tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52662249070433029472024-03-13T16:57:44.197+00:00Marigold JamCreativity - home - garden - countryside - life in generalUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger426125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-43912191911965776442022-06-03T17:50:00.002+01:002022-06-03T17:50:34.704+01:00It's taken a Platinum Jubilee to propt a post from me<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><p> </p><p>It's been almost 2 years since my last post and although I have missed blogging and even drafted a couple of posts it's taken the Queen's Platinum Jubilee to actually get me here! All because a cousin e-mailed me today and mentioned the King's death 16 months before the coronation and asked if I remembered where I was at that time. So yes I wrote telling him what I remembered about that sad day and said that the 16 months between then and the happy occasion of the coronation had been a time of change for me as my mother had suffered a slipped disc which necessitated surgery and she was in hospital for weeks and was told she wouldn't be able to work again which meant a move to a new way of life in the Forest of Dean living with her father. </p><p></p><p>It then occurred to me that the 16 months prior to this Platinum Jubilee has been yet another time of change for me including a death and a new way of life as back in February 2021 the Wanderer was living with us prior to flying off to Saudi Arabia to a new job there so a new life for her. Her flights were cancelled several times due to Covid but eventually she was due to fly on 8 April. However on 5 April, Easter Monday, I woke to discover Mr M had died next to me in bed during the night! What a shock that was I can tell you as he hadn't been ill and on Easter Sunday had been happily gardening much of the day. I called the Wanderer who leapt out of bed and came to see and called 999 and within minutes we had a paramedic at the door closely followed by an ambulance with two crew and shortly after that a police car with two policemen!! What a pantomime and ironic that you can't get an ambulance when you need one but when it was too late they all appeared at once immediately! </p><p>The Wanderer said she couldn't go to Saudi as arranged and leave me but I persuaded her she should as she might not get another opportunity and I was obviously going to have to learn to live on my own and the sooner the better so off she went on the Thursday. Yes it was difficult but one positive thing was that I hadn't had to watch Mr M getting more and more sick nor to have had to do things for him which I know we both would have hated and I had no memories of him being ill. </p><p>You might imagine just how difficult the following weeks were and having no family to help me and being in the middle of a pandemic didn't help. But gradually I coped. Then later in the year I had a routine blood test and it was discovered that I had iron deficiency anaemia which required looking into and colon cancer was diagnosed so following numerous appointments at the hospital when I wondered if I might get a Blue Peter badge for visiting so many different departments I had surgery on 30 November. I was discharged after a few days and was able to cope alone luckily as the Wanderer couldn't get home again even though she had booked a flight due to flights being cancelled etc due to Covid. I had an appointment at the hospital on 21st December when I was given the best Christmas present possible - I was all clear and no chemo or other treatment would be required.<br /></p><p>I learned a lot during this time, such as I was not on my own at all as I feared and as well as the support I was given by the hospital staff there were also so many good fairies who appeared from nowhere to help me, friends called to see me or telephoned and kept in touch with offers of help. I had several invitations to spend Christmas Day with friends which I declined as I was not yet able to eat normally, was going to bed after lunch for a nap, and not up for crackers and paper hats just then! So I had a quiet Christmas by myself and even made myself a ginger cake on Christmas day as I just fancied that! </p><p>I went back for a nurse led end of treatment appointment in March when I spent an hour with a lovely nurse who explained everything and answered all my questions and I had another blood test, I have lost track of how many of those I have had. I will need an appointment for a further scan and the ubiquitous blood test in October so fingers crossed all continues well. It's all been a real life change and many lessons have been learned. I am stronger and braver than I realised, I have lots of wonderful friends, I have made some new friends too, life is still good in spite of things that happen and I am indeed learning to live on my own and the Wanderer is finally coming here in less than 2 weeks' time and I can't wait to see for myself how she is. I have a long list of things she can help me with too!! </p><p>So you can see why I haven't been posting! I haven't been reading any blogs either but often think of those blogging friends I had especially as I have so many things that had been given to me in the blogging years.<br /></p><p>I have just discovered how to access my blog on Mr M's computer rather than my old laptop which takes forever to do anything but not yet how to add photos from camera or phone so I will try to do better next time!<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-87286404538102851762020-07-06T08:39:00.001+01:002020-07-06T08:39:45.000+01:00Are we nearly there.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_jo0qvMm8O8/XwC_SwC8l4I/AAAAAAAAMhg/FPDt-rDCc5QF6inWasQN066Rzd-efaUsgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/real%2Bfood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1379" height="250" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_jo0qvMm8O8/XwC_SwC8l4I/AAAAAAAAMhg/FPDt-rDCc5QF6inWasQN066Rzd-efaUsgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/real%2Bfood.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I received a newsletter from <a href="https://mailchi.mp/c5871487aa83/your-monthly-news-roundup-from-the-real-food-store?e=8a2d26786d">Real Food store in Exeter</a>
recently and this photo was shown above one of the articles. I loved
it as a beautiful photograph but then realised that it was also a metaphor for the Covid 19 pandemic. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I saw it as the path we have been travelling these past months - climbing slowly towards some sort of resolution of the problem. Hemmed in by fencing on both sides and only one possible way to go there being no going back. Step by step we have made our way and an uphill sruggle it has been for so many of us but now maybe the end is in sight and I wonder what the view from the summit might be. Will there be more hills that we can't yet see for us to climb? Or will there be a vista of green meadows filled with wild flowers, a cool clear river flowing through it and with birdsong accompanying the sound of the clean fresh water as it flows gently towards the sea or might it be a distopian scene with many people homeless and jobless searching for food amongst the empty buildings, shops shuttered and signs flapping in the cold wind. With diggers and machinery, the green meadow reduced to a building site with banging and drillling, shouting and crashing as another road or high speed railway takes shape and yet more homes that the jobless will not be able to afford are built on what might have been countryside? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">I really hope that we might have learned something important on our way to the top of this hill and perhaps it might be possible to fashion a new normal which takes account of the planet and its people, somewhere the community spirit we have seen these past months might be part of the solution not yet more building more money making and less care for the Earth, and its people and the future. That green meadow view is what is keeping me plodding onward and upward.</span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-71178930620938107242020-06-12T17:53:00.001+01:002020-06-12T17:53:34.985+01:00More from the bunker<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QgMM3d_EOyI/XuOuL1h6caI/AAAAAAAAMhA/XQj-9IJhXPoMUuZH3QN6TwsUhZ9jBxPwgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/DSCN8319.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QgMM3d_EOyI/XuOuL1h6caI/AAAAAAAAMhA/XQj-9IJhXPoMUuZH3QN6TwsUhZ9jBxPwgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/DSCN8319.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I went for a walk in the woods this morning as the sun was shining but we were forecast to have rain this afternoon. I waited for a man with a dog to pass me at the junction of the paths and we spoke a few words as you do. He was carrying some sticks of rhubarb and I jokingly said that I was sure he hadn't foraged those in the wood to which he replied that there was a house nearby which often put the stuff outside with an honesty box for a local charity. I said I would have to go and have a look sometime but not this morning as I had no money with me and a moment of two later as he departed he turned back and gave me a couple of sticks. I refused but he was adamant and said he'd feel guilty if he kept it all for himself and so I continued my walk carrying not only my old stick (a piece of branch I found some years ago and got Mr M to cut to the correct length for me even though I do have a proper walking ploe) in one hand but the rhubarb in the other. We get to recognise each other in our little wood and all say hello or good morning and some of us stop for a chat too but we don't know each other's names. I can imagine people referring to me as that eccentric old woman with the stick who wears tattered jeans and an old coat but now they'll think me even weirder as they can tell each other she was carrying two sticks of rhubarb the other morning! I wonder if the man would have given them to me if I had been 40 and well dressed or did he think "poor old dear on her own" as he said "If you are on your own it might be enough for something".</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Free Rhubarb Cliparts, Download Free Clip Art, Free Clip Art on ..." class="n3VNCb" data-noaft="1" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/u_95Sg2IOrngpEja3cIquymc4TwY-pBiPMF6rSEHD0C63cMMVu8TAyjX-ica7zzEGTk3nCQQ4x3MHt2U9RYwRLBfMFHJlUIrQSWZTaGbnxneSyMGeD1WIQ-Dkd0MeqajVL6E-3gcoSjxtNvrAiIrYzkiIkerguaR5IKG90LLezmZ1quq8dWN5AfBOfG3ydE0RUpz4YUwc9P-COg" style="height: 307px; margin: 0px; width: 310px;" /></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So I returned home with my bounty and the knowledge of where I might be able to get some more if I remembered my purse next time. I cooked the rhubarb in the oven and it was plenty for me with some fresh yoghurt and Mr M had the remains of the Eve's pudding I'd made yesterday and there is enough rhubarb to make us both a rhubarb puff pastry tartlet tomorrow. We get our foodstuff where we can these days!! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I did wonder later what one of my friends who thinks I am not careful enough about sanitising things like the post or my shopping or books swapped with neighbours would have to say about my accepting the gift handled by someone I don't know who might not have washed his hands before collecting the rhubarb and then carrying it in my hand and bringing it into the house and cooking it with a just desultory wipe with a damp cloth beforehand. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Not only did I not have a purse with me this morning but I didn't take my camera either so the photo at the top of this post is an old one of the spot where I was given the rhubarb and the other image is a clip art one and not the 2 sticks I was given!!</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-42824629840038907982020-06-01T16:48:00.001+01:002020-06-01T16:49:02.617+01:00OUTINGS FROM THE BUNKER <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v7buRrIY5o0/XtUiJQzxl6I/AAAAAAAAMgY/UF22KX8SXNU04YVWSrORtv2SRQMlSiz7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/DSCN8539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v7buRrIY5o0/XtUiJQzxl6I/AAAAAAAAMgY/UF22KX8SXNU04YVWSrORtv2SRQMlSiz7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/DSCN8539.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Where does the time go? It has been 2 weeks since my last post and that time has flown by even though every day is much like the last here in the bunker.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span>
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">So
nothing much to report not having been far nor done anything much. We continue well I am pleased to say although
I must admit to being somewhat up and down mentally whilst I get to
grips with this changed lifestyle.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="color: black;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Every
day is like every other day and although one might think there'd be so
much more time to do all the things one didn't have time to do before
that certainly hasn't been the case here. We spend time on the "painting
of the Forth Bridge" which is our garden here and yet it never looks any
different or cared for in spite of Mr M having taken 10 or 12 plastic
bags filled with garden weeds and so on to the tip this weekend and yet
there are already 3 or 4 more waiting to go. I really can see the
allure of a small yard with some pots in it! Speaking of pots we have been finding our cuttings and seedlings which have been outside the back door to harden off a bit being scratched about by blackbirds and robins and left on the stones to dry out and die in the sun - why are they doing this is it the compost that interests them I wonder? I had about 15 geraniums each in a small pot and then there were 10 and soon after just 5! Mr. M's cosmos were tossed aside and some of them didn't recover either. Then there's the squirrel who likes to come and munch on a half ripe strawberry now and again. Ungrateful little beggars all of them as we make wildlife welcome and know that the Earth is to be shared with them and does not belong to us alone but this is getting too much!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PNjNrJNrzu8/XtUiJcN_DtI/AAAAAAAAMgc/hE2cUEmSVFg_61BGXitxemnRzIvCUmMUQCEwYBhgLKs4DAL1Ocqz4RcXTm2d8-j2KAswdLs2vZqu6-Xvm7c6v5oprH2WKtxGlxOv8k3cRJABlbN1I3gyVL-mx7Nu9l5M19LR2VNMtY0WgaBPKqDn5Nww1EjZE5XAJFKCGAOpwKXLrSxwxYRj3ELkORsIVEZDTgJ0KVjr126mLfkHTWeBQkBPQKV9OJDV7lok9UBMo5NpXPbg0L7br4qwZB8JLNfgWZ20HTWe3wzVfR9QIEjJ7I15M5rafxVHTvMHI0wT7QcskxV4Sl5lVaPpKRkqhh2sOAb1Ypk95tBVo2PFQEQqI_rzl64iNtx1WGCDUfcVmPkHN2zwfB5S7kkCDVgk5g7ZA_Qs_wDYkCjQI1nkxf-qTsqFgfebVya1DnjCn5gJ0pXV88zzq2vxd63OKZnlk2Pi65trthFQ5BEGkaXGoFBvZNMrFOJvqJdL9o22wG7lfmOJ5BtqLDkxaHi3bXbZmOeT7bjcjUHgN2VwI_XoiQFjWJkBa3gce7u5wdYDfztMxQnA_8peBzlaVmZ_PO8nxcVWleV9_5oaZm9PRZpiERYxRI8xCl37tjfixj0vYdylG0wSTGjUgArIjRW4vc-ldYqczA4Xp843rOBs89PbIAbzUMKzJ1PYF/s1600/DSCN8542.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PNjNrJNrzu8/XtUiJcN_DtI/AAAAAAAAMgc/hE2cUEmSVFg_61BGXitxemnRzIvCUmMUQCEwYBhgLKs4DAL1Ocqz4RcXTm2d8-j2KAswdLs2vZqu6-Xvm7c6v5oprH2WKtxGlxOv8k3cRJABlbN1I3gyVL-mx7Nu9l5M19LR2VNMtY0WgaBPKqDn5Nww1EjZE5XAJFKCGAOpwKXLrSxwxYRj3ELkORsIVEZDTgJ0KVjr126mLfkHTWeBQkBPQKV9OJDV7lok9UBMo5NpXPbg0L7br4qwZB8JLNfgWZ20HTWe3wzVfR9QIEjJ7I15M5rafxVHTvMHI0wT7QcskxV4Sl5lVaPpKRkqhh2sOAb1Ypk95tBVo2PFQEQqI_rzl64iNtx1WGCDUfcVmPkHN2zwfB5S7kkCDVgk5g7ZA_Qs_wDYkCjQI1nkxf-qTsqFgfebVya1DnjCn5gJ0pXV88zzq2vxd63OKZnlk2Pi65trthFQ5BEGkaXGoFBvZNMrFOJvqJdL9o22wG7lfmOJ5BtqLDkxaHi3bXbZmOeT7bjcjUHgN2VwI_XoiQFjWJkBa3gce7u5wdYDfztMxQnA_8peBzlaVmZ_PO8nxcVWleV9_5oaZm9PRZpiERYxRI8xCl37tjfixj0vYdylG0wSTGjUgArIjRW4vc-ldYqczA4Xp843rOBs89PbIAbzUMKzJ1PYF/s400/DSCN8542.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">This morning we went
to the garden centre in Sherborne I wanted more geraniums and we decided to try some different compost. The Castle Garden Centre is usually really good and the cafe excellent for a cup of tea and a slice of home made cake after a wander round but were a little
disappointed with it today. Cafe is closed of course and there were only a reduced number of staff who were not able to give face to face advice as usual and I couldn't get the gloves I wanted nor any parsley
plants and nothing seemed to have any prices on due to the closure and
reduced staff etc and so have no geraniums no parsley and no gloves. I do understand but it was quite frustrating although we did come home with a bag of seed compost, a couple of tomato plants, some kale and cabbage plants and some seeds. </span></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div style="color: black;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Interestingly though we parked face on to the wall of the car park which
is an high old stone wall thickly covered with ivy and I could hear the
cheep cheep of birds in the thick ivy covering and then a little
sparrow appeared and stayed still long enough for me to recognise it as a
sparrow - something I haven't seen for years here in the garden so a real
treat. A little further along there was a notice saying something along
