The Fragility Of Young Lives

 Yesterday Scarlett and I took Cassie for quite a long walk to our local park and beyond it. I have to choose our walk destination quite carefully as there  is only so far she can walk happily and then it starts to become a bit of a chore and I can see she's not enjoying it so much. Cassie is also happy to walk at her pace where as Tess and Layla start pulling and get fed up. On the way we were walking along and a young man of about 20 was walking behind us. I stood to the side and let him pass as we were walking quite slowly. We passed the usual pleasant comments you do as we passed and I noticed how smart he looked. He was wearing beige trousers a very smart shirt and a straw boater hat. He looked wonderful, just as if he had stepped out of the 1930s! Scarlett who has a loud clear voice and has not quite learned she shouldn't pass remarks said loudly "He is very handsome!" Such an old fashioned word! I saw his face brighten and there was definitely a spring in his step as he walked on down the pavement. When he had gone I said to her kindly that even though he did look very nice she shouldn't really pass comments to people like that. She looked so crestfallen and said "Mummy said I mustn't say unkind things to people only kind things." I was at a total loss as what to say really as she is right, but doesn't really understand yet that social restraints mean we can't really be shouting things like "You look nice!" to people in the street. It's a shame we can't though as I'm sure it may brighten people's days. 

We walked round the park and then all the way along the path that takes us almost to Sutton where the path ends so we have to turn round and walk back to the park. It was so full of wild flowers and the grass was so long it was a nice exciting walk for Scarlett and Cassie too. I think the path belongs to the rail company but they have extended the park into it to make a bit of a wildlife walk along the edge of the railway track. There is a chart to show how many different butterflies have been seen but sadly we couldn't see any.

When we got back to the park Scarlett wanted to sit on a bench for a while and she told me she wanted to go and sit on the bench she had seen something had been left on as we walked past. Off we went to find the bench and as we sat down I realised it was a memorial bench to a young 15 year old who had died in the most tragic circumstances in the park a few years ago. I don't usually walk on that side of the park so had never noticed it before. The item left on the bench was heart breaking "What is it?" asked Scarlett who's reading isn't good enough yet to know what it said. "It is something put here by someone who loves their brother very much." I said. That seemed to please her and we sat on the bench and chatted about the squirrels that were running about in the park but I suddenly felt ever so sad at the fragility of young life and wished we had never sat there. 

Next to his name on a plaque was added another plaque advertising Child Line and The Samaritans. Who knows what pushed him to that point but I couldn't help but think if maybe we didn't have some of our social restraints and people really could say things like "You look nice" to people in the street instead of negative things on social media which can hurt people so much, life might be a bit better for young people.

I worried all day yesterday about my friends son who had been knocked off his moped in a hit and run but last night found out although he is hospital with several broken bones he is doing well and hopefully should recover without and lasting effects. My friend is so kind and forgiving, he said the young man who drove off handed himself into police later in the day and he actually felt a bit sorry for him as he only just passed his test and had the car a few days. He said this young lad made a terrible mistake driving off and the lasting effects of that may actually be worse than for his own son as he is now facing so many serious charges. As my friend said "One really bad error of judgement can ruin your life forever." 

I have a day at home today with all the usual things to catch up on. Little Todd is still with us and gained 1g yesterday! I know that is a pitiful amount but at least he didn't lose weight! Eldest daughter looked at him and thought there would only be a 50/50 chance of him surviving and then it is very hard to release him after he has been fed by humans from such a young age. Oh well I'll deal with each problem as it comes along. Have a lovely day everyone what ever your plans. xx

Dottie Update And Keeping Up Fluid Intake

 I left for my Dad's first thing yesterday morning and he had already been seen by the nurse, had his bloods taken and his blood pressure checked. All seemed well, but the nurse reminded him to drink plenty of liquids in this hot weather. When my sister, my Dad and I were back drinking a cup of tea and chatting about how much we have to drink, my Dad said he doesn't feel thirsty. "I know why that is Dad" I said "I remember from my nursing days when you get older the part of your brain that tells you, you need to drink doesn't work as well." "I've got news for you" he said "as you get older the part of your brain that tells you what day it is doesn't work as well either!" Oh dear. Despite all this, Dad was in good spirits and we managed to get all his shopping and tablets sorted out and the sun was shining on all his beautiful roses which always lifts everyone's spirits.

