Guess what, the object of our groupie adoration, my niece Katie Hebditch, is supporting Goldfrapp at the Glastonbury Festival along with the rest of the National Youth Orchestra. NYO are also playing a bit themselves. Sadly I have never managed to get tickets to Glastonbury, will I ever get to go? Eldest son Thomas went many moons ago and I had to go and collect him after it was all over. I was directed to a layby where Thomas was fast asleep on the edge of the ditch. A policewoman was there looking concerned…!
My hornet sting has shrunk into a small red dot. My brother William says it was probably a Queen looking for a nesting spot, NOT my trousers madam.
It is my birthday on Friday and as usual I shall be spending it at the Royal Bath & West Show. I would much prefer to be walking along a beach looking for shells or fossils before a splendid lunch or dinner. Instead I will be wearing a white coat, showing animals and answering bizarre questions from the general public about alpacas. Best one of all time is still: “Do they lay eggs?” closely followed by “What do they drink?” (gin and tonic) and this question is normally asked beside a pen of alpacas eating grass “What do they eat?” After ten years of this one sometimes feels like flying across the pen and strangling them, I find a large glass of wine helps.
I have been given three large tomato plants which I much try really hard not to kill. Their owner gave me strict instructions on watering, feeding etc but I am more of the shove them in the ground and if they survive, terrific, school. I very rarely water anything, this is Devon after all, not known for its drought. My new vegetable patch is doing OK. Lots of lettuce ready for picking, the peas are up and the runner beans and french beans just poking their heads through. There is also a patch of seedlings that I think might be radishes. Unfortunately the filthy weather on Saturday has blown the labels away. It is always a bit of a guessing game in my garden as it has to get by on minimal attention made worse by my inability to plant anything in a straight line. But the plants DO grow.