Herbs

On reflection..........

Reflection Consideration Reflection Appreciation Admiration........... Preparation Evaluation Reflection Application Evaluation Expectation!

The Event Draws Nigh!

I never for a minute, ever expected to feel the way I have done over the weekend, but like it or lump it I have been quite weepy about approachung 50! We had a great day in the garden on Saturday. Hubby cut back some of the hedges and had to leave the front hedge due to the amount of bees buzzing about. The lawns were cut and everywhere looked nice. It is amazing how quickly the lawn grows. I trimmed the edges with my new tool and weeded the borders. I love sitting down when gardening, it is not so hard on my back and I like to do each section slowly yet thoroughly. One thing I wouldn't be without is my solar radio! When I am on with a job I tend to focus on the music rather than how much work I have to do and before I know it an hour has passed and there before my eyes I see progress! Sunday was a horrible day here, dark damp & foggy! Looking back I am sure this influenced the way I was feeling because all I wanted to do was get out in the garden. However this was not possible so I spent time doing some household chores and compiling some music for my party on Saturday. We watched the football match.......well done Beckham! Didn't really get excited about the game, thought it all looked very rough. However couldn't say the same for Netherlands v. Portugal! What was the ref like? Low tollerance level there me thinks. So.......the week moves on! Realisation......... Anticipation! Expectation! sums it up really! Dx

It's Friday!

Was teaching today! Just local, so I didn't have to leave home till 8.35, home at lunchtime and then home tonight by 3.30. Mixed age children, Years 3,4 & 5, or in plain english, age range from 8 - 10. had pretty much full choice on what I taught so we spent the morning drawing/painting tomatoes. The children loved it and produced some good efforts too. I sat amongst them and did my own drawing. We used coloured pencils, wax crayons and felt tips. I think it helps the children if the teacher acts as a model so they can see how to go about drawing from observation. I came home at lunchtime & had a sandwich with hubby. The afternoon passed quickly, though believe me teaching a class of children is tiring! Tonight we are having a take-away, not sure if Chinese or Indian and a nice bottle of wine. i think the weekend, weather permitting will be spent in the garden, in preparation for my birthday celebration next Saturday. My actual birthday is on Thursday so I dont know what will be happening on the day itself. I know we could go out for a meal, possibly our local, but I don't want to spend a lot of money on it. After all, we had a lovely weekend in London, last week and Saturday will be another great day, so we'll just see. I must admit I feel strange seeing 50 in print and I did feel a little weepy at one point, but people keep saying I dont look it! I dont know whether they are just saying it to make me feel better, but the main thing is I feel OK about everything. I know I am loved & have a husband who thinks the world of me and would do anything for me, I have a great family, really pleased I am a Nesbitt! I have a great bunch of nephews, sister in law, mother in law etc etc.

Let my words, like vegetables, be tender and sweet,

Strawberries! and Tomatoes mmmmmmmmmm

My very very first attempt!

Rescued from the snails!

You can see where the snails nibbled the foilage! These little fellas are brought into the house every night!

My rhubarb! I must say, seeing it grow so well is giving me a real buzz. I can feel the ebergy in my arms now, anticipating where the veg plot is going to be. Excitement is looming!

Excitement!

I really am so excited in seeing my plants growing into young fruit and vegetables. I could never have hoped for such a wonderful feeling of pride, appreciation and sheer joy!

