In case you thought I'd dropped off the earth....

This is the first time this year I've sat out in the garden alone. It's gorgeous; sunny and warm. I've brought out the table and chairs.

I'm not completely on my own though, as it's Scooter's 5th or 6th time out. Yep, after a month indoors I have finally allowed him his freedom. As far as the fence, that is. And he has a collar, for the first time in many years, "just in case" his curiosity gets the better of him. My reward for such generosity? A bright, perfectly formed wee mousie, delivered to my doorstep with a chortle. Well, um, gosh, thanks, Scoob. I love you too!

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Now I must insert belated thanks to my two friends Stardust and Bumblevee, who sent me lovely packages from far away, simply to say they were thinking of me. The contents were humbling in their generosity. I should have mentioned them before...... so sorry.....

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It's hard to get online. I have some lovely photo's to share. The wisteria is out and as beautiful as it promised to be, and I have also discovered a Japanese peony. Its flower is the size of my hand :)

But my days are still- up a lot at night trying to calm Fluffy's meowing- dozing in the morning to catch up with sleep- seeing mum in the afternoon, shopping, talking, trying to reassure etc.- cooking in the evening- taking mum home- then bed or an hour or so with the radio or tv, exhausted. When to blog? Or email, for that matter. Or anything else.

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I am feeding the hedgehogs still; 4 in our garden the other night. And I saw a fox across the road. And a squirrel on our fence, twice. And today, baby starlings are having their first tour of the world outside the nest with their parents. So life goes on all around. Nature is a great soother of nerves. Oh and the emergency blue pills (!). Took one last night. They do help.
Yesterday was bad. It is building up, you see. I should remember the effect that stress and tiredness have on the bi-polar doobry-watnot.... yesterday I kept crying, I felt such a dead-weight inside me. Mum says she's lonely. But I see her every day. If only my siblings would call, send her a postcard or something.

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Fluffy has joined us in the garden. Which means Scooter is going to try to show her that it's all his. Must go, before fur flies......

A normal chore is a joyful change!

I finally did something normal, ordinary and routine: I mowed the front lawn!

It's its first cut of the year, so it was long, but the mower coped OK because the grass is quite thin- we have lots of moss. I don't see moss as a problem, and can't understand why some people apply moss killer etc. I'd like the whole lawn to be mossy! Imagine! Soft, green and spongy and thick, and never needing mowing. Oh! And the frogs like it too!

The smell of the cut grass was uplifting. Next door came out to get something from her car and said to me, "Ooo that smells lovely!"

I replaced two thyme plants, too. The old ones had gone to woodiness. These new ones have darker, less interesting leaves, but they'll have purple flowers.

There is a lot of weeding, but I'm leaving that for now.

And oh!!!!! Imagine my joy when I saw enormous buds on our wisteria for the very first time! It was planted in 2003, a year before we bought the house. We were told to wait about 7 years for flowers. Last year I had words with it. Look, I said, I'm sorry, but if you want to grow all over that bit of the wall you really do need to have more than a few straggly leaves to offer. I'm giving you one more year, you hear?

Well, they say you should talk to your plants. Not sure I've ever actually threatened one before...

Can't quite believe how pleased and excited I am. I think they will be like droplets of blue, like a Japanese brush painting. I can't wait! Is it a sign of middle age to be this happy over a wisteria?

:)

Robin watching.

Our garden isn't huge but I'd be lost without it. There's nothing like watching the birds here to give me a wee lift. Nature is like a free tranquilizer.

I love the dawn chorus, too. I'm usually still awake then, and it helps soothe me to sleep, helps shut my brain down and stop it racing. Last night, I heard the first bird at 2.44am. That's early, even for a blackbird!

Let me introduce you to Newton, my regular visitor and friend. I call him Newton after a teacher I had in Primary School, Mrs Newton, who usually had her head leaning over on one side. He's quite tame (which is more than can be said for Mrs Newton). I've almost got him feeding from my hand. Almost. He comes up to about a foot or so away from me, then I give in and put the food on the ground for him. I can't bear to tease him.

