Busy Bees

This week seems to have flown by and now the kids have broken up for school holidays too. Summer is truly here but we're still having thunder storms almost every day and there's been a lot of rain too.

Luckily it stayed relatively dry yesterday as we were busy helping lay an above ground pool concrete base. Boy was it hard work lol, the concrete wagon turned up at 10.15am and delivered almost 4 cubic metres of ready mixed concrete onto a large tarpaulin then a team of us had to load it into wheelbarrows and move it to where it was needed. In the UK we'd have probably got a concrete wagon with an extending arm that might have reached the 30 metres or so to the site, but not here, so it was all dumped as close as we could get it and the hard work then started.

Thankfully there were 9 of us, with 6 wheelbarrows and shovels, and we managed to get it all moved and in place before it set. On the downside the company it was ordered from delivered less than they were paid for so the last 8 wheelbarrow loads had to be mixed by hand with hastily borrowed sand and cement. But it's done now, smoothed off and level and just waiting for the pool to be set up once the cement has cured for a few days.

We were hoping to have one of the larger paddocks cut for hay this week too, but the tractor driver has yet to show up despite promising he would be here on tuesday. Maybe the weather this week has put him off as we've had lots of rain and storms so the grass has been quite wet. Hopefully he'll turn up at some point and we can get a good crop of hay ready for the winter.

There are lots of seedlings now in my flower bed, some of which are probably weeds, but they can wait for a drier day to be pulled out. We seem to have an abundance of pumkin plants this year and they are still popping up through the soil. So I'll be looking for recipes later in the year! I'm trying to grow swedes this time and so far they are doing ok. I do miss swedes but the Bulgarians don't seem to eat them and have a variety of different radishes instead. Mostg of the tomato plants are now in their final places, beans are doing well and the peas are starting to fruit now so I shall be picking them in a few weeks. Yet again we'll have a load of plums from the trees and might get round to making wine with some of them.

I've plenty of cucumber, squash, melon, peppers and aubergines growing now. Plus onions, lettuce, garlic, sweetcorn and fodder beet (for the animals). But haven't used all of the garden this season as much of it is in desperate need of being plowed and of course the plow our neighbour has developed a problem and needs repaired. Still there should be plenty of produce to eat and freeze down for winter. I may yet plant a few more things but we'll see how it goes. I'm in charge of the vegetables and don't get any help and there is only so much one person can do!

Since we're rained off today hubby has been in the kitchen and by the aromas that I can smell we are having a curry for tea - mmmmmm. So I'll leave you all now and wait for my plate of top nosh lol