Friday, April 30, 2021

Lately....

Lately I've been....

1. Walking

Through the bluebell woods.

They are looking wonderful

I'll write more about our visit and show a lot more photos in my next post.

2. Spotting

Other wildflowers in the bluebell wood including Forget-me-Not, Dandelion, Red Campion, Cowslips and a white flower, possibly Greater Stitchwort, perhaps someone reading this can identify it for me?  

3. Reading

The latest Masie Dobbs novel by Jacqueline Winspear. I always enjoy these novels and the latest one didn't disappoint.  In this book Maisie visits an old friend of her former mentor Maurice Blanche in Mecklenburgh Square, in Bloosmsbury which is the setting of Square Haunting by Francesca Wade.  In this book the author visits the Square during the inter- war years when its inhabitants were some of our literary giants.  She has chosen five women to follow including Virginia Woolf and Dorothy L Sayers.   Pulpit Rock is the latest of the Ben Kitto novels set on The Scilly Isles.  I always race through these as they are an easy read.

4.  Listening

To podcasts and BBC radio programmes  'Life in the Garden' by Penelope Lively read by Stephanie Cole.   'The Stubborn Light of Things' a delightful podcast by nature writer and novelist Melissa Harrison and 'Obsessed with Line of Duty' a podcast by former cast member Craig Parkinson.

5. Watching 

'Line of Duty' and 'Keeping Faith'  'Make Up: A Glamorous History'  and  'The Repair Shop' all on BBC also 'Secrets of the Transport Museum' on Yesterday (Freeview) and Criminal UK on Netflix.  I'm not finding a lot of things I want to watch at the moment as there are a lot of repeat programmes and as much as I've previously enjoyed Poirot, Marple, Vera, Endeavour and Lewis, I've probably watched them two or three times and really  I want to see new programmes but I suspect it will be a while before things get back to normal.  It's not a gripe more an observation.

Today is the last day of April and what a strange month it has been.  Today we've had brilliant sunshine and hailstones.  I had my second Astra Zenica jab on Wednesday and it didn't make me feel as ill as the first one did, so far so good.  I'll be back over the weekend with bluebells.

 


20 comments:

  1. I enjoyed watching "Line of Duty" as well. I wish we could get "The Repair Shop" here. Your walk in the bluebell woods look idyllic! -Jenn

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    1. Thank you Jenn, both tv shows very different but enjoyable too. More bluebells later:)

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  2. I've been doing the first four of those, albeit with different reading matter. I don't have a TV so the last one's out for me. That certainly looks like Stitchwort from what I can see in the photo; it's certainly flowering at the moment. I hope my second jab is a little kinder to me than the first!

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    1. Thank you John, yes I think it is Stitchwort it as hard to tell as some photos seemed to have different petals. Hope your second jab goes well, it seems a lot of us had problems with the first one:)

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    1. Thank you William, it really does feel a bit like Spring now:)

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  4. Lovely to see Spring in bloom when all is going to sleep here. We are also finding TV a bit boring with lots of repeats, though we've just watched the 1st episode of a new Grand Designs & finishing 2 series we enjoyed on National Trust with George Clarke & Grand Houses(I think) with Phil Spencer. We also watch quite a few "auto" shows. One of my favourites of late which is very local & not sure you'd be able to get it is "Mega Zoo" which is about Melbourne Zoo & it's 2 offshoots, Healesville Sanctuary & Werribee Open Range and it's been brilliant. Look forward to the bluebells. Have a good weekend, take care & hugs.

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    1. Thank you Susan, I watched some of the Geroge Clarke National Trust programmes they were really interesting. The Transport Museum is Brooklands where the old race track is, I was interested as a curator from there was on my Museum's course at Leicester Uni many years ago and that was the first time I'd heard of it. Paul of course, is interested in the old planes, I like the early bi-planes too. Take care:)

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  5. I can't get enough bluebells so I'll look forward to that. Thanks for the book recommendations, I haven't read any of those. I'm obsessed with Line of Duty too, what's going to happen in the final instalment, I wonder, the hour just flies by. The AZ vaccine seems to have affected quite a lot of people, me included but I'm glad to have had it and am cheered to hear the 2nd isn't as bad, mines in June. 😊

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    1. Thank you Karen, like you I like to see as many bluebells as possible whilst they are in season. Line of Duty - won't be long now to find out who if anyone is 'H' or if it's been a red herring all along. Yes, glad to have had the vaccine, going a little further afield feels easier now:)

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  6. Glad you’ve had your second jab. It looks like stitchwort to me, we have lots about at the moment particularly in shady places. I have pulpit rock on my list to read. I love the Scilly isles books. Haven’t read that Jacqueline Whinspear book yet either. Have a lovely weekend. B x

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    1. Thank you Barbara, yes I think it is Stitchwort. Enjoyed Pulpit Rock as much as the others, I read them too quickly. The Masie Dobbs too, although I read that a little slower as for some reason I couldn't enlarge the font without it repeating pages - just that one book, the others were fine. Have a good bank holiday:)

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  7. A lovely post Rosie - the bluebells look lovely and I look forward to a further post :)
    I think the flower may be Greater Stitchwort as it is flowering at the moment but I can't enlarge the photo enough to see.

    I loved the latest Maisie book too and the other 2 books are new so I will check those out as I seem to like the same sort of books as you.

    Loving "line of Duty" here too. I'm not watching much else except for live football when Villa are playing.

    We had our second AZ jab lsat week too - glad you feel ok this time. OH didn't suffer as he did the first time either. At least both are done and dusted now although I gather there will be a booster in the autumn.

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    1. Thank you RR, yes I think we will have to have a booster later this year but if it helps things get back to some sort of normal it will be just like the flu jabs perhaps. I thught the Masie books was good and all loose ends tied up, I always wonder if each one will be the last, perhaps she will go with her stories to the end of the war. TV is quite boring at times at the moment except for LoD which keeps me interested and not droppong to sleep:) Take care:)

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  8. You picked a nice sunny day for the bluebell wood Rosie! I can't identify all the wildflowers in your photo but I do have lovely forget-me-nots in my garden. I had my second Astra Zeneca jab on Thursday and was fine. Hope you are still well Rosie and not having any after effects! Have a lovely weekend. :)

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    1. Thank you Simone, yes it was a lovely morning to walk in the woods with the dappled sunlight and glorious birdsong. Had a headache yesterday and felt a bit funny but okay again today, thank goodness and no sore arm this time:)

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  9. What lovely places to walk!

    Thank you for the reading suggestions.

    Happy May!
    🌸🏇🚀🌸🏇🚀🌸

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  10. I'm glad you got your vaccination and the reaction to it was better than the first time. I managed to go for a walk in the woods and see the bluebells. I'm happy not to have missed seeing such iconic woodland flowers. I'll share my photos next week. Have a lovely weekend.

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    1. Thank you Linda, It's good to get all the vaccinations done so we can feel a little safer when we go out and about. Good you got to see the bluebells, we missed them last year because of the first lockdown but it was great to see them again this year:)

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