Pan Pipers at the Edinburgh Festival

Our visit to Edinburgh while the Festival was taking place was very exciting.

A pleasant summer barbecue

One of the few evenings this summer when the weather was fine enough for a barbecue.

Happiness

When I'm happy it's not because I'm heedless,

Knowing nothing of misery.

It's because of the sad times

That I appreciate the joy when it comes,

Drawing it into my being,

Where it will carry me through the rest.

MSK

Yorkshire

We are back from Yorkshire. We had a lovely time.

Longing

I love the fells of Cumbria and North Yorkshire. Being old people now my husband and I do not get so far from home as we used to. I hope that we may get to Yorkshire some time this year and also to Scotland. We have family in both places. I scribbled the following to try and convey something of my feelings.

Amongst the Fells

I want to go to the fells again,
To feel their presence in my heart,
To walk along lonely paths
With only sheep sounds.

I want to see the hawk hover
Along a ridge, searching the far down ground
With eyes of gleaming sharpness
For poor, small creatures.

I want the small creatures to escape
The cruel beak, but the hawk must eat
And feed its young. The only cruelty
Is cruel necessity.


Since I wrote the above paragraph and verses we have been to Scotland and, all being well, in a couple of days we are off to Yorkshire for a family visit.

A Day in the Brecon Beacons

A Day in the Brecon Beacons

Reaching the mountain top
Was a worthwhile attainment.
Aching footed and out of breath
We sat enveloped in the joy of it
While the winging larks filled
The air with their summer song.
The surrounding azure vault
Stretched away to infinity,
And we were replete with satisfaction.
Maternal ewes with attendant lambs
Roamed the green distance
While far below diminutive vehicles
Sped on their frantic, fuming way,
Leaving the hills to us.

MSK

This was such a lovely day, warm and sunny but not too hot, one of those days that live in the memory, a reminder that the recent dismal weather we have been having is unlikely to last for ever.

Alice and Jack

This is my mother, Alice, and the dog is Jack. I have been doing
my best to edit an old and damaged photo which must have been taken in
the esrly 1920s. This is the best I have managed so far. Alice died many years ago.
Jack I remember when I was a child. He was a dear old dog and he lived to be very old.

The Forth Bridge

There is always something exciting about going over this bridge.

Marmande Tomatoes

Joe grew these magnificent Marmande tomatoes in his greenhouse.
Although they are strange to look at they are sweet and delicious
with tender skins.

We are back from Scotland.

We are off to Scotland in a few days time!

All being wll we shall go to Scotland on Thursday.

Summer

Joe's Flowers

 

 

Some of the flowers Joe grew in his new greenhouse.

A rather moist day out in Yorkshire

 

Lovely Woodland

 

The weather was glorious on this day out to Bolton Abbey.

A Day Out in Yorkshire

 

A Walk To the Allotments

 

 

 

The best I could manage of Federer and Nadal

Starlings in the Garden

8-7-08

The weather is cold and dismal. Rain keeps showering down and there is little hope of a pleasant walk today. We have the light on so that we can read or write. We want to have a short break beside the sea, maybe Southend. Also we want to go to Edinburgh and to Yorkshire. Shall we manage all this? Time will tell!
The garden looks lovely. The tomatoes in the greenhouse are flourishing, and the seedlings which have been planted are flowering magnificently. This is all down to Joe’s hard work. .The Tree of Heaven is, as usual, growing at high speed. We pollard it every year to prevent it galloping up too far. I think that if we cut it down it would send out mini trees all over the garden.
We had a flock of starlings land in our garden a few evenings ago. They roosted in the wood at the end of the garden. The following morning they flew off. We had not had starlings in the garden in such numbers for many years.

 

I am rather pleased with this photo of Andy Murray that I took from the television yesterday. It is a pity he did not win Wimbledon.