Catching up on life admin & garden jobs. Gwatkins Golden Valley Vintage and Country Fair.
Hung out with Phil’s friends from Munich on Tuesday morning, then the usual Work Week. Internet woes on Thursday meant I decamped to dad and Jean’s.
Friday was devoted to catching up on admin, including paying the balance of my Exodus trip and sorting out clothes to take to the charity shop sometime. In the afternoon I took P to HFD to catch his trains north and came home via Asda for petrol (177.7p/l) for the mower and car, and food. Repotted the lemongrass and supermarket basil.
More admin on Saturday morning, mainly getting things onto eBay. Dad and Jean arrived early afternoon and we drove over to Gwatkins for their Golden Valley Vintage and Country Fair.
Loads of people there, stalls, a small barn with animals large and small, traction engines and vintage cars out in the fields, and a chance to check out The Red Cow Tavern. We’d missed the Terrier Competition, but the Arcklebear Gundogs dog training demo was amazing. Back to base for a potter around the garden, then fish & chips from The Old Stables.
Headed over to dad and Jean’s on Sunday morning then back for mowing. Couldn’t start the strimmer mower, so took the Honda round the edges, below the pond and slowly back and forth over the long grass and dead daffs. Break for a late lunch, then out on the ride on mower for the rest (but not the front lawn, that stays as summer meadow). Tea and cake, then a bonfire. Very smoky with all the green stuff. Busy day. Slept like a log.
Morgan & Cuss were with us on Monday, replacing the radiator valves and checking on the dripping tap and toilet. I headed out for a couple of hours’ basic first aid training courtesy of Herefordshire Heartstart and the Herefordshire Walking Festival, then did garden jobs – planted out the lettuces, collected yesterday’s grass cuttings on the ride on mower, chopped some branches from orchard trees and snipped some bramble runners.
Phil has been in Edinburgh for a few days this week, which meant I’ve been home alone. In itself that’s fine but it does mean I have no one to deal with the birds that don’t recover from crashing head first into the windows….
On Saturday morning, there were two bonkers on the bedroom windows – 1 great tit and 1 woodpecker. I wimped out of removing them…. and by lunchtime they’d gone. Not sure if that’s good or bad! And a small green finch on the patio 🙁
Later in the day I spotted another woodpecker, feet up by the tall window on the west side of the house. We don’t usually get casualties there. Dad did the necessaries.
In better bird news, on Sunday evening there were 4 red woodpeckers on the pear tree – parent and offspring x 2. Each parent was feeding peanuts to its young (in between scaring off the other pair). Magic.
I also had to take on squirrel chasing duties…
TV: The Morning Show, Bridgerton (season 2)
Podcasts: History Extra
Photos: Herefordshire week 128 on Flickr.
Phil: w/e 2022-06-12.