Happy Halloween

The ghosts of
all things past parade,

Emerging from the mist and shade

That hid them from our gaze,

And, full of song and ringing mirth,

In one glad moment of rebirth,

And again they walk the ways of earth

As in the ancient days.



The beacon light shines on the hill,

The will-o'-wisps the forests fill

With flashes filched from noon;

And witches on their broomsticks spry

Speed here and yonder in the sky,

And lift their strident voices high

Unto the Hunter's Moon.



The air resounds with tuneful notes

From myriads of straining throats,

All hailing Folly Queen;

So join the swelling choral throng,

Forget your sorrow and your wrong,

In one glad hour of joyous song

To honor Hallowe'en!



-John Kendrick Bangs

Its snowing!!!

What a mixed bag the weather has been today... Firstly frosty start with sunshine, then rain and finally snow.

My OH calls me from work this afternoon and said go and look out of the window, on looking out of window all I can see is rain! OH said 'well its thick snow here' After a few more exchanges about the weather conditions we end telephone conversion and go about our business. About half and hour later the phone rings again and its my Mum...'its snowing' and so it was... so without further ado Mum and I wrap up and take Basil for his afternoon walk so we can enjoy the snowy conditions ... Mum is now 77 and still enjoying the snow although I have to keep an eye on her in case she should slip over.

Here are my efforts at attempting to record the first snow of winter......

Got home eventually, soaking wet and cold so had a cup of this.....

Had a nice warm by this.....

Sadly we don't have a Wood burning or Solid fuel fire... those were the days, nothing like curling up by a log fire. We actually have Calor Gas fuel which is delivered by tanker and they fill the 'bomb' thingy in the garden. I don't usually have the fire has high as this, it was just to give Mum and I an initial warm up.... once we had actually thawed a little it was turned down to a far more conservative setting!

I have just had a peep outside, its nine minutes past midnight and OH has not long got in after his shift at work.... and its absolutely freezing outside. Now I will be worrying about son travelling home at about 5.30am in the morning after his night shift.... When do Mums ever stop worrying???

I have been tagged again....

I have been tagged again.. this time by http://domesticepisodes.blogspot.com/

the rules..
1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up

Six more random things about me......

• I am petrified of wasps
• I adore using herbs for cooking, teas and medicinal purposes
• I used to go bell ringing
• I don't like heights
• I adore chocolate
• I am on a constant diet (and the chocolate doesn't help!!) but failing badly.... need to lose at least three stone so need some inspirational dieting tips.... and h--e--l--p!!

Now this time I am going to break the tagging rules. I am not going to tag anyone because I think most of us are all tagged out.... but if you want to voluntarily tag yourself then you are most welcome......

I have been tagged....

I have been tagged by Somerset Seasons and Dorset Days...... http://somersetseasons.blogspot.com/

the rules..

1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Okay now where do I begin.... Mmmmmmmmmmm

1. I am frightened of spiders... I cannot bear to be near one. If one is in the bedroom I will not go to bed until its been removed.
2. I cannot sew, knit or crochet and yet long to do all of these things... Every time I make an attempt at either one of these things they end up as a complete disaster!!
3. I am passionate about organic gardening and composting. I love to watch the activity of an established composter and will stand transfixed watching all the individual insects go about their business. (try to ignore the spiders!! eek!!)
4. I used to have a wormery but sadly it was not a success. But I do like worms as they are so good for the garden. If I am digging a patch of soil I will pick a worm up and move it to a safe area so I do not harm it with the garden implement I am using at the time.......
5. I adore aromatherapy and although I am not qualified (would love to be) enjoy dabbling. I have endless books on the subject.
6. I am a bookaholic and have bookcases jam packed with books and piles of other books waiting for another bookcase to be put up by OH.

Gosh now I have gotten going with this I realise I have so many other things that I could mention. I really struggled to begin with.

Now who to tag (scratches head and ponders!!)

• The compostbin. http://compostbins.blogspot.com/
• swan songs. http://swan-songs.blogspot.com/
• The Sleeping Dragon. http://solorndragon.blogspot.com/
• moonroot http://moonroot.blogspot.com/
• The Cottage Smallholder. http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/
• The Domestic Episodes of a Rodeo Princess. http://domesticepisodes.blogspot.com/

I have tagged you all as part of the rules, feel free to take part only if you want to..... xoxo

When you can't sleep!!

What do you do when you cannot sleep.... in my case its a cup of tea, burn some soothing lavender oil and do a posting on blogger!!

I always try to take my camera with me wherever I go and yesterday was no exception....

