Bath- a weeknd trip

It had been quite a while since our last visit to Bath.  I think the previous time I was there was for the Christmas Market with the girls.

This time we took the caravvan for a weekend away and stayed just outside Bath at Yellowtail Campsite in Trowbridge.  It's a lovely, peaceful site, a perfect place to unwind.

Set on a working farm, Yellowtail Campsite offers a large field with grass pitches for campers who don't require electric hook-up, as well as a separate area with hard-standing and grass pitches with electric hook-up, which is what we booked.

The site has a clean and well maintained shower block and seperate toilet facilities.  Despite being on a working farm there was no disruption form heavy machinery, no unpleasant farm smells, and no road noise.  It really is the perfect place for a quiet, relaxing getaway but also convenient for exploring the surounding area.

The hardstanding and grass pitches at Yellowtail

We arrived late on Friday afternoon and had already decided that this was going to be a no-cooking weekend.  After setting up the caravan we drove to a local pub for something to eat.

If there was one downside to the campsite, it was that there didn't seem to be any pubs or restaurants withing easy walking distance.  That said, it certainly wouldn't put us off staying there again.

The following morning, rather than driving into Bath and seaching for a parking space, we decide to use the Park & Ride, which was only abut a 15-minute drive from the campsite.  We found a parking space with no trouble at all, and with the shuttle buses running every 12-15 minutes, we didn' have to wait long before we were on our way into the city.

Before we set off I downloaded a Viator self guided audio walking tour app.  There were various ones to choose from, we chose the Romans, Royals and Regency one.

Our walk began at Pultney Bridge, there were 13 stops in all each with information and a brief history.

As you would expect, Bath was very busy.  However, it was even busier than usual on the Saturday because the Summer Graduation ceromonys were taking place at the Abbey.

 I had hoped to climb the spiral staircase to enjoy the views from the top of the Abbey, but unfortunately it was closed to the general public for the week-long graduation programme.  

As we wandered through the city we listened to the information about the Roman Baths and the Jane Austen Centre, as we had visited both on previous trips we decided not to go inside this time but we did enjoy learning a little more about their history.

The rest of our walk took us past many of Bath's famous landmarks, including Queen Square, the Assembly Rooms and St Michael's Church.  No wonder Bath is such a popular destination with its stunning architecture and fascinating history around every corner.

The Circle and it's wonderful curved houses.

We also passed the famous Sally Lunn's.  

Our 'guide' told us that it was, (aparantly) a French baker named Solange Luyon who opened the orgional bakery in the 1680's.  The locals, who were unable to pronounce her name, shortened it to Sally Lunn. 

Sally Lunn was famous for her baked goods, especially her unique bath bun, the recipie for which is a closely guarded secret.

As with many famous historic attractions there was quite a queue and we didn't feel the need to wait.

Although Abbey Green wasn't part of our guided walk it was somewhere we couldn't walk past without stopping to admire.  

This historic square with it's beautiful Grade II listed buildings is so pretty.

The dappled sunlight was just perfect and gave the square a lovely atmosphere with an almost continental feel.  It was one of those unexpected finds that made walking around Bath so enjoyable.

Our walk concluded at the Royal Crescent and Royal Victoria Park. 

The Royal Crescent is probably the landmark that Bath is most famous for, and I can see why.  This row of 30 Grade I listed townhouses is both beautiful and unique, originally bult for the wealthy Georgian society it is today a mixture of uses, including private residences, apartments and even a hotel.       

  If you happen to have £4,250,00 to spare you could perhaps own a seven bedroomed house on the Crescent!

Or if that is a little out of your reach perhaps a more modest priced studio at £495,000 would be better suited.

We finished our day with a stroll round Parade Gardens before heading back to catch our Park & Ride bus.  

It had been a lot of walking in the heat, although we did manage to find some shade along the way and made sure to take regular stops, so it wasn't as bad as It could have been.  

We both really enjoyed our little City trip and are thinking about where we would like to visit next.

