Gloomy weather

I've had enough of gloomy weather. For two and a half days I could manage the justification that it's good for the garden, and if we were in Africa or the south of France (remember Elva's garden?) we'd be glad. But now I've had enough. Even though English weather has always been unpredictable and provides ready conversation for us, we still somehow feel that this half of the year should provide ample opportunity for all the summer clothes we possess. I wonder if anyone else finds that their wardrobe isn't really balanced. We ought to have loads more cold weather stuff and it should be bright and cheerful. I heartily concur with Trinny and Susannah that there is far too much black walking around out there.
But my sanity is saved by the memory stick posted through the door. I have a job that I enjoy, transcribing old parish registers, the wet weather equivalent to poking around in graveyards. Amongst the baptisms of many Johns, Marys, Elizabeths and Williams, came one called Hope, daughter of Richard and Penelope. Ah, I thought, some one with imagination at last. And hey, they were gypsies. So no wonder they were colourful. I wonder if the rest of the village looked at them Askance or relished the novelty.
There is Askance in our rural backwater at the moment. Someone is terrorising one chap by daubing scarlet obscenities on his fence, and the head of the parish council has had his tyres slashed. So even a small place free of drunken students has its problems, as the sparks fly upwards.

Chelsea Two

Plant lovers pics. Above the psychadelic part of
the Garden for George (Harrison)


I was gratified to see so much white.
These are my sort of colours And below is a garden
about WW1, hence the poppies.

Chelsea for Kids

Under fives are not allowed at Chelsea but here
are some pictures that might interest the kids.
The top one is part 'The Garden That Kids Really Want'
For ones that like fantasy and not for ones that want to
kick a football, like the fellow below.

Chelsea

I have been away. For Wed-Fri in London, and on
the last day the beneficiary of a complimentary ticket to
Chelsea Flower Show. It's like an art gallery with plants.
Here's a taster.


And some people you may recognise.

Who's that behind the amazing display of tomatoes and peppers?

Summer!

We went to the seaside! Eat your heart out all you landlocked people, or those hours away from the coast!
The intention really was to go and buy a Mister Shifta but to make a day of it we went to Llangranog and Aberayron, a town that some might think was Ballamorey with its multi-coloured houses.
The weather was amazing. Only mid-May and there were folks sunbathing, swimming, building sandcastles, slapping on the suntan lotion.


We even had a paddle. And might have gone further if we'd known to bring our cosies. As it is, we can say we've been in the sea for the first time in 2008.
















And we've booked our American air tickets for the 'fall'.

May

May is definitely my favourite month, the best time to be in England. And although it seems only yesterday I said it was spring, now we have summer. It would be churlish of me to wonder if this is it, and I do hope there will still be some good weather when the Tanzanian Family arrive in June.
Today we had a young family to lunch, well young by our standards anyway. Hurrah and hallelujah! We don't want to be stuck with just the old folks like some anteroom to the residential home.
Our young friends are twigs on the family tree, so they came to see the chart and scrapbook from the Family Reunion we had several years ago. Their children are very fussy eaters, so we had DIY pizzas with everyone making their own toppings. It taught me that a) making pizzas is dead easy and impresses the guests and b) if you don't put passata on your pizza it will never look cooked.
Now that the Head of Finance is taking an interest in my putative plans for America in the fall, things are hotting up.

Car Boot Sale

On Bank Holiday Monday, we took our surplus-to-requirements items (not the blue picnic table) to a car boot sale on the riverside meadow. It was in aid of the village hall, but we gave our profits to the local church. It was a great way to get to chat to people and there was a good crowd because the weather wasn't good enough for gardening or sunbathing. We still haven't parted with everything, but there's another sale on Saturday, so maybe...........................
Meanwhile today has been lovely weather and we've been working outside all the day. The veggie bed is dug and about one third sown. But, blah and double blah, the temporary dental filling I had last week, came out and more tooth with it. So I have to make time to visit the dentist again, which wasn't on my list.

Claverley

I took a trip down Memory Lane last week, although my memory wasn't quite up to it. I took an elderly lady (even older than me, that is) to Claverley. It's the village where she raised her family and where I used to go to stay with my very first schoolfriend. I can't say I recognised a lot. Then we visited a mutual friend and reminisced about people we had known. It's a very bizarre feeling, exhuming a part of yourself and bringing it into the present. I can't decide whether the past is really a place better left unvisited or if I am resolving something, somehow.
The good part is that I have the feeling that these links have a purpose, although hazy.