Wiliam Wordsworth

 

I wandered lonely as a cloud,

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

*****

I remember learning this poem by the English poet William Wordsworth in our English class when I was at high school but can't get beyond the first verse these days. So that's what we have above. I thought of it as soon as we saw the daffodils along the side of the motorway. We had to take a short  detour from our normal route to get the pictures but that was no problem. 

Does anyone else have these things spring to mind when you see or hear something like this?

Blessings,

Diana

The last day of winter

It's been a quiet day and I'm pleased about that. I didn't sleep well so was thinking I might need a granny nap this afternoon but I've managed to get through without it :)

It was a lovely day and by lunch time was a pleasant 20 C. The washing was on the line so after lunch I put the cushions on the  swing chair and took my book and sat and indulged myself for half an hour. 

 Then it was time for a drink, inside by now, and I thought I should get out for a walk.  I'm supposed to walk for at least 20 minutes per day to help keep my blood pressure down. I told the doc I don't do cold if it can be avoided and definitely don't do wet and cold. So I've been a bit remiss over the winter, only been out occasionally.

It was lovely to be out and about and much to my surprise 

I really enjoyed it. Spring was in the air and there were quite 

a few others out and about as well. 

When I got back home I took a wander around the yard and came across this little clump of snowdrops and a solitary daffodil down by the back fence. The jonquils at the front of the house are in full bloom as well and look lovely.

And over the fence this is one of two beehives on the neighboring  property. The house is empty now but  the grand daughter of the owners is the beekeeper. There were a few bees about but not many, the wrong time of day I think and maybe not quite warm enough yet. 

And finally I decided to tidy these shelves in the kitchen/dining area. I've still got the very top to do and the toys at the bottom. And I now have a table covered in 'things' I don't recognise (probably my GKB's), books to give away and small games to find a box for. 

Now our evening meal is over and we're sitting relaxing, my book is at my elbow and the paralympics are on the TV.  Well they were, I see my GKB has changed over and is now watching Midsomer Murders :)  I don't mind.

And that was the last day of winter 2024.

Have a great week,

Diana

Spring is coming

"What is this?" youngest daughter wanted to know. 

"I've never seen one before."

Someone suggested an onion flower!

She sent a closeup so we could all see it properly.

Of course it's a snow drop, but she'd never seen one fully open or with the green spots.

That started everyone posting photos of  their spring flowers.

Jonquils on my kitchen windowsill, blown over by the wind

 so I rescued them.

A collage of eldest daughters spring garden,

and some close ups.

Eldest daughter has inherited my grandmothers green thumb,

 I haven't :)

She always has a nice display whatever the season.

So although the weather hasn't quite settled down yet and the sun is shining at the moment and we've been told it could be a wet and windy weekend, the promise of spring has arrived.

 

A slow week

It's been a slow week.

My little mother has gone home and it is 

a bit strange not having her in the house.

Our son and DIL have also been offered a flat 

and will be moving into it in the next couple of weeks.

We shall be empty nesters once more.

Tete a tete - miniature daffodils

My GKB and I decided to drive to Outram one day

 to see if the cherry blossom was out yet. It wasn't 

so we opted for an ice cream instead. While we were 

eating it I spotted the spring bulbs on sale 

and decided to buy a pot for DIL to take to her new home.

They are getting past their best now but will be lovely

 in a pot next season.

Chopped and ready to freeze

I was rostered on this week to do a meat dish for our church outreach and as the man in charge was to be away he asked me to do a big pot of potatoes as well. That was fine but what he failed to do was let the lady know who usually cooks the veges and she had done a big dish of roast potatoes. Oh well. For some reason our numbers were down so we decided not to use my spuds and I brought them home. I'll freeze them and turn them into a potato/vegetable bake dish for next week. AND I shall remember to tell everyone, lol.

I finally found a Jan Karon book and must say I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I found it a bit hard to get into as looking at the cover I imagined Mitford was an English village and couldn't work out why the author was using American words and expressions. Thank goodness for the internet, I looked up Jan Karon's books and discovered these ones are set in the Blue Ridge Mountains, phew. You don't realise how much easier it is to read something when you have it all in context rather than a wrong world view of it. I found it very hard to put this book down :)

Enjoy your week

Diana

Daffodils and blossom

Did you see the Tui in the bottom photo?

Tuis are beautiful native birds.

There were dozens of them feeding 

on the nectar, so lovely to see and listen to.

