Poppy With A Difference

Photocopy: Maggie May

Children never cease to amaze me.

I'm always delighted to receive a phone call from my grandchildren but Millie's recent request for me to knit her a poppy was a bit of a surprise to say the least.

As Remembrance Sunday is coming up and schools must have been telling the children about the reason for wearing a poppy, it might have been expected that she'd want to buy one to support the veterans....... but why a knitted poppy?

I did explain that the only pattern I have in my Knitted Flower Book would produce a much bigger flower than the traditional poppy pictured in the photo.

She assured me that it would be fine.

When I asked her why she wanted a knitted one, she just replied that it would be rather nice, so being the kind, talented grannie that I am, I just got on with the request.

I am reminded that on Armistice day last year, my son, Sam moved into his new house. So Happy Anniversary Sam. 11/11/11 is not a date that is easily forgotten.

A Taste Of Summer

Photo Copyright: Maggie May

Lets have a taste of summer, shall we?

I expect you will remember Clare Dunn did a painting of this summer photo of a corner of my garden some time ago and I promised that I would show a picture of it when it was framed.

I am very pleased with the result but have fiddled and fiddled to try to get a good photo of the picture in the frame and it looks more of a yellowy green in the photo than it does in reality. As I don't ever touch up photos, there is nothing that I can do about it....... except to say that I am very pleased with the result of the actual picture in the frame.

The light is shining in the wrong places, no matter what I try to do.

I am not a very good photographer, Clare.

Well in reality, we are far from summer and I am suddenly realising how near Christmas is and how little I have done about it. So now I am furiously trying to catch up and get things organised before my daughter and grandsons arrive the week before the holiday begins.

I went shopping in town today and probably, because of the bad state of finance in the whole of Europe, including England, there were not as many crowds about as usual, so I was finished in good time. I think one more trip to town should just about do it.

Anyway, although it is a bit chilly, the sun is bravely trying to shine through, which is really weird for December.

I have been busy helping my son with his house, sometimes just house sitting while he goes out because of an expected delivery. There is also a party to help with this week as youngest granddaughter is having a 7th Birthday. This is the first time they've been able to have a party at home, so there is a lot of planning and organising to do. Our friend, Audrey is helping and has come up with some really good ideas.

I have had a poorly rabbit to contend with and every morning, I have to trick Lily into thinking she is coming out for a cuddle and having to surreptitiously pop a syringe of antibiotic into her mouth. No easy task as she knows what I am going to do.

I am trying to finish the little Nativity figures that I started knitting last year, so one way or another, blogging has taken a back seat.

Harry has finished chemo 10 and took a long time to get over it compared to all the others. I think he had reached his endurance limit. However, he is now getting stronger. I am also a bit more energetic than I was, so lets hope we all stay well till the New Year at least and well beyond would be good.

A Wasted Day

Photo Copyright: Maggie May

Since I took the photo of the poppies in the picture below, which couldn't be more than two weeks ago, there has been quite a turn in the weather and we've had much cooler, windier days with intermittent rain.

The result of this has been even more poppy flowers opening.

Some strange things have been going on with Blogger recently. Though I'm not even sure if it is Bloggers fault.

You see today I tried to put my password into the account and it just kept repeating the request. *Put in Password*. After attempting it for a good while, and being told to do the same thing over and over again, I gave up and thought it was a Blogger fault.

After a whole day of not being able to comment or post, I was getting a bit fed up.

It occurred to my son that I should try my laptop and see if there was a similar problem there. I didn't have very high hopes of the laptop being any different but was really surprised that I was allowed to get to blog after putting in the password. No trouble at all.

My son understands quite a lot about computers but couldn't seem to understand what the problem could be. He tried using Firefox instead of Safari and found that the blog is fine using that. However the laptop is running on Safari and working fine.

As soon as we try to run the main computer on Safari, I cannot get the password to work.

Has anyone any idea what the problem could be?

We've already tried clearing the cache.

I am the kind of person that likes an answer to things....... even if I might not understand it. So thinking caps on please.

Sticking It Out

Photo Copyright: Maggie May

Looking through my window, I noticed the poppies had opened. Yesterday they were in tight bud.

It is amazing what can happen in just one day even though the weather is not very warm or bright.

Harry is not taking to chemo very well, though he started off fine. He has already passed out on me twice today. Fortunately, my son was here at the time because I cannot lift him. He is too heavy and I suffer from disc problems.

Though I can get him into recovery position.

It isn't easy for me to watch him struggle with symptoms as I know what it is like. However, I do know that he should feel a bit better in a few days.

Some people sail through chemo....... but others struggle with it.

No one knows until it happens to them.

its a question of sticking it out and waiting for the bad things to pass.

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.