Marty

Thanks! But no milk next time, please. I take my coffee black.

And a very delayed "Hello" to you, young Albert!

Morning, all. Most important news I have today is that I am expecting a delivery of 16 kilogram (about 35 pound) of stoneground strong wholemeal flour this afternoon. Since the lockdown, it's been impossible to find wholemeal bread flour in the stores and, as I am rapidly coming to the end of what I already had in stock, I went online yesterday and ordered in bulk from a flour mill in the south of the country. White bread flour is occasionally on the shelves in the stores, but I detest white bread. Cloudy sort of day here, with the occasional shower forecast. Currently about 14°C (57°F) and only expected to rise to around 16°C (61°F). The longer term forecast is not promising much change, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Met Office are as wrong as they often are when they try to predict more than a few days ahead. My breakfast was porridge with stewed prunes, blueberries, and honey. And... once I finish my second mug of coffee, I might just be able to face the day.

Hi, Page.

What? No whiskers?

Hey, Albert!

Agus tú féin, a chara. (And yourself, my friend )

Oh yea.... Here's last week's offering in my Black and White photo challenge: I called this one "14/52 - Cottage Garden (10) - Hollyhocks"

Hi, all Sorry I haven't been around much the past few days. Nothing to worry about. Just seem to be suddenly busy. Hopefully I might find time to hang in here a bit more soon. In the meantime, I'll leave you with this offering from Irish Artist, Mundy, which seems to get an awful lot of airplay every year during July:

Ah, but... You're a bat! So you don't depend on your sense of vision the same as we mere humans do. You've got echo-locatory superpowers, instead.

It's after midnight, so I'm away to my bed. Good night, gang! The first half of 2020 now over. Let's hope the second half goes better than the first...

And let's just keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't cause Melanoma (skin cancer) in years to come.

Sure will, Albert! Although it may be as well if I were to post progress pictures as different jobs get finished. There's that much needs doing, I may never get everything finished.

Apart from the sunburn, it sounds idyllic. Cloudy or not tomorrow, pack sun cream before you head out.

Hope it all clears up reasonably quickly, Gary.

Hope you're having a restful sleep, Mr B.

Hi, Albert Sorry for the late response. Went for a haircut, and then spent a few hours in the garden.

Probably. Maybe mahogany. Two reasons: It would suit the age of the house, and also match the staircase, A dark stain, rather than a light one, would probably cover up any imperfections, scratches, and chips, etc, that the wood may have suffered over time.

True... Although there are that many existing layers of paint (the house is around 100 years old, remember) that I am seriously considering stripping it all down to the bare wood, and staining and varnishing it...

Not the actual windows themselves. The window reveals. The wooden surrounds,, and the sills.

In two minutes time, June will also end here in Ireland. [EDIT] Oops! I'm suddenly getting 23 hours ahead of myself!

Not actually under water, Albert, thanks for your concern. But an awful lot of rain has fallen on it this past three days, which has left the ground too wet to do any gardening. Looks like the next few days should be reasonably dry, so that should give me the chance to mow the lawns and, more importantly, erect some netting for the peas to climb up, and sink some posts to run string between to support the broad beans. I've spent the past couple of days mainly inside the house. One of the jobs I've been doing is washing down doors & door frames, and window reveals & sills, to remove years of accumulated dirt and grime. It was only when I finished each one that I realised just how dirty they had been.

Hi there, young Albert!

Greetings, Page

Well, I've never had a disappointing cup of tea...