Sunday 5 July 2020

A Granny's Diary - 104 Days and Counting

Hello again.  I do hope everyone's well and staying safe..and keeping warm.  There have been a few cold mornings and nights recently but, oddly enough, humid days too.

I've noticed over the last few years, warm May days have resulted in cooler days in July and so it is happening again, now.  Just when we need good regular sunshine to encourage great harvests for home eating, the weather fails us and our earlier tan almost turns to rust.

A few notable dates fror this week - 1st July was the anniversary of the birthday of Princess Diana.  Also, on this day, the 23rd anniversary of Britsh Govt. Handback of Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997.   For Australia, at midnight on 1st July, Lockdown for the State of Victoria, for 36 suburbs, due to a rise of Covid-19 cases.

The  world's gone mad and only time will tell how everything-for-everyone will pan  out.

I've been gardening practically every day, madly digging a flower bed to create space for more veg. seedlings, of kale, turnips, chard, dwarf borlotti beans, parsley, dill and Fr. marigolds.  Its all very pleasing when done but jolly constant work making it happen.

Today, I've begun creating garlic water and chilli pepper sprays for pesky garden bugs, to avoid using chemical sprays, and hoping to put these into use, once I have the soft soap component.  This is the Castile soft soap entity of a veg. based product, free of any animal fats and synthetic ingredients.  Soft soap is wonderful and may be used for many household and personal usage, for pets and for garden sprays, and it is the original soap made in the Mediterranean area when it was made with olive oil.  Now it can be made with hemp, coconut, almond, walnut or castor oil. It has a very high PH rating of 8.9.

Talk of Hong Kong reminds me of a two-day stop-over there on my way home from Australia.  It was a most marvellous visit and very excting.

Its the Austrian GP this weekend with a feast of TV commitment, so Himself will not be with me today
at our allotment, which means I can get on and do all the things I need to do !!  High winds, windier conditions, showers and sunshine are all possible today so I shall not be bored but kept on my toes, trying to do all that's needed.  And of course, you simply never manage to achieve all you think to do !  I mean, its just too much and time runs away with you, but its great fun trying!

Another anniversary for us to note and celebrate today, is the 72nd birthday anniversary of the NHS, our wonderful health service which began in 1948, a year after my birth.  How difficult life must have been for so very many people before its conception and roll-out, simply cannot be imagined now.  We baby boomer generation must surely be very thankful and tonight we shall all be outside our homes, joining our neighbours in the anniversary thank you clap for our marvellous National Health Service.  

And of course, I must  also mention 4th July Independence Day anniversary for our American cousins and while celebrations must surely be subdued in this crazy Covid-19 year of 2020, I hope families manage to get some sense of togetherness for their special season.

I'm looking forward to a family Zoom call and then to singing happy birthday to a fourth grandchild .

Be safe stay well,

Margaret  xxx




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