Tag: general chit chat

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dear diary :: roamin in the gloamin once again…

Just dropping by again to say hello from bonnie Scotland.

It has been a while but one daughter is now moved and settling in well and all the empty boxes have been passed onto to someone else – boxes are so hard to come by these days. Everything went to plan on the day and I was assigned the job of cupboard cleaner and organiser in the kitchen so now of course my daughter cannot find anything and when I go next time I probably won’t find anything either as she will have rearranged everything to suit her. Still the main thing was that all the boxes, but for a few craft items and nick nacks, were emptied and put away by the time we left.

We are now in Scotland once again with a to do list as long as a toilet roll. The woodland walk is in full bloom with pretty white sweet woodruff, pink dicentras and the elegant Solomon’s seal.

The pond is full of rotting leaves as we couldn’t clean it out last year because of the restrictions on our visits or put the pond net over last September to catch the autumn leaf fall. Thankfully, with little rain it is quite dry so will be easier to scoop out and clean then refill with fresh water though it is not a pleasant job and not one I look forward to. The primulas have multiplied and look stunning, I do need to plant some more of the deep orange coloured primulas though as they appear to have gone.

We have plenty of thick moss to scrape off all the paths and then we will spray some cleaner onto them to remove any residual bits. The cows have been watching our every move with curiosity all week.

After a mornings work we stopped for light refreshments! These small assorted danish pastries courtesy of Tesco are one of my treats when we come up here. There are five in a box so we always share the jam centred ones.

In the afternoon we visited Castle Kennedy gardens. (Jayne at The View from Bag End has more lovely pictures here from her recent visit to the area.) We always manage to fit in a visit when we come up and I really missed not being able to go during last year so it was lovely to see that it is open for visitors once again.

This is a very special place for us as DH’s grandfather was head gardener here from the late 20’s up to sometime in the 60’s when he retired. His granny and grandad lived in the head gardener’s cottage on the hill by the little bridge that takes you into the car park. DH stayed here for a while when he was younger with his mum and dad when they moved back from Ireland and he tramped daily around the estate trying to keep up with his grandad.

Because of our connection to the place we held our elder daughter’s wedding here in 2016 and had a marquee by the old ruined castle that sits next to the walled garden and the cute little wooden tea room.

The wedding was in July so the walled garden was at its best.

And the marquee took in the spectacular views across the estate and of course all our guests could relax and roam around the grounds during the afternoon.

And when it went dark in the evening it was quite magical.

Of course her wedding day would not have been complete without having the old tea room part of this big day. It has over the years had many coats of paint and also had the floor levelled so the tables no longer have blocks of wood beneath the legs to even them up. Today it has even had the addition of a disabled ramp.

The guests all enjoyed the afternoon tea provided on the picnic tables.

Everything was homemade and done on a tight budget – I made all the invitations, confetti, table flowers and favours….

…spent hours making yards and yards of bunting and a few hours decorating the marquee and putting up cheap white paper lanterns from a very wobbly ladder.

So it was lovely to wander around in the same warm sunshine that we had enjoyed that day with our memories and see that thankfully the place remains quite unchanged. We had gone specially to see the magnificent collection of rhododendrons that are in bloom at this time of year – they are renowned all over the world and they did not disappoint. They were stunning.

Many of them were planted by DH’s grandfather who also propogated many of the hybrids on the estate such as ‘Lord Stair’ and one named after himself RW Rye. He was awarded an RHS gold medal for them and of course we have his rhododendron in both our gardens. He is also credited as the person who propogated the pale lavender buddleia named ‘Loch Inch’ which many people will have in their gardens.

The round lily pond which is 1/4 of a mile across is another feature which is absolutely glorious.

The ‘newer castle’ built around 1860 is where Lord and Lady Stair reside and is situated between the two locks (the Black Loch – Loch Crindil and the White Loch- Loch Inch) and has magnificent views across the landscape.

We spent the afternoon sketching in the sunshine before treating ourselves to tea and scones – it was so nice to do something quite creative for once though I need a lot of practise I am decidedly rusty, especially the watercolour which is spectacularly bad – but at least I made a start – it takes time to get back into it.

