Tea Cosy Crazy!

Tea cosy number two turned out a bit over frilly.  I think I got a bit carried away here don't you?



Is This Summer?

It's really hot here today, about 24C (75F).  It was hot yesterday too.  We are able to have my patio table and chairs out and to sit comfortably outside.  I even put a skirt on, usually I wear trousers, this is so I can wear socks, my feet get cold even in mild weather.

I'm crocheting another tea cosy.  This time I'll make it with a separate lid cover so that I can add water without taking the whole cover off.  Also, I'm going to add some fancy bits to it.  The one thing about crochet as compared to knitting is that it is quick.



Creativity and Mood

I've got over my bad mood that I was in for a couple of days, that I often get in when I read stuff in the newspapers.

So, how did I get back into my more usual frame of mind?  I did a bit of crafting of course.  This time it was crochet.  Just lately I've enjoyed doing things other than embroidery and one of those things is crochet.  One of the reasons I love the internet so much is because it is a constant source of inspiration.  No matter what your interests are there is something on the web about it.  This crocheter/knitter has some lovely things to try and I have just spent the last two days making a tea cosy.  It took me two days because I'm very slow and also did other things in between crocheting...

Peggy had very kindly sent me a beautiful knitted tea cosy for my big teapot, it works wonderfully and keeps the tea really hot.  I didn't have the confidence to knit one for my little teapot so I decided to crochet one instead.  It's not perfect but for a first go it's ok.

Doing a bit of creative crafting always puts me in a good mood.  I can wake up in the morning and really look forward to the day if I have a project in mind.

Update Of Last Posting

I looked up prison populations here in the UK for the 1930s, there were approximately 10,000 prison inmates.  At the end of the 1970s there were approximately 45,000.  Today there are approximately 90,000.

To me this proves that prison is no deterrent these days.  What that politician doesn't seem to understand is that the reason prison is no deterrent is because it is now too easy for the inmates.  Prison used to be a horrible place to be.  Nowadays it is like a hotel, and not the sort of hotel that I could afford to stay in.  I don't believe in capital punishment but I do believe that criminals give up a lot of their rights.  I was incensed (again) recently when I heard that Prison Officers had been told to call the inmates 'Mr' (can't comment on what female prisoners should be addressed as) and that they had to be called 'clients', not inmates, convicts or prisoners.  I make no mention here of the other privileges criminals in prison are now allowed, no wonder prison is no deterrent.

Whose Side Are You On?

I've been following a story in the Daily Mail.  I've also read about what one of our politicians has to say about prison sentences for criminals and burglars in particular.  If you defend yourself from a burglar, what would be considered 'reasonable' force?  Give a burglar a little smack and you'd probably end up maimed or dead when they use a criminal's experience of violence against you.  So, the person in the story in the Daily Mail has been arrested and remains in police custody because a burglar died when a householder was defending himself, his family and his possessions from a gang of three balaclava wearing criminals.  And to add insult to injury, the dead burglar was out on bail - for burglary.

I am beginning to question who the law is protecting here.  Or should I say, I've been questioning for some time who the law is protecting.  Do our police have some sort of motto, like 'protect and serve'?  Or maybe I'm being hard on the police and should blame the 'system' that allows a burglar to be free in society when he is already awaiting, I presume, a trial for an 'alleged' previous burglary.

I feel just as incensed when I read about false allegations made by vandals and hooligans who are making lives miserable for ordinary people in a community when they try to defend their property or their right to a peaceful life.  Or when a business owner marches a thief to the police station and then gets arrested for daring to do it.

You can bet that if I was to drop a bit of litter I'd get pounced on and fined.  Or if I put the wrong thing into the wrong wheelie bin, or if someone is smoking in their works van, or makes some remark that is these days considered politically incorrect, the powers that be will deal with them promptly.

I get depressed and disillusioned at the way the law works these day.  And at the way criminals, vandals and hooligans get away with ruining life for everyone else.  Yes, kids have always got up to tricks, but when remonstrated with they would run away, not rush in and beat someone senseless.

June In My Polytunnel

At last some pictures of how my polytunnel growing is coming along...

I'm very pleased with how the polytunnel is working out.  Nothing gets ruined by the weather, the fox can't get in because we've set up a fence for the doorway when the door is open, and I can control any insect pests much better.  The only disappointment I've had is some dwarf green beans that I sowed.  I sowed the fifteen beans that were in the packet and only four have come up.  Not sure why this has happened, they were some Kew Royal Botanic Gardens Urban Garden Collection beans so I expected them to do really well.  Today I went to the garden centre, actually I went to three before I found some, the other two had sold out, and I bought some climbing French beans.  Also bought fennel and a couple of garlic plants.  The tunnel is full now so all I have to do is wait for harvesting before I can decide what I want to put in next for overwintering.  I do recommend a polytunnel for the fair weather gardener, it is so nice to be able to do a bit of gardening when it's cold and rainy!!!



Strawberries

Earlier this year I transplanted my strawberry plants to a new bed.  There were quite a few runners to add to my collection too.  The raised bed they are now in is about two and a half feet high so the soil is nice and deep.  I used some dried chicken manure and blood, fish and bone fertilizer before I put the plants in and the position of this bed gets quite a lot of sunshine.  It paid off because there a lots of strawberries ripening.  These are the first ones to ripen....

And they are bigger than the plants produced last year.  I've got straw under the plants and fleece over them.  Before I put the fleece over them a blackbird pecked one of them and I wanted them for me!

The polytunnel is coming along well.  All the plants look healthy and haven't been battered down by the strong winds and heavy rain we've been getting.  In previous years I've lost plants that have been battered by the weather so it's lovely to see the ones in the polytunnel looking so good.