Catching Up

It's been a few days since I last put virtual pen to paper, so here is a brief summary of what I've been up to.

Tuesday, 15th July 2025 

The morning started with an early walk down the lane with the dogs.

We had planned to walk early, as rain was forecast to come in later on in the morning ... the first decent rain in weeks.  We had also decided to take a trip over to Rowberry's Nursery, as we are hunting for something to fill a gap* in the border at the rear of the house.

Mummy Sheila accompanied us on our little outing and a wander around the nursery actually got extended to include a light lunch in the nursery restaurant. 

I should add that the rain arrived on cue, and it seemed that we actually got a decent amount for once.

The afternoon included a snooze on the sofa, and then I headed out to the carport and turned my collection of timber components in to the start of the potting bench frame. By the time I called it a day I had a self supporting frame ... I still need to make the frame cross members, but that can wait until tomorrow.

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* The gap isn't actually there yet, but it will be, oncen I summon the enthusiasm to dig out the Juniper that has outgrown its plot.

Wednesday, 16th July 2025

Most of Wednesday was spent in the carport working on the potting bench project.

I completed the frame and finally got to try out my new circular saw; cutting the 18mm plywood to form the bench work surface and lower shelf.

By the end of the day I had a fully functional bench and had spent a considerable amount of time pondering how I was going to construct a compost hopper. I needed to biscuit joint a couple of offcuts of ply together to form the back of the hopper, and I think I will need to use pocket screws to affix the hopper sides ... that can wait for a day or two.

In the evening I attended the last Tai Chi session* of this term. As always, I was surprised at how much I enjoy these sessions and I am definitely booked in for the new term in September.

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* I missed a couple of sessions while I was away in Germany, and then a couple more when Kung Po Fran headed off to the wilds of Telford to care for her sister, who was convalescing after a hip replacement.

Thursday, 17th July 2025

I had great intentions for today, but these rapidly petered out.

I had planned on completing the potting bench, but as soon as I wandered in to the workshop I realised that I needed to tidy up, before I continued with my project.

The clear-up took most of the morning. Lunch and a snooze followed, before I climbed in the car and headed over to Cleeve Prior to collect my freshly sharpened clipper blades ... Wilson had better watch out, I will get his rear feet tidied up!

In the evening I met up with Bubbles in Fladbury and we had another great evening fishing.

I started early with a small chub. I landed it within twenty minutes of my first cast, and then sat for the remainder of the evening with very few bites. Whilst I endured a "drought" Bubbles pulled in a couple of large chub and a half-decent bream. 

It is fair to say that I was somewhat envious, as my little 8" chublet wasn't impressive, by comparison. 

We had agreed to finish fishing at ten o'clock, and I was about to reel in my line, when I saw the tip of my rod bend. I struck and felt the weight of a fish on the line. I reeled in, and was rewarded with a fabulous chub; probably weighing in at a little over 4lbs ... Neither of us could believe my luck!

I do like a little project

The weather has finally cooled a little. It's still very pleasant, but it is now possible to set to a task without risk of heat stroke.

This morning I wandered out to the workshop and routed out the rebates on the potting bench legs. 

I then headed over to Alcester to complete a few errands.  Stop #1 was Screwfix, where I collected a new circular saw. I have never been totally satisfied with the cheap saw I have. The blade does not sit perpendicular to the base plate, so it will not produce a decent cut. I have used this potting bench project as an excuse to spoil myself and buy a decent Makita saw ... well, I hope it's decent!

Next I parked up in the town centre and got a few essentials from Superdrug and Specsavers, before heading home via the local Surgery, as a prescription needed to be collected.

After lunch I had a snooze, and then headed out to check on the bees.

All of the hives are doing well, and are slowly increasing in size. I saw the queens in Hives #1 and #2, but didn't spot the third queen. This is not a concern as all of the hives have brood and eggs present, a clear sign that I have laying queens.

I have noticed that wasps are attempting to gain access to the hives, so I have made the hive entrances smaller. This makes it easier for the bees to repel the wasp attacks.

I then wandered back out to the workshop to cut and pre-drill the frame rails for the bench. All being well, I should start to assemble it tomorrow.

Potting Bench Project

It is going to be a very brief entry for Sunday, as will be seen.

