Himalayan Poppy

Climbing Hydrangea

Himalayan Poppy and Rhododendrons 

The rain is back thankfully as the gardens, rivers and lakes are all desperate for water. Its either a famine or feast with water these days. Lots of birthdays this month so its been a feast for me, dining out almost every other day, I am not complaining my friends are a strong supportive unit that keeps me grounded.

Plus many who are far and wide, accessed by the internet, a close warm group of friends that are always there for me, you know who you are xxx. People ask me, “What do you do on the internet ! ” and its difficult to explain, only that I would be lost without it…. Its an instant source of infinite knowledge, entertainment and contact with people and that’s why I enjoy passing this on every Friday morning to those who want to learn computer skills. I started back on the 6th after the break, two long bank holiday weekends and such wonderful weather, many have been crowding the beaches and taking longer breaks away. Even though we are all suffering with the overall financial cutbacks it hasn’t dampened our spirits and most of us are glad its now raining.

This week I caught up with four of my friends from Bolton Speakers. Gwyneth was speaking to a group about her Aunt Alisa, a very interesting character, almost unknown until Gwyneth started to delve into her past. It makes you very aware of how little we know about our relatives who indirectly may have influenced our lives. I love to watch the TV programme “Who Do You Think You Are” it makes me want to start the journey myself. First I have to finish “ My Mothers” book , its all ready to compile but I keep going back in to it and changing and adding stuff I must stop.. I want to go up to see Stue’s this weekend but there is threat of a petrol shortage, the Tanker drivers are boycotting the Supply Depots at the ports in protest of the price rises. I might have a look into going by train, that would be interesting….

Posting photos of my Himalayan Poppy that my friend Betty gave me last year. It’s a lovely delicate pale blue and sits tall and straight, looking so superior amongst the other wonderful blossoms in the garden.

Bye for now, my love to you all.

Easter and The Royal Wedding

The River Severn at Evesham

The Magnificent Seafood Platter

                                                                   
                         
1st May 2011


The beginning of May, I can now prune the bushes and dig in the bedding pants and not be afraid of frost. Famous last words as it has been a glorious April so sunny and warm the warmest April in 350 years, more like Summer than Spring so it makes me somewhat cautious as to what the weather has in store for us next. Last week I received my postal vote for the local Council Elections with an extra vote For or Against changing the way we choose our government. I have duly posted it, we will see if the Alternative Vote (AV) wins or loses. Over the Easter weekend I drove down to Pershore to spend a few days with my brother and his wife, it was glorious. I had to go in to Worcester to buy a memory card for my camera. I realised after I arrived that I had inadvertently left the card slotted into my computer when I downloaded some photos. Still one can never have enough memory, really could do with a memory card slotted into me at times. I set off early on Friday fearing the usual motorway delays over the Easter holidays and it worked, I was down in Pershore within two hours, no delays and was witness to a glorious sunrise. Saturday morning we took a trip into Evesham, a nearby market town buzzing with life, plenty shops, market stalls and visitors. We walked down to the river and around the town before returning to Pershore for a rather special lunch at the Belle House Restaurant in part celebration of their Ruby wedding. We enjoyed a magnificent Seafood Platter by Sue Ellis, the Chef who is presently on TV competing in the Great British Menu stakes and a personal friend of my sister in law. How great was that!!. http://www.belle-house.co.uk/


Then Friday we had the Royal Wedding what a magnificent event ,everything was perfect. The bride and groom looked fantastic and the 100’s of guests looked amazing in their elegant clothes and amazing hats. The huge crowds that lined the streets where so organised and happy having a wonderful time. Not that I am a dutiful Royalist, but they did us proud, no one can do this kind of grand stand event quite like our Royal Family.
http://www.officialroyalwedding2011.org/

Sunshine and Harleys

                                           Museum of Science and Industry Manchester    

                                                                                  
                                                                            

Well its ages since I wrote my last entry, the weeks seem to have flown by. The weather has been amazing , many days of sunshine and its been  hot at times, I burned my nose gardening. Now I can rest the garden is looking really tidy and the grass is growing well and looking much greener.. The bushes are filling out and my Hostas are showing, they look like the tips of bullets sticking out of the ground.  I spent Mothers Day up in Knaresborough  Stu loves to cook and he certainly filled the table. Took a walk with both of my boys, Sam just back for his Australian adventure, he has  grown at least a foot, towering over his Dad and me. Lovely to see him home safe and well.   I had a few days feeling really down ,stayed home and pottered around feeling miserable with all that is happening in this country and overseas,  so much anger and sadness . It sometimes seem that all the news is bad and we rarely get a glimpse of the good that must be around us.  What has also brought me down is the conclusion of  “Everwood”  my favourite morning TV show.  It was a real pick me up to share my breakfast with Treat Williams, sad too that he  has since died,  I do miss his smiling face every morning. . To cheer me up I booked my flight to the States. I’ll be staying with my good friends Leslie and David in Tehachapi  California, now I have a smile every time I think of my trip.  Then my Computer crashed following  125 windows updates.  I eventually had to reboot and reinstall programmes, applications and drivers it took me  6 hours. Thank god for Recovery Disks and backup, lost one or two photos but nothing important…  

