"...... now that April's here" (Part 2)

We have been been enjoying several days of really warm summer sunshine this past week (temperatures of 20deg. and above - which is amazing considering it is early April), so today we have been doing a bit of work in the garden.    The lawns are all beautifully mown, and edged, and the flower beds generally titivated, dead winter detritus has been cut back, and the garden looks just lovely (..... and we are both sunburnt!).

I just HAD to go round with my camera to capture some of the blooms which are filling the garden with colour right now, and here are the results........

... and Kim, this shrub is blooming from the cutting I took from your garden....

Of course we all know how capricious our climate is in this country, so we fully expect a snowstorm in May!    Meanwhile however, we are making the most of this barbecue weather in April.

" .......... now that April's here."

Spring has arrived in abundance down here in Somerset, and most exciting of all has been the arrival of six sheep and sixteen  lambs in the paddock alongside our garden.    Nothing could lift the spirits more than the sight of these sweet little creatures having such fun in their new surroundings.   The best time is at the end of the day, just before dusk, when it seems as if the mother sheep send the little ones off to use up their energy before bedtime (just as we used to do!).    All sixteen babes group together and then set off alongside the fence at a mad dash, stop, turn round, and all race back again   Meantime, the Mums take advantage of a bit of peace and quiet, and happily chew the cud, looking up from time to time just to keep an eye on their energetic offspring.

The funniest thing was to see the two Exmoor ponies' reaction to their new lodgers.    They watched them quietly feeding with much interest, but when the young lambs set off on one of their scampers, the two of them joined in with enthusiasm, and we held our breath, expecting some of lambs to be trodden underfoot, but all seem to have survived.

For the ponies, Scrumpy and Dragonfly, the coming of the warmer weather has signalled the time to get rid of their warm winter coats, which have served them well through snow and ice.    To do this they have both spent long sessions rubbing themselves against the wire fencing beside the rhyne, which must have been a very pleasurable semsation for them, judging by the look on their faces!  

They say that Nature wastes nothing, and as soon as bits of the ponies' fluffy coats get left on the fence, or on the grass below, birds dive down to gather up the cosy material to line their springtime nests.   Recycling at its best!   Though there is another recycling project going on between paddock and our garden too - the young lady who owns Dragonfly often comes to visit him, and always spends time gathering up quantities of the manure left by him and deposits it over the fence for us.    John has been busy spreading it around the garden during the past couple of months, so we hope for a really good crop of veggies and flowers this summer!

Best Mates .......  and great neighbours!

What We Two Love Best about Living Here.

John and I were fascinated to read Jenny’s list of what she loves about Australia (and the things she misses),   and then found ourselves delighted by Kim’s list of what she loves about living in Britain.

 It got us both thinking really seriously about why we wouldn’t want to live anywhere else but HERE, and we decided to chip in with our own blog on the subject..   However, between us we came up with a list that was SO long- and getting longer all the time -  that we decided it was an utterly impossible task.

Still an’ all, at the end of the day, all things considered, in the final analysis, etc. etc.. we reckoned it all came down to one thing ……. 

We wouldn’t want to live anywhere else because (almost) all the people we love best in the whole world  are here. Aaaahhhhhhh

Postscript to a Golden Celebration.

John has now downloaded the photos he took over our truly magical Golden Weekend.  There is nothing really I can add to what has been said before about the trouble that all the family went to to make it such a memorable occasion for us - but I thought a few of our own pictures would complete the record of a very special time for us.

Max was so busy being Photographer in Chief that he missed out being 'taken' himself - so to put that right - here he is at the beginning when we had just arrived and champagne was being dispensed.

Here is Jonathan thinking up dastardly questions for the 'Mr. & Mrs.' session....

..and our Hostess delightfully 'done up' in gold.....

While her sister adjusted her camera .....

By the time Sean arrived so unexpectedly that evening, dear Max had taken a well earned rest,  but John managed to capture Sean for the record .....

(It looks as if we spent all our time in the kitchen, which of course we didn't - the Celebration Lunch being served in the spacious conservatory/dining room - but Kim's pictures have covered that.)

