Balloons, Exams,

Tonight I start with a photographs above of a HUGE red hot air balloon belonging to "Virgin" Where I live here in Box is n the flight path of some of the most beautiful hot air balloons and it is always lovely to see them float past, morning and evening weather and wind permitting . However on Wednesday evening I watched the Virgin balloon float over and it was a bit low a few mins. later I had an excited phone call from my sister Sarah...who also lives in the village but much higher up..I am down in the valley...It was to say that the Virigin balloon had just flown past her window very very low and almost hit her deck it then regained a bit of height tried to get over the garden and the one opposite which with great difficulty it did, only to begin to loose height again and try to land in a small hollow. my Brother in Law John said there was not enough space there...so it was with baited breath they watched to see if it could regain height once more...I am glad to say that it did...but it sure caused some excitement. I have other photographs of the flight however I have tried to put them on in sequence but they will insist on all going to the top of the "blog" can anyone tell me how to get pictures to come in the middle of the print ?

It has been an exciting week for a lot of youngsters in the UK as the results of their exams came through. I had a Great Niece and Great Nephew sitting there GCSE's an exam they sit between 16/17 before going on to 6th form and perhaps Uni. There were a lot of anxious faces on Thurs. I am happy to say that Samantha had 3 B's and 3C's and and D...As she has missed a lot of schooling so we were all thrilled to see her do so well. Samantha is a bad diabetic and is also has a celiac diet to follow. Alex my Great Nephew is an extremely clever lad and got 4 A+ and 4A's and an E... so they will both go on to 6th form and on to whatever they hope to do.

Today Mary, our neighbour Muriel and me went to my Niece Barbara's to have our hair cut so we look a bit better tonight, between VERY heavy rain showers we managed to drive to the travel agents to collect our air tickets etc. so now we really believe that this time next week we will hopefully have landed in Toronto.

Wishing you all a lovey weekend.

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

Severn Bore

Sorry Friends, I had written a fairly long "blog" tried to save it whilst I added something and whoosh it vanished !! I have no idea how to get it back so I have to re-write it again...might not be so long this time as the day is starting fast and Mary will soon be over and I will get the breakfast done !!
What I was going to tell you about was this last weekend we have been watching on Tv and all the local newpapers news about the "Severn Bore" . My two great Nephews love nothing better than surfing and surfing the bore comes high on their list. This year for the fist time my Sister Maragret went to watch them, although it was an early morning start for her...she is not a morning person and any activity before 10am is early for her !! Anyway Barbara my niece picked her up at 7.45am and they drove to a good vantage point. Margaret had not realised just how popular this is and was amazed at how many people were about, many many surfers made it difficult to actualy pinpoint Simon and Christopher...but she did say she saw them !! she said the noise was quite startling...that combined with loads of microlites about and even a Helicopter...this doing the filming for the TV programmes.. I don't suppose many people know what the "bore" is really like so I will include a bit about it now..


-->"When the boar comes, the stream does not swell by degrees, as at other times, but rolls in with a head...foaming and roaring as though it were enraged by the opposition which it encounter" - Thomas Harrel 1824

The Severn Bore is one of Britain's few truly spectacular natural phenomena. It is a large surge wave that can be seen in the estuary of the River Severn, where the tidal range is the 2nd highest in the world, being as much as 50 feet (approx. 15.4m).
As many as 60 bores occur throughout the world where the river estuary is the right shape and the tidal conditions are such that the wave is able to form. The Severn Bore is one of the biggest in the world but bores also occur on the Seine and Gironde in France, on the Indus, Hooghly and Brahmaputra in India, on the Amazon in Brazil, on the Petitcodiac, New Brunswick, and also the Knik Arm bore at the head of Cook Inlet, Alaska. By far the biggest bore in the World is the Ch'ient'ang'kian (Hang-chou-fe) in China. At spring tides the wave attains a height of up to 25 ft (7.5 m) and a speed of 13-15 knots (24-27 km/h). It is heard advancing at a range of 14 miles (22 km).
The shape of the Severn estuary is such that the water is funnelled into an increasingly narrow channel as the tide rises, thus forming the large wave. The river's course takes it past Avonmouth where it is approximately 5 miles wide, then past Chepstow and Aust, then Lydney and Sharpness where it is approximately 1 mile wide, and soon the river is down to a width of a few hundred yards. By the time the river reaches Minsterworth it is less than a hundred yards across, maintaining this width all the way to Gloucester.
As well as the width of the river decreasing rapidly, then so does the depth of the river also change rapidly, thereby forming a funnel shape. Therefore as the incoming tide travels up the estuary, it is routed into an ever decreasing channel. Consequently the surge wave or bore is formed.

