Our Week

There were several medical appointments this week.  We had to walk some of the way so I tend to get fixated by the weather forecast.  Rain, sunny periods, foggy mornings we've had every sort of weather lately.  We rested at the weekend after having our covid booster vaccination on Saturday, but on Monday we went out again as Mr P had an appointment at the city hospital physiotherapy department.  I went with him for a change of scene. Unfortunately the high-rise car park attached to the hospital was closed so we had quite a trek to find a metered parking space on the main road nearby.  Thankfully as we approached the hospital we saw some staff members and asked where to go as we were rather lost.  Coincidentally they were walking back to the physiotherapy department themselves so they put us on the right track for the department we wanted.  From there on the appointment went well as the physiotherapist was pleased with Mr P's progress after his hip operation in 2020 (just before the pandemic caused so much upheaval everywhere).  Another walk was necessary to get back to the car before heading home.

city centre scenes - City hospital, The Children's Hospital, students' football pitch, a new building for the Science Department attached to Firth Court Science Wing.

Firth Court (poster) Firth Court is an Edwardian Grade II listed University of Sheffield building which forms part of the Western Bank Campus.

On Wednesday as well as other errands I walked in the local park, the Walled Garden and took unread books back to the library.  

 

the rose garden

a eucalyptus tree in the rose garden

There are still many grey squirrels scampering around hunting for food.

the library

From the library I walked over to the florist's as I wanted to get a green oasis ring to construct an Advent Wreath.  I love going into a florist's shop as the buckets of flowers are so pretty.  The florist was very helpful when I explained what I wanted.  She found a used ring that could be recycled which I bought for a couple of pounds and the transaction suited both of us.

Here is my Advent Wreath.  I've used greenery from the cypress hedge, artificial holly berries and bought some LED candles.  I shall light a candle on each of the Sundays leading up to Christmas and I'll also light the Advent Candle for the 24 days before Christmas Day (below).  On Christmas Day the Christ Light in the middle of the Advent Wreath will be lit.  

Today the sun is shining and there are blue skies. I'll probably go out for another neighbourhood walk this afternoon.

I hope you're all keeping well.  Thank you for your visit and for your comments each time I post a blog update.

   

Books To Be Read

The last of the hydrageas were pruned by Mr P 

and I arranged them in the Italian vase.

We've been pottering at home as there's still plenty to do tidying up in the garden, but on Saturday I did manage to get to the library as there were books to take back and others to collect.  It was a quick turn over as I took books back unread.  I've not been in the mood for reading.  As well as being short-sighted with the need to wear prescription specs my eyesight is blurry due to ongoing problems that cannot be treated. The posterior vitreous detachment is something that I'm constantly aware of since retinal detachment can happen and is a more serious condition.  If I get flashing lights the issue needs emergency treatment, if that's at all possible during these days of having to go through a slow process to get medical appointments.  I only mention this because I've no idea what a clear-sighted person sees when looking at my blog post photos. They could be too bright or too sharp.  Hey ho. Thankfully I trained to touch type so writing my blog posts isn't such an issue. Blogging is a blessing since it keeps me motivated and in touch with all you lovely blog friends.  

It seems silly to go to the library to get more reserved books, but the regular routine is good for my wellbeing.  Here are the new books I got on loan last week:-

The Robert Galbraith and the Alison Weir are thick tomes!  I shall leave them for now.  Maybe The Ink Black Hearts featuring the private detective Cormoran Strike will be televised sometime?  Television drama is easier for Mr P and I to watch, being a visual medium and we have a fairly big television screen.  

I've started The Gardener.  It's written by one of my favourite authors.  I've read a little and already I'm finding it an interesting read. Here is the blurb:-

Artist Hassie Days and her sister, Margot, buy a run-down Jacobean house in Hope Wenlock on the Welsh Marches.  While Margot continues her London life in high finance, Hassie is left alone to work the large, long neglected garden.  She is befriended by eccentric sharp-tongued Miss Foot, who recommends Murat, an Albanian migrant, made to feel out of place among the locals, to help Hassie in the garden.  As she works the garden in Murat's peaceful company, Hassie ruminates on her past life:  the sibling rivalry that tainted her childhood and the love affair that left her with painful, unanswered questions. As she begins to explore the history of the house and the mysterious wood, old hurts begin to fade as she experiences the healing power of nature and discovers new worlds.

I like the cover art, Woman with Poppies by Edvard Munch painted c. 1918-19 (copyright AKG-Images) and the fact that on the back inside cover Dame Eileen Atkins says "I would love to play Miss Foot".

