A New Year, a new beginning, new 'Moomin' calendar. I do love the Moomins, I think it was Jeanette Winterton who said that she wished she could write like Tove Jansson. All her wonderful imaginative stories are beautiful, allegorical and deceptively simple. January's picture is from 'The Exploits of Moominpappa - the fourth book in the Moomin series, in which Moominpappa tells of his adventure meeting the Mymble family,in a far away island: Moominpappa and friends are spooked by the ghost until they manage to befriend him. . . . . . . . .Do you befriend the ghosts that spook you? Life is a lot less anxiety ridden when you can. Took these pics in this slide show this morning. The sun came out, bright, blue sky and an almost blue sea, just a cold breeze blowing. People wrapped up enjoying the sunshine, adults children, dogs. Even the seabirds gulls, turnstones, sanderlings, and oystercatchers happily feeding on mussels, little crabs, periwinkles, and pecking at insects in the seaweed as the tide is going out..... I'm blowing the cobwebs away with a slow paced walk with Brian on Rossall beach looking south towards Blackpool Tower. Just as I like it, life in the slow lane. . . . Happy New Year to you my friends x
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I seem to have taken loads of photos since summer that never got to post. ....Last weekend was my birthday; my youngest son - a professional photographer- got me started again, asking to go down to the beach to take photos of the sunset, at 4 p.m helping me use a tripod which I've always found a bit tricky and thought of as cumbersome.. I surprised myself as I found it does make a difference and relies on complete concentration. . . These are the results: the sun setting over the Irish sea, with the moon behind in a clear in the sky.
These garden photos were taken in June. The roses were a triumph, in May and June. Every year there's something to see the garden anew ; noticing differences more: shades, scents, names of the roses, here when we moved in. Learning, appreciating, fascinated - three bushes of 'Gertrude Jekyll' grown together, beautiful bright pink blooms with a divine old fashioned strong scent of rosewater. 'Rambling Rector' little clusters of white rambling up the fence - loved by the bees, forgiving me for a brutal pruning to paint the fence earlier - with a scent of cloves. Hard to believe now, but they were blown down by a heavy wind in May. Striped 'Sentimental' and scented Mortimer Sackler with loose palest pink petals like tissue paper, almost thornless. Clematis tangled through 'The Lady's Blush'. I like to see the veins and markings from underneath with the sunlight showing through. The Lady's Blush rose is possibly my favourite -beginning with pert little goldenpink rosebuds, opening to a double petal pink edged flower, the same shape and size of a wild hedge rose, then gradually fading to an almost white cluster, flowers endlessly repeating after a daily deadheading. I love them, probably remind me of wild hedgerow roses. Wild roses xXx
So much rain in March and early April . . . should have been weeding, mulching and thinning out plants, instead I painted summer house, and a fence, before the roses took over. B. painted a newly acquired milk churn., potted up with lavender and a few trailing geraniums. The lilacs smelt heavenly, tucked behind the magic apple tree - our neighbour has the best view. Alliums have smaller heads this year, I know this because I kept the seed heads from last year, but maybe more will appear later. Sweet little violas and bellis daisies repeating for months. Roses are in bud, plant and bush spurts of growth,
Definitely early summer now, May going out with a heatwave, warm balmy evenings. Peaceful by the sea as the holiday season isn't yet in full swing. A stroll along the prom; then just sitting on the beach steps, listening to the gentle lap of the waves watching the sun go down. Blissful.
So good to see my sister and brother in law, and spend time together. Taking a whistle stop tour around Blackpool, lovely and sunny with a chilly wind. Visit complete with traditional seaside fish and chips.
Everything is more colourful: narcissus, muscari, pansies, primulas, tulips, herbs in the fairy garden, star magnolia. it's so much lighter. The heavy feeling has shifted. My yoga teacher has made a full recovery. April's garden is beautiful, red- tailed bees are dashing about, courting bird song of blackcaps, chaffinches, sparrows and seagull all in a heady chorus. Spring has sprung!
A neighbour let me play with an antique manual (not a treadle) singer sewing machine that was in a pitiful neglected state when he came across it. It was covered in cobwebs, full of dirt and dust, but I knew that Singers usually work if all the parts are there. The wheel turned, just about; the bobbin winder was stuck solid with grim, on the positive side the long bobbin was in the bobbin shuttle. I'd not used a long bobbin before so this was an interesting challenge. I looked on the Singer site to find out the date of the serial number. No. 12321485, and came up with the year 1894. Not that original as about 562,000 had been manufactured that year. I found a diagram there about how to thread a long bobbin. I also went on you tube and found how to oil and clean a vintage long bobbin machine by Lizzie Lenard, She has a very helpful blog for vintage quilters too. www.lizzielenard-vintage.blogspot.co.uk. I must say I found a pastry brush, and inter-dental toothbrushes, and metal polish most useful for the cleaning task. It was only when polishing the metal badge on the front of the machine that I realised that the emblem was a bobbin shuttle. 'Pearl' now positively gleams, works well if simply; a wonderful piece of nineteenth century engineering. ,A few years ago I remember reading a blog where the blogger called her singer sewing machine Pearl, made me smile at the time. As this one has now found a new lease of life and is singing again, I will dedicate this one to that blogger (sorry I don't know her name or her blog any more), and my fondness for Elkie Brooks!
Spent a lovely day with Sean, Victoria and Jura, as they were shortly moving from Keswick up to Fort William. Walking out from The Lingholm Estate www.thelingholmestate.co.uk after a bite to eat at the Lingholm kitchen cafe and shop to Derwent Water, very misty, always beautiful. Ubiquitous daffodils steal the show and some gorgeous red rhododendrons, Alpacas and a selfie.
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March 2023
Pat's Blog
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