Came down this morning to find this....

            ...little horror, he just loves my best "White Company" blanket, and he knows he shouldn't be on it.  It's been on the settee for all winter and he hasn't bothered before, but last night he made himself a really comfy nest.  I turfed him off and dragged him down to the park for a good walk.  It is still unusually warm and everyman and his dog was down there.  Joe charged around like a lunatic for an hour, but was then too tired to jump back into the car.  Now he is done for, too tired to even bother that the pigeons are strolling round his unguarded garden eating "his"bread.

     It has taken me a day or two, but I have finally got round to hunting out old pictures to celebrate Paul's birthday.



     August 1978.... and we  are in the garden at "Dunearn",  Mablethorpe at our family home where Grandad lived until he died in 1991.  That's Grandad sitting in the plant pot!  And just look at little Rags looking up at us.  She was the sweetest natured little dog.  We bought her in 1975 when she was just a few weeks old, she was the first dog we ever had. We got her on the day the Doctors told Mum she wasn't going to survive.  I didn't know this until many years later.  How on earth Mum and Dad managed to keep up their smiles as we drove to look at her I've never understood.  I just know that Paul and I were just so excited to be choosing our first, and only, childhood puppy.

     A view of the old house on the same sunny day, a sunny day on the East coast... a true rarity.  As for that tree  in the back garden... it always managed to look like someone driven a steam roller through it.  No matter how many times mum pruned it, it always grew back like that.   I would have taken an axe to it, but she used to tell me " it's the sea air that spoils it".   Yeah right...get the axe.
 
    

                                  And finally one of Paul and I in Malta in 1978.
       Why didn't I find some good photo?   Believe you me Paul...I did.  They are all looking rather worse for wear and the colours are going badly.  I think they need to come out of their sticky albums and into modern day, acid free versions.  Also your tendency to either be scofffing, with cheeks like a hamster,  or dripping wet in your 1970's speedos is not a look that  makes for good photographs!!!! 

   Well it's Leap Year day, and if any of you girls have been proposing marriage to any number of unsuitable men, just to get a free pair gloves out of them.....you have got your father to answer to.....

So starts another week....

       .....the sun is still shining, the birds are singing and there is so much coming up in the garden, and so fast, I can't believe it.
     Darsh seems a lot better at last, we went out yesterday for the first time in nearly a week.  Went to see "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" with Judy Dench in it.  I enjoyed it, it was a good advert for the Indian tourist board and it had some really good British names in it.  But there was no shooting, no violence and no special effects, so Darsh was not quite so impressed, but he did manage to stay awake, mainly because he had made himself a packet of cheese sandwiches to scoff during the film.  Honestly... he reminded me of that doddery old couple on the "Specsavers" advert who sit on the rollercoaster ride, mistaking it for a picnic bench to eat their lunch.
   Afterwards we went to the umbrella man for supper, Darsh couldn't eat all his, but it was no problem for me, he claimed he was watching his weight, but he had obviously forgotten the sandwiches.

 

Selina, I've got 4 heads of Rhubarb coming through this year.  I'll dig one up and bring it over for you to see if you can keep it alive this time.

Bought these Iris bulbs last time we went to the Sunday market along the bank of the river in Newcastle with Charlotte and Matt  They suddenly burst into flower over the weekend.

This poor little crocus is the only one in the garden that has managed to flower.  Either the bulbs don't like it when the dog wees on them, or the mice and squirrels have eaten  all the bulbs again.  I have learnt to put all my crocus bulbs in pots...tall ones.

    Today is looking like a clean-up day, with a basket of ironing thrown in...maybe a walk in the park too, as the doggy hairdresser is coming tomorrow, so there will be no walks for a couple of days- one reason....is to stay clean and looking smart for just a little while....and another reason...he feels the cold after a cut and will refuse to go out of the house anyway-as to giving him a coat to keep warm -  he stands there in it and totally refuses to budge,  the kind of walk where you have to carry your dog is no use to either of us. 

