Good morning, Good morning, Good morning Mick and all GN's on a wild and windy, but sunny morning in North Yorkshire. I have missed you all and it has been a very frustrating time, with only my phone working, no internet, no alexa, no nothing!! So I will be behind the times in what is happening with you all, but hope that your are all coping with the weather and have had no loss of power or things broken.
So a bit of a catch up from these last few days, when I have been incommunicado. My back has been a major problem, since I had my eye done, but it is easing slightly now [fingers crossed] but been extremely frustrating as I wanted to do things in the garden, and we had some quite nice days. I had to resort to sitting in a foldup chair as close to the border as I could and reaching across as best as I could. Managed to get a few plants sorted but slow work. Wanted to put all my rubbish in the communal garden waste bin, and then the neighbour told me that they dont have it any more. How annoying, it was very practical to share the cost between us all, and just thought I hadnt seen the lady who usually does it to pay my dues. So have to think of other ideas. Probably have a word with my friend who lives in a village quite near and she has a compost heap I know, so think she might be fine with me collecting up a black bags worth and adding it to increase her heap. I hate to waste good compost material. On a better day last week I went down to the garden centre and optimistically bought my hyacinths, which the intention was to get put up in bowls straight away. Huh! after a weekend feeling really ill and being in bed, I feel as though I am doing everything in heavy boots, and everything is taking me much longer.
However a new start to the week and feel a bit better today. Still creaking around but it is so great to have the computer working and a bit of sun shining. Knowing me I will have to try and pace myself or I shall end up tomorrow much worse having done too much! Well the wind is still so strong that there is no temptation to try and get back into the garden yet, need it to calm down a bit or the plants will be bowling along the path instead of sitting waiting to go in the borders. I know we have all had quite a lot of rain, but if you are planting anything out, this wind is very drying and it will still need watering well. So one job crossed of the very long list of things I want to do is that hurrah, I have got the wigwam put up and the two honeysuckles that I bought very cheaply planted either side and I shall be threading them up when I have a chance. Peter kindly came down and dug the holes and sorted them all out, whilst all I did was to be the supervisor. I really wanted to do the planting myself , but if I had got down on the ground dont think I would have got up!! Anyway it was lovely to see the wigwam safely secured and out of my hall where it has been getting in the way for ages!! So fingers crossed it is quite near the door and should give a lovely perfume as you come to the door next year. I also planted two lavendars hidcote and rosea in the border which will also give me lovely perfumes too.
I have also in a rather desultary manner , carried on sorting out the dresser, and with a bit of luck, a rainy day and my back not playing up, might actually finally have gone through all the wretched papers etc and can finally get it out of here. It is one of those if this then that, I need to get a new flooring cover in the hall and think I am going to have that sort of parquet looking flooring, but before that can go down , the will have to get up all these horrible under tiles some already broken but some stubbornly not moving. I have to get the dresser out before they start as dont want to drag it over the new flooring etc etc. In the meantime I pulled the curtains in my bedroom and they just sort of sagged from the railing. Still connected at either end but all the middle has come off, and so that is yet another job. They have been there as long as I have and I dont know how long before so I need to get the rail measured carefully and then get a new more up to date one and find out the winter curtains from wherever they got shoved in the great bathroom disaster, so another plan for the near future, so it will at least be one job, two things done.
I have made a little inroad into the ironing mountain and now have a choice of trousers, tops and underwear, oh decisions decisions decisions!! But reluctantly, I am now accepting that the summer trousers kept out hopefully to wear for a bit longer can go away and I might find some winter ones I had forgotten to cheer the day. Wow I am glad that this is a very strong sturdy tree, there was such a strong gust of wind then that the fence was bending and all the plants in pots waving furiously. The tree looks sturdy and fingers crossed no branches come off it so far..
There has been a lot of branches etc blown around and some trees down up the dales and at the top of the dales quite a bit of flooding too. There was a picture of some stupid idiot driving his white car through deep floods up wenslydale, past a sign that clearly said flooding no passing. What that daft beggar did not know is that there is a particular area where the road looks straight and simple on your way to sedberg from hawes, but it actually dips down quite a bit so where y ou had water half up your tyres if you go on it is half way up your doors!! Serves him right if he gets caught but then he will be asking the firebrigade to rescue him, when they are needed at much more important things that people did not make happen.!!
