MAMMOUTH CATCH-UP!

Let's start off by saying that Mr Bosco was last out of bed this morning which in my mind makes him a Lazy Cat....but then again surely that's what Sundays are all about! We had a funny night's sleep anyway as our weekend visitors had to leave at 3.30am to drive off to catch their ferry to France....Ciaran's uncle and family of 3 little boys were here Fri & Sat....so a lie-in was extra essential today. Once up, we wandered to the village shop and bought our newspaper (essential for my Nigel Slater fix! check out his raspberry panna cotta recipe in the magazine food section) and punnet of local strawberries, then back for breakfast outside where it was starting to feel v hot already even at 9.30am....what a summer we're having!

I promised myself to make an effort to get time with my blog today and actually it's a nice excuse to stay out of the sun too. I've been a busy bee with my day job since returning from hols but have some nice things to report on so let's start with a roundup of the week....first off....sweet peas & runner beans are GO!

We have had our first harvested runners for dinner (is it me or are they just more tasty because we grew them?) and lots more growing so I'm going to continue to pick to my heart's content, then quick cook/blanch/freeze some for us and all others will be to give to friends and family.

I can't begin to tell you how beautiful the perfume of the sweet peas is....I've grown white and lilac coloured old varieties (foremost for scent reasons and secondly because I love the colours anyway!) and have delighted in being able to cut them for the house. I have them in our sitting room, bedroom, guest room and still had some to give to my Mum & Grandma C....and still they keep flowering on the canes outside. I'm so pleased that I gave growing them a go, I had my moments when I thought they weren't really going to survive but I've been pleasantly suprised and have learned a few lessons along the way for next year too. Let's see how the pumpkins turn out later in the year before I declare myself any kind of expert though....it could all have been a happy accident thus far!

n.b. you'll see that I've gone for a smaller font so's I can fit more in this post....you may need glasses Mum....sorry, will be back to regular size next time :)

This is going to have to be a 2 parter as I'm having trouble adding more pics....don't go away now....