Happy birthday to Uncle Paul, I am planning to get some suitably embarrassing pictures out of the photo box to post later.

Everywhere you look.....

......there is a sure sign of Spring.....

..sat in the garden enjoying my breakfast...

           .....my favourite gardening shoes are out, but guess what Charlotte..... they've split.... they're not that old... seeing as they were Hunters, I thought I would have them for ever and ever....awww....



        ..... I am surprised the birds haven't eaten these Holly berries, maybe they were just too close to the house, and the dog, for comfort.
       Speaking of dog, he is keen to share my breakfast toast.....

     ....then he goes and buries it, and wonders why I won't give him anymore....and he sneaked into the greenhouse and ate the balls of bird seed I had stored  in there.  I thought it would be the squirrel that sneaked in and pinched them, not a blooming dog!!!!

Digging and clearing up is quite difficult this year, not because of my canine helper....

...but the sheer number of ladybirds hiding in every dead leaf and plant....

Just been over to the garden centre for a box of pansies to plant tomorrow....one  way of making sure it will be a rainy day tomorrow.

What a mixed week that was....

     ....cold then warm and even hot on Thursday.  Darsh has been unwell all week, but he did limp outside in yesterdays sunshine to finish off the car he abandoned on Monday, so I have had a drive-able car again today.  Now it is dull, but not cold, so Joe will definately be up for a walk before supper.
     Spent all of yesterday in the sunshine, was planning to attack the garden, but something went wrong in the garden shed...

      .....I wasn't planning on emptying the shed out, but then I don't suppose the dog was planning on getting stuck in there either.  So once I had started I thought I might as well carry on.  So now it is all cleanish and tidy, and you can get in and out, Joe has decided there's no mice in there anyway and doesn't want to go in anymore.  Instead he transfered that awful yapping to the back door, you can't ignore it for long as he doesn't need to stop for breathe, so you may as well open the door and let him go in.  When you peep in the window you find him sprawled out on the chair-sunbathing.
   Once his barking stopped I could hear the birds singing and a lot of big furry Bumble bees and large wasps, the warm sun must have woken them up early, goodness knows what they are doing today, can they simply go back to sleep or does the sudden change kill them?

Had a wander round "Next" yesterday......

   ...looking at a few new bits for at home...they had some lovely cushions for sale and was sorely tempted.....but then this picture came to mind......

......and I remember that my new cushions quickly become old cushions....he loves to make a comfy nest....and it seems a bit unfair to try a keep him off after all these years, especially as he looks so cute in all his winter coat, which he is pulling off in his teeth and spitting out on the carpets.  It's a good job I'm not houseproud...how could I be...I live with Darsh...who is poorly again, so much so that he rang the girls last night, just in case he didn't make it through the night.  Poor lambs got a cough and a sore throat...so he's back on a few little antibiotics to make him feel better.  He's had to cancel todays meeting and just gone back to bed.  I suppose it is the season for man flu, [this one and the other 11 months of the year.]  Not a great deal of sympathy, but then I did find him out in the garage in bare feet, bare arms and bare legs the other day.  I suppose I should be grateful that he had got a pair of summer shorts on.  It was just above freezing and the dog had already sneaked back in the warmth, [he's a fair weather mouser, a bit like me and my gardening]

      Found this wonderful work of art the other day, as I was scrabbling around in the photo cupboard looking for honeymoon pictures....

              ....closely followed by it's partner......

    It didn't take a lot to make a girl happy/sad in those days....and just look at the fingers she used to cut....



             ....a slight bit of exaggeration there Sara....a bit like your father and his man flu?

Darsh often has a phone in each hand.....

.....so thats nothing new....but listening to the radio....

 via the computer at the same time?

