How does your Garden grow?

How does your garden grow?

Mine`s grown! Yes, my garden has suddenly grown bigger.

I looked at it on Tuesday morning and it was the normal size, when I looked at it again on Wednesday evening it had grown a lot bigger! I don`t mean the plants, flowers and shrubs have grown bigger, (although some of them have). The whole size of the garden is bigger.

No, I`ve not moved house, I`ve not taken down the fence into my neighbours garden, I`ve not knocked down any sheds, greenhouses or anything.. so, what has caused this amazing effect?..... I`ve had a narrow path taken up and a wider one put down, sounds as if it would make the garden smaller doesn`t it, but, instead of having it put down where the old one was in the centre of the lawn (well, if you can call it a lawn, its more moss and weeds), its been laid at the side of the garden, and the centre where it was has become turf, making one whole area. The result, it looks much bigger.

Infact, I could consider making a putting green in the lawn now…. anyone fancy a game?

Diagnosis

Well, for any of you who think I`m an odd creature, (and I think that about myself very often!) this might explain or confirm it. When this was said to me this afternoon, I thought am I hearing right and I asked him to repeat it, but yes I had heard right. "You`ve got policeman`s heel", he said.
So, if you see me suddenly stand in the road and start directing traffic, you`ll know why, I`ve got some policeman`s heel in place of my own!


[What was he referring to? - the pain in my foot that I wrote about the other day. Apparently that`s the name for it, as well as it having a complicated name that I can`t pronounce, let alone spell.]

Time and Tide

Time and Tide wait for no man, so they say. Well, it doesn`t seem to wait for this woman either!

A large event which I take part in each year is in July. Now, when you say July it sounds ages away, yet, all at once it`s just about here. It`s crept, or should I say, rushed, towards me and caught me out again. Every year I say to myself I`m going to get all my things prepared and ready in good time, so that I`m not doing a lot at the last minute – and what happens – yes, the months fly by and the weeks speed on and suddenly it`s almost the end of June, and I`ve still got a lot that I want to do. Yes, “want” to do, not have to do, there is a big difference. All the essential "have to do jobs are done", it`s the extras that I want time to do. So, will I get it all done in time? I hope so.

If only I could slow the time and tide down a bit, that would help!! Any ideas how to do that?!

Trumpet blowing!

I`m feeling quite pleased today, and not being one to `blow my own trumpet` I want to share it, so am going to write it here.

I think I put in my blog a few weeks ago about the changes that had taken place on the ownership of where I work, well one of the new owners had a chat with us all individually today, and I was paid a lot of compliments by him, including being told that my area of work was the one they`d found in the end that they had to spend the least time with, as I was the most organised person he`d come across, to being told that they`d like me to take on some of the more involved paperwork that they`ve been doing up till now.

It is nice to know that you are appreciated for the work for the work you do, isn`t it.

Balance

I`m wishing I could be like this bird and stand so easily on one leg to take the weight off my heel and foot that hurts. (and No, before anyone wonders, I`m not excessively heavy!)
Wonder how they manage to stand like that for so long without toppling over, must be very useful.

Milk Bath!

It`s no use crying over spilt milk - or so the saying goes.

Well, I`m not crying, but I`ve just been busy mopping up spilt milk.

Having taken some milk out in a beaker for our picnic flask of tea, I had the remainer of it standing on the work top in the kitchen whilst making a drink for supper. I`d reached across it to get the kettle, made the drinks, put the kettle back, all safely without knocking it over, then.... taking a tea bag out of the mug (yes, I lazily didn`t make tea in the teapot!), the beaker of milk somehow must have got caught by the spoon, because I heard a splosh and felt my skirt get wet, my slipper and my foot get wet and the floor got a nice covering too!

What I`d like to know is, why does a quarter of a beaker of milk seem like a pint when it`s spilt?!

Mid Summer?

So today was mid-summer day. Has the summer really half gone? it doesn`t really seem to have arrived here yet.

