection window so set it for another 10 minutes, just as the 10 minutes was up o/h went into the kitchen, so i said how does it look, she said the top is brown, i said oh hell, but the timer hadn't started as it needed the ok to start, so the loaf is looking good.

Mollie, Strange why they get things mixed up with your mums tax.

I think Costco get your meal ready when you walk in.

Those wood chopping fellers are so good, i used to see one at the side of the road when we used to go to London before the motorway linked up from the M1 we couldn't stop as we were going the wrong way, and when we came back he had gone, every time, he had loads of carved animals he did with a chainsaw.

Yes, Love Island, Love it, and Aftersun as well, so 2 hours.

Emptybox, Yes, Serena wasn't match fit really, and doesn't need the money, she just wanted to show her daughter how she can win.

Yes, if you don't do some summer pruning the trees wont give their best fruit because the buds form from what is done before the winter.

I'm glad you don't have to get involved with vat, it really is a challenge.

Hi both.
Lovely warm sunny day here, up to 26 degrees.
They seem to have changed their minds about all the rain next week. I'm still due to get some tomorrow, but it'll maybe be fine after that?

Went to the supermarket a bit earlier than usual as I wanted to watch the tennis.
Glad Djokovic won the Mens. Pity Murray and Azerenko lost the mixed doubles, but they just weren't playing well. Murray was serving OK, but was rubbish at returning balls.

The hot weather seems to make fruit and veg spoil much quicker than usual.
In the last couple of weeks I've had a bag of carrots and a bag of pears turn to mush before I've even started using them.
The bag of carrots were in the fridge as well, but they must have started to spoil before I put them in there I suppose?

Mollie. Not much needing doing in my own garden, plus I was watching tennis.

Glad you enjoyed the local show. Sounds very much like the local show here.
The wood choppers seem to have particularly impressed you?
Pity you've now got a headache. Hope you managed to get rid of that? better that than being carted off in an Ambulance though.
Has your OH not taught you some Welsh in all the time you've been together?

Hicky. Presumably you haven't been killed off by dodgy Bacon rims?
Pity you had to throw the cake away,  but it doesn't seem to have put you off making them? Glad you seeded loaf seems to have been a better success.
That's good that your neighbour is back, so you can unload your excess veg onto them again.

Watched Antiques Roadshow then Poldark.

Evening Emptybox. :

Cool here 18c rain for some of the day, light wind though.

My new knife came, wow, it's a beauty with a 12" blade, like a small sword.

Had some of my bread toasted with butter and marmalade, yummy.

Ordered another greenhouse double staging as i just want the frame to make new vine support bars similar to what i made last year but i think the vine will need more space to grow, i have to train the vine of course which is so important, it has grown this year about 8ft but it has 2 shoots i am training, they will get cut down to the correct hight in the winter and the side shoots trained along the support wires, the total vine length will be 36ft

We went out for tea, had a plate of Nachos for starter and Beef & Ale pie for a meal.

My lad in Oz got his Penthouse Suite priced, it's AUD $1m but it's rented out at the mo, he has 2 pieces of land in Queensland as well.

If the bacon ribs hadn't tasted right i wouldn't have eaten them, o/h is ultra sensitive to taste, smell etc so it takes very little to put her off.

I'm going to try a cake using the books own recipe to see how that turns out, it seems that this is the only country that uses Self Raising Flour as most recipes have plain flour with baking powder.

Hi Hicky.
Similar weather here. Started with rain, then dry and cloudy most of the day. Bit windy and up to 18 degrees. Then more rain this evening.

Got one job done, but hit a problem.
It was at the place that I said they'd sold it to a family member but they wanted me to carry on doing the garden.
I usually do the main bit of grass with their ride-on mower, but found the garage was all locked up, so couldn't access it.
While I was there a letting agent turned up, and seemingly the new people are going to let it as holiday lets, and obviously the handover is imminent (which my old client didn't tell me).
But this agent didn't have the keys to the garage, so I was stymied for the moment.
I could have cut it with my own mower, but that takes 2 hours, whereas the ride-on only takes 45 mins. So I didn't think they'd want to pay the extra, especially as it hadn't grown all that much.
Also I'm not sure if the new people are going to be my clients or whether I'll be paid by the letting agency, so things are up in the air at the moment.
There's supposed to be someone coming up on Thursday though, so maybe I'll find out more then?

Glad you're pleased with your new knife. Hope it slices the bread well.
Beef and ale pie sounds like a good hearty supper.
That place your lad has in Oz sounds impressive.

I see self-raising flour is just plain flour with baking powder added anyway, so probably not much different? (although I've never tried baking in my life )

Watched a bit of the Nadiya prog on BBC2, then 'Our Guy in Russia' with Guy Martin.

Evening Emptybox.

19c today, sunny intervals, winds at 11.

The rain yesterday topped up the water butts so thats good.

