Thursday 13th June 2024 - My Latest Vlog, It Came Out of Nowhere, Wool Needed and Operational Defibrillators.

My latest vlog is available on YouTube.  Many thanks to Peter for filming the last part, where I needed both hands to successfully complete my recipe for Broad Beans with Yoghurt and Dill.  This is my version of a popular Greek dish and, if you like broad beans, one to try now this vegetable is coming into season.

We were up as usual, Monday morning, around 6 a.m.  The weather was its usual self (what we have come to expect this June), breezy, damp and grey but then, out of nowhere and with no build up a virtual hurricane hit us.  The forecasts indicated 30mph gusts but this had to be 50-60 mph.  Pots rolled over, the garden furniture lay prostrate on the lawn and leaves and twigs blew off our trees and of course there was rain too.  So, that was it for the morning, confined to barracks!  At least when I was doing the housework, I wasn’t glancing out of the windows and thinking I would rather be outdoors. 

Since Monday, the wind has remained cold with showers and little sign of the sun.  Between showers, we’ve been able to get out in the garden.  Our pots and garden furniture are now upright and the leaves cleared, all back to normal with no major damage.  

Tuesday was International Yarn Bombing Day.  To celebrate, the Overstrand Yarn Art group produced individual items with tags and these were placed in various locations around the village.  The one in the photo below is or, maybe now, was on the village sign garden.    My appeal on Facebook for wool, particularly for red, black and green for the group’s next project, has resulted in a number of donations.  More will definitely be most welcome.  If you have any spare wool, then either email me (email address at the bottom of the pages on my website) and I will collect from within Overstrand or you can take it to the Belfry Centre, where the group meet during term times, on Tuesdays between 1pm and 3pm.

This morning the sun is out; what a treat.  We walked past two of the new defibrillators on our morning walk.  The plastic covers have been removed and they are operational.  Jim Begley messaged me this morning, and confirmed all three are active.  I took a photo of the one on the zigzag path to the beach (see photo below) but don’t forget, if there is a non-responsive person you first need to start CPR before dialling 999 and then getting someone to access a defibrillator.  The purpose of a defibrillator is to monitor CPR and to determine whether the heart needs to be started or regulated, by the application of a high energy electric shock.