No Rest for the Wicked!

My friend Steph, the one who gave me a ticket to the ladie's Ascot Day a few weeks ago, is heavily involved with Teesside Hospice. Steph is shop manager of one of the most successful charity shops in the area. I have known Steph for many years, initially I taught her son but we became friends immediately and the friendship has lasted. Like me she likes a good laugh and when we are together we always end up having a hoot! Steph has a heart of gold and her latest venture is to host a Jamie Oliver party. I am going, along with some of my best friends. Steph is making some jam and cookies so I offered to make some posh labels. I made them Saturday afternoon and just need to put some sticky tape on them. It was a joy to sit down at my desk because we have been really busy today. We set off early to go into Middlesbrough as Wilkinson's Store is selling home brewing equipment and we have made the decision to make our own wine and cider.

This is inside our airing cupboard! 37 pints of 7% cider just started today!

Also I have started off a very special couple of demi-johns, Apricot and Strawberry. It belonged to our dear pal Phil who passed away some weeks ago. His partner, Maria, my best friend gave it to me, together with a demijohn so I was able to start both flavours off! I am going to keep a journal over the next few weeks, so I know what to do, to what, when! The arrival of the chickens has now been put back to September. When sorting out the area we discovered a bees nest inside the shed. We had used it to store logs and somehow the bees had managed to find a way inside and are now snuggling up inside the logs. We have taken advice and one friend in particular, Compostwoman gave us this useful information. Bumblebes die off at the end of each year and only that years new queens survive and hibernate. They mate before winter and hibernate with the sperm inside them which they will use to lay eggs which will produce larvae in the spring of the next year... These are the big bb you see in sunny spring days, queens coming out of hibernation.... so if you make sure you leave the nest well alone until all activity has stopped in the autumn, chances are the new queens will have gone somewhere else to hibernate and the rest have sadly died off ,as is the norm..... Sad more info here http://www.bumblebeeconservation.org.uk/# so leave your logs bee until then and it should all bee ok...

So we are doing just that! I have been going to the tip with lots of garden clearings, imagine my surprise when I discoverd somebody had thrown away a patio table and chairs! This isn't the actual set, my camera is charging up as we speak, but it will give you an idea of what the furniture looks like. It is almost the same as our original set, the tables will be great together and we will have seating for 8 people! Why people throw such excellent stuff away annoys me. I use Freecycle so much. receiving as well as giving!

So a fruitful few days!