d, shiney and waiting to be eaten and sitting in my hand made basket. I would never have thought in a million years that I would be picking my cherries, off my tree and putting them in my homemade basket!!! What fun. Sad though we are heading back to UK tomorrow and there are hundreds of cherries waiting to be picked so we have told all the neighbours to help themselves; we can't let them go to waste.
y going into a neighbours, and this neighbour wasn't very happy about it, and told us so!! We were told to fence in all our garden which we can't possibly afford to do, put them in a pen, or someone will end up killing the ducks. As you can imagine, I don't want them in a pen, I can't see the point, the whole enjoyment we have had is watching them dibbling about in the garden. They have given us hours of pleasure but no more. We called the friends who had given them to us in the first place and they said they would have them back, no problem, so now we are duckless and very sad. At the end of the day, we don't want to cause any unpleasantness because we have got on very well with everyone and we don't want this to change, I just hope she realises how many tears were shed this morning.
ouldn't do because it was closed due to risk of avalanches so we went for another one. Unfortunately this was a lot harder than the first one our friends had planned and Richard and I both found it very hard. The good thing about going now is that the snow is melting and the waterfalls were out of this world. Also, all the wild flowers are coming out and how on earth do they grow out of rock. You will see from the single flower picture that it has no earth at all, just this beautiful violet. You will also see from the next photo that my poor hubby was very tired, as was I but you can't see that because I was taking the photo :-) We had a lovely picnic and a really good day but oh did we sleep well that night.
The weather here has been glorious for the past few days and when we walk out of the door into the garden, firstly there is the wonderful smell of the philadelphus (orange blossom), and then you are aware of the quite loud buzzing and you realise it is all the bees in the acacia trees because the blossom has just come out on those and again, they smell pretty good. Everything in the garden is really coming on, the roses, all the trees are out and the fruits are appearing on the trees, in fact, there are some cherries that will soon be ready for picking. Very strange, I never thought I would ever be able to talk about picking my own fruit etc. yet here I am planning my chutneys and jams for this year. Also Vicki and the grandchildren are coming out and hopefully they will be able to pi
ck the figs, peaches etc to eat straight off the trees. Poppy has given up on her nest so we think this year we won't be duckling grandparents. Should she lay again, we may take the eggs away and incubate them ourselves. We'll see. She is very young yet, not a year old until July so there is time. It's probably for the best, but still a shame I was really looking forward to having little babies. 
ave a friend staying in the house a lot of the time so he was very well looked after. In fact, Geoff was saying what good company Smokey is, more like a dog than a cat because he follows you everywhere.
nd the children and they were all fit and well and in very good form. Oh how I miss them, the girls are doing so much now and chatter all the time. Just delightful. William is getting to be a proper little boy and went on his first "grown up" cycle ride with his daddy and managed to do 8 miles. Amazing. Just a photo to show you the children and their daddy. After that we went to my parents and stayed with them for the rest of the holiday, which of course they really enjoyed. Dad is slowly improving with his back but he is still having these injections in his eyes, so until all that is over which should be about June/July there is a lot of back and forth to the hospital. I went with him last Saturday and they did say there was an improvement so that's the main thing. While staying with my mum we spent time with Clare and Kenny because they live close and they are getting themselves ready for the move to Penzance. No moving date as yet, but shouldn't be long. We will then be going back to the UK stay with them and see where they are going to settle down, also I think "Dad" has a few jobs lined up like putting up shelves etc. Not to worry though because he loves it and we enjoy staying with them.
been away. The pond has over flowed because they have had so much rain, but in between it has been warm, perfect weather for growing!! Next post, I will show you how I am getting on (or not) with my socks.....or should I say sock. In this last picture it shows how quickly a man can get back into the swing of things. He! He! Three men here, I think they call themselves the Musketeers, putting the world to rights over a beer or two, or three, or four!!
Last week my sister sent me a "present" which came through the post. How lovely it is to get something unexpected in squishy jiffy bags. I opened it and it is 1 ball of wool, with 4 needles, double ended I have to say and a pattern. Now according to the pattern this ball of wool makes one pair of socks and a lovely little gift pouch to put them in. Oh how I could do with aims here because I have started these wretched socks quite a few times now and pulled them off the needles. I have NEVER knitted with more than 2 needles and never attempted socks or anything like that. and every time I got to the second "round" I had all the stitiches on one needle, how on earth do you join them up to make a round? It's beyond me I'm afraid. By the way, did you know that when you throw knitting wool out of the window in anger and frustration it doesn't make a noise :-) I will take it back to the UK and get some back up from there. They look beautiful but when I read the pattern and it talks about "grafting" the toe to finish off, I sort of go cold. I bet Hilary, my sister, is laughing her head off reading this, she found it quite easy so be ready for when I come back Hilary, I need you.
