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

Money Saving And Stormy Weather

 The weather has been very strange this spring. We had a brief lovely warm spell and then very cold, frosty dry weather with virtually no rain and now May is making up for that. We have some sunshine followed by such heavy showers if you are unfortunate to be out and about in it you get soaked through. I have been caught several times out with the dogs and its not much fun. I did manage to re pot sickly tomato plant which is now looking wonderful and re potted some of my apple trees even though the whole time I was out there, I was accompanied by rumbles of thunder in the distance. There was an article on the news yesterday with Prince Charles calling for us all to plant a tree for the Queen's platinum jubilee next year. I hope Her Majesty will be impressed with all my efforts! My trees are doing so well and actually seem to be really thriving in all this rain. This adverse weather has caused everything else in the garden to be much later than other years though. Youngest daughter was showing me photos of the roses in our garden from three years ago yesterday. There were quite a few in full bloom looking beautiful, but this year nothing yet. There are lots of buds so something will happen soon but it's just taking it's time.

I have been continuing with my Too Good To Go Bags and they have been really successful. Everyone says they have tried new foods they never would have thought to try. Who would have thought sun dried tomatoes and mozzarella would have been such a hit with our quiche the other evening. I have saved so much money on our food budget this week I'm on track to buy a new drill for Tom out of saved money that he has had his eye on for a while. The bags wouldn't do for vegetarians as there is always a lot of meat which I freeze straight away for the rest of the family but there is usually one vegetarian item for me. I'm also quite enjoying the walk down just before nine, I rarely walk that way so am getting a totally different view point of out area in the evening. It's much busier in that direction and it has a  different feel to our little row of shops but already I'm bumping into the same people and having a little chat with people I see each evening. I just can't resist having a little chat! The sky was so dramatic when I walked down last night I had to take some photos.

I scanned lots of photos yesterday which was very time consuming but a good job out of the way. Even though I am very pleased to have got through so many, this morning I really must try and get further with the caravan awning curtains as our break away is getting closer. I hope the weather improves, three dogs in a caravan with this rain would be a bit of a challenge! I'm going to my Dads to do his shopping today and my sister and I will be able to spend some time with him all together inside his house now. How wonderful, I just hope nothing gets worse again to spoil this freedom we are having. Have a lovely day everyone what ever you are doing. xx

Growing Trees From Seeds And Not Reading Clearly Enough

 It was a nice sunny day yesterday and I managed to get quite a few small plants in the greenhouse planted out. I planted meadowsweet, poppies, echinops and hollyhocks, all grown from collected seeds last autumn. They are all plants that bees love so I'm hoping will attract more to the garden. I had kept some of the geraniums I grew from seed last year in the greenhouse over the winter and I put them out now too. This left more space and spare flower pots so re potted some of the trees I  have grown. I potted oak trees grown from acorns from the oak tree in my Dad's garden and plum trees from plum stones from the plum tree in our garden. I still have lots more to re pot so I'm going to clear an area at the side of the duck run as my tree "nursery". I was really pleased as, after I was starting to wonder if there was no hope, my Silver Birch trees are starting to come up. I planted them last September and there had been no sign of life. They are only tiny but I'm hoping they survive. These are the oak and plum trees. Some of the oak trees still haven't got leaves on yet but I had put two acorns in each little pot so they had to be separated out.

Our garden is really filling out now. I hate gaps anywhere! I still  have lots of plants to put out and 24 free (almost) geraniums coming. I have bought some seeds before from a company called Thompson and Morgan and they often send me emails about offers and the other day I received an email from them saying I could have 20 free geranium plants, postage was £5 so it didn't work out totally free but it as still a good deal and should fill any gaps.

