MUSINGS FROM THE BOWER 55

 

Clematis around the Bower

 Well, firstly I am pleased to say that the bower has been looking beautiful, swathed in clematis, honeysuckle and passionflower, and with roses nearby. It’s very tempting to sit inside or nearby, gazing into the pond at the newts, listening to the trickling fountain and being soaked by bathing blackbirds. However, work still has to be done, so I try to ignore its lure!



Horatio

Recently I spent a few days in Devon; my Husband had an ‘experience day’ – riding on the footplate of the Horatio steam engine between Paignton and Kingsweir. I was able to travel in the luxury Pullman Observation car – why can’t all train travel be like that?! It was wonderful looking out across the glorious countryside and the sea; what a pretty county Devon is. I thought that my husband would be covered in soot or enveloped in smoke when we went through a particularly long tunnel, but no, he was fine – and he was in his element when he was allowed to pull the handle to sound the whistle at the end of the trip! Whilst in the area, we decided to venture on the enormous wheel that is at present in Torquay, giving a fantastic, birds-eye view of the town and the marina. One day I should like to go on the London Eye; that must be a very exciting experience.



Avocet at Cley Marshes

My daughter and I had a short break in Norfolk, visiting our favourite places such as Sandringham and the nature reserve at Pensthorpe. There we heard cuckoos – there aren’t so many around nowadays.  Twenty years ago, we would hear cuckoos from our garden, in fact, once, a calling cuckoo flew over really low. We saw avocets too, those graceful, black and white birds with stilt-like legs and long curved beaks, and also discovered another reserve at Cley where not only did we see avocets, but watched sedge warblers calling from deep among the reeds. Another trip was to Anglesey Abbey near Cambridge; the gardens are beautiful whatever time of the year you visit. At the moment the rose garden is lovely, and I also saw some vibrant pink peonies. One of my favourite roses is the shell pink ‘New Dawn’ and at Anglesey Abbey it grows well against a sun-warmed wall.

New Dawn climbing rose



Mepal Church

I’ve been tracing the family tree for years and years, and a cousin and I decided to arrange a get-together for relatives on our mothers’ side. It was a huge success; we descended on a small village in the Cambridge fens and visited the places where our ancestors lived, visiting the church where they were married, baptised and buried. We exchanged photos and stories, and copied my findings onto memory sticks so that everyone could add on the dates of their children’s births and marriages, to make it even more comprehensive. How on earth did we manage our family trees before computer and the internet arrived? I remember how, years ago, I had to travel to Somerset house and lift enormously heavy dusty volumes from the shelves to find ancestors’ details, and then go back a few days later to collect the certificates. Nowadays, there is so much information available and it makes things much easier.



On the beach!

I’ve been taking some fun pictures of some of my small dolls, for a doll magazine that I publish called Doll Showcase. I gathered together all kinds of props – it’s surprising what you can find/make/adapt. Sanded sheets intended for pet birds make wonderful beaches, and, with the fashionable trends for tea-light holders and the seaside look for bathrooms, shops are filled with wonderful things. I found a boat tea-light holder, a beach hut box and many other useful accessories. It was great fun setting up the scenes – they took hours, yet the actual photo is just one click of a button.

 

 

 

 

I mentioned recently my latest novel, ‘Birds, Beasts and Ben’, a light-hearted look at what goes on behind the scenes of an imaginary wildlife programme. I’m pleased to announce that it is now available in both paperback and Kindle. This is a link to its mention on Books Go Social - http://bit.ly/SQADkP

And here is a link to a Kindle version - http://tinyurl.com/olau54k  

 



Peony at Anglesey Abbey