I personally think they are all a bit mad, as it looks very dangerous to me as well as the surfers there are a lot if small boats canoes etc all trying to ride the surf...Also it looks a bit muddy to me. so I don't think you will ever see photo's of me "surfing" LOL

We are still enjoying some lovely warm weather and today we are going to take an old friend out for lunch, it is her 90th. birthday when we are in Canada so we will not be able to go to her birthday party so this will be our present to her...thankfully it is dry and sunny...
Must go here comes Mary x

LOVE ONE ANOTHER xx

summer days

Hi Friends, I wonder if anyone else thinks that the days and months of this year are flying past even faster than normal. I can hardly believe that half the year is over already. Our summer seems to have been so short....I am still hanging on for a late one to come !!... even the nights are drawing in and I find myself putting the lights on by 9pm...

However quickly the weeks pass sometimes the days can appear quite long...is there an explanation....

We have had a really nice week. On Monday my friend Pam comes over from Bath. (we worked together when I came to Bath and made an instant friendship) there is seldom a week that we have not met up. On Monday she was telling me all about her new computer and feeling real proud of herself as she has managed to get "on the net and surf"!! she and her husband are having a few days away up north, they went yesterday on a coach trip, and she was so pleased to have been able to look up where they are staying even saw the bedrooms of the hotel !!! and the things they will see, it is so good to see her enjoy her computer. while Pam was here another friend came for a visit, Hilda has a cousin who lives near Toronto where Mary and I will be going in two weeks and Hilda's cousin wants to meet up with us which will be nice she was giving us her phone number. Tuesday found Mary and I on our way to Bath by 8.50am, although my appointment at the opticians was not until 10am. I had to get in early to get a parking spot. I had been putting off going for my eye test as I didn't want to buy new glasses and thought that I might have to, however I am happy to report that there is no significant change so new glasses not needed..yipee..After we had that done we had a wee wander round the shops, we didn't actually buy anything but was nice just to browse, we finished up by collecting Mary's shoes that were ready and leaving yet another pair for repair.. Wednesday I spent time in a bank ! Pam was our treasurer of the Wesley Guild and has given up and so a new Treasurer was needed. Sheila kindly stepped in but it meant that we had to have a new account as Sheila wants it closer to her home. what a palaver it was, I have never ever had to many forms to be filled in and questions asked we were in the Bank for over an hour...We were glad when it was all over...well at least we hope it is over, the girl who we were dealing with did not seem all that sure she had got everything but could see that our patience was wearing a bit thin !!! Wednesday happened to be the best day of the week for us it was wall to wall sunshine and almost too warm...at least it was to warm for us to sit outside on the deck...but no complaints !! Today as usual on a Thursday my eldest sister Margaret and her husband Mitch came over for their visit (as Mitch still can't drive since his stroke 4 weeks ago) I went to Bath to collect them the traffic was really bad and the 10min... journey took about 20 mins....It wasn't so bad coming out of Bath just going in. Margaret was feeling better today and wanted to do all the dusting etc....who am I to refuse such an offer !!............and so there we are almost another week gone...Sorry there has not been something more exciting to write about....

Maybe I should put my thinking cap on and tell you an exciting thing that has happened on one of our holidays..then.,I will put on a photograph... white water rafting in Canada and I can't even swim !! How about that !!!

LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Health Service,

I was not going to make an entry tonight. I do not and don't want to become political, but I have been hearing on every news programme today that one of out MEP's...note Member of the European Parliament a certain Mr. Hannan has been on Fox News saying that he would "not wish our National Health Service on anyone".. He has been condemned by our leaders both left and right.....(I think that Hannan is our answer to Sarah Palin!!) I have been brought up almost entirely within the NHS and in all these many years I have never had anything but admiration for it. Naturally there are and always will be complaints...nobody is perfect...The cost are high and spiralling almost out of control, however this is partly due to costs of medicines and new treatments. It may well be that in the future some of the NHS costs will have to be paid for but I truly believe that always but always we will have free and complete attention when we need it.

I have very little knowledge of the US system of having Ins. etc.( I can only say from one experience I did have was when a relative of mine was in a hospital in the US, in the bed next to him was a young man with a very serious life threatening heart condition. whilst we were there the Dr. came and said his Insurance would no longer pay for treatment so he would have to leave the hospital as soon as possible. I have never forgotten the look of despair on his face and that of his wife and small children...It was a death sentence for that young man...