I had ordered another £4 bag of food and and Tom and I walked down to the local garage together at 9pm with Tom telling me how much he had enjoyed his sandwich and Danish pastry at lunchtime. When we got there I realised I had chosen the wrong petrol station on the app and it was the one on the other side of our town. We had to walk home and then drive to collect our food with me apologising the whole way. I'm not making that mistake again! Even though we laughed about the state of my eyes I was really cross with myself. There wasn't such a good selection either which was interesting to compare but still lots of food for today and Tom got his Danish pastry to take to work so he wasn't too fed up. When we got back it had got dark and now I have worked out where the little solar panel is on the bee he has finally lit up!

Scarlett is coming this morning and I'm sure she will want to help me in the garden today. I was hoping we may be able to have our lunch sitting on the bench by the aviary after it was so lovely yesterday but the weather forecast is not as good and showers are expected so I may have to rethink. I hope everyone has a lovely day and enjoys what ever you are doing. xx

Food Too Good To Waste

 It as really windy again yesterday morning with some heavy showers. I managed to get the second curtain for the caravan awning cut but not pinned ready for sewing as it took me so long, checking and double checking. It has been made so much harder as the original curtains were enormous. I thought when they first arrived they must have been curtains for French doors, but I was checking the length yesterday and we live in an Edwardian House with very high ceilings but they would hang from ceiling to floor. It has made them really hard to cut and manage but I am so thrilled with all the fabric. 

The other task I put aside five minutes for yesterday morning was to check my Too Good To Go app on my phone. I used it a few times before the first lockdown but then deleted it off my phone as it wasn't really worth keeping it on. A month ago I thought I would give it another go and I have bought a couple of takeaways for the rest of the family. You buy £12 worth of food the restaurant or shop advertises and collect it near the end of the day for about £3 or £4, it is to help reduce food waste and also boost local businesses. You can buy one, two or three meals if they have them available but it is a mystery bag and as I don't eat meat the take away option hasn't been any good for me as so far no vegetarian restaurants are taking part. The rest of the family have loved it though. I had decided to try the shop at our petrol station which is an M&S local selling other brands as well and has a little cafe. I purchased my bag for £4 and my collection was booked for between 9 and 10 pm. 

I spent a few hours of the afternoon gardening. There always seems to be so much to do at this time of the year. I re potted my hydrangea my eldest daughter had given me for my 50th birthday. I realised it must definitely need it as I have had it 11 years this summer! It was really heavy to move about but I'm glad I finally got it sorted out. I have lots of plants I will be putting out from the greenhouse in the next few weeks, poppies, echinops, and hollyhocks and am looking forward to seeing how they will do. I kept Cassie up there with me while I was working but tied her to the garden chair on a long lead as she would chase the poor foxes if she was loose. They walked by a few times looking a bit worried at the sight of her, but she only growled. She may be little but terriers can be really feisty and she certainly is, even though she looks as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth!

After Tom had got in at 7 o'clock and we had all eaten our evening meal I walked down to the petrol station at about 8.45. It was a nice walk as it was still light and very quiet. I showed the man who works there the code sent to me on my phone and he gave me two bag of shopping and when I thanked him he said "No, thank you this would all be thrown out at midnight otherwise." I'm sure we would be horrified if we saw all the food thrown out in our local area. I was really pleased, all this for £4.

Sadly I heard yesterday evening the young whale in the Thames had been found but had to be put to sleep as it was in such poor condition. The poor thing, it made me feel sad the whole evening. There has been some good news though as coronavirus restrictions are being relaxed a bit more next Monday. I'm going to my Dad's house today to do his shopping and have quite a bit to get through before  To think by the summer things may be back to some sort of normality. No more queuing and mask wearing when we are shopping I hope. It's an exciting thought! Have a lovely day everyone what ever you are doing. xx

Vaccination Passports

 Disappointing news arrived yesterday from the phone buying company. They had magnified the corner of the phone by about 200x and there was a tiny crack in the join of the screen. We had not noticed it with our old eyes! In the end the company offered us £20 not £80, I don't really blame they as they do have to make their profits but £20 off the duck run cost is obviously not nearly as much as £80 off it. Oh well, it's disappointing but I have to tell myself it's extra money from something that was just stuck in a drawer.

