My Gorgeous Mothers' Day Flowers

This is how they arrived.

And this is how they looked in my kitchen.

I was pretty well spoilt yesterday. These came from my daughter, while my son treated me to a box of Dairy Milk and a bottle of wine. Of course they also sent cards, and I got one from my youngest granddaughter with a diploma for being the best grandma in the world, which is now gracing my office wall.

International Women's Day Kiva Loan

Today is International Women's Day. I've marked it by making another Kiva loan to a women's group in the Yemen.

It only cost me a few dollars because my other loans are being repaid and I had some credit in my account. From one original $25 loan, topped up  by a few dollars a time like this, my loaned total now amounts to $350 with over $230 of this already paid back to me. Each time I also make a tiny donation to Kiva to help them keep up their good work. I don't have much disposable income, so I'm not rich enough to be able to do much to make a difference in the world, but I do like to think of my little bit of cash circulating to different people who need a bit of a leg up. How about you?

Wordless Wednesday: Dreaming of Spring

Work and Play

I'm failing to update my blog as often as I'd like. I know I'll never manage it daily as so many brilliant bloggers do, but I do like to post three times a week. It just hasn't been possible to fit it in as I've been so busy meeting writing deadlines, attending meetings for my voluntary work, gardening, shopping, cooking and housekeeping for three people and a dog, with the latter needing to go out three times a day.

We had a dog party in the park this morning. Some mornings Jade and I don't see a soul; other times we might meet a friend or two, but this morning there were four dogs running around and four owners to chat to. Jade and I enjoy that, but it does mean we're out a little longer than usual. This afternoon we went to Holes Bay in brilliant sunshine again, but the wind was biting and I think even Jade was glad to get back in the car afterwards.

Every time we come home now I can admire my minimalist front garden. We've certainly added some kerb appeal to the house. I spent Saturday morning out there again and cleared and planted another bit of the wall and prepared and planted the big stone pot in the centre - primroses everywhere.

Wordless Wednesday: Primroses in the Wall

Just a Minute

Every Monday evening, while I am feeding Jade by throwing her Science Diet nuts around for her to chase and eat, hubby and I are convulsed with laughter as we listen to various celebrities playing Just a Minute on BBC Radio 4. In case you are not familiar with this game, I’ll explain the rules. The players take turns to start and the starter is given a topic on which to expound for 60 seconds. The others try to catch them out in repetition, deviation or hesitation.  If someone is successful in this, that player takes over the chat, trying to complete the 60 seconds. Points are awarded for reaching the end and for accurate interruptions. After an inaccurate interruption, the point goes to the speaker.

Nicholas Parsons is in charge and tonight the players were the comedians, Paul Merton, Julian Cleary, Jenny Eclair and Richard Herring. Poor Richard came last and Nicholas excused him for not having played before, although I actually found references to his appearances on the panel in June last year.

The winner was Julian Cleary who gave a perfect, and hilariously smutty, full minute on ‘my potting shed’ without interruption. It doesn’t happen very often; it’s really difficult to pontificate for that long without repeating yourself, hesitating or going off track. Anyway  it sounded like he got a standing ovation from the audience, so well done, Julian.

Paul Merton is so clever, he usually wins, but he was wasn’t on form tonight and only came third. Jenny Éclair was second despite a seeming fixation on Marks & Spencers at Marble Arch in London, to which she thinks a visit is a great adventure.

Anyway, it does make us laugh and lights up a dreary Monday when needed. I'm thinking of adding it to the itinerary of our  next family get together, probably at Christmas.

You can listen on line at BBC i-player. Example here.

Our Front Garden

When we moved to this house in 2009, the back garden looked like a building site and was a big project for us to deal with. I posted about it quite a bit over the following year or so. Here's an example.

Meanwhile, the front of the house was neglected and it certainly had no kerb appeal. The one redeeming feature was the ornamental cherry tree, though even that needed some tlc.

Eventually my husband started to lift some of the paving stones out there, and immediately hurt his back and had to stop. "Don't worry", he told me, "I'll get back to it." Three years later and I was in despair of ever getting the heavy work done so I could do some planting and make it look as though we cared about it. I had several times left messages for local gardeners and handymen  but never got a call back or managed to even speak to anyone about getting a quote.

Then  just over a week ago someone knocked on the door looking for that kind of work. First he pruned the  cherry tree into a neat shape. Then he took up the old paving stones and dug out the wild bit beyond them. He filled in the tiny pond which had already been drained and was just a hole in the ground. He levelled it all off, leaving a little of the wild stuff around the tree as I requested, and added a low concrete boundary. The final job was putting down a membrane and topping it with shale. And last Friday I was left with this.

I am over the moon. Yesterday I took time off to go out to a garden centre and buy some bamboo edging to go around the tree area and some primrose plants. Hubby is going to build a trough to go under the window and hide the unsightly cable. In the meantime, I really hope I can manage to get out there this weekend and put primroses in the wall and the pot. That will do for a start.