Looking up mid-summer customs I came across this:
In antiquity midsummer fires were lit in high places all over the countryside, and in some areas of Scotland Midsummer fires were still being lit well into the 18th century.. It was a time when the domestic beasts of the land were blessed with fire, generally by walking them around the fire in a sun-wise direction. It was also customary for people to jump high through the fires, folklore suggesting that the height reached by the most athletic jumper, would be the height of that years harvest.

Have you lit a fire and jumped over it today? I wouldn`t dare, I`d probably land in it!

Mysterious pain

I`ve got a pain in my foot, well in my right heel to be exact, and I don`t know why. It just appeared yesterday. I`ve not knocked it, tripped over anything, walked into anything, dropped anything on it, done nothing to cause it. It hurts when I stand, walk or put any weight on it, but yet I can press it and touch it and it doesn`t hurt. So what caused it? What is it? (old age???)

It`s a mystery to me. I just hope it disappears as quickly as it came! I can`t keep on walking about on tiptoe with one foot and normally with the other. And that`s not as easy to do as it sounds!.

Stapler purchasing

I had the need to purchase four staplers recently. Easy I thought. Look through the Stationery firms catalogue, select the most appropriate for our needs and price range, ring up the company, quote the relevant item number and tell them the quantity required, other items required, delivery address etc. I picked up the phone, rang and got answered straight away! The job done in a few minutes. Sat back and wait for delivery.

Next day, duly as promised a box arrived from the firm, I opened it, unpacked it – yes everything was there….except the staplers. Rang the firm again, “oh, didn`t they tell you` the girl” said “they come direct and will arrive in the next couple of days”. “Ok then”, I said.

The following day the box arrived a huge box, 24 inches x 15 inches x 9 inches (if you not like me that works in inches, that`s 62x39x23cm!), I opened it – in it sat one lonely stapler, 15 inches x 3inches x 2 inches (39x8x5cm) looking rather lost in such a big box.

So, another phone call to the firm “there`s only one on the order” they said “No, I ordered four”, I replied, “we`ll send you another three” said the girl. Two days later, another box arrived – same size as the previous two boxes. Opened it – and – yet again just one stapler. So I went through the same process, rang the firm, (glad it was a free phone number!), got transferred from one department to another, in the end “we`ll send you the other two”. (no apology).

And, today another box arrived – still the same size – and…. I could hardly believe it ….. there inside were….TWO staplers. Hurray!, at last my order was complete.
But I`ve also got 4 enormous cardboard boxes to get rid of – what a waste.

Who would have thought it could be so complicated to buy 4 staplers?

Longest Day?

It`s the Longest Day today, or, should I say, it’s the Shortest Night.

But when you sit down and think about it, today has 24 hours the same as any other day, so in some senses it must be inaccurate to say today is the longest day, when twenty four hours make up a whole day. To be correct we should be saying 21^st. June is the day with the longest DayLight hours, but then again that can depend on the weather, can`t it? If it`s a dull, cloudy day it always seems to get dark earlier than sunny days do – or is that just my imagination?

So, if today has the Longest DayLight hours and 21^st. December the Shortest DayLight hours, I wonder on which two days the hours of light and of dark are exactly the same? It must happen, mustn`t it? And it must be two day, one as we approach the winter and one coming up the other side into spring.

Blankness

What drivel am I going to write today, I don`t really know!

Why is it, that when I`m not sitting here with a keyboard at my fingertips and a screen of blank whiteness in front of me, that I can think of lot of things that I want to say and share. Yet as soon as I have time and sit here, I can`t remember what it was I thought of earlier in the day to write about?

It`s the same too when I`m in the company of other people, beforehand I`ll think, I`ll say this, or that, or ask them xyz….etc., but as soon as I`m with them I clam up. It`s so frustrating. I`m afraid too that it makes me seem unfriendly, and that`s not how I want to be.

Still, it`s given me something to write about after all.

God our Father

Is political correctness going crazy?

