Going to be rather busy over the  next few days, as we are having  a  new bathroom (or rather - I'm told  it  will  be a 'wet room') installed.  I hope  we'll  both like it when done. We know  the chap who's doing it. He built  our friends (John and Milly) a new kitchen and made a lovely job of  it, so fingers crossed.

 Above is a snapshot of  our garden pond. It's an old  rubber horse bucket which I inserted into the garden last year, but our resident goldfish seems to like it. 

Not been too well over the  last few months, but seem able to get on with things a bit better now.  Basically Anno Domini, but the medicos call it different things these days.  I really don't  like medispeak. Unnecessarily offensive.  Won't go into  that just now;   might when convinced I'm completely better, but I really don't think even the cleverest medicos can do much to  stop the march of Anno Domini. 

Been reading the Forsyte Saga again -  last read it about forty  years ago-  do you know, the characters haven't changed a bit in those forty years.  Will try a Dickens or so  next I think. Warm regards  to you all.    Mike.

Tuesday.

Wandered round the  garden the  other evening (well, a day  or  so  ago) and took photies. The garden is really starting to look quite colourful, and as grand daughter Lucy  is here this morning, nominally keeping an eye on the  old man, we discussed the  matter and decided to make a 'blog entry' of  the garden.  The top picture  is of  wild violets (I think   'dog violets'  is  the correct term)  They started to come into flower early in January then we had a good deal of snow, and they changed their little minds about the matter, but they've all decided that perhaps it really is spring now, and have all flowered again.

Should perhaps  have explained that, ordinarily,  Lucy is at Liverpool John Moores University, reading  history, but she  is  enjoying the  Easter  holiday, and as her Mama (our  senior  daughter, Sarah) is  taking Ann to hospital for an examination of one of her (Ann's) eyes, Lucy is staying here with me pro tem-  she is nominally looking  after me -  but I shall have to make her a coffee in a min. 

More later, next time I have someone here who can make the computer behave itself, as Lucy can. 

Church this morning. It's a tiny  church just across the valley from us. It's an East  Anglian round towered church. of very early date. The 'experts tell us  that it probably based on the site of a pre Christian  temple.

Wednesday.

The above photograph is a !!! No, forget that . The above is a mystery object. What , and when??????

Wednesday.

Can anyone tell me why someone writes the above photographed doggerell ? It is awful stuff. In the first two lines there is a false rhyme - home/own- dreadful!  And as it goes on it gets worse.  In my opinion  an intelligent seven year old could better it.  I'm a reasonable chap as a general rule, but this sort of rubbish makes me think  that I'll  try being cirmudgeonly for a while.!!!!!

Tuesday (2).

This is almost (but not  quite) the same thing as a  Mystery Object. It is a plant which is now  in flower in the garden. I don't know its real name but I have always  known it as the  Army and Navy plant.   Any idea why? and, of course, what is it's real name.

Tuesday.

Eldest daughter, Sarah, here and is  trying (once again) to  make an honest citizen of  the old man, in  respect of  this computer. Will  have a quick look  through the photos available then  (hopefully)  make  a blog  entry.

Friday (111)

Close up of part of  the  floor in Ann's 'Nuremburg kitchen' (this  one's  English) just to give me a bit  of practice  in blogging while Ruth's still here (she and my  youngest granchild return home  tomorrow.

Friday.

Granddaughter to left of picture - daughter to right.

Above is a photo taken a few days ago of  Ann's blackbird. She has been feeding him mealworms  all winter, so he should be in good fettle for raising more families come spring (which , come  to think  of it, is already  here).

Above is the latest snapshot of Ann's Nuremberg(type) kitchen. It's now getting a  bit crowded. As  you've probably guessed, we've had Ruth  and one  of  her girls staying  all week, and  today Ruth is again showing me how to subdue this machine and making it return to its duties.

So... here goes.

Early Alarum Gun. Probably English. Probably 16th/17th century.

Small (but probably very  effective) alarm gun, which I have been working on lately, with assistance of Grand daughter Lucy who has been staying over the last few days. I wanted to mount the gun on a wall without marking the metal, and Luce (who has the gift of seeing the easy way of  doing things (if or when there is an easy way) spotted the one we used here immediately. which was tying the barrel to the wall with a leather thong or bootlace - very simple and easy , and with  a certain amount of 'give' to it. Works well and demonstrates that the simple way of doing a thing is usually the best.

The barrel is three inches long, with a one and a half inch bore. I think  it would have been fired with  match- cord, or a red hot iron. 

The above photograph is of senior daughter Sarah and her  husband Mikey. It was taken during the weekend of 19/21 January, which they spent with us. It was taken in my  cellar. My 'library' consists of two parts -  the  passageway  at the top of the cellar steps (which contains books for reading), and the 'office' part of  my  cellar - which contains my 'reference library' - books on  clocks, guns, weaponry and early metal-ware. I would be lost without  it. Grand daughter Lucy and I are in the  reference part of  the library now, writing (and correcting) a blog entry, as you can see. We are being summoned upstairs for lunch by Ann. Will  complete this later.
 It is now 'later'  so will publish :-

A regular visitor, a friend of Ann's. Last year - spring, summer; this  character raised FOUR  broods . (I'm not at all sure that they were all by the same lady blackbird,  although  Ann tells me that she  is sure he is a high principled bird)

. She feeds him every morning, and he still comes to  be fed every morning  .

The above is  a  photo of 'the blue moon' which I took  the  other evening - Don't we live in a wonderrful world these days ?

Church this morning -it its a very  early round towered church. The 'experts say it was probably built on the site of a pre Christian pagan temple.

There are  also  saxon and Norman remains (in the stone work  ). 

Yet another test run.....
fingers crossed x

Boxing Day 2017

Experimenting with attaching a photograph- apologies for the content - taken on Boxing day, before the family arrived.

Again, please respond if you can!

Many thanks

M & S

 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year - I have finally got this chuffing machine to cooperate (I am fibbing, my eldest daughter has!)
Please respond if you can read this......
Kindest regards
Mike and Sarah

Saturday, 30th December

The  pictures below all refer to the  Christmas just past and were mostly taken in or around our kitchen. The two Christmas trees were made by our two Swedish granddaughters (made in Sweden) The creature on the cake on the right is of a Grinch (no, nor do I, but at least I can keep up a pretence of knowing, and I suggest you all do  the same.

Christmas 2017