Godshill & Blackgang Chine Then and Now

While in NZ I copied a couple of photos of me when I was young at the IOW as I thought it would be fun to compare 'then and now'  

The first were taken at Godshill Model Village, probably in 1970

The next photos were taken at Blackgang Chine the same year. (1970)

This one was taken in December 2016

The next, taken last week, shows how much more deterioration has occurred due to further slips...I don't think this will be here much longer!

Mid Week Rambling.

The days seem to zoom by, and I often think I haven't achieved much.  I did manage to start clearing one of our 'Keter' storage sheds today and have sorted out a black bin bag full of wool/yarn for my DIL.  As I am not knitting and I can't see me doing so for the foreseeable future I thought she might as well have the wool rather than it just sitting there in storage.  That dramatically reduced the amount of 'stuff' in there.  I can only seem to manage to do a little at a time though and have been learning to just stop when I have had enough - or better still, just before I have had enough.

It has been a lovely day here today after a rather damp and dreary day yesterday.  I woke to a lovely blue sky and the birds chirping.  They are especially active just before 5am in the morning and again in the later afternoon.  They are a delight to watch.

Wandering round the garden, which I have to confess is a bit neglected at the moment...

The roses are doing their stuff.  Walking down our front path is a delight - the scent is wonderful.

Love the way the sun is reflected through and on this rose.

These were picked and put in a vase, as this rose bush is rather top heavy at the moment!  It is right by our front door, so absolutely gorgeous.

This has a lovely 'orange blossom' smell to it.

The lily has a lovely flower.

This is the first year this lavender has flowered - I think I planted it last year.  

Loved watching this youngster visiting the bird feeder.  He/she got right into the fat ball feeder.

Some more books from the CS to add to my reading pile.  I am having a bit of a blitz (not sure that is the right word?) on Tess Gerritsen at the moment - they are a bit gruesome, but well written which makes a change as so many books seem to be poorly written nowadays.  I also thought I would try some different books, and these three looked interesting.

I finally got round to putting my coins in the display folder yesterday.  These were bought for me by my husband for my birthday back in March.

Hope the rest of your week goes well.

Never Again

So I had the 'bright' idea to start to slowly introduce yoga into my exercise regime after reading this blog post and being inspired by how successful it has been for her.  Well I have only done two very gentle 10 minute sessions so far, and today I can't flippin' walk - the pain in my left hip and back is agony.  It is a gorgeous day and I can hardly move - made worse when I have sat down for a while.  I just KNEW there was a reason I had stopped doing yoga, it just doesn't like me for some reason.  I didn't even feel like I was pushing myself, knowing that I would have to go carefully.  

Friday Roundup.

The week has finished better than some of the days in between.  Yesterday was rather a write off for me as I endured a pain flare, which thankfully has eased off somewhat today.  

I took the dogs for a lovely walk to see my elderly friend this afternoon.  Unfortunately her husband had a nasty fall and broke his hip at the beginning of May, and then just yesterday they discovered he had also fractured his spine - why they didn't do full checks a month ago who knows, especially as he is over 90!

Around the garden this week:

Souvenir Du Dr. Jarmain

This is looking spectacular and the first time I think I have been able to capture its true colour.

A fly

Birthday Girl

Hover fly - not the best of photos, but at least I managed to capture it on film.

The Blue Tits have successfully hatched their young, who are rather demanding!

Jasmine is starting to flower beautifully and smells really lovely.

Mr Stanley Handsome.

Another newt photo!

Welcoming in June

Happy 1st June.

Today was a lovely warm day and although I didn't do any gardening, I did have a bit of a wander in the garden and took some photos of the roses.

They have taken quite a battering over the last week from the heavy rain we have had on and off, but there are still some that look quite beautiful.

I will need to get in the garden though tomorrow and dead head all the roses that have been damaged or have died.  I have been putting it off because my hands have been hurting so much, but they aren't quite as bad today, so hopefully they will be even better tomorrow.

I have spent some time watching the newts again today.  They haven't done anything exciting, they just seem to float in the water, and occasionally swim away, but it is interesting watching them anyway.  There is an abundance of snail life as well!

I had to do a little shopping today, we needed some more vegetables and the guinea pigs needed carrots.  The farm shop is no longer selling big sacks of carrots as apparently they are going off too quickly which is a shame.  

While out I of course visited the charity shops and came home with several more books to read, they were £1 each and a new author I am interested in.  I also found a little Wade Whimsy dog, similar to the one I have had since childhood which was in a box of  "3 for £1", so I bought that along with a lovely little decorated box, and a cute little black doll with a beaded outfit.  The little outfit is quite incredible and must have been made on the doll as I can't find any seams etc.  

Oh and I also got a Guinea Pig money box!  That was only £1.50 as well, and we have almost filled up our money jar, so will need something else to put our change into.  

I currently have a rather swollen and red big toe - my husband wondered why I didn't worry about it earlier in the day when I could have gone to either the chemist, doctor or chiropodist (yeah right, if I could get an appointment!).  I said that when you have pain all over, you don't take much notice of a bit of extra pain - perhaps I should have looked at it earlier!  Hopefully it will go down overnight!

The foxgloves are also starting to bloom, so far we have white ones and these purple ones.  I love that they come up every year.

Well it is late now, so going to sit with a cup of tea and watch a DVD with DH.

Have a good weekend everyone!