Indeed. ANNE, I would never guess 84, nor even 54! What's your secret? To me, you are a kid! Your William Blake memories seem so appropriate.
JACKIE, I guess what I saw was not lobelia, since the blossoms were a royal purple. I never saw them elsewhere. Your plant collection is gorgeous...
SANDY, I never got involved in Facebook as it can become too personal. I just "view" my son's latest picture.
BOB, while I enjoyed your family pictures, your New York photos are classics! I love your comment about your wonderful marriage!
LIN, the audio calls and video calls get me all shook up, technically, but they are easier and sfer than going to the doctor's office!
PATSY, I am so tired of reading and hearing all the aberrations of our wondrous president, I'm sick of present politics!
Did I mention Hospice wants to discharge me? My condition no longer qualifies!
Buzz

My evening meal is in the oven... free range chicken and home grown roasted veggies.


Some gardening achieved but never enough. Through our hot weather I had a group of perennial plants in a window box and knew their little toes would be curling in the confines of a container so have moved them out to my newly uncovered rockery. Oh joy... while pottering there I noticed the smallest poppy seedling which reminded me that 30 years ago when first uncovering the area I ended up with a mass of Oriental poppies that over time stopped self seeding. I did wonder if they had been grown a hundred years ago for medicinal purposes because I’m aware Queen Victoria used opium to help her nerves and to sleep. This little seedling looks similar so I will watch and wait with interest. Also found a tiny piece of Campanula that has survived years of neglect. A dear friend gave me a piece to plant in the rockery when I moved in all those years ago. That too gave me a burst of delight!

What a fabulous family photo Bob and the New York images are classic. There but for the grace of God I always think when I see homeless people because back in the 90’s during a severe recession I came very close to losing my home when made redundant. Struggled through that drama and out the other side!

Buzz, what wonderful news or does it give you a problem with where to move to... return to you apartment or is there another option? Whatever you decide I’m just relieved and delighted hospice care is no longer appropriate. ❤️
I think Lobelias can be other colours than my red so I’m sure you’re right.

Sandy, I do pace myself when gardening and take several pauses to contemplate what comes next. You wait, once we move into Autumn then Winter I won’t be doing much and have even decided to get a decorator in to paint walls once re-plastered and that’ll be a first! Feet up and catch up with book reading, that’ll be me! I’m not sure it’s a blond thing to miss the need of batteries because faced with something like a furnace my mind would go completely blank and I’m still pink!! 🤣

Lin, I assume this means you don’t require reflexology anymore which has to be a good thing. Do you not have much outdoor space apart from an area to grow your veggies?

Patsy, it strikes me that you and John have a similar attitude to love and life as Bob and his Jean. You give each other space to breath! My lifestyle these days has been deliberately chosen after many years of galavanting about and although there’s a huge contrast I do love the peace I find amongst my flowers and little critters.

Ah, I can smell the veggies are roasted so will go and check... it could be my neighbours with their barbecue of course!
Jackie

Good afternoon Sneakers.

Another day slipping away. I cleaned veggies this morning and made some salad. Chatted with a friend on Facebook messenger. Cut up lots of veggies for lunch and watched a Facebook live show that is on every Saturday morning.

Anne, okay, you ARE stocked up for the winter. Haaaaa. 😂🤣😂 But will you set them aside until winter? I probably would have gotten two of each. One of each for now and another set for later.

Buzz, I am beyond upset about the post office mess. I won’t say more but this is wrong on every level and from every viewpoint I can imagine. He is killing us. 😥🤫 Will you be receiving less care if you are discharged from hospice? I want just the best for you. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Sandy, I am not going in for blood work at this point. Our state (and county) numbers have been climbing. They are okay with waiting, up to a year out although they would prefer now. I am glad to hear the ‘individual’ will stay away. AND well done on fixing things up! We are all proud of you.

Bob, love the photos. I gazed at the first one and immediately saw you in the mirror, then moved on to the captioned photo. You weren’t trying to hide. 🤩 The NY photos are classics. They look as if they should be in a book! Enjoy your dinner out tonight.

Jackie, these are the type of lobelia that I remember (I think) from my grandma’s garden. They were a pretty blue.

Aha, you are finding wonderful things. We will be looking forward to hearing if your little poppy survives and thrives. And I really could use the reflexology but I am not going anywhere and she was hesitant about reopening as the studio is in her home. I haven’t heard from her since June. And I do not have any suitable place on my lot for a garden. Poor drainage, poor soil, etc. A few pots on the deck are okay. And I have my year round sprouts.

Patsy, Hollywood gossip is not that entertaining but I would agree with cartoons. They are wonderful. I watch the old black and white movies. They are entertaining, not overly gory and pretty short. Lots of them are an hour and a quarter or so.

Must move along.

Best wishes sent for everyone.

Lin
🙋🏼‍♀️❤️

https://www.google.co.uk/search?client=safari&channel=iphone_bm&q=Lobelia+cardinalis+'Queen+Victoria&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwilo56D-53rAhVFlFwKHS7tDYoQ1QIwJXoECCgQAw&biw=320&bih=454#imgrc=2PUg2OsubR5_HM

Lin, the plant I purchased is a different species to the purple you and Buzz know. I think the red Cardinalis has American origins.
Jackie

Last night we felt a bit normal (minus wearing masks etc until seated). First time out for a real dinner with friends since March. My pre-planned low-carb, low-sugar, moderate protein menu selection made it a breeze. Jean had a delicious looking big chicken quesadilla and offered me a piece, but I said I was good. The reward was this morning knowing I didn’t over indulge.

