A Jolly Old Chap

Christmas comes but once a year

A Christmas Corner

A lopped London plane

I think this tree looks very spectacular against the blue of the sky. It had just been lopped a couple of years ago.
It is opposite our house.

A Poppy For Armistice Day

War

War

It still goes on, that distant war,
Five more years was said yesterday.
An end cannot be seen, a true end.
There’s always more trouble,
More death, more crippling wounds,
Innocent lives lost.
Will it ever end, truly end?

I have looked at the Commonwealth War Graves Website where I found a boyhood friend of my father who was killed at Gallipoli during WW1. Each war is supposed to end war but war goes on. I wonder if the time will come when war will truly end, when people will recognise each other as fellow human beings on the same journey through life, making the best of it and that they will reach out in friendship to all whatever their race, creed or colour.

The Welsh Harp

A Pleasant Spot for A Walk.

A lovely rose from our garden

The Forth Btidge.

I hope to go over the Forth Bridge sometime this Autumn.

Up the end of our garden

Taken from the Marijan Hill near Split in Croatia.

Sunshine

Here is a cheerful, sunny corner of our garden taken earlier this year.

more of the tree wallk

The tree wallk at Kew Gardens

We hope to go to Edinburgh soon.

Test blog.

Marmande Tomatoes

Flowers In Croatia

The Bishop of Nin, Grigor Ninski

This photo was taken recently in Split, Croatia.It is such an impressive statue. I have always admired it while on visits to Split.

A Cascade of Roses

Here are some roses from last year in our garden.

England

A Child of the Thirties

I have just recently realised where the England is that is in my heart. It is the England of my early childhood, a place of magic. It is a feeling that has somehow come into being in my old age. It comes from my childhood, probably continuing until twelve years old. My world was one of freedom. There was no war, my home was happy, we were not poor as so many were in those days, I felt I was part of the village where I lived and all was well. My love of woodland, fields and open spaces developed during that time. I had friends to explore with and a bike to ride. I had a mother, father and a little brother to love. What more could I want?
I have not mentioned school. I did not hate it but I must confess that I preferred the holidays. That is a dreadful thing to say these very serious days, I believe.
England is a very different place these days but still a good place to live. There are so many interesting people here. I am a long way from the fields and woods of my childhood. That world no longer exists. Also the child I was no longer exists. I have always lived in the present with no longing to go back.

RLS

It is not much for its beauty that makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanates from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.

Robert Louis Stevenson

I love old trees. There are some magnificent ancient oaks in Mill Hill Park, not far from where I live. I wish that trees could talk and tell us of the hundreds of years of history through which they have lived. Also, I admire RLS for the way he lived through a lifetime of ill health and never lost his enthusiasm for life.

Spring

One cheeky dandelion popping up on thr lawn.

A few more.