Today’s Flowers #92 Garden and forest

Violet and bluebells in the garden

Bluebell with visitor

Apple blossom in the forest

Currants and apple blossom in the forest. We shall find out what colour the currants are later in the year!

Thank you to all the members of the TF team who organise and host this lovely meme each week. If you would like to see more - or even participate - please click here.

Pet Pride, Camera Critters #109 - Watery walks

For Labradors a walk is not complete without water. They like to collect as much as they can in their coats and then shake it out all over the nearest human - now that's love! Dalmatians can take it or leave it. Frodo usually takes it - he enjoys a swim - but Buddy will only go in if accompanied by a human. After all, he considers himself to be practically human.

Frodo: Come on in, you two - the water's lovely!

Frodo: You Labs are really quite short, aren't you?

Jenna: I  might be short but look at me leap!

Jenna: How about that?

Jenna:  . . . and from a different angle . . .

Buddy: Honestly, is all this charging about really necessary?

Jenna: You should try it, Buddy.

Buddy: Well, I'll take a look . . . No, too wet . . .

Buddy: Come on, time to go home!

Thank you to the organisers and hosts of these memes. To enjoy more posts starring Camera Critters and Pet Pride please click on the appropriate name.

Shadow Shot Sunday #103 Jack Russells and a squirrel

If our Jack Russells had ever got as close to a squirrel as this the squirrel would not have lived to tell the tale - or, more likely, the Jack Russells would have had puncture wounds in their noses! Our senior JR, Biddy, used to climb trees, usually in pursuit of sticks. Her daughter, Daisy,  used to discover hedgehogs in the garden, yelp and then come in covered in fleas. They were noisy terriers unless there was a fox in the near vicinity when they would be very quiet and watchful. Local foxes learnt to avoid our garden!
Tracy from 'Hey Harriet' organises and hosts this meme - thank you, Tracy :-) Click here to see more shadow shots - and maybe join in?

Weekend Mailbox #4 Ethiopian stamps

Barry's niece is currently living in Ethiopia and these stamps were on the envelope holding her Christmas card to us. The country is rich in wildlife.
The first two stamps show Menelik's Bushbuck and the third is of the Black Rhinoceros, described as 'Critically Endangered'.
Gemma, from 'Greyscale Territory' originated this meme and hosts it each week. To see more mailbox-related posts - and perhaps be tempted to join in - please click here.

VE Day – 65 years on

Sixty-five years ago today six years of war in Europe came to an end. Hitler had committed suicide in his bunker eight days previously, finally convinced that Germany was not going to dominate the world and Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies.
There was a service of commemoration at the Cenotaph today attended by veterans, military chiefs, serving troops, politicians and Royalty. They paid tribute to more than 580,000 allied forces and 67,000 UK citizens who died during the war. Many more suffered for years afterwards from their injuries and experiences.

The 200 remaining veterans who attended are in their late 80s and 90s and for some this will have been their last major anniversary. Those who were interviewed were happy to recount their memories of 8^th May 1945. They thought it was marvellous to be able to attend this ceremony.

At the same time there was a homecoming parade in Edinburgh for 650 troops from B Company of the 1^st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland and 3 Battalion The Rifles returning from a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.
When will we ever learn?
The video clip is from the Remembrance Sunday Service at the Cenotaph in 2008.

SkyWatch Friday Season 4 Episode 43 East Wind

Barry saw this man in the clouds puffing a small cloud away.Can you see him? There wasn't a wind blowing from the East though it was rather drafty in the forest. Poetic licence suggested it could be the East wind as it was moving from left to right (East to West to my simple mind;-})

Thank you to the SkyWatch team whose members organise and host this meme each week. To see more skies around the globe please click here.

Worry – indulgence or necessity?

'In headaches and in worry

Vaguely life leaks away,

And Time will have his fancy

To-morrow or today.'

W.H. Auden (1907 – 1973)

I like this quotation from Auden and the following nonsense arose because of it ;-)
I am well practised in the art of worrying; I do it all the time, though perhaps not with the painful intensity I exercised in my youth. I haven't the energy or inclination now, or perhaps a little wisdom has seeped into my intelligence and whispered that worrying never solves anything. Nonetheless, I worry. Worse still, I worry if I'm not worrying for I feel that I should always be worrying – it is my forte, perhaps even my raison d'être.
If something untoward occurs about which I did not take occasion to worry, I worry that had I worried it might not have occurred or at least not as adversely. When I have worried about an inopportune event I can take some slight comfort from believing that worrying prepared me and the shock or outcome or result is less startling than it might have been otherwise.
So for me, worry is a necessity though actually I acknowledge that it is an indulgence in the sense that it is the easier option. My family members are accustomed to me telling them, 'You do the work/interview/examination and I'll do the worrying. We'll each do what we're best at.'
Why worry? Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits perform it beautifully!

The Sixth Blog of Augustus Lazarus Cooke - Gus the poet

Hello everyone!
My Humans can't believe how big I'm getting. I'm eight months old and still growing. I'm trying to grow as big as Frodo. (Did I tell you that I really like Frodo – he's cool!) I'm ever so strong and heavy too but I'm all muscle. I have to try and remember not to pull when we go out because I nearly pull Mrs H over and she doesn't like that much. It's just that I get really excited – I'm much quieter on the way home.
Since I last blogged I've learnt to retrieve and drop and to swim. I really like the water and everyone says that I'm a proper Labrador now. I don't really understand that – I've always been a Labrador. I have to be careful when I play with Jenna as her shoulders and hips hurt but they're getting better. She can't wait to be off the lead again. She's allowed to swim and the Humans take her lead off so she can go in the water – they call it hydra-terrapin, I think.