We were listening to Matt on BBC Newcastle talking about his job at Bedesworld and trying to recruit volunteers to be part of his team.  Selina and Pete couldn't get him on their computer, hence Darsh holding his phone to the computer so they could hear him as well.  So much for modern technology....even Sara and John were roped into listening over in Dublin.  Charlotte said he was nervous, but he didn't really sound it, but we decided his favourite word at the moment is "fantastic"!!!!! 

"You look so young".....

......the girls were telling us when they saw the wedding photos, well we don't look any different to us, only larger and that is to make up for failing eye-sight, so we don't miss each other in a crowd.

Here we are enjoying our honeymoon in Spain, and it's only  30 years ago.

These two look about the same too,  we haven't seen them for a long time, but it was good to hear from them the other day.  We are hoping to get over there before it gets too hot and they get too busy with the summer season....

     Today is rather spring like, so far we have fitted in a walk, and a wander round the garden picking up weeds, apple skins and other bits of rubbish, the birds are singing and the Magpies are building a nest.  I'm going back out with a brush to make start on the leaves.  There is just so much tidying up to be done at this time of the year, but it looks as if we are back to Winter tomorrow so I am making the most of today. 

Messing about with Charlotte's computer.....

    ......was trying to put on old (ancient) photographs, but disappointed with the quality of the colour ones, so will try and copy them tomorrow when the light is better.  This old one from Grandad's collection was taken in about 1936 on the promenade in Mablethorpe Lincolnshire.  I think that Grandad Watson is on the right. 
As to the others? On the back of the picture it says "John, Ginny and ?"   Maybe Uncle Paul has a better idea?

     Maybe I can manage  a video instead.... but it is certainly taking it's time.  Looks like I have to be patient for quite a bit longer.....

Looks like it's worked, now all I have to is press the publish button......and.....start all over again?

Just re-read the last post...

    .....and it should read "shirts", not "skirts"

       Darsh is partial to buying cheap shirts in charity shops.....I've got no idea where he goes to buy his cheap skirts, and I have no desire to find out...
      John and Sara..."Are you sure you want to go away with us in the camper home this summer?"

Last trip home before China....

     .....Charlotte had a 3 day training session in Birmingham and stayed over the weekend, and despite the warning of bad weather, Selina and Pete got home as well.  Had a ride over to Newlife, of course-don't we always-and dad was bored within 30mins...as usual, but he didn't dare moan too loud as it was his idea to go there and Charlotte warned him would be instant death if he moaned as soon as we got there.
     Also went for a curry on Saturday night in Caldmore, as usual.....no one moaned about that, but boy, was the food good.  On Sunday we stayed at home, Darsh and Pete on the computer paper sorting, and the girls on the laptop....

      ......swopping photos, looking for tickets to China, and idly chatting about wedding plans that are really taking their time to be made.  Still trying to get this house emptyed out a bit, I brought all the old clothes out of the loft-about 50 hangers worth-many from before the fire, so they were pre 2000.  They spent a happy couple of hours trying on and giggling at their ancient fashion sense.  Sara got the blame for most of the atrocities, mainly because she wasn't here to defend herself.  So there are now 4 more sacks and around 30 hangers worth ready to go to the Great Bridge charity shop.  I like that shop as it is an independant fund raiser and the girls in there make me laugh with their broad Black Country accents and sense of humour.  And Darsh loves their cheap skirts, which kind of defeats the objective of thinning out our rubbish.

            Most of the trying-on photos are unbloggable, for obvious reasons.....imagine Selina trying on an age 10 size glittery t-shirt from New Look and you get a picture that would get me instantly banned from blogspot for life. 
     This find however, was one of the acceptable ones, along with endless comments along the lines of "we keep way too much rubbish" and "why oh why have we kept this," and Sara's good taste and fashion sense was blackened all over again!

Blue nosed.....

.....like everybody else!  Honestly, Sara loves this ugly old gnome and refuses to part with him. 