-X-

Allotment diaries - Some progress

I'm really enjoying keeping a photo diary of the allotment's progress.  At times it feels like everything is happening so slowly, but when I look back, I'm amazed at how much has changed in such a short space of time.  It's a lovely reminder that every little job adds up.

The best part is knowing it's all down to my own hard work.  Mark just isn't into gardening or growing, and that's absolutely fine - I actually love that every decision is mine to make.

Having said that, he is really good when it comes to building things.  He'll tackle any construction projects I dream up, which is a huge help because I wouldn't have the first clue where to start!  I've already got a list of ideas for things I'd like him to build / fix up, so don't worry...I'll be keeping him busy, ha ha.

How it looked before

And now

I decided to keep the 'goalpost' as it will come in handy for growing beans another time.  At the moment I have tomatos growing there.  In the foreground I've recently put in some potatoes, which will be ready for Christmas.

In front of the tomatoes are sweet corn and four pumpkins, all growing nicely.  I'm also re-using the bed edging from my Roots plot.

Another section and how it looked before

And now

Here the path is about half done.  I'm laying weed membrane down for the path, but not between the beds.  I'm trying to concentrate on getting everything laid out while the weather is dry, so at the moment there is nothing planted in the raised beds.

The next area I plan to work on is around the pond.  I emptied all the water out a couple of weeks ago and have kept it covered ever since, just in case we had rain, (if only!)  I have already been scavaging for rocks, with help from Bonnie and Jacob, which I'll use to edge the pond.....Update on that once there is something to show.

In the meantime, I asked our AI friend If rain was expected, the answer?, not for a least another 10 days!

-X-

It's even too hot for the plants

I tidied the greenhouse out this morning before the sun got to that part of the garden, all the spare pots are washed and stacked neatly ready to use again.  At the moment, the only plants in there are a tray of rudbekia that needs potting on plus, some calabrese and savoy cabbage that needs planting out at the allotment.

A gave the garden a good watering this morning too.  Even some of the plants in the ground are starting to droop in this heat, We've got heavy clay soil, and it drys out really quickly in the Summer.  We're lucky we haven't got a hosepipe ban at the moment, but if we don't get some decent rain soon, I don't think it'ss be long before we do.

The allotment is surviving, I've been going down there between 7 and 8pm in the evening and staying until around 10pm.  It's not ideal but it gets full sun all day, which is great for growing vegetables - not so great when you're the one working in it!  I'll post an update on how it looking soon.

Other than keeping the plants watered and trying to stay out of the sun as much as possible, there hasn't been a lot else going on here.  Oh, I nearly forgot - I did make some bunting for the summer house this week using an old table runner.  It got me thinking I should make some for the allotment too.  Maybe that'll be this week's little project...we'll see!

How are you all coping with this heat?  I definitely find that the older I get, the less I can handle hot weather.  Everything seems to take twice as long, and by the afternoon my energy levels have completely disappeared.  Is anyone else finding the same, or is it just me?

-X-

Books, author visits and talks

A couple weekends ago I visited Sudley Castle in Gloustershire with my eldest daughter, Jenny.  We had noticed that the historian David Starkey was doing a talk about the life of Katherine Parr.  The talk was to start at 6pm but we decided to make at day of it and visit the castle and grounds too.

 

 

 The talk was really good, very informative, he knows his stuff and answered questions very thoughly.

 

There was a book signing after the event, I chose Six Wives, The Queens of Henry VIII, a hefty book at over 700 pages, my thoughts are to split it into sections on each wife, when I get round to it.

It was our Book & Pudding club last night with a vist from the Author Sally Page.  Her recent book, Six Little Words was our book last month.  

To be or not to be…

Six little words, printed on orange card, appear one morning pinned to the noticeboard of Kate’s local café. There’s no explanation, no name.

Each day a new line is added, sparking curiosity throughout the café. Among the regulars is Bardy, an ex-English teacher grappling with writer’s block.

