Not being a person to like feeling enclosed and trapped, I didn`t venture into the maze, but enjoyed the freedom of walking in the open air, feeling the breeze on my arms, seeing the unusual plants and flowers. There were very few people there, so it was really lovely, peaceful and a place to pleasantly spend an hour or so, a place to escape to. Here are a few pictures I took there.
Something that I always marvel over when I touch them, is feathers.
A colleague passed this on to me, so I thought I`d share it on here......
The day finally arrived. Forrest Gump dies and goes to Heaven.
He is at the Pearly Gates, met by St. Peter himself. However, the gates are closed, and Forrest approaches the gatekeeper.
St. Peter said, "Well, Forrest, it is certainly good to see you. We have heard a lot about you. I must tell you, though, that the place is filling up fast, and we have been administering an entrance examination for everyone. The test is short, but you have to pass it before you can get into Heaven."
Forrest responds, "It sure is good to be here, St. Peter, sir. But nobody ever told me about any entrance exam. I sure hope that the test ain't too hard. Life was a big enough test as it was."
St. Peter continued, "Yes, I know, Forrest, but the test is only three questions.
First: What two days of the week begin with the letter T?
Second: How many seconds are there in a year?
Third: What is God's first name?"
Forrest leaves to think the questions over. He returns the next day and sees St. Peter, who waves him up, and says, "Now that you have had a chance to think the questions over, tell me your answers."
Forrest replied, "Well, the first one -- which two days in the week begins with the letter "T"? Shucks, that one is easy. That
would be Today and Tomorrow."
The Saint's eyes opened wide and he exclaimed, "Forrest, that is not what I was thinking, but you do have a point, and I guess I did not specify, so I will give you credit for that answer. How about the next one?" asked St. Peter.
"How many seconds in a year? Now that one is harder," replied
Astounded, St. Peter said, "Twelve? Twelve? Forrest, how in Heaven's name could you come up with twelve seconds in a year?"!
Forrest replied, "Shucks, there's got to be twelve: January 2nd, February 2nd, March 2nd... "
"Hold it," interrupts St. Peter. "I see where you are going with this, and I see your point, though that was not quite what I had in mind....but I will have to give you credit for that one, too. Let us go on with the third and final question. Can you tell me God's first name"?
"Sure," Forrest replied, "it's Andy."
"Andy?" exclaimed an exasperated and frustrated St Peter. "Ok, I can understand how you came up with your answers to my first two questions, but just how in the world did you come up with the name Andy as the first name of God?"
"Shucks, that was the easiest one of! all," Forrest replied. "I learnt it from the song, "ANDY WALKS WITH ME, ANDY TALKS WITH ME, ANDY TELLS ME I AM HIS OWN. . "
St. Peter opened the Pearly Gates, and said: "Run Forrest, run."
Give me a sense of humour, Lord.
Give me the ability to understand a clean joke,
To get some humour out of life,
And to pass it on to other folk.
I had a calamity out in the garden this afternoon. I went out there to have a quiet sit in the sun, well I should say in the shade, a simple enough thing to do, take my book, get a chair out of the summerhouse, then get the garden umbrella to put up.
I first checked all round the outside of the umbrella when I got it out of the shed incase there was any spiders on it, but no, all clear. But, then on starting to unfold it a largish spider dropped out almost on me, so I instinctively jumped quickly out of the way and made sure it ran in the opposite direction to me!
Then, as I got the umbrella partly opened, I spotted a bee in the inside top of it, which suddenly dropped off - again I jumped to avoid it getting on me and in the same instant I got a downpour of water over my foot and skirt!, for a second I couldn`t think where it had come from. Then I looked down and saw there was a fair size hole in the base of the umbrella stand, and I realised, I must have jumped on the base which was a kind of plastic and I suppose had got brittle over the years it had been out in the sun, and my foot had gone through it breaking a piece off, and hence the water shot over my foot.
So there I ended up sitting with the umbrella propped on its side, more like a wind break, but at least it kept the sun off, with a wet foot and skirt! How glamorous!!