The little pigeon, Todd is still with us and seems quite bright really. When I left the house yesterday I said to him "All you have to do while I am away is stay alive, can you do that." He blinked his little eyes as he sat in his cage and managed to do what had been asked of him. It is very sad he cheeps and flaps his little wings to try and call his Mum for food and then just sadly pecks in the food bowl. I have got the scales out I used to weigh the baby cockatiels on when I hand reared them so am now able to check if he gains any weight. He was 162 g yesterday so I'm just keeping my fingers crossed his weight goes up not down. 

The office staff at Tom's work are eagerly awaiting a photo of Dottie our dove after they looked after her for a day when Tom had found her. He asked me if I would take a photo of her when I was out feeding the aviary. She's a lovely big confident bird now and seems to be really enjoying her life in the sunshine.

Her favourite part of the day is splashing about in the bird bath. I was trying to get a photo of her enjoying her bath but sadly she wouldn't oblige. It wasn't until I was back in the house showing youngest daughter that she pointed out the fox cub to me!

Scarlett is coming this morning and I'm hoping the rain may stay off for us to get out and about a bit. Our roses have been battered by the rain and need deadheading, I thought it would be a nice little gardening job to teach Scarlett and may start a life long love of roses too. I'm especially thinking of a friend of mine this morning who's son is in hospital after being knocked off his moped last night in a hit and run. He moved to London with his family to The Fens in Cambridgeshire for a safer life so it is very sad. Although he has lots of injuries he appears to be stable but it's a terrible thing to happen to a young man. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing. xx

A Busy Day Of Rescuing Birds And Neighbours

 Yesterday I  proved to myself exactly what I had written about yesterday. It's very hard to work from home without being distracted, at least it is in our house! I settled myself down at my desk to work.  I was slightly distracted as a friend of mine and his wife were hiking Helvellyn and along Striding Edge in the Lake District and he kept sharing the most stunning photos in our Whats App group, but as he seemed to only stop about every half an hour to send a photo for us to comment on and encourage him to keep going I kept quite focussed all morning. I caught up with a lot and was feeling very productive and pleased with myself by lunch time. A young woman in Croydon has contacted me asking if I would like some photos her parents have found in the loft of a house they have moved into in. Apparently the previous owners had lived there for decades and decades and although they have contacted them they are not interested in collecting the framed photos (can you imagine!) so the new owners have been trying to find a home for them. The local museum aren't interested either so after an internet search they have found my website and asked if I would like them. I'm not getting my hopes up too much as often people contact me and then nothing materialises, but I have offered to go and collect them so hopefully I will have a few more interesting photos to research soon. 

While I was sitting eating my sandwich and watching the news, Tom phoned and said he was on the way home with a baby pigeon he had found. His work garage had brought in pest control people over the weekend to kill all the pigeons who were roosting in the eaves. Tom had found this little pigeon sitting all alone under a bus which was parked in the corner of the garage. While he was finding a box so the office staff could keep an eye on it during the day until he came back to the garage one of the other drivers said "Just stamp on it, it's only a pigeon." The whole story made me feel so sad, as human beings why we feel we are so superior to animals and why some animals seem to be right at the bottom of the line of caring. The long suffering office staff, they are used to looking after waifs and strays for Tom, looked after the pigeon all morning, and then Tom bought him home on the bus. "How is the dove we looked after?" they asked. Tom promised to send them a photo of her living happily in our aviary. When Tom arrived home I had sorted the cage out and set it up for the poor little chap. He had called him Todd as he found him all alone. That's Todd Sloan which means alone for anyone not familiar with cockney rhyming slang!

