Summer is still here, albeit with the odd uncommitted shower

Brandy hasn't noticed the blueberries yet: they will picked tonight and draped in cream or turned into a blueberry crumble and enveloped in custard

Although it was a few days ago now, my rabbit hole tumble related sprained ankle seemed to be increasingly more painful than after I did it. Tossing up between trying to get a GP appointment (none available for 3 weeks), which probably would a lead to referral months away and going to see a physio (who as it happens, one of my brother's best mates). 

I opted for the physio, as one, he could see me today two, whilst he charges, I manage to get a discount for being Jon's brother, which is handy  and three, one of his assistants will entertain Brandy in the practice garden

After an examination and ultrasound type scan, it is indeed  "Acute Peroneal Tendon Subluxation" which Google had suggested earlier, it might be. He then did something with a laser that reduced the pain and said it needs stabilising whilst it heals. Which can either be done with taping or with a brace.  Whilst he could tape it right there, taping is quite an art to get right, unless you happen to have a physio at hand when it needs redoing, you may not get it right

He recommended the A60 Aircast brace, which is a composite lightweight brace, looks like a Goretex toe less sock with carbon fibre or nylon U shaped insert, which is wrapped to the ankle and up the calf with a Velcro strap. It's surprisingly comfortable to wear, easy to get on and off and allows you to wear regular footware, as it's not all bulky.

On 13/07/2016 at 2:55 PM, jmurray01 said:

I do like how easy cleaning is when you have the right equipment...

Apart the trim colour, what's the difference between them?

 

 

 

43 minutes ago, GMX said:

Brandy hasn't noticed the blueberries yet: they will picked tonight and draped in cream or turned into a blueberry crumble and enveloped in custard

Oooh, that sounds good!

Though I have just had a good handful of fresh raspberries for my lunch, that the birds have not found yet. Looking at the bushes, there should be enough for them and me for a while, soon. As long as they are not too greedy!

Talking about being greedy, if Brandy does discover the blueberries, un-noticed, you may be hit by a double whammy: No more blueberry crumble, and possible after effects that extol the benefits of vinyl flooring over carpets, once again

Brandy hasn't moved from her kitchen cushion since we returned from the physio.  I think playing  in the physio's garden has worn her out.

There's also a massive crop of rhubarb again, it's a fantastic year for rhubarb

 

Decent views ontop of a mountain and having enough time to view them as the people in front are driving at about 2snail paces per hour.

2 hours ago, GMX said:

Brandy hasn't moved from her kitchen cushion since we returned from the physio.  I think playing  in the physio's garden has worn her out.

There's also a massive crop of rhubarb again, it's a fantastic year for rhubarb

 

Not much good for anything else, Barley is poor this year don't know about wheat yet, not alot has matured, maize was doing rubbish but has shot up since we've had some rain.  However that still looks poor.  Fruit crops are down/poor quality as well.    In farming the general weather consensus is 3 good years & 1 naff year.  That's how it usually works with maize anyway.

I do like discovering Smooth Extra.  Finally, a radio station that plays my kind of music!!  Unfortunately it is DAB so I can't get it in the archaic radios in either my 405 or the Santa Fe, and for the purposes of keeping the cars original, I refuse to "upgrade".  Mind you, I have my own music to play when in the cars, but it's nice to have a good radio station for listening to at home.

I do like picking close to a kilo of blueberries, and that's only the smaller initial harvest, there should be around three to four harvests over the next month.  I've also pulled a huge quantity of rhubarb again, some stalks are almost a metre long with pub umbrella size leaves

My oven is full of crumbles and pies, most of whom are destined for the freezer, to consume later

On 14/07/2016 at 7:25 PM, Preecematt said:

Not much good for anything else, Barley is poor this year don't know about wheat yet, not alot has matured, maize was doing rubbish but has shot up since we've had some rain.  However that still looks poor.  Fruit crops are down/poor quality as well.    In farming the general weather consensus is 3 good years & 1 naff year.  That's how it usually works with maize anyway.

