Ennui

I have been feeling really bored and fed up over the last few days - nothing serious, you know the feeling, it seems to strike most people and the  grim weather hasn't helped. Although at the beginning of the summer I knew a holiday was unlikely and was resigned to it, I could really do with a change of scenery at the moment, but that seems unlikely. I have  friends to visit and when I feel happy to leave Mr T overnight and I can look at four different walls.  I was hoping we would both get away in September, but it is filling up with hospital appointments etc. May be in October. Anyway enough of me wallowing in self-pity, it has been a lovely day today, for a change and I have no ironing to do as I am still waiting for the washing machine to be fixed. So I thought I would make a few altered postcards to send to our friends. I have a drawer full of postcards bought from art galleries and exhibitions, some I want to keep, but some have lost their initial appeal, so I have 'up-cycled' them and they hit the post box tomorrow.

Have  great week (I am working on some more memoirs).

So it goes...

It has been one of those days ... it is always a mistake to lay in bed in the early morning sunshine thinking what you might do when you have the whole day ahead. Do a little gardening ... take a walk in the park... visit a garden centre ... . It all started well, I thought I'd give my planters a feed, even though they'd had plenty of rain and Mr T said he would put some laundry on, all before breakfast.  After a 'bit' of tidying round I had a few more things to add to the wash.
"I've already put it on" he said,
"But it is not going" she said ...
You've been there, you've done that - machine full of water and unwashed clothes, the light's not on and the door won't open.
When I retired I thought I would buy a 'good' washing machine, so it was worth purchasing a good warranty agreement too. But the vendors wanted me to ring the manufacturers to arrange one of their engineers to call, and the manufacturers wanted me to ring the vendors to get the warranty details. I must say everyone was very polite and helpful, but it still took ages to sort, and then I had to take the sopping wet wash to the local launderette, somewhere I haven't had to frequent for many years. I had no idea how much a wash cost these days. I am sure you are getting as bored with this tale as I was with the laundry. No one else seemed to be sitting and waiting for their wash, but I sat and read my book keeping a wary eye on my undies, it must have been an unusual sight as one girl asked if I was the owner.
However I am pleased I bought the shop's guarantee as that covers accidental damages, whereas the manufacturer's doesn't and I've a horrible feeling that the wine-box spillage has gummed up the electricals - we shall see. It will be next Tuesday before anyone can come out. We can manage till then.

But after all that I was in horrible foul mood, and then Mr T wanted me to help him do something on the computer, grrr moan mutter (feeling guilty) - I really should have just gone out, even though the sun had gone. But I have a moment now and I am going to post my next set of memoirs.
I haven't got any more in the pipeline at the moment, but I am working on it, be warned.

Drawing from memory

I am on a roll now and you will have to bear with me. I have pages in my sketch book of little drawings of bits I can remember from my granparents' house and I am using them to illustrate my Norfolk Holidays book. I have decided not to be too precious about it, otherwise I shall agonize over every sentence and drawing, but just to get it all down. I am sharing it with you, but his is a long entry so skip it if you wish, but I hope you enjoy the drawings. The weather is miserable and we are stuck at home, so this is a great way for me to occupy myself. Mr T is making progress, but  we are not 'out of the woods' yet and still having weekly visits from the District Nurse. So here is part two...

If you have managed to read all that, thank you!! It is for my sake really, but I am happy to share.

Memories of Norfolk - Earliest Memories

Inspired by reading Jane of Marigold Jam's wonderful memories of her childhood I thought I would start recording my memories of many summer holidays spent with my Norfolk grandparents. It is something I have wanted to do for many years, so now is a good time to start. When chatting to my sister we always end up having at least one conversation about our times there so I have decided to keep my memories in a journal which I shall illustrate with drawing and photographs. I will share my first chapter with you, and see how it goes, there is a lot more in there.

Coincidence?

Where to begin?

In June I received a lovely package from Amelia at 101 Bird Tales which was principally a guerrilla stitch kit.
I still haven't used it, but of course I had to share it with my sister Janet when she was here this week.  When she reached this page, she took a gasp and said ' look this map is of the Denbigh area!'

I don't know why I hadn't taken this in when I had looked at this page before,  perhaps it was because I was just taken up with the whole thing, but Janet used to live near Denbigh.  We peered more closely to spot names we knew, and there under the wing of the the bird you can see the name Llannefydd. The tiny hamlet where Janet used to live, this gave us a very shuddery feeling.

 Janet's life in Wales is very significant to us. When she got married her husband got a job in the Wirral and they decided to live in North Wales, Martin's job took him all over the place, so the long commute held no worries for him. They found a very large, rather rundown Victorian vicarage in Llannefydd at a bargain price. This was in 1985. Here is a photograph of our first visit there.

That is Janet and Mr T in the doorway.

It was a bit of a drive, but an easy one if you don't mind motorways, and certainly worth it. On a clear day you could see Snowdon in one direction and Blackpool tower in the other. It looked down on Rhyl where the sun was often shining whilst it was rather cloudy up in the mountains. It was never warm, in winter we used to sleep in fleecy joggers and thick socks but this snowy Christmas we spent there was magic.

The view from the back door.

Janet and her husband Martin worked hard on the house, decorating and furnishing it beautifully. Janet became a dab hand at wallpapering and curtain making with a 12 foot drop. I raced up the M1 and the M6 on a very foggy  December weekend when her eldest son was born - the first baby in the family, and then again a couple of years later when my second nephew arrived, this time more thoughtfully in May. But things were to change tragically when Martin was diagnosed with leukaemia and declined very rapidly. Janet left him behind in the churchyard at the bottom of the Vicarage garden. That was in 1997. 

Her boys are now young men of 16 and 18 and she is beginning to get a life beyond motherhood, but you can see why the Llannefydd means so much to us, and why this coincidence is particularly poignant. 

Something else which is also rather 'spooky' is that before she looked at the book Janet was telling me about a walk she took on Tennyson Down on the Isle of Wight last Sunday where she watched a pair of peregrine falcons flying along the cliffs - and that bird hovering over the map...well it could be.

forty-eight hour blog silence in force shortly

My lil' sister is arriving this evening for a brief visit

I have the throat lozengers ready...

see you on Thursday

Try, try again

Every year when the Japanese anemones come into flower I want to capture them on paper. Often my attempts are rather stiff and lifeless so instead of picking a flower to paint I had a little plein air session in the garden today. This is still not quite right, but better than previous attempts.

It was a lovely sunny afternoon and the air was buzzing with hover flies. I was too busy to get the camera set up but I will share these I took last August.

Unfortunately this year my lilies have succumb to lily beetle and the recent heavy rain finished them off ...

...and the eryngium is very disappointing this year...

but there are plenty of these iridescent green flies flitting around.  

There are still a few swifts around, but they will be off soon. Early in the morning there are a dozen or so young blue tits and great tits at the feeders and occasionally a flock of long-tailed tits passes through the garden. It looks as if I shall be spending the summer at home again so it is great to have an eye for an urban safari. 

News for give-away recipients - all gifts are in the post!