30% headed out fairly early to meet up with a friend, for a morning of coffee and shopping at The Valley in Evesham.

I headed out to the workshop and finally made a start on 30%'s potting bench. 

I checked over a few lengths of 3" x 3", that had been kindly donated by Mummy Sheila. These were judged suitable for the legs of the bench, and the remainder of the day was spent carefully measuring, marking and cutting them.  By the end of the day I had four legs cut to length. Cuts had been made in each to mark the positions of the notches for the frame rails.

If all goes well, I'll break out one of my routers and create the notches tomorrow.

The only other activity was the watering of the tomato plants

Heat stopped play

It is fair to say that Saturday was a case of "Heat stopped play".

I managed to plant out the last of my leeks.  This almost sounds like an achievement, but in reality it was eight plants at most. I now have a couple of rows, and just need to keep them moist over the next few days. Whilst on the subject of gardening, I have also decided that my possibly parsnips are actually definitely not parsnips, and is more likely a carefully tended patch of Fat Hen (Chenopodium album). It looks like further weeding will be needed as soon as it cools down,

In the afternoon I finally got my arse in to gear and drew up some crude plans for a potting bench. I bought the timber and plywood for this project back in March, and have finally found the motivation to finish the job.

The only other thing worthy of mention was that I gave 30% some assistance ,as she had decided that dogs all needed a bath. I am sure they appreciated the cooling effect of a bath, and we certainly appreciated their somewhat less doggy odour!

Toasty!

Today was forecast to be a very hot day.

I was up early and did as much as I could before the mercury started to rise. All of the doors and windows were opened to cool the house as much as possible. * Water butts were filled from the well and I ensured that the tomatoes and other veg crops were well watered. I then took my fishing gear out of the car and put it away in the store room ... I was far too lazy to do that last night.

It was then time to move on to motorcycling. I wheeled the Guzzi from the garage** and tucked her in the shade of the car port. I then settled in my favourite sunny spot,*** and gave my motorcycle boots a good clean and a coat of my home-made leather food.

All of the above were completed before 30% had risen.

More watering took place, before we tidied ourselves up and headed over to Alcester. I rode the Guzzi over to my local Motorcycle Dealer for its MOT.  30% picked me up in the car, and we then dropped in to see Dot 'n Dave.  We had a splendid couple of hours catching up on each others' news and sampling Dotty's freshly baked banana cake.

We headed home shortly before midday, lunched and then slept through the heat of the early afternoon.

30% took me back in to Alcester just before four o'clock to collect my bike. It had flown through the MOT.**** We also discussed my sickly CBR 600. It seems likely that it has suffered from modern fuel causing problems with the carburettors. It will need to be collected in their van, so I agreed to defer this until things calm down in the early Autumn.

So that just about sums up my efforts for Friday. As I listened to the evening news and learnt that the hottest temperature was recorded a few miles away in Astwood Bank; 34.7 ℃.

It's little wonder we've done very little.

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* With each heat wave we are getting better at keeping the house cool. First thing in the morning we open all of the windows and doors to let the early morning breeze blow through the house. As the temperature rises, we close the windows and curtains on the sunny side of the house. The house remains curtained all day, and it is only as the sunset draws near that we start to open curtains, windows and doors to let in the cooler evening air.

** This might not seem a particularly strenuous task, but I first needed to move the ride-on lawn mower, and then put it back afterwards. It is incredibly warm at the moment, and I'd rather do this in the cool of the early morning wearing shorts, than later in the day, dressed in motorcycling gear!

*** The little bench by the beech hedge that faces the veg patch and the orchard

**** One of the partners is a big Guzzi fan and he joked that he never failed a Guzzi ... At least, I think that he was joking?

The hotter it is, the less I do

 It was far too hot for a dog walk this morning, so I headed out and tidied up the veg patch.

Cloches were stacked out of the way and tools were returned to the garden store.  My plan for today was to get my leeks planted out.

However, before I could start planting I needed to attend to the parched tomatoes in the greenhouse. For some strange reason 30% seems to think that four cans of water is sufficient for eighteen vigorous tomato plants. They actually need at least two or three litres each, which is more than double what she actually gives them. It is up to me to follow on and swamp them.

Watering and tidying consumed all of the morning, and I eventually set to planting the leeks in the early afternoon. I managed to get about thirty plants in the ground, but then sought shelter from the sun indoors ... I'll get the rest of them in when it cools a little!