Early morning walk was wonderful…peaceful except for the sounds of crickets as I watched the sunrise. The start of the day is - in the words of Lionel Richie - “Easy (Like Sunday Morning).”






Anne – Sorry for the loss of your friend and it is sad that passing away at this time doesn’t allow for the normal healing get together. Sunflowers are beautiful and interesting in how the “follow the sun.” Glad you liked the photos… I MUST do some house cleaning of the 100k+ photo files. I’d hate to drop dead and have someone go thru my computer. LOL – thanks for the kind words. You sound like Jean re: the dryer – I swear she can be several rooms away and knows when the buzzer goes off.

Ps – love the poem reference – I am one of those guys not ashamed to admit that I actually like poetry. It was instilled in me by my mother and one specific teacher. Here is a poem my parents had hung in our house since I was a child (the handwriting belongs to my sister & I think James Metcalfe wrote it). It is one of my favorites.
Sandy – Thanks…photography and cooking are my 2 fav things… so wish I had taken more in my younger years… but I do treasure the old family pics.




Buzz – There is something about the pulse of NYC. I’m just sure we won’t be making any trips there in the near future. For me capturing emotion is key. As for the marriage comment, I must say I think the fact that we both believe in “not sweating the small stuff”. I don’t mean the way people normally just say it. Lots of cute stories on that one.

Reminds me of a time yrs ago when we threw a 4th of July cook-out for tons of people and it rained cats & dogs that morning. On the way to get the “beer ball” Jean started crying... I drove past the store and headed for the highway…she asked where I was going. I replied “I thought we’d go up to the burn unit at the hospital and see some people with real problems.” She burst into laughter and I headed to the store.

Lin – Yes – the mirror was intentional. We always laugh that I am never in the photos because I take the pic. As you can see the dinner was great! Thanks for the well-wishes.

Hope everyone has a great day! Time to join Jean …

Bob

Especially for BOB, his JEAN and the sunflowers.

Oh, the heart that has loved truly never forgets
But as truly lives on to the close.
As the sunflower turns on her God when He sets.
The same look that she gave when He rose.

I know.......I'm an out-of-time soppy Victorian!

Enjoyed your poem!

And good morning fellow journeyers!
Have a wonderful day.
Anne. 🙃❤️🐶

Happy Sunday everyone. More thunder storm threats but I decided to ignore them and get some washing finished and out to dry. Gone 5pm and still no rain let alone a rumble of thunder! My 2 mile walk took me along an old railway track on the edge of the moor then I climbed up to the next level. Delighted with myself that I can now climb the hill without the need to pause halfway or breath heavily so at least exercise is helping in that respect, just not the weight! This afternoon I spent tidying the area my new garden arch now stands erect and managed after a lot of huffing and puffing, to move a large carved stone of an owl, only about a meter but because it's polished stone and bloomin' heavy I struggled to get a grip! Planted a few of the new plants then indoors for a cup of tea (without a chocolate biscuit!) and caught up with emails.

Funny teapot Lin. I remember once seeing a Paul Cardew pottery clock that was leaning further than the Tower of Pisa so he definitely enjoys a good sense of humour!

Bob, I could feel the evening's warm air on my back as I viewed your photos of last night's restaurant. A beautiful spot! I'm trying to work out if there's a horse standing on a neighbour's front lawn on the left of your last photo. Perhaps my eyes are tired!!

Wow Anne, your sunflower poem is definitely full of typical Victorian prose!

Oh dear, Brady is giving me the evil eye because it's his tea time so I'll finish before he walks over the keys and loses my post!

Enjoy your movie and pizza Sandy. A few days to lose the extra calories!!

Jackie

Good morning. It is going to be very warm again. We both seem to just shut down in hot weather. Yesterday was very warm, into the 90s. That is a scorcher for us here. Then comes muggy soggy air that is hard to breathe.

I hope everyone has a peaceful day. Mine will be consumed with arranging fans and drinking glasses of ice water. Sounds like an airport in here. I have fans in every room.

I will be making a huge salad for dinner. Lettuce, halved fresh black grapes, cubed chicken breast, , toasted almonds tossed with balsamic vinegar/avocado oil dressing. I need to dream up some sort of bread thing or I will hear John snorting. He is really wonderful about eating my odd concoctions. My goal is to avoid turning on the stove for any reason. I will make him a couple of pieces of buttered toast points...to help him manage all that salad.

Sounds like everyone has the day in hand, things to do, people to see. Phone visit with our son and daughter will have to do for us. Our virus cases are still spiking, so we must “remain Contained.” We had a large influx of tourists. Sadly the virus came along with them and we have even more cases.

But the good news is that we are fine, Katie is fine, both of our adult children seem to be well. I have much to be grateful for. However...I must do my regular 30 minutes of core strength exercises. Not my favorite but I am lucky to be able to do them. Might try a glass of iced coffee after I finish those pesky exercises.
Kris Kristofferson, “Sunday morning coming down.”
Patsy☘️

Writing about Victorian sentimentality earlier I found my Gawan grandads (who died before I was born) favourite song on u tube.

Celtic Woman "I dreamt I dwelt. in marble halls".

Absolutely beautiful rendering I thought. Any idea how to show it on here. I suspect PATSY with her Irish roots and love of music would enjoy.

Just a step in time from this modern world and all its problems.
Anne.