She acquired it in her student days up in Saint Andrews and he has lived in her wardrobe ever since.  She had the good sense to relocate him to the garden during her recent sort out, but if she ever buys herself a permenant home this horrible little man will be the first to move in (this ugly stone statue will be going along as well.)

We are still all frozen up here, although we did manage a quick walk in the park yesterday, the sun came out briefly and "vooommm", we were out there.

Bought some spring bulbs in Tesco last night, all thrown in the bargain bucket for 25p a pot...

               ....the first one is just about to show it's face.  The poor things have been knocked over and are just bare bulbs growing in a bit of dust, I really need to go in the greenhouse and get them some fresh compost.
        It's snowing again...perhaps the compost can wait.  
     Selina and Pete are planning to come over tonight and Charlotte is in Birmingham for a training session, so she is planning a weekend here too.  It may be the last chance we get to see her before she heads off to China in March...

Still feeling the need to hibernate...

     ...it's cold and damp and very dull.  The snow has been and gone leaving plenty of slippery slush behind, not the best weather for dog walking and he doesn't want to go anyway.  He nips smartly down the garden, chases off the birds and gallops back into the warmth-thank goodness.

     We ended up doing absolutely nothing at the weekend, the furtherest we ventured was to the garden centre for some flowers for our Anniversary, we bought a purple one and a pale blue one with a zipper-fleeces-one each.  The flowers and plants looked as cold as we were and the fleeces were far more attractive and longer lasting.

     The girls sorted out their rooms over their last visits, and left us with a bit of storage space so I have brought dad's old case and pictures out of the loft where the cold wasn't doing them any good at all.  We have been going through the papers in there and looking at the photographs, some of which I plan to sort, scrap or just generally use round about.

               There is all sorts in there, even a list of what we each had for Christmas in 1989!

     Of course if we are sat in the conservatory sorting Joe has to sit as close as possible just to make sure he isn't missing out. 

This is something I didn't expect.....

......to have to buy this winter.....a bag of apples.....

....for the blackbirds would you believe.....

...the garden is bare...

...after only a few short days of the cold.

The birds are hanging around, pecking desolately at the few rotten skins left over, I've even given them all the rotten apples out of the compost bins, but they were gone almost as soon as they hit the ground.  Even the dog is blameless, for once, although he eats most bird food, he draws the line at cooking apples, but he will wee on them, and even that hasn't stopped the hungry birds.

So it's off to Lidl we will go...

30 years of married bliss.....

NOT!!!!

That makes it our pearl wedding anniversary.

                 What ever was I thinking?
                                       He was looking decidedly shifty, even all those years ago.

Spring can't be that far away.....

.....had morning coffee in the garden today...

 

.....for the first time this year!

            Noticed just how pretty the morning sun was on my carnations in the conservatory. 

Went for a drive to Warwick for a Thai lunch, and a bit of a wander, but it was just tooooo cold, so we made our way home in the beautiful late afternoon sunshine.  This weekend is our 30th wedding anniversary, we thought about a weekend in Benidorm-where we spent our honeymoon- maybe a B & B somewhere in this country?  But it was just too cold, and we are expecting snow, stay in and decorate the bathroom?  We even thought about going to Selina's for a day, but we don't want to get snowed in.  No idea what we are going to do, except keep warm.   

      Came home for afternoon tea and Herman cake, don't worry John, we saved a slice for you, it's in the freezer xxxx.

Guess Who....

       ....I've been looking through the albums.... for some particular pics, and got distracted, by this cute, if a little gormless face.  

     When we were in Brugge before Christmas I took these photos, and I felt we had done the same thing before....



                                                               Charlotte and Selina.

Afterwards we went and sat in the cafe for a warm up- one of my favourite shots, I love shadows.

       
Well as I said before.... I was looking for a particular set of photos.....

                  Sara, Selina, Musidewowl [Muffy the Owl in grown up language] and me.

       

........August 1986...I found them, we definately had been there before, different child, different era, and definately a different time of the year, but we had been there...I knew it...