Wednesday this and that . . .

  

GREY and cheerless is the garden
in the wintery gloom.
But I DREAM of daffodils
and appletrees in bloom.
FROZEN fields lie hard as iron
beneath the bitter rain.
But I DREAM of new green wheat
and lilacs in the lane.

In the DEEP and silent woods
there is a death-like hush.
Yet I seem to HEAR the
singing of an April thrush.
MANY of our foolish dreams
just fade into the blue.
But when you DREAM
a dream of Spring . . .
you KNOW it's coming true. 

~Patience Strong

 

We had an easy drive to our friends Tony and Tina yesterday.  They moved a few months back from a lovely two bedroom detached private bungalow into a one bedroom Senior's bungalow, which is a fair distance from where they used to live, situated in a small village in Wales, nestled amongst rolling Clywdian hills.  They are quite far up actually.  Once you leave the motorway you travel on a winding twisting roadway which carries  you up and up with each twist and turn.

Along the way you drive through hedgerow tunnels . . .  studded with trees which meet like gables overhead . . .  bare branched in the winter, but you just know that in the height of summer they will be a much welcomed cool green tunnel.  An abundance of snowdrops lay nestled amongs the tangled roots at every turn.  It can be a bit un-nerving on those narrow twisting country lanes . . .  they seem scarcely wide enough to carry one car and one worries about meeting another and what to do should that happen.

Thankfully it didn't.

 

 Past rolling farm fields, dotted with grazing cotton ball sheep and yes  . . .  the odd Spring lamb, and barns and tractors  . . .  and at one place an open barn right near to the road where I could see cows, their heads plunged through open spaces, feeding from a trough which lay filled with silage at the side of the barn.  Our windows were closed, but I do love the smell of a farm yard . . .  so long as it is not pigs.  It is an earthy smell . . .  a country smell . . . comforting in a way.

Tina and Tony have settled in well to their small home.  I know that it was very difficult for them, having to downsize . . .  to get rid of a lot of their belongings, and yes . . .  even their beloved Danny, a little white highland terrier they had.   He was not happy there, in the new space . . .  there was no room for him to play and they have no back garden to speak of.  The last time we saw him, he seemed very stressed and not at all happy . . . but thankfully now has been rehomed in a lovely place with a dear family with lots of space for him to enjoy and he is quite happily settled there according to all reports.  Sometimes when you love something or someone, you must make hard decisions concerning their happiness, even though it hurts to do so, and I can only imagine how much it hurt to give him up.  I know how we would feel if we had to give up Mitzie . . .  perish the thought.



 Tina is doing remarkably well after this second knee replacement.  I was very surprised.  Much better than the last one.  It was so good to sit and chat. Tony is taking very good care of her and of course members of the church have been very good at dropping by with meals and such.  We take good care of each other . . .  like family.  That is as it should be.

Todd and  I have been thinking about moving into sheltered accomodation and into Wales.  It's been on our minds for a while now.  It would be a wrench to leave our fruit trees, but each year when I see Todd  having to mow the yard and take care of all the flowers, etc.  when I see him struggling to trim that enormous hedge of ours, it becomes more clear that there will come a time in the not too distant future when we will have to make this hard decision ourselves.  Not just yet  . . .  but we must be prepared, which brings a certain sense of urgency to my downsizing/sorting/getting rid plans.



In talking with our friend Doreen the other day she told us that as of the first of April they are no longer having Wardens for the Seniors who live in sheltered accomodation here in Chester . . .  all of them are gone.  Whatever will Seniors do who need assistance from these people from time to time?   Who will keep an eye on the ones who don't have family to keep an eye on them and their needs?   It's very sad really.   It will also cost £25 now as well if they have to pull the cord for help . . .  Each of these sheltered homes has pull cords in each room that an elderly person can pull which sends an alarm to a central place where they have workers who can send help if need be.   I can see elderly people not pulling the cords at all and dying alone in their homes having had a bad fall etc.  Or from neglect.  It seems a shame that we can send billions in money to other countries under the auspices of foreign aid, and yet our own elderly are left doing without.
 People who have worked hard all their lives and paid taxes and supported this country through World Wars, etc.   Now forgotten and pushed aside.  It makes me sad.

Oh, and the big news of the day yesterday when we got home,  was that there had been a transvestite try to attack a young lad in the nature park at the end of our road (where that man got stabbed last year in broad daylight) and a couple of young men attacked him and put a beating to him.  Apparently the police were there and everything, also doing a door to door search.  My neighbor put the photos on facebook.   I have been tellling Todd for a long time not to walk Mitzie there.  Once you get into the park it is just far too secluded.  He carries a big stick with him, but I don't think it would be much help if a bunch of youths tried to jump him.

Did you cook your pancakes last night??  I did.   We had them together here as we sat and watched Michael Portillo and his Great American Train Journies . . .  some sprinkled with lemon and drizzled with honey and then rolled up and then the others spread with Wilkens and Sons Tiptree Little Scarlet Strawberry jam . . .  filled with tiny wild strawberries . . .  rolled up just so.  Both were very good.  *Yum!*  Yum, they were a real treat.

A thought to carry with you through today  . . .


Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷღೋღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷღೋღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ
"The Spirit works with us at our own speed, 
one step at a time, or as the Lord has taught, 
“line upon line”."
~Larry R Lawrence
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷღೋღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷღೋღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Spiritual Enlightenment



There is sausage stuff in The English Kitchen today  . . .  including these heart shaped Sausage sandwiches which are gluten free and paleo.

The Paleo Diet is an effort to eat like we used to back in the day…WAY back in the day. If a caveman couldn't eat it, neither can you. This means anything we could hunt or find – meats, fish, nuts, leafy greens, regional veggies, and seeds.  To each their own!

Have a perfectly wonderful Wednesday.  Along the way don't forget . . .

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And I do too!