Festive Greetings to You

Long time no see. We have missed you, and perhaps you may have missed us a little too. 

(thank you to Brenda for your message X)

We are all well.

But..

Work has been hard. Distractions have been plentiful. And time is always short.

"Snowball"

I made myself a snowball,

As perfect as could be,

I thought I'd keep it as a pet,

And let it sleep with me.

I made it some pajamas,

And a pillow for its head,

Then last night it ran away,

But first - it wet the bed!

~Shel Silverstein

Bring on 2015 and visiting you all.

Love Helen, Darcy, Bingley and Fred

xxxx

wise man and the tortoise

I open this post following such a long period of blogging neglect; 

BUT with a joyful shot of my dear Father on his 92nd Birthday. 

Some of you may recall my previous post which was full of concern for him. 

His pacemaker is fitted and he is once again back to being a marvel!

Hip hip hooray to Dad

.. and now to introduce you to a new member of our family!

meet Freddie!

He is about 30 years old, and I am still trying to ascertain quite what species he is. 

Suggestions welcomed.

I want to say a special thank you to Cathy over at http://whisppy.blogspot.co.uk/  for her support and guidance (she is a wealth of information about both tortoises and cats and a lovely person too!)

Freddie's first day creates shock waves throughout the feline kingdom of Haven House!

Mr Bingley even throws caution to the wind and attempts the 'conga' dance behind Freddie!

I would like to think that Freddie, if he could, might quote Terry Pratchett at this point...

"You can't trample infidels cats when you're a tortoise. All you could do is give them a meaningful look"

a moment of reflection when Fred meets 'pottery' Fred ... 

His Summer shed is built ... a 'Fred Shed'... but it won't be long before he hibernates for Winter and then he will be sleeping somewhere frost free.

Mr Bingley attempts a 'takeover' on Fred's Shed!

But only Fred sleeps in there 

(... well maybe the odd snail, spider, mouse...too)

The wise man and the tortoise travel but never leave their home.

We look forward to visiting you 

and hope all is well your end.

xxx

a wing and a prayer

It is high Summer in England and we have had wall-to-wall sunshine and warmth.

Every day is a beautiful one.

 Gathering Sweet Peas

"Flowers... are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty out values all the utilities of the world"

 ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Picked from the allotment  (but yet to be appreciated by Mr Darcy)

 "I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck"

~ Emma Goldman

(but to be fair, diamonds would also be VERY lovely! ahem)

 Dad

And then there is Dad, who was rushed into hospital with heart issues. Ambulance with blue lights and sirens and all that, with Mum in the front (in crash position). 

Thankfully he is looking so much better and is having a pace maker fitted. 

His spirit is up which is all about the fighter pilot in him (he is 92 this year and flew Liberators and Lancasters in the WW2.) 

He did say to Mum that apparently the operation would mean that he shouldn't wash up! 

Good old Dad. Ever the survivor.

And here am I, home again after visiting Dad, responding to my commitments as 'chief dual tummy tickler'. 

And loving it!

Take care everyone X

Con Trail Cirrus

I saw this amazing cloud formation from our garden,

it immediately made me think of my Mr Bingley, when he lies out for a brush!

What do you think?

Note: Thanks to Alexander for telling me the name of cloud and why it forms as it does (linked to plane lines, apparently).

a game of tag

Give an inch and he takes a mile!

A lesson for Mr Darcy when he discovered Elwood from next door playing in H I S tub.

Elwood enjoying wriggle time

Mr Darcy attempts an inspection but is ignored (and is too shy to push it)

But he deploys a spot of cunning ...

 ...and hides in the big trug ...

surely he cannot be seen from in there while he monitors the situation!

... surely?

... ears flat, just the odd whisker poking up ...

But then reinforcements arrive in the fluffy shape of brother Bingley!

The take-over is complete, with Bingley and Darcy encamped.

Elwood is banished to the shrubs.

 Darcy and Bingley wallow in victory

But as the sun goes in, and the brothers go inside for their tea...

Elwood claims a prize for his persistence!

and relaxes in the trophy seat!

Springing forward (Tempus Fugit)

My, how time flies! 

We have been working, gardening, travelling, celebrating and exercising .... oh, and Bingley and Darcy have been generally lazing around, as usual!

Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy on their wriggle rug

Tomatoes, leeks, chard, trailing sweet pea... to name a few.

The allotment is ready and awaits the produce (we just require the time to get down there to plant!).

Cornwall at my late Aunt's home over Easter, gardening, burning and preparing the place for sale :-(

End of an era.

Elwood and Otis, Diana's cats next door who I am looking after for 3 weeks. 

Here they are going forth from the upstairs bathroom window this morning (fairly safe from the aggressive ginger Tom that comes to get them). When I get home from work, if they aren't in they nearly always come to the hand bell rung solidly in the garden!

Aloof Otis

Onwards and upward with my Pilates class (knackering)

Our front terrace I missed the opportunity to clip the ivy hedge and now the birds are nesting in there. Will have to wait until Autumn.

Haven back garden, lush with Spring growth.

We all wish our fellow bloggers a happy day.

X X X

what a bunch

Take a bunch of lovely flowers!

 ... add one curious, contrary cat

(the all too familiar toe of disdain)

... who is a bit sleepy ...

.. and who is never EVER impressed by those who occasionally must work from home!

 ... and chooses to demonstrate this view in the most blatant of ways.

A Mr Darcy endorsement:-

“I've heard that hard work never killed anyone, but I say why take the chance?”

~ Ronald Reagan

it came, it went (sunshine)

We woke last Sunday to a glorious and sunny day!

We all went straight outside to soak it up.

It was lovely to finally get close to the flowers.

Not a raincoat in sight!

I climbed ladders to take down and clean the birdie boxes.

Sadly, there was a Tit skeleton in one.

I moved the box to a much safer 'cat resistant' spot.

We visited family in Cholsey and bought eggs at their local farm...

I loved the colourful ones the best, and they belong to Ben ...

Best of all I loved the gentle cows!

Always have and always will.

But then I returned to work and this happened again

R A I N

I didn't even fancy opening the office window to take this (I work on a beautiful country estate, well it is when it isn't raining!)

Bingley and Darcy are keeping their paws crossed for more sunshine and respite from the floods.

Take care xx

PS. Shortly after this display of brotherly love, they had a scrap.

6th Gotcha year!

We are Valentines! But more important than this, we are 6 today!

It's lashing down outside so we haven't been out in the garden birdie watching for long, but we have had some treats...

Bingley and Darcy sleeping off their Birthday

Winding back the years!

... Arrival! their first few minutes in their new home...

kittens Bingley and Darcy

settling in ... and exploring ...

Here are shots taken of the River Thames this week, having burst its banks

the lower photo is during part of my commute to work ...

Counting our blessings that our home is on a hill.