I then had the now obligatory siesta, before gathering my fishing equipment.

This evening Bubbles and I had planned to fish on the Avon at Fladbury.

I arrived first and picked a nice peg in the dappled shade of a Willow tree. I had set up and just cast my bait in to the river, when Bubbles turned up.

We had a spending evening chatting and a little after eight o'clock I managed to reel in a beautiful chub that we estimated was at least 4lbs. Luck was obviously with us this evening as Bubbs also pulled in a couple of similar sized chub, although he graciously admitted that mine was the largest fish of the evening.

I think we'll definitely be fishing at Fladbury again next week.

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* I wasn't paying attention when I gathered my fishing tackle, and brought a carp rod rather than one for barbel. The carp rod is nowhere near as sensitive to bites, so I was pleased to catch such a lovely fish with a rod that was less than ideal for ledger fishing.

It's warming up

The latest heat wave has set in and the weather is already very warm. This is just the start and, apparently, it will be scorching before the weekend!

As a result we tend to do very little during the heat of the day. Long siestas in the afternoon have become de rigueur. They allow us to escape the heat of the day and, perhaps, catch up on our sleep, after sweltering nights that results in us waking ridiculously early in the morning. 

Today started with an early walk down the lane with the dogs.

I then had a relatively lazy day, choosing little jobs, in the shade wherever possible.

I got the tomatoes watered before the heat of the day set in and noticed that my beetroot have already started to sprout. I only planted them last Thursday, so they have done really well. I just hope they can endure the roasting they will get this week.

After sorting out the vegetable crops I headed out to the garage and checked that the Moto Guzzi would start. It hadn't been run since last year, so I needed to make sure it was ready to be ridden to its MOT test this coming Friday.

I then attended to a little job that 30% had. present to me a couple of days ago. She casually mentioned that she had a bird feeder that needed repairing. I initially thought it would be an easy job, until she handed over a weighty item constructed from slate. A vital component would no longer remain in place, resulting in a bird feeder that wouldn't hold bird food..

I was going to need to cut some replacement sections of slate and find a glue that would work with stone. I found an old roofing slate, and, luckily, remembered that Gorilla Glue is suitable for repairing stone and brick.

I then spent a happy hour sorting out the repair, but have to report that cutting slate with an angle grinder in hot weather was not a pleasant experience. I ended up very dusty and gritty.

After a shower I felt vaguely human, but my evening plans were going to result in getting hot and sweaty once more.  

When we fished last week I had asked Bubbles if he fancied a ride out on his bike. He had mention that there was a Bike Meet at the Aviator Cafe at Staverton Airport near Cheltenham, and he was keen to go. I grudgingly agreed.*

So this evening saw a ride through traffic choked roads to a sun drenched, shade free aerodrome on the outskirts of Cheltenham. To be fair, it was a reasonable event and we had a pleasant time wandering around and chatting, but it was very hot.

We left at a reasonable hour and I was allowed to select our route home.** I picked a lovely winding route that zigged and zagged through the villages to the East of the A46.

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* Biker's Meets are alright once in a while, but they are all very formulaic. You turn up. There are lots of other people who have also ridden their bike there. You wander around and peruse the various machines, then queue for an overpriced burger and a soft drink. It's OK once in a while, but some unimaginative individuals do this every week across the Summer! 

** Bubbles chose the route there and it was not good. An unimaginative run along the Cheltenham road from Evesham, via the traffic jammed outskirts of Tewkesbury, before eventually reaching Staverton.

A short ride out

I recently noticed that my little Heiniger mini trimmer was not performing well, when I attempted to trim the hair on Wilson's paws.

I am hoping that it is simply a case of blunt blades, so I reached out to a local chap, who sharpens scissors and clippers, and arranged to drop them off with him.

I used the need to deliver the blades as an excuse to have a ride on my bike, so the BMW was wheeled out of the garage. I had a splendid run over to Cleeve Prior via Wixford and Bidford, before returning via Badsey, Wickhamford and Evesham. 

The recent tour to Germany has greatly improved my relationship with the bike. The 1,550 miles ridden have done wonders for the clattery gearbox, and also for my level of familiarity with the machine. I am now much more confident on and off the saddle.*

My ride consumed most of the morning, and in the afternoon I headed out in to the garden.

