WOYWW #578

Nearly missed you all this week!  Wednesday just passed me by . . . . . playing babysitting with the boys . . . . such a lovely day, even PJ said he enjoyed himself.

My desk 

Such disarray!  Work finished and more work waiting . . . . 

How did it come to this?  Well, I have been finishing some cards that I started way back at the first month of lockdown.  I thought that I would send a little note to the members of my craft group as we haven't been able to meet up in person and several of them live alone.  I started . . .  . so I thought that after all this time they would be REALLY needed so I finished them.

The image is free from Elizabeth Dulemba, so perfect for me.  I posted off all the cards to my friends . . . 

 .  . . . . so that is why the paperwork is on the laptop.

I am now left with all the cutting, packing etc to be put away . . . .

 . . .  and the rest of the detritus to be cleared, like all the left overs from the postage stamps, inserts etc.!

Then it will be onto thanking folks concerned for this months swaps of ATCs, Coins and Cards . . .

I do manage to fit my life round all this  . . . . just about!!

You see the days pass so fast that sometimes it is just a blur of daytime and nightime!!

BUT

I have managed to be here and that is the most important thing . . .  where am I?  Why WOYWW  of course!  Travelling round as many desks as I can to see what other folks have been up to and, of course, my Thanks go to Julia at Stamping Ground for enabling so many desks and lifestyles to be shared each week.  Thank you. 

With regard to Blogger . . .  some parts have changed making it easier to use but the layout . . . I am thinking that it could possibly be due to the fact that I am using Windows XP, I know I should grasp the nettle and upgrade but . . ..  

WOYWW #577

My Thanks go to Julia at Stamping Ground for enabling so many desks and lifestyles to be shared each week.  Thank you.

After WOYWW  visiting last Wednesday, I was inspired by Shaz' desk to make room on mine and maybe do some crafting!  I decided that the rather large pen/pencil container was not really needed at the side and it would be better accessible on the trolley. 

At the moment this trolley has most of my card, envelopes etc and a box of 'junk' sits atop.
I keep meaning to sort all this paperwork, which is moved from my desk and plonked there.  I removed the box and sorted the paperwork and then started on my desk.
PJ noticed at this time that the trolley had a decidedly lean to the left so he tightened up a few screws and declared it safe to use again!

Off came the box of 'writing utilities' . . . . and onto the trolley it went.  I think it looks a lot messier but . . .

Look at the desk!!




How super is that!!!  Thank you Shaz!

This is what WOYWW is all about, it's not just making friends, it is about being inspired.

I forgot to mention that while the space from the box was still there (before I filled it!!) I did a push to the left and then removed all the plants on the windowsill.  They are now sitting on the plant theatre outside, enjoying the company of other plants . . . . and getting some TLC!  A quick clean of the windowsill and a few containers of ATC cards moved over from the desk . . .  a bit more room!!
I am going to make this month's swap cards now and thoroughly enjoy the space inspired by Shaz.

As I am writing this post, I noticed that the old template has kicked in.  Has Blogger abandoned the new one??!!

OOPS!  Don't know what happened there but I have come back to edit and  . . . . the new one is here again!!!!

What a Storm!!

Two days on the trot we have had Summer Storms.  The first one was thunder and lightening but the second one was rain . . rain . . .rain . . .rain . . . did I mention the rain!
It started to drizzle about 15.00hrs and continued until 16.30hrs, at times we were unable to see across the road.
The water slowly rose across the road, the drains have been blocked for months, we clear the gutters but not the drains.  After the day before's storm I reported our drains blocked . . . .all four of them, two outside our house and two across the road.

One or two drivers, it's very busy although we are still under lockdown, tried to blast their way through, drenching all our driveways.

As the rain became heavier the road became impassable with a few idiots still trying to get through.

We were getting traffic queues in both directions with the best drivers turning round to re-route.

The water is slowly creeping over the grass verges and into our driveways.





Still the rain came down, still the drivers drove through and still the rain came into our drives.

We are losing sight of the pavements as it all becomes one rather large puddle!

We watched in trepidation . . . then I saw another 'river' joining in . . 

. . see the red circle . . . water running down the pavement from the road behind our house . . .

 . . no wonder the neighbour's garden is under water . .

 . .  there is water running from under our garage door  . . . .

  

. . . the youth just carried on . . .one young man had traversed the walls across the road . . . this young lady had a young man waiting further along, how they laughed.
 The joys of youth!!

Idiots were still speeding through  . . .

 . . .  some even took to the pavements . .


. .risking their safety as noone knew where the pavements met the road and where the potholes were.

Each wave of water came further up towards the houses.  . .

. . . it reached along the passage way between the houses over the road and the residents watched  . . . . .


. . . .  and then the rain stopped . . .


The son of the neighbour across the road drove up in his van, wearing wellingtons he jumped out of his van and waded across to confirm his parents were ok.
He then waded back into the water, cleared the muck from the drains his side  . . . . .
 . .and . . .

.  . . . .it was just like nothing had happened!!!

 

The gutters may have been cleared, yes!  he did both sides of the road . . . small pile of dirt further along the pavement from our side . . . . but I hope that the drain cleaners come soon!

Blogger is really trying now and not in a good way . . . whilst I am in New Post mode Blogger is in the old format . .yay!   Preview and go back to edit . . . in the new format . . . boo!