We decided that today would be a ‘rest’ day and we are walking to the village and up the steep hill out towards the Mull to see one of the Open Gardens at a cottage that adjoins one we nearly put in an offer for, but we bought our cottage instead so it will be interesting to see what they have made of the garden.

The weather has been so hot here everything is beginning to look parched and dry and many of the flowers are soon over. Even the foxgloves have bent over heads from a lack of water. Our garden ranges from peaty and waterlogged to dry sandy dust and my style of gardening is just to let the self seeders find their own home where they are happiest.

So that is all my news so far which just leaves me to say a warm welcome to all my new followers and sorry for the lack of posts – life just gets incredibly busy and my energy levels incredibly diminished – but I hope everyone reading is enjoying the good weather, though personally I could easily tolerate it much cooler but at least the sea breeze helps to cool me down. I have had to garden all week wherever there is shade so I have been constantly moving around and consequently no one patch or task is fully complete. We have also spent some time over a concerning problem that has arisen because the new owner of the caravan site next door wants to put a locked gate at the top of our lane over which we have a right of access to our cottage. This would be very restrictive for anyone coming to the cottage if we had to hand out keys to everyone who has to have access, especially when we start to have contractors on site again to renovate the cottage.

Nothing ever stays the same for long these days and it is so easy to get swept up by other people’s agendas – I am feeling pretty upset by it all especially as it has been such a difficult time with the flood and then the Covid restrictions.

But tomorrow is another day as they say!

Back soon x

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dear diary :: good to be back

It is so good to be back by the sea and nothing lifts my spirits more – though a little less sea breeze and a slightly higher temperature would be better. It is sunny, bright (and breezy) but certainly very cold and as we look across Luce Bay we can see the snow topped hills in the background a reminder that although my calender is telling me it is May the weather has still to catch up.

I am having to choose my position in the garden very carefully – the seaside garden is a definite no no and the wood side, although more sheltered, is shaded by the trees at this time of year while the sun is still a bit low. So I am nestled into a cosy spot outside the little porch that leads into the kitchen. The giant Fatsia and privet hedge providing shelter from the wind on one side and the cottage itself on the other. It is not the worst part of the garden by any means there are places crying out for resuscitation after being ignored for more than a year….but one step at a time.

We had a visit from the ‘ratman’ this morning – during the lockdown they had taken up camp in our wood being fed nicely by the escalation of the takeaways and leftovers of food in the bins belonging to the pub next door (part of the legacy from the government initiative ‘eat out to help out’ scheme). I don’t think they had included the rat population in this – but they had a good feast nonetheless.

Afterwards I managed a couple of hours gardening while the leek and potato soup simmered away on the stove. After lunch we had a stroll to the village chatting with one or two of the locals at a safe distance and catching up on the news and generally just passing the time of day. It was obviously washing day. I always find it is an immensely satisfying sight for some reason to see washing on a line and blowing in the wind by the sea (no tumble driers needed up here) and I just had to have a few pictures.

We took the low road that runs by the shore back home to view the now famous artwork – the painted stones – which have grown in number over the past year and many more painted stones have been added to the collection, an obvious sign of what everyone has been doing during lockdown. I loved these simple little leaf paintings.

Tomorrow we have a visit from a local civil engineer who will hopefully make some suggestions for the repairs we need to have done to the burn; we lost a bit of the banking this winter when the willow tree fell over into the water taking part of the banking with it. The farmer next door removed the tree for us with his tractor and now we need to repair the hole before it erodes any more.

A lot of land was lost to the sea this year on the seabank below us but luckily this is not our responsibility and falls to the new owner of the caravan site. Presently, he has the civil engineers in with diggers and hefty looking Tonka toys making the banking good and laying armoured rock against it to hopefully stop further erosion. The power of the sea should never be underestimated.

Ah well my bed beckons….night everyone x

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dear diary :: just stopping by

Just thought I would drop by and say hello – where has the time gone? (That same old question!!)

I have been battling recently….not with Covid or any illness, apart from my old age aches and pains, but just with life in general and in particular the pace of my life. Recently I have not had the time to stop and think let alone write a blog post as I am experiencing many upheavals that I hadn’t actually bargained for.