(Still, I`m not a very glamorous person anyway, so it didn`t really matter.)
I went for a walk yesterday evening, along by a creek. It was beautiful, the sun was out but a nice breeze kept it from being too hot. There were only very few people about and it was so peaceful.
Getting quite a way along and coming to an end of the path I stood on a kind of beach area totally alone, and just took in the wonder of all about me. It was just flat marsh land, creeks and inlets, and openness. So much space and quietness.
The sun went slightly behind a cloud causing me to look up at the sky, and I am so glad I did. I just stood and looked and looked. There were a few clouds, mostly fluffy white ones, and but one or two others in shades of grey. But the sky seemed to have a special quality about it, the blues and turquoise were so translucent, and I got a great sense of the shape of a dome covering me, and all round me, as I could see the sky touching flat land all round which ever way I turned. (In some ways it made me feel as if I was in one of those snow-storm dome ornaments) I felt totally covered and secure beneath this beautiful dome. It had me mesmerised as I stood there, just looking and taking it all in.
I was watching some starlings outside the other day. They certainly have brains!
There were three of them, and one had a piece of bread or food of some kind in his beak, naturally the other two birds wanted it too, and everywhere that he went to try and get away from them, they followed him. The poor thing couldn`t put the food down to eat, because as soon as he did the other two were there trying to snatch it away from him. They must have been frustrated too, I suppose that they could see food and couldn`t get it. Anyway, one of them began to lose interest and went a bit further away, but it was the other one, that caught my attention.
I`ve had a smashing time today! I`ve broken 15 eggs.
I`ve been to another Flower Festival today, this time in the town on Downham Market. It was entitled “Invitation to a Wedding”, and along with all the displays were wedding dresses of ladies who had been married at the church. It was interesting to see the different styles of dresses from the 1930`s up to the 2000`s. But, one thing that I noticed was that surely a wedding is between two people – a man and a woman…. yet there was not one arrangement that had any sign of the man!
Well, as I said a few weeks ago I`d show you some of my pots of plants, here there are, blooming well.
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?
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?!
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.
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.
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!.
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?
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 21st. 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 21st. 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.
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.
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"
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!
I saw this the other day,
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.
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!
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.
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.
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…
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?
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
Why, oh why, do we hoard so much? Or, is it only me?!
Despite setting out with good intentions to get rid of a lot of items, when it comes to it, can I really bear to part with it?... but, then again, realistically if it`s sat in a cupboard for fifteen years or more and I`ve not needed it, will I really need it in the future?
Decisions, decisions.
Some might wonder why I was writing about moving house yesterday. Well I`m sitting here looking around me, at all the clutter – useful clutter, I hasten to add!, which I will soon need to move.
No, I`m not moving house, but I`m moving rooms. My bedroom is soon to become my office/workroom/retreat room, and my office/workroom/retreat room my bedroom. And then my bedroom, being bigger will have room for the luxury of a nice double bed, instead of my single one, and should be able to be more of a comfy retreat room than my office/workroom/retreat room. I`ve ordered the bed (good price in a special half price sale yesterday), so now just have to find two or three people to help move the furniture. But, before they can do that I need to clear away the clutter. And, I feel at the same time, like having a spring-clean of some of my hoarded bits and pieces to make a fresh start.
So… that`s all for today…. off to the cupboards and drawers…!
I`ve never moved house. I live in the same house that I was brought into as a tiny baby. I wonder how many other people could say that. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to move house, to start afresh in new surroundings, maybe in the same town, or maybe somewhere completely different. To have the chance to start a life of my own.
Well, the season for Flower Festivals seems to have started again. Looking at the listings of events for today in our local paper there were many to choose from, but I hadn`t time to see them all, so I went to see one at a village church this afternoon a few miles from where I live. It was depicting different countries and was quite colourful. This is one of the arrangements from it that I particularly liked.
What does your car like eating?
Mine eats CD`s!
Even the men at the garage today couldn`t persuade it to give up my disc. So now it means it will have to go to the garage to be taken apart to try and get it out.
