My Garden Today in late May

While I am sorting some Leanardslee garden photos to post

here is a little peep into my garden yesterday

and last evening's sunset

Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens - Part 1 The Rock Garden

The first week in May we visited this spectacular garden

LEONARDSLEE

We are so blessed to have so many beautiful gardens nearby

This one is not far from Gatwick Airport

but you would never know it

The Magnolias and Camellias had just finished but the Azaleas were magnificant

I'll take you through the rockery on this post

but do come back for the gardens,

vintage car collection and

the most amazing dolls house I have ever seen

There are 200 acres of paradise, including 7 lakes

The gardens were started in 1801, purchased in the 1850's by the Hubbard family,

and subsequently acquired by Sir Edmund Loder, making Leonardslee

one of the last great private gardens in England

Come on into the Rock Garden with me and enjoy

(double clicking on the photos will be even more enjoyable)

Something from Today's Garden and Disguised Blessings

Last weeks blessings in disguise

Non working Wireless Keyboard and Mouse returned to shop

Then bought same make as currently using

This one is not working

Tried everything and enlisted the help of son and a friend who are familiar with computers

Still not working

Security software needed renewing

Did so - did not work

Uninstalled everything again and more

Now working

Burst car tyre when out in town

Hot day - car full of fresh and frozen food

Three episodes of constant crossed lines on phone

Still there when phone put down

If left answer phone kicked in and voices continued till tape full

Fixed after 3 visits when engineer moved our line to a different side in junction box

Fairly new top of the range video/dvd recorder broken when label became emeshed in workings

Frustration levels high

If trials are blessings in disguise then I was certainly blessed last week

It is just as well that I know that God is in control of my life

so that no matter how frustrated I feel

and how impatient

I know that God has a reason for it all

A life of faith encompasses all our experiences and not just the ones that make us feel good

I know that nothing comes to me unless God has allowed it

but that does not mean I have to like it

It just means that I have to thank Him for it

Meeting with Blogging Friends and More

Who did I meet up with here in Canary Wharf, London

Morning Glory from the USA

and

Linds of Rocking Chair Reflections from England

We met in Canary Wharf with the intention of walking down to the Thames riverside

and sitting chatting in the outdoor area of one of the many restaurants and coffee shops

BUT

it poured down with rain, the wind blew and it was cool

Last weekend we had beautiful sun with temperatures hitting 80f

This weekend we were lucky to get 57f

SO

we had coffee indoors and strolled through the many underground shopping malls

before venturing out briefly onto one of the docksides

I have met Linds before where we did have lots of time to get to know each other a little and it was so nice to meet again. I was excited about meeting MG for the first time but it was a little disappointing that we did not really seem to have the opportunity to just sit and chill out and chat as we had hoped

It is nice however to be able to put a face and as MG said, a voice, to a blog site

So thank you Linds and MG for taking the time meet up

If you want to see lots of pics on Canary Wharf then click on 'London' in my labels

You can't forget the time here!

This was before the rain got real heavy

Linds, MG, Barbara

Wasn't that fun

Now to some more blogging experiences

This snow was outside the home of

Vee of A Haven for Vee

Vee ran a competition to guess when the last crystal of snow would melt

I guessed 12 days

Linds guessed 11 and she nearly won it

but Vee stayed up until after midnight to check whether or not it had gone before midnight on the 11th day

It did not melt completely until the 12th day

So as the winner I received the following lovely gift in the post

Chocolate covered blueberries, a sleigh ornament, a felt watering can

Some leaf card stickers

a hand made pin cushion and a Martha Stewart teatowel edged and embroidered by her own fair hands

I shall not use the teatowel for drying dishes, I shall hang it from the rail on my cooker

Thank you Vee, this was a lovely gift

And last but not least

Sue of Sioux

sent me this 'Taste of Texas'

a local tour magazine, some handcraft and a card showing one of her husband's

beautiful photographs of Cacti

Thank you Sue for this kind gesture

What a fun hobby blogging is

Local Hedgerows and Blossom

Another peep in to my neighbourhood

The hedgerows and roadsides are beautiful at the moment

Took these about 8.30 in the evening this week

Horse Chestnut trees the full length of the road

So lovely when the sun is just going down

This is the Wisteria at Pilgrims Hall

The Christian Recource Centre that I am involved with

The brick wall to the left of the house was absolutely covered in Wisteria

It had to be taken down in order to have some renovation work done

See the sinking sun shining through

Taken from the roof


Many of the fields are in full flower with Oil Seed Rape

So much more is grown these days as it is used as a bio fuel

Adds very much to hay fever symptoms for many

Tomorrow (Saturday) I am meeting up with 2 blogging friends in London

One from this country and one from the USA

All will be revealed in the next post