My maize is only half the height it should be for the time of year.

All the vegetative crops seem to be doing well but anything that is grown for its fruit or seeds is not.

What was 2009 like for agriculture? It was one of the worst years since 1995 in the garden

4 hours ago, jmurray01 said:

I do like discovering Smooth Extra

That sounds like it a name of a beer,   you could listen to Smooth Extra whilst drinking a pint of Smooth Extra

8 minutes ago, GMX said:

That sounds like it a name of a beer,   you could listen to Smooth Extra whilst drinking a pint of Smooth Extra

Haha, true! 

Ice cold watermelon straight from the fridge

5 minutes ago, GMX said:

Ice cold watermelon straight from the fridge

I've been trying to think of something healthy to instantly cool me down when I get back in this current weather...slightly worried about the quantity of cornettos and magnums (well Tesco own versions lol) that I'm getting through atm!   Not overly keen on water melon though, do you have anything similar in there as well?

Watermelons aren't the only melons in there, I've also got a couple of Piel de Sapo and Canary (which Tesco sells as Honeydew but true honeydew melons are completely different variety of muskmelon).

The melons cousin the cucumbers and the close relative the kiwano (aka horned melon) are equally refreshing.

Most juicy fruit work too for inner cooling purposes, after a spell in the fridge.  The big citruses, grapefruit, ugli, pomelo (bit of effort to peel though in hot weather, with it's 75mm thick clingy pith shaddock, Tangelo and regular Florida oranges.  Asian or Nashi pears  can be refreshing when chilled for a few hours, the flesh is less dense than regular apple and pears, not that dissimilar to watermelon; crunch yet juicy.

I haven't prepared any at the moment, but a big bowl of chilled pomegranate arils is as refreshing as watermelon

And I've of course got a minimum of 12 bottles of Tesco sparkling water with a hint of fruit juice occupying the bottle shelves

I forgot the jumbo pineapple whose dominating the top shelf

 

Edited July 17, 20169 yr by GMX
omtted somthing

Where do you get your watermelons from Ghana? I recently got back from holidaying in Turkey, and ate like Watermelon twice a day, I cannot resist the stuff!

(That said, its not something you would typically look forward to eating on a cold UK summer's day )

I love the Del Monte 100% juice lollies.

Very refreshing and cooling after a hot shift at work.

A black uniform plus body armour/vest is a major sweat inducer.

Sent from my SM-G930F

On 16/07/2016 at 10:16 PM, GMX said:

I've also pulled a huge quantity of rhubarb again, some stalks are almost a metre long

My oven is full of crumbles and pies, most of whom are destined for the freezer, to consume later

Oooh, not thinking of selling (or giving away!!) any of the blueberry crumbles, are you?

Good job Brandy was too exhausted to find the berries

My better half was wondering whether rhubarb would go with pork (like bramleys do), so I went to look at my rhubarb plant, only to find the rampant raspberry bushes had overgrown it (last year), and it had vanished. Been there for donkey's years!

6 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

slightly worried about the quantity of cornettos and magnums

The trouble with those tempting offerings is that they make you more thirsty (lots of sugar!), so then you need to go back and buy a coke, or beer, or other fizzy drink, then you need another magnum to cool down.

I know when I am hot and properly thirsty: A glass of Wessex Best (aka tap water) tastes as good as a pint of Tanglefoot!

Mind you, a pint of Badger Tanglefoot would still go down very nicely after the Wessex Best.

1 hour ago, Stoney871 said:

A black uniform plus body armour/vest is a major sweat inducer

That sounds worse than the all chainsaw protective gear I have to wear on occasion. But those occasions are almost invariably in the Winter, so it is not so bad then. Not nice now though!

2 hours ago, Incontro said:

Where do you get your watermelons from Ghana? I recently got back from holidaying in Turkey, and ate like Watermelon twice a day, I cannot resist the stuff!

(That said, its not something you would typically look forward to eating on a cold UK summer's day )

Tescos, they're also on offer this week, 30p off the regular size.