Great Day out in the Warwickshire Countryside

We had to go fetch some chicken food from our supplier so we tootled off during the morning.  After we had loaded the car we decided to visit a local garden centre to buy some rockery plants for my sink garden.  The chickens have escaped a couple of times and enjoyed eating the greenery in the sink - just the right height for them!!   One plant did not survive so I wanted to replace it.

We turned left out of the driveway and very soon realised the road we were on would not take us to the garden centre of choice but decided to stay on the road . . . . it was after all a very pleasant day.

Eventually we arrived at Warwick (several miles from where we live), do not ask us how we got there . . . . no idea but it was a very pretty road!  

We eventually made it to the garden centre and I bought a couple of plants . . . .

 A very pretty Heuchara, reminds me of Christmas with its colouring. 

A very pretty Pink, much prettier IRL. 

A view of the sink with the Pink in situ.

A tiny fern which I will plant alongside the pond, I'll show you later.

We happened to pass a cafe on the way home, it was only for take away but we called in and picked up a couple of cakes to take home and enjoy after all our adventures of the day . . . .as DDC would say . . . another Random Day out!!

Please excuse the layout . . . . you know why!

WOYWW #576

I am not coping very well with the new blogger version.  CAN ANYONE RECOMMEND AN EASY TO USE WAY OF BLOGGING P L E A S E!

I do not class myself as an idiot, I have been working with Computers since 1995 but this has me beat . . . .

Another enjoyable week has flown by.  What an assortment this last week has contained!

But . . . .the Desk

Please notice that there are just a few postage stamps to the left . . . .  I have spent a lot of time this week updating the spreadsheet with all the details of my stamp collection so most of it has been put away.

The paper to the left of the mousemat has instructions for a 'Double Pleat Fold' card which I hope to complete this week.

Spiderman has developed a few holes which need filling and painting before he can go outside by the pond to join his 'brother'!!

The new wallpaper is a photo taken from here, with permission, it reminds me there is a world outside!!

I hope to get some crafting done this week, there is rain forecast so I will have to stay inside . . . shame . . .

My Thanks go to Julia at Stamping Ground for enabling so many desks and lifestyles to be shared each week.  Thank you.

Working in the Garden

             

                 

                                                

                                               

The weather had cooled so we continued working in the garden, especially on the path. 

Marvellous!!

                                                                           

I then transplanted a few plants in the border and 'built' the wall with the leftover bricks.  

Now it is all ready for the vegetable planting . . . . .

The Front garden has been 'weeded', I paid for this as I didn't want to see PJ falling over again.  

Michael was on all fours at one point trying to pull out the grass, then he raked it over so it was all tidy.        

We are hoping that we will be able to maintain it now but time will tell.

I have planted the Escholschia plants into the gaps between the Heucharas in the 'blue' garden.  

Hope they grow to look like the photo!!

See the new Heuchara ..... looking good!

Stupid layout due to 'new', barmy, notgonnadowotyouwant Blogger format.  Can anyone recommend a good easy program I can transfer please!

WOYWW #575

WOYWW - All the deets on how to link up etc. and, more importantly, why you should, can be found at the top of the page.  Thank you Julia for hosting another week of fun and mayhem.

Gosh!  Doesn't the time fly past so quickly.  After having found all my stamp albums, in the cupboard, I am now trying to update them.

The Desk

I have a Stanley Gibbons catalogue from 2017 (to the left) so I am adding the stamps and updating all the prices from there.  I decided some time ago that I would stop collecting new stamps and just carry on with the Used Postage stamps . . . . . but, once I had opened an album, all was lost!!

Some of my albums, the earlier ones are up on the shelf now, which I am updating.  I emptied the cupboard under the desk and it now has a few Christmas items in it and that's all . . . .

Another Album with a very old Magazine.  This Album contains all sorts of postage ephemera.

A few presentation sets to be entered.  DDC was given some when she was born so it will be interesting to see how much they have gained in value.  I also have some other stamp items but I will not bore you with those!!!

I have been working in the garden as and when but I think that the weather is going to keep me inside for the rest of the week. . 

. .  so expect to see some crafting done next week if you visit. . . . 

Layout courtesy of the new 'improved(?)' Blogger . . . . . still rubbish but I have found that the three vertical dots allow further formatting . . . . .not much. . . .  the colour choice for the text is very limited as well!

Bringing in the Bricks

A few weeks ago there was a post offering some bricks for free.  We spent most of yesterday bringing them through to the back of the house.  

M lent us his wheelbarrow so that helped in carrying the bricks through and restacking them in the garden.

The next stage is to start laying the path . . . . . 

While PJ sorted out space for them I had a wander round to see how everything was going . . . .  more future work!

The Phildelphus is in full flower now, looks and smells gorgeous!  Made me think of all the cancelled June Weddings as this is a favourite flower for the bouquets.

The Sambuca is a wow . . . . 

. . .   and the Cotinus is getting ready to become the 'Smoke Bush', the Buddlia has finished flowering and is ready to be pruned.  

I hope to be able to prune back a few more bushes while I'm out there with the pruners.

I noticed that this miniature Rose is gorgeous, a much more vibrant cerise pink than my photo shows. . . . .  and look!!! 

 a PINK lupin!!!  

All the other Lupins (from a pack of mixed colour seeds) are blue flowered.

The Iris has settled the question about colour - it's white . . . . . not yellow or blue as originally thought!

So here we are, well PJ is . . .  all the bricks brought through and just a few left to stack.

Time for a cuppa and a sit down!

With thanks to the 'new' Blogger for the stupid layout!