VINEGAR
/This week the new appliances have arrived for the cuisine. Our upstairs kitchen has now got a new fridge, dishwasher and cooker....sorted! When you buy a house you don't know how old the appliances are, and ours have been great...... until they weren't!!! Well with the manufacturers guarantee and the the back up support from the shop I feel sure we are sorted now.
There is always the fine line between repair and renew, it seems to me that sometimes by the time you have bought the part and had it fitted, you are not too far away from the price of a new machine. I think the best plan is to be able to buy the part and fit it yourself, but hey that is a skill and a time consuming operation and it was not on the syllabus for a teaching qualification!
Weeding has been big on my agenda this week, we had ten tons of gravel delivered at the beginning of the summer and I am pleased with the colour, the size of the stone and the jaunty way it lies on the drive.....but I am not pleased with the weeds. I have to confess I have a bit of an organic thing going on and I hate the use of weedkiller. I have trawled the internet for other options and the one that stood out to me was to use vinegar to put an end to the rascals. This does seem to work especially if you get a stronger vinegar (cautionary note, the stronger the vinegar the higher the acidic content, which can be harmful). I sprayed the weeds and the top leaves died, however the roots appear to stay strong and sprout forth again in abundance. It seems the only way to get rid of those mauvaises herbes is to pull them out !
I have chosen my weeding time carefully, first thing in the morning or early evening seems best, weeding is not a great job with the full force of the sun pounding down on you. One of the old family surfboards works well as a kneeler, or a sitter, and I pluck those weeds from their gravelly haven. My phone strategically placed, plays podcasts and I enter the world of Desert Island Disks or listen to the dulcet tones of some nutrition guru. My theory seems to be that to be healthy one just has to listen... not do..... just listen.
Vinegar also played a part in cleaning the terracotta floors and beams after the builders left. The new plaster used in the house inevitably had to be cleaned from nearby floors and beams. Vinegar proved to be the man for the job. A little science.... clean an alkaline with an acid... fizz...simples! Though effective it wasn't fast and I have spent many a long hour on the tiles! Thank goodness for the podcasts, my knowledge of the Juno probe and it's mission to Jupiter has now increased 100%.
Washing baskets........ and putting them out to dry.
Clean beams and chandeliers!
A local sunflower field. It's now a pleasure to go to the bins ( look closely).
Our very own sunflower. Some of the seeds bought for the birds fell into the planting trough and this is what we got!
The Bolly field. Our view from the Bolly this week.