the lines of "Is this the largest sparrow hotel in the area?" and it
was true that there must have been hundreds of them flitting back and
forth to their nests - penthouse suites, doubles, singles with en suite
and so on!!! So that made up for the lack of things to buy!!</span></span></span></div>
<div style="color: black;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: large;">From there we drove a few hundred yards to Hunts Food Store which we
discovered fairly recently. I like it as there is free parking right
outside, there are never that many people inside so it feels safe, the
staff know their business and are helpful and friendly, they sell lots
of different things and brands as well as the usual and it is the only
store where I have found flour of all kinds when supermarkets had none,
pasta when that too was not easily available and also toilet rolls when
there were none to be had.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RsSaC05Ux90/XtUiJatfN_I/AAAAAAAAMgw/uTR6-wkQy3U_6HEz46ddVpgo6ART5vaSgCEwYBhgLKs4DAL1Ocqx1sHsz5qK23YtjhxbRsd7ue88EG3BETCCsixMNHG44CmTcvAuksvhXUpov9GXK4vdZpNzr3e3BUtmkzzxtX7fh7B3admJencHy2peEtIveMyGfqvx3bGQh5U59w35xVkrt7CEHsbSlJ7rmt1o0cU6CrKLBKmD7bT2ZiOHFK2W5ZFtKK1Z9CVeSYK4zR-cLwtMYD3DGj0OucuJakox51Z0grr9Vtsdv7jlWKQjhDOdnrwHSYzHq8eE0zKO_XZuciCoxdSa-IDr_nq0IapA1MEz_73ABjdLF_imJFKcaow_B0w4hDUxy3G2lTncPO4S9mOqWBSs2OlUYki323C1hFVMM-yxK0hFdkWc19ZMsXVfTWx-rsDOc86nIhEwaybU-cK_NWoHmt2zqz4LjoHic5hlRcT_2KTHRhVkiOJK5j4E0ZHqdTlZB_i_4ceO1Lz274Q37lI1NeAMy8nTpMyxVCKuz2z5d51GJSgy6I1pUSxb-_nh_w0pzVyKgjU9OfWRbV9VNec1j-nBe3nac34mnv2gQviU3MdGuWmSglQDvvRD_QGojKL9spchrUVlpgjciufx4f1qIKQnSn4kEYdM-GvvLGViuS-QSvDsHMMbJ1PYF/s1600/DSCN8555.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RsSaC05Ux90/XtUiJatfN_I/AAAAAAAAMgw/uTR6-wkQy3U_6HEz46ddVpgo6ART5vaSgCEwYBhgLKs4DAL1Ocqx1sHsz5qK23YtjhxbRsd7ue88EG3BETCCsixMNHG44CmTcvAuksvhXUpov9GXK4vdZpNzr3e3BUtmkzzxtX7fh7B3admJencHy2peEtIveMyGfqvx3bGQh5U59w35xVkrt7CEHsbSlJ7rmt1o0cU6CrKLBKmD7bT2ZiOHFK2W5ZFtKK1Z9CVeSYK4zR-cLwtMYD3DGj0OucuJakox51Z0grr9Vtsdv7jlWKQjhDOdnrwHSYzHq8eE0zKO_XZuciCoxdSa-IDr_nq0IapA1MEz_73ABjdLF_imJFKcaow_B0w4hDUxy3G2lTncPO4S9mOqWBSs2OlUYki323C1hFVMM-yxK0hFdkWc19ZMsXVfTWx-rsDOc86nIhEwaybU-cK_NWoHmt2zqz4LjoHic5hlRcT_2KTHRhVkiOJK5j4E0ZHqdTlZB_i_4ceO1Lz274Q37lI1NeAMy8nTpMyxVCKuz2z5d51GJSgy6I1pUSxb-_nh_w0pzVyKgjU9OfWRbV9VNec1j-nBe3nac34mnv2gQviU3MdGuWmSglQDvvRD_QGojKL9spchrUVlpgjciufx4f1qIKQnSn4kEYdM-GvvLGViuS-QSvDsHMMbJ1PYF/s400/DSCN8555.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: large;">We had earlier walked down the main street as I had a package to post and so wanted to go to the post office. I had stopped at the local post office en route for Sherborne but there was a queue of about a dozen or 15 people and I gave up on that idea - I don't do queues!! Cheap Street in Sherborne was like a ghost town with hardly any shops open - I half expected a cowboy with a gun to appear for a shoot out on the street as if everyone was hiding out of harm's way like they do in films - although we were able to buy fresh bread at the bakers not going inside but over a table pulled across the doorway. This is great in the summer sunshine but not sure how this kind of shopping will work in the rain or winter weather! The Post Office was open and 3 counters were manned and only 2 customers inside including me!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is very odd to find shopping streets closed and quiet like this and I wonder how it will eventually work out and whether people will in fact come back one day and whether there will be anything to come back to if they do. So sorry for the traders who are all doing their best to provide their customers with what they want without even being able to open their doors!!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyway shopping all done we headed for home - I must say I love driving along quiet roads and not getting caught up in traffic as usual. We do take our pleasures differently now and I felt much refreshed for having left home and gone somewhere even if it was for a bit of shopping which is not something I would normally think of as an outing! </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: large;">The photos are more my idea of an outing and somewhere I long to be able to go again. But I think I will have to keep that idea till November as I really don't want to risk going at the mement and I like it better when the beaches are empty as shown here! I can wait! </span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-62182633548834321112020-05-17T20:23:00.002+01:002020-05-17T20:24:46.539+01:00MORE TALES FROM THE BUNKER <span style="font-size: large;"><b>Beware Low Flying Robins!</b> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here at the bunker life goes on each day seeming the same as another but of course it isn't as the unfurling stories that take place in the garden here make sure of that. It's as good as going to the cinema here at times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We are always being advised to encourage wildlife to our gardens but here at the bunker we don't need to encourage them they just come as of right as they don't recognise the boundary of a fence between us and the wood adjoining us in which there is plenty of wildlife including badgers, foxes, squirrels and all sorts of different birds too not to mention all the small creatures that live in the trees and the earth surrounding them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Since lockdown we have noticed that the birds which come to the bird table and the water dish seem to be much bolder than before and I sometimes wonder if they might be planning a take over of the world and us - would that be such a bad thing? Might they make a better job of it all than we humans seem to?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RJNMRfQcWHk/XsGJ6Ev0HBI/AAAAAAAAMek/oh5SXXAGgUY2NH6BMM4CAYUjaBXq8G_qgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/DSCN9084%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RJNMRfQcWHk/XsGJ6Ev0HBI/AAAAAAAAMek/oh5SXXAGgUY2NH6BMM4CAYUjaBXq8G_qgCPcBGAYYCw/s400/DSCN9084%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As we sit either in the conservatory or in the garden with our cups of tea or coffee we have noticed a robin (or maybe there are more) flying at breakneck speed - literally if they don't notice the back door of the garage is open and hit the glass as has happened - across the garden and over time we realised he was going to a nest in the evergreen hedge which runs along behind our house. Now every time we step outside the back door or go to and from the compost bins we are on his flight path as he hurtles from the wood the otherside of our fence to the nest taking in a short stop at the apple tree before going on to the trellis and the bush against that (name escapes me) and thus into his nest. A couple of seconds later he does the same route in reverse and this is kept up all day long - he must be exhausted by evening!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This morning I was sitting on the bench with my coffee and noticed a robin sitting on top of the washing line post - he must have seen something as he then dropped onto the edge of the path beside the veggie patch and then onto the earth and reappeared with a big worm in his beak - it must have been 5 or 6 inches long and quite plump and he couldn't manage a vertical take off with it but did a rapid low level flight skimming the ground into the hydrangea where he disappeared. I don't know if he butchered the worm into smaller portions or what happened.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Then whilst I was still sitting there a robin flew from the wood onto the apple tree but Mr M was just coming out for his coffee and he would pass too near so robin flew straight towards me but that wasn't wise either so he dipped and disappeared under the bench I was sitting on!! </span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y9l3jLNypCQ/XsGJ7uhnkFI/AAAAAAAAMeg/tgPhp4aHq7kWZyJjvbLhr5tvAsXWQufRgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/DSCN9092%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y9l3jLNypCQ/XsGJ7uhnkFI/AAAAAAAAMeg/tgPhp4aHq7kWZyJjvbLhr5tvAsXWQufRgCPcBGAYYCw/s320/DSCN9092%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">When I go to the compost bin with the kitchen vegetable scraps I am in danger of being knocked over by a low flying robin going to or from the nest - the space between the house wall and the hedge is quite narrow so no room to swerve either. It happened yesterday but luckily the robin noticed me just in time and was able to do a U-turn and back onto the apple tree whilst I went by. I could just imagine telling them in A&E that I had been knocked over by a robiin but it really did make me jump!!</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2L8HJ6vSnY8/XsGJ8N9hBLI/AAAAAAAAMeo/pMUoN8J7r2scbJ77Y22yGIOGrUoHAlF6ACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/DSCN9093clip%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="631" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2L8HJ6vSnY8/XsGJ8N9hBLI/AAAAAAAAMeo/pMUoN8J7r2scbJ77Y22yGIOGrUoHAlF6ACPcBGAYYCw/s400/DSCN9093clip%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" width="262" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Honestly we really need some kind of air traffic control here if we are not to be knocked over by flying robins!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">You will note that we are not striped lawns with clipped edges sort of gardeners and apart from vegetables most of the things in our garden are left to themselves. I met a lady I sometimes speak to in the woods when walking yesterday and she asked me what the pink flowers in our front garden were (the entrance to the wood is right next to our driveway so front garden is on view to all the dog walkers) she is a gardner who opens her garden to the public in the NGS scheme and I had to say I had no idea nor did I know where they came from but as they are pretty the y can stay!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thank you for your comments on my previous post and I am glad to find that I am not the only one who is ambivalent about the VE Day celebrations. Thank you too for all your birthday wishes too.</span> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-55134816273562764052020-04-26T19:07:00.004+01:002020-04-26T19:07:36.998+01:00SILVER LININGS IN THE BUNKER<span style="font-size: large;">Can another week have passed and we are still in the bunker? Considering we are not allowed to go out other than for specified things such as shopping for food, exercise or medical reasons the time seems to fly by. Helped of course by the lovely weather and the fact that we are lucky enough to have a garden and are not incarcerated indoors like so many.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So what have I been doing all week? Well Monday I chatted with a French friend via Skype as usual and then spent the afternoon gardening - attempting to clear the area which runs along the boundary with the wood which didn't get done last year as I couldn't kneel nor crouch down having broken my ankle early in the year and followed that up with the removal of a skin cancer on my arm which then became infected after the stitches were removed so not ideal for grovelling in the hedgerow amongst the blackberry bushes and nettles so this year I have been trying to rid the area of two years' of overgrowth!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> On Tuesday after spending the morning on the boundary weeds we set off to Sherborne for a month's shopping. Having calculated that if we went once a month the 10 mile round trip would actually be less mileagewise than a once a week shop nearer home in supermarkets I don't usually shop in and in which I don't know where to find anything. Also I would presumably come into contact with only a quarter of the customers I might have been close to if I shopped weekly so we went and it was lovely. The A30 almost deserted in the sunshine reminding me of all those times I must have travelled this lovely route when I lived in Sherborne and worked in Yeovil back in the '60s. Arriving at a near empty car park we found no queue and were both allowed to go in and in next to no time we had done our shopping and encountered at a safe distance about half a dozen other customers inside. So now I have a store cupboard - well actually it is the spare bedroom but we aren't expecting guests any time soon and it is cool in there - full of groceries to last me a month if I have guessed correctly and together with our weekly organic veg box plus a fruit box and several litres of fresh milk each week we won't go hungry!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Then on Wednesday morning Mr M had a little outing on his own when he had to go to the doctor's for a routine Vit B12 injection. Seems he parked and had to wait in the car till the nurse came out and took his temperature all togged up in her PPEs and as he didn't have a temperature he was allowed to go inside and within a few minutes he was all done and dusted and on his way home - we take our pleasures in quite different ways these days!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Thursday morning dawned with no water supply! You don't realise just how often you turn the tap on till nothing comes out of it!! We washed in rainwater from the water butts and also used the washing water to flush the toilets but we had no drinking water and I wasn't sure if rainwater even if boiled was safe to drink. Luckily our neighbours were happy to exchange a couple of bottles of spring water for the idea of using rain water to flush the loo. And the supply was back by lunchtime. Not the ideal time to be unable to wash our hands and rinse in running water as instructed though. It did all make for a late start on the gardening work though having to fetch pans of rain water and boil them and then collect more rainwater this time cold though come to think of it why didn't we just heat the water to required washing temperature I wonder - you live and learn!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-88HQM9xEDjE/XqWmKvp6dwI/AAAAAAAAMck/PQezqkAIDpwLdWfrJIvG_Q9L8mjX7GPdACEwYBhgL/s1600/DSCN9008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-88HQM9xEDjE/XqWmKvp6dwI/AAAAAAAAMck/PQezqkAIDpwLdWfrJIvG_Q9L8mjX7GPdACEwYBhgL/s400/DSCN9008.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This area cleared - had forgotten there were stones along the edge!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Friday more gardening and did the washing and other domestic chores.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x-tUpKhYt7I/XqWmIxRl0WI/AAAAAAAAMcg/aRTnWrMFwtkSUgdwiyzcdjq4ejLXK_wYACEwYBhgL/s1600/DSCN9009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x-tUpKhYt7I/XqWmIxRl0WI/AAAAAAAAMcg/aRTnWrMFwtkSUgdwiyzcdjq4ejLXK_wYACEwYBhgL/s400/DSCN9009.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what I was up against!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Saturday more of the same - we need certain little pointers to remind us what day of the week it is now that most are the same as each other.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4kspbnuX-9c/XqWmStlPAzI/AAAAAAAAMco/_Wj3bFzCDbomNk-LhcqIAeIMOOSXvO_vACEwYBhgL/s1600/DSCN9011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4kspbnuX-9c/XqWmStlPAzI/AAAAAAAAMco/_Wj3bFzCDbomNk-LhcqIAeIMOOSXvO_vACEwYBhgL/s400/DSCN9011.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little vase of Christmas roses rescued from beneath the weeds!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So we haven't left the "estate" at all other than our couple of outings early in the week and I have discovered that I am no longer so stressed as what I am doing in the garden has been calming - mindfully weeding the area in front of me and not looking to see how much more I have to do or how long it might take me and the feeling of achievement when I stopped for the day. After all we have however long it takes and maybe the rest of our lives to do what we are doing now. Mr M was busy doing his own thing elsewhere, the birds were singing and the sun on my back it was lovely and I was reminded of the days when we took over an allotment when we lived in Guildford all those years ago and we'd stop and wipe our brows having cleared another area of the bramble patch we had been allocated! We dreamed of having a place where we could live the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/goodlife/">Good Life.</a> Well that didn't happen but we did do a lot of the things we dreamed of such as keeping a few hens in our back garden, growing lots of vegetables, making jams and preserves with some of the blackberries and other foraged items, baking bread, spinning and weaving and so on and I realised that every cloud has a silver lining and maybe Coronavirus has one too and maybe we can do a lot of those things which had fallen by the wayside along the years.</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UBlZ7BLC9DA/XqXM99oXGCI/AAAAAAAAMc4/7U05D_ug0SwJsa8TrbAOQehSUuhps1y2gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/DSCN9019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UBlZ7BLC9DA/XqXM99oXGCI/AAAAAAAAMc4/7U05D_ug0SwJsa8TrbAOQehSUuhps1y2gCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/DSCN9019.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So as well as gardening I am back to making bread and hope that with practice I will soon be as good at it as I used to be. To that end a new toy arrived on Friday - a new Kenwood Chef something I used to have for years after my mother gave up her bread making and handed it over to me. Sadly it broke down and couldn't be repaired and so I have been considering for some time whether to get another and what better opportunity than now. I also plan to make yoghurt and will be off to the woods this coming week for some nettles to make soup what could be nicer with a hunk of home made bread. Unless it is that same hunk spread with some of my homemade hedgerow spread some of which I still have in the cupboard.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I plan to harvest some micro greens this evening to go with my salad for supper as my Radish Farm is ready for thinning out!! This idea of planting in toilet roll inners was passed on by a friend although why not just plant in the carton without the toilt rolls? As you can see we are readying ourselves for bean planting too. Tom and Barbara here we come!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Last
