Cakes, Hedgehogs, Birds, Diet & Postal Issues!

I made two Victoria Sandwiches today, for the ward and rehab, to give us all a little boost! I think we need to big ourselves up more than we do, after all we are ranked in the country's top 10 Stroke Units! Our hard work, devotion, dedication and caring, is why we are one of the best Stroke Units in the UK!

The Hedgehogs are still visiting my garden every evening, I now regularly see a male and female, no sign of any hoglets yet though! Several young birds in the garden still, including young Song Thrushes. I now have increased numbers of House Sparrows on the feeders and the Goldfinches are enjoying the new RSPB Niger Seed Feeder. Tomato plants are now at their max with yellow flowers and the tiniest little green tomatoes developing! Runner Beans don't look as good as tomato plants though – they had a hard time in the early stages with slugs. I don't use any chemicals or slug pellets, but hopefully I will get a few beans eventually.

I am done with this sticky hot weather, its unbearable! Diet still going well, lost 1.5 lbs last week and another 1 lb this week – total loss is now 21 lbs – still a long way to go yet!

On Monday I received three letters in my door. Two of them had messages written on the envelopes that read the following: "inaccessable garden overgrown" (spelt wrongly). I was fuming to say the least. To the non naturalist, my garden does indeed look overgrown – it is jam packed with nectar loving herbs and plants and I have more bees, hoverflies and insects than probably the entire estate put together! But, the post person CAN access my front door along the main front path, but they choose to take a short cut across my sloped drive and nip between my two borders of plants, which are currently overhanging each other. I put in a formal complaint to the post office and I was apologised to and given a reference number.  I wrote the following message in reply and stuck it to my front door!

"To the post lady or man who wrote on my letters x 2 on Monday 15th July.

You wrote "inaccessible garden overgrown". Inaccessible means 'unable to be reached'. I presume that you meant that you are unable to reach my front door?

If you follow the correct path from front gate, it is totally accessible to my front door.

If you choose to take a short cut across my driveway and across my little path between plants that I use when getting in/out of car – this is your choice.

My garden may well appear overgrown, but as a naturalist, this garden has more bees, butterflies and insects than gardens that are made up of shingle, concrete and decking.

The only thing that is soon due to be trimmed is my hedge. When the Thyme flowers have finished flowering along main path (bees are collecting nectar from) these will be cut back as I do each year. Thank you."