kiwibird: Finally a blog

It has been two months since I wrote my last blog, and life has been fairly busy with lots of photographs taken and experiences to share. But my problem has been lack of motivation to put 'pen to paper'. An expression not applicable to touch typing on a laptop, I know. No arduous and slow writing, using a pen or pencil, and getting writer's cramp as a result. Or making heaps of mistakes due to the brain working faster than the pen.

My lack of motivation has been due to too much reading, from a wide range of sources, and too much thinking and talking about the current problems in Britain. Not a good idea. It would be so much easier and less unsettling to sit in our lovely garden, surrounded by friendly neighbours and beautiful woodland where one meets equally friendly dog walkers. And not to mention all our lovely friends. Thinking and worrying about the situation in Britain, is perhaps a futile exercise really.

Sadly the country will soon be no longer Great Britain, but just plain old Britain. There are no colonies anymore, thank goodness as it was not fun for the people living in those colonies. And in the not too distant future Britain will no longer be part of the huge, influential and powerful European Union. The greatness will certainly be gone.

Britain, unless there is a miracle, will be just an island and a half sitting on the outskirts of the European land mass. And it could be a very poor country.

Aah yes, people may say, but Britain has a very strong economy, but will that be so without powerful allies across the narrow channel. And I read that in Britain productivity is down, austerity measures will continue, in order to pay off past debts, a large proportion of people are poor, and the welfare system has been cut back, wages have stagnated, and the rising cost of goods will hit us all.

And one does not even want to think about the amount of money the Conservative Government has spent on what can only be described as foolish follies. Alliteration there. The referendum last year, called by David Cameron, to appease the right wing element in his party, and built on lies and no strategies. has resulted in money being poured into half baked plans in order to carry through 'the wishes of the people'. Well 52% of the people that voted to leave the European Union. And on top of it all Theresa May called an election in June, which has backfired, so now she has lost her majority in parliament, and has had to join forces with an ultra conservative party in Northern Island. And so the money pours out.

The country has suffered four terrible tragedies, three terrorist attacks and the tragic fire in a tower block. Grenfell Towers is turning out to epitomise the lack of spending on public housing, over many decades. Plus an attitude of our leaders towards people they consider to be not worth thinking about. Quite alarming really.

I must not forget the 3 million Europeans who live in Britain, Walter being one of them, who have made their homes here. People from all walks of life. The so called 'immigrants'. At the moment I do not think any of them feel particularly welcome.

I always loved living here because it was a vibrant and diverse country, but perhaps I may have been looking at it all through rose tinted glasses, and it was all not as it seemed.

But back to more mundane and essentially more enjoyable events in our lives.

We celebrated 50 years of married life on the 6th May. Just where the time has gone to, I do not know. It seems like yesterday that we exchanged our vows in Benalla, Australia, but we have certainly covered a lot of ground since then. We have had many house moves, lived in three countries and changed careers. And our family has increased considerably with four children, plus their spouses and nine grandchildren. We are very proud of them all. And of each other too.

Many happy memories.

The bluebells in Joydens Wood were amazing this year. Such a glorious haze of blue in the dappled shade of new leaves on the trees.

My poor rhubarb. When I returned from our trip in April, I found brown and withered plants, due to lack of rain. Disaster. A few days after this photo was taken the leaves and stalks withered away completely and there was nothing to be seen but brown earth. But I sprinkled organic chicken fertiliser everywhere, and then heaped fresh compost on top, and watered the patch everyday for the past two months and now I have plenty of healthy leaves. I think I will avoid picking the stalks though and just leave the rhubarb to recover.

I have spent lots of time with this lovely dog, Bobbi. A great walking companion.

Bobbi looking out for squirrels.

A new hairstyle, courtesy of Lucy.

Bobbi loves the sunshine, and will lie in most uncomfortable positions. I know she looks as if she is dead in this photograph, but she is definitely alive and enjoying the sunshine.

We drove to Bristol to visit the Australia exhibition. Steve, Emma, Jackson and Isabel plus Rachel, Elliot and Emily also joined us. We stayed in the Premier Inn and had a really great breakfast together. After a drive around and through Bristol, following Emma and Steve, we finally arrived at the venue for the exhibition.

A sign advertising homes in Nelson, New Zealand. For all the New Zealand readers.

Walter bought a new tablet for himself, although in the photograph below it looks more like a large telephone. I think Walter has a very large hand. He is very happy with his new acquisition.

Emma and Steve took part in a triathlon at Crystal Palace, in order to raise money for Emma's school. A very exciting event, with hundreds of competitors, not all part of the fund raising event. I think there were about ten people from Emma's school who were on the fundraising team.

The trouble we had was trying to find Emma and Steve among the competitors in the pool, as most people wore black swim wear.

Steve swimming in the second lane.

I think we saw Emma riding her bike.

Finally finished. A great feat.

Scott and Lucy visited us, sadly though, as their other grandmother passed away unexpectedly and they came back for her funeral.

An opportunity presented itself to also have Jackson and Isabel to stay. So of course we played a game of Uno, for old times sake.

They all look a little glum in the photograph below, but they were having a good time. It is definitely not fashionable to smile when the camera comes out.

My favourite part of the woods, the Faesten Dik (a Saxon fortification). The colour of the trees changes during the seasons, from the summer deep green to the spring light green to the brown of autumn and the starkness of winter. It is also changes colour during the day, depending on the position of the sun. A beautiful area.

An early morning view of the pond which is on the property beside the woods.

The gift bag from the Pet Crematorium, not to be reused to hold a gift for someone else as the name of the crematorium is written on the outside of the bag. The box beside the bag contains Jezzie's ashes which we buried in the woods, near her favourite place.