I will probably be quiet over the next couple of weeks though I will be reading everyone's blogs, you kind of get addicted don't you. Take care all of you and I will chat when I get back. I can't wait to see the family again, my mum and dad, my daughters and their husbands and of course the grandchildren, not forgetting my sister and her family, knitting needles at the ready. I will come back totally tired, knackered and happy with batteries re-charged. Happy Easter everyone, God bless.
ere quite expecting the neighbours to come and hammer on the door to make us stop the noise....... When we got up, Richard shouted, "they're back", and yes, we looked out and there were THREE ducks in the garden. Poppy obviously knew what she was doing when she was making so much noise, and it worked. I'm not sure if you can see from the first photo, but one of the drakes was always being chased away so we had to do something. We called the friends who had given us the ducks and they said they would call round in the afternoon and we would try and catch the drake and 
he would have to be re-homed. Bless him, it seemed such a shame but we knew it had to be done, they do say that a good ratio is 5 ducks to 1 drake. Out comes the big fishing net again and it was time to catch a duck; in actual fact it was very quick so he was popped into the cat carrier and later taken away to our friends house to find another home. So...... harmony reigns at the moment with a very content pair of ducks, one of whom has been clipped (Poppy) and I have to say there is a lot of "activity" if you know what I mean, so perhaps there will be some nest making soon. Once Thomas has settled we will catch and clip him as well, but we will let him just enjoy himself at the moment. (Lucky little duck I hear you say) He! he!
even begin to explain the joy of having our daughters here with us for the weekend, but I will try. It started on Friday morning when we picked them up from the airport at Toulouse at 10.30am, so it gave us most of the day. Clare had asked if there was a particular shop in Toulouse, so we looked it up and there was so off we went. Richard and I have never been into the city so it was an adventure for all of us. What a wonderful surprise, it is beautiful with a lot of very quaint streets. Where are the pictures I hear you ask, would you believe we were so taken with having a good time with the girls that we didn't take photos. We found this amazing square with lots of cafes and the weather was so warm everyone was spilling out onto the pavements, so of course, it was lunchtime and people watching time. What a start to the weekend, superb. After we got home, the girls were shown their room, which they loved and they oohed and aahed in all the right places when they saw the bathroom and the shower curtain :-) The next morning was absolute bliss when we could go into their room after Richard had made us all tea and just sit on their beds and chat. Vicki was in seventh heaven, not having to get up with the children, though of course, being a mum, had to call to make sure everything was OK. It was. We chilled during the morning and some friends came to bring us a surprise for our anniversary, which was a song and a beautiful plaited willow tree. A lot of fun with them and of course the kind of gift you cannot buy. We had the girls' cousins for a BBQ in the evening, well not them you understand, and again, the weather had been so hot we ate outside even after dark. We put the fairy lights on and lit candles and it was very magical.
ld you we caught Poppy and I have now clipped her wings and today we let her out of her enclosure and she is on the pond. Oh how good to see her there, dibbling and eating all the green slimy stuff and tucking into the frog spawn. I just hope and pray she will still be there in the morning. Watch this space. She makes a lot of noise in the mornings and we are hoping that her "boys" will hear her and she will bring them in. Well, we live in hope, what other options do we have, we certainly can't catch the other two, little tinkers. I would hate to think she has to stay on this pond on her own though. Smokey keeps stalking her, but so far, she has been smart and heads for the pond. Keep doing that I say Poppy. I will let you know what happens during the night. Fingers crossed now.
vely present of a pidgeon and plonked it at my feet. I thought it was dead but, as cats do, he started playing with it and I realised it was still alive. Smokey was very good and let me take it from him and I took it outside. I held it for a while and stroked it and talked to it trying to bring it around. It was trying to flap its wings and the only damage I could see was a weepy eye, so when the cat wasn't watching, I put the pidgeon where he would be able to fly away if he was able. Minutes later, off he went flying into the air and I felt very pleased with myself for saving him,then.... you can imagine my horror as he dive-bombed straight into the pond. There I was racing indoors to get the net (this was worse than trying to catch the wretched ducks) but by the time I got there he was obviously dead. I hooked him out, only to have Smokey pounce on it again, so this time I let him have it. Just as I was going out later, he had brought it into the house again, plucked it for me all over the floor, bless him, and buried it in a dust sheet!! He was very proud of himself I have to say.
