A Song for Marion

This morning I met a friend at Tower Park and we went to see the film A Song for Marion. I had been worried about the heat but they had the air conditioning sorted and  it was relatively cool in the cinema, and I managed to park my car around the back in the shade.

I should have worried about my supply of tissues. Everyone around us was both laughing and crying, and we were in good company. The film was marvelous - so sad, and so funny - just wonderful. 'Nuff said. The trailer doesn't really do it justice. You just have to see the whole thing, rather than just this taster.

Hot, Hot, Hot

We've just had three of the hottest days of the year in our part of the world. For some of you lovely readers, temperatures of over 30 degrees celsius are nothing to write home about. But it's not what we are used to and we have been feeling it. In the Brecon Beacons in Wales two reservist soldiers collapsed and died trying to pass tough tests to join the elite SAS in the extreme heat.

Jade has been refusing food, which is most unusual. She does deign to eat in the evening when it gets a little cooler so I'm not too concerned. We haven't been taking her out as much. Just to the local park is ok, but if we go anywhere in the car she just lies there and pants, so we've taken to leaving her at home. She doesn't like that much, but at least she stays reasonably cool while she waits in the house for us to return from our errands , and we get a rapturous welcome when we do return.

And guess what my daughter and granddaughter were up to yesterday.

They were doing the race for life in London's Hyde Park to raise funds for cancer charities. I am very proud of them and the friends who made up their team.

Earning with Blogspot

I've got some new work sub-contracted to me this month. From now on I'll be posting on some other blogspot blogs as well as this one. I had  been writing some of these anyway with someone else doing the posting, and now this has been passed to me as well, and will earn me a few extra pounds each month.

I'm able to do it because I am so familiar with blogspot through writing this blog. I started this week actually after being passed the log in details. For one of them I wasn't able to log in immediately and got a message asking me to verify my identity because I was posting from an unusual location. Although it was hassle, I found it quite reassuring that Google actually does have some security practices.

The most time consuming part of this is finding relevant images that can be used for free. If you are a regular reader here you'll know that I use pics from Wikimedia Commons quite a lot, but I don't always find what I need there. I signed up for Dreamstime and bought some credits when I found a pic I wanted thinking I could buy it for "as little as 49p" according to the blurb. Of course it actually used up nearly £3 of my credit. Once my £10 or so is used up I probably won't fall for that again.

One of the blog posts I drafted had a doggie element (surprise, surprise) and I was able to use one of my own pics of Jade. She'll be famous soon.

In My Garden

The beans are surrounded by free flowers and veg: poppies, nasturtiums 

and even a potato plant, none of which we planted.

 Below are some more free flowers that have crept under the fence from next door.

The two baskets hanging from the shed are doing well.

This is the early evening view I get from my seat at the dining table.

Songs Down Memory Lane

A comment from Sharkbytes on another post reminded me of a long ago time when I got my first record player as a teenager. I can even remember the first two singles I bought. The first was:



and the second was:



If I remember rightly, the picture accompanying the song is of the record cover I bought, with Let it Rain on the flip side.



I never got tired of playing them all those years ago, and I still love listening to them.

My Life by Jade: a New Summer Coat

I don't look like this any more.

I've had a haircut.

Mummy said it takes years off me and has given me a new lease of life because I'm jumping around more.

Well, would you like to have to wear your big winter coat to go out in this hot weather?

Wordless Wednesday: My Little Bit of Wild Garden

Gifts Down Memory Lane

Travel blogger, Jenny Woolf, left a comment on my last post about children and memorable gifts. I replied with mine and  thought it might be fun to ask my readers to share their own. So please leave a comment and let us all know about a present that comes to your mind when you read this.

thanks to Matt |Buck at Wikimedia Commons for use of his photo

And do take a look at Jenny's blog (link on her name above), which I always find a fascinating read. I've learned quite a bit from it about areas of London I don't know, or which have changed out of all recognition since I lived there. Jenny is a freelance travel writer and also blogs very eloquently about  her travels in other European countries.