Sunday we enjoyed a lovely steam train journey - one that we would have
actually done had we not been advised that a rail holiday in Scotland might
not be a good idea on crutches! If you fancy a calm couple of hours on
the train through beautiful countryside do as we did and pack a sandwich
and a cup of coffee and watch<a href="https://www.channel5.com/show/britains-most-scenic-railway-journey-minute-by-minute/"> this</a>! </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Or for something quite different listen to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-52091958/radio-4-today-bbc-s-fergal-keane-with-the-verse-that-helped-sustain-him-through-ptsd">this</a> or of course both.</span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-64768110472166975072020-04-18T11:07:00.000+01:002020-04-18T11:07:16.283+01:00Bunker news - woodland walk<span style="font-size: large;">Yesterday we had rain the first for some time as we have been basking in some early spring sunshine and warm days. We woke to find that it had rained overnight and was by morning coming down heavily. I opened the back door when I came downstairs and the perfume of parched English soil in the rain was wonderful! It was something I missed when we lived in France as although we had rain on dry soil and it did smell it wasn't the same aroma as we get here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> I remember sitting on the covered patio you can see here when it was raining or had rained and noticing the different smell and feeling a little homesick!</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--isADppsPkA/XpngRmuq-zI/AAAAAAAAMaA/btcNWWAhv2AjajPaWBo9v9dgMy3PWBo_QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/DSCN8995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--isADppsPkA/XpngRmuq-zI/AAAAAAAAMaA/btcNWWAhv2AjajPaWBo9v9dgMy3PWBo_QCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/DSCN8995.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After lunch I decided to go for a walk in the wood as I thought there might be fewer people up there if it was raining and I didn't might a bit of rain - I am English after all and we are used to it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> It stopped raining as I set off and there were a few others in the wood enjoying the quiet like me and we passed with the requisite distance between us all very strange and like some kind of dance. I came upon this little den as I walked and wished I might crawl inside and sit quietly away from the world as it is just now But of course I didn't and it would probably have been somewhat damp and I had nothing to sit on something which wouldn't have worried me as a child in the woods!</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fRgce1FrRBg/XprNGTrinOI/AAAAAAAAMa4/vL-UiAqJT8EqMC3OaxuxBjvXCDWrrPZ6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/DSCN9000%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fRgce1FrRBg/XprNGTrinOI/AAAAAAAAMa4/vL-UiAqJT8EqMC3OaxuxBjvXCDWrrPZ6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/DSCN9000%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" width="400" /> </a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was lovely in the wood, the trees had suddenly become clothed in green leaves that hadn't been there last time I went and there were wild flowers such as Lords and Ladies, yellow deadnettles, red campions and herb robbert and even a few bluebells although they weren't the traditional British blue bells but probably escapees from nearby gardens where people have grown blue and white and even pink bells.</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gAOGRHzj4I0/XprOfspZNEI/AAAAAAAAMbQ/8b6qWOai_sYBZZqyagby9jjuRyuQp8LJgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/DSCN8999%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gAOGRHzj4I0/XprOfspZNEI/AAAAAAAAMbQ/8b6qWOai_sYBZZqyagby9jjuRyuQp8LJgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/DSCN8999%2B-%2BCopy.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> I did enjoy my walk and returned home feeling much refreshed and more positive about life and how it might be when eventually we are able to go where we like and to hug each other again and not do the dance of keeping 6 feet apart all the time. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I am still puzzling out how best to get some shopping but for now we have what we need and since a neighbour came round with a letter she said had been delivered in error to them and asked if I wanted anything from the shops as she was going I now have a bag of potatoes and half a dozen eggs so we shan't starve just yet!</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Oh and the water butts are all full to the top again so we shan't have to worry about watering the garden either.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">What was bizarre though was that the letter was an election letter frm the Lib Dems and must have been sent last year so where had it been I wonder?</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-73643030737314924102020-04-15T15:32:00.001+01:002020-04-20T20:57:49.393+01:00News from the Bunker<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My plans to spend more time on things other than the internet, computer and telephone here I am 10 days later still not having done much in the way of creativity though perhaps a little less on communication.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bvn2KTjDE2I/XpcNaVh1vpI/AAAAAAAAMZQ/B7rbQsB2RMw--U4zD0mAAD7F0BAWNsLXwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/DSCN8988.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bvn2KTjDE2I/XpcNaVh1vpI/AAAAAAAAMZQ/B7rbQsB2RMw--U4zD0mAAD7F0BAWNsLXwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/DSCN8988.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Easter came and went and was a very quiet time for us all. The Wanderer alone in her little bunker in London and us here in our bigger bunker in Somerset. The weather was great with sunshine wall to wall - would be wouldn't it when nobody could go anywhere!! I did wonder whether to bother with any decorations - I usually have a vase of twigs with tiny new leaves which open over the weekend decorated with coloured eggs but this year I wasn't in the mood but then thought that not bothering might be the slipery slope to not caring so did at least pile the eggs into a basket and add some primroses from the garden!!</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-05jE1UTcE9U/Xp3-qS4kbLI/AAAAAAAAMbc/X1Kgx_jTgmABkNZkjAhlyzexJC2nZGJ3gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/DSCN8989.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-05jE1UTcE9U/Xp3-qS4kbLI/AAAAAAAAMbc/X1Kgx_jTgmABkNZkjAhlyzexJC2nZGJ3gCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/DSCN8989.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I also made a cake to use up some mini eggs I had bought thinking perhaps the Wanderer might be joining us over Easter which was of course not to be. I have made this chocolate cake recipe hundreds of times and it is usually good but for some reason everything I touch lately isn't as good as it used to be! (Age related or mood perhaps?) It didn't rise as it should and so was more of a chocolate biscuit. This however created a topic of conversation when I Skyped my French friend in France on Monday morning as translation of biscuit/sponge/gateau etc were discussed and what each meant to us. She had made some hot cross buns and had problems with the crosses which for some reason had sunk into the buns when cooked and were invisible! So it made for a laugh to share our failures.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I needed a couple of birthday cards for birthdays this week so set to making those but there again maybe due to leaving it till the last minute they didn't go according to plan either. My next task is to sort out the paper and card and other items required and to get some new sticky things as my sticky pads and double sided tape had dried out and were not sticky, my Pritt stick wouldn't glide and left clumps of glue here and there and my Copydex tube is almost empty and comes out in blobs! I sent the cards anyway along with messages to say they came with love even if not much creativity!!</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I am still feeling very up and down emotionally and wondering exactly we are meant to be doing or not doing having had so many friends asking why I was still doing my own shopping etc so when a friend in Guildford asked if I had heard that Waitrose was offering an over 70s free delivery of up to 20 items I called our local store to find out more. Seemed they were willing to deliver to me over 5 miles from the store (but the nearest one to us) and so my spirits lifted and I placed my order - 17 items and 3 for a neighbour - and it was delivered the following day all just as hoped. At least my friends wouldn't have to concern themselves with my well being any more. BUT this week when I called to place my order I was told that due to increased demand from customers living in Sherborne they could no longer deliver to those not actually living there and so I was back to square one!! Feeling very disappointed especially having tried as suggested their store in Crewkerne and 9 miles away without success. "You might get lucky with click and collect" the lady there suggested and then went on to tell me I would need to place my order in the usual way (whatever that was) and then add my government number which would give me priority (what number?) seems if I had had a letter from the NHS I'd have a number which I could quote. Failed again as I am too healthy and don't have any underlying conditions and thus a letter (thank goodness of course) I gather that various supermarkets in Yeovil are open for the elderly at 7.00 am but there is likely to be a queue! My mood plummeted further when I had a call from my sister-in-law who was all happy and bright and who told me I shouldn't let things get to me as we can't do anything about the situation of course I know that and does she think I like allowing things to get to me or choose to feel this way?! Then whilst making some cheese scones the Mouli grater collapsed and the grated cheese went eveerywhere and I'd had enough and stormed off to bed!! I am not proud of this childish behaviour but am just telling it like it is. I haven't felt so down for a very long time now and felt guilty as I know how lucky I am in the greater scheme of things I have nothing to worry about when others are really struggling but that makes no difference but simply adds a good dose of guilt to the mix!</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Of course I came back down and got on with the lunch and we had it an hour late but so what?! After lunch I needed to post the cards I had made so I walked up through the woods and out onto the main road and along to the postbox. A little further along the road is the petrol station which has a little M&S Food shop and I g</span><span style="font-size: medium;">ot quite a few things from my list and at the checkout the lad
asked if I would like him to help me carry it to my car but on hearing
that I had
walked he asked where I lived and suggested I could borrow one of their
trolleys (not a good idea through the wood) but then the very helpful
young woman who I'd asked where something was<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">
<span style="color: #45818e;"> offered to drive
round in her break and deliver it!! My faith in humankind was restored
at a stroke!! I could have carried it all as one was a back pack and
one a shopping bag. So I will continue to shop there where possible as
the idea of getting to Morrisons by 7.00 and
having to queue is a definite no no for me! I am barely awake at that
time let alone up and dressed. I am determined to manage using smaller
shops rather than the supermarkets. So we have had some lovely fresh
strawberries for dessert today and I have
two chocolate eclairs in the freezer for another day, we have plenty of
bananas and oranges now and a veggie box came yesterday so we shall get our
5 a day alright. I'll cross the other bridges when we get to them.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CGcJRaSt_As/XpcXh8Us9SI/AAAAAAAAMZg/TjcZflMWiWgsoSAanfuSM1J2FbBE0hdnQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/I-am-I-can-300x300.jpg.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CGcJRaSt_As/XpcXh8Us9SI/AAAAAAAAMZg/TjcZflMWiWgsoSAanfuSM1J2FbBE0hdnQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/I-am-I-can-300x300.jpg.webp" /></a></span></span></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">courtesy of Google images</span></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Today I am feeling much more on an even keel perhaps because of the walk yesterday and having done my meditation this morning too. I must take note of the motto shown in the picture above which was my junior school one and I can see it hanging on the wall in the classroom even all these years later. Ours wasn't illustrated just the words but this one with its 50s style children seem appropriate.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">I gather from some other bloggers' posts that I am not alone in feeling this way although there are those others who are quite enjoying the enforced isolation at home. I must see if I can get some flour and do some bread making and other baking along with some crochet or scrabooking as practice makes perfect and maybe I will do better if I try. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Not sure what's happened to the text and why it is black not the same as the rest of the post as it is all the same size and colour in Edit! </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-40806611741873886672020-04-05T10:58:00.001+01:002020-04-05T10:58:48.189+01:00MORE FROM THE BUNKER<div class="rps_cb96">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;">Due to increased demand I am struggling during the
current situation finding I am spending so much time on the telephone
(3+ hours some days!) and answering e-mails (more hours)
and generally keeping in touch with friends then getting stressed as I haven't achieved any of the things I had
hoped I might be doing as mentioned in the following piece by Kitty O'Meera but fear I might only be "meeting my shadows" and
none of the other things!! I know that I am not alone in this and that all over the world people are trying to find their "new way of living" in these times of change and anxiety and we will all have to find our own way through this but it helps to know we are not alone. One blog which says more eloquently than I can on the topicis<a href="http://siftingfortreasures.blogspot.com/2020/04/on-feeling-at-sea.html"> Sifting for Treasures t</a>ake a look.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>And the people stayed home. And
read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and
played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And
listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed,
some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think
differently.</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>And the people healed. And, in
the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and
heartless ways, the earth began to heal.</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>And when the danger
passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses,
and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to
live and heal the earth fully, as they had been
healed.</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><br />
</i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;">For more about Kitty see <a href="https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/a31747557/and-the-people-stayed-home-poem-kitty-omeara-interview/">Oprah's magazine here.</a></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><br />