I sent this photo of him to eldest daughter who before she became a police officer worked in the, now closed down, London Wildlife Hospital for two years so is quite an expert with this sort of thing. She says it is very borderline whether he will be able to feed himself as he still has some of his yellow baby feathers and will still have been fed by his mother but just learning to feed himself. I tried syringe feeding him as I have had lots of practice with hand rearing baby cockatiels but he just refused to open his beak, hand rearing really needs to start before about three weeks old to be successful, although I have had some successes older. In the end I tried him with softened oatmeal biscuit and later some warm scrambled egg which he did pick at a bit. He's still alive and picking at his food again this morning so I hope he will survive. He spent the evening sitting on my knee on an old towel watching the first half of the England match, so at least even if he doesn't survive he is warm and cared for, which is more than all his poor family. 

In between all this pigeon drama, our lovely jazz pianist neighbour came round as he had accidentally locked himself out of his house and asked if we could help him get in. His house is completely double glazed and it seemed like an impossible task, what an earth do people do in this situation, I had never really thought. In the end he asked Tom to smash the tiny little window in his front door and as Tom has long arms he managed to reach in and open the lock, of course then a glazier has to be found to make his house secure again and between all this and baby pigeon feeding the rest of the day passed by and I didn't get any more work done. While all this was going on my friend made it to the top of Striding Edge and I missed commenting on the dramatic photo of them posing with their dog in triumph! 

With baby pigeon Todd safely back in his cage, I was recounting all the days dramas to youngest daughter, who was sitting watching the second half with us. It was a nice end to the day even if not at all as I had planned. I suppose a life has been saved, our lovely neighbour was safely in his house and England won. I just had to share this photo of Tess and Layla watching youngest daughter eating crisps during the football match. You can see who gives the dogs unhealthy snacks in our house!

I'm off to my Dad's this morning. My sister is taking him for a blood test first thing this morning and then I am going round a little later and we will do his shopping and have lunch with him and then all the other little jobs we have to do. My six monthly blood test at the Royal Marsden is due this week so I will have to try and fit that it too at some point. At least the sun is shining. Have a lovely day everyone what ever you are doing. xx

I Love Scarborough!

 An old school friend of mine, who is in our WhatsApp group went to Scarborough yesterday for work. He used to be a top end chauffer but sadly his business hasn't survived the pandemic and as he has had to take a job as a delivery driver for him and his family to survive. He never moans and looks on the bright side of every day telling us all the places around the country he is visiting he has never been to before and posting photos of where he is today. He is a Londoner through and through, a pie and mash, jellied eels sort of guy, who is a bit suspicious of anywhere up North! I think yesterday was an eye opener for him "It's not half bad here!" he said, in fact he was full of it all day. I was so envious.

I absolutely used to love Scarborough! I'm almost too scared to go back as in my mind, I have such wonderful memories of being there, it has become a sort of paradise. There is a list of the 10 most Heavenly places on earth, well I think Scarborough should be added! So many of our childhood holidays were spent there. We would take our caravan and all I can remember is fun and sea and sand. Often when we lived up there we would just go for the day and I can quite clearly remember the main reason I loved it. The donkeys! I decided when this photo was taken, at three years old I want a donkey and all my life I have said I would get one.

I'm sure the beaches are much more crowded now than those wonderful days when we would picnic on them, I am so lucky to have these happy memories.

I can't tell you how ridiculously pleased I was yesterday that my friend liked Scarborough. I would have been so sad if he had been bad mouthing it and saying it was a dump. We won't be able to go this year but it's somewhere definitely on my top ten list of places to go. 

It's raining at the moment but I think it's just a small hiccup in what is set to be a nice spell. We are going to see my Dad today and do a few last minute checks on the caravan. I have a busy day ahead so better get on. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever your plans. xx

Photos, Letters And Pen Pals

 It was another day of rain yesterday but not a bad day at all, we definitely had a day of laughter and nostalgia. Tom's main mission in life at the moment is to try and get the loft clear. The trouble is he's up against youngest son and me, the hoarders of the family! We got down some boxes of old cards, letters and photos. The photos are the reject ones, the blurred, off centre, "I look fat in that" sort of photo that never made it into the photo album. Today they would be deleted without trace but back in the 1970s, 80s and 90s we obviously put them in the loft. We laughed so much, remembered rooms and houses long gone, people long gone and boyfriends who I am grateful are long gone! It was a mixture of sadness and laughter but even though they were rejects at the time, so many of them will be scanned today so they are safe. 

