Books books and more books !!

Morning friends....wonder how long I am going to keep up this new plan to write more frequently  LOL

 I hope that you like the  new photograh it is one I took the other day of the beautiful clematis that we have on the fence which divides Mary's garden from mine.  we both love clematis and this one is growing so well.

At last  yesterday we  had a rather wet day here in the South west of England.  first in quite a while.  The gardens are already looking much better and I am sure the farmers will be happy.  It meant that Peter did not have to come and water all the pots etc. last night.     On Wednesday I went up early to Sarah's to meet the man who was coming to collect the books. Thankfully Max, Beth's husband arrived just as I did so we were both here as well as a friend of Max's (they have been working hard on the property painting rooms etc and this week re flooring the deck and paniting the outside)  The man duly arrived clutching I think maybe 6 or 7 plastic carrier bags.....LOL....I showed him some of the already bagged books and he was quite taken aback to say the least !!  he said "OH, I see, I only have a small car, don;t think I will be able to get them all in"  that's ok we said, just take what you can, Max and Simon (I think that's his name) will help you carry them I out. Much relieved he said "thank you"  I can come back in a little while with a bigger car and collect the rest of the bags"  good I said, by that time Max will have filled some more bags..there are still three bookcases to empty upstairs !!!  By now that poor man was quite bewildered with all the many books and said " Think this was a library with house attached"  LOL.  still it was wonderful to get them all removed in all I think there was 18 large sacks and 4 big boxes of books !!  It will be good for the charity to be able to sell them I am sure.   After I left Max to pack the other sacks I cam back home and as it was a nice day Mary and I decided to go to  Chippenham to do some shopping and have some lunch there.   Yesterday it was again to Chippeham this time to the cottage hospital where Mary had an appointment with a physio who was fitting a knee brace. They think that it might relieve pain she has been having in her knee from arthritis..It is not too bulky although I am still not at all sure that it is going to be practical for Mary. She walks around a lot in the village and there is quite a hill from here up to the village  in the afternoon yesterday when she went up to her meeting one of the "catches" came undone when she was going up so she had to stop and take it off altogether !!   she will have another try today I will put it on for her when she comes over.   When we got home Margaret and Mitch were already here so that was good.  I had made a casserole for lunch and had it in the oven before we went away so it wasn't very long before I had everything on the table !   Yesterday the postman brought a nice parcel....it was materiel for two dresses that I had ordered.  Muriel, bless her, is going to make me a couple of dresses for the cruise in September.  Just hope she approves of the materiel that I got !!  I can't sew so have really know idea what materiel's are best !!! also I realise I should have got cottons for sewing them up but didn't think about that.  I w expect she may have some or I can buy that in Bath I expect..   Today we may go into Bath will wait and see how the weather goes.

Bye for now.  God Bless   and       LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Sun and wind is it summer or spring ?

Now there's a thing.  I have not been ale to get into my own blog for last two day.  I have just written to a friend to ask for HELP  and come back to have yet another "try"  and here I am...how odd is that...
Well as promised I am trying to write more often...  we are still enjoying such lovely weather over here in the South west of England. Mary and I make the best of it by sitting out on my wee deck as much as we can.  Monday was a bit too windy though more like the March winds that we missed out on !! However we are thankful that we were not up in Scotland where they were lashed with terrible gales, indeed two people were killed by fallen trees. All the ferries out to the islands were cancelled. and the Forth Road bridge was also closed. This is the main road bridge over from Edinburgh to the Fife side of the country.  When it is closed it means a journey of around 30 miles around by way of a smaller bridge.  Apparently it was absolute chaos..
Yesterday we had bible study in the morning.  well it is more of a Christiann discussion I suppose...there are only 6 of us and as Muriel my neighbour was away yesterday only 5 of us. we meet in a friends house and always start with coffee and biscuits...yesterday though Jean had made us all drop scones....delicious...Where Jean comes from Zimbabwe they are called flapjacks..some people call them pancakes...isn't it odd how the same thing can be called so many different. names....
well Mary has just arrived it is almost 8.30am. I better go and get the toast on.  Today I am going up to Sarah's as we have arranged for someone to come and try to collect all the books....poor thing I don't think he has any idea just how many there are !!  Peter and I went up last night and Peter bagged up at least 9 sackfuls...  I'm off now.

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

days out...