Autobiography Part 1

Man Of The World Written by Peter Green, adapted by moi! I could tell you about my life And keep you amused I'm sure About all the times I've cried And how I know I wont be sad anymore And how I am so happy to be in love I was born as a result of my mum falling in love with a chap who wasn't a particularly nice person. My nana and grandad did not want mum to marry him, but mum being mum, in love, married him! I came along 9 months later! It wasn't long before the bad chap (notice how polite I am being here!) started to show his true colours. He was a nasty piece of work. He was a womaniser and a drunk. Oh and he was a roofer...well until he went bankrupt! Eventually mum moves me out of the house as it wasn't a safe place to be anymore, and I lived with mum's sister & her husband, Auntie Dot and Uncle Moss. Mum was fortunate in having good qualifications and secured a good job at ICI Wilton, a secretary in the Training Centre. She divorced the bad guy (still polite) and bought a small house , next street to Auntie Dot & Uncle Moss. At ICI she met Jack Davison, a Training Officer.....He offered to help mum with some DIY with the house and would visit us.... I remember the first time I met him, I was 7 at the time.! He rewired my Doll's house with independent light switches!!! Very impressive. Over the next few years he came to be part of our family, finally marrying mum in 1970 at the request of my nana, who when she was very ill asked him to look after mum and I. He was my favourite Uncle, and cried the day I called him "Dad"...(Was the prospect of me as a daughter that worrying???)I jest, I didn't see him cry, he did it very privately, mum told me some years later. Mum and Dad were devoted to each other. He suffered a heart attack in 1982 as a result of which he had to finish work. Mum did too and they spent their retirement driving round the North York Moors, eventually buying a holiday caravan in Rosedale Abbey. In 1986 he was driving mum home after one such visit and suffered a fatal heart attack at the wheel of the car. Miraculously nobody else was hurt...amazing as it was peak holiday season time, August 13th on the main moors road to Whitby. I was teaching in Nottingham at the time, but knew when this happened I was to come home for good and look after mum, which I did. I met my husband the following year and we were married in 1988. I missed my Dad at the wedding, he would have loved Jon. In 1994 mum died, knowing Jon would look after me. Why all this information? I learned a valuable lesson from mum, the choices we have in life, in some cases are down to our own making and choosing. By working hard at school to achieve a good education, can be the passport or springboard to wider choices for our future. I tried hard at school and became a primary school teacher. I often come across children experiencing a parental break up. I always tell them that when I too witnessed the breakdown of my parents marriage I had a choice........the choice I made was to make my mum proud of me....sometimes I got things wrong but ultimately I did my best to be a good daughter....just as they can be, a good daughter or a good son. As was read at mum's funeral... "Question not, but live and labour Till yon goal be won, Helping every feeble neighbour, Seeking help from none; Life is mostly froth and bubble, Two things stand like stone, KINDNESS in another's trouble, COURAGE in your own."

Jo!

Contemplating in the garden!

Max!

My prtector!

Ella!

Ella has a taste for rabbit at the moment!

Wilma!

Our beloved German Shepherd, Wilma!

WAITING!

It is nearly 2pm.......... appointment was for 1pm............ I hate waiting, wasting time! Everything ready, notes, etc etc........... I am one of those people who always arrives early, especially if catching a train or meeting somebody! You never know what could happen! When we flew to London at the weekend out flight was scheduled for 9am take off...... we had to check in at 8am........ we arrived at the airport around 7.20am........ yes I was driving! Ahem................so it is now 2pm! I will spend some time posting some more photographs because I have discovered Picasa2........ I will put a link so other people can download it. basically it stores all pictures and I can load straight into my blog without reducing size.............now that has got to be a good thing... think of the time I will save! Talking of time.....

  

  

  

Picasa2??????? Dont ask me how I did it...but just relax and look at some nice photographs!

This made me smile!

At Standing Still I Have a Skill At standing still I have a skill that truly is unique. At sleeping I'm unquestionably on a winning streak. At lying down I'm unsurpassed; I'm simply undefeated. At sitting I'm the reigning champ; I'll never be unseated. At drifting in a daydream it is obvious I'm blessed. At staring at the TV I'm undoubtedly the best. At doing nothing I am even better than you'd think. At everything besides that, though, I'd have to say: I stink. I hope someday I'll maybe learn another kind of skill. Until then I'm content to be the best at standing still. --Kenn Nesbitt (no relation!) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Consider the Snail!

Although there seems to be less snails around at night, nevertheless i still find the little so and so's crawling over my first vegetables!The sad thing about is I do find snails so beautiul & perfectly formed, I guess they are only doing what comes naturally. How do other people deal with snails? Is it humane to put them into the green wheely bin, or to throw them into a neighbouring field? or is it the beer trap? SNAIL It hasn't any windows It hasn't any doors Although it has a ceiling It hasn't any floors 'Twas built without a builder A hammer or a nail Because you see this funny house Belongs to Mr Snail. Author unknown Consider the Snail, by Thomas Gunn The snail pushes through a green night, for the grass is heavy with water and meets over the bright path he makes, where rain has darkened the earth's dark. He moves in a wood of desire, pale antlers barely stirring as he hunts. I cannot tell what power is at work, drenched there with purpose, knowing nothing. What is a snail's fury? All I think is that if later I parted the blades above the tunnel and saw the thin trail of broken white across litter, I would never have imagined the slow passion to that deliberate progress. Giant Snail The rain has stopped. The waterfall will roar like that all night. I have come out to take a walk and feed. My body--foot, that is--is wet and cold and covered with sharp gravel. It is white, the size of a dinner plate. I have set myself a goal, a certain rock, but it may well be dawn before I get there. Although I move ghostlike and my floating edges barely graze the ground, I am heavy, heavy, heavy. My white muscles are already tired. I give the impression of mysterious ease, but it is only with the greatest effort of my will that I can rise above the smallest stones and sticks. And I must not let myself be dis- tracted by those rough spears of grass. Don't touch them. Draw back. Withdrawal is always best. The rain has stopped. The waterfall makes such a noise! (And what if I fall over it?) The mountains of black rock give off such clouds of steam! Shiny streamers are hanging down their sides. When this occurs, we have a saying that the Snail Gods have come down in haste. I could never descend such steep escarp- ments, much less dream of climbing them. That toad was too big, too, like me. His eyes beseeched my love. Our proportions horrify our neighbors. Rest a minute; relax. Flattened to the ground, my body is like a pallid, decomposing leaf. What's that tapping on my shell? Nothing. Let's go on. My sides move in rhythmic waves, just off the ground, from front to back, the wake of a ship, wax-white water, or a slowly melting floe. I am cold, cold, cold as ice. My blind, white bull's head was a Cretan scare-head; degenerate, my four horns that can't attack. The sides of my mouth are now my hands. They press the earth and suck it hard. Ah, but I know my shell is beautiful, and high, and glazed, and shining. I know it well, although I have not seen it. Its curled white lip is of the finest enamel. Inside, it is as smooth as silk, and I, I fill it to perfection. My wide wake shines, now it is growing dark. I leave a lovely opalescent ribbon: I know this. But O! I am too big. I feel it. Pity me. If and when I reach the rock, I shall go into a certain crack there for the night. The waterfall below will vibrate through my shell and body all night long. In that steady pulsing I can rest. All night I shall be like a sleeping ear. Elizabeth Bishop