At this point in my spying, a second robin came to have a bath. Friend or foe? I wondered....


Then Newton came down to eat... hadn't he seen the other one on his territory?
Uh-oh.....
He took the food to her!Newton has a girlfriend!!!!
Hurray!

A birthday card - & my prize arrived!!!

Remember I said I'd won a Photo Caption Competition with Sharon Duncan Crafts?
Well, my prize arrived: 3 sets of stamps and 2 ink pads. I was completely stunned! I never expected so much!
Now I need to get to work on a wee Thank You card....


Meanwhile, in the evenings, I have been colouring some more stamped images and putting them into a box, to be made up into cards or tags at another time. I like the birds on this one...
This next one developed into a birthday card for someone, although her birthday isn't till 15th July. I'm sure there are others that need doing before then, but never mind!
I'm enjoying water-colouring. I'd used water-colour pencils for so long I'd forgotten what it was like to use the actual paints. It's very relaxing.

I also cut out and sewed some paper hearts whilst watching CSI :) .....
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Head Stuff

I had a heavy session at Art Therapy yesterday. Lots of talk and very little drawing! Imagine a table in your head that's had stuff piled up on it for weeks. Then someone walks past it and brushes against it. Everything topples over. Nothing new: you already knew all the stuff there. But it looks different all spilled out like that.

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Other Stuff

I hope the storms blow themselves out soon so that I can get back out into the garden. I've bought two trays of bedding plants; marigolds and red salvia. What on earth possessed me to buy 60????

Having been in a low gear for a while, the house is now a tip. -When I'm low and/or physically unwell, jobs just don't get done. And as an untidy mess affects me badly, I need to get it all cleared up and straight.

At least the rain will keep me from getting too distracted. Today I started by writing a list....... ahhh that's enough for today :)

Lovely garden things...

Nature is my best lift when I am down.
Here are some highlights from my last week....

This is Tiger.
He lives about 6 doors down from my Mum, but is trying to move in with her. A typical story: a family that gets pet after pet- as soon as the novelty wears off one they get another. Now they have several dogs. Tiger is voting with his paws.
Here he is, asleep in Mum's back garden. Unfortunately she can't adopt him fully, can't encourage him indoors: Fluffy and Scooter are disturbed by him. Scooter has FiV so we can't risk him passing that on. We encourage a diplomatic distance between them. Like here, it was warm and sunny, and all three cats lay belly up in the sun, too comfy to be bothered.

Here is our hawthorn tree, in full blossom. Also called a May tree, so this May Flower, of the ship fame, I suppose :)
It has been windy these last few days and the blossom is blowing like confetti across the garden:

We have a song thrush!They are so rare now, so I am delighted to have one regularly popping in to our garden. Here s/he is, eating sultanas (raisins or currants would serve just as well...)

Here's a pair of love birds. Well, wood pigeon, to be precise :)
I think we are going to have some baby pigeons :)

I also took pic's of all the flowers in the garden, but these are on the other computer. I'll post them another time.

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Other snips of news:

Re the washing machine:

The engineer came to fix the machine yesterday. Despite my reading that the most probable cause of smoke billowing out of it is a problem with the bearings, he said it was the rubber seal round the door. Isn't it amazing how a man with a white van can tell what's wrong with a machine just by looking at it, not examining or touching it in any way? Wow! Magic! So anyway he changed the seal.

He said, "Yeah, you've had bits of rubber in your washing, aint yer?"
"Er, no." I replied.
"Yeah well you would av."

Fair enough. I gave up! I'll do some washing and see what happens. If I need to call again I'll ask them not to send the guy with the rubber seal obsession.

Re the cats:

Please keep things crossed for Scooter, as he has a dose of cat flu at the moment. With his FiV it is difficult to fight it but he is on anti-biotics. I hope he is ok again soon....