Here we are next morning - after the Lord Mayor's Show - though we did progress from just orange juice to the full English, which Martin effortlessly produced (well, it looked effortless!)

We LOVED the banner that Max and Vicki had so cleverly made, so this is a great picture ...

Here we are, about to do a Knees Up ....

And before we left for home they merrily bedecked our car with as many of the balloons and decorations as they could! ....

.... and I think this picture really sums up the spirit of the occasion ......

HUGELY grateful thanks to all of you - We love you all so much xxxxx
(including the much-missed family in Oz, who not only sent superb hand-crafted cards, little 'models' of the bride and groom (he complete with beard), a lovely wall hanging,and a silver heart charm for my bracelet, but also the promise of a return air-fare to visit them (we shall fight over who has it.... tee... hee..! )  THANK YOU LOTS. xx)

French Fragments from a 'Golden' Honeymoon.

Kim has done a wonderfully comprehensive Blog about the truly fabulous time she and the family gave us over the weekend of our Golden Wedding.    John took all our pictures, and hasn't yet downloaded them from his camera, so I am going to put the 'cart before the horse' and give a flavour of our sojourn in France which followed straight on from the 3-day celebrations, and hope to write up the rest later.

Kim and Martin very kindly loaned us their lovely French farmhouse, La Dancrerie, which is a real 'home from home' - enormously large for just two people, yet so comfortably furnished and welcoming that we really cosied up there, with glowing log fires in the evenings and the most comfortable of beds.  We couldn't have visited at a better time for all around the house spring flowers were out in abundance.   It is such a pity that Kim and the family were not there to see their jardin francais en printemps, so I here are a few pictures to give a flavour ......

Although it was only March, the weather was surprisingly good and we were out and about the whole time.   John was in his element, clicking his camera merrily and taking 'artistic' shots like this one...

I thought I'd give it a try, and attempted to capture the incoming tide at close quarters..... but I don't think I've quite got the knack!

However, I did enjoy studying the artwork of others....

Everywhere we went there seemed to be Mimosa in blossom - something I don't think I've ever seen in England .....

Here we are at Barneville, and you can just about make out the gold tinsel on the trailer hook, and the gold bow on the door handle - when we left Harewood House after the celebrations Golden Wedding Balloons, tinsel, and banners were draped around the car.   We took a bunch of the balloons with us on the ferry to Cherbourg, and got lots of comments and smiles from officials and passengers - and have left them fixed in the salon at La Dancrerie for others to enjoy.
(We decided not, after all, to buy this house delightfully situated on the plage.)

And here are two of our favourite places  -  Carteret where we had coffee (as we do on every visit) at the swanky hotel lit up in the background)....

....... and lovely, lovely Portbail, just a short trip from the farmhouse.....

The sunshine even accompanied us home (quite surprisingly for the time of year, as the sun got warmer we were even able to leave our coats off on our jaunts along the coast)  Here we are passing the Needles off the Isle of Wight - I was surprised how well this picture came out considering it was taken through the lounge-window on the Barfleur.

It was a superb holiday - we ate FAR too much delicious French bread and cheese, and consumed far more French vin and cidre than was good for us, but what a great time we had!    Thank you dearest Lampards for making this all possible (and if the Lampards Snr. read this, then thank you too for a really tasty lunch, and fun company chez 'Freddie's').

Let's hope it's 'au revoir', and not 'goodbye' .   

HAPPY ENDINGS.

Somehow the New Year has begun, and I haven't tucked the old one away properly yet.    So I thought I'd just publish a few pictures to round things off.   For a couple of old biddies, we do seem to lead quite an eventful life,  though much of it goes by unrecorded by our cameras.   However, here are a few glimpses into the final weeks of 2010.