First thing to catch my eye was the patterns of the clouds, they looked so pretty in the bright blue sky.. yes it was another lovely day!!

Trundling along a bit further discovered the sheep are in a neighbouring field once more! I love sheep and I especially adore the lambing season. The farmer uses this field for his sheep on a regular basis., so we are fortunate to be able to see quite a lot of them. They will be taken out of this field if the weather becomes very bad during winter or when the lambing season begins. Thankfully after lambing season the sheep and their lambs are usually returned to this field and I will have the opportunity to observe the lambs and their very sweet antics... that will be some great camera fodder!! so watch this space.....

As usual Basil is waiting patiently for me to finish my photo taking session so we can continue on our way!

So carried on blundering around the edge of the ploughed field. Blundering is sadly the key word here because Mr Farmer has utilised every possible inch of field this year. Usually Nice Mr Farmer leaves enough terrafirma to walk around the edge of field but not this year.. Mr Farmers plough has been in overdrive and its impossible to walk around field without blundering over ploughed dirt. Not too bad whilst its so dry but when the weather sets in and the soil is wet and muddy it will be a no go area. So will have to look for new walks.

Further along discovered a small white feather and another and finally another... now I was always told that to find a white feather an angel is looking down on you, but some say its a sign of good things (that would be nice!!) and other simply say we have a moulting bird flying around... I prefer the angel version myself!!

That concluded our morning walk and then the late afternoon walk began with a unexpected hot air balloon slowly passing by.....

Then nipped into another neighbouring field and Basil decided to go to the loo in middle of said field and I been a conscientious dog owner followed behind Basil with my pooper scooper bag. And this is when I made my discovery of a lone mushroom in the middle of the ploughed field!

I tried to take a photograph with a wider angle so you could see how lonely this mushroom looked but sadly my camera was not up to it as it was becoming too dark and even with the flash it did not show it up enough.

On the way home the night sky looked like this.....

And finally on my late night walk in the moonlight I took this picture.....

Not the best picture I have seen of the moon but the best my camera can manage.... The moon lit my way around the dark field and I did not have to use my torch once.

Anyway time for me to try again to get some much needed sleep. Its 4.08am so its goodnight and good-morning!!

Garden adornments....

Just a few of my items that I have strategically placed around my garden...

They all mean a lot to me and some of them have been purchased by me and some given by family or friends with love......

Meet Gary:-

Such a nice friendly gnome and he has the job of looking after a tiny patch of my garden. The girls in the shop where I brought him from because he looked like he needed a home... had nicknamed him Gary... so Gary it is then!!!

Then we have Quackers.....

My daughters partner gave me this.. I fell in love with it when I was having a look around his/their garden and when they next visited ... he came in with Quackers for me!!

Then we have my lovely sun and moon clock...

My alternative mode of transport (well that's what everyone else calls it!!) For me, well its my much loved broom that holds special memories of things past!

Mr Chuck... a Christmas present from daughter and partner

Memories of my childhood... just love watching this on a windy day! The picture also includes Mr Chuck and few of my other friendly garden gnomes... more pressies from my Daughter.... I am a very lucky Mum!

And finally my weather vane a gift from the OH....

So many more garden adornments to share with you but will save those for another day!!

Garden snippets

Madly trying to sort out and complete garden projects... (hope the rain stays away!!)

Yesterday Basil decided to help me out in the garden.........!!!!!

This is the view from my back garden gate, it looked lovely yesterday with the sun shinning across the fields.

Found this lurking at the back of the greenhouse.... have no idea where it has come from, but it is gorgeous. I think it may be some sort of a geranium?

Noticed two berries on my holly bush. My late Father gave it to me many years ago and it began to mature and berry then we had to move it and I thought I had lost it because all the leaves began to fall off it. I was so upset but decided to nurture it a bit and slowly the leaves began to return and up and till now I have had no more berries. Yesterday I found two so I think its happy again. I know I am!!

Finally Basil has decided to give me a hand.. think he might be in the process of burying a stone!! He's certainly trying to tell me something as I take his photograph.........

Parts of my life......

We all have 'things' we have as part of our everyday life apart from family,friends, pets etc. Here are just a few of mine.....

A charity shop find, its an old and battered wind up Westclox but it keeps reasonable time and I just love its tick tock, I find the sound so soothing.
My Willow wand that my daughter brought for me a little while ago. I was going through a difficult patch in my life and my daughter thought this may help to remove the bad things and encourage better things...

My endless piles of books...... I just love my books. I have piles awaiting my OH to put up a bookcase so they can be tidied and filed , cannot wait!!