I sorted through old birthday cards, letters and wedding invitations. We found two letters I wrote to eldest daughter when she was on a school trip to The Isle Of Wight when she was 11. It's full of little bits of family information, youngest daughter had learned to say her name, youngest son had fallen at nursery and grazed his knees so I had bought him some Lego on the way home to cheer him up and there had been a big spider in my bedroom while Tom had been at work so I had slept in eldest daughter's empty room. (What a baby, I must have toughened up since then!) I couldn't remember any of these bits of information now. 

Another pile I found were letters from old pen pals. I was a real letter writer back in the 1970s I had several pen pals from different countries, most I met through the magazine Fab 208. Some of them I wrote to for a few years and have photos of these young teenage girls. I didn't have time to read all the letters but the couple I looked at where full of news about pop stars, places they had been and boys they liked. I wonder are my letters still out there anywhere, it's a rather worrying thought but I would love now to read what I wrote in those days.

One girl I wrote too for a long time from Lancashire has the same surname as a cousin's married name, I wonder if she was related to her husband! I had to share this wonderful photo of her. Look at her, a fifteen year old in a 1970s bedroom with her life all ahead of her. I really hope life has treated her well.

The coronavirus restrictions have relaxed more today so we can visit people in their houses which is such good news, I just hope everything goes according to plan. The weather doesn't look too good again today, I really hope I can get out in the garden for a short while though as sickly tomato plant has recovered so much it is taking over the kitchen window sill and I want to re pot it . Tom is off to the dump this morning and I managed to find an old printer and some computer keyboards that almost look like museum pieces for him to take with my Dad's old microwave so he is slightly happy. I have boxes of photos to scan now as well as curtains to finish off for the caravan, so whether it's sunny or rainy I'm sure I'm going to be busy. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are planning to do. xx

A Special Birthday And Helping Memory With Photos

 Scarlett had a lovely 4th birthday yesterday. Eldest daughter and her partner had taken her to Drusillas Park in East Sussex the day before which is a small zoo and park for young children which she loved. Yesterday we went to my Dads for a small get together in the garden but the weather was so miserable we had to sit in the conservatory with the doors open. Not that it bothered Scarlett though she was so excited and it was the first time she could remember going in the conservatory because of all the lockdown restrictions. Youngest daughter had to go with her to search out my Dad's cat Millie who she always talks about and she had to use Great Grandad's binoculars that he keeps by the window to watch the foxes to check everything out.

I was just so thrilled to be having some family time again. It was only a small group of us but it feels as if we are getting back to some sort of normality and so importantly making memories for Scarlett. Youngest daughter filmed a few lovely videos of her around the house including one of her watching the Grandfather clock chiming and her face is a picture. 

I thought how wonderful it would have been to have the same of my Grandparents houses. I can remember being inside them but have such sketchy memories of what their houses looked like. I was probably about Scarlett's age when I was last in my Mum's, parents house. A lovely terraced house overlooking a green in Netherton just outside Liverpool. I can remember standing in the kitchen watching my Nana cooking, wearing her apron, she looked so in control I can remember! I can also remember being in the garden with my Grandad, that beautiful garden with flowers and a greenhouse. My memories of my Grandparents are much clearer over the next few years, after they moved to my Auntie's house as they got older but I would love to have clearer memories of their own house. Imagine if I had photos or even videos of the inside, it would be such a wonderful thing. Scarlett is lucky to have these memory prompts for later in her life.

We have had a long conversation on Facebook recently about a day out we had when we were at school.  A large group of us, my sister and some of her friends and me and some of my friends went to see David Cassidy at White City in London together in 1974. It was such a special day that for lots of reasons I'll always remember, but for the life of us we can't remember all of the people who went. We have all remembered and forgotten different things. My sister has found some photo booth photos she and her friends took at Waterloo station on the way there and I can't believe I didn't do the same but have no recollection. It's worrying how we have all forgotten so much. Of course we just didn't take photos in those days, if it was now it would be all over Facebook to remind us who went and what we did for ever. Maybe we were lucky not to have reminders forever of our teenage years or will teenagers today never have problems with their memories in later life as it is all there to look back at. Only time will tell.