We spent a couple of fun-filled days at Mary and Lewis's cosy cottage just by Marlow Bridge and did so enjoy 18 holes of golf at Lewis's Club in the sunshine on a crisp frosty morning.  John was provided with a buggy on which we all enjoyed cadging lifts, and everyone had their share of 'good holes', though to Mary and my chagrin the boys beat us (for a change!).   Delicious food and drink are always highlights of any visit to Magnolia Cottage, so we try to exercise as much as possible in the vain hope that our waistlines won't suffer.    We took a lovely long walk beside the Thames one sunny afternoon, but it having rained heavily the day before, we found ourselves  slurping through stretches of really muddy footpath in not the most suitable footwear, the result being that I lost both heels of my black leather brogues.  Hey, they were old anyway, so now have taken retirement to become my Gardening Shoes.

John and Sam came to stay for a few days with us later in December.  Jon had driven in glorious sunshine to lunch with Kerry at her home on the Gower, but by the time he and Sam arrived here the temperature was falling, and a day later we awoke to a layer of snow, which by next day had doubled its thickness.    My studio resembled a Swiss chalet - pity we had no sledges on hand to reach it.

We took the opportunity of a gloriously sunny Saturday to walk the Strawberry Line into Winscombe for milk and papers, stopping off for a hot drink at the pub, before making our way back home again through the lovely powdery snow.

A couple of days later we threw caution to the winds and set off in appalling conditions to take Kerry her Christmas presents and to treat her to a Christmas meal.    The M5 and M4 were down to one lane in the falling snow, but we got there in reasonably good time and much enjoyed our afternoon together.    However, on the way back, when the roads were much clearer (but the roadsides piled up with freezing snow) we had a little mishap, ending up astride the crash barrier on the inside lane near Cardiff West Services.  We were so lucky to emerge unharmed , shaken if not a little stirred by our experience, and our trusty old Honda too showed that like her owners, the old ones were made to last.   We spent a night in a Travel Lodge, and next day were rescued by Jon and Sam in their 4 x 4.    Never were we so pleased to see anyone - they sorted the car for us, got us back home, and were endlessly calm, kind and reassuring.   I have to say that both of us shed a tear of relief when we knew they were on their way, and felt ourselves  very blessed to have a family around us who all were immediately in touch and full of loving concern.

Looking out from the Pub on the Pond where we had lunch with Kerry (but the pond was frozen.)

Waiting in our Travelodge room for the arrival of our shining knights.

Christmas then at Harewood House was all the sweeter after our 'near miss', and Kim and Martin and the gorgeous grandkids did everything possible to make it really special.    Kim has written a superb description of the festivities in her blog, so I won't repeat them here, but I thought a few of John's pictures might be illuminating.

                                        Christmas morning - Jon and Sam's presents.

The slaves tackle the washing up after Christmas dinner.

Brotherly Strangle (..  I mean Love)

 Rosie's after-Boxing Day-meal game. ..........  No, James wasn't telling us about his latest catch.

Feet up at the end of Boxing Day.

And what better way to end our stay at Harewood House than one of Kim's superb brunches - don't those new laid eggs just make your mouth water.

THANKYOU ALL FOR EVERYTHING. 

With heartiest and sincerest Good Wishes for a Fantastic New Year.

xxxxx

SNOW WAS FALLING, SNOW ON SNOW ....

What a fabulous pre-Christmas week!    We have had Jon and Sam staying a few days to chill out from their busy City jobs, and with their arrival came lots and lots of snow, which even now is lying 'deep and crisp and even'.    We were all so excited at the spectacular wintry views from our windows, and much enjoyed making our way through soft powdery, deep snow along the Railway Walk to Winscombe yesterday.   The sky was completely blue, and the sun shone which made everywhere look ravishing - yet didn't melt the snow one bit.   How we enjoyed a hot drink at the warm and cosy pub there, before making our way back home again - cheeks glowing and eyes sparkling.     This weather is SUCH fun - as long as you don't have to travel anywhere, and we do feel so sorry for all the poor souls stranded at frozen airports, and presently on the M25 in both directions!       We plan to travel along the M5/M4 to Mumbles tomorrow to take Kerry out for Christmas lunch, and give her all the family presents..... fingers crossed!

I have spent a busy morning baking 6 dozen mince pies - will that be sufficient Kim?   .... and also done a chocolate log to take to Kerry.    (I could bring one of those to Harewood House too Kim, if you like....)

Thought this picture would add a festive note.