I`ve been reading in a newspaper recently an article which is asking people leading Christian church worship to avoid calling God "Father".

Was this some modern or secular newpaper? - No, it was a weekly Christian newspaper - The Methodist Recorder.

It really makes me wonder what the country is coming to when such suggestions appear. If Jesus, God`s son taught us to call God "Father", as in the Lord`s Prayer, what right has anyone to say that we shouldn`t refer to God as Father? Or worse still, are that saying that God isn`t God?

It`s enough to put me off going to church, if human beings make changes like this, to fundamental issues.

"Deliberate Mistakes"

I know when typing how easy it is to get letters round the wrong way, and always try to "get away" with it, by congratulating the person who points it out, as finding my deliberate mistake in the item I`ve typed. So, I was interested and pleased to come across this piece of text !

"Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe"

Wonder what would happen if I did the wlohe of one of my reoprts, lettres and mintues lkie taht? It would be interesting to try, and see what comments I got!

When is a chip not a chip?!

Who would have thought that a potato, peeled, cut into sticks and fried could taste so different?

One evening this week on coming home from a shopping trip we fancied some chips, a treat we often indulge in, if we`ve been out, or to a meeting or come home in the evening from a day out. So we headed for the fish and chip shop in the town, that we usually patronise, only to find that we were too late, it had closed for the day. How disappointing.

But, on driving down the High Street on our way home we spotted that the new recently opened fish and chip bar was open, so in I went and got two portions of chips. After all, chips from chip shops although all slightly different are much the same, or are they? On starting to eat these they weren`t at all to our liking I don`t know what the shop had done to them, but they didn`t taste like chips, their texture wasn`t like chips – it was really disappointing.

Whatever they`d done to the poor potato, I don`t know!

Saying (5)

I saw this the other day,

“For every minute your are angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness”

true?

How do they do it?

I`ve been following the progress of the Supergeese on Springwatch on the BBC television, and how amazing it always is to me that birds fly so far, and how do they know the way? Even, so the programme said, chicks that had hatched this year of some species of birds would be migrating many hundreds of miles on their own.

But, my question is, how do they know where to go, and when, and how?
Another of the wonders of nature isn`t it.

Inspired to Plant

Having lived in the hottest part of the country this last weekend, or so the newspaper said, it`s been a relief today to have a shower of rain and to feel it a bit cooler. But, the sunshine and heat made me think, maybe summer is here.

I looked round the garden and it looked quite dull, plenty of greenery and growth but very little colour, so I felt inspired enough today to go to the nearby garden centre and get some plants, which I`ve now spent all afternoon planting into pots and containers. The result – the garden looks far more cheerful, bright and summery. So, I consider that an afternoon well spent, and out in the fresh air too.

And, if they flower really well, I may post a photo of them in a few weeks time – so watch out!

Dumplin

Another scene from my walk last night. I love to see reflection in water, and last night with the sun and the still water, they were very clear.

Sailing Barge

On a beautiful evening today, I went for a walk at a favourite place of mine. The tide for once was up and there were many boats out on the water. In particular it was a treat to see this old Sailing barge actually sailing up the creek, normally I`ve only seen it anchored on the mud with the tide out. To see it actually in use amongst all the new and modern craft was lovely, it had an elegance and presence all its own.

Sport

Having written yesterday about sport and priorities. I think I should enlarge on it today.

It`s not the actual sport and games that I think are totally unnecessary, its the money spent on them. I can see many advantages in playing games - the obvious one of the exercise one gets, the learning to work together as a team, discipline of following and obeying rules, etc.

Taking football for an example, as it`s the hot topic at the moment, teams are named as the town/city they live in, so why don`t they have a ruling that the members have to be from that place, having lived there for say 5 years or so before they can join the team. That way, it would eliminate all the thousands of pounds spent on `buying` people in. It could also make it a fairer game, as surely at present its the case of the clubs with the most money having the best players. And the money the wealthier clubs have could be used to help charities and others in need.

