MUSINGS FROM THE BOWER 54
Sorry the blog musings
dried up – I wasn’t being unproductive, far from it. I was writing my latest
novel, and when you have a dozen or so characters running riot in your head it
makes it difficult to think of anything else. Hopefully the paperback version
of the book – Birds, Beasts and Ben – should be out at the beginning of May,
and there may be a kindle version to follow. The book is a light-hearted look at
a fictional team of presenters of a television wildlife programme, the
creatures they feature, the people they meet and the team’s feelings when the
programme is threatened with closure. It also takes a peek at the complicated love
lives of the presenters. Here is the
front cover:
However, I am now – I hope –
back on track, and delighted to report that already enormous clematis buds are
appearing over the bower, while the honeysuckle and passion flower are in full
twine, so to speak. In fact, the whole garden is looking pretty at the moment,
with plants in bloom far earlier than last year, when we still had snow and ice
in late March. As well as the daffodils, snowdrops and crocuses which were
beautiful a couple of weeks ago, we now have cowslips, oxlips, wild violets –
both scented and dog – spring snowflakes, polyanthus and pansies. Best of all
is the blossom; hopefully it will be a good cropping year. The apple blossom is
coming out, while both crab apples – white blossom and red blossom – are fully
open. Also open are plum, greengage and nectarine blossoms. Apart from the main
apple tree, all the others are pot grown but do exceedingly well. The trick is
to feed them regularly and keep them watered.
We had a frantic few weeks
regarding the health of our elderly rabbit, Moppet. He is eight years old, and
the vet said that he needed his front teeth removed as there seemed to be an abscess
underneath. For almost a month he ate very little; we had to syringe feed him
with pulped up rabbit mixture, but very, very gradually, he progressed to taking
normal rabbit pellets and to greenstuff. Now his eating is almost back to
normal, though he needs to have his cabbage and greens chopped up as he can’t
bite off pieces. The main thing is that he is now running around the house
again, and has his grunt back! Most people think that rabbits don’t make sounds,
but Moppet has a loud grunt that he makes when he is happy or excited.
Last week my husband and I
(gosh, I sound like the Queen!) celebrated our sapphire wedding – 45 years of
marriage. Yet it only seems yesterday that I was wearing my beautiful gown (which
cost £20 and I was horrified at spending so much on a dress), trotting up the
aisle with my three pink-frocked bridesmaids trailing behind. We walked up the
aisle to the glorious sound of ‘Nimrod’ from Elgar’s Enigma Variations – I was
determined I wouldn’t have ‘Here comes the bride, all fat and wide’ played at
my wedding!
I’ve also been creative in
another way over the last few weeks – I have been making various ‘props’ for
dolls. I decided a bakers’ shop would be fun, so have made cakes, tarts and
pasties from salt dough. Then I fancied making a dairy, so, using Fimo
air-drying clay, butter and cheese appeared. I made a butter churn, too, from
wood and card, and also a three-legged stool. It’s very relaxing making models,
and I love it all, from the moulding of the items through to the painting and
varnishing. Once the photos have been taken, I will put some up on this blog. I
think, too, a florist’s shop would be fun, or maybe a fish stall. For now
though, the models are all packed away until I’m ready to assemble them into a
whole.
