sarahx

Well, we're back from St Lucia – got back Monday morning – it's been a bit of a shock to the system getting used to working again after being so marvellously lazy for a whole fortnight. Will try and get around to posting something about it later on.

Anyroadup. The soft fruit harvest is going apace – we had a pound of gooseberries on Tuesday which got transformed into a rather fine crumble, plus a stack of strawberries and raspberries.

And we've spent the past couple of hours picking cherries. The cherry tree was brought back from Phoebe's (the local dangerous garden centre) in the back of the Puma when I did the garden six years ago - sitting on the back seat and poking out the back of the open hatchback – and was about eight feet tall then. It now must be three times that. I deliberately bought a variety that gives edible sweet cherries – Stella – but I've never had any ripe cherries off it before, despite loads of green ones forming. They all fell off before they got to ripen. But not this year. This photo was taken on Monday evening, and doesn't remotely do justice to the amount of cherry-tastic redness that had appeared in our absence.


So this morning we dodged the rain, and with the help of a ladder and a curvy-handled umbrella to pull branches towards us, we managed to pick an astounding 34lb. Yes, that's almost two-and-a-half stone – and two-and-a-half carrier bags full. Had to weigh them on the bathroom scales as the kitchen scales couldn't cope! And that's despite the load that had fallen, and the ones the pigeons had been feasting on.

There's only so many cherries a girl can eat, and a limit to the jam and pie possibilities. So if anyone nearby – chiller? bagrec? – would like some I'm sure some can be delivered. Let me know! And as long as I don't forget, I'm sure stu_n and burge will get some next Saturday, should they so desire!

Next door are having a bonfire.

My laundry's on the washing line.

I'm now going to have to wash it all again.

How hard would it be to have knocked on the door and warned me in advance? Some people's lack of common courtesy is astounding.

There are black aphids on my French beans. But they're still in the pseudo-greenhouse (aka the windowsill in the loo). How did the little tinkers get in there?

What else to do on a bank holiday but visit the garden centre?!

We did at least go to the pictures first - Hitchhikers' Guide (or Hitchhikers' Guild, as Greenwich Filmworks would have it). Then some bargainaceous bedding plants at B&Q (everything half price, can't argue with that!). Followed by some weeding and snailing in the sun in the garden.

Snail count = 486.

And I dare say we missed a few. Little bastards.