There has been a lot on the news yesterday about covid vaccination passports. There seems to be a possibility that we may have to carry proof of vaccination before we are allowed to go on holidays abroad or even to visit pubs and restaurants. It reminded me of an incident that happened in 1973 a few weeks before we went on on holiday to Corfu. A young 23 year old woman who was a laboratory technician was admitted to the Harrow Road branch of St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, on the16th March. When smallpox was suspected on the 23rd March she was transferred to Long Reach Smallpox Hospital in Dartford Kent but in the intervening period a man and his wife, who were visiting another patient in the same ward, became infected and were admitted to an infectious diseases hospital on the 2nd April and transferred to Long Reach on the 4th April. It was thought the source lay in the laboratory in which the young woman worked. 

All of a sudden from nowhere, we were not allowed to travel unless we had a Small Pox vaccination. I remember my Mum, Dad and my sister and I had to go to our GP for our vaccination just days before the holiday. I presume we must have had a certificate to be allowed into Corfu, I can't remember, but I do remember we probably wouldn't have needed one, we would have just been able to show our arms as every British person at the hotel was sitting around the swimming pool with a swollen lump oozing pus on the top of their arm. I had a scar that lasted years! Strange how we didn't seem to complain about our rights back then!

No other patients were ever treated at Long Reach and the hospital was knocked down in 1974 to make way for improved flood defences. The last outbreak of smallpox in England was in 1975, from a laboratory in Birmingham and the last case in the world in Somalia in 1977. On the 9th December 1979 the World Health Organisation declared that smallpox was eradicated. Incredibly in the early 1950s there were an estimated 50 million cases of smallpox occurring in the world each year with a 30% mortality rate. So hopefully no matter how terrible coronavirus seems now, one day, the same thing will be happening with this.

We had a lovely day yesterday with the sun shining and I was out and about most of the afternoon. I know so much of the west side of the country is having terrible rain and I hope the sunny weather arrives with you soon. Our sunniest flower bed is all ready for spring when it should be a mass of colour. I can't wait. I hope everyone has a lovely day and you manage to see some sunshine where ever you are. xx

Entertainment With A Retro Twist!

First a report back about yesterday's washing with conker liquid. An initial success! I chose washing that wasn't too dirty except one of Tom's shirts that was a bit grubby around the collar and washed it on a 30 degree wash which is what I would normally use for an only lightly dirty load. When the washing was going round and round in the machine there was not a bubble in sight and I was prepared for it not doing anything. However after only a 30 minute wash I was pleasantly surprised. The washing was fresh and clean. Although there was no scent, it smelt fresh and definitely soft. The grubby marks on the shirt collar had all gone. Youngest son and daughter were amazed and frankly won over. Today I am going to have a go with clothes a bit dirtier and see how I get on.
  In my quest for a more ordered household I'm always reading about ways of decluttering. Always reading never really succeeding! I came across one website recently that made me realise how stuck in the past I am. They gave a list of things no one has in their house anymore. One of the things they said to get rid of was CD's as everything now can be listenend to digitally. I know this is true but Tom loves his collection of CDs and is always trawling jumble sales and Car Boot Sales for new additions and I am even further back with a large collection of LPs and singles I still have from the 70s and early 80s.I even have a collection, of dare I say it, music cassettes I listen to on a little 1970s cassette player (rescued from a skip!) with the cassettes stored in this lovely orange cassette case I bought at a jumble sale for 50p.