I read a comment in one of our papers today that I think sums up what I can't:

"I'm an American living and working here in the UK. Anyone complaining about the NHS like this imbecile, should really go to the US and experience my life and lives of my friends.I grew up in fear of being injured and throwing my family into poverty. As a small child I was aware of what my just getting stitches did to the family's budget. A good friend of mine grew up in a terrible neighbourhood and went to a substandard school because his father was in a car accident and they lost everything to medical bills. I was in a serious car accident in 1996. It was a hit and run and my back was almost constantly in spasm. I had to work a strenuous job for 6 months to qualify for the health plan so that I could see a doctor for a referral to a neurologist. Even when I had healthcare, it wasn't free.Consider this when you complain about the NHS. In my opinion, it is glorious. The most I ever wait for an appointment with my GP is a day. If it's urgent I just go to the hospital or the after-hours surgery. I happily relinquish the taxes from my paycheck to fund this amazing service. I wish so strongly that my friends and family in the US could have a service like the NHS.I'm absolutely livid hearing this man talk about the NHS.

So Please when your delegates do have to vote on Pesident Obama's proposal make sure that they are voting for a fair system for all especially those with the least. Sure it will cost but what price can one make on a persons life...as I always finish with the words

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

Sunny Days

Good evening friends, This will just be a short note as there is not much news and I am actually just trying once more to get somthing on my side bar...ie a photograph or something !! but despite following instructions...thank you friends as you can see it is still landing within the text....never mind I will sort it our one day !!! maybe...

Yesterday morning found me on my way to hospital in Bristol..no panic...it was to the limb fitting department. It has been about three years sinse I was there and my leg needed a bit of ...refurbishment....as it was looking a bit tatty !! not many folks can go in and have a refurbished leg !!
I had also taken my spare one with me as it has never fitted properly and they would not have it that they had made a mistake...this time I took a shoe with me to prove that the foot was the wrong size ...at last they agreed and have now hopefully put the correct size on the bottom of the leg !! They will send it out to me when they have finished it all....fingers crossed. In the afternoon Mary and I did some grocery shopping and that was about all we did. Today Mary was out in the morning to a coffee morning held at the church every week. This is organised by a local organisation called LINK. One day I will go in to detail about what LINK does as it might be an idea that you could take up in your area...This afternoon has been visitors time. First Cait arrived with tales of her stay at her daughters looking after the house rabbit, then Peter came along, back home early from work, the company he works for is having the workmen go computerised so he has had a two day "teach in" just as Cait was leaving, our neighbour Muriel arrived with some damson that Cait quickly said she could use...after Cait went Muriel came back with a bottle of wine for us to share...she does this fairly often of an afternoon after she has taken her dog out for a walk..so Peter Mary and Muriel and I are all feeling very happy.

I hope that you have all had a good day. The sun has shone all day again and it has been lovely and warm today, change from yesterday when it was very damp and drizzly...

LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

What a glorious day we have had, the sun has been shining from early morning and only now is beginning die down. Mary and I went over to Bath today to have lunch with my sister Margaret and husband Mitch. Mitch had a very slight stroke two weeks ago and can't drive for at least another month so we went over to see if anything was needed..it wasn't...So we just enjoyed lunch. It was a chance to try and take some photographs of butterflies of which there seems to have been an abundance this year especially in Margarets and Mitch's garden....or so they tell me !!! There were quite a few about today so I will (try) to share at least one taken in the garden. Well the picture has arived, but not where I thought it would be !!

Help ? can anyone tell me how it could have arrived HERE..not at top ? also I know some photographs can appear in the side bar...HOW ?

I think I am slowly getting to grips with blogger it is a bit different and I don't think..so far..that it is as "cosy" as AOL was but I have found how to get a bit of colour in.....so there is hope for me yet.

Goodnight Gid Bless and never forget to

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

Thank You.

What a wonderful surprise when I logged on this morning to see so many wonderful friends back with me. I don't know what I expected ..I should have known you would all still be around Thank you friends.

