No lilies or Irises this year

No Lilies or Irises this year so far

Here is one of the only irises that came out this year and then got bent down by the heavy rain. It still was a beautiful flower and MIke took a great photo of it.
We finally have sun again but even so it is still cool at night in fact it was the lowest temperature in April overnight for many years  so it is no surprise that no more irises decided to put out a bloom this year. 
I was hoping as the days warmed up  they would just be all late bloomers. A lot of the problem is the many iris beds we have, are now in deep shade where the trees have put out really thick verdant growth and so any sun we get cannot get through.
 I guess it will be time  later this year to cut down some trees and move some of the beds into better places.
 The lilies are still no show although they look healthy enough so I guess I can still hope.

A Rainforest Back Yard

A  Rainforest Back Yard

View from Bridge

Our back yard is usually pretty wild and natural. We are very happy with it on a day to day basis. This was one of the reasons we bought our house as  the one plus acre we have  that surround the house is almost in the state God meant it to be. 
We have many trees, in fact sometimes it seems like too many, especially in the early Spring, when everything is in the rapid growing stage. This year with all the rain and somewhat cooler temperatures this has been especially true. Our brush pile of tree trimmings and excess bamboo plants is growing rather large but the birds and creatures love it.

This is where the water runs through.

I took pictures so that I could remember the lushness of it all in the Summer months when I know I shall be the first one complaining about how hot and dried up everything looks.
We actually needed the Bridge to Nowhere as finally it has rained enough to form a rain gully across the yard and some of these pictures were taken as I stood on the bridge.

The Rain keeps coming, and the Flowers Bloom

The Rain keeps coming, and the Flowers Bloom.....
subtitle :  So heavy is the rain, the flowers  keep being battered to the ground!

This has been the wettest/ stormiest April that we have had for a good few years so maybe the drought years that were forecasted are finally breaking up. We even have a river running through our yard so we really need the "Bridge to Nowhere" that Mike built. 
The flowers and other plants liked  this damp weather at first as they were breaking out of hibernation and really started to grow but even they are now all probably saying like me, "Enough is enough!"

The trees are so full of leaves it looks like the rain forest in our yard and seems so dark especially as the sun seems to be staying out West these days only coming out here once in a while. 
I said to Mike "This feels like an English April to me, dreary, wet and grey." You can tell I have had ENOUGH of this and want some blue skies and sunshine, please.

Yesterday evening big storms were forecast ( again) and I moaned to Mike "I wish I had taken photos of those beautiful roses before they get beaten down by hail or torrents of rain." He saved the day by responding with grabbing his nice camera and rushing out moments before the storm hit. The photos came out really well in the poor light and fortunately this morning, the roses were still intact despite the weather if a bit wet.

Let's hope they will manage again tonight as I can hear the thunder as I type this .

Edge of Eternity by Ken Follett

This is the last book of the outstanding trilogy written by well known Author, Ken Follett.
The book cover the time from about 1961 to 1989 and takes place in  USA, Russia, England, Germany, Europe, Wales and Cuba. It continues the epic with the intermingled lives of families from these countries  building up a compelling and very readable story of everyday lives of people in those times.

 If you have already read the previous 2 books, it does help in following the relationships between the characters .

Fiction it might be but it is based on the historical events of the day,- the end of WW2, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Crisis, and the Civil Rights Movement. Some famous people also appear in the book, notably, Jack and Bobby Kennedy and Krushev. There are also other characters loosely based on other famous people like Jane Fonda and the Beatles.

The book easily holds your attention if you like reading about history and this in particular appealed to me as I had lived through this period and I could remember some of  the events but with reading the book, I  began to understand some of the complexities of those times and this led to much better understanding  but gained in a very enjoyable and interesting way.

A good book to read but make sure to give yourself plenty of time as it is very large with over 1000 pages.
 So large in fact it took me over 5 weeks to read !!

Portraits of Cooper

Portraits of Cooper


You might remember that one of our old cats passed on in February this year and as I try to do each time this happens, I paint a picture of the pet so that we will have a memory to look at  remember.

The first painting I did was a small water- color painting but I didn't quite capture the look of his personality in this painting as he had quite a disdainful look at times. Still I found a simple frame for the painting.


The second painting I did was using waterless oil paints and some acrylic paint on a slightly larger painting which Mike felt captured the look and feel  of Cooper.

Mike made  a nice frame and now this painting is added to the gallery in my Summer room.

PS. Painting with waterless oil is rather strange, but not so smelly and definitely easier to clean. They still take a while to dry.

The First Iris of the Year

The First Iris of the Year

The rain really spread the petals on this one!

Anyone who has visited my garden or seen any of my previous blogs will know that I have a lot of different  colored iris plants growing. They are in beds dotted around the yard. I put none of these in so I can thank the previous owner for planting these beautiful flowers.