If you would like to see a better picture of,

 or read a little about, the tui, click here.

joining Amy and friends for:
Five on Friday 
and
Friday foto friends
with

Lunch in Outram

It was a beautiful spring day and as life has been a tad busy lately we decided to head over to Outram for a bite of lunch. It seems everyone else had the same idea but we managed to get a little table outside and dined al fresco.

That's my GKB sitting under the hanging basket on the left.

I had a cinnamon roll and cup of tea which was served in a lovely Queen Anne rose patterned china teacup. Lovely. It's nice to get your tea served in one of these dainty cups when you're out.

One of the reasons we decided on Outram was that we wanted to get some photos of the blossoms and daffodils. And although it is country it's only 10 minutes drive from home.

The pink and white blossom is really beautiful and we could hear the tuis calling to each other as they fed. I have more photos and will put some up next week if I get the chance. 

We had parked in the gateway to a farm road and it is absolutely beautiful. Either side of the driveway is absolutely smothered in daffodils. More photos of those as well for next week, so I guess this post is a bit of a tease.

And finally on the other side of the road were the paddocks with the ewes and lambs. Sure signs that spring is here.

I hope you have enjoyed my springtime photos.

***************

Thank you for your concern for my little mother.

She has had a bad year and for someone who is not used to being ill and is very independent she has not coped well. On Monday she had her annual checkup with the heart specialist and on Friday she goes in for tests to ascertain what to do next. She is much happier now she knows something is being done. 

joining:
Five on Friday
Friday foto friends
Teacup Tuesday

Randomness

I haven't been up to posting for a few weeks as my Little Mother hasn't been at all well and I have been seeing to her needs.  

I have been looking in on you though and catching up on what you are all doing but I'm sorry I haven't had the energy to comment. 

It's relaxing just to read sometimes.

But I was looking through my photos and found some 

I've taken over the last few weeks that I could use to take part

 in Five on Friday with Amy and her lovely friends.

So number one: A shot taken one day while I was walking along the Silverstream. That is a cabbage tree (cordyline australis) on the bank. It is over the back fence from where a friend of mine used to live. The cabbage tree was given to her and her husband as a gift but she didn't think it went with her garden so she planted it on the floodbank instead. This way we all get to enjoy it. A lot of people think they are ugly but I like them. They are New Zealand natives and native birds find their berries very tasty.

Number two:  Do you remember a few months ago I told you that my friend's cat had departed to where all cats eventually go? Well shortly afterwards  she was offered this little lady. She is a real character and a lot of fun. She loves playing in the box and is a real blessing to my friend who missed her ginger boy dearly. But the thing that really struck us was that her lovely ginger boy was already named Leo when he arrived on the scene and when this little lady came along she was already named Cleo! I'd say it was meant to be, wouldn't you?

Number three: The Children's Marathon challenge. Out walking around the town one day I was passed by these kids out on a run. I see in the paper that a lot of the schools in the area are taking part in a  marathon of sorts. For the past 6 weeks they have been running around courses at the schools until they have clocked up almost  40 k's.  The final section of the run is then done at Logan Park on a running track and when it is over a ballot is taken to see who gets the donated prizes of sports shoes. A good prize for the lucky ones, only 10 to give out I believe.

Number four: My reading challenge books for a couple of months. I'd had the Joyce  Meyer one, Look Good, Feel Great, for quite a long time and had read a couple of chapters but no further. So I decided now was a good time to finish it. Easy reading, common sense stuff, but something to give you a prod into taking a little bit of action as well. That was the August read completed. :) 

The September book is going to remain unread I'm afraid. Too cynical, hard, and brittle for me. Nothing relaxing about it or even, for me, entertaining. So after persevering for six chapters I've given it the heave and shall probably be putting it in a bin for a book sale instead. What was it? The Best Awful by Carrie Fisher. 

Someone else may enjoy it.

And finally to Number five: These beautiful daffodils are growing at the boundry fence between our house and the neighbour's. They are the only true daffys I have and so I am reluctant to pick them. But the bonus is that I can see them from my kitchen window and can enjoy them anyway. They are a real promise of better days to come. We have had a few stormy days, snow and hail lately so it is lovely to see this splash of colour along with the jonquils all along the front of my house. See the header picture for a look at a small section of them.

Spring in my town...

I went out and took one or two photos today

 around the town I live in.

Spring has arrived and I will not say any more except

some were taken in public places and others in private yards.

The camellias are at my little mother's place and I love them.

camellia

daffodils and snowdrops

flowering cherry, pear and magnolia

hedges and edges

planter box

I hope you enjoyed the spring flowers as much as I do.