For Kate, this trail of words might just offer a second chance at happiness, if only Bardy can find the strength to share his story too…

 She was such a lovely friendly person, our host, Jen, did a great job with her questions and Sally answered them all with great detail.  It was interesting to hear her thought process while she was writing the book and how she came to include some of the topics.

I did read the book, although It wouldn't normally be something I'd pick up.  I enjoyed it in as much as it was an easy read, the characters were mostly all likeable and easy to imagine but It wasn't a book I thought a lot about unless I was reading it.  An ok read.

This is our next book to be discussed at the end of the month.  I've already read it, very different to the last one.

Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours. But this is not his story.

Ansel doesn't want to die; he wants to be celebrated, understood. Yet now he awaits the same fate he forced on those girls, years ago.

This is the story of the women who survive.

As the clock ticks down, three women - a mother, a sister, a detective - reckon with the choices that culminate in tragedy, the impact on those in its wake, and the possibility of redemption.

This won't be everyone's cup of tea, it's very dark and depressing really, very well written, but for me it just didn't hit the mark. 

Our library book club book last month was Shy Creatures 

Croydon, 1964. Art therapist Helen Hansford is working in a psychiatric hospital, where she has been having passionate but precarious affair with her married colleague, the charismatic Dr Gil Rudden.

Helen's structured life is upended when William Tapping - a silent, thirty-seven-year-old man with a beard down to his waist - arrives at the hospital. As Helen helps William express himself through art, she becomes increasingly entangled in his mysterious past.

Inspired by a true story, Shy Creatures is a life-affirming exploration of loneliness, love and the quiet forces that shape our lives, reminding us that freedom can come in unexpected forms.

Again, not a book I would have chosen to read.  I did almost give up, I was a good way in and put a message on our Whatsapp group to ask if it got any better because it was so mundane!  Most said they had enjoyed it, so that guilt tripped me into finishing it.  Did it get better?  slightly.  Will I remember it in a years time, possibly not.  

From my own TBR shelf I picked up Everyone Here Is Lying by Shari Lapena

William Wooler is a family man, on the surface. But he's been having an affair, an affair that ended horribly this afternoon at a motel up the road.

So, when he returns to his house, devastated and angry, to find his difficult nine-year-old daughter Avery unexpectedly home from school, William loses his temper.

Hours later, Avery's family declares her missing.

Suddenly Stanhope doesn't feel so safe. And William isn't the only one on his street who's hiding a lie.

As witnesses come forward with information that may or may not be true, Avery's neighbours become increasingly unhinged.

Who took Avery Wooler?

Now this one I am enjoying, the pace is good and the chapters end with something that makes you want to keep reading.  I should finish this one tomorrow.

Have you read anything good latley? 

-X-

What I'm working on

I haven't got any finished projects this week but I do have some works in progress, two pairs of socks and another cardigan for Freddie.

This pair will be for me, I'm knitting the Jemima pattern by Kay Jones.

This is the pair for Mark, just a plain vanilla pair for him. I'm enjoying knitting on both of these, the stripes seem to knit up quicker and I'm loving the squishyness of the Jemima pattern.

I've never been too fussed about using project bags but I bought the one above last year, It's supposed to be a make up or toiletry bag but as soon as I saw it I knew it would be the perfect size for a sock project, and the fact that It opens right out is so useful.

Stevie bought me this other one for Mothers day, it has an inner zipped pocket which comes in handy.

And they sit so nice and tidy when they are closed, lol.

Freddie is growing so fast so this will be something that he will grow into over the Autumn/Winter. I already had the Drops yarn in stash and I've knit this pattern a few times over the years.

Freddie had his first round of baby injections last Thursday, I went with Stevie as she didn't want to hold him whilst he had them, (I've done this for all my grandchildren, I get to be the villan and mummy gets to console,lol). They now have two injections, one in each leg and there is also an oral one for rotavirus.

