Friday 31 July 2009

Well I have to say ....

Posted by Rosie

...... that I think we will be glad to see the back of July. It really has been a duff month for us.

Today I went to dig the spuds - I had seen blight on them last week, so cut off the tops and left the tubers in the ground for a week to ripen a little more. I wish I hadn't as when I came to dig them I was met with the tell-tale rot and stink that is blight destroying the tubers. It seems to have hit one variety (Ratte) almost completely, the Charlottes less so and the Desiree (I hope) not at all. To rub salt into the wound though, it was the Ratte that had the most tubers where-as the Desiree and Charlottes yielded only about a third as many potatoes.

And this at the end of a month that has seen one thing after another go wrong. For several weeks we had no Internet phone, the washing machine is broken, the printer has died and the replacement is refusing to feed the paper through. When Simon went to mow the grass yesterday, the sit-on mower refused to start. We have also been landed with an obscenely large tax bill for the renovation work we have planned which might explain why so many french buildings are left to fall down and tonight Simon came in to say the hydraulic arm on the digger has snapped.

July - you really have been very cruel. Come on August - be a bit kinder to us please.

12 comments :

  1. gah good rid July - welcome August then!
    hope things improve for you

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks CiG - it's already August here so fingers crossed for a better month.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ouwchh thats a load of carpness all at once sigh,How come you get taxed for renovating?sounds jolly unfair & as you say counter productive as folks will just not do it.
    I hope August is better for you & the mower gets going,if not you may need some sheep lol!
    Its drizzling here this morning,very gloomy indeed hoohum!bloddy weather!
    GTM x xx x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, July truly was a b*tch to you! August can really only be better. Sorry the blight got down into the tubers, that sucks. I shall do a wee dance and make a sacrifice to the Eco-gods for you! (I will eat a oat and raisin muffin and have fairtrade coffee for lunch - that will please them, right?)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh Rosie - surely August can only get better ! Good luck with everything.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sympathies Rosie - hope August is much better all round. xxx.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I wish you so much better for August! It can get so disheartening when it seems everything goes wrong, breaks down, falls apart etc.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Fingers crossed for August! Got any visitors coming to cheer you up?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh God - tax d'urbanisation. Id forgotten that particular joy. Is it still spread over three years?

    This is the first year in three we've avoided the blight - touch wood, there are still tomatoes to rippen. It really is a crushing thing to happen.

    Here's to August!

    ReplyDelete
  10. As the song says '...things can only get better...'

    August could be the month when it all start coming together, (well that's what I'm telling myself on a regular basis...lol).

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sorry to hear July has been naff to you guys! It's been a wash out here too. I found myself doing an early autumn tidy up of the front garden yesterday! So many flowers seem to have 'gone over' earlier. Our first year of spud growing has been kind though I'm thankful to say. I'll join you in raising a glass to August! May it be fruitful (and sunny!) Lucy. x

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ouch - I can see why July was a bit of a whatsit for you! I think I'd better go check my spuds.

    We've just got back from the Dordogne and I've been catching up - it's quite amusing to see you visiting all the places near us that we take our visitors to see! Pity we missed the Whatstandwell Beer Festival ....but we were busy drinking wine in France instead!:)

    May August prove to be a better month and, like Carrie, I'll go and appease the eco-gods with my fair trade coffee!!

    ReplyDelete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.