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

APRIL in MAY ..........

After a reasonably warm and dry April, we are now enjoying many April showers in May !!!!

Early this week, I decided to throw caution to the wind and plant out my gypsophila plants, despite the fact that there are still two weeks to go until the end of May !!! I know, daring is my middle name !!!! They had all been very happy and warm in the greenhouse and then were subjected to wind and whole days of rain !!

..... now look at the poor little things !!! They have been battered by the constant rain to within an inch of their lives.

Hopefully they will perk up and I will be able to show you the magnificent display that they will make in a few week's time ..... fingers crossed !!!

My sweet peas also took a bashing ..... I apologise to all of you who don't use slug pellets but, I have tried every alternative known to man { eggshells, nutshells, ash and cinders, sawdust, sandpaper, grit and gravel, sharp sand, hair, steel wool, pine needles and copper } and none of them work !! ..... BUT, I have found these that are O.K to wildlife, birds, pets and children and are taken underground by the slugs and any that are left, feed the soil so all is happy and good. 

This morning was beautiful ..... clear blue skies and sunshine but it's now raining again .....

SO .....

All I can do now is to enjoy a bit of hoppipolla until the showers go away.

Don't forget your brollies ..... it's definitely April in May !!!

XXXX

image 1: via ana-lee, image 2: via etsy, images 3, 4 & 5: via me, image 6: via pinterest, image 7:via tumblr

SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

IT'S BUCKETING DOWN ..........

England is famous for having lots of rain. In fact, many countries have far more rain than we do but people still have an image of the UK as a very wet place. We haven't had much rain for a while  .....

BUT .....

today we are living up to our reputation !! 

It is coming down in stair rods ..... it's freezing cold, the wind is blowing a gale and it's like Winter !!!

I cleaned my knobs and knockers and I got soaked ..... the wind driving the rain into the porch and it looks like an Autumn day .... leaves have been blown everywhere and my David Austin St Swithun rose and Clematis 'Marie Boisselot'   have been blown to bits !!

Our conservatory was leaking { it doesn't look quite as bad as the one above though !! } and I think, because of the wind direction, rain was coming in the extractor fan over the hob in the kitchen ...... it's never done that before !!

Still, you've got to laugh ..... none of it's the end of the world is it ?

The weather is meant to improve next week ..... I hope so. There is much to do in the garden.

Here's hoping that your weather is a whole lot better than ours.

XXXX

image 1 & 2: via margadirube, image 3: mine, image 4: via pinterest, image 5: via zsa zsa bellagio, image 6: via lost in the moment, image 7: via tumblr, video via youtube

DODGING THE SHOWERS ……….

I just managed to mow the lawn yesterday morning before the deluge of showers arrived ….. my lines aren't very straight but it will have to do !!

….. and then, between the showers, I picked a vase full of David Austin St. Swithun roses that grow at the front of our house.
Don't you think that my Santos doll's head looks like Simon Cowell ? ….. a good reason to store it away somewhere, maybe !!

Now, take yourselves back to 1967 and listen to The Move singing ' Flowers in the Rain ' !!!!





XXXX

images by me and music via youtube

IT'S RAINING, IT'S POURING ……...

We've had tidal, fluvial, groundwater and flash flooding ….. the whole gamut, over the past eight weeks.

We've had disruptions with trains , flooded homes, landslips, livelihood's under threat and even deaths.

Everyone has been blamed from the Government to God. The Ministry of Defence is deploying equipment and manpower to help those in affected areas by delivering food, transporting people and distributing sandbags.

Even if it stops raining tomorrow, the effects of the floods will continue to be felt for weeks …. months and years for some.

We have been blown to bits with rain and winds of over 100 mph and, more storms are forecast for the coming days.

These horses had to be rescued from rising flood waters near Christchurch, Dorset. Just one example of animals in distress because of the floods.

I cannot imagine what having a flooded home must be like. Thinking of all those who have been affected by so much devastation.

Here's hoping that the rain will stop sooner rather than later.

XXXX

image 1: via dianne documents, image 2: via bbc, image 3: via the daily mail, image 4: via western morning news, image 5: via the guardian, image 6: via the independent, image 7: via bayanablogspot, image 8: via night tattoo, image 9: via we heart it

AFTER THE SNOW .......... THE RAIN !!!!

I'm not one to moan about the weather ..... having lived in merry old England all of my life, we are used to seeing all sorts of weather at different times of the year BUT .....

..... Spring is really taking a long time to arrive. After the sleet and snow of last month, we now have rain !!!! Not so much April showers but RAIN rain !!

Still ...... there is nothing that can be done about it so I guess we shall have to make the best of it ..... we have scarified and aerated the lawn and fertilised it so, a bit of rain is going to benefit all of those processes.

.....and, perhaps a day under a few blankets with a good book { ..... I'm reading ' Miss Garnet's Angel " by Salley Vickers at the moment. Have any of you out there read it ? I'm really enjoying it as it's set in my favourite Venice }

I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that I must be one of those typical British people who are always talking about the weather, when I look back on some of my posts !

But, I shall embrace it and enjoy it just like Gene Kelly !!

Although, I couldn''t believe it when we were told the other day that, even after the wettest summer ever recorded, the snow, the sleet and rain that we have had so far this year :

That we will probably have a hosepipe ban !

Explain that if you can !!

images 1 & 10: via lost in the moment, image 2: via just call me grace, image 3: via beauty and grace, images 4, 5 & 8: via night tattoo, image 6: via pandora's inspiration, image 7: via dianne documents, image 9: via brown dress with white dots,