Five on Friday

Hello everyone, thank you for your kind comments left on my last blog post.  I haven't been able to reply individually this time, but they are appreciated as always. Thank you to everyone who visits my blog. Whether you leave a comment or not you're welcome.

As it's Friday I'm joining Five on Friday.  Amy at Love Made My Home blog hosts the link-up. Thank you Amy.

Showers and sunshine in the Walled Garden:

On two occasions this week when I've been in the walled garden next to the library in the park I took some photographs as I like to record what's been happening each season. On one day there was the evidence of the rain that had occurred in the morning and on the second occasion it was sunny.

 

showery weather

 a variegated periwinkle in flower

 and then a sunny day

  a tree peony  (it's a huge specimen)

 More gardens and flower photos:

More tulips!

Below - a part of our daughter's garden which she created

 from a plot covered in gravel when she moved into her new house
just before Christmas 2014.  

A home improvement project:

More working from a ladder this week for Mr. P. as he replaces two of  the beams and some sheets of corrugated plastic that forms the roof of the covered way.  The original roof which he had constructed a few years ago was beginning to leak where the roof joins the garage gutter. All this had to be done quickly in case it began to rain.  Thankfully we've had a couple of dry days. The next job was to clean and start repainting the woodwork.

My groups:

This week there were two meetings to attend at Sheffield Anglican Cathedral, one to plan future events and one just to socialise. I miss our church fellowship groups when we're away and also the study groups I go to and I'm glad to get back to them.  A new monthly group for those who enjoy reading has been formed at our local library which had the first meeting whilst we were in Italy and I'm thinking of joining it.

The photography day course in March was a good one.  We were given advice on techniques to produce more interesting images before going out into the city streets to take photos that we shared with the group on our return to the library.  (Below) were some of the photos I took in the area around the Winter Garden and in the library. They show the sort of images that we were asked to take after being given three specific assignments that demonstrated what we had learnt. 

Reading:
I found this interesting book in a charity shop for less than £1. It's a collaboration between Rob Talbot and Robin Whiteman and credit must go to the photographer Rob Talbot whose superb photographs enhance the book. There are chapters on the character of Brother Cadfael and his companions in the monastery, his role in the monastery as a herbalist and Benedictine monasticism. Other chapters describe the background history and locations in which the Chronicles of Brother Cadfael are set with extracts from many of the books in the series.

My mother also enjoyed Ellis Peter's books especially the Brother Cadfael series and I've inherited her collection and also have some of my own.  I've read most of the earlier books in the series, but intended to start again to remind myself of the times in which they are set. The books cover the period 1137 to 1145.  I haven't got far with my reading plan. For the moment I shall probably reread the companion book A Rare Benedictine, a slim volume of 150 pages, "introducing the mediaeval sleuth" which gives an account of Cadfael's life before he entered the monastery at Shrewsbury.

A walk around Isola del Liri again

Isola del Liri. It's one of the local towns that we often go to because there are two favourite caffé on Corso Roma where we can sit by the river and then take a walk down to the castle and waterfall.

On a warm evening when some of our family are with us it's even better.

However, on a sunny day in the first week of April we sat for a while by the fountain in the area outside the gelateria enjoying a drink before taking a stroll by the river to see the waterfall from a different viewpoint.  The area around the Municipal Town Hall, which is next to the gelateria, is gradually having a makeover, but there's still more to do.  I wandered up the side street attracted by the colourfully painted wooden boards around the construction site, but then turned back and didn't take any more photos as an elderly lady was sitting on her doorstep and I didn't want to intrude.

The old factory where paper was made using the force of water from the waterfall to produce power to drive the machines has now been opened up to the public. There are steps up to a first floor storey of the old block of buildings and a galleried walkway leads to a viewing platform.  Here you can get a different view of the castle, the waterfall and a tantalising view of the gardens above (not open to the public).    

Students from a school in a nearby town have painted murals on the walls of the gallery with the themes of water and the old paper manufacturing industry.

This mural with its bird's eye view of Isola del Liri shows clearly how the river flows through it and surrounds the town.

The walkway through the old mill exits into a courtyard and the viewing platform.

A family group were taking photos of the view and moved over so that we could do the same.  A girl in the family party offered to take a photo of both of us. (I've had to lighten them) and we started a conversation in English as well as Italian.  They too were out for a stroll before lunch and this local girl was taking family visitors around the town.  She told us a little more about the project to renovate the historic building which will take time and money to complete.

The 12th century fortified palace, the Castello Boncompagni-Viscogliosi, was later owned in the 17th century by Duke Giacomo Boncompagni, Constable of the Castello Sant'Angelo in Rome, who married Constanza Sforza. They both had papal connections through separate family lines. It was Constanza who beautified the castle with the commissioning of sumptuous decorations and frescoes and created the formal gardens in the grounds.

The two photos above taken when we've been there in the earlier months of the year is a reminder of how spectacular the force of the water can be at certain times and how useful this must have been to power machinery. There's another waterfall at the other end of the town which I wrote about here.

It was a good drive out before returning home for our own lunch.