************************

Seeing as it is spring I thought I would show you these 

pretty Colclough tea cups, saucers and plates. 

They are the same colours as some of the spring flowers.

This is the set my little mother gave me, I had coveted it for years. As you can see it has several pieces missing and so I am 

on the lookout for replacement pieces. 

************

This week I am joining Stephanie at:

roses of inspiration

and Martha at:

Martha's Favorites

See you next week.

Take care until then, 

Diana

The First of September

Below are some photos I took around town today, 

it was cold and grey and the colour was just starting

 to show on some of the trees and bushes 

while on others the branches were still bare and bereft of any life.

Almost as if we were still in the throes of winter.

The poem I've put with them sums up

 the beginning of spring in New Zealand,

where I live, as well as Australia, which it mentions.

The jonquils have been putting on a great show for most of the winter

but the daffodils are the first ones I have seen this season.

*************

The morning it is breaking cloudy and gray

It does seem another cool late Winter's day

But the birds in the Parkland they whistle and sing

Believe it or not 'tis the first day of Spring

The first day of September the day of the year

When to Australia in the Southern Hemisphere

The Spring she arrives for her three months stay

With much warmer weather just a few weeks away

The Spring has arrived with her wildflowers and green

And her beauty in gardens and parks to be seen

Spring she arrives and she brings with her new life

And in parks and gardens Nature's beauty is rife

For the first day of September a cool chill in the breeze

But the birds chirp and whistle on the bushes and trees. 

The First Of September 

Francis Duggan

*****************

Joining in with Stephanie at: 

roses of inspiration

I hope you are enjoying your week 

whatever the season.

Until next week,

Diana

a good GRAND weekend

Well spring is sprung and the spring flowers are beginning to put on a display, but only beginning to. The temperatures are still down there in winter mode - it is almost midday and only 7.5 at the moment. The jonquils have been out for several weeks and continue to put on a show, the trees are bursting into blossom and look lovely, I have a feeling I will miss the best of them while I am on holiday - we have a lot of blossom trees on the grass verges around town and they are beautiful when they come into flower together. I need to get out for a walk and have a look at peoples gardens in the next few days. If only the wind would drop, it's coming off the snow...

Last weekend was a weekend for catching up with all of my gorgeous grandchildren - all those who live in the vicinity anyway. A bit hard to catch up with the two based in Wellington and Japan but it was still a good GRAND weekend. Friday afternoon brought a text, C. wants to go to youth group tonight, can you pick her up please and can she stay the night. So of course I said yes and went in to town to pick her up about 4 in the afternoon. In the car we had a good old chat about what she is doing  and how she is enjoying her first year at secondary school.

  The next morning youngest grandgirl was playing netball and had her prize giving a couple of hours after her game so she arrived with her mother to have lunch with us before they went back up to the hall. I have to confess I haven't been to the games so much this year, what with everything else I've had going on. Sometimes Saturday is the only time to have a lie in.

On Sunday morning it was time to go up the hill and pick up the two youngest grandboys and bring them over to Sunday School. Then to Granma and Grandads for lunch where we are always joined by Great Granma as well. Grandad (the GKB) always makes hot scones for Sunday lunch in the winter and always checks on who is likely to arrive at lunchtime before I leave for church, so that he makes enough There could be up to 10 or 11 if everyone decides to come. Hot scones and 'red' jam, yuuummy. The grandboys get very disappointed if by chance Grandad decides to do something different. Then after lunch we settle down for some family news (?gossip or sharing?), watch some telly and play some games with the two wee boys. Since Granma and Grandad do NOT have any electronic games they have to amuse themselves, either by watching telly, or playing outside when it is warmer, or not so warmer as the case may be. Lately though they have discovered the joys of board games and are really quite enjoying things like snakes and ladders, pick up sticks', old maid and draughts just to name a few. It has been fun teaching them, although old maid is not much fun when you have just turned 5 and somehow you keep ending up with THE card at the end of the game. 

On Sunday afternoon another text, can I give C. a lift home because blah, blah. I have to say I didn't receive this text with a lot of grace but as it turned out it gave me an opportunity to catch up with beautiful eldest grandgirl and her boyfriend. Of course I had to then be introduced to the newest additions to her menagerie - she now has a couple of rats and several mice, having sold her rabbits and guinea pigs. Oh, there are also a couple of cats in the household and previously there has been a young dog who bounced around all over the place and who now lives on a farm!  All of the grandkids have had a variety of pets over the years and eldest grandgirl has also helped with riding for the disabled. So a really good grand weekend it turned out to be.

I see a daffodil from my kitchen window!