all good in the hood...

We are fast is approaching the end of November and I am certain that it is warmer for this time of year than it has been in previous years - maybe, according to the photovoltaics, not so sunny but generally milder.  Having said all that bad weather, and I mean very bad weather, is forecast to hit the island today and I wanted to get to cemetery in order to dead head and tidy the plants.  The original osteospurmum is still flowering and looks really healthy and the Chrysanthemum looks better for a haircut.  It all looks tidy and cared for which is what I have always hoped would be the case.  In the spring we will need to think about something more permanent.  I am not entirely sure whether Dad actually ever went into the cemetery when he was alive so I hope he approves of his final resting place and the care we take.

Job done I came home and did a bit of work in the garden.  As it happens the weather forecast turned out to be right but fortunately the storm did not arrive until late this evening but when it did it was a biggie - lots of thunder and lightning and heavy, heavy rain.

I guess if I look back on the blog I will be able to see what is normally happening in the garden at this time of year.  The garden is a riot of colour and I am loathe to cut things back right now.  The rose we planted in memory of Hadge has flowered on and off since we got it.  It looked a little weary at the end of the summer with the leaves turning yellow but since it has had some natural watering it has perked up and greened up and there are a fair few buds ready to flower.  My original clock vine which was a gift from Elaine some years ago got split this year and initially I thought the bit we split off wasn't going to survive but it has and it is still flowering and the leaves haven't shown any sign of dropping so we will leave it be for the time being.  It is nowhere near the pool so John wont be moaning about it being a pest.

On the subject of the pool I looked back to see when we stopped swimming last year which was when the pool reached the dizzy depths of 50 degrees F (10 degrees C) and it was around the third week of November.  Looking today the temperature was still around 56 degrees F (14 degrees C) so if it remains like that and the weather is kind to me I plan to go in on Saturday which will be the first day of December.

Whether it is as a result of global warming I don't know but this year it seemed to take a while for Summer to get going and it has been wetter with rain falling in months when you wouldn't expect it but here we are still without any duvet on the bed and without John desperate to light the wood burner although we are all ready to do so - it just hasn't been cold enough!

I continued to spuddle around in the garden doing a bit of tidying and weeding and enjoying being outside John was taking advantage and doing a few jobs.  He has kindly started to make me a duckboard for the bathroom which we will be able to stand on after showering and which I can put our towels on and store under the sink so they aren't on the floor.

Here are some final photographs of the garden which shows the lush greenness and colour.

As the sky began to cloud over with some threatening looking clouds and the temperature began to drop it was time to retire indoors and get on with some cooking - this obviously means we will eat and it also keeps me warm and the kitchen warm.  I think people here would agree that the temperature indoors really drops late afternoon and then seems to creep back up again an hour or so later.  We have found a big difference by having the roof in the conservatory done - there doesn't seem to be such a difference in temperature between there and the kitchen.

This sort of Autumnal weather makes me want to cook and tonight I had decided to try my hand at a Chicken Biryani rather than a wet curry with rice.  I was going to make it from scratch so got all my spices out the smell of them infusing in the pan was absolutely lovely.  My tastebuds have most definitely changed over the years because I now prefer my food to be spicier than ever before - I followed the recipe but on tasting both John and I agreed that it needed to pack a bit more of a punch so added an additional chili to the mix.

I have a hankering to make my own mango chutney - I need to get some mangos when they are cheap or maybe 'B' grade because that wont make any difference if they are being made into a pickle.

I shall soon need to make a new batch of my lemon pickle - this has proved to be such a success - we got some jars when we were in Jumbos the other day and I had made sure that there as one put back for the Bobster which was just as well as he text me tonight (on his new 21st century smart phone) to say he had just finished his last lot.  Well Bobby this one is yours and is made with love!!!