Past Christmases

Hosted by Cecily and Honey Mommy

Photos copyright: Maggie May

As I have said before, this Christmas will be like no other because I don't know what to expect or how I will feel after chemotherapy. I have to be at the hospital by 8.15 am to start the treatment on Tuesday. My daughter and the grandsons will be here this Sunday and we are hoping to have a chicken roast on Monday just in case I feel too ill to eat over Christmas. I will enjoy a glass of wine with it as I don't suppose I will be allowed to drink or even feel like it from the next day onwards.

So I have been looking through old photos of Christmases past. The younger grandson in the above picture put on two Christmas hats.He must have pinched the second one from his brother. He certainly had a triumphant look on his face.

This one was taken a good few years ago when the oldest granddaughter received a microphone for Christmas and she practiced being a diva for days. She was only here for a short time and had to go back to Japan again after that. It always caused me great distress to say goodbye.

Here she is again showing off....... the same Christmas.

The picture below shows the wonder of Christmas to a small child (same one again) looking at the lights. I think this one was taken when they lived in Japan.

They are flying out to see their other grandparents on Christmas Eve. They will be sadly missed. However when they are here, the other grandparents miss them too, so it seems that one or the other of our families are going to be sad some of the time. Can't be helped.

Photostory Friday is hosted by Cecily.

The Birds!

Hosted by Cecily and Izzy 'N Emmy

All photos are copyright of Maggie May

Wherever I seem to go there is a beady eye staring at me. In fact we are never very far away from seagulls or pigeons where I live.

I went for a day trip by the sea not long ago and a woman I got talking to on the way home, told me that she had had to go and buy a new top because a seagull had pooped all over the one she had on, as she said it was impossible to clean herself up with tissues or wet wipes.

I have often been pooped on by these birds and felt this splat of warm nastiness on the top of my head. Now that IS a horrible experience.

Once when visiting St Ives in Cornwall....... a beautiful seaside town, Harry had a seagull poop down his glasses and it was like thick mud that couldn't be wiped off properly. He ended up going to the gents and the assistant made him pay to go in. "I only want to wash off this mess from my glasses," He complained.

She had no sympathy whatsoever and insisted that he payed his money even though he didn't want to use the toilet. He was quite peeved about that.

While we were on that same visit, we saw seagulls snatching ice creams from children and terrorising them. Aggression in seagulls is not uncommon.

Pigeons are often fed and this encourages them to flock into the cities. So it's no wonder that they are everywhere because we humans throw down so much food.

Isn't it strange that it is completely frowned on to feed the common variety of feral pigeons but quite acceptable to feed the wood pigeons that frequent our gardens? They seem so much more respectable somehow.

Some people are really afraid of fluttering birds and will go right out of their way to avoid them. I know someone who is absolutely phobic about birds of any kind and she avoids them at all costs because to walk through a group of pigeons would cause her absolute panic. She is a very brave lady in every other respect though.

The pigeon in the picture below, even made a plant pot into a nest and the owners were using the pot as a window box. Cheeky thing staring into the front room, like that!

Photostory Friday is hosted by Cecily. Do look her up to see some really good photos and stories.

Home On The Canals.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Photos are copyright of Maggie May.

A few weeks ago when my daughter and the two grandsons were staying with us, we decided to go to Birmingham to meet the boys' other grannie and we ended up at the Black Country Living Museum.

This was a lovely place to go and there were many houses and shops depicting life as it would have been in late Victorian times. In fact there was a little village with several streets. All these buildings had been dismantled from somewhere else and had been reconstructed just how they used to be in this little village. There were actors on the streets and we listened to little disputes mostly between mouthy women. I really felt that I had been transported back in time.

In the streets there were skipping ropes, metal hoops and hopscotch games to try out.

There was even a canal and we came across this authentic house boat complete with lady dressed as she would have done when these long boats frequented English canals.