I do have one little reminder of when I went to see David Cassidy at Wembley in 1973. One little photo before we set off and it reminds me so much of the day. 

It's much brighter today and we're planning a nice long walk with the dogs, although I think we may be dodging showers. I hope everyone has a really lovely Sunday what ever you are doing. xx

Rockeries And Missing Gnomes

 I didn't really get a relaxing day yesterday in the end but spent most of the morning sorting things out to take to the charity salesroom. The items we are taking I pondered and pondered about. A few weeks before my lovely neighbour died she called me in as I as walking by and told me she had a really big collection of figurines she wanted to get rid of and she wanted to give them to me. She thought I may like some but any I didn't want just sell as she knew I was selling on ebay at the time. After she died her husband said would I still take them as she had wanted me to have them. It took half the morning to move them and they were piled practically to the ceiling in the dining room all still in their boxes. It was very awkward as none of them were really to my taste. I kept a couple that were quite nice so I had something to remember her with and then the pandemic started so we put them in the loft. We have decided it's no good we are going to have to be hard hearted and get rid of them. I can't help but feel guilty though. 

When I was looking through them I came across some bronze figures of old fashioned sportsmen. I thought they may be quite nice as garden ornaments, especially if they get a bit of an aged, antique look. After lunch I took the stones I have removed from the aviary and scrubbed them clean and hosed them down. Then I added them to my new rockery. I had intended to add three figures, the cricketer, the runner and the snooker player but the snooker player's cue was like a darning needle it was so sharp! I was worried one of the foxes would walk into it in the dark and do themselves an injury so that is going. I'm quite pleased with the finished area. 

Youngest daughter wasn't so sure as I was taking them out. "I'll have to see it" she said with a very disapproving look on her face. I had to smile, it all reminded me very much of something we were talking about at my Dad's house the other day. Years ago my Dad brought home a garden gnome, he called him Fred and proudly displayed him in the flower bed. Mum was horrified as she used to really dislike garden gnomes. but didn't want to hurt Dad's feelings so would just push him behind bushes every time she was in the garden, my Dad would bring him back out never knowing how he ended up behind a bush. This gnome moving went on for 35 years. I can picture my Mum tutting and saying look at Fred sitting by the lawn, as she dashed out to hide him. 

When we were in the garden the other day I said "Where is Fred?" There was a long silence as we looked around the garden. "He must have got broken and thrown out" said my Dad. "I'd remember that" I said thinking about the years of gnome moving. He has completely disappeared! None of us have any idea how. It is very strange. When I had finished the rockery youngest daughter came out to have a look. "They look quite nice" she said in the same grudging tone my Mum would use about Fred. If they start moving, or even worse disappear I'll want to know why!

I spent the rest of the afternoon weeding and tidying. I still haven't got any more compost so my planting has come to a halt. Everything is coming to life so much, I won't be happy until it is a mass of greenery but it is getting there. 

This morning we are taking all the boxed figurines to the charity showroom then going on to the garden centre. My Dad gave me a garden voucher for Christmas that I still haven't spent because of the lockdown so I have that to treat myself with. I'm really looking forward to finding something nice, but it definitely won't be a gnome! Have a lovely day everyone what ever you are doing. xx

Royal Memories And A Nosy Cat

The main news in this country yesterday was the death of Prince Philip, the Queen's husband. I am not really a Royalist but I always admire the Queen and Prince Philip for the way they get on and almost without exception, nothing phases them. Talking to my old school friends in our Whats App group last  night we remembered a day we saw him around 1974. We were told in assembly that Prince Phillip would be driving along the by-pass near our school and if we wanted to, we could take flags the school had bought and we could line the road to see him and wave out flags. A typical bunch of surly teenagers we all said "We're not going!" Then we realised it coincided with a double maths lesson and we all suddenly became staunch royalists and off we all went flags in hand. We walked through the fields to the bypass, if we stood there today we would be bang in the middle of the M25, and waited. We all said it was so much more exciting than we expected and when his big black chauffeur driven car appeared with the royal standard on the front, it slowed right down and he wound down his window as it drove by. Of course no one took photos in those day we just waved our flags and cheered and he waved back. We all quite enjoyed the morning and I can remember us all walking back to school arguing about who he had been looking at as he waved. Much more fun than double maths! 