You can't be in a wide open space like the sky and not do any thinking!

Sitting in the aeroplane, helpless.................started me thinking.... Call out the instigator Because theres something in the air Weve got to get together sooner or later Because the revolutions here And you know its right And you know that its right We have got to get it together We have got to get it together now One of my all time favourites from Thunderclap Newmman! Are you missing something? Looking for something? Tired of everything Searching and struggling Are you worried about it? Do you wanna talk about it? Oh You're gonna get it right some time Theres so much to be scared of And not much to make sense of Are you running in a circle? You can't be too careful And you can't relate it 'Cos it's complicated Oh You're gonna get it right some time You're gonna get it right some time It's how you see the world How many times can you see? You can't believe what you learn It's how you see the world Don't you worry yourself Your not gonna get hurt Is there something missing? There's nobody listening Are you scared of what you don't know? Dont wanna end up on your own? You need conversation And information Gonna get it right sometimes You just wanna get it right sometimes It's how you see the world How many times have you heard? You can't believe a word It's how you see the world Don't you worry yourself 'Cos nobody can learn That's how you see the world That's how you see the world In a haze, a stormy haze, Ill be round Ill be loving you always, always. Here I am and Ill take my time Here I am and Ill wait in line always Always. (Both Coldplay) Lonely lookin sky Lonely sky, lonely looking sky And bein lonely Makes you wonder why Makes you wonder why Lonely looking sky Lonely looking sky Lonely looking sky Lonely looking night Lonely night, lonely looking night And bein lonely Never made it right Never made it right Lonely looking night Lonely looking night Lonely looking night Sleep we sleep For we may dream While we may Dream we dream For we may wake One more day One more day Glory looking day Glory day, glory looking day And all its glory Told a simple way Behold it if you may Glory looking day Glory looking day Lonely looking sky (Neil Diamond....from Jonathan Livingston Seagull)

A Welcome Break!

We had a fantastic time in London! We had an ACTION PACKED time in London! We left our house at 6am on Saturday and drove to Durham?teesside Airport for the 8am flight to London, Heathrow. We arrived at 8.50! We made our way to South Kensington and left our case at the Hotel, then off we went for a full afternoon in the Science Museum. We walked back to the hotel, had a rest & shower then off we went in search of liquid refresments! Th hotel had it's own Italian Restaurant so we had a lovely meal with a nice cold white wine and watched the world go by. We slept well!!! Sunday, as expected was very hot, so we decided it would be coolest near the River Thames. We spent the day on a river cruise, hopping off and on at various stops along the way. We had lunch on the Embankment and Jon spent some time in The tower Bridge Exhibition beforw we walked up the riverside to the Tate Modern where I spent some time. After a lovely Italian pizza we made our way on the sea clipper to London Bridge where we caught the underground to Green Park where we changed for Heathrow. We arrived at 7.45 at Heathrow and after a short delay our plane left at 9.15pm. We arrived home around 11ish! Ready for a cold beer! Fantastic weekend!

Send in the Clouds!

Succulant???? Good enough to eat!

Because everything we say and do is the length and shadow of our own souls, our influence is determined by the quality of our being. --Dale E. Turner

I am so pleased with the dry stone wall.... Last year it was so overgrown!The Photograph at the top was taken this time last year, the ones following show the difference!