Hello Friends,
I wouldn't wonder if I did not have any friends left I have been so bad at updating my blog...SORRY... I am going to try to make amends and start to write more regularly.  I am always afraid that I am boring you as day by day  I seem to follow the same old patren...mostly !!   However since last time I wrote life had been interesting !!   My friend Sheila arrived down from Edinburgh ( via Cardiff where she had been visiting her daughter) It is great when Sheila arrives. we have known each other now for over 40 years now. We are true friends as we were out of contact for quite a while and suddenly got re acquainted and it was as if we had met only a few days before, other than the fact that we had a whole lot of news to catch up with. (We had first met at a Spina Bifida Meeting. Sheila had a son Martin with Spina Bifida he was one of the older children when we started up the Ass. and Sheila was very involved right from the start.)  Sheila is now on her own since Martin died ..and also Martin her husband...when she is down with me we have good times especially as we can get out and about in the car. Sheila does not drive so enjoys that.  We paid a visit to our nearest Safari Park Longleat. It is a great place and not far from me here in Box, only takes about 40 mins to drive there.  It is a beautiful estate owned by Lord Bath and was one of the first Safari Parks to open in the UK.  It is quite fascinating being able to see so many wild animals at very close up ! The lions are my favs. but there are also beautiful Giraffes that are Mary's favs. This year we were able to admire quite a few new babies they look so cute. The one place I do not drive in is the monkey park...these monkeys are...well..monkeys and are all over your car in a second ripping of window wipers, trying to get the rubber off round doors and widows,  really quite frightening and certainly not my idea of fun !! (when you go into the enclosure you do so at your own risk )   As well as many many animals this year they had a new one to show us and that was a very old elephant Rosie who is around 60years old.... it is only a few weeks ago that there was shown in the TV and in newspapers her being very cruelly treated by her owners at a circus. It caused quite an uproar and Lord Bath stepped in and has re homed her. She is settling in well and whilst we were there was enjoying the freedom of being able to give herself a dust bath and throwing dust all over herself, she new keeper watching from the distance.  I read only on Friday that she is now so comfortable that they have even been able to take her out for short walks in the estate.  It takes quite some time to get around the estate at least 2 hours slowly driving through and at the end after we have parked the car it is time for lunch and after that to see some more smaller animals at close range. The funniest of them must be thee Mere Cats..they are so cute and inquisitive, I think they are my fav small animal...We did not have time this time..or the energy ! to visit the beautiful gardens but plan to do so soon, as we got the kind of ticket that allows us entry as often as we like to the gardens especially... Another day when my other friend Pam was over from Bath we all went to a small town called Marlborough. It is most famous for having a very large and important School , Marlborough College..It is small enough to be able to walk along one side of the main street and cross over and walk along the other side admiring all the shops that are different from shops we find in most towns. There are also some lovey little alleyways to pop into to find yet more little shops. Lost of delightful cafes and pubs.  Needless to say a stop at one of the pubs was a must for lunch..On our way back I drove over what is called the Marlborough downs. This is a range of hills above the town. Mostly chalk hills with some lovely panoramic views. quite a few horse racing stables are around and you can often see the horses out on their gallops. This road eventually passes Lynham Airfield some of you may know that most of the troops who have died in Afghanistan etc are brought home to Lyneham and then via the small town of Wooten Basset where every time they pass through the people of the village come out to line the streets, neither Pam or Sheila had been through the small town before so that was again something new for them. Of course a day shopping in Bath is always on the list of things to do !!
So you see that has kept me a wee bit busy....since Sheila went home Mary and I have had various Dr. and hospital appointments..nothing particularly wrong so no worries...also a friend of mine has had a daughter in hospital now Ann cannot drive as she had had to have two toes removed...one on each foot recently and one especially is proving difficult to heal...anyway she needed transport to and from the hospital so Sybil's Taxi was much in demand.  I have visited the hospital so much in these last few months I swear the car knows it's own way there !! Thankfully Jane is home now so Ann only needs help to go some shopping..
My niece Beth is continuing to have a hard time trying to get the house ready for putting on sale. There is so much to clear out it can get a bit overwhelming at times.  I have tried to help but am afraid I am not much help ...I did go up and removed about 5 books  LOL  my sister must have 100's at least ....5 bookcases full....see what I mean about me not being much help !! Beth and Max organised a come and collect whatever you want day last Saturday and although quite a lot was taken it still hardly made a dent in what is still to find places for.  Max and a friend have made a start on decorating each room in turn and this week have been laying a new wood on the decking floor...It just seems to go on and on. It will be a relief to us all when it can be put on sale...and hopefully sell....It is not a good time to be selling at the moment as there is not much money going around especially for mortgages for younger folks...
My other sister Margaret is getting better, Her hands have healed amazingly. I can hardly believe it hardly a scar to be seen. I certainly had never heard of Sweets Disease..and it was a terrible worrying time. I only pray that she can regain a bit of stenghth as she is still very wobbly on her legs the result I suppose of the heart failure and it will just take a time for her to get back her oomph !!
Better go now. Promise to come back soon....promise ,

Till then remember to always   LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

spring days, wedding days

Hello Friends,

Wherever are the months going ? Here we are the 1st. May already.

