garden – My London+

I Got Pinged!

On 18th July I was pinged by the NHS Covid App, meaning that I had to self-isolate for seven days. The App identifies a contact with someone who later tested positive for Covid. However, I have no idea where that happened, and certainly did not come from any friends I met during the week. I took a lateral flow test, which was negative.

Last week the UK was experiencing a heatwave with temperatures in the low 30c. Having had to cancel my plans for Wednesday, at least I could spend time in the garden. The mornings and evenings were best times for being outside. During the height of the day, there was nowhere to escape to; not one room in the house was cool, and at night sleeping was difficult. With no rain, watering the garden was high on the list of jobs for the evening. Housework had to be done early in the morning, or not at all!

The photos I am sharing this week reflect my life during the last seven days Thankfully, there were some distractions in the garden and the moon was looking beautiful.

Today I am able to leave the house again!

With time on my hands, I made a little beach scene to sit by the pond, decorated with finds from the bankside of the River Thames, some fairy garden items, and a few shells.

Homemade vegan pizza – my son made the herb base and I put my own topping together

Vegan buns filled with homemade blackberry jelly. These are absolutely divine!

Snow!

London finally had snow yesterday. Which means everyone goes mad. Having been locked indoor families went out tobogganing and building snowmen. Me? I just ventured into the garden a took a few photos before it all melted. By today most of the snow had gone. It’s been a few years since snow stayed longer than a couple of days. The rest of the UK has had snow a few times already, but being so far south, and down in a valley, London gets a day of snow a year, if we are lucky.

I love snow, but I am happy for it to go the next day. I hate it when it freezes over and gets all slippery. At my age the bones don’t mend so fast or well, so I’d rather sit it out at home than venture onto icy pavements.

So, while I was excited as everyone else yesterday, I’m not too sad that it’s gone.

Today the snow was just hanging on in my local park

My Week in Pictures (4)

This last week, aware that I am putting on weight (probably not helped by Easter chocolate!) I decided that I would do some jogging. Mindful that the last time I did this (in 2012) I did my knees in and could barely walk, I have taken it easy by not running every day. About every third day I am power walking up to a nearby park and then run one lap around it, stopping every so often to take photos (a good excuse for a breather). It’s early days yet, but I hope to continue. I go early (about 7am) when social distancing is no problem as there aren’t many people out.

I was thinking of posting some pictures of past visits to London, but all my photos from last year and further back are on a server which has gone into meltdown. My son tells me that when Windows 10 updates it does ‘something’ to the server and messes things up. Hence I could not get into it this morning, and though my son had a go at fixing it, he couldn’t manage it. I do have the photos on my old laptop so I might try and transfer them all onto memory sticks because this is jolly annoying.

So, here are the usual week’s offerings of trees, flowers and whatnot.

My Week in Pictures (3)

Highlights this week were the Supermoon and tracking down cans of tomato puree. The weather continued to be sunny and just how I like it, so I’ve been in the garden reading a lot of the time. I also dug over another bed and scattered more seed. I have a saucer with the ends of carrots and radishes sprouting. These are experiments because I’ll admit I’m no gardener. I have some aubergine seeds sprouting by the look of things (everything looks weed-like to me in the first stages).

I became quite obsessed with the Supermoon and one of my sons brought out the smaller of his telescopes and we set up in the front garden before moving to the back garden to carry on as the moon rose over the roof of our neighbour’s house. I was able to cadge a look at Venus through the telescope and my son pointed out Orion’s Belt. Anyway, I took a ton of photos messing around with increments of exposure (both up and down) to try for that perfect shot. I am limited a little with a bridge camera and the length of zoom, but I came away with some shots I was happy with.

When I woke up sometime after three o’clock the next morning I decided to get up and see how the Supermoon was doing (I’d heard it would be at its best at that time). Through the kitchen window all I could see was cloud and a few breaks where I could see the light of the moon, but no moon. I made a mug of tea and went into the lounge on my laptop (as you do), but with one eye looking through the curtains every so often to see what progress the cloud had made. Finally, I saw something worth going outside for. Yes, there I was in my jim jams sitting on the bench trying to steady the camera (all my shots are hand held). This went on for almost two hours – in and out of the house – until at about 4.45am when I got full moon shots. I uploaded them onto my laptop and went back to bed.

The following evening my other son said the moon looked even better. Did I need an excuse? Nope. I went into the front garden for a few shots, and yes I think it did look better.

I have managed only one walk this week (we are very limited for decent walks living as we do in an urban area). This walk incorporated a busy road before heading off down through a golf course. On the way back through the high street I did my shopping and finally found the coveted tomato puree. Still looking for plain flour.

If you are missing views around London and learning a bit of history, I’d highly recommend Look Up London (who I have been on real walks with). Katie is running virtual tours about three times a week through Facebook and Instagram. Details through her website here.

See you next week.

My Week in Pictures (2)

Every day seems the same right now. It’s hard to keep track of them, a bit like when it’s Christmas and you can’t remember if it’s Tuesday or Sunday. Routines have gone out the window, yet I find I am rather enjoying slow time. Having had such good weather has helped. I have been gardening again – weeding, sowing more seeds. Reading has also been high on the agenda too and I washed the patio furniture (attempting fate) so I have more sitting options!

I go out about every three days to shop but avoid the big supermarkets as I hate queuing. I’ve noticed that I have more washing up to do but less clothes washing (there are four adults in my house), I am up to date with most of the housework and I think we are actually eating better. I’ve certainly cooked more scratch meals. The meat eaters of the family (two of them) have eaten more veggie and vegan (they usually cook their own meat), and we have settled into this weird way of life. I take each day as it comes and try not to dwell on how long this might last.

There is less traffic and pollution (much better for the planet) and I am more aware of birds singing and bees buzzing. I love watching wildlife from my window, though in this urban area wildlife is usually birds and a visiting cat. Nevertheless, I find it all calming and it’s an opportunity to take photos, which is good news for the blog! So, here is a selection of photos that make up this last week.