</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;">So I plan to spend more time on the
afore mentioned activities and less on the computer and telephone at
least for now. I really love to hear from my friends but I am just trying to find a way to keep in touch with
everyone and at the same time to heal and find a new way of living
myself! So that I am able to be supportive to them too.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rEjvRktXeis/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rEjvRktXeis?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">I write to you all in friendship and
love and sign off with this lovely French compilation of a familiar (to
the French at least!) song from the 60s. which speaks of the need for
"tendresse" or affection/love/kindness/care
especially at this time of isolation a</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">nd which</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"> was compiled
from videos made by each of the musicians all over France wherever they
found themselves in isolation - there's a lesson there too isn't there
it says that we are better together and even the virus cannot separate
us nor stop us from making something beautiful if we work together.</span><span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-64452143047922785422020-04-01T14:21:00.001+01:002020-04-01T14:21:04.463+01:00Notes from the Bunker - March bulletin<span style="font-size: large;">What a difference a month makes! Back at the end of February we were living our lives as usual, albeit having heard about some virus problem on the other side of the world, meeting each other hugging each other going to shops and cafes and on outings here and there and now just a month later our cities are almost silent, we are under "house arrest" and a whole new lexicon of phrases have entered our daily conversations. Phrases like "underlying health issues", "self isolation", "social distancing" "shielding" and "lock down" phrases we hadn't know existed just a month ago.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So from being advised to keep a distance of 6 feet between ourselves and other people, not always easy and called "Social Distancing", we progressed in jerky steps though "self isolation" and "shielding" vulnerable people and ending up with our country in "lock down" being told to "Stay Home" other than for all but the most basic reasons such as going to buy food or medicines, exercise or taking the dog for a walk, medical appointments if they hadn't been cancelled by this time, and going to work if one's work could not be done from home. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/gallery/2020/mar/31/mountain-goats-of-great-orme-hit-llandudno-in-pictures">Wild animals are beginning to roam our empty streets</a> </span><span style="font-size: large;">and life is deinitely not what it was and one wonders if it will ever be as we knew it again.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FeNP2E4q4oo/XoSOQonGH5I/AAAAAAAAMYk/zYf-mu8Q1lYr4gph5yTGiPamihqPsubSQCEwYBhgLKs4DAMBZVoBH1FgY7a8xj5KOXo7ACNttZ5eEMLPCfIhcn_URT6pa54AUks9--H3h6mYk8PU-8pdgLOJOg0IH_YPohgjeVYHo8O0i1xddqzR8dn_uaMeE1GX3vjFLVR76zgksHkSHnjdxUZFAO_HaisllnzYUjQPfOsMYvciv6mrkhQoHw1-vfboEPSnDXKH-RsvPYHFl1DpOvxNGoCrGJvcsVLozJpk4Y8KnGpWoO1f6Kk6feKj2t0cNV-5uBSqinCLEdOX3KQxxjahiulse-48aPR_AbE7kZatt36UcVcjoXroq-u9lmotqhaq63p_lOAVT_Mn4ERE16p5fOsIEQ5tjxJjzT8OGZ_r6BW9ifyoZ_ADAn0cWMcV1l3dCfHfvbedPOGqURA1kZxrX6wTumjY9PVMYr6jLNAORypVDdxChz4AHb4Ynw5xLw0PMnCJst5j4I4Yqnzo4UF1rjSUfh9WqfrUJg6WsPFOoumPR4ZCQZb7pm-XJAq_UxwKqw94ZIXO8SOoI_b0KROvB6WxFGtJrgM6P--1ngcgXPPzBANLWZdGXq3P4mnWTqqMZqCZN5-mptQ42EDNH0fwcbzMQsSuwz_d2j4M30ltOZUpmW4irMNShkvQF/s1600/DSCN8964.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FeNP2E4q4oo/XoSOQonGH5I/AAAAAAAAMYk/zYf-mu8Q1lYr4gph5yTGiPamihqPsubSQCEwYBhgLKs4DAMBZVoBH1FgY7a8xj5KOXo7ACNttZ5eEMLPCfIhcn_URT6pa54AUks9--H3h6mYk8PU-8pdgLOJOg0IH_YPohgjeVYHo8O0i1xddqzR8dn_uaMeE1GX3vjFLVR76zgksHkSHnjdxUZFAO_HaisllnzYUjQPfOsMYvciv6mrkhQoHw1-vfboEPSnDXKH-RsvPYHFl1DpOvxNGoCrGJvcsVLozJpk4Y8KnGpWoO1f6Kk6feKj2t0cNV-5uBSqinCLEdOX3KQxxjahiulse-48aPR_AbE7kZatt36UcVcjoXroq-u9lmotqhaq63p_lOAVT_Mn4ERE16p5fOsIEQ5tjxJjzT8OGZ_r6BW9ifyoZ_ADAn0cWMcV1l3dCfHfvbedPOGqURA1kZxrX6wTumjY9PVMYr6jLNAORypVDdxChz4AHb4Ynw5xLw0PMnCJst5j4I4Yqnzo4UF1rjSUfh9WqfrUJg6WsPFOoumPR4ZCQZb7pm-XJAq_UxwKqw94ZIXO8SOoI_b0KROvB6WxFGtJrgM6P--1ngcgXPPzBANLWZdGXq3P4mnWTqqMZqCZN5-mptQ42EDNH0fwcbzMQsSuwz_d2j4M30ltOZUpmW4irMNShkvQF/s400/DSCN8964.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">primroses along our driveway - don't show up too well in the photo though</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">How has it
been for us here in our bunker? Well I have found it confusing,
complicated, depressing, frightening and a whole host of other negative
emotions as well as some positive ones too like gratitude, joy,
friendship and happiness. </span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I have found the advice and instructions most confusing as the goal posts were constantly being moved and I was not aware for instance that driving to somewhere quiet for a walk would not be permitted, that shopping should be done in one's nearest supermarket rather than a short distance away and so on. I was not sure if being over 70 with no "underlying health conditions" lumped us along with being over 70 with underlying conditions or with younger than 70 with or without underlying conditions. By last week we had run out of many items and needed to do a shop it being 2 weeks since our last and the chance of shopping on line and getting a delivery slot within the next month or so being non existent we decided to drive a distance of 5 miles to Sherborne where we could shop at Waitose a small supermarket in which I would know where to find the items I wanted. The route along the A30 was very quiet just like it used to be when I lived in Sherborne in my teens, we parked in the open car park and I did my shopping without having to queue, or at least the queue consisted of a couple and me and they went in almost as soon as I arrived, leaving Mr M in the car and we were home in no time which I had thought a better plan than going to the nearer Tesco with queues round the block and where I would have had no idea where to find anything inside the bigger interior and would have taken longer. Apparently we were lucky not to have been stopped by the police!!</span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">On Monday I drove Mr M to the hospital for a routine appointment and waited in the car nearby to pick him up afterwards. We wanted a couple of things and so stopped at Tesco to get these but the queue was long enough to go right round the car park so we left the car in the car park and walked the short distance into the town where I went to M&S for fresh fruit and green vegetables (our Riverford box would not contain greens this week and we couldn't order another fruit box either) and Mr M went to Superdrug for his razor blades and toothpaste. No queues at either store and only a certain number of customers allowed in each so all very civilised and peaceful and much quicker than waiting in line at Tesco. I expect to hear that I have done wrong once again having had my "outing" going to the hospital and not entitled to use it for another for shopping at least not that day. It's all so difficult, doing the right thing is not the problem it is knowing what is the right thing!!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DW-DR78lW_I/XoRoxGv27DI/AAAAAAAAMYQ/kSkGPhE-AcIVKOIRXg8OJqcRYS6J8by1gCEwYBhgLKs4DAMBZVoCeLWbhG5DetPagn9Zjx8aJa0zMqhg_pgz8UwtBTeMkBu-4HY7CvNJ6jHx-aFeVzB8A4FfmV3zKXHPNRmBf1YE4icrOaXfEWuS0x_J_AaBlfddO6xWjm_aXrK_UMthrYfmE-Vvfe4Yb5m9fogUfPGmqXmZPS95uTM4H3NbOd5C2yAubLwaKxIMcxQURN8uNQPnU6eQLob7ubccBPm7CBYhF3-cFy7_qmz0uujksu45TcMGN8Bu0HXdnHKphM2Le7G1evyMt1En5VIC_Mm6AoMvUwPDAuzXUHehSDmS7kH6pE9ewr7XvdJaUhpehhRgR98KBKimUmnbPlgLXYX-DqbVK010unbFvIvSjqITvbtGQFCtZ6X0mAzyPQfyR0-dRFKUXoR2vfqp67Mq_mEw8HSAoJprUI_B7sqCpPVDwA0FcbRGxl68PvTi75MXDCULFz-vHwTSkna_Rafm4JkaVAUN8amk4IOfpg5kh592lnnyABXyEzrajg93WngSGxJIsZX_s0Bqgqy0G0AdzaNJo2Lpkgn-8LSfrrYP5BhOI-lm-3Ha74xIILAZ-R7yBfpjLcQKqOn30N0zFNGoHRdOngRE5OrUrR--a1rByMN7YkfQF/s1600/DSCN8961.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DW-DR78lW_I/XoRoxGv27DI/AAAAAAAAMYQ/kSkGPhE-AcIVKOIRXg8OJqcRYS6J8by1gCEwYBhgLKs4DAMBZVoCeLWbhG5DetPagn9Zjx8aJa0zMqhg_pgz8UwtBTeMkBu-4HY7CvNJ6jHx-aFeVzB8A4FfmV3zKXHPNRmBf1YE4icrOaXfEWuS0x_J_AaBlfddO6xWjm_aXrK_UMthrYfmE-Vvfe4Yb5m9fogUfPGmqXmZPS95uTM4H3NbOd5C2yAubLwaKxIMcxQURN8uNQPnU6eQLob7ubccBPm7CBYhF3-cFy7_qmz0uujksu45TcMGN8Bu0HXdnHKphM2Le7G1evyMt1En5VIC_Mm6AoMvUwPDAuzXUHehSDmS7kH6pE9ewr7XvdJaUhpehhRgR98KBKimUmnbPlgLXYX-DqbVK010unbFvIvSjqITvbtGQFCtZ6X0mAzyPQfyR0-dRFKUXoR2vfqp67Mq_mEw8HSAoJprUI_B7sqCpPVDwA0FcbRGxl68PvTi75MXDCULFz-vHwTSkna_Rafm4JkaVAUN8amk4IOfpg5kh592lnnyABXyEzrajg93WngSGxJIsZX_s0Bqgqy0G0AdzaNJo2Lpkgn-8LSfrrYP5BhOI-lm-3Ha74xIILAZ-R7yBfpjLcQKqOn30N0zFNGoHRdOngRE5OrUrR--a1rByMN7YkfQF/s400/DSCN8961.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">clematis on trellis by compost bins</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The sun continues to shine here and Nature is doing what it does best and clothing the trees with soft green leaves, carpeting the banks with primroses and filling the air with birdsong. All is well in our neck of the woods it seems but of course it isn't really.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My walks in the wood adjoining us raise questions as now that the schools are all closed and many people are working from home there are more people in the wood during the day but if I am not allowed to drive the short distance to the next village where I might find a quieter spot to walk or into town from where I could walk in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninesprings">Nine Springs </a>it seems I will be forced to take my walks on pavements locally which is not the same at all. There are so many areas surrounding the town that would be great for peaceful, isolated walking but as I gather we are meant to take our exercise for no more than an hour there wouldn't be time to walk there and do the walk and get back even if my elderly legs were capable! </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cb2qyi6omeQ/XoRpDAKNTSI/AAAAAAAAMYU/Qn90Stu7Y8QrmToIGD3OAf8Yvy-UvWTHwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/DSCN8960.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cb2qyi6omeQ/XoRpDAKNTSI/AAAAAAAAMYU/Qn90Stu7Y8QrmToIGD3OAf8Yvy-UvWTHwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/DSCN8960.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">\The bee hive compost bins behind the clematis</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I know we are lucky compared with so many others and I do find moments of pure joy in the garden such as when I take the compost bits from the kitchen to the bins, made by Mr M and looking like beehives, and see this beautiful clematis which has blossomed so beautifully this year. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lXp5kwlNEZc/XoSOQaJiD2I/AAAAAAAAMYg/_N_sXkz4ZfMtLf7wgDXF283WpOsakjJPgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/DSCN8966.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lXp5kwlNEZc/XoSOQaJiD2I/AAAAAAAAMYg/_N_sXkz4ZfMtLf7wgDXF283WpOsakjJPgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/DSCN8966.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr M's handiwork a lovely place to sit with a coffee when the sun shines</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Or having my coffee sitting on the bench - also made by Mr M years ago listening to the birds in the adjoining woods.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My main concern is for the Wanderer living as she does in London on her own and working from home in a job that was only ever a long term temporary one and having tried so hard but without success to find permanent employment and having had a further final interview lined up for a job she really thought was all but in the bag only to have the firm put everything on hold due to the current situation leaving her back to square one with the only thing still on the table being an interview for a job in Saudi Arabia!!! She had a further video interview for this one on Sunday and was offered the post but obviously without a starting date which might well be towards the latter part of the year when travel becomes possible again. At which time there will no doubt be many more people jobless as firms have closed and then gone out of business and chances of her finding work in London will be even slighter. She won't be the only one in this position I know but it doesn't stop me worrying!!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">BUT - Something I have learned is that we all rely on each other whether that be food delivery drivers, bin men, friends offering support, shop keepers and staff and not forgetting our wonderful NHS staff from cleaners to doctors and nurses from ambulance drivers and all jobs in between. No man is an island we cannot survive without each other.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">What we really need is not the things we might have thought so important a month ago. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">That there is so much love, kindness, generosity and friendship out there even during times like these. Whatever the world looks like after this situation has passed let's hope that these will live on and that we will remember not how awful it all was but how wonderful other people were. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-69608656798937099902020-03-24T11:37:00.002+00:002020-03-24T11:37:44.805+00:00More Notes from the Bunker<br />
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Another sunny day here in the Bunker. I am so grateful to have the blue skies and sunshine at this difficult time as eveything in Nature is looking hopeful and hope is something that we all need right now!<br />
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Yesterday feeling a bit stressed with it all I decided that what was needed was a dose of <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://time.com/5259602/japanese-forest-bathing/">shrinrin yoku </a></span>or Forest Bathing not that the little wood that we adjoin is a forest and not that I intended to take off my clothes but just to be in Nature. Hope springs eternal I thought as I noticed this clump of daffodils on my way.<br />
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It has been too wet and muddy recently for much mindul walking in the wood but now the paths are dry again it is a peaceful way to spend half an hour or so listening to the birdsong and noticing the greenery bursting forth everywhere. Forgetting for a while all the worries and stresses about coronavirus.<br />
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It won't be long before the leaves cover the trees and this path will be in the shade.<br />
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A little clump of celandines at the root of a tree along with some bluebell leaves what could be more hopeful?<br />
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Last night we learned that we are to be in "lockdown", a word which along with social distancing and self isolation we had never used before nor knew what they meant, to try and slow the horrid virus - my initial thought was to be glad that we now knew exactly what we should or should not be doing as I had found the all earlier advice somewhat confusing but it will mean a major change to our way of living for some weeks if not longer.<br />
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We are OK and this morning the cheery <a href="https://www.riverford.co.uk/">Riverford </a>delivery man brought us our regular weekly box of veggies to which we had been able to add a fruit box, 6 bottles of milk and 2 large loaves of bread to slice and put in the freezer (I hadn't been able to buy suitable flour to make my own before all the shops sold out). I was able to have a brief chat with him from the back door at a safe distance. We will need to go shopping later in the week for some other items like coffee and butter and so on but we shall not starve nor go without our 5 a day!<br />
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I have since come across this video which I plan to try for easy bake bread using any kind of flour which looks simple and delicious I'll let you know how it turns out if/when I do.<br />
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I am more concerned for the Wanderer as she is alone in a 7th floor studio flat in Lewisham working from home but she will be allowed to go out for food shopping and for her usual run or maybe take her bike for a ride (I have just been told by Mr M that she will be able to get it serviced if needbe as home and hardware and bicycle repair shops can remain open). It's interesting to see how little we actually need and what those needs might be; certainly not new clothes or sportswear, cafes and bookshops. What would be on your list of must-haves I wonder and how will that list change over the coming weeks and months?<br />
