
So they have a purpose after all!
After a long battle with snails this year, for once I caught them doing something useful.
Every year, an ancient apple tree drops inedible apples on my patio at the top of the garden. These apples are huge Bramleys that rot, even while they’re on the tree; a tree that’s gradually dying but I haven’t the heart to cut down.
When my dog was a puppy, she used to like playing with the apples and I dreaded her chomping on a lurking wasp by mistake. On countless occasions I’ve almost twisted my ankle on apples or skidded on their slushy remains in the rain. I can’t sit at the table on the patio in the wind without wearing a tin helmet. They jump like bouncing bombs across the lawn, requiring picking up before mowing the grass. And for all their sins, not a single apple pie to be had.
Hopefully, the baby apple tree at our allotment will produce its first yield of Cox’s this year. Meanwhile, perhaps I should transport a bag of rotten Bramleys there to keep the snails off our vegetable produce. On the other hand, perhaps every snail within a mile would head to our plot for the chance of a squidgy apple feast.
To check out my earlier posts involving snails and slugs, you’re welcome to follow the slime trail @~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~
The Allotment into its Fifteenth Month
Wordless Wednesday: Mr Slow Worm, the Garden Hero that Eats Slugs
Wordless Wednesday: Garden Demolition Expert
Monday Morning #Haiku 24 — White Kitten
Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Many thanks to Blondeusk at Blondewritemore for this nomination. Everyone, do check out her writing blog (after you’ve read my post, of course!) and say “hi” to her. I love reading her posts, which are concise, relevant, and gently humorous. She’s also an extremely good writer and is my guest storyteller for August, so watch out for her post scheduled for next Saturday on my blog.
The Rules:
Thank and link the person who nominated you.
- List the rules and display the award
- Share 7 facts about yourself
- Nominate 15 other amazing blogs and comment on their posts to let them know you have nominated them
- Proudly display the badge
The 7 Facts:
Well, this is a difficult one as I’ve been awarded the “Inspiring Blogger Award” twice before. So if my fellow bloggers don’t mind, on this occasion I’ll share some up-to-the-moment trivia about me and, if you’re interested, you can visit my “Blogging Awards” page afterwards, where you can link to my earlier posts.
- I spent two hours in the local town centre the other day and only bought a recipe book that cost £4.99, 6 postage stamps, and a bargain packet of AA batteries (5+3 free). The sales were on in the clothes shops, but I thought that everything was rubbish, much of it unethically produced in sweat shops, and I couldn’t wait to get home.
- My granddaughter just had her 12th birthday and dyed her hair bright pink to celebrate! I couldn’t help wishing they’d had fun colours like that around when I was that age; although, thinking back, I was more interested in climbing trees and making stink bombs than bothering about how I looked.
- At the moment, I’m only watching two programmes a week on the telly: the exceedingly quirky conspiracy theory Utopia (Series 2), and an atmospheric but perplexing thriller, The Honourable Woman. On my computer, I’m doing a catch up of Game of Thrones (Series 4) — the brilliant epic fantasy series based on the A Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R. R. Martin.
- I’ve given up taking all nutritional supplements other than Krill Oil (sustainably sourced, of course). As a result, my former food intolerances have disappeared, including that of chocolate. Yay 🙂
- The most gripping novel I’ve read this year is 11.22.63 by Stephen King. It’s a time travel novel first published in 2011 that asks the question “What if you could go back in time and prevent the JFK assassination?”. I wasn’t sure if I’d like the novel, but am now grateful that it was part of a 3-for-the-price-of-2 offer in the bookstore or I might never have read it! Thanks W. H. Smith.
- Sometimes I wish that the first person I submitted my first novel to had told me it was rubbish and that I should give up writing. Instead he used the word “promising”, thus condemning me to many years of chasing a dream when the odds of success are only a little higher than winning the lottery. Even so, I have a consuming passion for writing, the flip-side of passion being pain.
- Last night I dreamt that zombies had taken over my home town, although they only came out after sunset (vampire-zombies?). This meant that everybody had to rush home and barricade themselves in their houses with blackout blinds at the windows, and stay silent. In my dream, I was walking across the recreation ground just a moment after sunset, trying to get home before the zombies saw me. But then a bass from the church choir (it’s always a bass) started to sing and drew attention to us. One of the zombies, whose name was Valerie and who looked normal (apart from her glazed blue eyes), took a liking to me and taught me how I could hoodwink zombies into believing I was one of them.
My Nomination(s):
I’m going to break the rule here about 15 nominations, as I’ve already showered awards on certain bloggers and don’t wish to drown them in a sea of the things. Thus, I’m nominating just one blogger who I’ve started following recently. Ajaytao Botanical Photography shares my love of flowers and delights me daily with his photographs accompanied by a few well-chosen words.
Wordless Wednesday — Finding Heaven in Quarr Abbey Tea Garden:-)

You can read a review of Quarr Abbey Tea Garden in Matt and Cat’s Isle of Wight Eating Out Guide and to learn more about the Benedictine monastery itself, you might like to visit the Quarr Abbey website






