Saturday, 8 March 2008

And Talking of Books (and Music)

These are some great books that I bought for myself just after Christmas.

The Long Way Down by Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman
. I watched the TV programme of their adventures and very much enjoyed it. (I wrote about their first similar adventure, The Long Way Round in 2004 on a recent post)

They travel by motor bike and this journey of 15,000 miles from John O’Groats in the North of Scotland to Cape Agul in South Africa takes them through 18 countries. The terrain is tough, the people are friendly – they have nothing but give what they have.
They met former child soldiers in Uganda, mine affected children in Ethiopia and had close encounters with families of Gorillas in Rwanda and they were nearly trampled by a herd of elephants in Botswana.
Ewan and Charlie are very involved with UNICEF so they incorporate this with their travels


Saving Planet Earth by Tony Juniper
Again this was a TV series about how the human race is changing g planet earth


How to Read an English Garden by Andrew Eburne and Richard Taylor
Apparently gardens are among the fastest growing visitor attractions today
In the UK alone 15 million people will visit a garden this year
The book provides an account of different elements of gardens of all ages and origins of design. It brings historic and modern gardens to life. For example why mazes are a common feature in English gardens.


The Nature of Britain by Alan Titchmarsh A celebration of our landscapes and wildlife
Again I watched the TV series
For its size Britain has an enormously diverse range of natural environments from mountains. Forests, lakes, fenlands and downs. Thousands of rivers and streams flow through moor land and woodland, heath and meadow to its 10,000 miles of coastline. The book surveys landscapes chapter by chapter including towns and cities.(It’s hard to imagine we have 10,000 miles of coastline for such a small country but it is made up of many harbours and inlets)
While mentioning this I wonder how many people know that
Great Britain is made up of well over 6,000 islands


In My Father’s House by Miranda Seymour (autobiography)
George Seymour, Miranda’s Father was obsessed with Thrumpton Hall from a young age until he bought it.
This is an autobiography and family memoir – the house took priority and everything else was
secondary
The following are some recent purchases from charity shops
I buy a lot of books and am certainly not going to put myself under the pressure of posting on all of them but I will post on some on occasion

The River at the Centre of the World by Simon Winchester
This book charts a journey up the Yangtze River and back in Chinese time
The others are all novels
The Jigsaw Maker – Adrienne Dines
The Weight of Water – Anita Shreve
Excess Baggage – Judy Astley
The Triumph of Katie Byrne – Barbara Taylor Bradford
Out of the Blue – Charlotte Bingham
Just Between Us – Cathy Kelly
Always and Forever – Cathy Kelly
Love and Devotion - Erica James
P.S. I Love You – Cecelia Ahern


I also bought 2 new C.D.'s just after Christmas
both of these are 'boy bands' with a difference


Teatro www.teatromusic.com
are 4 talented singers who have had much experience on the Broadway and West End Musical stage before coming together to form a group
They are all classically trained and have a lifetime of musical background

Blake
www.blakeofficial.com are again 4 very experienced and talented singers
They have backgrounds in classical, opera, choir and much more
Their paths having crossed when they were young they came together again through Facebook and decided to form a group. They come from upper class backgrounds, one of them having sung for the Queen at her 80th birthday party

I think both these groups have voices that blend so well and I am thoroughly enjoying them
I have included both websites where you can hear them sing and read their biographies which are very interesting ENJOY

Thursday, 6 March 2008

Queue's, Awards and a Tag

This sculpture appeared on the pavement in our town recently
It is called The Queue
Ironically there is not a queue at the bus stop in this shot
It is too early for people to be leaving, they are just coming in
You won't see me in a queue as I always use the car
and this is in spite of having a seniour citizens free bus pass





The real thing but again no real queue's




Over the last couple of weeks I have received some awards and a tag
The YOU MAKE MY DAY award came from Cindy of In a Garden
Thank you Cindy for your kind and very encouraging comments
I am truly honoured
I pass this on to Merisi of Vienna for Beginners
Merisi makes my day when I visit her and see her wonderful photos of Vienna
she has such an eye for a special photo





This award came from Isobel of The Cosy Corner
Thank you Isobel
I pass this on to Sara of Much Ado About Something
I think Sara's is an excellent blog for it's varied content and interest
her expert photography and her faith that comes through in such
a non-confrontational way


And now for the tag I received this from Mob of The Baby Journals
I pass it on to Sara (as above) as she was saying recently that she was in the 'bloggy doldrums'
so hope this puts some wind in your sails Sara



