Our week

Despite the stormy weather we've been out and about this week with some opportunities for me to do some short walks.  We've been thankful to have the car running smoothly as we've decided to start doing our own shopping and get out more when the weather is suitable.

I've also done some of the cooking of our evening meal and tried a new recipe of chicken and vegetable noodle soup. A cake was made last weekend for when our daughter came to visit and it's served well with some extra topping for Valentine's Day and for the rest of the week. :)

Yesterday I noticed that the daffodils in the garden are in bud.  Many are in a sheltered spot by the wall so they're behind with flowering compared with other sites in the neighbourhood.

daffodils by the churchyard wall

After doing the food shopping yesterday Mr P drove me up to the parish church as I was sure that the snowdrops would be out in the churchyard.

It was uplifting to see the cross of snowdrops in the grass had flowered once again this season and I had caught the snowdrops at their best. 

In a few weeks time the snowdrops will be replaced by the daffodils that were planted some years ago.

The rhododendron tree is flowering again too.  In the distance you can see the vicarage.

 New lamps have been installed along the path leading to the church door.

The style is in keeping with the Victorian age of the church.

There was evidence of the strong winds that we've been experiencing lately, but thankfully so far there doesn't seem to be reports of any damage here in the immediate neighbourhood.

Thank you once more for your visit to my blog.  Take care and I wish you a peaceful weekend.

August Days: Chatsworth, Derbyshire

I've been away from my desk and the computer except to download and edit photos of our family times this month. Our daughter has gone home now and we enjoyed her company.  Other members of our family came over for the day and on other occasions we went out to local places of interest where we could walk and take a picnic into the Yorkshire or Derbyshire countryside.  A highlight was a pre-booked visit to Chatsworth House Gardens which we had wanted to return to.  It's always a delight to wander around the gardens and parkland there.  Mr P stayed at home whilst our daughter drove us through the Derbyshire countryside to Chatsworth Estate.   On another occasion Mr P drove us to a village where we could take a short walk along a public footpath into the vast country estate of Chatsworth. We also celebrated belated birthday occasions with exchanges of gifts and had an early pizza party bbq for Mr P's birthday which was this month. Gardens and flowers nearly always feature in my blog posts!

I'll share more soon.  Meanwhile here are a few photos of our August days. My lightbox slide show is not working at the moment although I've switched on the settings. Instead I've enlarged the scenic photos.  Enjoy!

The Cascade, Chatsworth

The Wildflower Meadow at Chatsworth House

a walk on Chatsworth Estate (a farm building)

                                                       

Thatched cottages in the village of Baslow.

a special meal out with our daughter D

                                             

                                                 

a bouquet of flowers from our other daughter M

Thank you for your visit.  Have a good day!

Our week

We live in the north-west of our city close to high areas of moorland, but these days we don't venture there when we know that there'll be deep snow drifts and narrow lanes like switchbacks that look down onto the valleys below.  However, our daughter drove out to meet a friend on Sunday afternoon and sent us some photos of what it's like up there.  Under the restrictions we have to stay local right now and can only meet or be with one other person in an outdoor setting to get some fresh air and exercise.  The time spent has to be under socially distanced conditions.  The two friends took the friend's dog with them for their walk and he loved the wide open spaces, of course.

I've been out for walks a couple of times this week and I'm glad I took the opportunity to do so when I did as today it's really cloudy and not the sort of day for taking photos which I like to do in order to record where I've been during this time when often our routine is similar from day-to-day. Yesterday the sun was shining, the sky was blue and I knew that the local reservoir would be a good place to go especially as it's only a short drive from our house.  I'll show you more of my walk next time.

I've been waiting eagerly for the first lot of crocuses planted in pots to start opening because of the warmth of the covered yard and the sunshine that appears from behind the clouds now and then.

The snowdrops in the garden have survived the snow.  How resilient they are despite being delicate looking flowers.  

These are the ones in the churchyard where I walked on Monday and they particularly seem to thrive in the sheltered areas under the trees.

Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day marks the beginning of Lent in the Christian calendar. As usual I made some pancakes as part of our evening meal.  In Italy different types of special biscuit or sweet pastries are served at this time.

Finally, this is the embroidery that I'm working on at the moment.  It's taking me quite a while to do and I realise that it's nearly a year since the embroidery set was gifted to me, but it keeps me occupied in an afternoon when Mr P and I sit and relax. 

Thank you for coming by.  Have a peaceful weekend whatever you're doing.