RAINY DAYS, BITS + BOB'S, ODD'S + SOD'S ..........

It rained all day yesterday .....

On Tuesday, we had all of our trees cut as we always do in February ..... he also cut down our weeping silver birch tree ...... arghhhhhh, it was scary as it was a major part of our garden ..... but, it needed to go as it was taking up so much of the garden but, I don't like change ! When we moved here, thirty two years ago, it was a twig !!! I don't like cutting down trees either but, it had to go and now we can do something different at the bottom of the garden ..... it's a work in progress. 

Underneath the silver birch were ten ferns which I dug up on Thursday but they are just sitting in the rain as I haven't been able to get out there and put them in the ground. It looks like today will be as windy and wet as yesterday so the ferns will have to wait. 

This is a photograph of our children's infant/primary school that they went to thirty odd years ago. I took the photograph from my friends gorgeous Georgian house ..... she doesn't live there anymore. 

 The street where we live, in the snow 

This is on our landing .....

We have these finger plates on all of the doors in our house ..... I found  25 of them in a junk shop and paid £8 for the lot ! I also found a set of stair rods in our local hardware shop that had probably been languishing in the back of the shop since the Edwardian era ..... it was the kind of shop where you could describe vaguely what you wanted and they would know just what you wanted and where to find it. I don't think that I paid much for them either ! The hardware shop went a few years ago ..... I bet there were some gems that I missed in there that probably got thrown away.

This is me, in a changing room in Cambridge, waiting while my friend was trying clothes on !!! I had to do something to amuse myself !

Well, there you are, a mixture of nothing in particular ! It looks like there will be wind and rain again today ..... I must find something indoors to do. 

Are you all having a taste of the wet and windy weather ?

XXXX

images 1 & 2: via pinterest, image 9: via  black velvet ribbon, images 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8: via me

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME ..........

OH GAWD !!!

68 today ..... and, it snowed !

XXXX

CATKINS, CATS and QUIET ..........

I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to write about. January is nearly always a quiet month. I have been doing all of the usual mundane, everyday things but, you all do the same so I'm sure that you don't want to hear about that.

I bought four of these hellebore's at Christmas as they are lovely to decorate the house with. Two of them have gone over so, I just braved the cold and planted them in the garden. When I was out there, I noticed  .....

..... these catkins on our hazel, swaying about in the chilly breeze. We have never had any catkins on it before so, hopefully, we will get some hazelnuts. 

Catkins .....cats ...... nice link ?!!!!

We have had three cats .....

Jaffa was our first cat ..... we got him by default as my friend had got two kittens from a friend whose cat had had kittens .... one for her and one for a neighbour. But, the neighbour decided she didn't want him and nor did anyone else so, we had him and he was a lovely cat.

Then, same friend went away to Greece for her Summer holiday. Her cat was about to have kittens so, she left cardboard boxes out all around her home and gave me the key to water her plants and to check on her cat. I turned up one day, no sign of the cat, no sign of kittens in any of the boxes ..... checked upstairs and she had had the kittens in the middle of my friends bed ..... five kittens and placenta everywhere !!!!! I had to take the duvet to the laundrette as it wouldn't fit in the washing machine ...... I got some very funny looks while I was stuffing the duvet, covered in blood and fluids into the machine { she did throw the duvet away in the end you'll be pleased to know !!! }

Anyway, I had to take five kittens and the mum home as I didn't want to leave them there all on their own. We looked after them for about six weeks as the vet said it wouldn't be fair to move them. The runt of the litter struggled and, we did our best, with hot water and hot water bottles but she died. In the end, we ended up with two of the litter .....

..... Dilly .....

..... and Woody .....

all lovely cats, but all gone now. 

XXXX

image 1: via pinterest , all other images via me

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW ..........

We had to go up to The City yesterday to do some ' financey ' things and got blown all the way up Bishopsgate and into the Eastcheap offices of our financial advisor.

Even though Storm Diana was knocking me sideways, I still managed a few photographs, even though they are a bit wonky ! I am always taken with the massive new modern buildings which seem to be getting higher and higher, and the way the old buildings nestle against the new ..... 