Had black pudding and bacon for brekkie, it was one of the bury whole ones, i sliced it open and fried it, it turned out similar to Haggis when it's opened up, just darker, black in fact, very well seasoned so very pleased.

My delivery came, they text me saying 13.00 to 14.00 and he came at 12.58 so ha couldn't scan the package and had to wait 2 minutes as his computerised system doesn't allow him to arrive early, it was DPD, it's to stop him rushing to get away.

I made a cake this morning using the ingredients as shown in the manual, even that failed, it didn't rise enough and it wasn't cooked, although the tests i did said it was cooked, so no more cakes, it just doesn't work unless you use a packet cake mix, don't know why.

If the house is rented out then those renting aren't going to pay for the gardening, it would be the owners i think.

The new knife is very good, very light but it looks quite heavy, a lovely length, great for the bread and the new slice guide.

The Penthouse Suite in Oz, my lad has never lived in it, it was part of a new build and he bought the top suite years before it was built, but then he moved jobs and area so when it was finished he just let it out but he is getting the price he wants, with it being the top floor you get the roof area as well so to speak with balconies etc, it really is super and the views are fabulous, as you can imagine for that valuation, i have seen it from nearby where we parked one day when we went to see it, but we couldn't get in the building as we didn't have keys.

The cakes would most probably be fine if i made it then baked it in the oven but as i don't really eat cake there's no point.

I was going to have some of my stock of spring rolls but o/h brought a ham shank home and gave me the leftovers, i then made a pan of crab and corn soup, one of the packs i got from the Asian supermarket delivery.

With getting the Aluminum sections i need to make the new greenhouse frames i can work on them, a few weeks work, gives me something to do, they are the mirror image of the ones i have already installed but of course can only fit the sections when the plants have died off, and i have to take the glass out of course to drill the framework.

Hi both xxx

Emptybox

Gosh that is a confusing one with your client, what a pity they didn't inform you properly what was going on and who you would be working for. As you say, also complicated by the fact you need to use their mower. HOpe you get confirmation  soon. Very annoying you didn't find out about this until after you had travelled to do the job.

 I agree the hot weather means fruit and veg does seem to go off very quickly.

No unfortunately OH has not taught me Welsh other than the odd word , but it is rather difficult to pick up as a language. In the south it is not used much anyway. (that is my excuse).

Hicky

glad you are pleased with your new knife.

How silly the system didn't allow him to leave the parcel early.

Don't blame you giving up on the cakes now you have had quite a few gos and if you don't eat cakes anyway. At least you have perfected the seedy bread.

Your son's penthouse sounds wonderful.

Any idea yet where you will stay when you go to Cairns?

Been busy today. Son working on a film this week and they needed extras late today,... ,so me and OH volunteered. I was dead nervous as I didn't know what to expect and didn't know if my knees/ribs would give me grief. I was tired but fine and it was really interesting. We were only in a crowd scene, within a fantasy scene, so there was lots of smoke, and our scene will only last a few seconds, but it took about 2 hours to film it....we did the same thing again and again until the director was happy with it. Him and his assistant were real nice to us and it was fun. We had to applaud, look shocked etc and cheer. You might not even see us in the final film but doesn't matter as I enjoyed seeing how it was done. Can't believe how many people it takes working on a short film and how long it takes to film a crowd scene.
We had to dress up in our posh clothes and it was too hot to wear tights so I dug out my stockings. My dress was quite short, so I was scared of the sea breeze blowing and showing my stockings and suspenders, as we had to walk crocodile style down a breezy seafront from office to theatre. So I got OH to carry my bag so I could hold my dress down.

Enjoying Love Island, didn't watch anything else toonight. as it was quite late when I got home.

Quite interesting with the new people coming. They have certainly shook things up.

Goodnight both xxx

Evening Mollie.

Just watched Love Island and Life below zero, now 8 out of 10 cats does countdown.

Meant to say earlier that i cut down the summer raspberry growth that has just fruited as the new Autumn canes are ready to start fruiting, have had one all ready, and these are big fruits from the Joan J.

Got quite a few tomatoes ready as well, also cucumbers, beetroot.

Have stopped the milk again, went back on it with tea but phlegm came back so gone over to no milk, juice and water or coffee no milk.

My lad is looking into Cairns etc, he will be getting 4 months off work, he mentioned open ended tickets for flights but not sure how that works for entering the country or for insurance etc.

You were good to volunteer, i never do that, it's a mugs game, they used to ask for volunteer's in the military, bad move.

Yes, 2 hours filming, 10 seconds after edit, standard procedure.

On Love Island, it looks like Laura is going to be high and dry again and Alex seems interested in one of the new girls.

It's the same as having food and you see something better on the next table.

I've put the duvet back inside the cover as it is cooler for the next 2 weeks and it drops at about 4am which means i need more covering.