Yesterday I went into Manchester to the  Museum of Science and Technology to witness a cavalcade of Harley Davidson Bikers. Many came from various parts of the North West  to ride into Manchester to the World Premiere of Customising, Culture & Harley - Davidson,   they filled the car park with  their colourful leathers and bikes.. The Museum is hosting an exhibition of old ,new and modified HD bikes, there where some really fantastic models. I was escorted round the exhibition by a  friend who rode his Harley into Manchester !  No I didn’t ride, but took some photos and really enjoyed the day.

http://www.mosi.org.uk/whats-on/customising,-culture-harley-davidson.aspx

Marching into Spring

Daffodils -Forsythia

Carmelia  

Its not been a good start to 2011  with the  Middle East  in turmoil, financial crisis throughout Europe and the   earthquakes in  New Zealand and  Japan, horrendous . I was watching the BBC when the tidal wave was shown rolling over the  Japanese shore, it was surreal, unbelievable, 10,000  people missing such unimaginable  horror. Then the Nuclear Reactors, three  exploded releasing  toxic  fallout that is increasing every day and  travelling over seas which will  affect  us all eventually. It was like the worst disaster movie ever.  There are so many questions that need to be answered as to why  they built Nuclear Plants on an island prone to earthquakes, I just don’t understand....  probably it's financial !  There has been one natural disaster after another, Mother Nature say’s, “ It's pay back time.”
But its amazing how the human spirit lives on in spite of all adversity. It’s true we are a global village and with today’s incredible fast internet connections our communication system is instant.
TV News travels fast, scenes of events around the world are transported into  our homes daily. I remember the Twin Towers  vividly, it was lunch time and I was watching  TV, at first I thought they were advertising a film drama but soon realised it was news. I was shocked, in tears most of the day. And again seeing that tidal wave hit  Japan … I was in tears again..
 Now to less mundane news, my wonderful  new cooker is now installed, I love it and it fits perfect after all that dithering . It really makes the  kitchen so much brighter as the old cooker was brown and  this one is a sparkly bright white and certainly makes a difference.
Managed to get to see  “The Kings Speech” and yes Colin Firth  deserves his Oscar he was very good as King George, even though some are critical about what was left out regarding the Kings alleged allegiance to Germany during his reign.
Its been wonderful weather recently, very warm sunny days that have brought out lots of colour to the gardens. Some are complaining that the bulbs are flowering to early and will suffer if we have frost. The daffodils, forsythia are out and my camellia coming into bud. I cut the grass on Saturday, last year I intended to change to  a   hover mower as they are much easier to use, but for whatever reason didn’t.  So I will be looking into that pretty soon as my present mower is knackered.   Spoke to Cathi  and the kids, they are missing Sam, since he got  back, he managed to find a job until he starts Uni in September.I must go up and see him soon..  Its been a strange few weeks now that Andy has moved on, I miss his presence more that I thought I would.    Haven’t been to Poetry, spent too much time on my own this month, will have to get motivated and  sally forth again. Still going to the Library, but the Council’s financial cuts have sadly stopped the Community Project work I was involved in.
I thought I would cheer myself up with  a shopping trip, had a good spend. Bought a nice red jacket, red floral skirt and  top, I don’t know why  red I have every little in red , it just  felt right.  I  tend to wear safe colours in the winter, lots of black navy and brown. So, as the clocks  have sprung forward  into  Spring , bring on the colours..  hope I have the nerve to wear them…

Bye for now, love you all XXXX

Primroses hidden amongst the Rhubarb

Every thing is springing into life in my garden

Michael Bublé - Everything (Video)

