Garden Centre

 

Garden Centre

Something a little different for the garden that has everything!

The only outings I’ve had recently have been to the physiotherapist, and I needed to try my back out on something a little more taxing than climbing in and out of the car and showing the physio what I can (or cannot) do.

This one has flirtatious eyes.

Yesterday, we decided to visit the nearby garden centre. Barry needed potting compost, and I wanted to wander round and look. A trolley provided adequate support, and I galloped off at high speed – well, high speed for me! - enjoying being out in the warm sun and seeing colourful massed flowers.

I think this horse was made from cardboard - quite effective, though.

I was tempted to buy many of the lovely things I saw, but resisted, since we have a lot of sorting out to do in the garden, and Barry’s got loads of seeds to plant. We did a lot of tidying and repotting this afternoon, and I forgot what I had learnt recently – that the stiff hairs on green alkanet can cause discomfort. Ouch! but not for long. Lesson learnt properly this time.

Deer, deer . . . actually, stag, stag

I did buy a large pot of lavender. I buy lavender plants every year and they always die, despite our attention – or maybe because of it. Anyway, I thought a more established plant might fare better than the usual smaller, cheaper ones I buy. After all, rosemary grows exceptionally well in our garden – we have two large shrubs that we’ve had for years – and lavender has similar horticultural requirements, so should thrive, too. We shall see!

Give us a hand!

I’ve been trotting up and down the garden path for a while. I say ‘trotting’ – it’s more like stumbling drunkenly in the dark – but I can now do it without a walking pole. In addition, I have been taking other exercise beside Liz’s physio-authorised ones, with her agreement.

My natural tendency is to go at things with a will – too much speed, not enough control, whereupon I wreck myself and cannot attempt anything further for days. This time, I am being very careful and gradually building the length of each exercise session. I started with one minute on each of three machines, beginning with the recumbent cycle, followed by the elliptical cross trainer and finally the hydraulic resistance machine.

Every couple of days, I increase the time by a minute. This contributes to a steady build-up of strength and stamina.

It doesn’t sound very much, but it’s a jolly sight more than I was capable of doing before February, and for many months before that.

 

Five word meme

This is the Five Word Meme. Quilly has given me five words so that I may share my thoughts on them. After you’ve read my meme, if you feel inclined to play along, please say so in the comments and I will send you five words of my choosing. (I will need your email address . . . ;-})

These are the five words Quilly gave me.
1.) Color
2.) Purse
3.) Pizza
4.) Exercise
5.) Irritation

1. Color: If people ask me what is my favourite colour my answer varies according to my mood, the season, even the time of day. On a cold, rainy, dull day the colours I favour will be warm, rich tones of crimson, apricot, chestnut, russet. When I’m feeling optimistic my colours of choice will be bright and clear – fresh apple green, lemon yellow, azure blue. In the morning, particularly if my slumber has been disturbed I will opt for hazy blue and dove grey, soft rosy pink until my brain and eyes have adjusted to a new day. Occasionally I am up in the wee small hours and then my delight is to watch the monochrome night gradually develop subtle colour as the new day dawns and reveals its palette.
2. Purse: I carry a small Fiorelli purse 4 1/2“ x 2 ½”given to me by my middle daughter, Susannah. It is light blue with an appliqué dog on wheels curving round one of the side seams. From the purse hangs a chain at the end of which is a bone. It is attached to my keyring and carries credit cards, some coins, a £20 note, a book of stamps and a spectacle repair kit. Thus, when I go shopping my keys, cards and money are easily found and carried and I don’t have to take a shoulder bag in which to place my purse.
3. Pizza: I like pizza! At home we use our breadmaker to produce pizza dough on which we can put a variety of delicious toppings. The first ingredient is always chopped, sieved tomatoes on top of which we may put courgettes, ham, cheese, olives, cucumber, green beans or anything else which attracts our attention. Occasionally, we have a ‘commercial’ pizza but we prefer our own because we know what has gone into its manufacture.
4. Exercise: I don’t do enough of this, unlike my husband who takes rigorous exercise every day. However, I swim most days since our Endless Pool was completed and I walk the dogs in the forest. I recently (last week) bought an electric bicycle. I like cycling but cannot hack hills – I end up with sore knees. The electric bike is amazing! It has transformed cycling for me and gives the dogs a really good work-out into the bargain. I sail up hills with minimal effort and feel I am cheating by calling it exercise. I still have to pedal, of course, so it’s not entirely a lazy person’s device.
5. Irritation: This can be mental or physical, given or received. As a form of annoyance it may be transient or long-lasting depending on the cause. To be the cause of someone else’s irritation can be upsetting or amusing. Many a teenager has relished the frustration caused by irritating behaviour an adult cannot regulate. Conversely someone who is putting a great deal of effort in trying to please can become distraught if the endeavour engenders more and greater exasperation. In its physical sense it may be intensely painful and enduring as in shingles, or mildly itchy or scratchy and more of a nuisance when brought about by a poorly placed clothing label or stiff cuffs and collar.

Tales from the Academy – Anyone for the 3/9ds?

We live a few miles from the RMAS and can often hear the sound of small arms fire in the wee hours of the night and thus we know that Sandhurst is on exercise (known as manoeuvres in other countries) Exercises are conducted at regular intervals and the weather makes little difference to the plans. It may be hot and humid, foggy, frosty, snowy or cool and dry. Memory suggests that in the 1960s it was usually cold, wet and miserable, with icy rain being directed by north-easterly winds into the frozen visages of miserable cadets in muddy dug-outs. If conditions were extreme ponchos were issued but otherwise the only item each one had to shield him from the elements was a thin army blanket which acted more as a wick for the rain than a protection. Worse even than the ice-block feet was the total boredom as the young men wished themselves elsewhere as they waited for 'things' to happen.

Occasionally the boredom was alleviated by happy chance. The areas in which exercises were organised were generally remote, off the beaten track, isolated, inaccessible . . . except, in some cases, by car. In those self-consciously law-abiding, ostensibly very moral days, young unmarried people were expected to restrain their natural urges and wait for marriage to allow full expression. They were not encouraged to entertain the opposite sex in their bedrooms where in any case the temperature was not very different from the outside. There was no privacy in their homes and no central heating so everyone huddled in the one room that was kept warm. The one place where some sort of seclusion might be found was in a car.

So it was one night that one couple found a secluded spot to take time for themselves, unaware that they were in full view of a number of cadets in camouflage. As the scene unfolded and the car windows became increasingly fogged someone called out, 'Anyone for the 3/9ds?' (that being the price of a cinema ticket at the time)

As soon as the words were spoken the car driver revved up his engine and sped away as fast as the muddy, uneven terrain would allow, leaving behind a chorus of chortling cadets.