......and Amazons!

I'm sitting in the conservatory delighting in watching the swallows swoop around the garden, occasionally settling briefly on the roof.
This must be the first brood out of the nest in the stables as there are so many of them - I must have missed the flying lessons last week whist in Cambridge.
I heard the cuckoo for the first time yesterday, with T and KP - much too late, I must have missed it earlier as they usually arrive at the end of April.
Perhaps they don't like rain!
So many birds nesting in the garden this year.

The last two days with T and KP, J and Th have been great fun - never a dull moment.
Yesterday afternoon the KP and Th (both 7) played football whilst J and T scooted around on wheeled vehicles in a play of their own making, when exhausted they all came in for sustenance, swapped partners and played Harry Potter!
I'm scarcely needed.
All gone now and I'm in the middle of a sermon, which I really want to finish so that I can mow the lawns, B having got the mower going for me (as well as removing the honeysuckle from beside the kitchen window - I thought that it needed a new trellis, it had abandoned that in favour of the gas pipe! - and replacing the bathroom light bulb which I had replaced with one which came on and off unpredictably, apparently due to the unusual red spot on its base)

Cousin JR's care seems to be sorted out now and he has two young blonde ladies in constant attendance - apparently his rather dim old eyes sparkled when they arrived - I think that he may be getting more regular visits from the neighbours now!

Back to the sermon........Ascensiontide - only got a s far as the holiday in Combe Martin and the Elvis tribute, so far - the moment he said it, I knew that it was a sermon - God moves in mysterious ways
I've read a brilliant piece by Ian Poulson, "Eternal Life - we have the best, the most attractive , the most wonderful, the most fantastic, the most wonderful thing in the entire world to offer to people - why aren't churches so full that we have to build more?"
Why indeed?

Chicken Eve!

A great evening; E arrived with T and KP, shortly after I got home from JR's.
We organised the requested dinner - chicken korma, tikka and mixed starters from JS.
I had to leave them to chair a church meeting in the next room.
KP thought it was "great to have a meal with her big brother, like grown ups" - they served mine, ready to microwave later, had their pudding, watched B's got T and came into the meeting to advise on what they enjoyed about church.
What stars!

Achieved a good deal at JR's - sorted two bedrooms and arranged for my Aunt and Uncles clothing  from the 40s - 70s to go to auction, vintage shop, charity shop or bagged for the bonfire when the gardener's in on Thursday.
Wardrobes and bedrooms cleaned and tidied ready for two new carers arriving on Friday, to replace the one already there, with waking night relief.
I've been sharing in JR's care since Monday, which is rewarding despite the sadness of his state - dementia and Alzheimer's.

The journey down marked mainly by the coach that attempted to pull out into the side of me as I drove alongside, in the outside lane - brakes, rumble strip and horn.
The journey back took far too long due to roadworks on A14 and an accident on M6 - small bump on our carriageway, apparently something far worse on the other carriageway, which I didn't see.
J and Th joining us tomorrow for a couple of days of fun - hoping to collect three new chickens and settle them in whilst the g/children are here to meet them.
Should be in bed - I expect an early morning!

Whatever next?

Whenever I struggle to find a title and decide to leave it until the end, I forget, hence the lengthy eulogy on the weather.
That seems long ago, my planned day in the garden, putting things right, is a washout - rain since first thing.
Bother.
If the warm and wet continues I shall be mowing the yard as well as the lawns - I have a bit of an obsession about weeds between the blue bricks - there's about 2000 bricks, so a bout a mile of gaps!
I did weed kill some weeks ago - Roundup, huh!

I'm watching  a recording of yesterdays "Antiques Road Trip" - I now watch more recordings than live TV - I love the power of fast forwarding /stopping whilst I fetch a G&T!
Driving open top in the rain - why?
Apparently, I can stop live programmes - can't remember how/ feel a bit like Peter Kay's Granny about it.