The other book I shall read before I attempt 'the tomes' is Humble Heroes: Inspirational Stories of hope, heart and humanity.  Ben Shephard has compiled a book of stories about the inspirational people he has met during his time as a television presenter, their acts of everyday heroism such as the friend who runs marathons for charity and roped Ben in with him to raise money for children with heart conditions, the man who is fighting for our right to safe housing and the founder of an equestrian school who helps trauma survivors as well as many others who are making a difference in their communities.  Ben Shephard says in his last paragraph,  "As for me, now more than ever I am primed to see heroes wherever I go - so much good in the world, so many great deeds being done.  In that way writing this book has changed my life".  I'm sure it'll be an uplifting read.

Once more thank you for your comments, our connection through blogging together and most of all for your own inspiring lives.  

Have a good day!  

Our Week

On Monday the highest temperature around here was recorded on the instruments housed in the fenced-off lawned area in our city's Weston Park and it read 35.7C.  Thankfully since then the weather has got a lot cooler and we had rain overnight on Thursday and during that morning.  Now we're back to cloudy weather and it's quite humid.   

Mr P had an appointment with the physiotherapist at the city's main hospital on Monday and we were very thankful for the air conditioning in the modern building.  The appointment was to assess Mr P's chronic back pain and mobility since he finds it difficult to walk far even though his hip replacement operation in 2019 helped somewhat.  We're thankful that general mobility around the home and driving the car is not too much of a problem.  As well as the assessment he was shown some new exercises to do at home with another appointment booked for September.  

Our journey back home took us passed Weston Park and I realised that on this extremely hot day a degree ceremony for finals was about to take place in Firth Court which is one of the science faculty departments for the University of Sheffield.  Students and guests were having a good time and I'm sure they didn't mind it being a very sunny day. 

 

Mr P's produce in the vegetable patch is coming along nicely as are the tomatoes in the greenhouse.  We have cauliflowers and a quantity of French beans were collected along with ripe tomatoes.  Cauliflowers and beans will supplement evening meals and we'll be bottling the tomatoes with many more that will be added into salads.

The first of the figs are also ripe.

Yesterday we went to the place where we bought our second hand car this time last year.  Our little Fiat passed the Ministry of Transport test and it's another reason to be thankful. 

As I've mentioned before I've been reading quite a few historical novels and some non fiction ones written by academics who specialise in the Tudor period.  They've primary source material that they can study.  The Tudor nobility were, on the whole, literate or had others in their employ that would read or scribe for them, do accountancy and land management for them. Historical novels are also interesting as authors use their imagination as well as their research to create a sense of the period involved.  I've been following some of the real life courtiers during Henry VIII's and Elizabeth I's time.  After visiting Kenilworth Castle The Marriage Game by Alison Weir I found interesting.  The novel is about the close relationship Elizabeth I had to her favourite courtier, the Earl of Leicester.

The Brandons are another family I've found interesting.  A non fiction account by Sarah-Beth Watkins about this family The Tudor Brandons and another, Charles Brandon, Henry VIII's Closest Friend by Steven Gunn, were fascinating reads as was the non fiction book written by David Baldwin, Henry VIII's Last Love: The Extraordinary Life of Katherine Willoughby, Lady-in-Waiting to the Tudors  Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, married Mary, one of Henry VIII's sisters and then when he was old by today's standards married his ward, fourteen-year-old Katherine Willoughby 1519-1580 (young by our standards) who was the daughter of a Spanish lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon. Thankfully Katherine Willoughby escaped the attention of Henry VIII.  A devout Protestant she remarried after Charles Brandon had died, but she had to flee the country because of her strong religious belief along with her second husband, Richard Bertie, one of her household. (She was still young when she married Richard Bertie). From the account it sounds as if they had a stressful time trying to cross the English Channel and then going from pillar to post as they travelled across several countries where they stayed with contacts sympathetic to Protestantism. In England Queen Mary I who had succeeded her father, Henry VIII, considered devout Protestant believers to be heretics. They were made an example of by being burnt alive tied to a stake - a fate which happened to many of Katherine's associates who stayed in England.  I'm sure she was thankful when Protestant Elizabeth I became queen and she could return home.  Other stresses that these Tudors went through were the loss of children in infancy as happened to Katherine or childbirth complications.  It's amazing that she lived to the age of 61 when the average life span in the 1500s was much less and, of course, she had a comfortable life compared with most people of that time.  From the account it sounds as if she was a strong character and indeed was an extraordinary woman of her time. 