Last year's first iris

 Every year about this time, we begin to see the buds forming and wait anxiously for the first one to come into bloom. I knew that any day now one would open as we have had a fair amount of rain and also some really warm days.

We don't take bets on it but I thought this year the purple blue one would win first prize of the season. 
Both Mike and I thought that it was a yellow one that won last year. Well, we were right about the purple one. It was out in full wide petals this morning. A lovely flower
Just for interest I looked up last year's blog and found we were both incorrect. It was the same purple-blue iris that was first -  

Memories can be deceiving.

OUR 55th Wedding Anniversary.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

OUR 55th Wedding Anniversary.

OUR 55th Wedding Anniversary.

So young !

I wrote this piece last year on our 52nd Anniversary so I'm just updating it as I don't think many people got to read it  then It was on another blog.

It was a cool,gray, end of March kind of day in Watford , England and anyone who has lived in the British climate will know what I mean.But on this date March 26 1960( how far away that sounds) to two people very much in love  the sun was shining. It was our wedding day and at that time we would never realize that 52(55) years later , again the sun would be still be shining but for real as only it can do in Texas.(Actually it was cooler here today at only 60 degrees here this morning but now the sun is out and it will soon warm up again.)

Now we would be in a land far away, having  lived in England, Canada and now in Texas. During that time we have bought different houses and cars , seen many different places , had our family and seen them grow up and expand to include new husbands and their families to add to all the happiness and sadness, hope and happenings and laughs that brings.
But on this special day we remember each other and our special day and it brings us joy .



I am forever thankful to Mike who I met on a beach in England , miles away from where I was living and thought this might be only a "summer holiday romance" Then I found out that he was also on a summer holiday and lived only a few miles from me and so the romance continues and still does today. I am extremely lucky to have met and married a man who makes me feel special, appreciated and loved.

Finally Spring...

Finally Spring...

Finally Spring....

The beautiful Bradford Pear trees in Spring

I guess Spring is my favorite season of the year but this year it was a long time coming here in North Texas. Usually we are getting signs as early as February but this year too many cloudy, cold and rainy days until this week when the weather started to actually look and feel like Spring.

We have only a few blossom trees in our yard but they are large and so make a great show especially against the blue sky.It just cheers you up to look at them.
The Bradford pear trees ,  an ornamental pear, grow easily and fast and tend to spread from suckers sent out by the root system so in some areas where there is adequate rain and sun spread too easily and are banned . Fortunately that is not the case here. I would certainly miss them.Such a pity as they really cheer up the yard not only in Spring but in Fall when they turn a beautiful red.

They do sometimes in the Spring give off a strange smell that isn't very pleasant but it attracts lots of small bee like creatures so you know that's a sure sign other plants will soon be out in flower.

St Patrick's Day 2015

St Patrick's Day 2015

St Patrick's Day 2015

We didn't get dressed up in our green clothing or pixie shoes this year as we had no guests coming and we were not going anywhere special but we did remember the day.I was wearing a sage green shirt  as I wanted to work out in the garden but that was more by luck than by judgement.MIke said his pixie shoes were a little tight now!

Mike poured our pre lunch drinks and came up with 2 very Irish drinks, a Bailey's cream  for me , and a nice brown Guinness for him. It was a nice treat to sit out on the patio in the sun for a change- it has been cold and rainy so far this month with very little "sitting" sunshine.

Then MIke made one of his interesting Irish lunches and one of my favorite meals - Colcannon. This is a very Irish dish made with potatoes ( I bet you guessed that,) , cabbage, butter and milk and then an added meat . WE had ham in our meal this time.It doesn't sound too interesting but I find it delicious.

Can you see the shamrock I added from HP Sauce?

I looked up the origins of this dish and found out it actually was served more often at Halloween. It also should have charms mixed in that were  supposed to tell your future for the next year. A button signified you would continue to be a batchelor, A thimble- a spinster, a ring - you would get married and a coin - you would become wealthy. It didn't say what would happen if you swallowed one by mistake.
The other strange custom was to hang a sock  full of colcannon on your front door and the first man that entered would become your husband!

I forgot Moch's Painting

I Forgot Mocha's painting.

 I Forgot the Painting  of Mocha.

Mocha , watercolor portrait.

If anyone comes to my house they will see various paintings of cats and dogs throughout the house. Each painting is of one of our pets that has already passed on to the land beyond the rainbow bridge. I try to paint each one as soon as I can as it is a great help to me when I loose a much loved pet.

Mocha passed on just before Christmas 2014 and so it wasn't until just after Christmas that I had time to paint her portrait and then Mike put it in a frame for me. So now it is hanging on the wall with Pug and Robbie and Blue Cat and all the others.

She would have loved to sit outside in the sun today . It was that kind of day!