My hubby has finally agreed to cut down his collection of train memorabilia. He has static trains as well as various models, but these were sitting in the summerhouse and getting covered in spiders webs. He has enjoyed them for a couple of years, but we decided (so it’s my fault) that it would be better for other people to see them too and get hooked by a love of trains. The thing is if they get left outside they might get brittle in the sunshine and temperature variations. So donated they are. I hope others get as much pleasure from them.
Old eye, still looks out. No one can remember it’s youth like I. He still has the sparkle, the strength, despite the depth of flesh. Sometimes gentle, sometimes proud. He reminds me of am ambassador, so aloof.
My hubby, old flesh, heart still beats gently. I’m still in love with him, even with his mad thoughts. If it was a previous age he would have been a warrior king. Not always right, but always strong.
Wandering backwards and forwards on crutches to the bathroom and my armchair. I can’t help remembering when I was younger. We would set out on a cycle ride or a walk. We used to visit the North of Manchester, around the pennines. Into Wales and see spectacular mountains. Up to Yorkshire and around Ingleborough. Up steep slopes on our bikes then down one long winding valley that took us seven miles back down to our campsite (I was pleased with my map reading that day).
Being ill or injured is difficult. I can’t ignore it, but I guess I have to be a patient patient! But I want to do simple things like washing up. When I can support my weight I will, then cook, the eventually I will have to tidy up, hubby is trying, but he doesn’t quite get organisational ideas. Like putting shopping in the fridge safely! Or how to cook chicken when you have never done it in your life! Time heals I guess.
I wish I was out and about, that I could just stand at the sink and do the washing up. But I guess it’s less than five days since I pulled a ligament in my foot and about eight since the car door slammed into my other leg and cut a hole in it.
I can’t get in the kitchen to cook meals, my ankle won’t take my weight and I can’t stand to stir things. So my hubby has had to discover the microwave and things other than boiled eggs (which he can do). He assumed a frozen potato and a chilled cornish pastie would take the same time to heat in the microwave on the same plate….
I pointed out that he should look on the packaging. Tea is a bit bland and boring, but at least it’s safe. My hubby can’t hear the alarm on the cooker that tells you the food has been in for it’s cooking time…
But very kindly, a friend came and did some shopping for us. Hubby doesn’t always get things that are on the list. He substitutes things like natural yoghurt for fruit yoghurt (probably healthier) or will buy three bunches of grapes and five tins of tomatoes instead of one. It’s not wrong, but I don’t have the cupboard space. BUT he’s learning, making decisions, working things out. And I am truly thankful.
Write about a random act of kindness you’ve done for someone.
I try and help most people. I will not go into details, but in my previous job I used to try and help the people I was employed to look after. If they were not being helped by other staff I used to get involved and see what I could do.
I guess I’ve given someone an umbrella when she had nothing to help keep her dry. I’ve driven hitch hikers up to places I wasn’t even going to. Last week someone stopped us as we got in the car. He was a stranger but had a big bag of shopping and asked for a lift up our hill. We took him to his door..
I do things without considering how it will affect me. I think helping people is important. If you can help you should.
What traditions have you not kept that your parents had?
My family were traditionally conservatives. I was bought up to think that socialists were bad and would lead to serious problems for our country. But when I left home I started to see things in a different light. I had to look at how other people lived. There had been a lot of strikes, and people were struggling to survive. I found out things that had never been discussed at home. Thinking and listening to the words of John Lennons song Imagine really got to me. The struggle to manage when I was out of work for a short time. It made me realise how hard life can be for others.
My traditional upbringing included religion. The rules were set. Money had been important, but listening to Jesus teachings after I left home gave me more concerned belief that people deserved better. I became interested in equality for women, and I also supported charities that worked to save nature. I think leaving home gave me insights I would never have had before. It led to arguments with my parent, but I hope I changed her opinions too.
At Ford Green Hall there is a small medicinal garden, various herbs are grown there including oriental poppies, marjoram, lavender, mint, teasle and other plants including apples and wild flowers.
I wish I could get some things to knit and heal my foot and ankle. Maybe I should have collected some seeds while I was there. The wet weather has made cottage garden plants really big and blousy. Life is interesting how medicinal plants like feverfew and valerian can help with illness. Not everything is safe to take, but it’s good that medicines have plants as a basis for remedies and cures.
Don’t know how much blogging I can do at the moment. I just tried to walk upstairs and was almost at the top when something went snap in my foot. I got downstairs on my bottom. Waiting for an ambulance! Can’t wait bear. Stuck on a chair. Thank god hubby was here x
Lavender, lovely flower, place for bees to sip and feed. Likes hot and dry conditions. The aromatic oils create a delightful scent. Growing in fields of purple and green. Row upon row of beautiful flowers. People still make little bags of lavender flowers to sit under their pillows and help with sleep.
I have tried to grow it but it’s too damp and shady in our garden. I might grow a small plant, but it never flourishes like these plants in the photo.
I remember having a rockery at my childhood home. I think we had lavender growing in pockets of soil in it. It thrived in hot summers when the sun was baking hot.
Mallaband-Brown 