Crushingly hot

 I can't do hot.  It was up around 30 deg. here yesterday - no good for man nor beast.  I made a pizza topping early, and a base for it, but in the end a lighter snacky lunch was eaten as no-one had much of an appetite.  Danny and "I" were late getting here as they has shut the A483 - but not put up any obvious diversion signs and Danny ended up coming across the Mynydd Bwlch-y-Groes and onto the Epynts, before getting spat out onto the same road that the cars competing in the Nicky Grist rally were using.  They were setting off outside the Strand in Builth.

A bit of excitement for the town, in the count-down to the Royal Welsh show.  The showground is starting to sprout tents and marquees and the Fountain Inn has set up it's hospitality bar marquee at the rear and mammoth deliveries of beer will be being delivered in the next week or so. Next week the gleaming tractors and farm machinery will start setting up on the showground. The show is HUGE - thousands of Young Farmers alone, and exhibitors and stalls selling anything from a sandwich to a tractor.  Our town's population is 2,500.  During show week, this swells to 250,000!!!  An adult ticket is £34, and £10 for a child.  I shan't be going and doubt I will even go into the town as I wouldn't get parked and the logistics of trying to get to the shops with the queues of cars gridlocked at busiest times (despite out-of-town parking) isn't worth it.  I will go to Brecon for the grocery shopping that week.

I moved all the tomatoes and the two cucumber plants which had been on the left side of the greenhouse over onto the right, where I have the shade-cover so I am hoping they will benefit from not being in full sun all day.  A couple of the tomatoes were suffering from shrivelled leaves, despite being watered twice a day.  Tomatoes nearly over now but cucumbers have LOTS of flowers and 8 cucumbers growing nicely.  I've tied them up to the roof.  They seem to love the heat.

Umbellifers enjoying the shade of the top paddock/orchard.  It's very overgrown up there now so I will have to borrow the strimmer back from Tam and sort it out once it's cooled down a bit.

It was lovely having Danny and "I" here - gosh, she has shot up and is really tall (6 in December).  She loved making a fuss of the cats.  Sadly, the situation with E and me is no better.  She still expects me to apologize - my outburst of terrible grief over the phone was seen as anger and screaming and not raw gut-wrenching pain.  It seems this impasse will continue forever.

I sat out in the garden with a glass of wine and my newspaper once it had cooled a bit.  I'm getting my money's worth out of that little patio set.

Right, one final photo, of the pizza - I had some for tea and cut the rest up and froze it.  

We have some rain forecast and Wednesday will be COOL! Thank heavens.