genialgemsandothergabblings

Spark Bridge Terrace at Brantwood Over Coniston Lake Walney Island near Barrow From Brantwood across Coniston Teatime with a view at Brantwood. cheeky robin who liked our cakes! Nella Last's home in Barrow from where  she wrote her wartime diaries. How time flies, can it really be a week since we returned from a short break up in the Lake District. The weather could not have been better and we made the most of the glorious sunshine and clear blue skies and explored the area around Ulverston and Barrow. I have been reading and throughly enjoying the wartime diaries of Nella Last,a lady who wrote for the Mass Observation project set up in WW2. She was real character and her diaries are so entertaining to pick up and immerse yourself into. We found her house in Ilkley Road, Barrow and then went on some favourite car journeys that she liked to take during the 1940s and 50s, one being the coast road route from Barrow to Coniston, via Spark Bridge a place ...

This lovely display stand was a birthday present from my other half and it needed filling with lovely spring flowers so it was a good excuse to drive over to our favourite garden centre at the weekend and stock up... not that I needed an excuse if you know me! They were displaying all of the beautiful spring bulbs and so many gorgeous Primulas that  I was spoilt  for choice. I just love spring flowers, they are so joyful on the eye. Bought this lovely Frittillia My new Vase Every colour under the sun! As soon as the sun shines at this time of year I love wandering around the flower borders  to see what has appeared,I found  yellow crocus, red tulips, various daffodils coming out, clumps of snowdrops and hyacinths. The robin was bathing in the bird bath , the woodpidgeon gorging on the seed, for a few minutes I could pretend all was well in the world! I've been in Spring cleaning mode all week,washing curtains , cleaning windows and generally clearing out....

Birds on the feeders at Whinlatter Snowdrops at Martin Mere Whooper Swans Geese and lapwings Eider ducks Ruff Such a grey cold day but we ventured out to Martin Mere for an hour or so ,had a nice light lunch in the new restaurant there and then went to view the swans and other wildfowl from the Swanlink Hide.Luckily we also had a good view of some Ruff as a few were scratching around at the edge of the mere.There are still around 2,000 geese there and 1,000 whopper swans. In just a few weeks they will all have left to fly to their summer breeding grounds. As nice as it was it was just too cold to hang around so we set off for home and a good warm fire. The other photos were taken when we were at Whinlatter Forest Park up near Keswick and although it was raining the birds were singing from the high tree tops and then venturing down to the feeders where we took these photos. If only the spring sun would shine for a few days as my Daffodils are just waiting for that burst of warmt...

Gales,wind,rain it does not exactly make me want to venture out yet and begin the big garden clear up but I have been in the greenhouse and sowed Sweet peas and dianthus, Gazinias, Lettuce ,Lobelia and French Marigold so at least I've made a start and it did feel good to get out there with the plants. In the garden a few snowdrops are just coming into flower and the Crocus and Daffodils are in bud so will not be far behind. Before its painting! The muddy garden. The Mill house Old Lace The front door pot Lettuce and marigolds Hello Mum! Ginger I have had the little Mill house statue for 30 odd years and it has probably lasted that long because every couple of years I bring it in and give it a complete clean and repaint . I quite like it all mossy and green but it soons gets like it again after the weather does it's work. It was made by a disabled son of of one of my neighbours back when we lived over on the Wirral in our first house . Today the sun s...

Well I am no fortune teller as only yesterday I was saying that all the snow would miss us again as it usually does and look at this lot! It started around 5pm and then snowed heavily for the rest of the evening. This morning ,unlike last year ,everybody was out clearing their drives and digging out cars, putting salt down so as not to be at mercy to the slippery conditions that followed the snow last year. I have to say it looked  lovely and in 25 years of living here I think I have only seen one fall of snow that was as deep. Tom the bravest of ours cats came up for his food as usual the others waited for their servants' to take it down to the cosy greenhouse for them. We did venture out in the car just to get some shopping as it could be worse tomorrow if it freezes as expected overnight!

At Martin Mere they have recreated a dwelling that would have been in the area in Saxon Times when the whole place was covered by vast meres for much of the year. It was interesting to see the way in which people made their homes and with the fire lit  you could have almost have believed you had stumbled back in time!  The Pinkfeet geese have returned again in their hundreds to the safety of the mere and hearing them all take to the skies is something that never fails to enthrall us. At the moment there  are only 800 Whooper swans in, but all the time more are arriving with their young families having covered vast distances. Whooper Swan family glad to be here! Swan Flight over Mere The Unmistakeable face of a Whooper swan. Halloween at our house Halloween night was a great success, the scary bits and bobs seemed to attract a lot of interest and we spent a busy few hours handing out sweets and cakes. My little friend Lucy, her Mum and Dad and Granny Pat came over a...

The Scary trio I have made for a certain little miss! Ollie taking to the drink! Lets play! My Wigan cat friend! Phew that was close! They say that when it's windy cats go a little bit crazy and around here this week I would have to agree. Ollie has been charging about ,dashing back and forth and generally acting silly and the other cats have been hunting out a nest of little mice and  much to their annoyance, I just managed to rescue one  from Tom and then Bebe. Infact it was probably the same mouse! Tomorrow I am hoping to get a Halloween visit from a certain little friend who is dressing up and coming to show me her costume, so I have made some little knitted toys especially for the event and have gone a bit silly and bought some other 'things to make the house look a bit spoooooooooooooooky! On the wildlife front I had a little squirrel in the garden eating from the bird tray but a couple of days later we unfortunately found him dead on the lawn and also a coll...