   Another item was filing cabinets. It said scan all your precious documents and store them on the cloud and no more lists and wall calenders, just write them on your phone. Oh dear the one and only time I tried to copy what my eldest daughter always does and write a list on my phone I couldn't find it when I arrived at the shops and as for important documents in the cloud. I'm not even going to comment. The final item on the list was DVD's. Now I would have probably agreed with this until recently. At the beginning of the year we had a clear out of a lot of DVDs as we had subscribed to Netflix this time last year. Recently when I was going through our bank statement, I noticed the Netflix payment of £5.99 a month. "Do we really need this?" I asked everyone. Youngest son? "No never watch it." Youngest daughter? "Ocaasionally, but I'm not really bothered. Get rid of it if you want." "What about us?" I asked Tom "Oh yes we use it." He said "We watched all the episodes of Merlin earlier this year." "That was last year." I said. When I thought about it that is all we have watched. We really enjoyed it again but I could have bought all the series for about £20 secondhand on ebay instead of the £72 we have paid over the last year to Netflix. That's it, Netflix has gone.
   So rather than decluttering to live in the 21st century I have decluttered any up to date bits. I'm probably just not in the modern world really. I suppose I could set up a little business as a vintage entertainer using my retro items to play music at weddings and vintage events, Yes there really is such a thing. Well it's a thought!
  The sun is shining here though I'm not sure it will last. I hope you get a bit of brightness what ever you do today. xx

The Eco Friendly Conker Washing Liquid

What a lovely day it was yesterday. The sun shone and I felt very productive and cheerful. After my second operation on my thyroid they told me I may never be able to sing again but even though I was very croaky in the early days I can sing fine, well as well as I could before anyway! When I catch myself singing away whilst I am doing things I am always very grateful. It's funny the things you take for granted in life. Anyway aside form me singing all day I managed to get lots of little jobs done in the sunshine and after lunch I started on the job I was looking forward to most.
  I put aside half the conkers I had to experiment with my horse chestnut washing liquid with, which was a nice little hoard. Thank you very much Scarlett!

I started bashing with my hammer as the instructions online had said but with conkers flying and dogs barking it wasn't as easy as I thought.  However with a bit of experimentation and the use of an old towel I got a rhythm going and it started to work.I found using the claw part of the hammer and hitting dead centre was the most effective. "It's a good job Scarlett can't see what's happening to her precious conkers" youngest son commented as he walked past the kitchen. I had intended to put them in my Mum's old Magimix as the instructions said but they are so hard I was a bit worried about damaging it so I just kept bashing.

  Only a short time later the conkers where all in a satisfying pile of small pieces and I removed any loose outside bits, although the instructions said you don't need to, and then put them in a Kilner jar.

  Then I poured very hot, but not boiling, water over them level to the top of the conkers. Different sources say different amount of times to leave them soaking some say four hours and some say overnight.

  I left mine overnight on the kitchen windowsill and this morning strained the liquid through a muslin into a bowl.

   I poured the liquid it into a smaller kilner jar and here it is. It's a bit more watery than I imagined it would be but maybe that's because in my mind I am picturing Persil liquid! The proof will be in the using but youngest son and daughter have said "You're not practising on our clothes!" and who can blame them. 

  I'll try it out today on some of mine and let you know how I get on. Hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing. xx

Who Needs Crème Fraîche

On my post a couple of day's ago Sally made a couple of really interesting comments about Home Economics lessons at school that really set me thinking. The cookery lessons at the time taught the basics for example how to peel potatoes and how to make pastry but they also taught nutrition. I don't think these basic skills are on the curriculum for most young people today. A little while ago my youngest son was complaining that a friend of his was learning to cook "It's Crème Fraîche this and Crème Fraîche that" he said "He's driving me up the wall, please can you teach me to cook and what even is Crème Fraîche?" "I have no idea" I replied "but don't worry you don't need any of that." I don't think it is any coincidence that the more fancy recipes that are on TV the less people are cooking from scratch. According to a recent study the average British family now spends £1320 a year on fast food buying 12 meals a month and 25-34 year olds are the biggest consumers spending as much as £2626 a year on fast food. These statistics seem incredible to me as we don't spend anywhere near this amount but apparently these are the figures!
  I decided I'm not doing my son any favours in cooking for him all the time so I searched out this old book.

   Yes I still have it, my old Home Economics book. Oh dear I feel a bit guilty I probably should have given it back in, but I doubt there are many old school books that have had as much use as this one. It is full of basic recipes such as fish pie, beef stew and even really basic skills such as how to bake potatoes or cook green vegetables. There are also chapters on nutrition and how much we need of these nutrients each day. It is all so simple I wonder why on earth the backs of food packets looks so complicated.

