Bank Holiday Weekend!

 

Friday saw me potting up the new geraniums to replace the rather ratty aubretia which doesn't seem to be doing very well. Got two plants up at Home Bargains for £1.79 each, one white and possibly the other red.

Also snipped off the old bulb leaves and stalks and planted some seeds, candytuft and phlox I believe. Hopefully these will give me some summer colour in the yard with the bulbs still there for next spring.

Saturday we were back at Chez Bailey with James completing the wall with Dad, minus the steps, and the rest of us trying to manoeuvre the dirt around the garden and fill the gap between the wall and the garden with some hardcore. It was the usual crew, Julia and James, obviously, me, Dad and Dima. Not sure what happened to Julia's Dad's "promise" to come help in the garden, reckon it's fallen flat like every other promise he's ever made.

Sunday afternoon saw me open up part of the decking in the form of the new bistro set which I bought towards the end of last season. "Safina" is a folding table and chairs, much easier to move around from the decking to the garage for winter storage and much more comfortable seats.

And this morning, Julia and James popped down to help move the main furniture back up onto the decking ready for summer - which has promptly resulted in it being too cold and windy to sit outside although I did risk it for a short while before lunch!

All in all a busy weekend, at least the weather has stayed dry and mostly sunny but there's been a very annoying and cold breeze which has made it rather unpleasant at times.

Almost back to the dining room table for work tomorrow.

Building a Wall and Block Laying

 

So this weekend has seen Dad and me up at Julia and James's, along with their friend Dima, laying blocks for the garden wall and in Julia and my case, gardening and laying blocks out front to produce a larger parking area and less garden.

It's been hard work, especially for the boys, but so worthwhile. Happy to help them achieve their aims in the garden. Just as well though that I have a sedentary job ;-)

This is part of the block laying out front, a semi before and after although there are some triangular areas to get bricks cut for - that'll be a job for James.

And this is the back garden with the wall coming together nicely. Steps still to be done and then the soil to be rotavated before being moved around to bring it in line with the top of the wall, almost, and then turfed. More grass for Annie and places to plant their rose collection amongst other new plants such as lavender and some other evergreens.

Can't quite believe how much we have collectively achieved over the weekend.

Nigel's 60th Birthday Party!

 

So Saturday evening saw me and Dad pop along to James's Dad's surprise 60th birthday party. The culmination of weeks of preparation, mainly by James and Julia, to ensure that the evening went off without a hitch. Well almost, Julia sadly missed the grand entrance by the birthday boy because the HH Production people who were supposed to be hosting the collection of photos and a video had some antiquated old Win8 laptop which refused to acknowledge the video. Cue Julia having to return home to try and find a more suitable media for the file. Cannot believe that a "professional" group would be using such old kit, and Win8 for goodness sake, c'mon it was crap when it came out, it's certainly not improved with age.

Anyway we saw the video and listened to an eclectic collection of music and it was reminiscent of a Texas Moon Club Night.

All hands (mostly) to the pump to clear up afterwards and it was like we'd never been there.

WELL DONE JULIA AND JAMES - YOU GUYS ACED IT!!!

Coronation Weekend

 So Saturday 6th May saw the Coronation of our King, Charles III and what a ceremony it was. No one does pomp and pageantry like the British and there was plenty of it in spite of the wet weather. Crowds lined the streets of London, some arriving as early as the Monday before, camping out all week for their treasured spot to see the procession pass.

I sat and watched it from the comfort of my sofa, you miss the atmosphere or course but you get to see so much more than you would simply by being there. After all, you can't be everywhere at once and you still don't get to see the actual service. And many of those in the Abbey only saw what they could from large TV screens, only the inner sanctum ever gets to really see what's going on.

I'd like to post the images I snaffled from the Sky News pages but they aren't mine to share, simply downloaded for a private album. I tried taking some off the TV but they didn't pan out too well. Reflections from the screen for a start and then movement. I even managed to get a couple from the concert at Windsor Castle on Sunday night, again from Sky News. Both them and the BBC News had some wonderful images and now, post the event, the Royal Family FB pages are displaying some official photos of the King, Queen, attendants and family - wonderful.

Whatever you think about the Monarchy I think they bring into the UK more money in terms of tourism than we might spend. The Yanks especially love the Royal Family and visit whenever they can, there were people in the crowds on Saturday who said they had flown in from America. And there aren't many countries left who have such a visible monarchy as ours. And lets face it, who wants a President? They don't last more than a few years, which for some of them is a blessing, and we already have a useless government that we're in the throes of trying to vote out at the next opportunity! No, give me a King or Queen anytime. And talking of our Late Queen, she reigned for 70 years - all that time a steadfast continuity for us all, through good times and bad times. She was always there with her pearls of wisdom and geez she must have seen some changes within those 70 years. King Charles won't reign for that long given his current age, bless him, both him and the Queen are in their 70's - but I think Prince William has an excellent head on his shoulders and he will certainly get a longer stab at it when his time comes, and of course Prince George will also follow in his Father's footsteps. I think we will see more modernisation of the Royals in William's reign but any change needs to be slow moving to allow the rest of us to catch up and get acquainted with the changes.

There was a lovely photo posted on the Royals FB page this morning, The King, Prince of Wales (William) and his son and heir George. Three lines of succession right there. Long may it continue 🥰