I love the art on these traditional metal coal scuttles that were used to store the coal that lit the tiny stove in the minute living space. The houseboats were pulled by horses along the tow path and when they had to go through tunnels, the horse was taken over land, probably by a child and some strong fellow had to lie on his back and walk along the top of the tunnel to propel the boat through. I expect everyone had to join in as the boat would be heavy.

In the photo below, I managed to get a picture of the living conditions below deck and how it would have looked years ago, when families of many children had to live in such cramped conditions as in this tiny bedsit.

I sometimes think I am badly done to, but realize how lucky I am having so much space in my ordinary terrace home. How could any family manage to bring up a family in such a small place?

Photostory Friday is hosted by Cecily. For more interesting stories and photos why not visit the link?

Visiting Jill's Garden

Hosted by Cecily and Chris

All photos are copyright of Maggie May.

Practically everyone in Britain will remember Jill Dando, the journalist and TV presenter who was famous for programmes like Crimewatch and Holiday, Breakfast News and Six O'clock News. She was gunned down and murdered outside her home in April 1999.

This caused a wave of shock throughout the country as she was a very popular person.

There was a team of make over gardeners on BBC TV around that time, called Ground Force, led by Alan Titchmarsh. Some time after her death, they televised one such programme changing an old rose garden in Weston Super Mare to a beautiful garden in memory of Jill, for she was from that town and had spent her childhood there with her family.

This is a general view of one side of the garden. The blue pagoda type trellises and obelisks provide support for plants and give colour when there isn't much in flower. There are fish in the pond and some lovely water lilies.

And this is the other side of the garden. Luckily there were no other visitors at the time I chose to take photos, as it can get rather crowded.

This was a specially made plaque depicting Forget-me-nots, for obvious reasons. There were shadows of leaves falling across the plaque that obscured the picture a bit, but I liked the effect of this so did not change it for a clearer one.

There were Alliums peeping out from behind a pagoda and it was so difficult choosing just a few pictures for this post. I took many more than I needed.

I think the garden is very special and often go there and sit and reflect. A place of tranquillity and beauty, though it has many visitors and Weston is very proud of it, as they were proud of Jill. Rightly so.

Photostory Friday is hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek. Well worth a visit.

The Tub Tree

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

All photos are copyright of Maggie May.

Well obviously it isn't a real tub tree but a giant stand with tubs of plants hanging from it.

I first noticed this strange sight when I was visiting Weston Super Mare and I had to stop and take a photo.

Two weeks later, I was there again and the flowers had really opened up during that extra time in the sun.

You will notice how much bulkier the tub flowers had become and how the tendrils had grown from the displays.

There were lots of people about and quite a few were snapping photos, so I really had to wait to get mine. It was a very crowded street.

The photo below was taken at the same time as the top one and when I took these two photos, I thought they looked really lovely, having no idea how much difference it would make to their appearance waiting a couple of weeks. I am really pleased that I did retake now.

Photostory Friday is hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek. Why not look them up?

The Unexpected Beauty

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Photos the copyright of Maggie May.

Not long ago, I was walking along a very dismal path. To my right, there was a car park with a dividing chain linked fence. To my left were ugly buildings spattered with graffiti. I had to walk through this stretch in order to get to the much better place that I was visiting.

I suddenly spied a stretch of wild poppies that had seeded themselves all along the chain link fence. They seemed hardly noticeable at first but when I looked down and zoomed my camera into their midst, I suddenly realized that nestled amongst this ugliness, these poppies provided some real beauty.

Life is like that. Good things are always nestling against bad things and sometimes you really have to search hard for the beauty in a situation. It is always there though if you look hard enough.

Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his spendour was dressed like one of these. Luke 12 v 27. NIV

Photostory Friday is hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek. Look them up for some great pictures that tell a story.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

These photos are the copyright of Maggie May.