One man in our group who used to own a pub in the 1980s told us a tale that happenend there, He had just openend at 11am and the pub was still empty. In walked Prince Philip on his own an ordered a pint! My friend said "Would you like it in a glass or a jug sir?" to which Prince Philip replied "You can put it in a bucket for all I care!" He drank his pint, looked all around the pub at the photos on the wall, and then said goodbye and left. He said it was the only time his wife had ever seen him speechless! As my friend so typically said at the end of the tale, and I could hear his cockney accent as I read it, "God Bless him, may he Rest in Peace".

I spent quite a bit of time out in the garden yesterday and when the sun came out it was quite warm, so much more is coming up, and I was delighted to see many of the acorns I planted last year from my Dad's oak tree have started to sprout and are just poking above the surface. It's as if they are all in communication with each other all appearing on the same day. The blossom on our cherry tree at the end of the garden is looking very pretty and each year I try and get a photo of it at it's very best, it's not quite there yet.

I had to laugh at Cleo our cat as I was out working. Our next door neighbours were out in the garden too and she couldn't hide her nosiness in what is going on.

I went up into the loft yesterday evening and got a couple of boxes down as there is still a bit of room in the boxes we are going to take to the charity show room next week. So much will be opening up on Monday, it is going to seem strange. Tom say's as he is driving along in his bus every pub he passes, staff are out scrubbing down the fronts and busy setting up tables outside which of course is the only place people will be allowed to sit. He said it is lovely to see so much activity after all these months. 

I'm going to spend part of the day sorting through the boxes I brought down from the loft deciding what to keep and what to get rid of. I'm on a roll with my clearing out so can't wait until next week when the stuff can finally go. I hope everyone has a lovely Saturday what ever you are doing. xx

The Sun Always Shone

 I travelled on the train to go and do the shopping for my Dad  yesterday It was a really hot day and it reminded me that wearing masks out and about on a hot day isn't very pleasant. I really hope the rules are relaxed a bit by the time we have hot weather all the time. It was so nice though to see the sunshine and Dad's roses are going to look a picture this year as they are all coming to life. 

By the time I got home in the evening Tom was already in from work and had started cooking the evening meal which was nice to arrive home too and we all had our usual catch up while sitting eating. Youngest son and daughter will be finishing work for the Easter holidays in the next day or two so they are very cheerful at the thought. While we were sitting eating our meal it said on the news this was the hottest March day since 1968. Tom and I laughed and we said "Oh we rememember that hot day in March 1968 really well!" Of course we don't, but it did make me think how when I look back on childhood days I always remember sunshine. When  I am out on a sunny day and smell freshly cut grass I am transported back to school on a summers day. 

It is not just me, my school friends and I often talk about it. We had a big grass field next to our school playground and we would all lie on it listening to transistor radios on hot summer days. We all say we only have to hear a song from those days now or smell that cut grass smell and we think of it. The boys would be playing football and showing off and the girls reading Jackie magazine and making daisy chains. The sun always seemed to shine, it's all we remember. We often joke if we had any idea in those carefree days we would all be friends in our sixties discussing cures for arthritis we  would never have believed it! 

I can't remember where we went holiday in 1968, I must ask my sister if she remembers, but it would have been a caravan holiday in this country. I feel like searching through the old box I have of diaries I kept in those days to see if I kept one for that year. I was a sporadic diary keeper, January was always well documented then I lost steam but I often kept a holiday diary. One thing I am sure of though it would have been a holiday like this one and the sun would always have shone! Happy days!

It going to be another lovely day today I had thought of planting some of my little plants out from the greenhouse but the weather forecast is very cold over Easter so I may hang on a bit longer. I will definitely get some garden jobs done though as it looks as if it may be the last day for a while it is going to be so nice. I hope where ever you are in the world and what ever the weather is like you have a lovely day. xx

Special Roses

 We had quite a busy day yesterday. The car was loaded with all the rubbish from the old duck run and we took it to the dump. With this new appointment system, we were in and out in no time then off to Lidl. We haven't been for months and although it was not too busy which was nice I was a bit disappointed. I had hoped to buy some compost and a couple of plants but although I bought a few bags of compost there were no plants at all. At this time of the year normally there would have been plants, fruit bushes and even fruit trees but today nothing. At least it was quite nice to get out and about!

