Flowers in July

Thank you for your kind comments after my last blog post.  I'm glad to say that the members of our family who were ill are better now.  Our local daughter and the rest of the family have helped us from afar by keeping in regular touch.   Recently our daughter M who lives locally was able to visit us once more and gave us a beautiful bouquet of  roses and lilies.  It was our 58th wedding anniversary last month so I arranged the flowers in a vase and placed them near a favourite photo of Mr P and I relaxing in the garden which had been taken by our granddaughter.

The weather is a lot cooler now in the UK and there have been frequent rain showers, but in other European countries and in the United States I understand that extreme weather conditions have caused problems of drought and wild fires.  It must be very worrying to be living in such conditions.

I took a walk in the park and saw the patches of wild flowers that the park staff  had sown near the library and rose garden earlier in the year.

In our own front garden the row of sunflowers grown by Mr P from seed have all done well.  There have been rain storms and strong winds, but they've survived.......

....... and there are many new flowers in the covered yard and indoors.

The grapes are developing in the greenhouse along with courgettes and other vegetables.  Hopefully we'll get some sunshine soon to ripen the grapes.

Thank you for coming by.  Have a good day!

June Days

Yesterday marked the Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere and it was the longest day of the year.  It was so light that at 4.30 in the morning I couldn't sleep.  It has been very warm at night and I've been in the habit of getting up early and pottering about in the garden.  Looking out of the bedroom window towards the north east I marvelled at the sky with the colours being so vivid.

An hour later the sunrise had gone, but the sunshine continued throughout the day as it has done for many days now.

It was our wedding anniversary on Sunday and we were sent many cards and given gifts to mark this occasion and for Father's Day that occurs at the same time during our special weekend. I re-potted the beautiful calla lily and set out the cards on the mantel shelf of the dresser.

On Sunday our local daughter M invited us to her home for a light high tea of chicken in breadcrumbs or sea bream and salad followed by a dessert of refreshing mixed fruit salad.  We were joined by our granddaughter.  The rest of the grandchildren who live far away were, of course, with their own families. (No photos, but as you can imagine we enjoyed being together).  More gifts from the family with an Italian theme - wine and chocolate biscuits from Carluccio's food counter and also an indoor pot plant from our granddaughter.

We've yet to celebrate our wedding anniversary by going out for a lunchtime restaurant meal, but there'll be photos to share when we do.  

Meanwhile we're enjoying our garden and buying new plants to put in it.  Yesterday afternoon was another gardening day in the sunshine.  The white cosmos will be planted in the 'white flower border' near the white roses and foxgloves.  The pelargoniums have been put into a planter that contained Spring bulbs and the white alliums.  The alliums are now going to seed, but they're still looking pretty.

The 'Happy Anniversary' rose our daughter D gave us a few years ago has produced many flowers with more to come and is, therefore, a delight to see in our June garden.

I hope that you're having a good week.  Thank you for coming by. 

P.S. I've had more issues with Blogger.  I apologise for any inconvenience you might have regarding leaving a comment.

Linking with Riitta's blog at https://floral-passions.blogspot.com/

Mother's Day

We continue to have mild, dry weather and there's plenty to do in the garden and covered yard area.  I'll write more about gardening activities in March on my next blog post.

Yesterday, on Mothering Sunday/Mother's Day we had calls and messages from the children and grandchildren.  Our Berkshire daughter D took flowers to put on the family graves before going out for lunch with her own family and friends.  At our home our son came to visit and we were able to sit out in the garden after our lunch (an oven roast and chocolate mousse cake).  He brought some cup cakes that a friend's children had made and gave me a beautiful scarf.  I do love my collection of scarves.  It's light in weight, soft and long and I shall enjoy wearing it. 

Well, this is all for now.  Thank you for coming by.  Speak again soon.

This and That on a Monday

Hello again.  I hope that you had a good weekend.  We had rather gloomy days weather-wise.  I had intended to go out for a walk, but in the end it didn't happen. There was the usual housework and some shared cooking (layering up lasagne sheets in a baking tray).  Mr P made the tomato sauce and I made the topping of white sauce flavoured with parmesan cheese. Most of the time we just pottered, watched the Remembrance Services and the Lord Mayor's Parade televised broadcasts from London, Strictly Come Dancing etc.  I do find I get a melancholy feeling at this time of the year.  It's mainly because of the gloomy weather, not being able to walk out so much because of the cold and also I feel sad about conflicts of any kind. 

