A step forward, perhaps?

I hate going on about blood pressure stuff, but honestly it is rather dominating my life right now. I think however that I am getting to the point of understanding what is going on better, unless I’m completely wrong πŸ˜€

This is my (pre-meds) reading from yesterday morning:

And early afternoon:

And evening (fairly late this one, because I was at a meeting):

This suggests to me that what I’m taking at the moment (2mg Lacidipine) isn’t having much of an effect beyond ten to twelve hours, leaving my BP at its “normal” level overnight. I’m also coming to believe that a drop of 50mmHg or more between morning and afternoon is something my body just can’t cope with. I have a further suspicion that what I’m eating for lunch has some sort of effect too, to the point where the drop can be 60mmHg or more.

I’m going to keep track of this for a week or so, but I think it might well be time to ask for a medication review.

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Culling Dartmoor hill ponies

I see this issue has blown up in the last day or so. Some of them air fryer owners are so militant. They won’t stand for them being grilled or baked.

And Kemi Badenough has got the dog whistle out again to rouse all the dumplings who can’t actually be bothered to think for themselves. Can’t imagine what she might know about ponies, except for the one whose teeth she pinched.

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No dig diary, 16th June 2026

Seems like I’ve not done much in the veg plot for days πŸ˜€

Well, yesterday was bee inspector day. Then Sunday was doing some prep for that and organising what needed organising for my daughter to mow the grass. Saturday? I have no clue what happened on Saturday. Such is my life these days.

Anyhow… today I planted out quite a few brassicas. Mostly kale and cauliflower, with a few cabbages and Pak Choi thrown in to keep things interesting. Covered with netting that will hopefully dissuade the rabbits from eating them this evening even though it’s not quite wide enough.

That done, I removed some of the mesh cloches that have been protecting the beetroot and sugar snap peas from the deer. There was a bit of weeding to be done around the beetroot, but it looks as though some could be ready for pickling at least. Not sure whether I leave others to get bigger or have a “beetroot tarte tatin frenzy” in the next week or so.

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Once more, DH Hell

Left outdoors again, “drop and run” again. And with rain being forecast. Nice one.

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This is why I’m on blood pressure medication

That’s taken mid-evening, having taken the medication in the morning. Doesn’t really feel to me as though it’s having any long-term effect.

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The lawnmower wants to die

After replacing the steering linkage that snapped just a few weeks back, yesterday the ride-on mower failed again. This time, the lifting bracket for the cutting deck has sheared off. It’s not easy to get a photo of whilst it’s in place, so I’ll get one when it has been removed, likely tomorrow.

Unfortunately finding a replacement part seems to be a bit tricky and one that I think might well fit costs Β£65, so it looks as though the first attempt to fix the issue will be welding the original back together. Still, I’ve not done any welding for ages so it will be fun reminding myself how to do it.

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The drinks are on us…

Maybe πŸ˜€

I was amused to discover that not only are CuraΓ§ao represented at the World Cup this year, but their manager is called Advocaat. I’m just hoping that they also have players on the bench called Armagnac, Sambuca and Tequila who can be brought on late in the game to liven things up a bit when everyone is getting tired.

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The bee inspector cometh

After multiple retries due to the weather and medical issues, our bee inspector arrived today to check over my hives for signs of EFB.

She had to do all the heavy lifting unfortunately. By the end I was struggling just to continue standing up (and in fact I had to have a sit down on an empty hive stand for a while). The good news is that my bees are EFB-free. The not-so-great news is that two of the colonies appear to be about to swarm, so I need to get back to them, ideally tomorrow, and split them. I’m not surprised by this, if I’m honest. My beekeeping routine has been pretty chaotic so far this year for reasons that are probably quite clear from my other posts.

The surprising news is that we found a queen with a scrap of red paint left from when I marked her in 2023. She was easy to spot because of the walking frame πŸ˜€

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Baby grapes!

I dropped by to check on the vines at the weekend. Hopefully this means we’ll get a harvest of some sort.

It does look like a few vines didn’t survive Winter, but overall things aren’t so bad and there are replacements available that could be moved at the end of the year.

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Sewing vegetables

Had to take a sneaky photo of these whilst my daughter wasn’t looking. She’s made them to go on the bags and other accessories that she makes from scrap denim that charity shops aren’t able to sell. I’m so impressed πŸ˜€

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