The beans were given copious quantities of water, as we are moving in to another heat wave. We have had a couple of recent showers, but they have done little more than dampen down the dust.

I then finished off weeding and watering the probably parsnips, before retiring to the relative cool of the house.

Next on my list is to plant the leeks out.

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* Fully loaded the bike comes in at about 250 kg. At 5' 3" in my stocking feet, it is a bike bike to move around!

Perfect Outcomes

Today's most significant event was that both Whiffler and Wilson were booked in at the Vet's for, hopefully, minor operations. Wilson is to be castrated and Whiffler is to have a growth removed from his lower lip.

We dropped them off shortly after ten o'clock, and 30% attempted to conceal her nervousness by proffering lots of information and guidance, including offering her views on the order in which the dogs should have their respective procedures.  It was fairly obvious that the Veterinary Nurse dismissed that suggestion without a moment's consideration, and probably gave a sigh of relief, once I had ushered 30% out of the surgery.

A few errands in Astwood Bank and Redditch followed, before we headed home for lunch.

In the afternoon I set to bottling a couple of batches of honey. It has been selling really well, and I estimate that we have sold around seventeen or eighteen jars in the past fortnight.

Whilst the honey was slowly liquifying, I grabbed my beekeeping equipment and headed up to check the hives.

I started with Hive #1, which was requeened on Wednesday, 26th June. I worked my way, slowly, through the frames in the brood box and was soon rewarded with the sight of the new queen scurrying across the comb. I could see patches of young larvae, which indicate that she has been laying for five days, at least. Hopefully the hive will be back at full strength in the next few weeks.

Hives #2 and #3 were also doing well. Both queens were spotted and the quantities of brood are increasing nicely in both colonies. I walked away from the inspection delighted with how the colonies are performing. 

Failing queens have the potential to lead to colony loss, but I have managed to make the right decisions at the right time* and this has resulted in three queen right colonies.

After finishing with the bees, we headed up to the Vet's to collect the dogs. The operations had gone well and we drove our two mildly stoned mutts back home. They settled reasonably well, but we know, from experience, that it will take a day or two until they are back to their normal selves.

So that was it for Monday. The only other achievements were that the honey got bottled and my little Guzzi was booked in for an MOT test on Friday.** 

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* There is also a considerable helping of luck. We have had fabulous weather recently, and this has, no doubt, helped the virgin queens in Hives #2 and #2 when it came to successful mating flights.

** I also mentioned the possibility of getting my CBR 600 recommissioned to the Workshop owner... more on that at a later date.

Possibly Parsnips?

This morning 30% and I headed out for a walk with the dogs. 

For the past couple of weeks we have tended to walk about a mile down the lane, and then turn around and come home. Today we diverted down the Bridle Path and had a splendid time enjoying the solitude of the empty landscape.

Our walk took most of the morning, and the afternoon saw me back out in the veg patch weeding. A few weeks ago I planted a row of parsnips. I'm embarrassed to say that, apart from watering them in the first couple of weeks, I have ignored them. 

The "row" is now overgrown with weeds, and, having never grown parsnips before, I don't really know whether I have parsnip plants or weeds.

I did a little research on the internet and got an idea of what to expect. It seems that I do have some parsnip plants, but my row is crooked, which further added to my dilemma about what to leave and what to pull up.

Anyway, I spent a good few hours out on the patch and I have almost completed weeding the "row".

The reason for the early finish was that we had invited Mummy Sheila over for supper. This evening's fare was a takeaway from China Twon ... as usual it was quite splendid.

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And, if I run short of news, I may recount the story about the Hedgehogs that like to climb sea stacks. 

Shelsley Walsh Bike Bonanza 2025

One of my Christmas gifts from TP was a ticket to the "Bike Bonanza" at the Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb course, and today was the day.

I had arranged to meet TP at the event and was out of the house shortly after eight o'clock this morning.

At this point I should mention that I am far happier with the R1250R after the recent tour. The gearbox isn't perfect, but it is much less clunky, and, with over two thousand miles under my belt, I am more comfortable with the way the bike handles.

Shelsley Walsh is only about forty minutes from home and I was just taking off my jacket when I saw TP drive up to the entry gate on his new VFR800.

