Friday 4 July 2014

Visitors, Travellers and Jam

The latest news on the unwelcome visitors is that, well, they're still lingering unfortunately! The stingy, buzzy variety are sealed in the loft (and very possibly sealed into their nest) by a Heath Robinson cure, as usual. It may only be a temporary fix but when we have more time and money (when??) they will be dealt with more adequately, if in fact they're still alive.

As for the furry visitors outside, they're a little more tricky to deal with it seems; they're enjoying their stay with us far too much. They seem to like me in particular, that's the impression they give when they stare at me directly in the eyes for several minutes before slowly wandering off! We have a bait box and poison in position and I'm no longer feeding the birds. However there is a lot of seed on the ground mixed in with the soil and ivy so there's still a feast for them. They're cheeky little bu**ers though, I went to check the poison a couple of days ago only to find one sitting on top of it nibbling seed, and another leapt from the brick wall and just missed my head (well it felt like it just missed me, was probably a few feet away!) where it had climbed to check the bird feeder! There is now food and poison in every little nook and cranny, hopefully out of reach of the birds and neighbouring cat.

On a brighter note Number 1 son eventually (3 days after he left) contacted us from Corfu and is having a great time, he seems to go between having a great time and feeling a little ill - we don't know why!!
He's due home later today and we're looking forward to seeing him enormously.
The Builder is worried he won't be fit for tomorrow's match, can't say it's bothering me too much.

Number 2 son technically finishes school for his Summer break today, I say technically as he has a weeks work experience next week. Due to his extreme shyness (outside of the home) and his extreme bolshiness (inside of the home) he was refusing to go for work experience for a while. He hates things changing to an extreme but we eventually settled on him spending the week at his old primary school up the road.
 Familiar surroundings and some of the staff are the same, and it's an environment he feels safe and happy in - not that he's ever wanted to actually work as a teacher. He'll work 4 days there as on the 5th he has a county cricket match and that takes precedence; apparently. His sister is non too pleased at the possibility of him helping out in her class, or bossing her about as she puts it.

Today was Little Miss's school sports day, the last one I'll ever attend most probably. I started attending sports day when Number 1 son was a toddler, I don't think I've ever missed one either - that's a lot of time spent avoiding the Mother's race! You don't get to watch at the high school sports day, well so my children tell me. So another "end of an era" has dawned; there are a few more to come in the next couple of weeks before my baby leaves and has to don a high school blazer (if they make one small enough - she's a little tiddler).

I am still building up to a garden update, I promise to do it soon, I've taken photos but not got myself and the pictures organised. It's not worthy of a big build up I'm afraid, the weeds are growing too fast and I can't keep up with the watering. It's a busy time of year (gardening aside) and some of the jobs I started show no signs of ever being finished. I did however manage to pick my blackcurrants,
the birds made off with all the cherries and redcurrants....again!
One year I'll beat the birds to them!


I love jam and chutney making, we have cupboards full of the stuff, no one really eats it!

So the cricketers tomorrow will have a treat for tea, a cream tea with home grown and home made blackcurrant jam - hope they appreciate it!

We're having a lot of sunshine here in this part of the UK, and I'm certainly enjoying it. I hope we have a sunny weekend, there's cricket and ballet for us over the weekend, but only Little Miss has school on Monday the other 2 have finished for the Summer break, sadly I still have to go to work!

Enjoy the weekend whatever you do and wherever you are.

23 comments:

  1. I don't know if this will help with your furry friends, but when we have critters in our yard that we want to get rid of we put moth balls all over the place, they hate the smell. I've also heard that sprinkling the cat box around outside will drive them off. Good luck.

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    1. I'll definitely try the moth balls, that seems easy enough, now there's no food about I hope they'll vanish to someone else's garden!

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  2. I've just been catching up on blog commenting. Blimey, I've missed loads! Boys in Corfu, unwelcome visitors...
    Have you decided on your London hotel? Some of the ones I like can be a bit pricey but if you see a hotel you really like (I can suggest the Beaufort in Knightsbridge) then you could always email them and ask about 'press rates' suggesting that you would be happy to review the hotel on the blog. If they say no, you haven't lost anything. The Park Plaza on Westminster Bridge is great too and, next door, the Premier Inn is worth a look.

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  3. Yum, that jam looks amazing. I would always opt for toast and homemade jam over cake. Your daughter is so pretty! Wow, she's grown so much since that last photo you posted of her. She has the beautiful English skin.

    Talking of jam, my aunt had some visitors of the human kind who stayed on for four weeks and even told her off for buying the wrong kind of marmalade - your buzzy ones are not dictating the kind of jam you make...yet!

    I can't ever remember staying in a decent hotel in London and the ones that our parents stayed in had dodgy electrics so won't recommend those. It is great to stay around Kensington Park-Notting Hill area though there is so much so here there just walking around.

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  4. End of eras are bitter sweet - but great memories x

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  5. Your jam looks delicious!!! I hope that someone enjoys it. xx

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  6. You have been so busy. I really hated each end to the school and sports eras, I remember them so fondly even if they were actually hot and horrid to attend. Hugs to you and good luck with all your matches.
    Meredith

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  7. Sorry, forgot to say, I think that I am new to commenting on your blog, although I have been reading along for a bit! xx

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    1. Oh I'm pleased you dropped in Amy, thank you.

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  8. I certainly hope the cricket team enjoy the jam, bet it's going to taste scrummy with the scones and cream.
    Sad about all the 'last of' events at school, but the memories will be there and now you're in blogland they are here too.
    Lisa x

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    1. That is the good thing about blogging isn't it, a diary that hopefully won't get lost.

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  9. I am glad the wasps are sealed off and I am sure the poison will see the rats off soon, too. We've had some unwelcome visitors: James has scabies. I am itchy at the thought of it and wonder where he picked the mites up.... best not to think about it. Jam making is one of my favourite cooking activities. I made strawberry jam yesterday and hope to pick the redcurrants tomorrow. Cream tea sounds like a good idea for a Saturday afternoon, must remember that tomorrow. Have a lovely weekend. x

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    1. Oh dear poor James that is so itchy (I had it once as a teenager, no idea where from!) I've got nothing else to jam now as the strawberries have no fruit and the birds ate the redcurrants!

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  10. Lord! I am waiting for the plague of locusts!!!! Hang in there!

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    1. Oh no! I can't wait, watch this space!

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  11. Glad to hear the wasps have at least been contained. Hopefully the rats will move on the better pickings now that the bird feeders have come down. I am the same way with jam. I love making it - the jars are so pretty to look at - but we don't eat very much of it.

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    1. The children prefer the cheap supermarket jam in this house!

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  12. Wasps and rats aside, sounds like life is pretty good. Your jam sounds wonderful with all those homegrown fruits!

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    1. Well the sun is shining so it's not all bad!

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  13. We had some ratty visitors in the compost heap and chicken run earlier this year; not pleasant, but the poison soon did its trick.
    Hope the cricketers appreciated the home made jam; if not, perhaps you could send it my way for use in the tea room!

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    1. I'd love to bake and make for the tea room, shame I'm not closer! (I'd certainly be a customer anyway!)

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  14. the jam sounds great..
    damn those birds.. we just seeded the yard the other day (grass seeds) and the birds and squirrels have been all over the place trying to gobble up the seeds

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