Thistles versus Gravel

I expect you remember me telling about the waist high thistles in a neighbours enclosed garden and the beautiful Painted Lady butterflies that emerged from them a few weeks ago.

This morning I felt the whole house vibrating and went to investigate outside. We don't get earthquakes of significant magnitude to cause that kind of experience over here, so I was a bit mystified.

My *neighbour with the thistles* was having the workmen in and everything was being raised to the ground, dug up and the earth hammered flat and covered with a membrane. This was later covered over with a thick layer of shingle.

The whole garden is now gravel.

This is what happens when someone absolutely hates gardening.

I'm glad the butterflies had a chance to hatch out before this happened, though I guess there'll be none next year.

One good thing to come out of it is that the yellow thistle flowers didn't have time to develop into seed. Last year I had quite a job to pull out the baby thistles that sprung up all over my garden.

However, I guess the cats will now come over to use my garden for their toilet needs as unless they enjoy digging about in gravel mine might be more appealing. Come to think of it, they may look on the gravel as a giant cat tray. Eek!

Trees Or Toilet Paper?

My Granddaughters come round for breakfast most mornings before school and they go upstairs and brush their teeth and see to their ablutions before leaving.

The other morning, while I was in my bedroom, I overheard a conversation through the bathroom door whilst Amber the oldest was brushing her teeth and Millie the youngest must have been on the toilet.

"Millie, you're using far too much paper. Don't forget the poor trees that have died for you so that you could wipe your bottom!"

In theory, that was quite a touching remark...... except that I haven't really noticed Amber being particularly into conservation and recycling.

Millie is probably into it more...... so you never know, she might try and cut down on the amount she uses.

Its easy to criticise other people's habits though, isn't it? Especially if it's from a sibling.

Painted Ladies

In my last post I described the flocks of butterflies that were swarming all over the gardens and I mistakenly identified them as Peacocks.

They always seemed to be fluttering quite fast and never stayed still for long enough to positively identify them.

One day last week, I was gardening and found one butterfly that was resting in the shade of a honeysuckle hedge so I was able to study it at length. 

It was a Painted Lady which is another common species of British butterfly that lays eggs on thistles. Plenty for the caterpillars to munch on in the neighbour's garden that is filled with them.

 Maybe not quite as spectacular as the Peacocks, but they do look dramatic when they are all fluttering by the dozen and during the late afternoon and early evening they continue to visit in kaleidoscopes, which is the collective name for many, apparently.

Life goes on in a humdrum sort of way in this household. One day is very much the same as the next. Harry continues to make small amounts of progress and has enjoyed sitting out in the garden during our glorious sunshine. The weather is consistently summery and I see that today is the longest day already.

It is still light at ten o'clock in the evening and the sun rises again at 5 am.

It will all start to change from now on, little by little but we should get another two months of summer if we are lucky.

Good Out Of Bad?

My neighbour makes no secret of the fact that he hates gardening and I sometimes do a bit of weeding for him in his small front patch. However, the enclosed garden at the back of his house is full of almost waist high weeds with a lot of thistles.

They eventually pollinate and I have lots of downy seed heads flying into my garden with the breeze. This, of course means lots of weeding eventually for me.

I was surprised that all during yesterday afternoon and especially late evening, the sky seemed full of orange fluttery things flying over our garden and they were spreading all up and down the road. They were definitely coming from the garden filled with weeds!

I was amazed when I went outside to inspect these fluttery beings. I'd never seen so many butterflies in all my life but none of them would stay still for long enough to positively identify which species.

I searched my book on British butterflies and found that Peacocks definitely thrive on thistles and they looked the same size, colour and shape, so I guess that's what they are.

Just goes to show that something good can come out of something bad.

I continue to look after Harry and he is marginally stronger than when he first came out of hospital. Although I am tired, we are getting into a routine now and help seems to be coming in slowly now, in various forms, so progress is being made there, too.

 

It's All About the Little Things........

Photo copyright: Maggie May

Harry was discharged from hospital last Thursday, amidst absolute chaos at home because of the gas central heating conversion that affected nearly every room.

The good thing about allowing him home was that his pain was more or less completely under control. The bad thing was that the plumbers and gas fitters had taken up floor boards in most rooms and that Harry now needs a zimmer frame to get around and he caught a chill because the front and back doors were left open because of fumes in the house. This affected his waterworks ........ need I say more?

Anyway, it has taken me a long time to work out a good routine to care for him and my day starts at 6.15 am and I collapse into bed by 10.30, which I would have considered extremely early until a few weeks ago.

I am manning the ship single handed as many others do, so get very tired. However, since he came home, Harry seems appreciative of the things I do and I find I can leave him for quick local shopping or a bit of gardening and I manage to go out for walks to keep fit.

My Ceanothus is having a ball at present and gives off a heady perfume that seeps into the house especially in the evening.

I am finding that little things, like a bird coming to feed in my garden, sunshine, fragrant scents from flowers or the way the sun shines on the leaves of trees, give me a lot of pleasure.

It's all about the little things and a good routine.

Catch Up

I'm going to do a quick catch up to let everyone know where I've been lately and to apologise for not visiting or commenting for so long.

Harry had to be admitted as an in patient at the Bristol Oncology Centre.  His pain level was way out of control. That was two weeks ago now and he's entering into his third week. I've been spending as much time at the hospital with him as possible as well as trying to keep house and garden up together as well.
I've been very tired but have managed to catch up on my sleep at night.
He is due to be discharged soon...... and he'll now be an invalid so I'll have my work cut out to look after him with my own health problems too. However, I naturally want to do this and will give it my best shot.
He is known as a *bed blocker* and they want him out of that hospital.
The thing is....... I'm having a big central heating change over (boiler update) next week and will have absolute chaos in most rooms. The job is desperate to be done and now is the time of the year to do it. The system is simply gushing out heat in the bedrooms in hot weather and I'm unable to stop it .....perspiring badly as I write this........ or it is too cold in winter.
There is an intermittent smell of gas from behind the boiler so I have just got to have it done. Harry will be discharged very soon.
To make things worse, my new daughter in law's mother had a major stroke over the last weekend and is in a city hospital, lying helpless. Every one is on the verge of exploding with stress and exhaustion.
So blogging has been the last thing on my mind.
I have a phobia about lifts (elevators) and I have to walk up many flights of stairs to avoid them  when I visit these two patients and I am wearing myself out with this and carrying all the washing that I'm taking home daily and bringing back clean things etc, even though this is my own fault as people tell me. So the hospital visiting is not easy .....many because I'm making things hard for myself because of the lift phobia.
Will keep you all posted.
In the mean time Harry's pain level is more acceptable which a good outcome.

Pain, pain, go away

It is really dreadful to watch someone you love having to put up with severe pain. Even more horrifying  to have experienced that particular pain myself before having my course of radiotherapy three years ago.

Unfortunately, Harry has this pain in several different areas of his spine, hip and shoulders due to advanced prostate cancer spread.

He is on painkillers that seem to mask it for a while.

His face goes white when the pain gets bad and he nearly cries.

He is normally a *toughy* and used to be on building sites all his working life, so he is used to roughing it. However, this pain is unbearable at times. He cannot walk very well and sometimes not at all. He has to get up in the night and have the lights on and be helped to the bathroom. By the time we get back to bed, he falls into a deep sleep and starts to snore loudly. I lie awake until the dawn. I am feeling really tired and totally uninspired when it comes to blogging, as well as all the emotional stuff.

Hoping everyone will understand.