ade himself comfy, just to check it out you understand. The weather today was glorious and we took a walk over to the ducks again and would you believe we caught Poppy, so now we have the female, we are hoping, if she calls, the boys will come looking for her. We live in hope. This is beginning to be a really long saga isn't it, sorry about that. Well, that's it for another day, one more day before our girls come, (not that I'm excited you understand). At least when I talk to the girls they are really looking forward to it as well, we haven't been together like this, just the four of us, for a very long time because of course, there is family always around, so this is going to be very special. Weather forecast looks good so far.
iver this most beautiful lemon tree for our wedding anniversary. It is something I have wanted for a long time but never had the nerve to get one because we do get heavy frosts here, so it's knowing when to bring it in etc. To make the gift more special was the fact that we really don't know these new friends very well, only for a couple of weeks in fact, so a truly wonderful thought. You should be able to see that one of the lemons is ready to pick, so when our two girls come to visit on Friday, we will be able to go and pick our very own lemon to go with our gin and tonic, how cool is that?
oment, Richard is tiling the bathroom, well he has finished tiling, and now grouting, then once that is all cleaned off I can get in there and do some tidying and prettying up. Not that we have much to go in there yet, but I am rather pleased with myself as I made a shower curtain and used some new gadgets, the rings that go through the rod. I didn't know you could buy them, but that is because I HATE making curtains, in fact, I don't do it. There is something about having all that fabric and making a mess of it. I know I quilt but that is fun, making curtains to me is just scarey, it has something to do with getting the fabric straight. Anyway, these rings turned out to be really easy and I am very grateful to my friend for recommending them to me. I personally hate shower curtains, but needs must. It may be replaced down the line by a glass door, we will see.
we have tried to get them in again, but no luck. We are having to leave them out all night and hope and pray they are still here in the morning, I can't stand the thought of losing them before we get to know them. Smokey of course looked at me and said Oooh mummy, new toys!! We have been assured that they will find their way onto the pond and stay there during the night. Oh well, we are in for a long night I think, listening while we are sleeping, if we get to sleep that is. I will be going to bed thinking.......clip their wings or not clip them. I will be letting you know if they are still there in the morning. Goodnight Thomas, Poppy and Duck.
ve to realise that their wings haven't been clipped so they could have just flown off. Bless them they didn't, so we now have Thomas, Poppy and Duck installed in their enclosure for the next 3 days so they can get adjusted and know that this is their new home. They are so pretty, we just know we are going to spend a lot of time just looking at them. My son-in-law and a very good friend of ours, Brian is going to look at this photo and cringe because they would know how to take the photo without having the wire netting showing. I don't know how to do it so sorry guys, I will learn from you later. My 3 grandchildren, who named the ducks, I'm sorry I can't tell you which is which from this photo, but once they are outside I will try and do better. We will soon get to know them hopefully.
d to a birthday party and it is a friend who lives in the next village. We have never bought each other presents before and not even cards, and I didn't want to go without anything at all, so I thought I would make her a little bunch of tulips. Here they are, and they are such fun to do, I hope you like them. In fact I took them along to the sewing group I go to and they loved them so we will have a little workshop making them.
Everything looked beautiful of course, including this wonderful iris, bless it and it is still going strong. The trouble is the ground is now so waterlogged we can't do anything. I stood on the lawn and you can see what happened, I thought I was going to sink, my poor wellies were going deeper and deeper. Having said that, it is beginning to get better, sun is warm though there is a biting wind which chills you through, the answer is to stay in the sunshine.
giving us. For people who know about these things, they are call ducks and are so cute, I can't wait. I asked my 3 grandchildren to name them, we have 2 males and 1 female, which I realise might prove a problem but we will cross that bridge when we get there; anyway, Vicki called this morning and said the children had the names ready, wait for it........ Thomas, Poppy and Duck. You have to remember that the twin girls are only 2 so they chose Poppy and Duck. I love the names and wouldn't change them for anything. You can see the floating raft that Richard has built for them, this way they can get away from predators. It's brilliant a
nd is attached on both sides of the pond so we can reach it whenever the need arises. We have made a feeding station for them and they will be shut in there for about 3 days so they know where they live and who is feeding them. This is all so new to us, to please keep your fingers crossed for us. Later on in the summer when the pond has considerably gone down, Richard is going to sink 4 posts in it and build a house with a ladder, keep them nice and snuggly.
e for a cuddle. I couldn't resist taking the picture. Personally I think teddy just got cold and needed a warm from a friendly pussycat!!
hem a bit of thought first. This is what I miss being here because I need to have a "like-minded" person to come around so we could "play" and get some ideas on the best way to do things. There is one particular thing I would like to make, and I can't say what it is, but I'm just not sure how to start. Oh Sharlene, I wish you lived a bit nearer :-)
we stopped for a picnic there was this amazing grass hopper. I took the photo but he was about 3" long and had a lovely Jiminy Cricket face. 