This has been a fairly quiet weekend. On Saturday as always we start our day by going up to Sarah's for our coffee. It is an amazing thing when I realise how long we have done this, meeting up on a Saturday morning...It all started when we first moved down to Bath 26 years ago. At that time Sarah lived in Bath (as Mum and I did) and she always met friends in a certain cafe every Sat. for coffee and so naturally we joined in....(.actually it had been going on for many years before that as we used to join in when ever we came down on holiday....sometimes there might have been 10 or more of us and in the "old" days children as well....now all mostly married !!) Now that we both live in Box we meet up at her house, and as everyone all the "young" friends are now getting more advanced !! in age, it has gradually reduced and now there is just us !!! nevertheless Saturday would not be Saturday without our visit.
It was such a lovey day that after being up to with Sarah we didn't go anywhere else. Peter our neighbour came along and in the afternoon cut my grass and also Mary's and we had a long natter, mostly about his holiday he has just booked to go to India next March to see the tigers...lets hope when he does see them they don't take a liking to him !!!
Sunday is I think my favourite day of the week. I go up to church, the local Methodist church and meet up with all my friends, I usually end up giving out the notices and hymn books so manage to get lots of hugs..and of course give lots of hugs !! (Sunday is the one day that I don't see quite so much of Mary as she goes to another church quite a way away and she gets someone to give her a lift to get there, and she is not back till later than me, so she has to get herself lunch, I usually see that there is a meal for her in the freezer that she just has to pop into the micro,) After church I go to Sarahs for a delicious Sunday dinner. Sarah is not quite so able now but she has taught John well and he produce the most wonderful food. It is difficult to say what is my Fav. as each week I seem to change my mind to whatever is set before me!! yesterday it was a lovely roast ham with new potato,cabbage,carrots,leeks,and parsnips. To follow as always my very fav. rice pudding, and they also have an alternative as well yesterday was a huge sponge filled with cream and rasperies. after lunch we always have a wee nap before I return back down the hill home. and as it was another glorious day I ended up sitting out on the deck reading a geat book. Mary and I had been invited to a friends,little girls birthday party Erin was 2 yesterday, however when we got there I could not find a parking place near enough for me so I just dropped Mary of and she went herself...I was not all that bothered as Parties and me don't really mix. I have a real horror of going into a room full of people I don't know. I am ok. if I get there first and can just sit and observe the coming and going.. Is anyone else like that ?
So now we are it is Monday and the start of another week. I wonder what it will hold for us all..It's quite an exciting thought really. I know that as it is Monday my best friend Pam will be over....Pam and I worked together when I was in Bath..It is always a good day as we never stop chatting. Mary will pop up to the Post Office to collect our pensions, and then to the butchers for ham for our lunchtime sandwhiches..then today all the way along to the Chemist for my prescription. Good old Mary !!
Well thats it for today. Thank you all again for all your friendships...

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

New beginings and First Ramblings

Hello Friends,
I once wrote a blog however around a year ago my bogger friends and I were switched of by AOL and although some were brave enough to start again I never did, until now that is. I do not like to be defeated so I felt the time had come when I too should start again. Previous friends who I hope may come by and visit me again will know quite a bit about me so hope they do not get bored if I repeat some things.
Perhaps I should introduce myself more fully . I love in a delightful small village in Wiltshire England. As I write this I can see out of my window a game of cricket taking place on the village recreation park a really delightful scene especially as the sun has been shining all day and as we have had a lot of rain the grass is a beautiful shade of green. The large Chestnut trees are heavy with the nuts and it will not be to long before the boys begin to throw sticks into them to try to dislodge the nuts before they cam begin to play the game we call “conkers “. As well as the cricket players I can see quite a few children playing some on their bicycles and others just enjoying the freedom that a sunny evening can bring.High up in one of the trees I can see a lovely kite that I remember seeing someone fly the other day, obviously it flew in there and they could not get it down...what a shame as it was such a lovely colourful kite. AS well as loving the view from my window, it could almost be called a hobby...gazing out on the rec. !! How fortunate I am to live in such a lovely spot. I came here some 16 years ago after staying in the nearest city Bath fro 10 years. My Mother and I moved down to Bath from my home village near Edinburgh in Scotland. I have two sisters who at that time stayed in Bath and we moved to be nearer them. Mum unfortunately lived only a year after we moved and then for the first time I was left living on my own. I am lucky that we are a close family and my sisters Margaret and Sarah live nearby Margaret in Bath with her husband Mitch and Sarah has now moved to the village with her husband John. We see each other very often and speak every day at least once if not more....Next door to me lives my best friend of over 40 years Mary. You will here Mary mentioned very often as where I am Mary is sure to be as well.. My very fav ourite hobby must be traveling and I have been fortunate enough to have traveled widely throughout the world with Mary by my side. Although we are in the eyes of some people “disabled” it is not a word I think of myself. I travel with my trusty electric wheelchair and Mary has her two elbow crutches but it never deters us from doing what we want. I drive a nice little Renault Kangoo which has a drop down ramp and I can jusy wheel my chair in the back and away we go whenever the feeling takes us. Yesterday for instance we went to Longleat Estate the home of Lord Bath. He opened a Safari Pak there many many years ago and as we had a friend down visiting a couple of weeks ago and took her to see the animals we could still use our ticket to visit the gardens at any time. More about these vists pehaps soon.. And I am sure to write about various holidyas we have taken and will be taking I am sure.
Till next time always remember to
LOVE ONE ANOTHER