   Every week we have decided we will cook one recipe together and I'm hoping it will give him the same basic grounding in cooking that I gained from it. "Experts" differ in how many recipes they think people should be able to cook from scratch but I think if I can give my son 10-15 meals he can cook, then that should stand him in good stead for the rest of his life, and not an ounce of Crème Fraîche in sight!

Let's Put Pressure On The Big Guys

There has been so much in the news lately about excessive use of plastics. This week we saw a family trying to live without plastic for a week. Whilst I admire enormously the people who make this effort I'm not sure if it is really possible to live completely without plastic at the moment. It also puts the onus on us the consumer rather than on where it should lie with the big guys, the supermarkets. God forbid Tesco, Asda and the like should change anything that may eat into their massive profits! But maybe if all of us changed our buying just a little bit, rather than a few people changing it a lot, they may have to.
   There are the obvious things that so many people try to do such as buying loose vegetables in the supermarket rather than the prepacked variety, shopping from a butcher if possible ( I know that is not easy these days) or taking a reusable metal water container around with us rather than a plastic bottle. Though maybe we should be asking ourselves do we really need the water bottle at all. Before the 1990s nobody took water around and I don't remember anyone dying of dehydration in the street!
   I bought this little thermos flask at a jumble sale for 20p and we always take it on picnics and days out. I loved it as it was just like the one I used to take to school with me with hot drinks or soup in. (Wouldn't it be nice to get back to those days). No take away coffee drinking for us!

   Lovely though it is it is a bit big to carry about all the time so I have decided I am on the look out for something smaller. Something old so I feel I am recycling and something with a bit of character. I shall enjoy the search.
   But back to the serious issue. I am going to change my shopping habits by one or two items a week. I intend each week to change something I normally buy in a plastic bottle or container with something in a glass or card one in a gradual change away from plastic. I don't mind paying a little bit extra to help the environment but can't afford to pay a lot more so it will be a challenge. When I popped down to the Co Op this evening I thought I would buy the olive oil we needed in a glass bottle rather than the usual plastic one. All the Olive Oil in the Co op was in plastic bottles so I bought this bottle of Rapeseed Oil in a glass bottle instead. I had been meaning to swap to support British farmers who produce it, so now seemed like a good time.

However it was £4.19 for a 500ml bottle compared with the usual £2.25 I pay in Asda for the same amount of  Olive Oil in a plastic bottle so already the price is higher. I think I'll have a look in Lidl this week for some items. I searched around for some fruit juice my youngest daughter likes but even the very expensive makes were in plastic bottles. In the end I gave up and bought a bottle of wine. Oh well at least it was in a glass bottle!

Enjoying Shopping Locally!

   I have been only shopping locally lately and it's working out really well. I can have little chat's with all the local shop keepers and it feels so much less hectic. The other thing I'm surprised to notice is we are definitely spending less and I think eating more fresh food and vegetables. There are four adults living in our house and two who pop in regularly at meal times. I have worked out a bit of routine for shopping locally now.
   In the morning before lunch Tom or I, depending on who is around, go to the bakers to get a loaf of bread which is always warm and fresh and then if we are having meat that evening go to the butchers to buy it. At about 5.30 I go out to the Co-Op and buy two or three types of vegetables, and a bag of salad, nearly all of which we can find reduced at that time of day. They always have reduced crumpets or muffins and even sometimes a big cherry or apple pie at this time of the evening. Fish is often reduced too and as I don't eat meat I will buy this if it is cheap enough. I try and buy one or two items for the store cupboard at this time which is getting low such as coffee, olive oil, cans of beans, custard (to go with the apple pie!) all the usual kind of things we need. I have also been adding one item for Christmas at the moment nearly always from the reduced shelf to put in the freezer. We do have eggs every day from our hens and Scoot will start laying soon as it is the beginning of the duck breeding season which also helps as we are omlette obsessed!  Most days I spend £10 sometimes £12, No topping up later in the week which seemed to happen when we bought the weekly shop and a lot more enjoyable.
   The bakers looked lovely when I went this morning and the Christmas display of food even nicer. They make it all fresh in the shop, it is a proper old fashioned bakers.  I just wish there was a way of capturing the smell in there.

