The end of February

Staying with my son, daughter in law, and little grand daughter for a week while I have more tests and a dental visit, it is nice to hear the wonderful birdsong in the garden.  Something I do miss on the Island, as we just don't get anywhere near the birdsong down there as we got up here.  

It was lovely to see a pair of woodpeckers in the garden

The following day we also saw a flock of long tailed tits.

We had one outing while up here, visiting the Verulamium and St Albans Cathedral.

We had a wander down and up to the Cathedral

Part of an old Roman wall.

You can't walk around the lake and haven't been able to do so for many months since before last summer I believe.

It is very badly flooded.  I do hope they will address this problem, as it was always so lovely to walk around it.

It was lovely to see a blue sky for once too!  It seems so long since we last saw one.

Well better news, than at the end of last month.    My latest results have improved to what they were the time before last, so that is good, even if the improvement isn't what the doctors hoped for.  I won't know the full results for a week or so.  It seems that yet again they might have missed out doing one of the tests, even though I reiterated to both the check in person, and the nurse who took the tests that could they make sure that every test was done, as they missed one last time.  I also asked the doctor I spoke to the following day if he could make sure the test was done. I mean how can they miss out a test when they have collected a vial for it and stuck the label on??

The Year that was 2023 - from July to December: A Catch Up.

The Year that was 2023 - I am not even sure if anyone is reading my blog anymore, so sporadic my posts have been.  I am hoping that I will get back into more of a routine of blogging next year, as I am aware of how much I miss if I don't record it. So just a brief update since my last post in June

JULY

I think this was the first of the garden produce.

Courgette, Cucumber, Dalmatian Beans & Peas

AUGUST

We had two new sheds built this year, one is a train shed for my husband, and the other is a crafting workshop for me.  It was going to be for guinea pigs, but it has been 18 months since I have had any, the longest time I have ever been without guinea pigs.  So in hindsight we have changed the use,  as such we probably should have had it lined with a different door, but it is what it is.

The sheds...the door on the left hand shed had to be replaced as they ordered the wrong door, so that is why it still has the 'wrapping' on it.  

The pond lilies looked as beautiful as ever

I took the following two photos when we went to Sandown Zoo...why no animals, who knows?!

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SEPTEMBER

Early September we saw this wonderful steamer go past when we were down at the beach

The garden was relatively productive and we had beans, courgettes, radish, spring onions, peas, some tomatoes, although not as many as last year, pears, raspberries, and the usual glut of apples most of which I gave away.  I need to work harder on it last year as it really wasn't as good as it could have been.  This is partly due to lack of motivation since the tragic loss of Percy last year which I am still finding it very hard to come to terms with.

OCTOBER

The last two beans on the vine in October this year!

A Jay in the garden.

A rather large moth.

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NOVEMBER

Amazing sun rises

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DECEMBER

Amazingly we had two kiwi fruit on our vine this year.  A real surprise as we have to cut it back hard every year as it was planted (not by us) in the wrong place and it completely takes over and covers our bedroom window and makes the room very dark.  

These are the two from our plant

On either side of them are shop bought kiwi fruit.  Ours are quite a lot bigger, but more the size that I remember them being when I used to get eat them in New Zealand

CHRISTMAS

Christmas was a quiet affair with just my husband and myself and our younger son who now lives locally to us.  It was a nice day.  We will have a second 'Christmas' in early January with our other son, daughter in law and baby grand daughter when we go up to stay with them for a week.

Fresh Fruit Salad & Pavlova

We didn't even decorate inside this year, but did have lots of lights outside.

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OTHER RAMBLINGS

I have got into the Dolls House hobby properly since April this year and it has been quite absorbing hobby at times as I make and craft furniture and accessories for them - yes plural, I have more than one!  I still need to work on the Dolls House that is my 1940s family history project and hope to make a proper start on that this year.  In the meantime I have decorated and made furniture for a couple of 1930 - 1950s Triang Houses, and a couple of 1960s Triang houses, plus I am working on restoring an antique dolls house from around 1915.  

The pups are part of the household now, although have been problematic at times... they have started peeing/marking inside the house (the kitchen) which is driving me insane, and Peter is still an absolutely nightmare to take out if he sees other dogs...a bit hard to avoid.  This means I have to take them out separately, as he sets the other two off and it is just too much to cope with.  As a result, I probably walk less distance than if I could take them out together and do a nice long walk.  I am planning on remedying the walking side of this next year, by dedicating at least three days a week to taking one dog on a lovely long walk on different days so I can relax more and actually get back to enjoy walking again.  Back in 2019/2020 I was walking at least 100 miles a month, now I walk a mere fraction of that.