And why change the design of the outfits they wear every season or so, making it expensive for those who want to dress the same (especially children), to keep purchasing new clothes. Is it that the sports people have shares in clothing manufacturers!

Strange priorities

Listening to the two top stories on the news at lunch time today. It really made me question the way in which money is used and spent in this country. (and maybe in other countries too)

The first report was the good news that a drug has now become available to help with a certain type of cancer, but… the health service were saying that if they prescribed this for everyone that would benefit from it, they would probably have to make cuts in other services to finance it.

The second report was all about the World Cup, teams travelling, all the fans arriving etc…

How much does that all cost I wonder? And then there`s all the associated activities and the “must have” accessories too.
What good to people do things like that do, what`s use the winning of a cup, when people are starving in countries or dying for lack of medical care because of lack of funding?

Strange isn`t it how money can be found for sport and other non-essential items, yet not for medical and life saving needs.

Moved

I now have full admiration for anyone that moves house or home!
It`s taken me over a week to organise changing all my office/workroom with my bedroom.
A "knight in shining armour" came one afternoon this week to move furniture from one room to another for me, and he did it completely on his own, I thought it would need two people to lift and move some of the items, but in a couple of hours he had it all completed, including installing a new telephone socket for me.
So, I now sleep in my office room, and my bedroom, which I`ve had since a child is now my office room. I`ve got piles of papers and boxes of things still to decide where to store. But, at least I`m back to Blogging.

Amusing sign

Maybe it`s my pictorial imgination, but often signs along roadsides or on noticeboards and buildings bring amusing scenes to mind, for example, one I saw this week said.....

...All our customers will be put in a raffle today.....

Now, I could just picture a huge cauldron type vessel standing in the middle of the floor and every customer that entered the building being thrown in there, until it was chock-a-block full and at the end of the day one of them was picked out!
(What they would do with all the rest, I didn`t dare think about!)

Evening Out

It was enjoyable to meet up with a couple of friends to attend a preview of Flower Festivals entitled “Embrace the World” in the two Cathedrals in Norwich yesterday evening.

We started with a walk from the city centre to the Roman Catholic Cathedral, a place I`d never been into before. After an hour walking round looking at the modern flower arrangements (glass of champagne provided - not that I tackled that!) there was a “short” opening ceremony/service. What narrow hard seats they have in that cathedral!

It was then time to move on to the Anglican Cathedral to view their linked Festival. An open-top double decker bus was provided, and we bravely climbed on to the top deck, gosh, was that wind cold up there! Several laughing comments were heard to be said that people driving past in cars, must look up and think us mad, sitting there mid evening, with the cold wind blowing, but we made it to the Anglican Cathedral, and started to view the 100 or so Arrangements. Our ticket said that the event was from 6.30 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. and that refreshments would be served at 9 p.m. Getting about three-quarters of the way around the festival (at 8.30 p.m.) an announcement over the speaker system informed us all that refreshments were now being served. We made our way to where they were, expecting to find a light buffet (having paid well for the tickets), but – disappointment, there was just red and white wine, orange juice and a waitress with a tray with a half dozen canapés on.

Having drunk our orange juice and having had nothing to eat, we returned to view the rest of the Flower arrangements, the whole purpose of the evening, and….. what did we find…..they`d locked the Cathedral for the night, the time – 9 p.m. !

Everything at once

Why is it, I wonder, that one can go weeks and weeks without anything different happening to the routine of everyday life, and then when events occur, they all happen in the same week and the same days?

I`ve been to an event with some friends this evening (now, that`s unusual for me - I never go anywhere in the evenings), tomorrow I`d booked to go shopping with someone else, and then in the evening tomorrow I`ve got a dinner with some workmates to go to. Now that`s something that really doesn`t appeal to me, I don`t like eating as late as 8 p.m. in the evening, but I couldn`t nicely say no to this one.

Three events in two days, why couldn`t they have spaced themselves out!