My Dad had so kindly given me some money for Mother's Day to buy a rose to plant to remember my Mum with. I had been looking online at a company I had bought from before which sells really good quality roses and knew the one I wanted. It is called "Sheila's Perfume" my Mum's name. I can't wait for it to flower. It will always be very special to me. 

While I was looking on the website I noticed another rose I couldn't resist buying too as it would save so much on postage costs to buy at the same time. It was a half standard rose called "Special Friend". A year ago a neighbour and friend of mine died. Nothing coronavirus related but even though she had not been in the best of health it was a shock as she was only in her early 70s. She and her husband have been such friends to us over the years. Dog lovers like we are and such bright fun people, real individuals. Her husband is a jazz pianist and when he was away working she would phone for a chat and we would pop round for visits. The summer before she died she came round one day to tell me she had some garden planters being delivered and would we look out for them in case she was out. She was so excited telling me the plants she would be putting in them. 

Last summer the empty planters in their front garden with dried up shrivelled plants in them made me feel so sad every time I walked past. Then one day, during the winter, her husband stopped me and asked if I would like the planters as he didn't have the heart to look after them. They are ever so big and will need lots of plants to fill them and I have been trying to decide which ones as somehow I feel they must be really special. I have planted "Sheila's Perfume" in one and "Special Friend" in another. They are bare root roses so aren't doing much at the moment but are a really good start to making them look wonderful. For so many reasons I am really pleased with these roses.

I spent the rest of the afternoon tidying up the greenhouse. I have bought some seeds on special offer and when they arrive I want to be ready to plant them. It's all starting to look very spring like.

Tom had his coronavirus vaccine yesterday afternoon. He had the Astrazeneca vaccine the same as me, and he has not had any side effects yet which is good news. The lovely young Welsh man on BBC breakfast who wear bright brooches on his suit (I love brooches!) says the east of the country will have sunny spells today. Tom is off and we have dog walks and fixing the wooden garden arch planned. The arch is for our wisteria which is growing furiously but even though it has been doing well for 16 years it only flowered  once. I wish I knew what was wrong or more importantly how to put it right! I hope everyone has a lovely Saturday and manages to avoid this blustery weather. xx

Planting Summer Bulbs And Writing Letters

 I managed to get the letter to my old school friend written yesterday. I had bought a jolly little greetings card of a puppy tucked up in bed in the hope it may make her smile. Also on a card you have limited space so you are not struggling to fill a whole page. It actually felt quite fun taking pen to paper and writing a proper letter! I didn't want to launch into a saga of my life until I found out how life had treated her. I have just told her what is going on with a reunion added my email address and phone number and said I really hope to hear from her. I made a point of adding even if she didn't fancy going to the school reunion it would be lovely to be back in touch. I had found the last letter she sent me when we were 19. she had just met her future husband and it was so full of fun and hope for the future as you are at that age. I so hope life has been kind to her. It's sitting in the hall waiting to be posted this morning when I walk the dogs so fingers crossed for a reply.

I was going to paint the duck house yesterday but it was very chilly and painting is a job that requires standing about so I  planted a few new summer flowering bulbs in the greenhouse and did a bit of hoeing which certainly warms you up. No treasures found, just lots of worms so I was followed about by a little robin all the time I was out there. I had bought some summer bulbs on ebay as I haven't been to the garden centre and I have never even heard of the flowers before. They are called Persian Buttercups and in the photo they look so pretty. Apparently they are wonderful for cut flowers so I'm really looking forward to seeing how they grow. I hope they end up looking as good as the photo in the advert! 

Children are back at school in England today. Youngest son and daughter are both really looking forward to seeing some of the children they look after that they haven't seen for months. Hopefully it's a step to life being a bit more normal. I'm almost starting to forget what normal is! If you're affected by the opening up steps that are happening today I hope it all goes really smoothly for you and everyone has a lovely day what ever your plans. xx