The Garden in July : Five Photo Mosaics on a Friday

Despite the mixed weather, extreme heat and lack of rain then heavy showers in the last week our garden has been colourful and productive. We still had strawberries at the beginning of July. We gathered French and broad beans and cauliflowers and harvested the garlic bulbs.  The lettuces are now very welcome in salads along with the tomatoes.  The basil and oregano plants are doing well and will be used in cooking or preserved.  The nectarines have coloured up, but have started to crack and I picked a few to get at the flesh and stew them.  I'm more hopeful for the pears and apples as they mature and ripen.  The figs on the fig tree will also be picked later in the year.

The amaryllis Dancing Queen has flowered for the fourth year.  

Seed heads are beginning to appear.  They'll be gathered for future sowing.  We appreciate our garden and will continue to enjoy it as we move into August.

Thank you for coming by.  Wishing you happy Summer days.  

Bradfield Village Again

During some extremely hot weather our quiet lifestyle got even slower.  I've been preparing for our daughter's stay with us now that she has finished teaching and school has closed for the Summer holidays.  Mr P has been busy gardening.  One Sunday afternoon our local daughter M came by and took us out in her open-topped convertible car to nearby Bradfield Village where we knew that the ice cream van would be parked by the playing fields.  

After a short walk by the village stream we got our ice creams and sat in the shade of the beech hedge and watched the other people enjoying the village facilities.  

A tractor with cutting equipment trundled by as the hay making season is upon us.  

The village hall was open and there was some activity happening over there.  It looked as if some girls were practising a dance routine and two men in heavy gear looked as if they were also practising for a medieval tournament. It must have been very hot in those costumes. Life for young people is getting back to 'normal'.  There has been a music festival in our local park this last weekend.  We were thankful that the music was not too loud, the hot weather has gone and also we could keep some of our windows open whilst we've been at home.  In our situation we continue to remain cautious about being in crowded areas.

We're so thankful for the beautiful countryside on our doorstep.  After going to Bradfield we stopped by the local reservoir and watched the members of the sailing groups that are now allowed out on the water. 

It'll be good to see our Berkshire daughter.  We haven't been together since last Summer holidays because of the distance she needs to travel to visit us and the various strict rules relating to the pandemic.

Thank you for coming by dear blog friends.  Take care of yourselves.