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If you haven't seen this you might ind it amusing. All for now keep safe and keep positive.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-36317878037642504642020-03-21T20:04:00.001+00:002020-03-22T09:50:12.855+00:00Notes from the bunker!!<h2>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For some reason this post prints in capitals even though I have used lower case as usual.</span></span></span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Be careful what you wish for - recently I had a "week in Norway" which is my metaphor for having nothing in the diary and being able to do as I pleased for a week. I did enjoy it and it was indeed like being on holiday and I wished for more time in Norway..... well now I have 12 weeks in Norway that I wasn't expecting. Nothing in the diary no going to shops, or meeting friends in town for a coffee, trips to other towns or even to the garden centre. Nobody will visit us and no seeing the Wanderer in London nor her coming here. I imagine this will be a very different time and something I wouldn't have wished for but that it might be interesting when looking back to see what it was like and so I plan to blog about it here so that friends can see what we are up to and how we are coping. </span></span></span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After a week of conflicting and confusing advice and instructions, lots of fake news and far too much real news on the coronavirus topic we finally gathered that being over 70 and considered elderly we should be self isolating ie staying at home out of harm's way but of course that wouldn't be totally workable we would need to get out for fresh air and exercise and if we had nobody to help us we might need to go to the shops if we weren't to starve! Now I think Mr M and I are ready for this and have not been out to the shops since Wednesday when we had our last quick foray. We haven't actually stockpiled anything but shouldn't need any of our usual weekly items for another week or two, we already have an organic vegetable box delivered weekly and have taken out a subscription to Radio Times so we shall have both something to read and be able to find out what might be on television in the evenings. I also have plenty of library books which was lucky as the library is now closed for the forseeable future. We went to the garden centre last Monday and ordered bags of compost to be delivered and bought several packets of seeds so we should be able to have runner beans etc this year as usual. </span></span></span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It was surprising to me the sorts of things I wondered about in the night when unable to sleep - "what if" questions like: if we died would a funeral be possible? What about bird seed for the wild birds if we run out? What if the Wanderer was ill could I go to London to help her? What i we were ill with something othe than the coronavirus would we get to see a doctor? And many more such things. It's been like being on a roller coaster one minute being scared and worried and the next thinking of the positives like having time for gardening and spring cleaning etc (That hasn't happened though as this week has been taken up with e-mails and phone calls but I think we are settling down to the reality of our imprisonment now.)</span></span></span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Today I went for a walk in the adjoining wood - I hadn't been for several days and it was exactly what I needed a real balm to the soul listening to the birdsong, noticing the carpets of celandines and the bluebell leaves shooting up ready for the bluebells themselves in a few weeks time. Everywhere much greener than last time I went and the mud all but dried up and I even noticed some pussy willow with its grey furry catkins reminding me of Easter. I came back with a little Nature Table posy of twigs and flowers and felt much calmer as we sat with our cups of tea in the conservatory looking out into the garden with the daffodils and primroses in bloom and the washing blowing on the line in the wind! All was well in my world at least for the moment.</span></span></span></span></span></h2>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-88312346869430464182020-01-04T17:03:00.004+00:002020-01-04T17:03:55.265+00:00Belated Happy New Year.<span style="font-size: large;">As we begin another decade the word which seems to me to be the one that is most needed is HOPE</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I hope that this new year will prove a happy one for us all after the turmoil of 2019 and with the world in the state it is I feel the word HOPE is so important.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">(This lovely little felt decoration was a gift from my American friend of over 60 years!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So this post is all about hope and some of the many guises it comes in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Back in November we went to London for a few days - I wanted to attend the Resurgence Festival of Wellbeing to hear some of the interesting speakers lined up see<a href="https://www.resurgence.org/take-part/resurgence-events/wellbeing-festival-2019.html"> here for a list of them</a> two of whom were authors - one being Raynor Winn whose book The Salt Path I'd found inspiring telling as it did about how sometimes when the worst things happen it turns out to be something to be grateful for in the end a real story of triumph over adversity and the other Isabella Tree whose book Wilding was the most hopeful tale I'd heard and showed how Nature can and will repair the damage intensive farming has done to the land and how wildlife will return if given a chance. If you haven't read them I can recommend them highly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On Christmas day as we were on our own, The Wanderer not being able to come and join us due to train strikes, and as lunch was not going to be the traditional Christmas Day meal of turkey and all the trimmings I decided to go for a walk in the morning (waiting till after lunch usually means it is getting dark before I get back) and so off I went up through the woods. The sky was blue and the sun was shining and I noticed the first primrose along the path just the one but a note of HOPE,</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I continued my walk along this lane and came to a field gate with a huge puddle in front of it reflecting the blue sky and after all the rain we'd had it too seemed to be a note of HOPE for better drier weather to come perhaps.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I returned home in time to get some lunch for us feeling much more HOPEful than when I'd set off. I had been feeling a bit low as is usual for me at this time of year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Today 10
days later I did the same walk in different weather - it was cloudy but
with occasional sunny intervals and the ground underfoot was much drier
and noticed that there were now more primroses on the little plant </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">and many more daffodils in bloom too. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">That's what gives me HOPE - Nature will continue doing what she does best and the wildlife - the birds were everywhere singing - and plants give me inspiration and HOPE that 2020 will be a better year for us all both in terms of health and happiness as well as on the world stage and politically. Maybe we are not meant to live peaceful lives but to do what we can to remain HOPEful. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">(Do any of the other bloggers who have returned to blogging after being away for a long time find stringing together a few words much harder than it used to be? My muse seems to have left me as when I blogged regularly I found it easy?) </span></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-24477689191671475952019-12-10T17:46:00.001+00:002019-12-10T17:46:20.411+00:00TUMULTUOUS TIMES<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Tumultuous times here in the UK just now and I feel as if we are drowning in the negative emotions which seem to fill the atmosphere. The very air we breathe these days is polluted by accusation and acrimony, recrimination and fear, scandal and division, argument and anger until it seems that there is nothing good to be found anywhere. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Not only do we have an election coming up but there is Brexit to be dealt with one way or another and whatever the outcome there half the population will not be pleased and there will be more anger and division. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">These lines from the carol "It came upon the midnight clear" seem appropriate just now: </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">And man, at war with man, hears not<br />
The love-song which they bring;<br />O
hush the noise, ye men of strife,<br />
And hear the angels sing.</span><br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I came across this<span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;"> <a href="http://www.wordsout.co.uk/goodwill_of_the_people.htm">Poem</a></span></span> </span><span style="font-size: large;">yesterday and it sums up the situation nicely and hopefully brings a touch of humour to counteract all that negativity!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On a more hopeful note I walked up through the woods yesterday to the post box with a birthday card to post and noticed that there are daffodil shoots poking through the grass and even a tight bud or two so just as Spring will come again so hope spings eternal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Not sure if the link is working as it should so maybe I will need to copy and paste it if it does! </span></span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-40289954836559898962019-10-14T16:45:00.001+01:002019-10-14T16:45:46.898+01:00Age related m'dear!!<br />
Getting old comes to us all if we are lucky but it is nothing like I imagined it might be. If I thought about it at all it was to see myself as a wise and serene old lady maybe with grey hair in a bun and wearing a flowered pinny who would be making cakes and bread and pottering in my garden, knitting and sewing and generally being a kind and gentle soul. Pah! Not so!<br />
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I guess I knew I wouldn't be able to do some of the things my younger self might have done but what I didn't realise is that inside an old person is that younger self who cannot quite accept this. I see young people running up, or even more scarily down, steps and stairs without holding the bannister and wish that I could do that too and I am jealous. Yes really!<br />
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So how have things changed now that I am an old lady? Well for a start although there are still 7 days in each week (I usually know what day it is too) and 24 hours in each day somehow the hours are much shorter than they were and so the weeks fly past - ask any old person who will tell you that this is so. I dare say if/when one reaches the stage of having to be in a home and spending all one's days in a room full of other old people staring at the television and being taken to the toilet possibly even being hauled up out of one's chair with one's knickers showing and into a wheelchair for the trip there (I have seen this at first hand when I used to visit as a volunteer an old lady who ended up in a nursing home) then perhaps the hours seem longer than they were but for those of us who haven't yet reached this stage time has definitely changed and rushes past ever faster.<br />
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Then there are other changes like the increased number of appointments of a medical nature and wonderful though the NHS is in spite of all the criticisms made about it, I personally cannot fault the service, it is just that I would rather it wasn't necessary! So that might be where some of the time goes! As my lovely young opthalmologist a few years back when I was seeing him for various eye operations used to say in answer to any of my questions about why this or that or the other had happened "I'm afraid it's age related m'dear"! And it hasn't only been eyes since then.<br />
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I can no longer run for a bus nor get the lids off jars, lift a heavy pan in one hand whilst scooping the contents into a dish with the other, go upstairs (or downstairs) with my arms full as I now have to ensure that I have a hand free to hold the bannister. I haven't had a bath for ages in case I can't get out and now use the shower instead, I have to think before bending down or turning round and do nothing suddenly and I try not to look in a mirror without thinking or I wonder who that old woman in the mirror might be with all those winkles!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hi8j4Pi9IR8/XaSVQ87RGZI/AAAAAAAAMTo/zizTpn1JcD4LhdS4mCpl5eys3SQAhnooACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/DSCN8359.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hi8j4Pi9IR8/XaSVQ87RGZI/AAAAAAAAMTo/zizTpn1JcD4LhdS4mCpl5eys3SQAhnooACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/DSCN8359.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weymouth earlier this year</td></tr>
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I have found that as I got older I have become more cautious and my
sense of self preservation has increased - not that I am afraid of
going for a walk in the wood on my own or going anywhere else on my own,
I am not fearful when the doorbell rings and usually
fling the door wide before wondering who it might be but it's just that I
am less dare devil and take more care not to trip or fall these days
and I am fearful too for those younger people doing things like
leaping over a gate when they could so easily catch their foot and fall
flat on their faces, riding bicycles in London (the Wanderer did this
for a time and my imagination ran riot) or any other perfectly normal
things which I might well have done myself without a care once upon a
time.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forde Abbey Gardens earlier this year</td></tr>
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.<br />
BUT there are some pluses to being old the most important plus is that I am still here when many of my friends and family no longer are. I live by the mantra that "To live at all is miracle enough" these days. Although time is shorter than it used to be I can spend it as I choose now I don't have to go to work. Friends are more precious than ever before and we keep each other going always finding things to laugh about, I have a free bus pass so am able to go where I want on the bus for free as long as it is not before 9.30 but these days getting out of the house by 9.30 is too much of a rush anyway! I have a Senior Rail card which entitles me to a third off rail fares again as long as I don't want to arrive in London before 9.30 but that would mean leaving home before 6.00am an unearthly hour that I would be unlikely to be doing anyway. We rarely use the car if there is a bus or train route to where we want to go and so we are able to sit and enjoy the scenery and the ride instead of keeping our eyes on the road. Oh and since all that time spent with the opthalmologist I no longer
need to wear distance glasses and am legal to drive without them and for the cataract op the lens he put in enables me to read enough to do the
shopping and look for a library book without needing to get my reading
glasses out. Can't be bad!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not quite true I made this one recently!</td></tr>
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So although I am no more serene than I ever was, am not sure how much wiser I am if at all, I don't have grey hair let alone a bun and nor do I wear a pinny, I rarely bake cakes or bread these days nor have I done much crochet or knitting and can see the day is nearly here when we will have to employ someone to do the garden for us I am still the younger woman I once was but with a few extra perks which I put down to getting older. All is not lost after all! Let's hear it for old age!<br />
<br />
Thank you for your comments on my last post I can't promise I will be posting regularly but am enjoying putting my thoughts and a few photos together so I will be back occasionally. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-2669032118766650472019-09-22T15:09:00.002+01:002019-09-22T15:09:47.213+01:00An outing with a differenceCan it really be more than 18 months since I last posted on here? I have missed you all and several times I have thought of returning to blogging but always I felt that I had nothing different to say. Those months I have been away have been filled with the minutiae of daily life as a pensioner when everthing takes longer than it used to and there have been hospital appointments, visits to A&E and follow on appointments, X-rays, physiotherapy, dermatology I began to wonder if I might get a Blue Peter badge for visiting the most number of NHS departments in a given time ....... none of it life threatening but as my eye consultant used to say "age related m'dear"!!<br />
