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.

Witley Church

Found this video of Witley Church. Take a 'wee peak' to quote, if your computer is up to it.

Treasures

We had an outing, our first since coming back from holiday.
We visited this church which I remember from childhood.

It has a Baroque interior, flamboyant in gold and colourful pictures. The whole interior once belonged to a palace in London, but many years ago was brought here to Great Witley.

We chanced to be there at the same time as a tour guide who pointed out things we would have missed otherwise, such as one of the cherubs is a Downs child, the only such portrayal in England, maybe the world.

It was very beautiful, architecturally if not spiritually. I am studying 'treasures' in the Bible. 'To the Hebrews', says my commentary, 'stores and provisions'. Yesterday I felt I was given some treasures, personally designed. I was brought a memory stick with images of local church registers ready for transcription; I had a letter from a young cousin interested in my booklet about my grandmother; the books I had ordered arrived at the village library; we had friends for coffee. And all for free.