I have some sewing to do, some furniture removal upstairs or I could go out - Waitrose at Kenilworth (food , free paper and coffee) or The Good Food Show - I think that the latter isn't actually on until June.

I've had a busy week - can't recall what I was doing, but J and Th were on good form yesterday after school - a week off for good behaviour!
I do recall getting very cold and wet yesterday evening, collecting a few Christian Aid envelopes whilst giving folk the opportunity to decline to give/offer me the plastic clothes bag from some other charity/complain that aforementioned bags, now filled, had not been collected.
I suppose that I could have gone in the car and multitasked!
Still raining.
PtheP coming to finish off.
 

Another beautiful day - blue skies and warm sunshine.
Not one contract killer contacted me - that says something about the calibre of people who read my blog!
Aj came to the rescue - a good couple of hours raking yesterday before she left for home.
That was ten barrow loads of wet, compressed grass.
I raked a further couple of cubic metres of dry grass later in the day and brushed the grass of the conservatory windows and sills, so things are looking better.
Now needs the edges and missed patches to be mown, the two inches of grass on the borders to be removed and the yard sweeping.

That will have to wait - windows, sills and floors are cleaned and big furniture back in place, so full steam ahead to put the downstairs rooms back together after the decorating - far too much stuff!
Anybody want any glass dishes.........?
They are not all going back!

Why didn't he paint the radiators?

Contract needed.

Aj and I have just returned from holiday - 5 days in Combe Martin, a delightful little town in North Devon, staying at John Fowlers caravan site on the hill opposite Newberry Beach.
The climb up the hill to the caravan kept us fit, the view across the bay from the bar was wonderful (better than the entertainment , but there were only 11 of us there)
We went on to Richmond to babysit for P&N's baby Annie over the weekend.
The brilliant wather brought most of the inhabitants out to walk, sit or eat in the restaurants along the river - amazing!
We walked from Richmond to a friends in Chiswick on Sat - 5 miles along the river and through Chiswick, then another couple of miles to check out the shops and find a bus back.
Aj survived, just!
We had a great night with B, E, etc last night before coming home, having pottered around Bicester and Solihull en route.

The decorator has finished the back half of the house whilst we were away, which looks great - Wm Morris in the kitchen, green scullery and cream porch and laundry.
JA has mown the lawns - they are absolutely appalling - inches of grass lying everywhere -  on the lawns, borders and yard!!!!!!
I have the floors to steam clean, shelves to wash and furniture to polish before washing and putting things back.
I'll worry about the garden later - I do have an avid gardener coming on Thursday and friends for dinner - could be better timed.
Putting a contract out on JA wouldn't really help in the long run..

An early night would have been a good idea as I have a lot to get done and the Christian Aid envelopes to collect (ssshhhhh - late) 

Blog views.

I feel that it is no coincidence that recently Russia is at the top of the list of "Blog views" with Ukraine not far behind - I know that it's not individuals but something to do with scanning?
I hope that they find it inspiring - may lose something in the translation!

Sunday, so church, church and another - Evening Prayer to come at 6.oo or 6.30pm
As the magazine says 6.00pm and the service is always at 6.30pm, I shall have to arrive by 6.00pm and entertain myself - put out dead flowers.......... until folk arrive.

I was up early emptying the laundry and porch  - just the scullery to do now - before the decorator comes in the morning.
When I returned from church, JA and friend were her, having mown the lawns and field - grass not collected.
He did say that he'd made a mess of the lawns and had hoped to get away before I saw them!
It's a big improvement, but a lot of grass lying - JA reckons it will go when the sun shines.
Why/how?
A new battery and my mower is working again.
Hallelujah!

AJ has arrived for a few days of fun and frolics, we've drunk a lot of coffee and caught up on the gossip. I have some plants to put in whilst it's not raining, then back up the hill!

Norway, nil point!

