Friends on Friday

A few photos I forgot to post yesterday...

Queen Victoria cruising by.

There were at least two of these that did a fly by.

We don't get sunsets here as we are facing the wrong way, but there was a definite glow over the sea last night.  Quite a contrast to tonight where I can't see the sea, as the clouds and sea mist has come rolling in with the wind.

You could even see the moon last night before it was dark.

This morning, a big bonfire was lit down the road - yup, on one of hottest days of the year - it was still smoking at 2 pm when I walked past.

This evening, I could STILL smell smoke in the air.  You have to wonder sometimes about the thought process some people go through when they light a fire on one of the hottest days of the year first thing in the morning... or perhaps there is no thought process at all, which is probably more likely.

Anyway it was a lovely day, albeit a bit smokey at times so I had to have the doors and windows closed for a few hours, but once it had cleared a bit I spent some time trying to see if I could see any fish.  No luck.

One of my lovely lilies.

The Gunnera plant.

A young damselfly nymph I think this is.

The sunflowers my neighbour gave me yesterday.

It was very hot walking to the Ventnor Gardens this afternoon where I was going to meet up with a friend who has recently moved to the island.

It was a  very hot walk.  The walk back was much more pleasant as a slight breeze was starting to build up so it was a lot cooler.

Sunning himself 

His little eyes are closed.

Gorgeous flowers.

We had a lovely couple of hours wandering around the garden and catching up with each other's news.

She used to live too far away for us to meet up much before, so it is nice to have her living much closer and we are planning to meet up again next week which will be lovely.

Managed to capture a lizard on film, which is not always easy.

We have some at our place, but I only see fleeting glimpses of them.

Total walked today: 4.5 miles.

Total walked this month...114.7 miles, so I think I have done pretty well indeed, and it has been fun to see if I could achieve my goal of 100 miles this month.  Especially when I look back to this time last year and remember how ill I was, and the fact I'd had the first of my A & E admissions. 

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

A lovely time with a friend from Down Under

My childhood friend came to stay for the day and night on Monday with her husband.  They live in Australia, but have been on a six week tour of Europe and fortunately could spare a day to come to visit us.  Tania and I have been friends since we were about 10 or 11 years old and went to secondary school together.  We also rode horses together.  At school we were part of a threesome nicknamed by our teachers as the 'Three Musketeers'...  we weren't naughty, but we were outspoken and stuck up for 'our rights' and those of animals.   We walked home one day from school in protest of animal cruelty.  Some boys had bought in cat skins - yes you read that right.  Plus those same boys used to trap birds in the class room and try to hit them with tennis balls.  Anyway, we got almost all the way home after walking approximately 14km only to be picked up by Tania's Mum and promptly taken straight back to school where we were herded into the Principals office!  The following year all three of us were split up and put in separate form rooms.   Why we were punished and not the boys still doesn't seem fair even today!

Even though we have ended up on opposite sides of the world at various times through the years we have remained firm friends At one stage it was Tania in England and I was in NZ and then she came back and moved to Australia where she eventually settled and I ended up in England!

In 2010 when I went back to NZ to visit my parents after a five year gap, she flew over and we spent a lovely few days together in the Bay of Islands.  Last year I was able to fly via Australia on my way to NZ and spent a week with her there.

I wish we could have had longer while she was here!

Anyway, we had planned to take her and her husband to Hatfield House, but sadly it isn't open on Mondays, so we had to rethink our plans.  Tania and mentioned she would like to visit the woods that we walk in so we took them to Ashridge Estate.  We had lunch at the Cafe before heading off for a lovely walk.

On our way home from Ashridge Estate we popped into the Gardens of the Rose in St Albans.  The gardens were looking spectacular.

Tania just loves having photos taken, so there are rather a lot of us together!  

The gardens really were  looking  quite beautiful.

Me, Simon (Tania's husband) and Tania

Looking at a big carp in the pond.

The afternoon was beautiful.

Reflections in the pond

Dragonflies

We finished the day going out for a Carvery.

There really wasn't enough time to have a proper catch up though.

All to soon it was the following morning and they had to catch an early train to head north to visit relatives.

I miss having a friend like her to chat and spend time with.  

Most of my friends live overseas... it is hard.