I am not saying that this photo is good, but a Passiflora Caerulea, (Passion Flower), is a good plant to have climbing up a trellis. The flowers only last a day, but they are prolific and eventually turn into an orange fruit. I don't think they are good for us to eat, though the slugs love them.

There is a legend attached to this plant that is quite interesting to read. You can find out more here.

I'm not saying this is a really bad photo but it was rather dark in the doorway when I took these unusual sculptures on my way into the covered market and it was not something that I was expecting to see. A skeleton and a crocodile made of metal was too much for me to miss and I whisked out my camera.

I wish I had realized that it would turn out too dark at the time I took the photo as I am sure there would have been a night setting.

Both the crocodile and the skeleton have the reputation of being bad! In children's books anyway.

Now I admit to this being a really ugly photo. No doubt about it!

You might well ask what Maggie May was doing with her foot on a banana skin in the first place. Had she gone really nuts this time?

My daughter told me that a banana skin rubbed on a verruca several times a day, would get rid of it without needing to go to the chemist or the doctor. I am not sure what the result is really, as I only ever tried it the first time. The smell was not too appealing and the skin did go a bit mushy. The banana skin, that is!

I will focus on doing this regularly and let you know the result. In the mean time, the verruca hasn't got any worse, in fact it has shrunk a bit! Maybe it isn't a verruca, who knows!

Photostory Friday is hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek. Look them up for some really good photo stories.

Rest A While

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

These photos are copyright of Maggie May.

I often describe going to my local seaside resort and this is where we sometimes end up having a sandwich while we look out to sea. If we are lucky, the sea is right in, if not it looks miles away and leaves stretches of muddy sand.

We like being here anyway, wherever the sea is.

We quite enjoy sitting in this lovely place. On a good day, it is sunny, if not it is sheltered.

We can't really lose however the weather turns out to be. Except for rain.

Thats the one thing that would upset the apple cart.

Photostory Friday is hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek. I think it would be worthwhile to pay them a visit.

Graffiti!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Graffiti........ You either love it or you hate it. Looking at this scene by the waterfront I'm not sure what I think but I feel that if a wall doesn't belong to you, then you shouldn't paint on it.

The City of Bristol has its share of people leaving their stamp on blank walls and buildings, some of it very ugly and rubbishy, though in some areas there are designated places for people to use for graffiti and this seems to work well.

However, there is graffiti and graffiti...........

Recently, I found myself queuing for forty five minutes outside Bristol City Museum to see Banksy's work! Yes...... forty five minutes!

For those who haven't ever heard of him but would like to learn more, go here.

Is it really possible, though, that people have never heard of Banksy, because he is very popular in the West Country. His work is worth thousands of pounds. He is tolerated, his work is unique and Bristol is very proud of this man. No one knows who he is. He keeps himself anonymous. People reckon that he must be around forty years old, but only a few trusted people know exactly who he is!

Well, after queuing for all that time and talking to many people from other lands who had come all the way to see his work, I got into the museum, feeling very tired.

Banksy makes a statement! This is the first thing that caught my eye, a burnt out ice cream van.

At first I thought, "Oh my Goodness, he has defaced all the statues!" However, I soon realized that they wouldn't have allowed him to do that. He skillfully made replicas. I expect the originals are some where safely hidden away.

This statue was supposed to be a Roman goddess or something but Banksy had made it into a person begging on the streets.

Many things caught my eye, in particular a cage with what looked like a leopard sitting on a log, with tail swishing back and forth. However, when I went to look at it front view, it turned out to be a fur coat!

Another cage held a nest and baby birds calling to their mother. However, when I went to investigate, I noticed a cctv camera on a branch and two baby ones in a nest calling out! This seemed so typical of Banksy to to turn everything around and get people thinking.

I think I will have to go back again and take more photos.

It was all a bit too much to take in on the first visit.

As I said before, you either love this kind of thing or you hate it!

What do you think?

Photostory Friday is hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek. Good idea to look them up.