When I used to live in Tuscany, the watermelon grown there were considerably bigger than the Tesco ones, I would imagine it would be the same in Turkey

It is the tradition in Tuscany, when you have visitors in the summer.  The head of household cuts up a watermelon or two as the first offering to refresh the visitors, before then offering expresso coffee, grappa (the local spirit) and a miscellanea of cakes

1 hour ago, Stoney871 said:

I love the Del Monte 100% juice lollies.

Very refreshing and cooling after a hot shift at work.

A black uniform plus body armour/vest is a major sweat inducer.

Sent from my SM-G930F

I bet your dogs weren't too happy in their fur coats either.

Brandy gets ice cubes added to her water bowl and I freeze a a 2 litre ex-ice cream tub of water and bits of chicken as a sort of huge dog lolly.

They can only work for up to 30 minutes before being rested.

A nice aircon cooled crate and plenty of fresh water soon perks them up.

At least I have aircon too, definitely a necessary bit of kit in the car.

Sent from my SM-G930F

1 minute ago, Stoney871 said:

At least I have aircon too, definitely a necessary bit of kit in the car.

I assume that is not the standard mk2 Focus type of a/c, so beloved () by Tom and many others?

 

7 minutes ago, Tdci-Peter said:

Oooh, not thinking of selling (or giving away!!) any of the blueberry crumbles, are you?

There's legions of blueberries to come, so you never know.

8 minutes ago, Tdci-Peter said:

My better half was wondering whether rhubarb would go with pork (like bramleys do)

Yes it will, the chinese do it a lot and in the middle east and north Africa they use rhubarb to counteract the fattiness of lamb.  I would also work with duck too

Had not my trolley been full of so many watermelons, piel de sapos, and canary melons, I meant to get, but forgot to get some bottles of Badger yesterday

Standard mk3 ST aircon but boosted a bit by the fact that the rear crate area is cooled by a secondary matrix and by opening the interior crate access doors I get a nice cool draught across my neck.

Sent from my SM-G930F

1 minute ago, Stoney871 said:

Standard mk3 ST aircon but boosted a bit by the fact that the rear crate area is cooled by a secondary matrix and by opening the interior crate access doors I get a nice cool draught across my neck.

Sent from my SM-G930F

Brandy would love that, a proper dog air con system: I would like the ST too

I wonder how long before traders in ex-police/home office K9 estates start offering mk3 STs? There's one down the road in Hamworthy but he's only got regular Mk2.5 and Mk3 at the moment

 

12 minutes ago, Tdci-Peter said:

I assume that is not the standard mk2 Focus type of a/c, so beloved () by Tom and many others?

 

Is there supposed to be something wrong with the standard Mk2 air con then? 

Mine's the same as the BMW was, although minus the digital climate control

Mine is due for a change soon as it's already done 120k & gone through 3 clutches and a gearbox.

Hoping for another ST estate but have heard rumours of a BMW of some sort 🙁.

Sent from my SM-G930F

21 minutes ago, GMX said:

Is there supposed to be something wrong with the standard Mk2 air con then?

See:

Could just be Tom having a grumble, but quite a few others agree, including, to some extent, me!

(I have just noticed, Ian (Iantt) chipped in on that thread, so it deffo not just Tom!)

Edited July 17, 20169 yr by Tdci-Peter
Add Ian's reply

8 minutes ago, Tdci-Peter said:

See:

Could just be Tom having a grumble, but quite a few others agree, including, to some extent, me!

Oh, perhaps I have an odd working one, or a previous owner upgraded the evaporator!

Wonder if police BMWs have indicators as standard?

On the watermelon front, I too enjoy them, in fact my wife and I ate nearly an entire watermelon in the supermarket carpark the other day.... Unfortunately that was less to do with the love of watermelons and more to do with the fact I dropped it as we walked across the car park.... Luckily all the flesh stayed the right way up....

I blame the wife anyway, who in their right mind would trust a husband to carry a blooming melon...or eggs, or glass etc....