I do hope that by now you are all enjoying the spring weather and that the terrible snow and ice and awful storms are over and that we can look forward to lovely spring/summer days.

There are quite a few things associated with May Day one of them I was thinking about before I got up this morning and that was the tradition of washing ones face in the morning dew...supposed to make us look beautiful !!  Should I get up I thought to myself ? will my wrinkles disappear ?..after a few mins...no secs,,I decided I would stay in bed for an hour or so more !!

 I have only once did such a daft thing and looking back it really was daft...I worked in Edinburgh at that time in the bank and some of us girl decided we should give it a try and we would take an early walk on Arthurs Seat and "wash our faces! !!!  this meant that I had to get a very early bus 5.30am !! into town to meet up and have our walk...well to say we were mad might be an understatement..the only good thing I suppose was that at least it was a dry morning!!  as for my complexion....not so sure...the wrinkles have still appeared  LOL

This has been a rather special week I am sure you will agree...the reason.. A ROYAL WEDDING

I had a visitor overnight on Thurs. but we were both up around 7am watching the TV run up to the wedding.  Cathy was supposed to be leaving by 8.30 but was rather reluctant to leave but had to move at 8.45 to get up to London to see her Mother.   Once she left I got into the kitchen and started to make sandwiches...nice dainty ones !! cucumber, salmon and cheese ones. all the crusts removed naturally !!  made up plates with union flag napkins, also plates of fancy cakes and biscuits...all had to be covered for lunch...Around 10.30 my friend Cait arrived and Mary Cait and I settled down to watch the proceedings evolving in front of our eyes, from the first glimpse of Prince William and Harry on their way to the Abbey to the arrival of Kate in her most beautiful dress. Our breath was quite taken away by her appearance and that of her lovely sister Pippa and the gorgeous little flower girls and page boys.  How proud everyone was to be part of this spectacle..

Before the brides arrival we had seen many many people arrive some famous most not so the fashions were many and varied and the hats or in the main.. facinators!!.. were a creation to behold. It has to be said from the sublime to the outrageious !! The royal party themselves were all most beautifully dressed none more so than our beloved Queen in a gorgeous Yellow coat and dress..Had it been a dull wet drizzly April day she would certainly have been a bright light of sunshine... The wedding service was lovely and the music was just a delight.  when the married couple and few friends went off to sign the register I dashed into the kitchen and brought through the early lunch... It was a bit of a surprise even to Mary as I hadn't even hinted to her I was doing it...Must say we were ready for it by that time.( I could almost have felt Mary wondering if I was going to ask if anyone wanted anything to eat !!! LOL )   It was so lovely to watch the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge walk all the way through the Abbey smiling and nodding to everyone as they made their way out on to the steps where they were met by a sea of people and noise...The posed for a moment and then were assisted into the open carriage for the ride back to Buckingham Palace...I am sure you have all seen the wonderful scene on the balcony when all the family came out to wave to the crowds and where the newly weds thrilled the crowd by giving each other a very speciall kiss..  That was almost he end of our TV viewing although throughout the day we were given re runs and endless still photographs.  I do hope that you were able to enjoy the occasion with us.   I feel so privileged to live in such a wonderful country who can put on such a spectacle to be enjoyed, by it is said many millions of people worldwide.

As if one wedding was not enough....on Saturday I had another wedding to go to...This time though I had an invitation !!  It was to the wedding of one of our ex ministers at church. He kindly invited all at church...however only three of us decided to go to represent everyone else.  The wedding was a little smaller that the one the previous day !! around 200 guests I think.  It was a lovey day and we had such a nice time.  we were invited to stay at the church for a Cornish Cream Tea...(John our ex minister and Pauline are Cornish) this was served by members of their church delicious scones with butter, strawberry jam and topped with thick Cornish cream...There was another reception later in the day but Clare the bride etc stayed with us all for a cream tea and for many photographs to be taken......guess what ?  Sybil forgot to take her camera !! and I managed to buy a nice new one thinking it should be a good try out for it !!!

So there we are that has been my last few days of what has been a very up and down April..

This week I look forward to Wednesday when I have a dear friend come down from Edinburgh for a week holiday.  I hope to be able to have lots of news about that next time.

The flowers at the top are called "bleeding hearts" and were some we saw when we had our walk in the botanic gardens..

LOVE ONE ANOTHER.