Saturday
I managed to cook the three things I'd defrosted the meat for before the electricity went yesterday. It was only out for a few minutes and there were several dips in supply through the day but no long periods without power this time. We all had a note through our door explaining that emergency repairs would be completed overnight so hopefully there won't be any more problems.
Electricity seems to be the focus at present as I also received an email from my power company (E.On) asking me to book an appointment for the free installation of a smart meter. I've taken up their option to delay due to shielding/high risk so will be contacted at a later date. One less thing to stress about for the time being!
I spent most of the day thinking about the garden. I'd like to replace this clematis as it's no longer doing well. It was here when I bought the house in 2013 and hasn't fared well in the storms we've experienced over the last few years - it's been uprooted at least three times and blown away from the trellis so many times I've lost count. I don't actually want to get rid of it but think it may do better in a more sheltered place in the garden and, as it's already in a planter, moving it should be easy. I'll see what Danielle thinks when she's here on Tuesday.
I spent quite a lot of the afternoon thinking through my garden ideas in more detail and will carry on with that today. The summer brochure from Whitehall Garden Centre dropped through the letter box and I was delighted to see a couple of pages of ideas for combining plants in patio containers. We're a long way from discussing specific planting but I've started listing my 'likes' by size, shape and colour so I can get a clearer idea in my head. I'm quite enjoying my virtual gardening but will need to whittle the list down considerably as my garden really isn't that big!
The tenth and final street quiz has been completed and handed back in. The couple who organise it have decided to stop now that so many places are opening back up and there is more choice on offer for people. I'll miss doing the weekly quiz but can understand their reasons for stopping - it's been one of the highlights of the lockdown period. Another highlight has been the choir quiz every Friday and guess who won last night? 😊
Apart from some more garden dreaming and planning, the other thing I want to fit in today is to watch Peter Pan Live! as I missed it last night. It's supposed to rain again which means I won't be going out, so it's another quiet day at home.
The tenth and final street quiz has been completed and handed back in. The couple who organise it have decided to stop now that so many places are opening back up and there is more choice on offer for people. I'll miss doing the weekly quiz but can understand their reasons for stopping - it's been one of the highlights of the lockdown period. Another highlight has been the choir quiz every Friday and guess who won last night? 😊
Apart from some more garden dreaming and planning, the other thing I want to fit in today is to watch Peter Pan Live! as I missed it last night. It's supposed to rain again which means I won't be going out, so it's another quiet day at home.
Congratulations on winning the choir quiz! Too bad the street quiz will be discontinued, but, I suppose things are slowly going "back to normal" for a lot of people. Not for people like us, though, who are at high risk and must continue to shelter in place. I'm glad you were able to get your cooking done. Have fun planning your garden. The more you plan on paper, before hand, the easier it will be to actually put things in place and plant. Hope you have a good day and enjoy being at home.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Life for most people does indeed seem to be returning to normal and I can understand why the street quiz is stopping - it's been quite a big commitment for them as they award prizes every week. There is also a children's quiz and a colouring competition every week as well and every child who enters gets a prize. They've really done a tremendous job.
DeleteI'm okay about continuing to stay at home. We're supposed to get new instructions at the end of the month but I have already decided on low risk trips out when the weather improves.
I'm enjoying the garden planning.
Well done!!
ReplyDeleteI fell asleep half way through Peter Pan so I guess that means I will miss it as it's not the sort of thing Dad would enjoy. Never mind.
That is a very lovely clematis. Perhaps a move would help or can one take clematis cuttings to start a new plant? I have no idea. If you want another in its place, I can recommend Ooh La La - it's been stunning this year!
xx
I enjoyed Peter Pan despite the rather strange performance by Christopher Walken as Hook! It's a shame you missed the second half.
DeleteThe clematis is lovely so it'd be nice to save it in another part of the garden. I have no ideas whether you can take cuttings ... I'll ask! Your Ooh La La is lovely so have added to my ideas list.
The electric went off here too yesterday, not sure for how long as I went out and cut grass instead.
ReplyDeleteHave a good day
Thankfully their overnight repairs seem to have sorted the problem and there have been no outages this morning. I hope yours was a one-off.
DeleteAll I know about clematises is that they like their heads in the sun but their feet in the damp. Yours is such a beautiful colour that it would be a pity to lose it, so I do hope it can be saved. I could tell you what I would do but I'm sure Danielle will know the proper way to move/save.
ReplyDeleteIt's in a pot and will die down in the autumn so physically moving it to a different place is simple. The main problem is that it isn't growing well. It was last ripped off the trellis a few weeks ago and at that time about a third of this year's growth was broken off so it's currently looking very sorry for itself. Even if that hadn't happened, last year and again this year, it seems to have lost strength and hasn't grown much at all. It needs some love!
DeleteSorry, thought you meant move from tub to earth. I love it, if that helps? Mine has bloomed quite nicely this year... given that squirrels and pigeons enjoy pulling/pecking the fresh growth/buds off. Grr.
DeleteI think it will be better off back in the earth so that may be what happens. One of the other issues is that it used to be planted in the earth underneath the patio so the bottom 15 - 20 inches of the plant has no green growth so it never looks as good as it should. If it was back in the earth, planting around the base could disguise that little issue. There's no enough room where it is to do that.
DeleteI don't have problems with squirrels (you have to say that in a smug voice 😂)!
I got a smart meter several months ago. The electric company installed it while I was at work. They are replacing old meters street by street and eventually plan to charge customers $20/month extra if the customer wants to keep the old meter.
ReplyDeleteMy electric meter is indoors so I will need to allow access to the house for them to fit that. The gas meter is outside.
DeleteIt's not compulsory to have the smart meter installed in the UK and no extra charges are incurred if you choose not to, but it is sometimes possible to get a better contact rate if you do have a smart meter.
I moved my potted clematis and hope it does ok. It was up against a trellis on a wall, though, so I had to unwind it. It didn't like that part. We got a smart meter a while back -ours is outside- and I can't tell any difference. So much fuss, and the conspiracy theories ran wild, but that's died down as people have gotten used to it.
ReplyDeleteI am asking my gardener so will learn what she plans to do tomorrow. I've decided where I want it to go though.
DeleteI'm quite happy to have a smart meter installed - it's just been postponed because I'm in the high risk group.
Yes, we had no problem with the idea, and in fact prefer not having the meter reader need access every month. Conspiracy theories run amok, though.
DeleteYes there's plenty of those theories here as well. Like you say, it'll be great to have the meter readings done automatically.
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