Feeling the heat...

Scaffold netting acting as a shade cloth

19 June 2025 (Thursday)

Up around 6.30am, tea and then to my desk… fans are on, churning the warm air around, though at least that breath of air is a little cooling.

Richard’s doing another cookery video today, this time a Bulgur Wheat Summer Salad, which we have for lunch and it’s lovely.

Otherwise, it was a nondescript day - work, work work, plot watering… BUT this morning when I was down early I’d noticed our cucumbers in the greenhouse were very pale; it was too sunny in there for them or/and they’d been feeling the heat, and I needed to do something about it…

That something turned out to be using some old scaffold netting as a shade cloth, doubling it up on one side where much of the blazing late morning and afternoon sun comes in through the glass, just millimetres from the vine leaves of the cucumbers.  I got on with the job, just in time remembering to film it for a segment of A Week at the Plot - certainly it dropped the heat, maybe by about 1°, much as tree-lined streets benefit from the leaf canopies above.  Whether the cucumbers will rejoice and rebound, I’ll have to wait and see.  I did give them a really good drink and light feed, so fingers crossed.

The rest of the day remained trouble-free, until around 6pm… when a close friend and nearby neighbour was feeling the heat, though not weather-wise… she needed our help.

She’d been storing sundry possessions of a guy who’d been evicted from his neighbouring bedsit several months ago.  He’d been rehomed some time ago, and been asked by our friend to collect his stuff from her shed where it was stored, but he hadn’t… Despite many requests, the non-collection went on and on and in the end he was given a definite timeline, which he didn’t comply with, several times…

Anyway, to cut a long story short, tonight he was to finally collect his stuff, though our friend was scared so needed moral and physical support.  We went over, and offered both.

In the end, all was OK… the vehicle he’d organised turned up and we loaded it up, so by the time he arrived the job was done, and we were sitting in her enclosed garden.  The guy just got in the van and left.

Now, I applaud our friend for offering help to another in a time of their distress, though it is not something we would have done in this instance, and had suggested she should not either.  We’ve been in these situations before, and there are some people who’ve had our help only for us to be let down, stressed to the hilt, and out of pocket… We try to do good by people, but also know we can’t be good samaritans to everyone, as often nowadays good intentions backfire.  Sad, but true.

I’m a great believer in being kind, being considerate, and being thoughtful, though I’m also a great believer in being cautious too - sometimes, a person's hour of need is of their own making, and whilst we can give emotional support to an extent, the help they really need is professional, and making better decisions when and where they can.

Anyway, an hour or so later with a glass or two of wine drunk, we were back home - a cup of tea, some TV, then bed and half a chapter of my book.


Weather:  Hot, with bright sunshine all day. Temperatures reached a peak of 32.2C (89.9F) at Kew Gardens and Heathrow Airport - so guess similar here.

Breakfast:  Bran Sticks, yogurt, and banana
Lunch:   Bulgur Wheat Summer Salad
Supper:   Quorn Chick’n & Bac'n Lattice, lettuce, leftover Bulgur Wheat Summer Salad