General Update...playing catch up

Well, its seems such a long long time since Ive updated this blog. Its been weeks. Suddenly I dont know where the time goes, days, weeks even have slipped by and I just seem to miss this blog out... then suddenly I think.... ooh poo, best update the blog, I keep getting emails from people who worry about us... Ah bless... thank you all of you, you know who you are...
Right.
Whats been going on in our world then... lots in some ways.... and not much in others...
The biggest thing really I suppose, is that Rick is back in the UK, and has been for almost three weeks now...and for me it seems like forever.
It was a hard decision, we had been discussing it for a while, and had put it off a few times. Then Rick's son Daniel called to say he and his lovely wife Lynne and their twin girls were probably emigrating to Canada, very. very quickly, as he had been headhunted by IBM . He offered to pay for his dad to go visit them all before they left, that sealed the deal, really, it seemed daft to come back when he could stay and try to earn us some dosh to get through the winter... plus he could play some Softball too.... Killing three birds with one stone so to speak....
So... there you have it. He hopefully will be back by late August, early Sept. Earlier if I have my way...
The cottage and caravan keep us pottering along money wise, but never enough since the crisis hit,  to put by for the winter really. So he had to go earn some...
Im working like mad trying to keep the place going at the mo, its pretty difficult, I am doing what I can but so much doesnt get done, like weeding, strimming etc.. I could have volunteers I suppose but then I would have to cook for them, and at the moment, its so hot, I just live on fruit, yogurt and salad....I think they would complain...
Im concentrating on harvesting our food and watering whats still growing, I was up at 5 am today so I could plant more beans for autumn while it was nice and cool...
I also cut all my coriander , Ive left it to go to seed and now its cut and drying in the kitchen, I use the seed for chutney in autumn. Then I always have enough to replant too...
I harvested 97 corn cobs for the freezer , yummy...
I picking and freezing aubergines, peppers and courgettes most days now, plus a few toms the last couple of days. I have the drying rack out and starting to fill it too... Sun dried tomatoes are so good come winter...
I have my second crop of french beans coming on well, and ordinary portugues beans too. The first lot have been pulled and frozen... same with the peas, my second crop of those wont be too long either... thats the joy of this country, I just keep planting till the frosts come...
The wild apple trees nearby have lots of tiny apples on I hope to harvest later, and Im madly picking blackberries when I can... I hope to make jam this year...
My fennel liquer has been strained and bottled the other day... 12 litres this year.... thats a lot more than I thought... Rick will be very pleased...
Ive managed to stash 9 kilo jars of pickled beetroot away as well, with him not here to pinch it, it will keep longer...
I have tons of winter squash , butternuts, ukuchi kiri , spagetti pumpkin, and some REALLY huge pumpkins... still growing ... they were plants I found growing on the compost heap and transplanted... wow, we certainly will be eating a lot of pumpkin this winter...I have never grown one as big as this one before... hopefully later when its done, I will take a picture.
My Gladiator parsnips are getting big.... but some little bugger keeps eating them from below... its had three now... I never know till the leaves wilt... when you pull them there is nothing left but a stump....
Lettuce.... my word... weve had more lettuce this summer than anyone should ever have to eat... and still tons left...
So there you have it... the girls and me are fine, the garden is muddling along.... Hopefully Rick will come home soon...
Lots of cottage bookings will come in so he wont need to go again....