Apple bobbing

 I decided to prepare, cook then sieve the last bowls of apples this year. There were rather more than I gauged and by the end of the day I don't want to see another apple again for a while!

With the nights starting earlier and dark overcast days we decided to get the fire going again, particularly as it is not worth or necessary to put the central heating on. It still fascinates me to watch how wood glows and seems to light up from within.

Harvest

 As the days get gloomier and the weather get worse, what a delightful counter to that is to watch the children in their Harvest Festival. There were some lovely songs and it always amazes me how confident some of the children are.

A lovely traditionn and one that I hope will carry on.

Service duty.

 Modern cars are extremely complex but so much more reliable than of old and quite remarkable feats of engineering.

I am always astonished how well they cope with the British weather, especially those cars that aren't garaged. Years ago cars seemed to be held together by rust. Does anyone remember driving along whilst watching the road by peering through a hole on the floor? 

So taking the car in for a service wasn't the trepidation it used to be. Coupled with a fantastic local garage meant a good fair bill for an honest thorough service. 

Do you remember?

 Can you remember your first day at school?

Some children have a phased start at school and may do part days so it might be difficult for them to fix their first day.

I don't remember my first day at primary, junior or grammar school. 

But how exciting it seems to be for the little ones today and so happy in their uniform.

We'd like to know

What is it about weeds that makes them such tough, grow anywhere plants? Despite it being so dry recently, weeds continue to grow and thrive. 

Although one definition of a weed is a plant growing in the wrong place, weeds seem to have little value to ourselves or even bees and other helpful insects. But what if they could be adapted or crossed with crops to give them resistance to drought? I have no understanding of plants but I am sure that work must have been done in the past to establish whether they could be used. 

One weed that is used is the dandelion, that deep rooted terror. Though I couuldn't tolerate it myself different parts of this weed is used and consumed by some. In its own way it is an attractive plant but does tend to grow in the wrong place so perhaps it really does qualify for the original definition of a weed.

Wooden you know

 The Works, and some other shops have plain wooden boxes, hearts and various shapes at very reasonable prices. These are quite nice in their unpainted or unvarnished form. But they can be painted in any design and can look very different and can be in a way a 3D painting.

Water, water nowhere

 My goodness another day, another day of watering around the garden. Some plants that are well established have to take pot luck but others need to be watered very frequently

I am surprised that our small fig tree keeps looking wilted and needs an almost daily supply of water. I had considered it an exotic plant so it would be used to drier conditions, but no.