September sunshine

Well the sun has certainly been shining for the past week which has been a little too hot for me but we've had a quick shower of rain this morning which has cooled things down and made it a bit more pleasant to get outside. The garden has again been taking up a lot of time mainly freezing the wonderful crop of vegetables that we've had this year. We've had so many that even the girls are getting fed up with them. I've made pickles and jam though one batch of jam refused to set even though I boiled it again and added extra pectin but thankfully we'd got so many blackberries that I made more and still had some for the freezer. At least we won't starve this winter.

As well as the garden Tony decided to decorate the kitchen and then when he'd finished that he moved on to the bathroom which he is still finishing so it's been a busy couple of months but it will be worth the effort when it's finished. I don't think he can settle since he's retired he never seems to stop. Sometimes I miss the days when I'd be on my own and read a book or do a bit of stitching or knitting whenever the mood took me but it is nice to have him around more so I'll just have to find him jobs that will keep him in his shed.

We also celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary in August and the girls bought us flowers, chocolates and garden vouchers which were very much appreciated and a lovely flower ornament with a sapphire coloured stone in the centre. I can't believe how quickly those 45 years have gone but we've had three wonderful daughters and five beautiful grandchildren to keep us busy along the way.

I also had to go for an eye test again, I changed opticians this time as I thought my regular one wasn't as good as usual last time I went, just seeming to have a quick look and not listen to what I wanted to ask. The new optician was really lovely, he took time to listen and explained things clearly. My new glasses should be here for the weekend and after my daughters telling me that I never change the style of my glasses I've gone for something a bit different so I hope I still like them when they arrive.

Not a lot of stitching has been happening here in Derbyshire but I have pulled a few projects out so I'm ready for when I feel the urge.

I managed to finish the socks I started last month but that's about all on the craft front but now things have calmed down a bit outside I shall be able to concentrate more on my stitching, I hope so as I have another exchange coming up.

I'll finish with a few pictures of the garden though everything is going over now but there's still plenty of colour to look at each day and now Autumn is on the way it won't be long before the trees will provide the wonderful jewelled colours to keep the garden going.

I've been having problems with blogger again not letting me comment on some blogs and I've had a couple of comments come through to my email but not on my blog. Perhaps I've pressed a wrong button again, I very often do so I'll have to ask my daughter when she next comes or one of the grandchildren who can magically press a key and everything comes right.

Hopefully I'll have more to show you next time but I'm terrible at remembering to take a photo of what I've been doing, Take care all, love Sue x