It's such a lot to give a small baby and they ended up getting an out of hours GP appointment because he had a temperature, they then said he needed to go to the childrens department at the main hospital. Both his temperature and heart rate were up and they ended up staying in the hospital until Sunday afternoon. He is fine now except he is still getting really loose poo's, Stevie was told to expect that for a couple days because the rotavirus is administered as a live solution so they do get a tiny bit of the virus. You could tell he had belly ache/pain when he cried and he was so out of sorts yesterday.

She's got an appointment with her GP tomorrow just to check him over just to make sure everything is ok because the next round of injections is offered in another three weeks time.

At last the opressive heat has gone and we are back to normal temperatures again, for now at least. It rained here this afternoon,Yayyyyy, first time in a while and it was nice slow rain, the sort that soaks into the ground, so that's good, it means I don't have to water the allotments

-X-

Allotment diaries - too hot!

 We are still in the midst of a heatwave, it's almost 10.30pm as I'm posting this and the temperature is still 33°C. - Apparantly it will start to cool down over the next four days, but in the meantime keeping everything watered on both the plots is keeping me busy.   I've been watering in the evening when the sun has gone down and giving everything a treble dose of water, hard work when you are not allowed to use hosepipes, but It's helping me get my steps in.

Mark made me a bench for inside the polly tunnel.

All my tomato plants from home are down there now, these are from the second lot of seeds I sowed, the first ones came to nothing.  I've still got to put them into larger containers but need to get some more compost, I only had enough left to pot on my peppers.

Before It got crazy hot I got two of my pallet collars beds in, that was harder than I thought It would be!  The other two can wait until It's cooler.  I've thrown the plastic covering back over the other section I cleared which should keep the weeds at bay until I can get around to setting beds out.

Well this is a sorry looking pond isn't it, lol.  I originally thought I would be able to get the muck and debris out without emptying all the water but there was just too much, and it smelled really bad so I emptied it one bucket at a time and the sun has dried up the remaining water.  It's a shame about the water lily, I've taken a cutting but it was really too big for the space anyway.

The rest of the mud in the bottom is all dried up now and I'll be able to sweep that out, but because the bath is so stained I'm thinking of putting a lining in, It'll be easier than trying to clean it up.

In case you were wondering, there was nothing at all living in the water, I did sweep around with a net on several occasions before I emptied it.

I've got some lovely looking apples growing on one of the trees, I got excited because I thought they might be russets, my favourites, now they have turned a little greener, but as long as they an eating variety I'll be happy.  

Also, I have wheat! No idea what to do with that, but It's looks pretty so I've left it for now.

-X-

Another couple of finishes

 I got a couple things cast off over the last week, another pair of socks to add to my box of socks and a little cardigan for Freddie.

I've lost the ball band so I'm afraid I cannot remember what the yarn was or the colourway, I am happy that I got the pattern on boths socks to match though.  

We are not wearing any of the socks I'm knitting this year, they will be a gift to both of us to start wearing from January.

I decided to knit another Baby Aosta cardigan for Freddie.  I really didn't like the fit of the first one I made but couldn't find another pattern that I liked.  I'm happier with how this one came out, altough I do still think that a cardigan knit in peices has more structure and better fit.

Even though I knit a bigger size thinking it would be ok going into Autumn I'm not sure he will get much wear out of it, he is growing so fast, he is eight weeks old now and already wearing 3-6 months clothes, plus, It's too warm for him to be in any clothes at the moment, let alone woolly ones.

This week we have another heatwave, the air is so close and uncomfortable, it was already 30°C today and predicted to rise to 34°C on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We are not geared for this extreme heat, our houses are built to keep heat in and we don't have air conditioning in homes.  I've been keeping all the blinds closed so that the rooms don't overheat and we have fans going which does help a little.

I think I'll be hibernating untill sensible temperatures return, which shouldn't be too long because this is the UK after all, give it another week and we'll be moaning about the rain, ha ha.

-X-