Currently, both my daughters are on the move and requiring a little bit of help. One daughter rents and her move is imminent the other daughter is trying to prepare her house for sale and although we cannot help inside we are allowed to go in the garden now so we have been giving that a bit of an overhaul.

Added to which we have had the usual trips up to north Yorkshire to visit and check on my mum whilst my sister has had a little respite from caring.

Since my last post both Mother’s day and Easter have been and gone (both quiet affairs for us this year) and little Freddie has gone back to nursery. The house fell extremely quiet when our services were no longer required but we had a load of jobs to catch up on and we are still wading through the list.

In between the usual jobs around the house I managed a few hastily made cards – including these 3 tiny Easter ones for each of the grandchildren…..

….a few simple stamped ones for my family and friends…..

….and one for a friend who sadly lost her daughter this month a few years ago.

We have continued to walk without little Freddie with us and discovered more new tracks and paths near to where we live with glorious views stretching out towards the moors.

One day we had to collect a machine part from Buxton for the chain saw so we packed up a picnic lunch to eat in the car and then took the opportunity of stretching our legs around the lovely Pavillion Gardens.

I was overjoyed to see that the Crescent has now been completely renovated – over the years we have watched its demise but now it stands once again as it would have looked in its prime. Originally designed by John Carr of York it is a very significant building and popular in Georgian England as a very stylish hotel and spa attracting people from all over the country to bathe in the thermal waters of Buxton. It became a spa destination as far back as in Roman times, when a settlement was built around a clear, warm-water spring that still sends up more than one million litres a day from the original source underneath the Buxton Crescent.  

I have almost forgotten now exactly what I have been doing day to day over the last weeks – but it hasn’t been lounging around thats for sure. There has been a lot of catching up to do in the garden – we lost quite a few plants over winter and the frosts have been quite vicious here attacking the new shoots on the hydrangeas more than once.

Most days have been bright and sunny although still very cold but it has been quite cosy in the greenhouse where I have at last managed to sow some seeds.  The garden is starting to take shape as everything springs to life once more after some very persistent wintry days.

I wish I could say the same for inside the house where we seem to be continually on high alert ‘mess wise’ with a growing pile of things to be put away everywhere I look.  There is still unpacking to finish from the recent trip up north to see mum, this task being abandoned mid week to attend to urgent paperwork, which was not on my task list as it related more to someone else’s problems rather than our own, but nonetheless had to be dealt with.

I managed a few days catching up with my own paperwork – balancing statements, scanning bills and setting up payments online.  DH has made another start on the Laundry room fixing the damp floorboards by the back door where water seems to be coming in.  We ordered a Karcher commercial style vacuum cleaner (like a Henry) on the internet as there is no shop around here that stocks them. We used to have one at the cottage which had to be skipped after the flood; they are really good for those excessively dirty or dusty jobs like cleaning out the car or when decorating and should help preserve my lightweight Dyson which doesn’t take kindly to swallowing up chunks of plaster and grit.

I have in mind that I need to get back to doing a little exercising to ease my stiff back, hips and shoulders which occurs every morning after a night in bed.  I used to be very flexible and even now have a good range of motion but my joint and muscles have been a problem since I had my thyroid removed and I am dependant on taking the synthetic Levothyroxine each day, which does the job of the thyroid but not nearly as well. A lump appeared in my neck a few weeks ago so my consultant sent me for an ultra sound and I am now waiting for a CAT scan so they can see more – after this it might be a biopsy – I am trying not to think too hard about what it might be – hopefully not serious and not a return of the cancer.

Presently, I do feel rather lethargic – more in mind than body and with the new ‘ease down’ everyone is out and about but I am finding the crowds and the busyness out there quite overwhelming and even after a short walk to the village I can’t wait to get back behind our own front door, back in the peace and quiet we have grown accustomed to now.  Up until today we have not even attempted to go out to the shops (other than the usual supermarket run for food) or to sit outside in a café – I just don’t feel I want to mix in this overloaded environment.  It all feels rather artificial and for the moment I am quite content staying at home. Having said that we are about to pack to go up to Scotland to our cottage but we will be keeping ourselves to ourselves up there; I feel certain the jungle of a garden will keep us quite busy. It will be amazing to be back by the sea though I have missed the sound of the waves at night.

