Wednesday morning this and that . . .

 

I don't believe that there can be any more beautiful sound to wake up to in the morning than that of the Blackbird's song.  It is the most melodious song there is.  Yesterday evening there was one sitting on the television antennae on the roof of one of the houses adjacent to ours and Todd and I stood and watched and listened for a few minutes. Simply enthralled, and then again this morning when I put Mitzie out, it was there again . . .  trilling and regaling us with its beautiful song.  I am listening to some blackbird song on YouTube as I write this.  Just beautiful.  Its impossible for your heart not to be filled with joy whilst listening. 

 

So our palm tree is going to blossom again this year.  Already the tell-tale signs are there with the spikes of blossom exploding all out of the top of it.  It is really quite tall now. I would say about 25 feet.  I am not sure how tall they grow.  Its pretty amazing when you consider that it began as a little index finger sized palm that came in a pot arrangement as a gift. Once everything had pretty much died off Todd stuck the palm out in the garden on the off chance that it might grow, but  neither of us had any idea that it would actually thrive the way that it has.  Palm Trees in the North West of England. Who'd a thunk it.  Actually you can see them all over the place here in Chester.  We have a fairly moderate climate I think. 

 

So this is happening soon!  Downton Abbey the movie!  I, for one, can't wait!  Although in all truth we will probably wait until it comes out in video and then purchase it to add to our collection and watch it then.  I was so sad when the series ended, so this will be a real treat!   This is a show I really love. 

 

My sister posted this photo of my brother and his family getting ready to leave and go back home yesterday. (I hope she doesn't mind me sharing it.)  It is a rare photo of them all together.  Usually someone is taking the photo.  You see lots of them separately, but not really all together like this. My brother and sister in law have a beautiful family of girls. Love them all.  They are from left to right:  Alison who is a nurse.  Hannah who is the baby at 18. I think she is at Uni. Then there is Christine, my sister in law.  My brother of course.  Lisa, who got married about 2 years ago now I think, and finally Miriam, who is the second youngest and quite shy.  Lovely girls really.  They are a really nice family. Chris and David just celebrated their (I want to say 32nd) Wedding anniversary last week. 

 I think that was one of the last times all of us was together actually. When we all flew up to Ottawa to their wedding. I could be wrong however. 

  

I have always loved to walk in the woods  . . .  when we were down South we often took long walks over the Orchards which surrounded our cottage and the Manor Estate.  The Orchard always spoke the seasons  . . .  in the spring it was filled with the songs of nesting birds and the smell of blossom . . .  in Summer it got all quiet, except for the odd rustle of something in the hedges, usually rabbits, or squirrels  . . . in the autumn it was filled with the sound and bustle of the fruit pickers, the smell of ripening fruits, and the sound of acorns cracking beneath our feet as we walked  . . .  and in winter  . . . it was cold and dank and stark . . .  I miss those days of long walks together.  I miss long walks. I have always been a person who loved long walks.  Arthritis makes it very painful and difficult for me. 

 

 

It is very overcast out there today, with dark dark clouds hanging low and heavy in the skies.  Yesterday ended up beautifully sunny. Today not so much.  I expect we will have rain.  I am supposed to go for an eye check up later this morning, but I think I have some conjunctivitis in my right eye.  I am not sure what the protocol is for something like that.  I won't be able to see properly through it for an eye test. I think we will have to cancel until next week and then pick up some anti-biotic eye drops to see if I can't get it better. Its like looking through a film of something and there is some eye guck.  (Sorry for the TMI)  I woke up during the night with it.  It doesn't hurt or anything . . .  its just a runny eye.  I am sure some anti-biotic eye drops will fix it up.  

 

Our evening last night was punctuated by the ear piercing sounds of some very loud drilling going on outside our front door, just the other side of the fence.  It sounded like they were drilling right into our front hallway, but they weren't.  It just sounded that way.  Our next door neighbour was having a CCTV fitted.  She texted to let me know and apologise for the noise levels.  She had a drive put in her front garden last year.  The way parking is over here, unless you have your own drive, you end up having to park streets away from where you live as everyone is parked all over the streets.  In fact most of the cars that line our street every night don't even belong to people who live here, so she had a drive put in so she would have someplace to park close to her home.  This didn't deter people from blocking her off and parking right in front of her drive however, so it has been an ongoing battle.  She had the roads and highways come and paint a no-parking strip in front of her drive, but the idiot across the way still parks in front of it and then gives her grief when she says she is calling the police, which is within her right to do so.  This is the same person who had two drug busts on his house in the last year and who was actually in prison for manslaughter when we first moved here.  So not a nice character.  Its pretty bad when you feel you need to put up cameras.  I hope this solves the problem for her.  We get people parking across our drive also, but we just grit our teeth and bear it.  She is a bit more vocal about it. 

  

I showed you our beans yesterday.  This year we planted three packets of seeds.  One packet of runner beans, which you see here, and one packet of yellow bush beans and one packet of green bush beans.  They are all coming up now and with any luck we will have a nice crop to enjoy.  I think beans are one of my favourite vegetables.  I wish we had soil that was not so clay like and good enough that we could enjoy a full vegetable garden, although I do know they are a lot of work.  We tried to plant vegetables the first year we were here, but the soil is clay and not very conducive to growing good vegetables.  We hardly got anything out of it for all the work we put in.  These beans are all in containers and they seem to do well in containers.  We haven't put any tomatoes in.  I think perhaps we need to.  And I haven't put any herbs in either.  I was supposed to have a partnership with a company that is supplying fresh herbs via the post to people, but that doesn't seem to have come off the ground yet.  In any case, we will have a healthy crop of beans methinks!  

 

We've been enjoying the Chelsea Flower show on the telly here.  Its pretty fabulous.  The RHS Chelsea Flower show has been held annually in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, in London, every year, with the exeption of the War years since 1913.  It is the most prestigious of flower shows and the place to see cutting edge garden designs, new plants and for inspiration for the home garden.  When we were down South my boss and her garden planner used to attend every year.  It is really quite something to see in person, but for those of us who are quite far away, we get front row seats every year on the BBC. There are awards given for design and and a great deal of money is raised for a variety of charities. 

And that's about all that has been happening around here.  My eye is quite itchy so I think I will leave you with a thought for the day  . . . 

 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *A quiet and modest life

brings more joy than

a pursuit of success

bound with constant unrest.

~Albert Einstein  •。★★ 。* 。 

 

Baking in The English Kitchen today  . . .  a delicious Marmalade Cake.  The perfect teatime cake!

Have a lovely Wednesday.  Don't forget! 

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And I do too!