The First Big Adventure. And it's scary

So the P&J has just left on his first big solo adventure- cycling from here (Bristol) to Colwyn Bay (North Wales coast). He has a hotel room booked in Shrewsbury for tonight and is carrying a rucksack that weighs a ton(full of food and water, so it will get lighter). He's had a big breakfast, and we will be following to Hereford later today in case he finds he's bitten off more than he can chew.
 He's aiming to cover 103miles today and similar tomorrow. We're the emergency crew this side of Shrewsbury, my brother will take over after Shrewsbury. I've put £60 on his phone, so there's no excuse not to keep in touch. I have explained to him that we will worry, so can he text us when he stops to tell us where he's got to, and particularly when he gets to Hereford. After Hereford, he's got forty-odd miles to do to get to Shrewsbury and his bed for the night. I think if he gets to Shrewsbury, he'll finish the journey, and we'll see him again Thursday night.
So we're trying not to think of what might go wrong and hoping he'll make it to the end. He's been planning this journey for a long time and he'll be greatly disappointed if he doesn't. He's thinking about cycling back, so we might have it all to do again, next week!

UPDATE-Unfortunately, he only got as far as just outside Hereford due to a problem with his back tyre. We tried to fix it outside Halfords in Hereford, but to no avail. We traipsed back home to see if we could sort it out and then drop him at the TravelLodge to resume his journey from Shrewsbury, but we can't fix it (the rim tape is basically rubbish and causing punctures). He's too cheesed off to decide whether he'll have another go, but he will be visiting the bike shop tomorrow to get some decent rim tape. I got some nice photos of Hereford, though (there's always an upside).

 He has learned from the episode and accepts he didn't prepare well enough, didn't start out early enough and he was carrying too much weight in his rucksack. What is probably most galling, though, is that mum and dad were right all along, but he didn't listen. 

101 Things To Do With an Old Wooden Pallet: Number 2- A modular raised bed

Number 1 was the planter, remember? And as dear Mr Davie has kindly brought  me 4 more pallets of varying sizes, I thought it was time to be creative. Again, I'm trying to do as little DIY as possible, so I'm using what's already there, where I can. Those of you with bigger muscles and hammers will no  doubt be more able and willing to discombobulate a pallet, and create a super design, but mine, well, it works.
This was made from two pallets of different sizes, using a mallet, an old chisel and a saw (to dismantle), a hammer and some nails. It was  then given a coat of wood preservative.
 The bits I used were the "feet" of the pallets, which I sawed free as I couldn't get the nails out of the wood easily. Taking the "feet" and their attached planks of wood means you've already got your module almost made, only requiring one more plank on one side to make an open box. The planks not nailed to the "feet" are a lot easier to get off the pallet and reuse.  
 I left one side open, my thoughts being that I could put companion plants in there (marigolds and herbs, for example) to help control pests. At the moment, I'm thinking that I will place the four sides where I want the raised bed to be, and raise the soil level inside it  with compost. I'm hoping the weight of the compost and plants in the "wall" of the raised bed will keep  things in place, but if that turns out to be impractical, I can't see it being difficult to make the thing more rigid. We'll see next year, won't we?
 I have two pallets left and the bits left over from these pallets. What can we conjure up next? And here's a picture of my young thrush, who was watching what I was doing in to the expectation there'd be food afterwards.

Feed the Birds, Tuppence a Bag

 Well, more like £20.00 actually. You know you're feeding them well when the Mafia and the hoodlums (starlings and magpies) move in.  The above is one of my new best mates in the garden. It nearly did itself an injury trying to find its way out of the greenhouse this afternoon, but did a sterling job clearing up the mess I made when a poorly sited bag of meal-worms fell on the floor this morning, so I tried not to laugh. Frankly, I'm surprised it could still get airborne.
 We've had a lot of new families moving into the neighbourhood this spring, partly thanks to the overgrownedness (it's a word I've just made up) of my neighbour's garden, which has provided a lot of secure nesting sites, and my lack of a cat to threaten them all. I'm trying to build up a bird community to help me with the pests when (I hope) my organic garden gets into full swing next year. I'm not quite sure what use the magpies and their kin are going to be, though, other than providing the entertainment. I just witnessed a magpie trying to jump up onto the apple tree trunk, completely misjudging it and almost knocking itself unconscious. It tried to look like it meant to do it and wandered dazedly under the garden table. I'm assuming it's a youngster and hasn't quite mastered its wings yet. It's either that or some of the apples lying around the garden are fermenting. That being the case, I look forward to the spectacle of some raucous parties among my corvine acquaintances as the summer draws to a close.

 

To Jemara the Cat. We Will Miss Her Sorely

It is with great sadness and with broken heart that I have to tell you Jemara, vanquisher of the neighbourhood rats, is no more. After a short illness that has progressed rapidly in these last few days, it was decided by ourselves with the help of our vets at Watkins and Tasker, that her suffering had greatly increased, was irreversible and the kindest thing was for us to help her on her way.
 She died in my arms at 10 o'clock this morning, still purring 'til her last breath. Neither I or my husband have stopped crying yet and the pain of losing such a wonderful animal will be with us for some time. We have laid her to rest under the yew tree, her favourite spot, where she can watch the birds gathering on the lawn forever.
 If there is an afterlife, no doubt her previous owners, Shelagh and Jeff, and her dog-brother Nubi (who we also looked after) will be waiting to greet her at the gates of the Happy Hunting Grounds.
  Goodbye Jemara. You go before us, in peace and without pain. We will so miss you.