A mild Halloween is not that unusual!

It is being reported that this is a record-beating mild Halloween.

But a mild Halloween is not that unusual.

Last year it was mild into November - I noted it particularly as I was on a white water kayaking course where I couldn't wear gloves as I was afraid of losing them when I came out in a stopper. And I was capsizing and "swimming" several times a session.

In my perpetual calendar I've noted in 2013 and 2010 a Halloween paddle (this would have been after it had got dark) where I wasn't wearing gloves or a hat. These are the only 2 Halloween paddles I've been on, so there could easily have been other mild Halloweens I hadn't particularly noted.

Paddling does make me very aware of the weather. There are often weekends where I would have thought it had rained all weekend if I hadn't been paddling in the dry, and sometimes even the sunshine, whatever the weather the rest of the time!

Tardy Courgettes

This morning I recorded in my perpetual diary my first loganberries (4) and saw that on 25 June 2008 (ie 4 years ago yesterday) I picked my first courgette. The only courgette this year that has survived the snails and slugs is still small, leaves not big enough or tough enough to put off slugs and snails if they get over the slug collars. And they have managed this for the other 2 courgettes and the pumpkin, which are now just stalks! We've had the rain, but not much warmth. Hopefully as time passes everything will catch up and we won't have early frosts to shorten the growing season the other end!

E11 Crafty Knitters and perpetual diary

We have stopped the craft group at work.  There were 8 of us, but often only Sarah and I were there, and it was only the two of us the last 3 weeks, so we decided it would be best if the group didn't continue.

Luckily a local knitting group - E11 Crafty Knitters - which meets at a Salvation Army Hall on Tuesday afternoons and a local vegetarian cafe on Thursday afternoons has just started to meet at a cafe on the last Monday of the month in the evening.  I went along and it was very good - the sort of group where I don't feel self conscious that I don't knit very well even though everyone there is far better at it than I am; and everyone friendly. Margaret, who lives opposite a friend of mine, was there and she's a great character.

Some of the group are knitting plants for a knitted installation of a garden, which is going to be exhibited in Bournemouth shortly.  Margaret is knitting a tree trunk on her knitting machine, and Carol brought some chrysants she had make, a knitted cup as the base of something like a tassel which is then brushed.

I will miss the March group as my herbalist is starting a herbal tea course and I will be at that, but I hope to be at the April meeting.

I have a perpetual diary I made (a blank book with over 366 pages so I can have a page for each day). I then put in seasonal things, like the first daffodil in the garden, my first home grown tomato, etc, and some weather notes.  So I know that on 28 February 2006 it snowed and on the 4 March 2006 I was kayaking through thin ice above Tottenham Lock. Today was wet, but much colder than yesterday afternoon.