Imperial War Museum North

Mellenium Bridge Salford Quays

                                                                   Media City  Salford Quays                                                                           
I just can’t believe we are into the second week of March already. Since Andy moved house I have been spring cleaning and rearranging everything back to where it was before . I can almost hear the cupboards sighing with relief as I removed all the extra things I had rammed into them. The bathroom looks bare and the garage is looking like a garage instead of a hock shop. Other than this it has been an uneventful couple of weeks, post birthday. Still awaiting developments on the library closures, lots of petitions and protest letters are being sent to the local paper and Borough Council but since when has that ever been affective! I remember the thousands of signatures that went against replacing our wonderful Victorian Market Hall with this ultra modern clone of every other Shopping Mall in the UK. Time will tell but I am not too optimistic as to the outcome…. My grandson is having a great time in Perth with his cousins, Facebook is excellent for keeping me updated with photos and messages. They are going to miss him when he comes home. I am happy now I am back into my usual routine, the gym is fully operational now after six weeks repairing flood damage. Hopefully I should lose the extra pounds I put on over Christmas plus enjoying heaps of delicious chocolates I received on my birthday. Thank fully the chocolates are all gone and I have vowed not to be tempted by Cadburys chocolate cream filled Easter Eggs that are everywhere and are so mmmmmmm (I feel if I write this pledge down it might help me) as I am so passionate about chocolate. Last Sunday was a beautiful sunny day rather windy, but nice. My friend and I visited The Imperial War Museum Salford, it’s my second visit so I was able to take in more, it’s a extensive collection of war time memorabilia, facts and many interactive displays, you could spend hours there but all this standing gets tiring. I was especially please with their exhibition War at Sea with Dad, Andy and Cousin Jack having serving in the Royal Navy, in time I will go back for another visit. The Lowry Gallery was worth a look and of course the shops. History was a disappointment the lecturer spoke so low and tended to mumble. With my Speaker hat on, I evaluated her as a failure. Disaster Monday the cooker finally gave up the ghost, it had been erratic for a few weeks but I managed. After much deliberation a new cooker is coming to day . The problem in replacing household items is the sizes. When I came to replace my Fridge freezer I could not get the same size, as the previous one had been tailored into the kitchen, the space was too small I ahd to remove a shelf. I have had the same problem fitting the cooker, any way it kind of fit’s into the space, enough that I can live with it. Two lunches this week , one being our WI’s annual lunch at the University Catering Department where the students show off their skills, an excellent meal beautifully served 10/10. Oh, Sam is now safely home after what he termed a boring, boring flight.

Imperial War Museum North        http://www.iwmnorth.co.uk/

Well lots of love to you all, keep smiling and be happy/
Love You - Me. XXX

Valentines Day Birthday

                                                                   The Birthday Girl                


Well it has certainly been a wild few days, with the wind and rain rattling windows and  blowing fences over. Fortunately I suffered no damage  like last time, when I lost slates and  guttering.  I feel for the people in Queensland Australia who have  suffered terrible flooding and now a Cyclone to contend with that his destroyed many towns along the coast.  Now we hear of fires over in Western Australia , fortunately its north of Perth well away from  the city where Cathi and the family live.  Due to all this extreme weather on the east coast my grandson, has not been  able to find work so  decided to cut short his trip and is now in  Perth staying with family, he will be  home  in March. Its great that they have this opportunity to meet up again, they emigrated in 1996. Sunday 6th February was Waitangi Day in New Zealand it’s a day I remember well.  In  2005 during my stay with Ann and Derek we were  initiated as an honouree Maori during a ceremony in the ` Marae`  their Communal Meeting House on the outskirts of Nelson.  The Lodge is build of logs and  had a very distinctive decorated entrance . The large hall was colourful  with carved totem poles, masks and  paintings around the walls.  The ceremony was held in their language by twelve elders in ceremonial dress, who recited their history and then spoke in English, after listening to their stories we each rubbed noses with all the elders and then they took us in procession  to enjoyed a feast, a great memory.
History this month was all about the rise of Quakerism  by James Naylor and George Fox two very unusual men who set about delivering their interpretation of Christianity in the 17th Century.  I found it  very interesting  as I didn’t know anything about the founding of the Quaker Religion.
As I am sure you all know that Valentines Day  is my birthday . I had a great week , out to a couple of  lunches, lots of presents  and heaps of love I am exhausted. Wonderful phone calls from everyone I had hoped to hear from.  We had a Valentine Poetry Evening  on Sunday it was a hoot, more funny - mad poems than usual. I once won the competition in Wigan, it was a good night I was totally surprised.
 Andrew is finally moving into his own house, next Friday he gets the keys. I know I will miss him but I’m  look forward to getting my space back. The house was almost taken over and filled with his possessions 12 months ago, the amount of stuff he had was incredible. We both will  have an exciting time finding all the things that have been squirreled away and probably forgot that we had. I am very excited for him he has been very patient waiting for this moment .

http://hubpages.com/hub/Waitangi_Day