Flooded!

Well it must be almost unheard of, but whilst in Abingdon this weekend we nearly got flooded in. My parents house was fine, but the Ock flooded (usually this is a yearly occurrence with no effect on the houses, as the only house in danger is on stilts and quite used to it). This year however the little river obviously couldn't cope with the vast quantity of water coming down in such a short time. We had 76mm in 9 hours on Friday, and by Sunday this was the result.

Had to jump in the car to get out and to Epsom before we got stuck there!!! Pleased we don't live on a river!

Garden, 6 months on

At last we have some flowerbeds with something in them! Thankfully the laylandii don't seem to have sucked all the water out of the soil (maybe that is just because it has been so wet this year), and everything seems to be growing really well.




My favourite plants of the year have to be the phlox "twinkle stars" which have flowered for ages, have brilliant colours all the way from white to purple to red. I'll certainly do them again next year. The dianthus I planted are also great, as are the sweet peas and dahlia that Dan's Dad gave us.

Vegetable patch, 3 months on

Thought I'd do an update of the vegetable patch, and the garden (see above). 3 months on, we have harvested our early potatoes, and have a crop of King Edward's well on the way. We have carrots, onions, mange tout (two varieties), sweetcorn, courgettes, squash, and pumpkins all doing well. Here's a photo of the site:


And some produce:




We also have the greenhouse just about full of things as well! Two varieties of chillis, peppers, and tomatoes. I ate the first tomato today, but the chillis are huge! I am wondering how long it is going to take them to turn red, but experience of growing them inside is that it takes years!