This weekend

:: we've done almost nothing at all, since we were having a heatwave that was supposed to break all records (it did, but not where we lived) and we tried to be careful. It was good, but I'm itchy to do something now (which is good, since it's Monday and a lot cooler and I have a todo list that is a mile long).

:: I started knitting something new before finishing what I was working on. That's not how I usually do it, but I found out the synthetic stuff I was working with was sort of melting in the heat. It was scratchy and my knitting felt clumsy and hard. It was actually a relief to go through that, since that's exactly how it felt when I first got sick, on Curaçao. It's good to know that wasn't the joint pain that made it impossible to knit, it's just the combination of that yarn and the heat. Note to myself: buy better yarn especially to take with me on the next trip.

:: we watched our neighbours transferring their family, some guests, a party tent and  lots of food and drinks to the other side of the channel (and back again) in two tiny boats.

:: felt some of their enthusiasm rubbing off and sat at our bedroom window watching an empty road most of the afternoon to see this for just one minute:

That's the Tour de France rushing by.

:: enjoyed the weather cooling off and the rain falling down (no watering - yay!)

::  rested enough to actually feel up to dealing with the week to come. So I guess I'd better put down the laptop and get to it ;-)
Wishing you all a happy start of your week!

in my garden :: very little, but still some vegetables

Apart from the health-and-other-issues we had for the first half of this year, it was a very, very cold spring. So although I had some great plans and even ordered a seed catalogue to start making plans early last winter, I never really got into it until it was too late.

Those raised beds that once were filled to the brim with all kinds of vegetables? I just put some flowers in that the girls got me for my birthday and left it there. And yes, I seem to be struggling to keep those flowers blooming too. That cold, cold spring was followed by a heat wave. I am watering every night, but things are suffering...

The big bed in the back isn't even filled properly and I leaving that one bare this year. That's good for the soil, isn't it?
Still, I can't go completely without growing something, it seems. That little red bucket is a strawberry growing kit one of the girls got as a present and wanted to toss out (it seems my love for the garden wasn't passed on to the next generation). I took it and am watching it closely to see if the seeds are actually catching on or not.

I bought some tomatoplants at the supermarket sale two months ago. I did that before and that was the only time tomatoes worked out for me. I put them in exactly the same container in the same place I had them back them. Here's hoping for a little harvest...

Also on repeat: my little salad bar. Last year I was tired of fighting off snails and put some lettuce in the old barbecue on the roofterrace. It worked like a charm: we had salad from it for close to two months! If it keeps growing like this, I think I can at least add some leaves to our salad next week already. (I planted this only last week)

And last but not least... our plum tree is trying hard to produce. It lost most of its blossom in a freezing storm this spring, but there are a few plums hanging on. You can always trust old faithful to do his job ;-)

On the first of July

Hi, it's me...
I didn't fall off the face of earth, though it certainly felt like that a few times. The first half of 2015 wasn't excactly fun, but let's not get into that. Things are looking up now. I'm hoping for this second half to be a lot better.

I've been telling myself I didn't want to blog. I told myself to be aware of privacy problems, of Big Brother issues and of the internet not exactly being a nice, safe, happy place most of the time. And I was right.
But there's still that other side of it, the side where people try to focus on the good things, where people inspire each other to be happy or at least content and savor the moments. And that's the side I miss being a part off...

I'm still not sure though, so this is just a little try-out, doing what I've loved the most over those years of blogging. Taking pictures of flowers. My fingers were rusty and I think my camera was too. But here's some of the summery goodness I want to savor.