Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Ivy - she's French.

She was much whiter on her first photograph. I wonder what she has been up to?

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Our French Family in Greece

 
 The Corinthian Canal
 

Theatre of Epidauras
Agamemnon's ~Tomb
 
Alastair and I did the Classical Greek tour but these photographs are so much better than my old ones.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

For Parsnip

 Lily of the Valley - from France
As Parsnip says : today's pretty.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Random scanned Photos


 
For the last month or so I have been unable to post scanned photos and as usual I have gone round and round in circles, clicking everything in sight until at last something happens. 
Below is the incoherent result.  Bear with!

 
 
 Our first grand children in the BrendonValley - now a mother and aunt of a boy and a girl.
At last - our wedding day.  Our beloved Jock was not so happy about his make over.

 Alastair in Zakynthos - Turtle Beach I think.

Greece.

My sister with the two maiden aunts who brought her up.
When she and her late husband went to live in the States she took them with her.


Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Tea at Joy's

At the top of our lane turn right towards the church.

After short walk turn right.

Take the first turning left.

Left here.

Joy's beautiful hedges - there was a mass of pale pink flowers a week ago.
Joy's front garden - always something lovely to look at

Now the back garden which is quite slopey so we were extra careful in the jungle parts

I love this whiten periwinkle - I have the blue -Joy is going to give me some.








 
Joy has done lots of decoupage over the years.  See the fox?

Fitting for Easter Monday

Another of Joy's creations

I love this picture by a local artist.  There is our North Hill in the background
 
I can't believe I have managed to post this lot.  Something is bound to go wrong so if it is a funny size
just click on it.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Bluebells for Kim




...who would make a much better job of photographing them.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Friday, April 11, 2014

I can't believe it's Friday!

 
I was going to post old photos this week having spent time in the attic and thereafter( our very slender local weather girl uses 'thereafter' a lot) scanned them.  But guess what:  Naomi's solution for posting my photos  doesn't work with scanned ones.  Another flippin' problem.
 
Mick and Mandy are doing wonders in the family room: cracks scraped and filled, metal windows scraped and painted - everything washed down with sugar soap - endless white  painting and now the treat : Wedgewood green on the walls. Mick doesn't like green but this isn't a green green for goodness sake - it's delicate like Tinkerbelle's wings.
 
I have not been idle.  Mick is always tea but Mandy likes to ring the changes with coffee and it has to be white sugar.  Biscuits are easy:  Mandy  likes 'anything with chocolate' and Mick is dotty about custard creams.
 
Every day this week I have had an appointment - normally I'm just busy on Tuesdays and Fridays and there has been a lot of paper work but the real bug bear is the curtains.  There are eight - all floor length varying in width, lined and I added an extra draught proof lining as there is a lot of glass and when the wind is from the east the room is quite 'airy'.
This winter I had a brain wave and it is now my summer sitting room and the drawing room - much more protected - has been my winter home.
 
 
By the way I don't mind when people say 'Do you not think this place is too big for you?'  But when they repeat it a week later I do.  Back to the curtains:  our local laundry no longer does dry cleaning so I decided to remove the heavy linings and wash them all myself.  Both washer and dryer packed up in protest yesterday but Mick fiddled - mended a fuse and I breathed again.
 
 
But the ironing!  So far I have done all the linings  (I had to they were scrumfled),  the smaller curtains and one enormous one.  Just three more enormous ones to go.  That's the week-end taken care of.  Such fun but at least now I really am looking forward to my holiday instead of feeling slightly apprehensive.  I'm trying not to think of the re-hanging.
 
The week after it's the plumber.  See photos below.


Almost done.

 
 
Mick won't be photographed and Mandy is shy but how many decorators clean the windows?
 
They have offered to replace the curtains but I have to finish  the ironing and replace the draught proof linings and I have all week-end to do it.  I know I know - I have all the luck:)
 
 
 


Sunday, April 06, 2014

The river's running dark blue!

Hooray!  Oxford won the boat race.  For the last 35 years I have watched the boat race - until recently with Alastair.  This week-end has been very busy - preparing for the decorators tomorrow  - 8 heavy curtains.  I stopped work at 5pm, poured a kir, switched on and went out like a light and woke in time to hear the results.  I'm mortified.

Thursday, April 03, 2014

Early Morning in Minehead

Minehead waking up
 
The magnolias need a dull day to make them visible from my bedroom
 
My camera batteries don't last five minutes these days so thinking of my cruise in May I visited the camera shop and discovered batteries that don't need recharging, that last 'for ever' and are virtually weightless.
However my Sony VX is now quite old and the memory cards are different so the camera man is trying to find me some.  I really don't want to replace my camera.