I have little other news to tell so I won’t ramble on but before I go I must say welcome to my new followers that have appeared in my absence; even though I have written no new posts for a while – I can only apologise for the lack of attention I have given to this little space and hope to do better. And thank you Cathy for your kind message it has spurred me on to write this post.

I hope all my readers are well and enjoying the better weather. Once again I have so much catching up to do – story of my life! I might even manage a post or two when we are up there. Until then…..

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dear diary :: on a brighter note

Thank you for all the comments yesterday – I really value your support and comments. I know most people probably have some family issues from time to time without actually being a dysfunctional family. As a family we have always stuck together and we will get through this. I know that mum is a very unhappy person at the moment and lashing out at everyone but I am surprised that this now includes my sister as she has always been her favourite; she is eleven years younger than me and the baby of the family so she was left at home with mum and dad from being six years old when my brother and I left for Art College. They have always been so close, worn the same style clothes and at one time had similar tastes in furniture and spent a lot of their time together including holidays so it is sad to hear how she is starting to complain so much about her.

On Sunday we will go up to North Yorkshire to see her for the day and give my sister the Sunday off. I usually take a homemade Quiche, a trifle and a chocolate cake (all mum’s favourites) and of course some Sainsbury’s shopping – unlike my sister I do go to Sainsbury’s so it really won’t be any trouble. I am hoping my visit will cheer her up and have a lasting effect for a while. I might even take my box of photos so she can sit and reminisce for a while of the ‘good old days’ and I will politely listen as if I have never heard the stories before (even though it will be the umpteenth time I have been told them!).

The washer comes today and DH failed to get the new flooring down in the utility – there was no hope really once the leaks had to be dealt with but at least we have made a start on stripping the walls.

We decided not to change the units in here, even though we have had them for years, probably 30 years, but they are plain grey so back in fashion and go quite well with our new cabinets in the kitchen. They consist of a double wall cupboard and one of those slim line pull out larder cupboards with wire shelving. A good clean down and some new handles and I think they will be fine. I bought the wallpaper a few years ago now and I got it out the other day to see if I still liked it….and yes I do. There is only one wall papered the rest are painted so I only got two rolls as it was £20 a roll so I hope the pattern repeat is not too wasteful.

We had a long walk with Freddie in the afternoon. DH decided to down tools and go with us, but it was mostly in the rain – the cold damp rain.

We walked down the rough old mill road to the site of the dye mill – now demolished – until we could go no further with the pushchair.

We then walked back and along the road which runs parallel to the pleasure grounds but much higher up and it runs above this old terrace of mill houses where we once lived. I loved my old house it had four stories and some beautiful old features. By the time we sold we had lived there for 8 years and had done quite a bit of renovating. The modern estate house we are in now was only a stop gap for 3 years until we found our dream home. That was 36 years ago and we never did move to our dream home – instead once the girls had left home we bought the ‘retirement’ cottage in Scotland and began our 10 years of renovations before the flood took all that away.

We continued a little way down this road having a good nosy over the railings to see what our old neighbours had been doing to their houses – a lick of paint, some new windows but it is more or less the same as when we lived there. Eventually we cut off along a disused driveway and came across another snicket running through a more recent estate that took us back to the village. By the time we reached home the rain was quite heavy and our coats rather soaked.

Today is our recovery day after the childcare and I have lots to do on the list – chase up John Lewis again for one who have so far failed to send the ‘care package’ they promised last Friday. I also need to make the food to take up to mum’s for lunch and plant the pots of bulbs if they have not died of thirst in the greenhouse. Then I must try and tidy up this chaos around me, all I did last night was tidy the toys away and make our evening meal before collapsing in a heap.

I did pop my head around the door of the spare room that has become a temporary store for the laundry heap, pending the new washer. It had not self destructed – or washed itself – this new washer had better be good it has a lot of work to do.

Hope you have a good weekend everyone.