..... I love this little church ... I think this is the one that got damaged by an IRA bomb, along with many other buildings, in 1993 ..... with The Gherkin towering above it.

Part of St Botolph's, also damaged in 1993 ..... with a new building next to it.

The Monument to The Great Fire of London 1666 .....

Look at the size of this one ....... when you look up at it, you nearly fall over .... well, I do !!!

We had a wonderful lunch in Giorgio, Ristorante Italiano in Leadenhall Market ..... I love Leadenhall Market and it looked even lovelier, dressed up for Christmas  ..... Christmas starts here.

Are you starting your Christmas preparations yet ?

XXXX 

All photographs via me

SOUP ANYONE ?!!! ..........

Every couple of weeks, I take a 90 year old lady shopping at the supermarket. She is as bright as a button but has arthritis, so moving is a bit of a problem so I rush around the supermarket and bring her shopping to the trolley.

On one of the shelves was this ... 

... fancy a bowl ? 

XXXX

image 1: via fashionista, image 2: via me, image 3: via design scene

ARGGGGGGHHHHHHH ..........

I had an email from my blogging friend Elizabeth over at The Vintage Contessa telling me that she couldn't comment on my blog !!!

Although things aren't what they were in the blogging world { I used to get 100 comments in the old days but many have left blogging and gone on to other social media sites } but I did think that four comments was a bit low on my last couple of posts !!!!

I even started to think that I might give up my blog .....

..... atychiphobia was starting to set in !!!

I have checked everything on Blogger and all is as it should be, so I think it's Blogger's fault. 

There have been times that I haven't been able to comment and, when that happens to me, I either sign into Blogger again or I look for the blog that I want to comment on on Firefox, as it's usually with Safari that I have the problem. Firefox always seems to be fine. 

One of the nicest parts about blogging and the main reason that I blog and prefer it to any of the other social media sites, is the fact that we interact with such lovely people and can have a ' chat ' ... it is the modern way of having penfriends from all over the world ..... I like to think of my blogging commenter's as friends and it's always a little bit disappointing when we don't get any comments ..... I really have missed you guys over the last few posts but I'm pleased that it's only Blogger and not the fact that you have gone off  of me !!!

I've also noticed that it says  UNFOLLOW under my followers and not FOLLOW and I'm not sure how to fix that either !! 

Anyone who knows how to fix any of these problems, please let me know ... 

Perhaps anyone who reads this could just comment so I know that you can ... by the way, this isn't a way of getting lots of comments !!! haha !!!

LOOK ..... even Shakespeare likes my blog !!!

 Shame that he can't comment !!!

XXXX

image 1: via the libertine, image 2: via bonnard3, image 3: via diabolique, image 4, 5 & 7: via envers du decor, image 6: via pinterest, image 8: via the gifts of life

NOVEMBER COLOUR ..........

This post is a bit boring if you don't like gardening but I cannot believe how much colour we have in our garden at the moment and its November !!!

I planted these cyclamens about 25 years ago ..... I think that I bought a couple over the years as indoor plants and planted them out in the garden when they finished flowering indoors .....

..... a final bloom on our Hydrangea Annabelle .....

..... Hydrangea Smowball in it's Autumn coat ..... it's pure white in the Summer and changes to this deep red .....

..... Hydrangea Vanille Fraise ..... fading .....

..... Verbena .....

..... this is Parahebe ' Snow Clouds ' ...... it flowers from May pretty much into December ..... you really get your money's worth ! Just cut back after it's first flush is finished and back it comes .....

..... geranium ' Rozanne ' .....

..... Salvia ' Black and Bloom ' .....

..... and this euonymus was here when we moved in thirty odd years ago and this is the first year that I have seen these berries/fruits !!! .....

..... and this Blush Noisette rose is still flowering .....

..... and, finally { non gardeners will be pleased to know ! } my St. Swithun rose that flowers from May until December .....  That is the same rose .... it produces slightly different colours and forms of flowers ..... I really do like to get my moneys worth !!!

XXXX