Wisteria

There has been a Wisteria growing on the side of my parents house since we were quite young children. It was looking quite spectacular when I visited last week.

It reminded me how we used to play under it every year.

There is nothing quite like the long purple flowers.

Six Word Story

Joining Miriam today with her short story. A levels are coming close now for many youngsters so I have chosen a picture to reflect our household and many more across the country.

                                         Reaching a GOAL is hard slog.

When Will I Learn?

 You know that feeling when you do something and immediately realise it was a bad idea? It seems that I will never learn not to chew on toffees. I guess the first time it happened I was at the Cinema or the old flea pit as we used to call it chewing lemon bonbons when out came a tooth. It didn't matter then because I was young enough to grow another one in its place.  On Tuesday though it was a large filling that left quite a large gap. I seem to recall a similar incident last year. Will I never learn? So yesterday it was off to the dentist. The result was bad news, double bad news. The tooth is fractured beyond repair and will have to come out and X Rays reveal a double hooked root which means a tricky extraction by another (expensive) dentist. Oh I am so thrilled!

 The plus side of the visit was parking in the beautiful Victoria Park and the lovely walk back to my car. The little glimpse of The Royal Crescent.

The lush green grass and trees.

Trees full of flower. I recognised the Horse Chestnut.

But can anyone identify this one?

I'm just beginning to wonder as well. How much does the tooth fairy leave these days? I'm pretty sure it won't be enough to cover my costs even if I do pluck up the courage to ask for my tooth back!

Snap: Through the Colonnade

I often like to take views through some kind of a frame such as a doorway or arch. Today I have picked out some pictures to join in with Helena's Snap that all look through the columns of a colonnade.

The first was taken on our trip to Highclere Castle looking back towards the magnificent house from the folly Jackdaw's Castle.

The next three were all taken on our trip to Greenwich and all of the imposing old Royal Naval College designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The weather was not good and it had been raining for a while which adds to the effect of this view from The Painted Hall towards the Chapel. 

The following two look towards the Thames from the Painted Hall.

Then from the Chapel.

Our Commonwealth Friends

I hadn't really intended to post any more pictures of the Queen's birthday pageant but a comment from Mary-Lou yesterday made me add a couple of pictures for her. Canada played an important part in the celebrations with the Canadian quartet The Tenors singing and The Canadian Mounted Police performing.

We saw them preparing in one of the outdoor arenas. Not quite sure what is happening at the back!

They gave a splendid performance to Maple Leaf Forever to a background of Canadian scenery, maple leaves and an image of one single bear quietly strolling around a banner screen around the edge of the arena.  I was too absorbed to take photos but have one of them collecting together with our other Commonwealth friends namely the highly entertaining South Australian Police Band and the delightful New Zealand Army Band.

Memorandum Monday: Once in a Lifetime Treat

Good Morning to Sian and everyone else on this beautiful May Monday morning. I am feeling a little blurry eyed this morning having not got to bed until nearly 3 in the morning but believe me it was worth it. Brian and I treated ourselves to a once in a lifetime experience yesterday which we have had booked since last November. We travelled to Windsor to see the Queen's 90th Birthday Pageant and what an amazing experience it was. Believe me if you saw this on the television it is nothing like seeing it live. There was so much happening in every part of the arena and stage it was totally absorbing.

I took a few pictures to give a flavour of the event which I am pleasantly surprised at the results. This does of course allow for low light, heads, arms and pillars. The first few show the troops gathering to welcome Her Majesty.

She was preceded by Prince Charles  and the Duchess of Cornwall. 

Then The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh arrived by carriage.

Perhaps one irritation at this stage was the press. Our seats were directly opposite The Royal Box and by an aisle. A handful of press photographers settled themselves on the steps by us with their huge lenses. They then proceeded to talk to each other speculating  as to who the guests in The Royal Box were and what they were wearing. The plus side was that I could glance over their shoulders and see the most remarkable close ups in their camera screens particularly of The Duchess of Cambridge (no surprise there). Fortunately they were shuffled out as the real action commenced. 

Here is a small taster of what we saw. I could have taken more but I wanted to totally take in every minute. The Coronation.

The Royal Cavalry of Oman.

The Fijian Armed Forces Band and Dancers.

The Queen's horses.

Highland Games and dancing.

A very special birthday cake.

The finale with Shirley Bassey singing Diamonds are for Ever.

Her Majesty leaves to waves, cheers and waving flags. This flag particularly badly placed!

We returned to our coach (not horse driven!) feeling totally satisfied with the floodlit Windsor Castle looking down on us and imagining that Her Royal Highness had already reached home for her evening cocoa!

We have many lasting memories that we have brought home with us.

The Kindness of Customers

Kindness often comes from the most unexpected people and often when you least expect it. I have talked about our customers before and mentioned the friendships that have developed. It is touching to experience the generosity of these people.

We are frequently given strawberries, raspberries and other fruit by different greengrocers who purchase potatoes from us. We are given magazines, cider, produce from people's gardens and all sorts. 

There is one couple who came for many years. They arrived every other Saturday for eggs and potatoes for all their neighbour's in Bristol. They always brought sweets and drinks for the children and a dog chew for each of the dogs. They were known for a long time as the nice people until we learnt their name. When they became older and less well their daughter brought them out. The gifts stopped as the children grew up but without fail the lady always had a handful of humbugs ready to hand over. Sadly she has now died and her husband is not well. He still sends his daughter out for their shopping and occasionally he comes too. 

Recently we have acquired some new customers who regularly buy our eggs for making bread. Today one of the two girls rang my doorbell with a large basket on her arm from which she produced two enormous, delicious smelling loaves of bread still warm from the oven.

How lucky we are to have such lovely customers.