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However that is not why I am here now but because I wanted to tell you about an outing last week that was a bit different to my usual.<br />
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Mr M and I went to Exeter on Friday, by train as usual, and the scenery en route
was as always stunning in the sunshine and although there were signs of
autumn, rosehips and hawthorn berries and a few coloured leaves, it
still looked and felt like summer. The train
was full by the time we got to Exeter with standing room only as at
each stop more people going to the Climate Strike got on with their
placards. We had planned to spend some time wandering about and I
wanted to go to a <a href="https://wool-on-the-exe.myshopify.com/">wool shop</a> I'd heard about and to have Mr M's postponed birthday lunch (after the restauant in Weymouth that we had planned to visit on his birthday a couple of weeks ago had been closed at lunchtime and the place we went to instead not up to much) but when I had discovered earlier
in the week that there was to be a Climate strike on Friday I said I'd
like to join in even if only for a short while
and to stand and be counted which Mr M wasn't up for so we split up and
arranged to meet later and go for lunch.<br />
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It was amazing to be part of the 2000 or so protestors and the
atmosphere was great with people of all ages including a few children,
babies in arms and pushchairs, teens, dogs (a few) and even
some people in wheelchairs coming together with one
thing in common - their love of the Earth. I have always said that
nothing would entice me to be part of a big crowd but the fate of our
planet seemed worth it and I kept to the edges to start with! I overheard several other protestors saying that this was the first time they'd ever done anything like joining a mass protest so I knew I wasn't the only newbie and I made a new friend when I stopped to speak with a lady about my
age carrying a "placard" saying "You know you have to sort it out when
Granny shouts about it"! She too had been drawn to come to Exeter to join in and be counted. We stood chatting for a while and we both left
the gathering just before they all set off
to march to the County Hall as neither of us was up to the walk. Does this mean we are now activists I wonder?<br />
<br />
We
went for a coffee together and I telephoned Mr M to say where we were
and he joined us. We have exchanged e-mail addresses and hope to keep
in touch. It was amazing yesterday morning when
looking at the headlines in most of the papers to be able to say "I was
there and part of it"!!<br />
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I had been to a coffee morning the previous Saturday to find out more about
Extinction Rebellion thinking that if Greta Thunberg a 16 year old was prepared to travel across the Atlantic in a small racing yacht to speak at the UN then the least I could do was to find out more about Extinction Rebellion and maybe do something instead of talking about it. It all seemed so very well organised that I
felt drawn to join up attracted by the Non Violent aspect of it and the fact that so many people of every stripe and persuasion can come together and there be no outbreaks of damage or destruction but now I am wondering. Why do I feel I don't
want to admit to being part of it all when speaking
to friends, will the gilets jaunes or other violent groups infiltrate
the peaceful non violent marches as happened here in Paris
<a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49781640" id="LPNoLP653868" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49781640</a> and is this the way
to achieve the aim of getting governments around the world to do
something about the things that are making climate change worse? I have no intention of joining the protest they plan in London 7 - 19
October as I wouldn't be able to get there and if I sat down in the road I might not be able to get up these days but I know now that for every marcher or protestor glued to the road there are dozens more back home acting as support in one way and another and maybe I can do my bit in this way from home. But life is very difficult at times when it comes to knowing what is the right thing to do.<br />
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Mr M got his birthday lunch and very good it was too but there wasn't time to go and find the wool shop this time never mind that can be another day. The train home was pretty full again with people still clutching their placareds some now a little the worse for wear!! But I'd had a lovely day and felt really invigorated by it all. <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-38806013922943566772017-12-25T10:30:00.000+00:002017-12-25T16:14:23.409+00:00Good NewsIt's not all bad news nor bah humbug but for one day only there was a good news item....<br />
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This surely is what Christmas should be all about?! Click on the link below to see why<br />
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<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42477120">Christmas Day Rail Meal </a><br />
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No leaves on the line nor signal failures can delay, disrupt or stop this can they?<br />
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HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL. <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-645876294966285042017-11-29T17:45:00.000+00:002017-11-29T17:45:02.326+00:00Are we nearly there yet? A trip to the seaside.<br />
Who remembers the excitement of a trip to the seaside when a child? Let me tell you that even in my 70s I still get a feeling of excitement at the first glimpse of the sea and am likely to ask Are we nearly there yet? Though with Mr M being somewhat deaf he doesn't always answer! <br />
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Anyway a fine sunny day unusually coincided with there being nothing in the diary today so we took ourselves off to the seaside. It was very cold but the sun was bright, the sky was blue and our chosen destination was once again Weymouth. The last time I was <a href="http://marigoldjam.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/a-mini-backpack-boots-and-bus-pass-trip.html">here was the week before the school holidays</a> and I felt the need for another breath of sea air and Mr M was happy to come with me this time.<br />
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We got the bus from the Park and Ride car park on the outskirts of the town and soon arrived at the sea front - just look at that blue! From here we walked along the almost deserted beach to the harbour end.<br />
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I bet I couldn't have captured that bird in the centre of my photo if I had tried, truth is I didn't even realise it was there as I looked back the way we had come!<br />
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The walk along the beach was certainly bracing and the wind was whipping up the sand here and there and it was good to reach the end of the beach and cross over to the harbour.<br />
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Although I know nothing about boats and sailing I love to look at them and notice all the different types - this one with its white sails appealed to me. Where will it be going and what would it be like to be on board I wondered. <br />
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We decided to stop and have a fish and chip lunch here as by now it was just after mid-day. The wind chill factor had given us an appetite and we enjoyed our lunch inside out of the cold before setting off again along the harbour heading for the <a href="http://www.nothefort.org.uk/">Nothe. </a><br />
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We climbed the steps and followed the path to the other side of the promontory and suddenly we were in another world - sheltered now from the wind and in the sun it was warm enough to sit on a bench and luxuriate in the sun's rays enjoying the view.<br />
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This naval ship seemed to be on manoeuvers going round and through some yellow buoys in a figure of eight and we watched it for a while as we sat in the sun, back and forth it went round and round till we tired of watching it and continued on our way.<br />
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It all seemed so tranquil if you disregarded what seemed to my untutored eye to be some sort of battleship, the occasional crump sound from the firing ranges in the distance at the military ranges at Lulworth and at one moment a helicopter flying overhead! But scenes as peaceful as these would need more than some military practices going on to spoil them. <br />
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We walked on along the coast path looking back now and again and marvelling at the beauty of it all and enjoying the shelter on this particular path. <br />
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The sounds of the gentle lapping waves against the stones, the smell of seaweed on the fresh air and the colour of it all added to the taste of the delicious fish and chips we had eaten and the chilly feel of my ungloved hand and all my senses had been employed in making this memory snapshot which I can return to whenever it is raining and grey.<br />
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I think that is my shadow you can see in the bottom left hand corner of this one taken just before we <br />
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turned off the coastal path and back to the harbour and the chilly winds.<br />
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Back now at the harbour and over the town bridge into town where we got the bus back to the car park and home - I didn't want to leave it all but the sun was already getting lower in the sky and it would soon be really cold and home and a cup of tea called. When can we go again I wonder.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-28730120219090824012017-10-04T10:52:00.002+01:002017-10-04T10:53:04.341+01:00Bus pass holiday- Part IITo continue the saga I posted earlier about our few days in London:<br />
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<u>Day 3</u><br />
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Sunday dawned bright and sunny and we set off by bus for Tower Bridge where we were to meet the Wanderer for lunch at a restaurant near there. We had chosen this venue as it tied in well with another garden I hoped to see and was also somewhere not too far for her to come - she cycles this way to work most days. (I know this isn't Tower Bridge but it is the Tower and I just liked the juxtaposition of the old and the new with the Shard in the background along with a red tour bus).<br />
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This is of course Tower Bridge!<br />
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What I wanted to see was the <a href="http://www.towerbridgemoorings.org/">Floating Gardens</a> which had been featured on BBC Gardeners' World back in June but which are only open to the public once or twice a year under the national Gardens Scheme and that was also in June however I did wonder if it might be possible to see them from the roadway.<br />
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It wasn't really possible to see much naturally as they are the private gardens of the residents who are moored here.<br />
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I did manage to see one garden though through the railings of some flats opposite!<br />
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We met with the Wanderer and had a lovely catch up chat over lunch in an Italian restaurant in Shad Thames just back from the river. We sat talking for nearly 4 hours - well it had been the end of May last time we saw her! Then we parted company and she went on her way as we made our way back over the Bridge to get our bus back to our hotel.<br />
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<u>Day 4</u><br />
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Monday dawned dull and damp - not exactly raining but not exactly dry either - such a shock after the blue sky and sunshine of the day before! We wandered along to Marylebone High Street where we whiled away an hour or so in the lovely <a href="https://www.dauntbooks.co.uk/">Daunt Books</a> if there had been more seating we'd probably be there still! But time was passing and so we went to <a href="https://www.paul-uk.com/find-a-paul/french-bakery-cafe-london/marylebone">Paul Bakery</a> again for a coffee before setting off for Battersea Park. We walked along the Chelsea Embankment to the Albert Bridge seen here - as you can see it was still somewhat murky although the rain had stopped. <br />
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As we crossed the Albert Bridge I noticed this sign but there were no marching troops at the time! Once over the bridge we were at the gate into Battersea Park. I can't think why we'd never been here before as it is a lovely place - green, peaceful and with lots to see and do. Our first stop was the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2008/09/25/battersea_pagoda_feature.shtml">Peace Pagoda</a> if you check out this web site there are plenty of photos of it.<br />
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Along side was an information board and I couldn't help thinking that this quote from the Most Ven, Nichidatsu Fujii was particularly apt just now with the state that the world seems to be in!<br />
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The Pagoda tells the story of Buddha in a series of 4 bronze sculptures one of which I show below.<br />
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We then wandered on taking photos as we went.<br />
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And came to an enclosed garden entitled the English Garden - well weren't they all?! but this one was lovely and tranquil.<br />
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Leaving the tranquility of the English Garden we continued our walk and in the mist ahead could see the iconic chimneys of the Battersea Power Station. Well not the original ones but replicas. The once coal fired Grade II listed power station was decomissioned in 1983 and lay empty for years but is now being developed for more info see <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/13/inside-the-new-battersea-power-station">here</a>.<br />
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Single Form by Barbara Hepworth overlooks the boating lake - it seems that <i>Single Form</i> was constructed as a memorial to Dag Hammarskjöld,
secretary general of the United Nations from 1952 up until his death in
1961. Hammarskjöld, a good friend of the sculptor, had been speaking to
Hepworth about a commission for <a href="https://yoursculpture.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/a8aab-02728229.jpg" target="_blank">the UN site</a> just before his tragic death in an airplane crash. <i>Single form</i>
was first exhibited in Battersea Park in 1963. Over the next year,
Hepworth recast the sculpture in three parts for the UN site, scaling
the sculpture up from 10 feet to a gigantic 21 feet high.</div>
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We walked some more and discovered a tea room so had a sit down and a drink and then continued alongside the lake. Such a lovely tranquil place and over all the sound of the green parakeets. These birds are not native to the UK and are not always welcomed as although they are stunning in their iridescent emerald plumage with a rose-red
neck ring, and a thrill the first time you see them, they are also
aggressive, destructive, and extremely raucous in large flocks and in 2009 they were listed along with gulls, magpies and crows as pests. However they were lovely to us that day.<br />
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Leaving the park we crossed the Chelsea Bridge back to the other side of the river we'd crossed earlier by the bridge you can just see on the horizon in this photo - click on it to enlarge it.<br />
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With the camera on zoom you can see the Peace Pagoda we'd seen earlier. Time to go back to the hotel now at the end of another lovely day out - our last full day in London.<br />
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<u>Day 5</u> <br />
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Time to go home - am I the only one who is always ready to go home even after a short break? Longer holidays find me counting the days till I can be back where I belong even when I am enjoying myself.<br />