I'm one of the 170 million watching the Eurovision Song Contest from Copenhagen - a Montenegrin man presently singing whilst a woman skates around the perimeter of the stage.
Why?
"Because it's Eurovision" as Graham Norton keeps saying, to explain the man in the hamster wheel, the round piano........
It really is bad.
Norway's entrant isn't even a singer but the brother of the composer - I suppose that the population is very small anyway and it was easy to get together to practise during the bad weather.

I've prepared tomorrow's services and delivered the Christian Aid envelopes - don't know when I'll have time to collect them!
I haven't mown the lawns as the mower hasn't been touched  - they are so long now that it will be a nightmare to cut them - a shame as they were looking really good.
I really don't know what to do as I've only used it once since it had an expensive service, apart from buy a new mower and start again.
I'm not sure that JA is an engine man.

The woman on the BBC Breakfast programme was wearing the same "Warehouse" dress - big rectangles of different colours - that I wore for the 1970's night on the P&O cruise in Feb.
Beat that!

 

What price care!

Home again after a sleepover in Bicester followed by a sleepover in Cambridgeshire - both excellent.
I collected T and PK from school on Wed, we went to Pret for tea, for a change, then did a little light shopping in Tesco with B, then back for a scrummy Chinese dinner and bed.
Yesterday I did the school run, then dried my hair and put on make-up (beat that for poor planning) and went to have coffee with a friend.
I had intended to buy geraniums at Bicester Garden Centre - the best garden centre in the world - but ran out of time so had to go straight to Cambridge.
The journey took longer than anticipated as the SATNAV couldn't find the road after Buckingham and just loitered in fields, then I hit the Cambridge rush.

I was visiting cousin JR, aged 90 and with dementia, to check up on the care he is receiving from his very expensive care providers.
This morning we had an Annual Review  meeting with the agency boss - she could score full marks for excuses, little for providing and being accountable for her staff.
The carer I found there a couple of weeks ago I would not have left in charge of my dog, the house filthy, food inadequate and little care being given - more later.
Things have been improved but still lacking on too many fronts.

The lawns have not been mown for nearly 3 weeks as the mower isn't working - a medium-sized member of the large cat family could well be stalking unnoticed on any of the lawns.
The next mow is going to be very hard work - if not tomorrow, I shall run out of time.

I shall eat a big salad for dinner to make up for the rubbish I have eaten yesterday and today.




 

One man went to mow....

the lucky one, whose mower was functioning.
Those with malfunctioning mowers found other harmless past-times - I did a little ironing then baked - chocolate cake and oat cookies, delicious sticky ones made with condensed milk, morello cherries, cranberries and raisins.
Then on to the agenda items - to Coleshill to tax the car then on to Solihull to collect J from school - Th at football practice.
As I was unable to get into the house, J and I went out to tea in Solihull - Pret, of course - some shopping then back to cook tea for Th.
A quick stop at JS and a car wash (how lazy is that?), then on to a friends - didn't make bell-ringing after a Tia Maria!

Water meter fitted a few weeks ago has put water costs down from £60 to £22 per month - don't want to blow it with car washing extravaganza!

I saw the first swallow in the garden today - stable door has been open to give access to their nest site - summer's come.

 

How many ploughmen?

Over eighty!
Excellent weather for walking, hence a really good turnout for the Parish Rogation Walk.
LM served 53 bacon rolls early on, by noon walkers had reached Shustoke and over 80 ate lunches by 2.00pm - self service ploughmans'.
Every scrap of food was eaten.
I vacuumed up the crumbs then locked up and went down to NW for the closing service at 4.15pm - the first sit down of the day - I treated myself to a cup of tea and some wonderful coffee cake afterwards.

This evening I've found a local chap to come and make good the plaster in the kitchen on Wed., before the decorator, Peter the Painter, alias PP, starts next Monday.
As this is imminent and I have a busy week, I then set to stripping the bookcase and dresser and moving them away from the walls ready for plastering, then emptying the room, mainly into the conservatory, which is now full.

