Wisteria

At long last the sun has come out and along with it, this Wisteria. 



This isn't in our garden but belongs to our neighbour over the road.

 

The building was part of a blacksmith/wheelwright.  There was an opening above the double doors so that the long lengths of iron that formed the cartwheels could be posted through and stored. 

West Dean: part III

The greenhouses at West Dean are splendid. 

 Just look at this latch - it's a little piece of art in it's own right. 

Every detail is delightful:

 

from the roof

 

to the floor. 

I think there were about ten greenhouses - most of which had already been fully restored and several of them planted with well established fruit trees.

Each had it's own little name tag on display.

There were rows and rows of strawberry plants

You could imagine the greenhouses running at full production, keeping the big house well supplied with delicious fresh fruit and vegetables.

 

Look - a perfect lettuce!

One of many.

It makes me smile to think of years of footsteps wearing down this step as industrious gardeners go about their business,

 

while a sneaky visitor laps up the sun. 

Flu

I've had flu.  The proper 'can't get out of bed' sort of flu that completely wipes you out. 

Both me and our elder daughter spent the whole of the week either in bed or lying on the sofa, with raging temperatures.  My husband was rubbish at looking after us, and I am reminding him of this at every available opportunity.  Our younger daughter, however, was wonderful.  She got herself ready for school, made her lunch, tidied up and when Sainsbury delivered the shopping, she put it all way for me. 

My lovely work colleagues knew I was very under the weather and sent me flowers to cheer me up.  I do work with some lovely people. 

 

 










It was lovely big bouquet, so I took out all the yellow tulips and daffodils, and displayed them separately.

 

 

 

 

I love flowers and they really did cheer me up. 

Happy Birthday to me

It isn't my birthday until August,

but my Mother-in-law has always said that when a child has a birthday,

then it should really be the mother who receives a gift, to mark all the effort she has put in!

 

What a fabulous idea.

She gave me these flowers on our elder daughter's birthday.

Hurrah and huzzah!

You could be forgiven for thinking I had forgotten all about my blog.  Really, I hadn't, but as I mentioned in my last, long ago post, I have been having technical problems uploading my photos.  Tonight, I thought I'd have just one last attempt. 

Hurrah and huzzah - it worked!

Now I just need to catch up with Christmas, New Year and all that has happened so far in January.  There are the hospital visits to tell you about - all OK thankfully, the new bathroom and of course the recipes.

As I haven't downloaded any recent photos, here's one I prepared earlier.


  
 Perfect for a celebration.

(now I need to sort out what has caused my 'home' picture to shrink)

Camper van

I long for a VW camper van

so my younger daughter made one for me!

For those in the know it is a 1965 EZ, but I expect you can tell that already!

Glyndebourne

 My brother & his wife had tickets to see La boheme at Glyndebourne, but sadly it clashed with a football match he also had tickets for.

My sister-in-law knows I like a bit of opera and asked if I'd like to go in his place. 

Of course I would!

We had a little picnic in the beautiful grounds beforehand.

The auditorium is new, with a covered area for inclement weather - not that we needed it as the sun shone.

It was a brilliant performance and I loved every minute of it.

I'm glad Brighton were playing at home!

New Shoes

After losing my wallet, I needed something to cheer myself up.

Shoe therapy has helped.

 

They called to me .....

and whispered "buy me"

How could I refuse?

Mmmm, I love my new shoes.