I did a bit of reading and embroidery although I can't spend too long on close work now.  I  have quite a few craft projects in my sewing basket and I thought I would start on one of the easier ones.

I like to follow an outline rather than do free form stitching.  This pack that the grandchildren sent through the post a while ago when we were in lockdown is simple as the stitches are mainly straight stitch, outline stitch, French Knot and Lazy Daisy stitch.

This is what it should look like when it's finished and then I shall have to find a frame.

As this blog is also meant to be a personal record which I find useful because it's easy to forget past events I'm still thinking of our time in Reading.  The above flowers were bought to take to put on the family graves at the municipal Henley Road Cemetery in Caversham - parents, grandparents and my uncles are all in the oldest part of the cemetery.  We also bought some slate chippings to refresh my Uncle James' grave (Little Jimmy who died when he was knocked down in the street outside school.  It was a tragic accident that I've written about before). I'm thankful that our daughter or her children who live in Reading visit the cemetery and put fresh flowers on the graves.  

We saw some woodpeckers by the family graves.  They were next to the fence that separates the cemetery from the parkland of the former British Broadcasting World Service building and the birds must spend time in one of the oak trees in the grounds as I went to take a look over the fence and could hear them there when they flew off when we approached.  Daughter D identified them as green woodpeckers.  They eat insects they find in the earth.

We saw mistletoe berries there too.

To finish off here are some images of the Oxfordshire villages we drove through on our way back home. 

a church built of knapped flint at Stoke Row near Henley-on-Thames

the War Memorial at Cookley Green

a black and white timber framed cottage, Watlington

The Market Hall, Watlington, built by the Stonor family in 1663, refurbished in 2013

A Remembrance Day display, Watlington

Stopping at roadworks in Watlington allowed me to take more photos. To the extreme right is the entrance to Watlington Methodist Chapel.

more brick and flint

Back at home the bouquet of flowers that was given to us by Berkshire grands are still looking fresh and lovely.

There's a lot to share with you regarding the garden in November.  That will have to wait for another day.  

Meanwhile, thank you for coming by.  Have a good day!

Flowers and Stitching

I love being surrounded by flowers and plants and the month of May was an exceptional month for them in different forms.

Our granddaughter arrived on my birthday with a bouquet of flowers that had been bought by her on behalf of her cousin and his girlfriend who live far away in Berkshire.  She thought I would like a bright selection.

Our granddaughter and her boyfriend also brought us these orchids.  Aren't they a gorgeous colour?

From our daughter-in-law I received this cushion that she had made decorated with crocheted flowers. The embroidered panel had once been given to her by my late mother and it was thoughtful of her to incorporate it into the design of the cushion. 

Above, if you look closely you'll see Bobby, our granddaughter's first soft toy dog.  Because of much cuddling the top of his head had become worn and his eye needed a few stitches to secure it in place.  She asked me to do a few repairs on him.

I darned the delicate net fabric covering the soft material and stitched on his eye. (Before and after photos). When our granddaughter comes to collect Bobby I'm sure she'll be pleased with the result and also happy to have him back with her again. 

Here is the embroidered tablecloth that I showed you in my last blog post.  Now I shall start another project as I have two different tapestry pieces to work on.

May has been a good month for rhododendrons and these are the ones under the birch trees in the local park.  It was a damp day.  When I came out of the library I found that there was drizzly rain so I didn't stay long to take photos.

This little robin came and landed at my feet.

Yesterday our eldest grandson and family came to visit on their way up to see the other grandma who lives further north in York.  The sun was shining and after lunch we had a lovely time in the garden.  No photos of the family this time, but instead a photo of the pot plant (a bromeliad) that they gave us.  We were also given a stand for the mobile phone that we can use when we do face-to-face phone calls.

Thank you for your visit.  I hope you have a lovely June.  I understand that it's officially Summertime!