Once Upon A Time.............

There was a little yellow door in this tree, suddenly appearing around Christmas time...... a little fairy door. The local children brought gifts of tinsel and tiny Christmas decorations and took obvious delight in opening and shutting the little yellow door. Then in the New Year, disaster struck and the children were really disappointed to see that the door had been removed along with all the decorations.

What wicked person would destroy a fairy dwelling like that?

However, within a couple of weeks the fairies had moved back in the tree, only this time, there were three little doors and a window. Three little patches of lawn with rabbits grazing on them also appeared.

The little doors not only appeal to children as I have seen little old ladies opening these doors and taking delight in going back to their childhood fascination with fairy things.

I really hope that the fairies can be left in peace this time and not be evicted like before. 

Who knows, they might go on building up and up into a huge multi-storey dwelling place.

Easter Week Already

Copyright: Maggie May

I have this Celtic cross on a dividing wall of my garden and I can see it from the window while I wash up. This Easter, the Campanula isn't out yet but I thought the photo I had taken previously would be a fitting one to put on my blog over the Easter period.

The weather has been very up and down..... going from cold, wet and miserable to sunny and mild and then back again.

I do like this time of the year, with the nights and days exactly 12hours apart. The promise of warmer weather and better things.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Easter. 

A Different Sort of Mother's Day

Yesterday was Mother's Day in England and I spent it in a rather unusual way.

Not so much in the morning because I went to church as usual and all the females received a chocolate in the shape of a heart. In fact all the males received one too, which was unusual.

After I made some lunch, I decided to sew badges onto bags for the Brownies in the local pack where I help out once a week. Why choose Mother's Day to do it, as it would take several hours? The day outside seemed a bit dreary and rather cold.

 I really celebrated Mother's Day on Saturday because I'd gone out with a friend by bus to the nearby town of Portishead, where they have a pretty Marina with little boats lined along the canal and it all looks a bit continental and has some lovely walks around it. There is a lock at the far end and boats can head out to the sea when the tide is right. There seems to be a 40ft tide so that makes it inaccessible most of the time.

We'd wrapped up very warm as it was sunny but extremely cold. I really enjoyed the day and came home healthily tired. I noticed the post had been when I entered the house and my daughter had sent a lovely card. She'd already given me a present when I last saw her that was too big and heavy to send by post and I'd been very pleased with it.

My son rang up and asked me to meet him for a pub meal further up our High Street, so I perked myself up and off I set to meet him and the three girls for a Mother's Day treat. They gave me a card that everyone had signed and we had a very enjoyable meal together. 

I'd thoroughly enjoyed my day.

So that is why on Sunday, I decided to have a quiet day sewing for the Brownies. I found it relaxing while I listened to the radio.

Sometimes the best things don't cost a lot.

Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining

The storms go on. We've been hit by yet another one (unnamed this time) with sudden gusts blowing things over and making a mess. I don't think I've ever known a February like it.
I was wakened frequently last night by the windows being buffeted and we're double glazed.
When the children were really small and we first moved into this house, the single glazed windows really rattled in windy weather like this and I can remember having to stuff rolled up newspaper between the gaps in the ancient sash windows. Not that it made much difference.

It's a pity that the weather is letting us down, as Bristol has been having lighted window trails round the city, where people have decorated a lit window or two with all sorts of things from beautiful summer scenes to gruesome things and a whole range of things in between. The windows are beautifully lit up at night and its been lovely to walk round and see them...... except for the weather, that is.
It really isn't very inviting outside right now and it's a challenge to go far.
Spring must surely be on it's way. The nights are lighter though..... there's usually a silver lining in the cloud and the lighter nights are certainly that.

Where's My Recycling Gone?

We've had to endure Storm Gertrude, Storm Henry and worst of all, Storm Imogen. This last one hit the South West hard and blew my bins over, completely sucking away all my carefully separated waste from the collection box. So I apologise if any of you have my waste on your property. It's no where to be seen in my location and as far as I know, flew out to sea. 

Who names these storms, I wonder?

There were several discarded umbrellas on the High Street that had blown inside out and it was difficult to stand against the wind at times and the rain came down like stair rods (as we say in England).

I braved the storm to go and meet a friend in town. I think we both needed a medal as we could hardly stand up against it, but we both decided that we could be waiting for ever if we waited for the weather to turn.

Anyway, the spring flowers continue to peep out of the snow. These aren't mine, by the way but are just typical of what is to come in a couple of weeks time.

All is peaceful today and we've had sunshine that forced me to put on my new varifocal sunglasses when I went out walking. What a wonderful invention these are.

Today is the first day of Lent. I'm not giving up anything this year but intend to give an extra 15 minutes reflection/prayer time instead and see if that is any better than breaking *no chocolate* intentions.

Does any one give up anything for Lent or maybe try to put something back?

Brewing Storms and Technology

I've just been out to look at my garden and there are definitely spring bulbs peeking through, which is heartening to see. 

According to the weather forecast, tonight we're due for a storm but it will be at it's worst in Northern England, Wales and Scotland so we might escape it here in the West. Today was sunny and dry. Everything has gone crazy weatherise. 

My American friend in Washington DC, rang me a few days ago and told me how they were under 2 feet of snow and that everything had come to a complete standstill.

Nothing surprises us anymore and yet we still talk about the weather, don't we? Britain is renowned for it.

This week I had an eye test and a new pair of varifocal glasses which have made a good difference to my far sight and I also visited my Oncologist who told me that my recent CT scan showed improvement in my hip fracture and no other worrying problems were noted.

My son had an amazing dental filling that was made to measure by computer. 

We're certainly gaining by all this technology. None of it would have been possible when my parents were alive.

I don't think I'd go back to the *old days*, would you?

Waiting......

After weeks and weeks of rain, it's now turning very cold even though the sun shines quite often. 

Although I'm hoping it won't snow and get icy, purely because of the practical problems of getting around without falling, I always think that once we get towards the end of January, it's not going to be long till the Spring, my favourite season. Already we have bulbs peeping through the soil..... tulips and daffodils.... months early. I think Nature is quite confused.

I try to keep the bird feeders topped up as occasionally I get flocks of sparrows visiting and then nothing happens for some time and I wonder where they've gone.

It's good that the days are slowly getting longer and the evenings are noticeably lighter.

I've soon got back into my routine of being back on my own after all the company I had over Christmas. It's surprising how soon that happens even though I felt quite weepy when I first arrived home after my holiday with my daughter and then she went home.

Winter seems to be a time of waiting. Waiting for warmer weather and I'm waiting for the results of a CT scan, waiting for the chance to visit the sea again, waiting for ideas about which way my life should go now. It's a time of expectancy with hints of hope and promise.