Potato Harvest

Dug up the potatoes today - two varieties - Desiree and King Edward (plus a third 'unknown').

Reasonable haul, cleaned up nicely - so some should keep.

The rest will be mashed for the freezer - packaged up a basic mash (no milk or butter) freezes well enough  - ready for use when required . . .

First Redcurrants

After two years (and annual decimation by sawfly) our (still tiny) redcurrant bush has finally produced some redcurrants!

Emerald Isle

Summer holidays saw us cross the Irish Sea for a road trip round Ireland:

Started with the sights (and pubs) of Dublin - including the Dead Zoo (part of their Natural History Museum), a real museum of a museum . . .

Then it was on our way round Ireland taking in castles, religious ruins, and prehistoric sites:

That's Glendalough, the Rock of Cashel, Cahir Castle, Newgrange and Trim Castle (clockwise from top left!).

The prehistoric site of Knowth gets its own separate photo, purely for the joy of their approach to keeping the grass down on the burial mounds!

We also saw some wildlife - from deer, to a cheese-eating heron, who was more than happy to hang out with numerous onlookers on a Galway street (or on top of a car) waiting for more cheese to be dispensed:

Unfortunately much of the better scenery on our trip was obscured by rain and mist - and we were left with the impression that the Ring of Kerry was no better than a drive from North to Mid Wales.

Maybe we need a re-brand in Wales - the Irish Tourist Board are certainly doing a good job!

Mystery Mammal

Latest from Wildlife Cam - some debate though over the nature of the beast we caught on camera:

At first we though that maybe it was a rat - but there's no evidence of a tail, and it wasn't exactly moving at any pace.  Our eventual conclusion was hedgehog - see what you think!

Outdoor Living

Hoping for a good summer this year - with a new gas barbecue, and a bistro set (to join the bench we bought last year), we're ready for some outside dining.

Fingers crossed for the sunshine to go with it!
                                                      

Still Down South

Martin is still stationed down South, and likes to keep me informed of his surroundings - today it was some stunning Bristol graffiti, but I've also had pics of pints from coastal beer gardens:




Then there are the images of other local landmarks, including this shot of the Clifton Suspension Bridge:

Sometime it almost looks like he's having fun!

Sunny Weekend

A bank holiday weekend of glorious sunshine (well, alright, it did rain on the Saturday) . . .

Made an early start on the hedges, as well as cutting the grass and other more general garden maintenance tasks - all of which generated a number of bags of garden waste.

Also found some time to enjoy the sunshine and relax though - met up with old friends for lunch, and walked the prom in the sunshine (taking in the views of the annual charity Raft Race).

On the bank holiday itself we were even moved to get the barbecue out - (as it appears was everyone else - had to make do with sausages, as we couldn't find a burger in the shops for love nor money!).


Just have to hope now that that wasn't it, and that the summer still has more sunshine to offer . . .