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Anyway we had our last breakfast in the hotel's breakfast room,exchanged e-mail addresses with the couple from California we had been speaking with each morning and then returned to our room to finish our packing before checking out. We left the bags at the hotel and set off for a last look round in London this time walking to Regent's Park.<br />
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The railings and gateways on so many of London's parks are so beautiful I always think - who paints them I wonder I certainly wouldn't want the job!<br />
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Inside the gates we wandered round enjoying the peace of a mid-week morning when so many other people might have been at work.<br />
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Look here is one of the gardeners!!</div>
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More lovely decorative ironwork.<br />
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Here is Mr M ahead of me and reminding me of that old ad for Startrite shoes! Who remembers it? For those who don't here it is:<br />
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Though in the ad the little boy has a companion!<br />
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There was an exhibition of sculptures displayed in the park and this one caught my eye - it's called <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artwork/urs-fischer-invisible-mother">The Invisible Mother</a> as I have already said I am a bit of a Philistine when it comes to art and couldn't for the life of me see the connection between mothers and this although I seem to remember sometimes feeling a bit like this when the Wanderer was young! To me it spoke more of the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle but then what would I know? </div>
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Even this late in the season the beds were still colourful.<br />
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These little topiary trees reminded me of cupcakes - not that I am a fan of cupcakes or topiary but they are clever aren't they?<br />
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More wrought ironwork.<br />
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It was a sunny morning so I don't know why the photos all look a bit dull on the camera they look much brighter.<br />
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By now it was almost mid-day so we walked back towards the parish church of Marylebone behind which runs Marylebone High Street where we had lunch before continuing our walk back to the hotel to collect our cases. We got the bus to Waterloo in good time for the 3.20 train and were home and indoors by 6.00 pm. <br />
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By the way the name Marylebone apprently comes from the fact that the original parish church dedicated to St Mary was built alongside a small stream or "bourne" thus the name St Mary at the bourne now shortened to Marylebone.<br />
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In case you haven't had sufficient reading I leave you with a book recommendation:<br />
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I had come across the fact that Mozart had kept a starling which could apparently sing one of his compositions in a perfectly ordinary novel whose title I now forget, just something one of the characters had mentioned and wondering if in fact this could be true I checked it out on the internet and came across this book and requested it from the library. It is absolutely fascinating and to quote the blurb: "is a tour de force that awakens a surprising new awareness of our place in the world" Read it and you will see for yourself!<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-8368924170592904972017-10-02T17:56:00.003+01:002017-10-02T20:07:59.810+01:00Bus pass holiday - part IWe've been away for a short break. Not for us passports, travel insurance, cancelled flights and long waits at airports but a short city break - once again to London. I think as Samuel Johnson said "to be tired of London is to be tired of life" and we can always find somewhere different to go something new to learn when we go there and if "a change is as good as a rest" then London is certainly a change from our normal country environment. So if you would like to tag along with us please do but be warned this will be quite a long and picture heavy wander.<br />
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Just over a week ago one "September morn" we set off, not on a canal boat as per my photo but by train, for London Waterloo. Having had a sandwich lunch at the station we made our way to the bus stop and with our bus passes to hand caught a bus to our hotel in Marylebone. Mr M had done his research well and found us a lovely small hotel (why do they call them boutique I wonder?) in whch to stay for the next 5 nights. Having unpacked our bits and pieces we set off to explore the immediate neighbourhood and finished up on Marylebone High Street where we had a sit down and a cup of tea in <a href="https://www.paul-uk.com/find-a-paul/french-bakery-cafe-london/marylebone">Paul bakery </a>which always reminds us of our Saturdays shopping in Limoges when we lived in France and by then we had also sussed out some possible places to go for our supper too.<br />
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<u>Day1</u><br />
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One of our plans was to continue the walk we had started last year when we did section 12 - Highgate to Stoke Newington of <a href="https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/walking/capital-ring">The Capital Ring</a> which is in total of 78 miles and as we have now done just 2 of the sections at our current rate of one section each year it will take us another 13 years so I doubt we will ever finish it!<br />
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Anyway it was a lovely sunny morning so we set off to get the bus to where we had finished last year and hopefully to do the next section. The bus didn't stop at the stop we required so we had to walk back from where it did stop and what a find was this lovely little cafe we'd never have seen had we got off where we had intended!<br />
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Such friendly owners and so welcoming - we went through to the conservatory at the back....<br />
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...where we sat at the table by the window....<br />
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... overlooking the garden below. It was something really different so right up our street! For more information and pictures check it out <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186338-d6635056-Reviews-Fig_Tree-London_England.html">here on Trip Advisor</a> where it has deservedly gained very high ratings!<br />
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Having enjoyed a coffee (Mr M) and a cup of tea (for me) with a home-made biscotti biscuit alongside which was delicious as indeed were the drinks we said our goodbyes and set off by bus to to find the last bit of last year's walk which we had discovered later we had missed last time as I had dropped the instruction sheet! We decided to have lunch before we left Stoke Newington and had a sandwich in the Salvation Army cafe/charity shop! As I said we like to do things differently and this was lovely - clean and friendly and the filled rolls were very good too. So replete and ready to go we made for <a href="http://www.abneypark.org/home">Abney Park Cemetery</a><br />
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You might be forgiven for wondering why we wanted to visit a cemetery but this was a lovely tranquil environment and a real nature reserve with no trimmed edges beautiifully cared for graves. The cemetery dates back to the early nineteenth century and was a pioneer in multi-faith burial grounds and the first of its kind in Europe and was a suitable resting place for nonconformists and dissenters and its occupiers include Congregationalist, Baptist and Methodist ministers among others such as the founding members of the Salvation Army Catherine and William Booth.<br />
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Central to the design of Abney Park the chapel is the oldest surviving
non-denominational chapel in Europe, and was planned to reflect a lack of bias towards
any one Christian sect and the cruciform plan adopted the equal arms of
the Greek cross. It
was not consecrated and functioned purely as a funerary chapel - not a
place of worship. Seen in this photo below it looks as if there is a longer arm to the cross but the actual chapel has in fact the equal arms of the Greek cross and the one arm is extended to provide a covered porch for the horse and carriage entrance.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo from the website not mine obviously!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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As you will see in this photo below.<br />
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I loved the higgledy piggledy gravestones and the fact that many were overgrown and natural and over all the sound of birdsong. Lovely and I think I'd fit right in here one day!.<br />
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So eventually we were ready to set off on our next stage of the Capital Ring to Hackney Wick - if you have your comfy shoes on or maybe as you are reading this a cup of tea to hand we'll set off.<br />
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Our route took us through Springfield Park a lovely green area and listed as one of London's top five green spaces by the Guardian see<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2012/jul/27/east-london-top-five-green-spaces"> here</a> which apparently has an excellent cafe though we had already been catered for in that way so didn't try it out.<br />
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The sun was shining and the sky was blue - how lucky were we?! For more info see <a href="https://www.timeout.com/london/attractions/springfield-park">here</a> what Time Out has to say about the park.<br />
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The route eventually came out alongside the River Lea where there are moorings for many houseboats in the marina here.<br />
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Most of the way was then along this tow path beside the river with the Walthamstow Marshes on the other side - here we go beneath a bridge carrying trains to who knows where but we were happy to be down here in the peace and quiet ambling along the tow path stopping to take photos here and there along the way.<br />
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This is London as most visitors never see it eh?!<br />
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Autumn is definitely on its way.<br />
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Till we reached the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park where we turned off from the path and into Hackney Wick which sadly didn't merit any photographs being somewhere I'd rather not remember! From here we got a bus back to Highbury and wondered if the Fig Tree cafe might still be open for a cup of tea which it was - only just as it was due to close in 15 minutes but we were welcomed in like old friends. After saying goodbye once again to the lovely owners we got another bus back to Baker Street and from there we went for supper at the <a href="https://www.goldenhindrestaurant.com/home.html">Golden Hind </a>where we had the best fish and chip supper I've had in a long while! Maybe the walk in the fresh air helped. We were lucky to get a table and as the evening wore on it became incredibly busy. From here it was just a short walk back to our hotel. A lovely day of sunshine and blue skies and a great walk topped off with a delicious meal - what more could one ask?<br />
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<u>Day 2</u><br />
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Having slept well and breakfasted like kings on the delicious buffet provided at the hotel we set off by bus to Putney where we wanted to visit <a href="http://www.fulhampalace.org/palace/history/">Fulham Palace and Gardens.</a><br />
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As we walked from the bus stop to the Palace we passed these allotments - looked lovely I thought and one gardener obviously enjoyed an occasional sit in the sun admiring his handiwork to judge by the seats.<br />
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In through the gate past this lovely lodge building to the Palace itself...<br />
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.. through the Tudor courtyard.<br />
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Our first port of call the cafe what a contrast to yesterday's elevenses stop eh? But it was lovely in a different way.<br />
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Once refreshed after our bus journey we set off to look round the gardens. These are new glasshouses built in the style of the originals which had fallen into disrepair.<br />
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I don't know if this lettle video will work but it shows the work that went into restoring the glasshouses.<br />
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The garden was lovely and I imagine in the summer months it would be even nicer. I took several photos but most of them were out of focus so you will need to check the website out for more<br />
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This is a very old and venerable <a href="http://www.fulhampalace.org/the-fulham-palace-ancient-holm-oak/">holm oak tree</a> thought to have been planted in the 1500s but still looking good.<br />
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On our way out to walk towards the river.<br />
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The mighty Thames looking a little less than mighty as the tide was out! Having had our fill of that we returned to the Palace cafe for lunch before getting a bus to Selfridges and then a short walk to see the <a href="http://www.bdp.com/en/projects/a-e/Brown-Hart-Gardens/">Brown Hart roof garden</a> which I had heard about. Check out the link for a video about the creation of this little space on top of a Grade II listed substation<br />
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The building at the end of the road seen here from the Garden is Selfridges so it's surprising that this little known garden is just a few yards from busy Oxford Street.<br />
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Having seen this - it didn't take long, even though we sampled the tea at the little cafe at one end of the garden, as it is not very big we walked down to Oxford Street and then just behind Selfridges about a 10 minute walk away we came to the <a href="http://www.wallacecollection.org/">Wallace Collection in Manchester Square.</a><br />
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This is considered to be one of Europe's finest collections of works of art, pantings,furniture, arms and armour and porcelain. We reallty didn't have time to do it justice and will need to go back another time for a further look.<br />
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Being such an art Philistine I was less interested in the art and paintings than the beautiful braids on the curtains which were not antique at all!<br />
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I preferred the little snuff boxes so intricately carved and decorated- do check out the video on the<a href="https://vimeo.com/141766919"> </a><a href="https://vimeo.com/141766919"></a><a href="https://vimeo.com/141766919">link here </a><br />
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There is of course a tea room which looked nice but we didn't check it out as we had not long ago had a cup of tea at the roof garden cafe. So we left the Wallace Collection and walked back to our hotel having had another lovely day out.<br />
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I think it best if I stop here and add the next couple of days as another post.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-56980058845139848152017-07-11T17:49:00.001+01:002017-07-11T17:49:10.646+01:00A mini Backpack, Boots and Bus Pass trip<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I know some of you like to hear about my outings so perhaps you would like to join me on a recent mini Backpack, Boots and Bus pass trip?<br />
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I haven't been on a real BBB Trip for more than 2 years - my how time flies - and truth to tell this wasn't actually a proper BBB trip anyway as I didn't take a backpack as I was only going for the day and I wore shoes not boots and I drove part of the way.<br />
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I was home alone as Mr M was away for a couple of days. I love him dearly but oh how wonderful it is to spend time at home by myself for a change! Before he retired his job required him to go off here, there or wherever, sometimes for weeks at a time, and I got used to being on my own, or with just the Wanderer for company, and I loved it though of course it was always good to see him home safely again.<br />
