A little bit of luck

Funny how one small good thing happening can make you feel like may be things are on the up. Yesterday we got about 6 envelopes through the door from the Family Tax Credit people. We finally filled our form in for this year a few ago, we needed our P60s to do it. Anyway it turns out they'd taken our son out of our tax allowance at 16 and we hadn't noticed, so we are due a large rebate as he's been at school for the last two years.

My husband and I (I sound like the Queen!) were planning to go on holiday anyway, but this will allow us to cast our net wider. We both want to see Sicily, so hopefully we can organise it now. He didn't want to look at the mail as he feared it would just be yet more bad news, so I'm quite proud of myself for opening it and figuring it all out, with a call to their helpline.

Garden is getting to that mellow fruitful time again. Yesterday I ate my first plum from our tree. It would have tasted better on a warmer day, but it still good. I have a huge crop of grapes in the greenhouse too. The tomatillos that I'm growing for the first time are also plumping up, but like cape gooseberries they are in a wee green pocket so it's hard to tell how they are filling out, you have to squeeze the papery sack to feel the flesh underneath, a bit like checking out your bra when you're a developing teenager.

Pictures are of the grapes and a tomatillo, both with the lensbaby, hence weird point of focus.

The crocosmia is also blooming away, that lovely burnt orange that reminds you of the massive escapee clumps you see everywhere on the west coast at this time of year. And the sedums are plumping up their flower heads too, though no colour as yet, hopefully they'll hold off until September.

The tomatoes are still green, I may be frying them like that yet! But there's a good crop, especially of the plum ones. And I'm still picking the fabulous wee yellow mange tout.

Only cloud is that N is in a lot of pain again, and awaiting further x-rays and a scan. Meanwhile she getting palliative radiotherapy on her hip to contain the pain a little. Another phase entered, and I'm not sure how to help her, other than to continue to be her friend.