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.



Fashion for the Older Woman

Just up the road from where I live there are two clothes shops.  One is for the younger woman, the other is more suitable for the older woman.  By older I mean, probably, anyone over 40 but for women over 60 in particular.  I recently visited the second shop I mention to try and buy a dress.  Not a fancy, party, beach type dress, just an everyday dress that I could wear this summer.

Before I went I shaved my legs and under my arms, something I tend not to do as often as I should.  Anyway, there I was clean shaven and wearing a skirt and top, something else I tend not to wear very often, usually I’m in trousers.  I walked in and the assistant asked if she could help me.  I told her I was looking for a day dress.  She immediately said that they don’t stock day dresses.  There I was, willing to pay about £75 for a decent dress and feeling terribly disappointed.  “Sorry” she said and walked into her office/stock room.

I was so certain I would get a dress easily.  Aren’t they all the fashion this year?

So, what did I do?  I visited Bonmarche.  Now this shop is considered cheap.  I looked up the French interpretation of Marche (sorry, can’t put the accent on the e with the computer) and it means cheap or market.  But who cares, I actually got a dress.  In fact I got two dresses and a little cardi thing…
 
And it fits!!!  The cardi with the above dress was from Sainsbury’s.

This is the other dress and cardi, both from Bonmarche

It has got shiny bits on it but the aren’t too noticeable.  And wearing the cardi hides the fact that it is a strappy dress, which I don’t like.

Altogether I spent just over my £75 for two dresses and two cardis.

Why is it so hard to find normal dresses?  Most of them look as though they are party dresses, or sun dresses.  I don’t want to walk around looking like a tart that’s past its sell by date.  I want to look neat and tidy and feminine.  I used to make all my own clothes but these days I want to be able to buy ready made.  I do find that dresses tend to be too short (above the knee) or too long (right down to the ankles).  They are also too frilly, I want to look feminine not tarty.  Most dresses don’t have nice little sleeves, a must in my opinion as I get older.  They are too low, I really do not like to see t**s on display, especially older womens'.  I could understand not finding anything if I was grossly overweight, but I’m a standard size 14 (UK) and sometimes a 12.  I also still have a waist.

I HATE SHOPPING!!!

The Month Of May

I had a lot going on during May.  I went to Weymouth for a few days, then home for a few days, then to visit my brother and sister in law who live in Suffolk.
The short break in Weymouth was lovely because of the beautiful weather we were having at the end of April beginning of May.  I did a lot of walking and even got a bit of a sun tan, and I don’t tan easily so really I just ended up with a very red face!  The hotel we stayed in was ok, though the room we had wasn’t exactly nice.  It was clean and the bed was comfortable, the en suite bathroom only had one of those tiny hand basins in it but, as I said, it was clean.  The food was fine, proper dinners (meat and two veg) with a very nice starter and dessert, and full English breakfast if you wanted it as well as the usual cereals and fruit juice.  The bar lounge was very pleasant too and there was entertainment every night.
I really enjoyed my stay in Suffolk as well.  As usual we were made very welcome and enjoyed my SILs always excellent cooking.  We had two outings, one to Lavenham, which is a very interesting old town with a lot of Tudor buildings, and a full day in Bury St Edmonds, a really fabulous place with lots of proper shops, not your usual high street chains (these were tucked away in a new shopping precinct).
At home I’ve been doing my usual sewing and trying to learn to hand knit.  This knitting lark is a bit of a struggle for me!  I’ve knitted a couple of dolls things and a tiny teddy bear.  Today I’m having a go at crochet.
In the garden we now have the polytunnel up and running.  So far I’ve planted tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, broad beans, peas, beetroot and carrots.  Only a few of each, enough for the two of us.  There is still enough room left for some successional sowing, I’m hoping that I’ll be able to extent out harvesting season by doing it this way.  Outside my strawberries are doing well, if the weather would pick up a bit we could have strawberries soon.  After such a lovely April it’s disappointing that the weather has turned cool, dull, rainy and very windy.
I’ve been doing my usual amount of baking.  This week it was almond and apricot cake.  It should have been almond and orange cake but I forgot to put the butter into the mixture and it turned out so rubbery it was inedible, the birds and fox got this, it disappeared quickly so they must have enjoyed it!

Polytunnel Progress

Graham hung around the house all day on Tuesday, waiting for the polytunnel to arrive.  It did eventually get here, at about 7.30 in the evening.  He spent Wednesday making one of the doors and is up there again today making the second door.

This is the area that is cleared ready for the tunnel....



Here are some of the components...

Here is Graham with the first door he made....

He is very enthusiastic about this polytunnel and is looking forward to gardening in it.

We saw the fox up there this morning, it was sun bathing on the soil but ran off before I could take it's picture.

Being Patient

I'm trying to be patient but it's difficult.  My polytunnel hasn't arrived yet, the company I'm buying it from said 7-10 working days before dispatch.  Well, ten days have gone by and still no word.  If I've not heard anything by Tuesday I'll have to get in touch with them.

I went up to the veg plot to take a picture of the area that is cleared ready for the tunnel but when I got up there I forgot - don't you just hate it when that happens!  I did take a picture of my rhubarb....

What on earth would eat rhubarb leaves?  Tomorrow I'll go up there and check for snails, it could be them and I wonder if eating these leaves kills them?

It's been so dry lately and I had to water my strawberries.  I transplanted them a couple of weeks ago and they are doing well, one already has a fruit forming...

I got lots of runners off the few plants I put in last year.  When I get my tunnel I'll buy some more plants for in there - when I get my tunnel!!!

The miniature cooking apple has blossom coming on it...

I always get a few apples off this tree but I did prune the top off it at the end of last year because it had bowed over and I couldn't get it to straighten up.

The miniature damson tree had loads of blossom on it this year, since I transplanted it out of its pot it has done really well.  Last year I got some fruit off it for the first time and I've had it for at least fifteen years!