Friday, June 19, 2015

Five on Friday

The last week seems to have flown by and Friday is here so quickly. Once again I'm joining in with  Amy at Love Made my Home for Five on Friday.  Click on the link at the bottom of this post to find others who are joining in too.

Five things that have cheered me and made me smile in a week where I've had a couple of upsetting pieces of news about some dear friends.

Anyway, here we go for Five on Friday

1.  The garden - above are the herbs in the raised bed, the bees are loving the chives and the thyme, the lavender is looking healthy although not in flower yet, there is also rosemary, sage and parsley in the bed.

Above a selection of the hardy geraniums we have in the garden.  Including Ann Folkard and Anne Thomson although the flowers are very similar Ann Folkard grows longer stems and gets quite 'gangly' whereas Anne Thomson is more compact.

2.  A Day Out -  After spending most of the weekend at home on Monday we packed a picnic and set out to visit a castle in Wales and a nature reserve on the Wirral.  Above are some photos I took at Flint Castle which is on the Dee Estuary.  I will write a longer post about it at some time.


Across the other side of the estuary is the RSPB Burton Mere nature reserve.  Where as well as lots of lovely birds we saw a stoat, southern marsh orchids and bee orchids.

3.  On Tuesday we had a walk locally in Queen's Park, Longton where we watched a young woodpecker trying its best to leave its nest.  I expect it has fledged now.

4.  The Secret Garden - On Wednesday we visited the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery up in the city centre and had a quick peek in the sensory garden that is hidden in a courtyard in the middle of the buildings.


5.  Cats - our cats always make me smile mostly for the fact that they are still with us at the grand age of nineteen.  Brother and sister Chloe, top and Max, below came to us when they were just one year olds and have been a source of happiness and sometimes worry too ever since. Max has to take his blood pressure tablets everyday and Chloe is quite deaf now - I can run the vacuum cleaner by her and she doesn't bat an eyelid.  They spend most of the day sleeping, they eat well and still pop out into the garden.  They do however wake us up quite a lot in the night with bouts of senior yowling and craving attention by patting chins and eyelids to wake us up - something they didn't do when they were younger.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.


46 comments:

  1. You have had a busy week. The photos of the castle are lovely, looks like an idyllic location right by the water. Your cats are so sweet, nineteen is certainly a ripe old age for a moggie. Your garden is looking great with those pretty blooms.

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    1. Thanks, the garden looks good at the moment and the castle is in a lovely place on the estuary:)

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  2. Lots of lovely things here especially Flint Castle but top of my list would be seeing the stoat! Lucky you.

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    1. It was wondeerful to see the stoat, apparently it had been around for a few days and quite visible from the reception and lookout area of the reserve - I took the photo through the large window and it stayed for quite a while running up and down:)

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  3. Cats are delightful, aren't they? I just wish I could fall asleep at the drop of a hat, like they do! Hope the news wasn't too stressful. Take care.

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    1. Thanks - one of my friends has lost her son only in his 40s after a long illness and the other has been diagnosed with heart failure. Cats are a constant source of joy - even though I was up again at 4.55a.m. with one of them - tired now and yes, i wish I could sleep at the drop of a hat too:)

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  4. I do love hardy geraniums! I have a few in my garden but I don't know what cultivars. Have a lovely weekend.

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    1. I love them too although the pale pink one is very invasive and we keep having to be ruthless and cut it back as it strangles the other plants:)

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  5. Your herbs are looking healthy and wonderful Rosie - especially the chives! You have seen so many lovely things this week and I would have loved to have shared a day out with you if I lived nearby. It is great that Chloe and Max have reached such a grand old age. Gizmo is only 8 but he has already starting to get more vocal! I hope that you have a happy weekend. x

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    1. Oh, that would have been lovely to have your company on one of the adventures. Cats are so funny aren't they, some of the sounds they make are blood curdling but all they are doing in their head is meowing. Happy weekend to you too:)

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  6. OOh! I see a pheasant! They remind me of my Opa's bird sanctuary that I really loved growing up. He used to have pheasants walking freely around his yard - they made the most crazy sound! A picnic near a castle sounds wonderful. Not many castles here in my part of Canada - I'll have to settle for a picnic near a pond~! Have a wonderful weekend!

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    1. Oh, yes the pheasant was feeding under the small bird feeders picking up the seed they had dropped - his mate was just around the corner and she was feeding too:)

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  7. Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme ... the makings of a great song, right there in your garden ;)
    Wonderful photos of the castle by the sea. I haven't visited a bird sanctuary for many years. Such a great way to see amazing birds. Your cats sound adorable. I have a senior dog (where did the time go?!). He sleeps a lot more now too, but that's a bonus. Happy weekend!
    Wendy

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    1. I just wish our cats would sleep when we do - I guess when they wake us they are seekink reassurance especially the deaf one. It iwas a small nature reserve but had some lovely birds there especially water birds and waders. Now I shall be humming Scarborough Fair all day:)

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  8. Your herb garden really does look good, a real delight. A couple of lovely days out. Have a great weekend.