JA came to check out the mower - not the battery, so it will have to go away and I'm still not able to mow the lawns.
Bother - they really are growing fast.

I've recorded the Gary Barlow/James Cordon programme, which looked great, to watch another evening - ready for bed!

J to collect from school tomorrow after some jobs in Solihull - will Knowle Auction Rooms sell an oil painting for me?
I'll give it a try.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

For the second evening in a row, I have fallen asleep shortly after eating dinner then woken up in time to got to bed - the cost of having a busy day following a poor night's sleep.
Yesterday was the Table Sale in the Parish Hall, a success due partly to the brilliant weather so lots of people about.
We had two stalls of bric a brac - one for the church and one for me, each involving a boot full of stuff - hard work loading all of the boxes into the car, then unloading and setting up the table.
We had to put the tables away and I swept the Hall before coming home to put the unsold goods back in the factory and clean the car.
At some point during the night I realised that the hose reel had gone, I checked at 5.30am and it has gone. Where?

Today was church at Sh, on to NW to take the service home for brunch then out to mow the lawns.
The big mower still wouldn't start so I eventually mowed outside, both sides of the road, with the pathetic little mower - 5 barrow loads of grass and 3 hours later........
It looks good and will be a little less to block the big mower when it's eventually sorted out.

Tomorrow I'm serving ploughmans' lunches in church - the annual parish walk around the churches, each serving food, usually well supported.
I have to collect the bread and salad from Morrisons, then sort out the church flowers before setting up the lunches.
I hope that the sun shines for everyone's  day off.

X men

Having never seen any of the films, Graham Norton has the three stars on his settee and they are tremendous - James, Michael and Hugh.
GN is redundant!
Mollie is singing the Eurovision Song Contest entry - it's really good but the voting is purely political so the entry for the UK is of no consequence.
I've had a busy day - sorted out the Table sale for tomorrow - two more tables requested this morning, so now only have to sort and load the stuff to sell on my stall and the church stall.
Two brill cake stalls booked, if you're peckish!

Morrisons had special offers on most of the necessities for ploughmans' lunches - cheese, tomatoes, bread rolls and even Branston pickle, so most of the shopping for Monday's open church lunches already bought, bread ordered.
I went on to Solihull for a potter before collecting Th from school (J going home to play with a friend).
I succumbed in Laura Ashley and bought a navy and mint striped T shirt - half price, with an extra 10% taken off at the till.
I collected some wallpaper samples to try in the back bedroom - 30% off until Monday - this is the last one to choose, Peter the Painter starts in a week' s time.
That room will have a blue carpet and burgundy settee - what paper will tie it all together without it looking like a tribute to Aston Villa!
 

Bother.

Plan for today was to catch up on the e mails then go to Coleshill for petrol then mow the lawns.
Having just finished phase 1, the rains came down so  everything is on hold for the moment.

AJ and I returned from a great week in Ringsted with W, MK, J and DK.
We  have done the nursery runs with DK - J now cycles through the park unaided - pottered, shopped, gardened, ironed and relaxed.
On Thursday, Tina and Birthe took us to the gallery in Ordrupgaard, designed by Hadid, the designer of the London Olympic Aqua Centre, to see an exhibition of Van Gogh, Gaugin and Bernard, painted whilst they worked together in the south of France at the end of the nineteenth century - I hope I got that right.
AJ reckons that they shared the paint ......and the wine!
The whole thing, including the lunch there, was brilliant.
We spent the weekend at the summer house in brilliant sunshine - first paddling of the year!

Apparently there were big problems at the airports yesterday - we just missed the problems and had a very good trip, then visited JR on the way home, the his local friends.
We had visited JR on the way down and were very concerned at the state of the house and the carer with him - I have spent an hour on the phone to Avail this morning, expressing my concerns.
Annual review date set!

Table Sale to set up for Saturday - more sellers still needed.
Any ideas?