Mother's Day In Casualty

     The day started off so well. My family gave me lovely presents, I had a lie in and the sun was shining. I phoned my Mum to wish her a Happy Mother's Day and we arranged for us to pop in and see her later on in the day. Make sure it's after the Liverpool match she said we're looking forward to it. My Mum and Dad are both Liverpudlians and although we have lived down here for years they are Liverpool FC fanatics.
     We were going to Polsedon Lacey in Bookham to walk the dogs after lunch and then have some tea and cakes in the courtyard cafe there, before going to see my Mum. I have been looking forward all week to this day. Just before we had our lunch the phone rang and my poor Dad's shaky voice told us my Mum had fallen and the neighbours had taken her to hospital. A quick dash to Epsom District and there she was with a badly fractured wrist. I felt so sorry for her she looked so pale and frail sitting there. After hours sitting around whilst she was X-Rayed and seen by different people the outcome was she has to go back in on Wednesday and almost certainly have surgery as it is such a bad break. On the plus side all the staff couldn't believe she was 90 which I'm sure made her feel a bit better.
     As we got her back home I helped her out of her coat and into her armchair. "Did Liverpool win?" she asked. When I told her they had won 2-1 she replied "Oh well the day hasn't been too bad then!"
     Tonight I'm going to sit down with a glass (or two) of Baileys, admire my flowers and eat a few chocolates and be grateful we are all here to tell the tale. Polesden Lacey will be there another day and it all could have turned out so much worse. I hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day with a little less drama than mine.

I Love The 1970s!

    That's it, Tom and I have finally given in and we spend late evenings watching old Tops of The Pops from the 1970s. We sing along, reminisce and wallow in nostalgia. We are so perfectly matched! Our family despair of us. Our younger son glancing at the telly the other evening commented "What is this rubbish!" as Elton John and Kiki Dee cavorted on screen in, what I thought at the time was a really cool pair of dungarees, singing "Don't Go Breaking My Heart". "No" I exclaimed "This was 1976, the year I left school, the hottest summer on record, long days out with friends and evenings in the pub (in days before ID was heard of). What more could we have asked for," "How about a decent No 1" replied youngest son leaving the room!




     I know I'm not alone. My eldest daughter's, best freind's Mum has a whole 1970's themed room in her house with a bar and juke box filled with 70s hit records. She has friends round and they dress in 70s clothes and drink (far too much) reliving their youth. I know this seems rather extreme but I quite envy them.  Even though my four children laugh at us I can see it creeping in with them. When they are all round at our house they sit and laugh about TV programmes, music and clothes from the 1990s. They tell me they have even joined facebook groups called I was a child of the 90s.
    My Mum who is 90 loves to tell us how she used to sing "When April Sings" by Deanna Durbin as she cycled through fields as a teenager. She said she would sing it at the top of her voice as there was no one around, I found it for her on You Tube and we all sang it again for days. It brought her so much pleasure.

 

     I suppose every generation thinks theirs was the best. For Tom and I it was the 1970s and 1980s but everyone seems to love the decades from their youth. So whether you are 90 or 20 there is a era and songs for you. I just hope everyone enjoys singing along as much as we do.

A Love Of Collecting

My eldest son came round this afternoon and we were talking about how much "stuff" we all have. He is down sizing from a house to a flat after his move so is desperate to get rid of some of his belongings. We all decided we have too many items in a small house which was built at a time when people didn't have so much. There were lots of ideas discussed of how to remedy this problem, most of which seemed to involve more work for me but I will reveal them in a later post.

The problem is I have the collector gene. I can look back through our family and see a distinct pattern down the generations. It started in early childhood and if I'm not careful I am going to become a hoarder so it has to be addressed now. I have looked through so many items this afternoon kept from childhood looking for things to sell, but the trouble is I find myself making excuses as to why I should keep everything.

I found a box full of little bits from my childhood. Something that caught my eye was a collection of badges I had. I was a collector even in those days!

One of my favourites from when I was very small was the Tingha And Tucker Club. I must have been four or five but I loved the old black and white TV programme with Auntie Jean. There was even a secret sign for members. Well I suppose it wasn't that secret as they did it at the beginning of the programme every week.