1.Were you named after anyone? No
2. When was the last time you cried? So long ago I can't remember
3. Do you like your handwriting? Yes
4. What is your favorite lunch meat? Honey Roast Ham
5. Do you have kids? No but 2 adult friends
6. If you were another person would you be friends with you? Hope so
7. Do you use sarcasm a lot? No but my sense of humour is dry
8. Do you still have your tonsils? Yes
9. Would you bungee jump? No
10. What is your favorite cereal? Dorset Cereals Berries and Cherries Muesli
11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Definitely
12. Do you think you are strong? Most of the time
13. What is your favorite ice cream? Ben and Jerry's Cookie Dough
14. What is the first thing you notice about people? Their eyes
15. Red or pink? Red
16. What is the thing that you like least about yourself? Stomach
17. Who do you miss the most? My longest standing best friend
19. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? Parchment (I assume you mean trousers - pants mean knickers in England) Black
20. Have you ever re-gifted? No
21. What are you listening to right now? The tap, tap,tap of the keyboard
22. If you were a crayon what colour would you be? Green
23. Favorite smells? Lavender and my Jean Lois Scherrer perfume
24. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? My daughter
25. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Very much so, what would she think if I typed, no!
26. Favorite sports to watch? None
30. Favorite food? Lots but freshly baked bread with butter takes some beating
31. Scary movies or happy endings? Happy
32. Last movie you watched? A Good Woman
33. What color shirt are you wearing? Taupe
34. Summer or winter? Summer
35. Hugs or kisses? Hugs
36. Favorite dessert? Lemon anything
39. What book are you reading now? Searching for Tilly by Susan Sallis and Living Beyond the Limits by Franklin Graham
40. What is on your mouse pad? My mouse
41. What did you watch on TV last night? Nothing I was out
42. Favorite sound? Waves lapping on the sand
43. Rolling stones or Beatles? Beatles
44. What is the furthest you have been from home? Mexico
45. Do you have a special talent? Lots
46. Where were you born? Liverpool, England


Monday, 3 March 2008

At Home on Mother's Day

Yesterday was Mother's Day here in England

When I got up on Saturday morning this beautiful bouquet was delivered to me

sent by my daughter Janie Thank you Janie

Will be visiting her home again on Wednesday and will get to have Oliver out of nursery again

Can't wait!
Looking out into the garden




Photinia (Red Robin)

Forsythia in the kitchen


I can't say I bought myself this CD for Mother's day but I did buy it this week
Terry MacAlmon's latest live worship CD
I have several of Terry's and I love them



Sunday, 2 March 2008

Leigh-on-Sea - A Different View

I started uploaded these photographs at 3.30 am Friday morning
We had gale force winds all night and it was very noisy and I just could not sleep.
Usually if I cannot sleep I get up and read but I have not been able to get Page Elements up for weeks now so was curious to know if blogging in the middle of the night would make any difference - it did not
So I decided to upload photos and do some visiting instead
Not a good move as when I went back to bed at 4.30 am my mind was so active I did not sleep for the rest of the night
Last Tuesday we drove out to the Estuary and visited our friends again at Leigh-on-Sea
We usually like to walk along the waters edge before settling down to their wonderful hospitality
This time though the wind was strong and very cold and although we don't mind walking in the cold wind I would rather not when we are not dressed for it
Instead we walked through some of the town which is at the top of the cliffs so I have some different photos to show





Daffodils in bloom in spite of the wind and the cold
Our weather is so changeable - a few days earlier I was gardening in short sleeves






Looking back into the sun
What a difference it makes to the picture


We have left the cliff top and are walking into the town





From here on we will be looking in shop windows and in some of them I will be showing you both sides of the street at once through some amazing reflections in the windows
In order to see the shop windows and the reflections I would suggest double clicking to get fullscreen photos










Radley bags







































The following pics show a shop of the most unusual kind
It is an ironmongers and it stocks so many different items that there is nowhere left to walk inside the shop
Come inside
Do double click to really get the picture







I really like this town as it has so many different kind of independent shops
Very unusual these days
I have only shown you a few
One of my favourites is the independent health food shop
They have such an amazing choice of herb teas
An advantage or disadvantage of this walk, depending on how you look at it is the number of charity/thrift shops
Today I bought 6 videos for next to nothing
Everybody seems to only want DVD's but we have both
I am going to further my education on the American West
I bought Pacific Frontiers, The American West, Grand Canyon, Yosemite and Yellowstone
plus the musical Chicago

Thursday, 28 February 2008

Baby Lambs and healthy Chickens at Pilgrims Hall

I was at Pilgrims Hall yesterday
A Christian Recource Centre that I am involved with
It's lambing time so I wanted to show you these new babies


They are Jacob Sheep and can be traced back to Biblical times
Unfortunately this year a Rotweiller dog got into the fields and worried the pregnant sheep
causing abnomalities and death in some of the lambs




These week old lambs jump about in the fields and it is almost impossible to
catch them still



This Mother had just given birth a few hours ago
The had triplets and as you see here one is a runt


This is one of her brood - just a few hours old



Here the shepherd is hand rearing a set of twins whose Mother is seriously ill
I just love how the sheepdog keeps guard

Didn't want to neglect the chickens as they supply me with delicious
free-range organic eggs




This one thinks he is king


The doves have flown
Hope you enjoyed your visit