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So having only myself to please I decided to have a day out on my own on Monday and thought that a day at the seaside would be good. I drove to <a href="https://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/features/poundbury">Poundbury</a> where the parking is free, the route goes along a high ridge and the views on both sides are stunning although of course when driving it is as well not to spend too much time admiring them! The roadsides were beautiful with tall pink spires of rosebay willowherb and pale grasses softly swaying in the breeze and I felt at peace with the world as I made my way to Poundbury where I left the car and with my bus pass at the ready got the bus to Weymouth a journey of about half an hour again through lovely Dorset countryside although as I got chatting to a couple of other passengers in the seat behind I didn't actually pay too much attention to it on the outward journey. We said goodbye to each other as we left the bus and I made my way along the esplanade towards the harbour. The donkeys were there on the soft white sand but as the schools don't break up for the holidays till the 21st July there were few customers and they were enjoying pulling at their hay net when I saw them.<br />
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Just look at all that space! It will be a different story soon when on a day like Monday the beach will be full of holidaymakers! The sand was clean, pristine and almost white as though all had been made ready for the influx of holiday makers due in a week or so.<br />
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I made my way towards the harbour - this little boat will carry you across the harbour for £1 if you don't want to walk along to the Town Bridge and back along the other side.<br />
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Here is another boat coming from the other side. I didn't avail myself of the ride though and walked round to the area you can see in the above photo.<br />
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Now on the other side and looking across the harbour to where I had come from.<br />
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I continued my walk along this side and wondered what the boat I saw in harbour and flying the Union Jack was and since learned that its is apparently HMS Severn named after the River Severn and one of several ships named HMS Severn the first being launched in 1695. This current one is a patrol vessel.<br />
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I continued along this side where it becomes less built up and as you can see greener.<br />
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Until I reached what is called the Nothe and this wall is part of the fort built here over a hundred years ago. Click<a href="http://www.nothefort.org.uk/"> here for more info on the Fort</a> and an aerial photo from which you will see my route along both sides of the harbour and round the wall on to a tiny pebble beach and some rocks.</div>
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The tide was not in at this time, although from the seaweed on the rocks it would obviously come further in in due course, and so I made my way over some of the rocks round to the right to where I could see Portland across the water a nd then came back closer to the little beach, as I didn't want to get trapped if/when the tide came in, and found a warm flat rock against the wall on which I could sit and eat my lunch.<br />
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It was so incredibly peaceful I had the area to myself apart from the many swallows which swooped and shrieked as they flew in seach of their lunch too. I think they had nests in the upper part of the wall but they are so fast I couldn't actually see for sure.<br />
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Sat here on the dry blocks with my back against the warm stones of the old wall and felt that all was well in the world - even if only for a while!<br />
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Having sat peacefully and mindfully breathing in the quiet, just the sound of the water gently slapping round the rocks along with the swallows high pitched cries, and truly being in the moment whilst eating my sandwich lunch and enjoying the view for a while I decided to make my way back into town so retraced my steps back round the harbour and along the esplanade to the bus stop.<br />
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One of the hotels on my way back to the town and the bus stop - lovely flowers and a sign saying No Vacancies so obviously fully booked for the moment - it certainly did look nice.<br />
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The donkeys on the beach now had a little gazebo to provide shade but still no customers!<br />
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A few more people now that it was afternoon but still not many. I loved the way the pale sand gradually changed to a darker shade where it was damp and the water was a pale blue gradually becoming darker turquoise and finally indigo as it reached the horizon. Amazing and an inspiration for a textile weaving/knitting/fabric or something perhaps.<br />
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I crossed the road and the bus was in and ready to leave to take me to Dorchester where I got off to do a few errands prior to continuing on to Poundbury and the garden centre there where I had a cup of tea in the excellent <a href="http://www.discoverpoundbury.co.uk/discover/the-engine-room/">cafe </a>and got some bird food in the garden shop for the wild birds we feed each morning. Then home getting in about 4.00 after having had a lovely relaxing day all to myself doing just as I pleased!<br />
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Next Monday I will once again be in Dorchester though not for such a pleasant outing as I am due to have an injection in my eye since the second pterygium I had removed is recurring and it is hoped the injection might prevent the cells continuing to grow. I haven't asked what happens if it doesn't work!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-85478533316339227522017-06-18T15:11:00.000+01:002017-06-18T15:11:50.667+01:00IMAGINE<br />
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Just when we are all still reeling from the recent events which have taken place both in Manchester and London another tragedy is played out in our capital with the horrific fire at Grenfell Tower (the Wanderer lives in a
tower block in London but happily on the seventh floor and in a more recently
built building which has hopefully complied with all the regulations). Can you begin to imagine what it might have been like to have been woken in middle of the night to find your home and all those around you on fire like this? Those who survived may have lost everything - family, home and all they possessed and many have only the clothes they were wearing. It really doesn't bear thinking about does it? Add to this the anger and vitriol which is currently filling our media, the protests, accusations and blame which is bandied about and it seems hard to see how life as we knew it can go on. But go on it must and Phoenix like out of the flames has come a real sense of community, of charity and sharing where religion, creed, colour and race are of no importance - we are all humans and thus all part of the same family. My heart goes out to all those affected including the firemen and women and other emergency services who though well trained had probably never experienced anything quite like this. I feel helpless as all I can do is to donate to the<a href="http://www.redcross.org.uk/About-us/News/2017/June/London-Fire-Relief-Fund"> Red Cross</a> when I feel I should be able to do something more.<br />
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Like <a href="https://bugwomanlondon.com/2017/06/17/accidental-beauty/">Bug Woman who on her blog</a> posted about going for a walk and finding solace in the plants she saw lest she should become tattered and worn thin by the terrible event I too find comfort amid Nature and have this morning been out in the garden - an accidental one if ever there was one (see Bug Woman's post) - noticing the way the roses are the same colour as the foxgloves which are taller than I am and self seeded, how Nature creates colour schemes that look wonderful, the bees are busy in the lavender and the bumper crop of strawberries which survived a vicious hailstorm a few weeks back and are looking and tasting good. I pray that a community will rise Phoenixlike from the ashes of the fire and that nothing like it will ever happen again here or anywhere else.<br />
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ANOTHER DOGGY STORY<br />
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This morning when reading the news on the internet I came across the above image showing dogs in little heat proof boots! Apparently specially trained <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2017/06/17/why-dogs-are-being-used-after-the-grenfell-tower-fire-6715397/">fire dogs</a> are helping to search the remains of the building and need their paws protected against heat and broken glass etc. I gather no fire dog has ever been injured in their work. Man's best friend or what?!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-81787872514005205392017-06-08T15:18:00.000+01:002017-06-08T17:31:34.951+01:00Fed up with it all?If like me you have had enough of politics, terrorists, death and destruction, climate change and the Paris Agreement and all the rest of the daily news we get take a look at this just click on the title:<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-40199557">DOGGY DROPOUT </a></b></div>
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I had been intending to write a post about Time but when I saw this I thought how lovely it was especially just now when there is so much depressing news every day. I wish we were all more like Gavel, friendly, welcoming and "enjoyed meeting strangers". He's not silly is he?<br />
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I am shocked to discover it has been nearly 6 months since my last post - I am still here and do still lurk around occasionally reading a few blogs and I might actually get around to posting that post that is in my mind about Time and the passing of it eventually.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-3457159798175879692016-12-31T21:11:00.000+00:002016-12-31T21:11:04.336+00:00One year ends and another begins<br />
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It's the last day of 2016 and thoughts turn to what has happened during the year. Others have written far more eloquently than I could about the events on the world stage so I won't say more on that subject but for me on a personal level this year has been about the eyes! <br />
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It's been a roller coaster year as I had an <a href="http://marigoldjam.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/surfers-eye-parsley-and-gratitude-whats.html">eye operation at Easter</a> and then a second one at the beginning of October and have gone through the gamut of emotions after each ranging from fear and anxiety, frustration and despair to joy and immense gratitude. There were times when I was on top of the world as my sight was so much improved and moments when I was in the Slough of Despond when I lost my faith in eventual recovery and even, dare I say it, in the wonderful surgeon I have been seeing. I developed blepharitis and later an allergy to the drops which left me with a horrid red, scaly rash round the eye and then when I thought I was out of the woods with the first eye and just about to have the second one done, a broken blood vessel which left me with a bloodshot area on the newly pristine eye surface which I worried about. I also hadn't realised that the pterygia could be cancerous which they weren't but of course I worried about that too! However all is well and I am gradually reducing the eyedrops and am to see the surgeon again in February when I should have finished them altogether. I am hopeful that this will be the end of the story.<br />
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I have learned a lot over the past year and had plenty of time for reflection not being able to see to read, do any crafting or even watch television some of the time and I realised that there is more to sight than being able to see - that is just the mechanics of it - how and what I see has changed the way I think and the way I see things is about who I am. I have been given the precious gift of clear sight again and an unexpected extra gift - that of a new lease of life! Now that I can see better I feel different - younger at heart and once again the capable person I used to be and for that I will be eternally grateful. Every time I thread a needle to do some stiutching I marvel at the skill of the surgeon - I bet he didn't lick the thread to get it through the eye of the needle (at least I hope not!) nor say "That'll do" if the stitching wasn't quite right!! <br />
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My mantras for 2017 are:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of a couple of little tiles on the shed wall</td></tr>
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<b>Carpe Diem</b> for I intend to use whatever life I have left in the best way and not waste it on complaining, or procrastinating as I have been doing.<br />
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<b>Accentuate the positive</b> for I have been guilty of negativity and complaining instead of seeing the wonder of life which is now there for me to see if only I take notice.<br />
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Now that I can see to read I have been making up for lost time getting through several books a week and have just finished one I can recommend to you: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jan/22/the-outrun-amy-liptrot-review-by-will-self"> The Outrun by Amy Liptrot</a> which is a life affirming read about the power of Nature to heal even though the author didn't seek nor expect Nature to heal her alcohol addiction.<br />
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Wishing you all a healthy and happy 2017Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266224907043302947.post-38763575815591396692016-12-22T21:21:00.002+00:002016-12-22T21:21:28.427+00:00Christmas Wishes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I seem to have forgotten the very rudiments of writing a blog post and can't seem to string together a couple of words like I used to but this comes to wish you all a peaceful and Happy Christmas. The photo above was taken this afternoon when I went for a walk in what was left of the sunshine. Last year the daffodils were in full bloom at the beginning of December but this year they are seeming to be a little more circumspect and this is as far as they have got but they still speak to me of hope and after all what is Christmas about but Hope?<br />
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I am listening to Classic Fm as I write and it is The Full Works Concert a recording of the <a href="http://www.classicfm.com/events/great-ormond-street-christmas-carol-concert/">Great Ormond Street Carol Service 2016 held in the St Pauls Church Knightsbridge on Tuesday 13 Decenber </a>and I thought that since I can't seem to get my own words out properly I'd leave you with a couple of poems I have just heard along with the carols which might amuse you:<br />
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Firstly<a href="http://www.wordsout.co.uk/joseph_and_the_shepherds.htm"> Joseph and the Shepherds</a><br />
and secondly <a href="http://www.humormatters.com/holidays/Christmas/xmaspoliti.htm">Politically Corect Christmas</a><br />
To read these two poems just click on the links. <br />
<br />And if you are able to listen to Classic Fm on Demand within the next 7 days I can recommend this carol service as a real tonic to get you in the mood for the festive season.<br />
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And let's not forget whilst we are smiling at the above poems and preparing for our own festive holiday that there are those who have nothing to smile about and perhaps send up our prayers for those who are sick, those in war torn areas, those who were in Berlin when the lorry was driven into the Christmas market and ..... so many for whom Christmas is not a merry festive time at all and as this verse of the carol <a href="http://www.41051.com/xmaslyrics/midnight.html">It came upon the midnight clear</a> says:<br />
"And man, at war with man, hears not<br />
The love song which they bring:<br />
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,<br />
And hear the angels sing." <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11