Monday, April 24, 2017

Monday Miscellany

After a short break I thought I'd better ease myself back into writing a blog post so below are just a few things I've enjoyed seeing and doing over the last few days.

Morning Coffee at the Glost House which has newly opened not far away in the courtyard of the old Phoenix Works.


It's quite trendy and industrial inside. From the menu lunches look interesting and tasty although it being around 11a.m. we just had coffee and toasted teacakes.


 There is the added bonus of the Period Property shop and the Portmeirion Factory shop to visit too.


 Last Friday morning we were visited by one of the regular evening foxes a vixen we call 'Miss Limpy' because of her misshapen back leg.  It isn't an injury, I think she has always had it as she has been around for at least three years and always limps and holds her leg up when she stands still.  She is a beautiful fox.

 We think she came out in daylight because she probably has a cub and if she had been with it all night she would have been hungry enough to venture out in the early morning.


 Signs of Spring - orange tulips and matching Crown Imperial flowers in the Italian Garden at Trentham Gardens.


 There were also some lovely purple and pink tulips too

 The pink cherry blossom was out along the side of the River Trent as it passed by the garden centre.

 These trees always look so spectacular at this time of year.  I hope the expected wind and rain doesn't batter them too much.




In the fields lots of lovely little lambs, running, jumping and gambolling together. 

 We've done lots of digging and weeding in the garden in the last few days, the grass has been cut too.  We left it too late to sow Sweet Pea seeds so we bought some little plants.

 A rough and ready wigwam was built with sticks

 and the plants planted and watered in.  They are now in the greenhouse until the warmer weather returns.

Watching and reading

We've re-watched the films '84 Charing Cross Road', 'Housewife 49', and 'Suffragette' and discovered a delightful film called 'My Old Lady.' 



I've also been enjoying one of my favourite television series 'Line of Duty'  I've loved this since it began and it just gets better and better.

Two books read and enjoyed recently have been the latest in the Maisie Dobbs series 'In this Grave Hour' by Jacqueline Winspear and

'The Ashes of London' by Andrew Taylor


All for now, I'll hopefully be back for Five on Friday.

14 comments:

  1. A nice catch-up with your corner of the world. The coffee shop looks great, and I'll bet the smell of coffee went well with the decor. Love all the spring flowers blooming in your area. We're still a bit behind all of that. I notice our neighbour's magnolia tree is ready to burst into bloom though. We've watched My Old Lady a couple of times and quite enjoyed it too. I really like all the three main actors. Have a great week!
    Wendy

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    1. The cold wind and sleety snow has spoilt some of the blossoms and flowers but there were still many blossom trees about as we went on our travels today. Those three actors were just right for their characters in My Old Lady weren't they?:)

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  2. It looks as though you have had a lovely break. New coffee shop and the shops nearby look very tempting :) By coincidence we saw a fox trotting across the road yesterday at lunchtime - rarely get them in the garden these days. Love the combination of orange tulips and crown imperial - really stunning :) Realised the other day I hadn't sown any sweet pea seeds so need to buy some young plants here too!

    So enjoying Line of Duty too - I don't know what I will do on a Sunday evening when it has finished - highlight of my tv week! Every series has been just superb - so well written and acted. I will be checking out Jacqueline Winspear books when I have finished the Dr Ruth Galloway and Vera Stanhope books :)

    Have a good week.

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    1. We didn't go away at all just pottered about and I didn't feel like blogging very much. I hope this cold weather doesn't spoil the sweet peas or the peony and clematis buds. Lovey to see foxes in daylight, we know they visit the garden but they are very hard to spot in the dark. Can't wait for the final episode of Line of Duty but I wonder what will replace it? I do enjoy a good series you can get your teeth into:)

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  3. Hope you didn't get the wind and rain predicted. Sadly we got a real battering. It was a delight to see the fox, she certainly looked healthy despite the injured leg.

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    1. We got a light covering of snow and windy sleety weather the next day. She does look a healthy fox and clearly isn't compromised by her leg problem:)

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  4. A post full of lovely things. Watched all those films; all good especially my old lady. Never read any Jacqueline Winspear, will have to look for her. Have you noticed as soon as the pink blossom comes we have strong winds...grrrrrr. Enjoy your week. B x

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    1. Oh, yes, the pink blossom is so fragile and so pretty and I almost hate the wind for spoiling it:)

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  5. Just love spring and always enjoy seeing signs of it in the photos of others. My Old Lady is on our Netflix list.

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    1. I hope you enjoy the film when you watch it, the courtyard house and scenes by the River Seine are wonderful and all three main actors so good:)

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  6. It's good to catch up with what you've been doing recently. I would visit the Portmeirion Factory Shop if it was nearer to where we live as I could do with a few more side plates with botanical illustrations on them. The new café bar looks like a pleasant place too. You've captured some lovely Spring blossom and flower beds of tulips. We had a hailstorm yesterday so the plants got a bit of a battering.

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    1. Thank you Linda. The botanical plates are wonderful aren't they? We have a set of seconds plates and dishes with just the green decorated edge. When we first came to live here and the pottery was made in the city you could pick them up for a few pence but now they are all made abroad there aren't those 'factory seconds' anymore. Such a shame. We had a smattering of snow, just like icing sugar on a cake, them wind and sleet. Stay warm:)

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  7. You've been up to some lovely things Rosie. I really like the look of the Ashes of London book. I'll be sad to see the end of the April blossom. Today is very wintry and I am glad that I have put my herbs in the greenhouse until the warmer weather returns. x

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    1. Thanks, Simone. I enjoyed reading Ashes of London, the spring blossoms go so quickly don't they? Hope your herbs will be okay:)

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