Blackbird

I have names for some of the blackbirds that visit regularly.
Smudge has a white mark on his chest.
Groucho has white eyebrows.
This one is Snowy-
the first photo shows why!These last two aren't quite in focus but never mind...I love to see the birds in our garden.
I love to lie awake early and hear the robin outside my window, always just a little earlier than the blackbirds...

ABC Wednesday......

Y is for YELLOW......

This is the laburnum tree in my front garden. I took these pictures in May. The yellow blossom has now gone, leaving paler bunches of seeds hanging down in their place.

It was lovely to look out onto this tree in the evenings. Even if it were stormy or overcast, it was like a burst of sunshine.
I could also show you yellow fields of rape seed oil growing in the spring, daffodils, or even the yellow walls of my living room and dining room! Yellow is my favourite colour. But I am feeling a little yellow myself at the moment, as I have just come back from the dentist!

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For more info ABC Wednesday posts, go to

Mrs Nesbitt's blog

where you will see info on how to join in, and a table of links to those taking part.

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ABC Wednesday......

This week's letter is X,
like the X in the trellis around my Sweet Pea!

see?

And now.... oh, any excuse to show you them!
These flowers are very delicate, but you wouldn't believe how strongly scented they are! You can smell them from a few feet away.

I've never been able to grow these successfully before. These are all from one tiny pot which I spotted on the 'reduced' trolley on the way out of the Garden Centre. They were 49p. I took pity on them and bought them. I put them straight into this larger pot, filled it with organic compost, put the pyramid trellis on top and hoped for the best. I didn't imagine they will fill the space, as they were just a few tiny shoots, barely alive.

I love them. They have always been a favourite. It's very special to have some of my own.

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For more info ABC Wednesday posts, go to

Mrs Nesbitt's blog

where you will see info on how to join in, and a table of links to those taking part.

*****

ABC Wednesday......

U is for UNDER...
...and UPDATE!

The people who lived here before us put some old railway sleepers in the garden, as edging and in place of a small wall. I find all sorts around them. I spotted mousie tucked behind one the other night and threw him a grape. I didn't really know what to throw this wee fella, though:

Can you see him?
It's about 9pm, and he is just coming out of his daytime snug-spot under one of the sleepers.Bit closer.... (and a bit blurred, sorry 'bout that.. )We're told that years ago, maybe till 2002, there was a pond in the garden. The previous owners filled it in as they were worried about their toddler falling in. Nobody told the frogs and newts, and we still get them! I might see a maximum of two frogs in the daytime, but if it rains in the evening they all appear. I creep about the garden looking at them, saying hello and counting. (I'm fully aware that either the frogs or the neighbours or both will think I'm barmy. Hey ho.) The record so far is 18. I wonder where all the others hide out????

We can't do a pond, but we do have birdbaths on the lawn, and one or two frogs snuggle in under that. I also keep a small, covered tray filled with water under a tree for them. Sort of a mini frog-lido:
That's a ceramic lizard in the front of this next pic, but he soon gave the frogs the right idea. Here's one enjoying the cool pool, safe and secret, under the roof:

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Remember "Q is for Quack" a few weeks ago???
Are they OK?
Are they still together?

Well, "U" is for "Update", after all, so.....hey, what's this?....
Ah! A pile of ducks!!!!
Looks like the kids have got new shoes....
"Look, Ma! Winglets!"
She looks very pleased and proud:
And no wonder- she still has all eleven, safe and well!
During the "Half Term" week's holiday, when the school was closed, the caretaker went in and checked on them regularly, with food etc. There were lots of storms that week, and heavy rain, so it was important to see that they got through it OK...

We don't know when it will be that they are lead through the classroom and out the other side to the school's larger pond, but we've asked them to give us notice of the great event- hopefully we'll get it on video!!!

Meanwhile, here's a few seconds of them moving around(!)-

If you can't see it here, try direct on YouTube via this link.

Hope they made you smile!

*****

For more info ABC Wednesday posts, go to

Mrs Nesbitt's blog

where you will see info on how to join in, and a table of links to those taking part.

*****