My aromatherapy essential oils. I am not a qualified aromatherapist so only dabble personally, but if I could become qualified it would be a dream come true for me. It is a bit too late in my life to do this now, so will just have to carry on dabbling and dreaming!!

My composters... I love composting, organic gardening, recycling etc.... My composters are now more or less full to the brim, one of which is ready for my a new herb bed I am planting. Then I can use that during the winter for household scraps. I have two more composters around the other side of my garden and If I could I would fit in more !!

My love of herbs, thus the new herb bed as mentioned above. I am in the process of a Herbal Medicine course to have a better understanding of herbs. I have always been attracted to herbs and essential oils and grow lots of herbs in the garden. I use a lot in cooking and teas etc. I grow herbs for the butterflies and bees etc and I have a comfrey bed for using in composting, but I want to have a better knowledge of their uses. Because I cannot get out much I am doing this online course which is very interesting.

My treasured greenhouse... which now need winterising as I call it! Cleaned out and insulated. I must get that done asap, running really behind this year!!

My garden shed (OH has his own shed) I would be loathe to show you inside at the moment. I do have shelving fitted and it was all tidy and organised. I even have flooring down and my spare freezer in their. But when my daughter moved out she did not take everything and asked me to store them in my shed. Sadly they are still their so I can hardly get in or out and what is on the shelves I cannot get to!! I nag about it weekly but it seems to fall on deaf ears. Sigh!!! at least I can get to the freezer!!

Well that is just a few things that are part of my life.... I realised as I did this post I have so much more, but thought enough was enough for today!!

Beautiful sunset

Yesterday evening whilst walking Basil Iwas blessed with a most beautiful sunset and got 'trusty camera' out and snapped away...

I just could not stop snapping and filming. I thought it was a breathtaking scene. I am so glad I have this saved on my evergrowing picture/video file!!

After a day of cloud and wind and rain Sometimes the setting sun breaks out again, And touching all the darksome woods with light, Smiles on the fields until they laugh and sing, Then
like a ruby from the horizon's ring, Drops down into the night.
Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Its a Doggie Thing

Whilst Basil was out on his walk with me this morning I was playing with him and his much loved green ball. The ball was a Christmas present from my daughter to Basil. Basil has quite a few toys but he has favourites and this green ball is one of his beloved favourites and comes with us on every walk.

I threw the ball for Basil and in the process of catching the ball, the ball bounced off Basil's nose and hit a clump of ploughed soil, it then bounced off the clump of soil into a bed of stinging nettles.

Usually Basil soon sniffs out the missing ball and we carry on our way, but not today!!

Basil just could not find the ball and feeling really sorry for him I decided to help try and find the ball. After much poking and prodding and trying to avoid the nettles with not much success, Basil then discovered what I decided was a rabbit hole and kept sniffing and hovering around it. He would not leave the hole alone so I guessed the ball must have gone into the rabbit burrow. I ended up on my hands and knees tentatively reaching into the rabbit hole but I could feel nothing down there. Basil is by now getting really upset. So I decide to call my OH on my mobile and see if he could come and help us out (OH is on a weeks holiday) I had not gone too far from home at this stage of my walk so it did not seem an unreasonable request to ask for assistance. About ten minutes later OH joins me armed with thick gloves to move nettles aside. I myself was quite badly stung at this point.

So all three of us were scrabbling around looking for 'the green ball' I dread to think what anyone would have thought of us should we have been discovered scratching around in the undergrowth!!

After quite a lot of fruitless searching around Basil then started to dig into the hole.... he just looked so funny bless his little heart I just had to get my trusty camera out and start filming..... and thus Its a Doggie Thing was born.

Basil has always liked a daily dig and he has his favourite digging spots in the garden much to my OH's annoyance. OH will fill in a hole only to find the hole dug up again the next day. Sometimes we find the odd thing buried. I myself find it quite endearing.

Poor Basil never did find the ball. After much digging and searching by OH and myself we had to admit defeat. Some little bunny may find an unexpected guest in his burrow today. So now Basil has his number two favourite toy to take on walks with us, hopefully that will not end up with the same fate.

Because this movie is a high resolution (bit technical for me!) I have had to use a progressive playback which means you will have to wait for the movie to load before you can view it. Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this may cause you!! xxx

Frosty Surprise

Should have guessed earlier on in the evening that something was afoot when I spotted this gorgeous moon ...

Then later on after I had been asleep a few hours I woke up and could not settle back to sleep again so gave in and got up and decided to make a cup of tea, whilst I waited for the kettle to come to the boil I thought I would have a look outside... I was greeted by this......