Staying indoors trying to keep cool as well as accompanying Mr P on his outings this week have been  priorities.  We hope to relax over the weekend and although I'm slow with my reading (or crafting) I still have plenty of library book loans to get on with at the moment.  I, Mona Lisa  will be the next and will take me into the world of Leonardo da Vinci's studio. It's written by another author, Natasha Solomons, that I like to read when something new by her is published.

Thank you for your comments on my last blog post.  I hope you have a good weekend.

Flowers

Hello again.  I hope you're all keeping well.  As for us here in our corner Mr P and I have been mainly staying home.  We've had rainy days and then when the sun has come out it's been bitterly cold and I haven't felt like going out for a walk because my painful knee has returned.  On occasions there have been medical appointments to attend.  Recently I had a routine bone scan appointment at a nearby hospital and now I'm waiting for the results of that and a blood test.  The appointment was at a local hospital where the buildings are dotted about the acres of ground.  Even though I had a map I got lost and had a bit of a panic attack.  Two kind paramedics came to my aid and then helped me back to the entrance gate where Mr P had dropped me off.  Eventually Mr P arrived with the car and all ended well.  I thought I had got myself under control, but now realise that I need to go out-and-about more to get back my confidence especially when in unfamiliar situations.

Some things that have brought me cheer are flowers and company.  The above mosaic shows a beautiful bunch of mixed flowers and a bunch of daffodils that were given to us by visiting family members.  Our grandson and his girlfriend passed by on their way back from visiting relatives in north Yorkshire.  They made the effort to drive up from Berkshire.  The last time we saw them was in October and it was good to see them again.  Our local daughter brought the bunch of daffodils with the weekly shopping that she does for us.  Gradually the buds opened and the golden flowers gave us a lot of pleasure and hopefully passers by enjoyed the displays of bouquets that I put in the front window.

Photo edit watercolour painting effect.

Despite the bad weather garden birds have braved the cold and are active again.  I've seen a pair of robins in the garden and took a photo of one of them.  The bulbs are beginning to pop up too (mainly the ones in pots in the covered yard) and there are snowdrops and hellebores appearing.

There are Spring bulbs coming through, succulents are flowering in the pots on the kitchen window sill and wallflower seedlings need to be separated and grown on.  

Mr P likes growing his tomatoes and starts quite early in the season.  Above are a few of the trays on the back living room window sill.  Thankfully they're responding to his nurturing, the light and indoor warmth.

Thank you once more for visiting my blog.  I'll be catching up with your news very soon.  

Monday Miscellany

Hello again.  I hope you had a good weekend. Ours was another quiet one, the highlight being our daughter and grandson coming around for our socially distanced chat. I made a chocolate cake that they could take home to enjoy.  

Fortunately the weather was fairly warm for such a time, but I'm beginning to appreciate how important it is to have dry weather on these social chat occasions and during times when out-and-about after an experience last Friday when Mr P and I had to stand outside the doctor's surgery. There was the arrangement of one in one out, a locked front door, the need to phone from a mobile to get the receptionist's attention or knock on the medical centre window, give the time of the pre-booked appointment etc). Afterwards it was the same situation at the next door pharmacy in order to have the prescription processed and medication collected. The reason for all this was because Mr P's painful, swollen knee (the same leg as his hip replacement) had not improved. We've been reluctant to bother the doctor, but because of complications after the surgery and because the physiotherapist's and consultant surgeon's appointments have been cancelled for the time being we decided to phone the surgery receptionist.  A doctor called back and asked some questions and Mr P was given an appointment for that afternoon.  Basically after the checkup he was told that the knee is in stress. He has one leg slightly shorter than the other, an inherited condition that was going to be adjusted during replacement of the other hip.  Pain management, a balance of rest and exercise is the only solution to Mr P's knee problem similar to what has been advised for my knee issue. To be honest I'm thankful that we don't have to go out on a regular basis into an environment such as our Friday experience, although we were grateful to get a consultation and advice. We have the luxury of staying at home or going out for exercise at our convenience. I'm aware that key workers are having to go out and I'm thankful for their efforts to keep things going in our society.

Here are some mosaics of photos I took on last Thursday's walk where I saw some pretty flowers and trees in people's gardens.

Camellias, laburnum, rhododendrons, roses, wisteria are now in full flower. Others are growing in flower beds or spilling over stone and brick walls and fences.

Here are a selection of the animals on the wooden statue near the shops. Interestingly, the front of the statue is more weathered than the back.

Thank you for your visit.  Have a good day!