Jenna's in front carrying the orange ball. I've got the green one. See how far back I carry it?

We all had to go and see Mark-the-Vet – it was Jenna's fault. She came up in lumps under her ears where she'd scratched though I don't remember her scratching that much. Tia and Foxy were staying with us so they had to be seen too but their ears were clean. Frodo's were clean – well, he'd had a yeast infection a few weeks ago so his ears had been thoroughly treated. Buddy's ears were just dirty and he has to have ear spray and he hates it. It smells nice though, and that's just as well since Mrs H gets covered in it when Buddy shakes his head as soon as the drops go in. We all grin when that happens but we don't let her see! Monty and Winston had to go the next day too but their ears were sparkling clean. Monty isn't here anymore. He was suddenly very ill and had to go and stay with the vets and then my Humans went to see him and they were ever so sad when they came home and that's when the rest of us knew that he was never coming home again. I miss Monty – he was fun. Winston's nice, too, but he doesn't want to play with us dogs like Monty did. Maybe he will later on.
Anyway, it turned out that Jenna and I had mice in our ears. They're very, very tiny mice and you can only see them under the microspoke so we had to have special drops. Mark-the-Vet said I'd probably had them all my life and passed them on. Well, I am quite a generous chap, you know – licks and wags for all.
My Humans give me some raw meat every day – it's yummy! I can't wait until I have it all the time for every meal like the others. Oh, yes, another thing I do now is smile. I look a bit like a horse when I do it but I don't make the noises they do.
The other day, Mr H said something about 'You spotted dogs' and that reminded me of something I'd heard before.

'You spotted snakes with double tongue,
Thorny hedge-hogs, be not seen;
Newts, and blind-worms, do no wrong;
Come not near our fairy queen.'

Mrs H told me that it's in a play called 'Midsummer Night's Dream'. That's funny – I don't dream about snakes and newts; my dreams are all to do with walks and water and food and playing.
I thought I'd make the verse more to do with us.

'You spotted dogs with nose so strong,
Labradors of lesser size,
Let all us four dogs do no wrong,
Watch our folks with loving eyes.'

What do you think? Not bad for a young pup, eh? I'll write a play for it to go in called, 'Our humans' best friends.' Jenna can be the fairy queen and Buddy can be her king. I'll be mischievous Puck and Frodo can be a strolling player. What's that you say? Don't give up the day job? That won't be hard – I like my job, guarding the house and looking after my Humans.

Yesterday we went for a good walk. There was quite a cold wind blowing but we Labradors have thick coats to keep us warm. Did you know our ancestors in Newfoundland used to jump into the icy waters to pull in the fishermen's nets? The Dalmatians' coats are quite thin compared to ours but even so Frodo really enjoyed his swim - could it have been anything to do with the treats Mrs H threw in the water for him? Jenna and I had a wonderful time, though I'm not as strong a swimmer as her - I don't really like getting out of my depth but she 's kind and shows me what to do when I'm not really sure. I may be bigger than her but I've still got a lot to learn though I've taught her something too! Thanks to me she's learnt how to carry two balls. I can carry two but you can't always see them – my nose is very long! I expect soon I'll be able to carry three like Jenna's and my mum.

Here's Jenna carrying two balls - she doesn't manage it as neatly as I do but then she has got a smaller muzzle.

When we were nearly back to the car we had a bit of an accident – well, Mrs H did. Jenna suddenly leapt forward to find the ball before I did and pulled Mrs H over. She doesn't think she's broken her rib – just bent it a bit – but she's trying not to laugh, or cough, or sneeze, or bend over, or pick things up – in fact she's not doing anything much because she says she's feeling a bit stiff.I don't think we'll be playing 'Fetch' today. Shame!
Got to go – things to do, people to see.
Hwyl fawr am nawr! (That's Welsh for 'Goodbye for now!')

ABC Wednesday - P is for Placemats

These placemats and the accompanying coasters were designed by the Irish artist, Thomas Joseph. Their bright colours, comfortable animals and wordplay appealed to me. I tried to persuade myself that I bought them to entertain our grandchildren but in truth the biggest child to appreciate them was me!

Some of the coasters repeat the illustrations on the placemats. The two below are different.

Thanks go to Denise Nesbitt and her merry band for their hard work in organising and hosting this meme. To see more Ps - and perhaps participate - please click here.

Face of the Week #10 Pansy

I like the velvety petals and shy faces of pansies. This pansy flowered in our garden last summer.

Thank you to Sistertex from 'Spacial Peepol' for organising and hosting this meme. If you'd like to see more - or even join in! - please click here.

Today’s Flowers #91 Birthday hyacinths

It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and among other things Bethan gave me some hyacinths. The picture below shows how they looked then.

I have had the pleasure of watching them develop . . .

. . . now they are fully out . . .

. . . filling the house with perfume . . .

 . . . a delight for the eyes . . .

 . . . and next year they will bloom in the garden!

Thank you to the TF team for their hard work in organising and hosting this lovely meme. To see more flowers across the world - and be tempted to take part - please click here.

Camera Critters #108, Pet Pride Jenna

Jenna, now 4 and a half, at 9 months sampling the fish food in our pond. I saw Gus, her half-brother, now 8 months old, attempting the same this week but he hasn't yet succeeded. I'm sure in another month he will be as adept as Jenna.He's bigger than her so has more to balance and control.

Thank you to the organisers and hosts of Camera Critters and Pet Pride. Please click on the links to see more.

Shadow Shot Sunday #102

Barry brought this lady back from his expedition to the Blue Nile 40 years ago. She lived with my parents and after their death came to stay at our house.
Thank you to Tracy from 'Hey Harriet' for organising and hosting this meme. To see more shadow shots - and perhaps to play along - please click here.