So this was quite a frosty surprise...

Guess it explains why I had been feeling so chilled all evening and was very glad of the warmth of the duvet and my hottie earlier on.....
Such extremes in the weather... started off yesterday morning wet and windy, by early evening glorious sunshine and during the night cold and freezing..... maybe we will have snow soon??


Jack Frost took his paintbrush
as he sailed across the sky
so every morning as the sun comes up
his artwork greets the eye
there’s reds and gold’s and yellows
all of a breath taking view
but no matter how hard he tries
he can never make leaves turn blue
so when you’re in bed sleeping
and outside everything seems faint
just remember at midnight
Jack Frost begins to paint

© By Carl Jessee

Washing machine blues

Have you ever noticed that when your washing machine is out of commission the washing pile seems to develop a life of its own and it just grows and grows..............

Sadly the other day my most wonderful laundry aid decided to do a waltz across the kitchen floor... thankfully I managed to rescue it quite quickly... the thudding noise alerted me to the poor washing machines dilemma!!

Thankfully we do have a Coverplan for this overworked piece of machinery so wasted no time getting on the phone and dialling the number required.... And then I started to pull out my hair... 'Oh that number has changed now you need this number'.. blah.. blah.. blah... So rang that number to be greeted with the same repetitive message over and over and over and over and over again......... until I was cut off and had to start again... Then finally bingo I am actually able to speak to the very nice human being lady... who then tells me to write down two numbers.. authorisation number and engineers number (I think..... try to block these things out to be honest!!) Ring another number and after more repeated messages and the odd blast of awful music speak to a very nice young lady who finally gives me a day for my washing machine repair... Oh thank you . .. only a day and a half to wait.. not so bad.... but oh my how that washing pile grows and grows....

So this is my poorly washing machine forlorn and awaiting some much needed washing machine health care....

So a day and half later nice Mr Washing Machine health care man duly turns up and sets to work... 'Oh dear.. Oh dear... oh my this is bad news'..... 'Oh no' I exclaim eyeing up exploding washing pile.... and already planning a strategic plan of attack on wash pile in case of repair delays (will have to wait another week until said part is ordered!!) plan of attack usually means filling the bath with soap powder and soaking, washing , rinsing and wringing their and praying for dry weather!!

But regardless of deep intakes of breath and slow releases Mr Repair Man reckons he may be able to sort the problem out.. and bless his cotton socks so he did. With much heaving and pulling the collasped washing machine drum was pulled back into place via a repair job on a bracket that holds a very vital spring... once this was back in place the damaged seal which can be seen in above photograph was replaced and hey presto my washing machine was back in action!!

Thank you so much Mr Repair Man... and after a nice cup of steaming hot tea he went on his way and I was able to tackle that evergrowing washing pile....

And so you can see my much loved washing machine is now fully restored and now back in production again!!

I can remember my Mum washing by hand.. we lived in a cottage and we did not have a hot water system.. just a cold water tap in the kitchen and how she ever managed I will never know. I can remember her hands being blue with cold after rinsing with cold water in the winter. All the hot water was heated on a stove.. Monday was wash day, and in the winter wet clothes would be hanging around in the kitchen all day... then Tuesday was ironing day and Mum would put all her lovingly ironed clothes onto a clothes horse to air off and that would be opened in front of the fire and moved when we needed to sit nearer the fire... There was a day for downstairs cleaning, upstairs cleaning, kitchen and stove cleaning... On Saturdays we would go shopping and Sundays was roast dinner day and baking... all lovely and happy memories.....

Your my best friend....

This is our other cat Bold. Bold was waiting in the garden for Basil and I to return from our morning walk. As you can see by my little film Bold is really pleased to see Basil... Basil gets on well with both cats. Basil's relationship with Bold is quiet and loving, whereas Bootsie and Basil play together... I will attempt to capture that on film another day, in the meantime I thought you would enjoy Basil's and Bolds special moment.....

Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms

By George Eliot

Bootsie..

I was out in the garden yesterday taking a few photographs/films when my cat Bootsie decided to see what I was up to. Bootsie can be very vocal as you will see and hear in this little clip. I decided it was so sweet I would post it and share it with you.

Wet walk on the last day of September

Happy October!! how quickly this year is passing us by.... and on the last day of September it rained!!
Basil and I got quite wet out on our walk yesterday.. but regardless of the rain I took my trusty camera with me (just in case!) amazingly I did manage to find a few photographs that depicted our walk in the rain....

And when we finally reach home a lovely wet Basil awaits a rub down with a soft fluffy towel!!

Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby. ~Langston Hughes