We had a pleasant day at the event. There wasn't a huge amount of bikes there, and very little in the way of trade stands. If anything, low key sums up the day. But the limited numbers of spectators meant that the pits weren't crowded and we had our pick of seating to view the runs up the hill.

The obligatory shit burger and ice cream were consumed, before we went our separate ways in the early afternoon. TP headed back to Cardiff, and I headed home for a snooze on the sofa.

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* At any motorcycling event it is the law that one must consume an overpriced burger of dubious quality.  Actually today's fare was reasonably tasty, but it was still pricy!

Nothing to see here

We had arranged for the boiler to be serviced this morning, and the engineer was on site at the appointed hour. We left him to check over the boiler and heating system, whilst we attempted to calm a rather vocal Wilson and Hobson.

The excitable dogs meant that we needed to stay indoors for most of the morning,* and, consequently, achieved very little.

The service was completed and everything was fine. I was advised that additional work** will be needed next year, simply because the boiler will then be five years old.

I had planned to continue weeding the veg patch in the afternoon, and got as far as tying up the tomato vines, before I had a hypoglycaemic event, and needed to hit the sofa for a surprisingly long time.

The title of today's entry sums the day up nicely ... nothing to see here.

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* Wilson is far too unpredictable to be let out when strangers are on the premises. Hopefully his temperament will be calmer, once his testosterone levels drop.

** Two seals will need to be replaced and an internal oil line will need to be replaced.

Gone Fishing

 I finally summoned sufficient courage to venture in to the veg patch this morning.

The smaller of our raised beds has sat fallow since last Autumn, with a mulch of manure. This morning I dug in the mulch, and poured on a few cans of water to make sure that the soil was moist. 

In the afternoon I made five shallow drills in the bed and sowed a crop of beetroot (var: Boltardy). I grew this variety last year and was really pleased with the beets. They pickled really well and my beetroot relish was well received too.

I then set to clearing the weeds that had grown in the bare earth over the past few weeks. This wasn't too bad a job and by about half past three I estimate that I had cleared more than half of the veg patch. 

At the beginning of June I had planted a row of cabbage and cauliflower plants. Unfortunately I have to report that they have been decimated by Whitefly. Apparently the recent hot, dry weather provides the perfect conditions for this pest. The plants were beyond salvation and have been dug up and disposed of. I may see if I can get some better quality plants and try again, although I am concerned that the infestation will just reappear.

I aborted my weeding session in the late afternoon, as I had an evening of fishing planned.

Shortly after four o'clock I loaded up the car with my gear and headed over to a lovely stretch of the Avon at Barton.  I had just got my bait in the water when Bubbles arrived and we had a pleasant evening chatting and watching the wildlife.

I had several bites over the course of the evening and even had a smallish fish on the line, but the little devil slipped the hook before I could get it anywhere near the bank. Bubbles was less fortunate. He was using a commercial Red Robin pellet and was getting no interest at all. He decided to switch to the garlic marinaded luncheon meat that I was using, and finally started to get a few bites.

We packed up just before ten o'clock and headed home, having agreed that it had been a good evening, and only a fool expects to catch a fish every time.

Beeswax, part 2

 This morning we took an early walk down the lane with the dogs, before 30% disappeared for the day with the Cinema Club. 

The remainder of the morning was spent watering the tomatoes, and I even managed to trim Hobson's rear paws ... He seems to have very sensitive feet, and doesn't like warm clipper blades near his toes.

After lunch I decided to finish processing the beeswax that I produced yesterday.

The block of wax was cut in to chunks and melted in an old saucepan over a Bain Marie. Once melted it was poured in to moulds.* These had squares of old t-short material, held tight with rubber bands, over the top of them. The fabric acts as a filter to separate the crud from the liquid wax.**

The wax cools and solidifies quite quickly, and, by the end of the afternoon, I had 20 ounces of pure beeswax.

There is something quite other worldly about beeswax. It is difficult to explain. It has an amazing, but subtle aroma, and a feel that is almost silky under one's fingertips. It is a very tactile experience holding a block of beeswax.

Needless to say, I have a accumulated several pounds of the stuff over the years, and I really should think about doing more with it ... candles, perhaps?

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* In this case, old, washed margarine tubs

** The wax soaked filter material makes really good firelighters for later in the year.