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    1. Thanks, it has bloomed well this year and everything is looking lush at the moment:)

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  9. Cats make me smile too....I love cats. Cats rule.

    Love your collages of your days' outings, and your gardens. Wonderful image shares.

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    1. Thanks - cats are great aren't they? Glad you enjoyed the photos:)

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  10. Hi - I've just found your blog from Amy at Love made my home. These photos are lovely. I had a cat that lived until she was 20. Cats are such characters. Joan at www.aviewtothefells.com

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    1. Hello Joan and welcome - how wonderful your cat got to 20 - I hope ours do - I think Chloe will as she is still quite sturdy but poor Max has lots of problems:)

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  11. As always a good post Rosie, love your kitties. don't know what I'd do without mine.

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  12. A lovely posts, filled with beautiful pics as always :-) Happy weekend, Rosie. xx

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    1. Hello Gilly - thanks and I hope you have a lovely weekend too:)

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  13. I'm ashamed to say I live ten minutes away from that RSPB reserve at Burton, and have never been! Thank you for giving me a little peep inside!

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    1. It's a lovely place, Kathy - there are some more photos taken there on my 30 days wild blog - link in my sidebar:)

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  14. Nice post Rosie, lots going on and great photos.

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    1. Thanks, Ian - it has been a busy week - mostly because of the 30 days wild thing:)

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  15. That is so funny about the cats waking you up for attention! I would have imagined that an older cat would just prefer to get on with napping! Your garden is looking great isn't it, so lovely to see all of your different geraniums, they are so pretty aren't they. Sorry to hear that you have had some bad news, I hope that things will look up soon. Thank you so much as always for joining in. I hope that you have a great weekend! xx

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    1. I think the cats spend all day napping and then wonder why we are sleeping when they aren't, Happy Weekend, Amy:)

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  16. When we crossed the river Dee the other week, I realised that it is an area we have never visited! I shall be interested to read your future post! xxx

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    1. Did you go over the Flint bridge? I thought it was wonderful. I will be writing a post about Flint Castle, I wrote a post about the RSPB Nature Reserve at Burton Mere on my 30 Days wild blog:)

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  17. What a super week you've had - aside from the news about friends of course. I'll look forward to hearing more about Burton Mere!

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    1. Not sure if I will write more about Burton Mere as I sort of covered it on the 30 Days Wild blog - I'll see. I will do a post about Flint Castle though:)

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  18. Your garden is so lovely! I wish I could grow such lushness in my yard, but living in the desert is such a challenge! The castle ruins in Wales...oh my! Be still my heart! I loved that! Each mosaic would make a great post! I enjoyed seeing all the photos and can't wait to see more. And then at the last, two sweet kitties!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the post Marie, I will write a separate post on the castle later this week:)

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  19. Watching the garden blossom is truly a pleasure as is getting out and about to explore nature. Bless those kitties. They certainly have had a long life. Sending good thoughts and wishes for your friends. Have a good weekend, Tammy

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    1. Thank you, Tammy for your kind wishes. You too have a lovely week:)

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  20. My goodness you had a full week! What loveliness surrounds you! Your garden is of course gorgeous... what would we do without our flowers and the bees and birds?! Thanks so much for sharing all that loveliness with a woman who has yet to venture off the North American continent!
    Hugs,
    Beth P

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    1. Thank you, Beth - we had one long day out the park and museum are only a couple of miles away from us. I'm doing the Wildlife Trusts' 30 Days Wild challenge hence lots of nature photos:)

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  21. I've enjoyed seeing the collages of the places you've visited this week, Rosie. It's lovely to have the companionship of your kitties when you're at home. Seeing the geraniums has made me think that I must appreciate them more. I didn't know there were different cultivars of the blue. Sorry that you had upsetting news this week, as I did too, so thinking of you all.

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    1. Oh, dear sorry you have had sad news too. The two hardy geraniums I mentioned are in fact the magenta ones bottom left and right - the flowers look the same but the leaves and the way they grow are different. Just as a side note Ann Folkard, who had the geranium named after her by her husband, is a close friend of one of the friends I've had bad news about, it's a small world sometimes:)

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  22. Ooh Rosie, I did enjoy this post. Your life is full of colour at the moment - and I have never seen a stoat so I am dead jealous. I am sorry that you have had sad news and will hold your friends in my prayers. x

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    1. Thank you Mrs T - how kind of you, glad you enjoyed the post:)

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  23. Your photos look so good in the mosaics, very professional! I'm looking forward to hearing about the castle. Thanks for your comments on my Five. Have a good week. :-)

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    1. Thanks for your comments here - hope to write about the castle in the next day or two:)

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