Ah well let us turn to better things. I have just seen in the Yorkshire post that it will be Hull fair next week. That was the pinnacle of our trips when I was a child. There are about 3 miles of fairground for that and all the little fairs travel to be part of it. We used to have a fair stop in our town on the way there but it was such a great thing to visit. I loved it, not just the rides but the colours , the smells, candyfloss and music and the gallopers. Oh if I only felt a little better I would go over and stay the night so that I could enjoy it all again, Ah well perhaps another year. When the gallopers came here last year, of course I went on and loved it and the waltzers too. I got off the waltzers and hung onto the pole as I felt a bit dizzy. A kind lady , somewhat concerned asked if I needed a doctor , she probably hadnt seen me get off , and I said no just a little dizzy for a moment. She sympathized and asked if I wanted her to help me to go somewher to sit down and looked rather surprised when I said , Thankyou for the offer but no, I am going back on the gallopers now!! Oh it would be wild out in the bay today, the wind is swirling about, not good sailing weather really, not just the level of the wind but that it isnt a very clear direction.
I have managed to go to one or two meetings about various things and in particular went to one where I could definitely collar a councillor!! She is a very pleasant person, and I respect her and speak politely to her , but do not intend to stop until I have succeeded in getting better roads and paths with these appalling pot holes sorted. There had been a very nice gathering of people to celebrate the day of the older person I think they called it . Anyway on october 1st it is meant to be something about that. Personally I dont want a day of anything. I want 365 days of respect or whatever!! Anyway I went to the meeting and there was quite a lot of pleasant things and someone had a cd of 60's music and they did a quiz, where we had to say not only what the music was but who was singing. The music was easy and there were only a couple I did not know , but some of the singers eluded me. Anyway we had that and then I read a couple of things. One was a letter where the 85 year old lady had written about if she had her life over, how she would do more things she wanted to , and less of the boring stuff. Absolutely!! Let us all sign up to that now! Then I read out (with suitable gestures and tones of voice!) the poem, Warning by Jenny Joseph. It is the one you all probably know , which begins
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple, with a red hat ... and goes on to say how you will pick flowers in other peoples gardens and learn to spit!!! It was much enjoyed but I said I would take no responsibility for the local newspaper reporting on older people sitting on the pavement or taking flowers from gardens!! I also sang the lovely Joyce Grenfell song about the old tyme dance club where two ladies have to dance together dancing bust to bust!! I have been asked to go and entertain another club one monday later in the month, so I might need to find out some of my poems and a couple of songs for that. I managed to go to the euro games club on tuesday. Another good evening but I come back with my brain reeling from trying to remember so many compliated rules and dont feel I am getting on fast enough. But went to the whist drive on wednesday, which is something I can relax and do. Another great evening with like minded people and certainly for me, as the weather gets worse, having these routines gets me out, whereas if it is a horrible night you think oh its too miserable and stay in. Then you see noone and problems filter in your brain and you only see the dark side. Well that was what I wanted to talk to that councillor about, as I said it is not just the potholes but in poor weather people wont risk coming out and the long term effect can be depression and illness and that roads and paths with potholes have something to do with that too. So no good having one day, however pleasant and enjoyable if the rest of the week you darent set foot outside!! Ah well folks you can see I am back, still campaigning and ranting on about things that I think matter.
So, I will be a bit out of date with the comings and goings but
good to see you are getting around Mick and hope the beers were to your liking. Well done GrandMattie the veg looked great, and hope the harvest festival goes well. Because we lived quite close to the coast, our harvest festival which was in a lovely old Norman church, always had a fishing window with ropes and lobster pots and shells etc and we sang Eternal father strong to save, for the harvest of the sea. When I moved to other places inland, although I loved the service and of course We plough the fields and scatter , etc , it always felt as though there was something missing without the sea connection. At one church later we were asked to bring tinned food so that these could be given to people who needed it and it would not go off. But we also used to bring some fresh vegetables and then the following couple of days these were used to make some great soup and we used to have soup and a roll and a sweet and the money went to the food bank or a school breakfast or anything like that. So I liked that which was have your cake and eat it, as we did both! Karmalady, I can just imagine your winter storage filling up. It is always satisfying to see the stores filling up and the jamks and chutneys ready in the cupboard etc. Hope you get all your washing dry, but think you will need to double peg it if the wind here is anything like your end. Marydoll do hope you are feeling a bit better as the morning goes on. Sorry that I havent been able to read how things are going but gather you will be going to hospital tomorrow and wish you well for the day and that you can have a calm and pleasant tday today. I have also missed the news from the FGT's and sending them good wishes.
Well time to make a start on the jobs, but another cup of coffee is called for to get me going. Wont be venturing outside for quite a while by the looks of things, and cant see from inside if my wigwam is coping well with the weather . Wishing everyone a good day and a chance to be in touch with loved ones.
