Thursday 24th December 2020

 Christmas Eve

Well Christmas has certainly been spoilt for lots of people.  Mine was spoilt last weekend by Boris announcing tier4 for the area where my son and daughter-in-law lives which meant we couldn't travel to DIL parents.  

I don't mind my own company being an only child but now at 64yrs I do need to see other humans.  I will be joining a friend for Christmas lunch but should have gone to another friend for Boxing day but now I cannot.

Since my last post I have had my lounge decorated.  It is now green very green!  The colour of the paint is called Willow Tree.

I also put my tree up.  I know some of you haven't this year in memory of the people lost to this horrible virus.  Mine has gone gone up because my son and DIL and granddaughter gave it to me last year before they went to New Zealand and also in memory of my dear husband who passed away 2019 from a brain tumour because he always decorated the Christmas Tree.  I just cannot bring myself to get that one out.

I would have loved to show the presents I had made for my DIL's family who I should have been with this Christmas.  They will stay there until I see them which hopefully will be before Christmas 2021

One of my son's sent me beautiful flowers which arrived yesterday.  So I will enjoy them and remember Christmas past........

The Carol of the Bells

Listen to this if you wish........its a bit cheery for this year, but one of my favourite Christmas pieces.  I think it may bring hope....... 

11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month.........

 Armistice

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England’s, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home …

These belonged to my great-grandfather.  He was a WW1 Horse Driver.  He came back but the war affected him so much he turned to drink....

My grandfather William Prentice, he came home from WW2, many didn't. He survived Dunkirk by swimming out to the Royal Daffodil which was a flat bottomed ferryboat. The Daffodil was hit but it but it also survived.

My grandfather Albert Sullivan.  He was in a reserved occupation working in a factory in Tottenham called Lebus Brothers.  He made the CC41 furniture.  He was also in the home guard and a fire watcher.

The medals shewn above belonged to his father-in-law.  

Sunday 1st November

 November, another lock down which was inevitable!  Was it only me who noticed the spike when students went to or back to university in September.  Long distance teaching and now they are stuck when I'm sure they'd rather be at home..........  At least we may be able to visit family at Christmas but there could be another lockdown afterwards 

*(this is all my opinions and no one else's)*

What have to you been doing?  I sorted all my fabrics and have been making lap quilts as Christmas presents.  I can show you the ones I have made so far as the recipients are not on this platform.  I'm making ten in all.  Here are the first three.  The top part has already been made just needs wadding (batting) and backing and quilting.  (click on them to take a closer look)

Noticed toadstools in with my special rose, this is what happens when you use horse poo straight from the field and the recent cold very damp days!

Had lovely time with friends two weekends ago.  Oh but my poor legs feet!  I walked down from Lynton to Lynmouth, then we stopped at Tarr Steps on Exmoor, and walked all round the correct Coronavirus way, we could have snuck back the way we came but we didn't and was good!  I walked 5.3miles that day, not used to walking that distance!  Made chicken curry before they picked me up in the morning and warmed it up when we got back.  It went down really well after such a long busy day.

On Friday last a beautiful whole rainbow stayed in the sky for more than an hour

Since the update of blogger last time. anyone else had this problem?  I used to be able to line up all my photos, used the ones I wanted then go go to use the rest but only to go back and fined they have disappeared and I have to go and find them again from the file on the computer.

Sunday 4th October

What have you been up to? 

I haven't been here posting because I haven't had anything to say or I haven done anything much.  I can only tell you about so much sorting so much gardening although, I have just planted two packs of Wallflowers in pots.  I cannot get in the garden because of Storm Alex and as I bought them last Wednesday I need to do something with them...…!

I also planted some of my two hundred bulbs I purchased the other week,

I planted them in my clay pots I purchased from a boot fair many years ago.  Trouble with Anemones they always look like pebbles to me and never sure which way they are suppose to be planted!

As far as I got with the weeding.  The damp ground is ideal for me for weeding but not when when its raining!

The second skip was taken away the other day complete with a washing machine that had been hanging around from two washing machines ago about ten years ago! 

The scaffolding is down and my house looks cleaner on the outside!  I'll takes photos on a nice day if we get one!

The scaffolders decided to have a picnic on my wall - make yourself at home do!

Sunday 13th September

 Two Weeks

On 1st September I was picked up by my son and daughter-in-law to take me back to Thames Ditton to stay with them for a few days.

On the way we we stopped at Stonehenge, Anneka had previously booked like you have to do these days.  Not quite the same as when I went in the 1960s, then there was just a car park, a tea wagon and you could stand and play on the stones. Now there is a visitors centre, a shop, huts to look at and mile and half walk to the stones, or there is bus with a narrative as you look out of the bus window.

The stones are still great to see, and there is even a face watching all...

The following day Robert and I did some errands and took a tranquil walk home

When we got back I booked an appointment to go into Creative Quilting.  I did not spend much just some fabric for a couple of projects but whilst in there I saw a lovely simple quilt which I stored in my memory as I felt it inappropriate to take a photo.  

My version of a quilt I saw

I wasn't in there an hour and too early to sit around to meet my son so I popped into a cafe and had a cup of tea and wrote some good luck cards to my grandchildren for going back to school.  One had made herself sick worrying as she was going to the "big school".

Met up with Robert and we strolled around the grounds,  The main gardens were closed as they were preparing for a sports car auction, but they opened  the gardens the public don't normally see and the Kings Dining room which was the way to the exit.

This made me laugh - it just says it all!

on the entrance gates are a Lion and Unicorn, like most little girls my granddaughter is into unicorns so I took my life into my hands and took a photo of the entrance gates........

The lion and the unicorn
Were fighting for the crown
The lion beat the unicorn
All around the town.

Some gave them white bread,
And some gave them brown;
Some gave them plum cake
and drummed them out of town.

And when he had beat him out,
He beat him in again;
He beat him three times over,
His power to maintain.

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“The Lion and the Unicorn” have been part of the United Kingdom history since 1603 when Scotland and England were unified.

Even before James I of England unified the two kingdoms, they were already symbols in their Royal Arms, two lions being emblem of England while two unicorns were standing for Scotland.

Since 1603 the Lion and the Unicorn are elements in the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, standing for the the unification of the two kingdoms.

The unicorn is a legendary creature, sometimes depicted as a white horse with a horn in the middle of its forehead. Legends describe this horn as having miraculous powers: cure diseases, cleanses evil, giving life.

The lion is a respected, valued and even defied animal in some cultures. Its identity as a symbol of power dates back 5,000 years. The lion’s mane is a royal symbol being often compared with the sun rays.

“The Lion and the Unicorn” is traditional nursery rhyme telling the story of the enmity and the fight of suzerainty of the two kingdoms, the lion and the unicorn being symbols of their power and dominance.

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Friday we stayed in.  I had taken patchwork and knitting to do and Robert did some work

The next day we all went to Waverley Abbey.  We had a picnic lunch under the only part of the ruin that had a bit of a roof, then we strolled round the abbey, then to a nearby pub which had a lovely spaced garden for a cool drink

I thought this tree was great with some of it's roots above ground

The following day was home time.  I spent a week in isolation*, my friend did my shopping and the highlight of the week was to watch the "Game of Skips"

It was fascinating to watch!

They put the full skip and put it into the empty skip which was on the back of the transporter.

Picked up the two skips together from the transporter, placed them back on the drive together, 

then swapped the chains over and picked up the full skip again and placed it back on the transporter,

covered it and drove away.

*I put myself into isolation just as a precaution