  The wool shop always puts on a lovely display and what ever the celebration and I do love Mr And Mrs Santa Claus but maybe Santa has been on the mulled wine already!

   

A Few Ideas For Boosting Our Savings

   I know when you are on a tight budget how hard it can be to save money and if you are anything like us you just manage to get a bit of money behind you and a big bill arrives like work on the car and eats most of it away. There is one thing Tom and I are trying desperately to save for and that is a little camper van. We have a dream of setting off for a couple of days with our dogs in the back and exploring all around the country. We don't want a massive luxurious one in fact a little one we could fit into ordinary parking spaces would be ideal. Just somewhere to cook little meals and sleep after a days walking would be perfect. The problem is how are we going to get the money together.
  I never underestimate the amount that can be made from small amounts of money saved and small amounts of extra money made. I recently read a good idea for saving extra money without noticing and it really works. Every morning when I get up I check my bank account, just in case something unexpected has gone out. What I read was to round the money down to the 0 or 5 below and transfer it into a savings account. So if you have £323.32 in your account transfer the £3.32 into the savings account or if you have £216.50 in your account transfer £1.50 out. I really didn't notice the little amounts transferred every day and it took me a month to save just over £100. If anyone said I had to save an extra £100 I would say I can't afford it but I managed it with no trouble.
  When I was student nurse in a shared house we had a money box by the telephone which we all put our loose change in to pay the phone bill and we were often amazed at how much money would be in there when we came to add it up. It was occasionally raided for a night out but on the whole it worked well.  I'm hoping to get everyone in our house into the habit of putting their loose change into this little money box I had as a child. This may boost our savings by about £50 a month with luck so just another £150 a month to find and we will be on track for next summer. I'm sure I can think of some more ideas to raise that and then it will be life on the open road for us!

The Wastefulness Of Some People!

My eldest son has been doing some extra agency work driving lately and has been delivering catering equipment to mainly very rich clients and to corporate events, As a family we are totally unimpressed by celebrity and the trappings of wealth. We would rather walk our dogs in the countryside or have a nice meal with family but even he was amazed by the job he recently went to where the house was over 2 miles from it's front gates! The main eye opener to him though has been the waste.
    He says that as he comes from a family where we have always had to be careful and not throw food away he feels like crying at the total extravagance and waste of some people. After corporate events tray loads of perfectly good food are regularly chucked in bins, but an event he went to last night was the worst he has ever seen. I won't mention the event or the well known company but as most average people can't afford to buy from them anyway maybe they feel not part of the real world. Big plastic crates of food where being thrown into skips. Ham, sugar, fruit, cakes, scones and much more where all chucked in. Surely a local charity could be informed so people who need it can be given it. The staff agreed it was wrong and happily told him to help himself but said it is what always happens. It really upsets me this happens and I can't even boycott the company in protest!

Some of this food has a use by date of 2017.

I think I'll take some of this into the hospital when I visit tomorrow.

We have eight packs of this ham!

I think I better make a few Victoria Sponge cakes with this.

I will give these as presents.

Perfect for afternoon tea,

And we certainly have enough tea to go with them.

We had these strawberries after our tea tonight and they were delicious. But one thing I am most pleased with is this orchid. It's called a Phalaenopsis orchid and it is still in it's wrapper with the price of £20 still on it. Apparently there were lots in the skip but the china and glass planters had shattered on all the others as they were thrown in. This one had lost it's flowers but otherwise was undamaged. It may look very plain now but I love it. I will nurture it until it flowers again and will feel as though it has been rescued and brought to a proper home were it will be loved and appreciated!