Beautiful Places ...........

It seems a while since I found time to update my blog. I wish there were more hours in the day to do everything that I would like to do but as twenty four is all we have, so be it!

Life has been busy the past few weeks. Mervyn is home again and slowly making a recovery taking a large number of pills each day. He is walking around a little more easily now but still has a problem with his foot. 

His ill health has meant more work for Megan and I such as spending more time on the mundane tasks such as mowing the lawn.  I am a rather impatient gardener and I rushed home from one of the hospital visits and started cutting the lawn. We have a small quite efficient electric mower and I was happily cutting the back lawn with just a small centre square left to do when I managed to cut the cable! Fortunately I did not electrocute myself but we had to shorten the cable a little and put on another plug. This week Megan was busy cutting the lawn at the front, the grass has grown rather long and managed to hit the blade on a piece of 'invisible' concrete. We have now had to buy a replacement blade ...........

A lot has happened since my last blog, lots of journeys and pictures taken and I will start with the open house garden event some weeks ago. Held in Godmanchester, originally a Roman settlement and one of my favourite towns situated on a river with the most amazing old buildings. This is a picture of the grand house set in an enormous garden with its own island. I should image the upkeep is quite something perhaps that is the idea of an open garden to raise much needed funds.

The garden has been cleverly laid out with several little 'secret' places, each one quite unique

There is a lovely wooden bridge which crosses the river to the island and I found this lovely brass crane hidden in a grove of trees.

My final picture of the garden is taken looking down the river, so beautiful, tranquil and green! Very England.............

Last weekend we travelled to Stratford upon Avon for the Teddy Bear Artist Event. Although very well organised with a lot of pre-advertising, this is not the most vibrant of shows although relatively well attended.  I was able to leave Megan to look after the table and spend time with Bronwen doing the tourist thing. Stratford is a lovely town and a very popular tourist destination. Just a couple of pictures to share.

This is Shakespeare's birthplace, a beautiful Tudor house with the most exquisite garden filled with fragrant old English roses and my favourite flowers, peonies.

I took lots of picture of the amazing flowers and had an interesting time with a very lovely Japanese couple who kept asking me the names of the various flowers and herbs in the garden. They bravely attempted to repeat the English pronunciations.

Found this strange medieval creature in front of what is said to be the oldest house in Stratford. I think he is rather nice and I would like him in my garden although he is rather on the large side!

We have a busy week ahead yet again. Follow up visits to the doctor for Mervyn, I have to visit the doctor for blood tests and on Friday Megan and I are travelling to London for something a little different, an Etsy Craft Party Meeting. Having had an on line shop on Etsy for some time we thought it would be fun to attend this get together. Will report back after the event

The garden is slowing filling out, our attempts at growing vegetable achieving mixed results. Only three broad beans have germinated so I have had to plant some more. The tomatoes are starting to flower, hopefully we will have a good crop. The peas and runner beans are all growing slowly, perhaps we get something from them. I have a good selection of herbs growing in pots and the flower garden is slowly taking shape. I love peonies and planted one in a pot which I nursed through winter and have finally been rewarded for my effort with the sum total of three flowers! The other peonies I planted in early spring have just not materialised with the exception of a couple of small leaves, don't think they will come to much and I am a little disappointed especially when I see the enormous plants and flowers in the garden across the road. Oh well maybe next year. So here is a picture of my rather lonesome peony flower, the fragrance is quite beautiful wish perfumes smelt like the flowers they represent, something is lost in the transition I think.

We had a tiny baby rabbit hopping around our garden this week, somehow he found his way into the garden and could not remember how to get out. We tried to catch him but he took refuge under a large clump of bushes and we have not seen him again. The birds have certainly found our 'restaurant' and we seem to be feeding an increasing number each day. I am sad to say that I have yet to see a live fox, hedgehog or badger. Having spent so many years in Africa with supposedly large numbers of animals and also having travelled extensively around Southern Africa, I find the vast amount of road kill in the UK very sad. Perhaps the high volume of traffic in such a small space is partly to blame but hopefully I will eventually get to see some of these animals alive. Sadly the problem of spreading urbanisation is causing foxes and hedgehogs to move into the cities and there is a proposed cull of thousands of badgers in Wales because they carry bovine tuberculous. Wish mankind could learn to live in peace with all these creatures which although considered a nuisance, are a vital part of the ecology.

Back to work now, have a good week ........................

Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow is only a vision. But today well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow is a vision of hope. Look well therefore to this day, for it is life, the very life of life. Sanskrit proverb