The other badge that brought back lovely memories was my I-Spy badge, and just to prove I never throw anything out I found my whole I-Spy pack. Incredibly I am still a member, it says on my card "Life Membership"! I remember so clearly I used to set off at ten years old with the two boys who lived next door, on our bikes. We would set our bike mileometers before we left and to cover eight miles in a day was normal. We took our I-Spy packs with us and spent the days trying to build up our points by finding items in the books. The writing in them is all messy from trying to fill them in leaning on each others backs. Oh happy days. We were never bored. I feel so sorry for today's children, they may have high tech gadgets and computers but they don't have those days of freedom with your I-Spy pack in your saddle bag! 

The Trouble With Foxes

Last Christmas Bud our Border Collie was given a toy pig as a Christmas present. It has long dangly legs and he loves to carry it about all over the place with him. Every time I put on my coat he looks for his toy pig and stands by the door waiting. (There is a point to this tale!)

At lunch time today I decided I would have cheese on toast. I put it under the grill and stood looking out of the window whilst it cooked. Walking down the garden path towards the house,  was one of the foxes who sit most of the day on the garden shed. It was the big dog fox and it walked by the chicken run and then the duck runs without a glance in either direction but carried on towards the terrace in front of the kitchen window. As it got to the terrace it looked me right in the eye then bent down and picked up Bud’s toy pig that was lying on the terrace. “Bud it’s got your toy” I shouted. Bud knows exactly what that word means and we both set off out of the back door in pursuit. Luckily as the fox ran to the fence he dropped the toy as he jumped over it. What a close thing we would have to go back to the garden centre and buy another toy pig if it had gone! Bud carried it back into the house, looking very pleased with himself. As I walked through the door a strong smell of burning greeted me. My lovely cheese on toast was burnt to a cinder. Oh well you can’t win them all.

After lunch I went out to the garden to feed all the birds and the foxes were back in their place on top of next doors shed. I have a live and let live philosophy with our local foxes as there are so many of them. It makes life very hard as we always have to watch our ducks, hens and quail and they live in runs that are barricaded like a fort but I still think they are beautiful creatures. I suppose they just wanted a toy to play with as well.

The Beautiful Vixen

The Dog Fox

The Foxes In Their Place On The Shed

Bud just needs to keep a closer eye on things from now on.

Building A Bird Bath From An Old Bin Lid

We went to the allotment today and I set about making a bird bath in our little wildlife part of the allotment. For a year we have had a compost bin lid lying around our plot. I kept it propped up against the shed as I thought it had probably blown off someones bin and the owner may claim it. Well I’m not keeping it there or another year so I decided I would make use of it.

The Compost Bin Lid

The Bin Lid Dug Into The Ground

A Layer Of Stones Dug Up Around The Allotment On The Bottom

Filled With Water

I was quite pleased with the end result. I just hope the owner doesn’t come to claim it now!  The little plant at the left of the bird bath is a Lavatera called Barnsley Baby which I bought at Morrisons this week. I’m sure when it is established it will attract lots of bees to the wildlife garden.

When I got home I checked the RSPB website which said the bird bath mustn’t be more than 10cm deep which I think this is so I must add some more of the flint stones that are lying around the allotment. I’ll have to go back soon now as I’m worried  a poor little bird will drown as the water is too deep!

The Wildlife Pond On Our Allotment

We went up to our allotment this morning. The first time this year and I was worried what may greet us but was pleasantly surprised, it wasn't too bad nothing we can't get on top of with a bit of hard work and then we will be ready for the spring. I particularly wanted to get our little wildlife pond ready for any frogs looking for a place to lay their frog spawn. I have added a big rock that just about reaches the surface so frogs can climb out and cleaned out bits of debris so I hope any passing frogs may find it inviting now.

I just need to add some plants to attract wildlife on the right of the pond and add a little house for passing toads to rest and it will be ready for the spring. I have found lots of ideas on the Gardener's World website. I just wish our little pond was this big.

Imogen Passes By

     Well storm Imogen has gone leaving a broken front fence in it's wake which we will have to replace soon. A couple of plastic roof panels have also blown off the duck and hen runs and lie broken on the ground. Other than that we can't complain really as I'm sure lots of people will have suffered much worse damage.
     It's been a lovely bright day today. Lots of sunshine and pancakes for tea with the family. Who could want for more. I even found an hour in between catching up with work to potter about with the hens who were really enjoying the sunshine.

Molly The Pekin Bantam 

Felicity the rescue hen enjoying the suns rays. What a cheeky little face! She doesn't seem bothered by the broken roof panels lying on the ground next to their run. 

I was thrilled to see the beginnings of blossom on our plum tree. This bodes well for a really good fruit yield this year hopefully to sell some as well as enjoy. What a beautiful blue sky. I hope everyone manages to enjoy some bright sunshine this week.