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.

Thankful Thursday

 What a truly glorious day it has been today, and definitely worthy of Thankful Thursday.

I certainly feel very thankful to have a view like this and very blessed indeed.  

Of course I have been a bit very stiff and sore today after yesterday's hard work in the garden, and although I had planned on doing some more gardening, by mid morning when I had started to get moving a bit easier, it was too hot really to work in the garden, so I have enjoyed a day of quiet reading, studying and just general pottering around.  I'm reading a lovely book at the moment that was put in my 'Free Library', called 'The Shining Levels' by John Wyatt "The Story of a Man who went back to Nature' set in the Lake District after the war I believe.  I am really enjoying the gentle well written telling of his life and it is an easy read to dip in and out of.  Actually all that stops me from reading from front to back in one sitting is the fact that reading seems to put me to sleep very quickly nowadays.  Doesn't matter what time of day I read, I discover myself nodding off.  Can be rather frustrating.

Just loving this gorgeous vibrant flower that I have grown from seed.

I went for a lovely walk later afternoon.  Just stunning it was and still very warm - I wished I'd changed into my shorts before I set off.  I'm starting to find the hills a bit tough though, I think the lowering dose of medication is starting to affect me.  Certainly my feet are SO much sorer now, particularly in the evenings.  It is funny, but you almost forget what it is like and then it all comes back!

Total walked today: 3.1 miles

My lovely neighbour brought round some quiche, salad and new Cornish potatoes for me to have for dinner.  It was delicious!  The potatoes were SO MUCH NICER than my very disappointing home grown potatoes.    

She also brought me round a bunch of sunflowers she had bought for me earlier in the day which I must remember to photograph tomorrow.

So all in all a very Thankful Thursday indeed.

Working Wednesday.

My task for today in the garden was working up the top.

These photos might not be interesting to a lot of people, but I want to record my progress as it will be good to look back on hopefully.

I wanted to start clearing the path that runs behind the summer house.

It has become pretty much completely covered.

Starting to make progress.

There IS a path hidden under here, but the rocks over the years have moved down and are now on top of the paving slabs.

Can just see the path starting to show now.

The path then curves up towards the orchard fence line.  This is where the rocks have moved down the hill and ended up on the path.

Looking along the path from the other side.

You can now see that the path curves.  It curves in lots of places, adds interest I think.  It would have been great to have seen what the garden used to look like pre-the people we bought the property from.

I also started to clear along and beside the brick retaining wall that is in front of the summer house.

This is what I have to contend with!

It was hard going, but there was a path along there as well.

This is going down from the large tree at the back.

A path is starting to appear.

I found a good bucket underneath all that shrubbery as well as rubbish!

In the front

My Zinnia (I think that was what I planted) is starting to flower.

My lunch time view.

My loaf of bread turned out a funny shape today, but tasted delicious when I used it to make a sandwich for my lunch.

Rather proud of this yellow courgette!

I did 20 minutes sanding on the bedside cabinet in the afternoon - that is about all I can manage at a time.

So slow progress is being made.  I might need to put some more varnish/paint stripper on it.

The guinea pigs spent the day in their outside hutch.

Jeremy and Murphy 

Bailey and Felix.

I went for a nice walk late afternoon, before dinner.

Ships passing.

Glistening sea - quite a contrast to the other day.

Cows on the hill

Mostly with their back to me.

Cinnabar Moth caterpillar

Bright colours, probably poisonous

Total walked today: 4.1 miles

So a pretty full day of working hard.  Hopefully that will mean I sleep well.