Having just been watching the Chelsea Flower Show on televison. I enjoy seeing all the different gardens, but then I look out of the window at my back garden, and oh dear, what a difference. My lawn, if you can call it a lawn, isn`t just smooth green grass, its full of daisies, buttercups, wild violets, dandelions and weeds!, and no matter what I do, they keep on coming back again and again. My borders haven`t neat tidy edges, they`ve adjusted to the shapes of the shrubs growing in them. There`s a good crop of weeds that keep recurring however many times I pull them out, especially the bind weed which is such a nightmare that I always end up giving up on it. Oh, well, I suppose I can dream of having a garden like those one of these days, but I don`t know when!
What am I waffling on about you`re probably wondering by now…. Well, I`ll get to the point. For over thirty years of my working life I`ve had a man as the boss, and that has seemed right and proper. Then things changed and a young lady became the boss, straight away the whole atmosphere in the workplace changed, in with her came her mood swings, favouritism, and a high-handed attitude. To try and be fair to her, maybe she had taken on more than she could cope with, but she wasn`t going to admit it, and that may have been why she acted as she did, but, it wasn`t a happy atmosphere.
Being one who likes taking photos, I couldn`t resist trying out this test to see what it said about me! Here`s the result. Like most of these things, some of it is surprisingly accurate, but some just `isn`t me`. I`ll leave readers to work out what bit isn`t me.
You're camera shy but canny!
Say cheese! Oh go on! We can tell that you're the sort of person who tends to be happier behind the camera than in the picture itself. You may envy those photogenic people who always seem to look radiant in photos regardless of the situation, but the truth is that you've got one up on them.
We can tell that you're one of life's observers who pick up on interesting information and gossip just by looking and listening instead of planting yourself in the middle of the action. We also know that you're not shy all the time. In fact we bet that you can party with the best of them when you're in the mood to let your hair down. You just don't see the need to over-expose yourself!
I`ve got something that I want to share, that I want to talk about, yet because of what it is; how I feel; I can`t really tell anyone. Why not?, I guess because I know it`s wrong, that I shouldn`t be like this about it. And others would be shocked to know it.
So, I`m going to write it down here, maybe that will help.
And I don`t know what to do about it.
Happiness is…..
….. time to relax
….. a leisurely walk by the sea
….. being free to do as I want to do, without any ties
….. a holiday with friends
….. cooking just for me
What trust.
This mother duck was sitting on the edge of the lake with her two baby ducklings beside her, just a foot away from were we were walking, so I couldn`t resist taking this photo of them.
Travelling about last week, I saw so many beautiful aspects of this wonderful place that we live in, 
There were fields upon fields of sheep with new born lambs, cow with calves, winding streams, wide stretches of moorland quiet and still without a person or traffic in sight, woods full of bluebells,and of course the coastline with mile upon mile of golden smooth sand and the sea out in the far distance, at other times the tide up and lapping against the shoreline. 
Walking around a large lake, wild flowers abounded in the grassy banks, and ducks with their ducklings slept right alongside where we walked. The sun shone, it was really hot some days. It really makes me wonder why people need to go abroad, when there is so much to see in this country.
Where has the last week gone to, it doesn`t seem seven days since I set out in the morning for a weeks holiday, but what a really lovely holiday I`ve had with my friends. As soon as I walked through their door, I forgot all about my parent, home, work and everything and really relaxed for the whole week.
One morning having a long walk around a lake with C; on another morning, a wander along to the nearby row of shops with her. It was so good to have someone to walk with, and to walk at my speed! Then after lunch we`d have a ride out to somewhere. On other days going out about mid-morning with them, having a picnic lunch in the car, visiting some interesting places, villages etc., then back for tea and an evening just sitting watching tv, or reading - all just quiet and peaceful. Just what I`d needed. A time of not doing anything really out of the `ordinary` yet just “being”, not having any responsibilities, being accepted for the quiet person that I am.
I feel so much better for it.
It really was time to just be “me”.
A pile of my photos all taken recently in spring- time. Look out for more photos after my holiday!
