Reading in the sun.

Although we have had some cold nights and we have been bringing in our hanging baskets planted with geraniums, during the day it has been warm enough to snatch some time in the garden relaxing.  I wanted to make some inroads into my 'to be read' pile. This pile seems to be getting higher as there are so many wonderful books out there and some I want to re-read. Also, I wanted to be watchful over MFFLF (My Faithful Four Legged Friend). Some of you will know from my previous post that she had been seriously ill and now is on the road to recovery she needs to build up her strength quietly and steadily. As she follows me everywhere I have been trying to resist rushing around the house and garden and have been occupied with reading, sewing and listening to the radio. We have both benefited from our siestas.

 

Linking with Karen for last Sunlit Sunday

Let yellow take the stage.

Almost overnight yellow has taken over the colour scheme in the garden.

 

The Daffodils by the pond.

The Forsythia down the drive.

 

More Daffs in the tubs.

 

Primroses by the path.

Yellow yellow everywhere.

We had a very busy week last week in the garden. I have been planting lots and lots of Sweet Peas . I love these flowers and the fragrance from them is fabulous. Also, tackled the veggie plot and plan to grow more spinach this year and fewer salad veg.However, Mr and I did go up to London to St Pauls for a special service in commemoration of Captain Scott and his companions .

The music was so beautiful and as we left the cathedral the bells were ringing out. Such a wonderful sound .

 St Pauls

I'm linking with Karen at My Little Home and Garden for Sunlit Sunday.

From a Railway Carriage

I do love train journeys especially on steam trains. They remind me of when I was a child and went up to London with my parents with a steam train pulling us into Victoria Station. We had to remember to close the windows before the tunnels to avoid steam filling up the carriage. When Mr had a special birthday I booked up a trip on the Orient Express. We had a fabulous day and at each station and on route people were taking photos and enjoying seeing and hearing the train.
Well today I just felt like a train ride so we took off to the East Kent Railway (not a steam train).This a small heritage railway operated entirely by volunteers.   

 
Trains travel between Shepherdswell  and the  village of Eythorne, near Dover in Kent. 

 While we waited for the return train we took a sunlit woodland walk . Spring was  in the air and at our feet Wood Anemones and the leaves of the Bluebells .Ahhh  what a pleasure to walk in the woods and hear the birds singing . Bliss.

 

I'm linking with Karen at My Little Home and Garden for Sunlit Sunday.

Want to paint.......

Although there have been some frosty nights the  camellias are unharmed in the garden and I couldn't resist taking loads of  photos as the sun shone on them.

Today was a fabulous day as I spent most of it in the garden. I worked hard and was accompanied by a robin who was never far from my side. I did not have my camera handy and by the time I had he had flown up to into the oak tree. I cleared some parts of the pond and  although i had netted it during the Autumn it still had leaves in it. I had to be careful as the frogs were in there laying their eggs and  did not welcome the disturbance.

Last week was a busy week as  Mr had a birthday. I had planned two visits up to London one at the start of the week and one at the end. First off was a theatre trip and we went to see Noises Off at the Old Vic. 

Then we went to the Royal Academy after a detour to Fortnum and Masons to drool over the Easter eggs and cakes.

 Amazing, fabulous, fantastic -some of the words to describe David Hockney A Bigger Picture exhibition.  Paintings of his beloved Yorkshire some so enormous and colourful that I was speechless! Some of the works were prints off of his IPad  where he had 'painted' with his finger on the screen. He was recording nature through the landscape and through the seasons  often painting the same view but with different lighting . I want to learn to paint.

Linking with Karen at              My Little Home and Garden

I like to think.....

 

Snowdrops

I like to think

    That, long ago,

         There fell to earth

                Some flakes of snow

                  Which loved this cold, 

                    Grey world of ours        

                So much, they stayed

                As snowdrop flowers.

This is a  poem that  I used to recite to my children  many years ago and still each year I think of it  as soon as the snowdrops appear.(I do not know who wrote this poem) This is a lovely  time of year in the garden when the snowdrops  crocus and aconites appear. A promise of what is to come. I took these photos on a lovely sunny day last week and now these little fragile spring flowers are taking a battering from the wind , rain and cold nights. For the last few days it has certainly been a cold grey world in this South Eastern part of England.

I am linking this with Karen at My Little House and Garden for Sunlit Sunday

Sauntering on a Sunday in the Sunshine

My Faithful Four Legged Friend and I took a lovely walk in the sunshine today. We walked along the coast past the dunes and close to the salt marshes towards the RSPB reserve.  

 
 I had my binoculars with me and we sat on a bench in the sunshine bird watching. We were rewarded with sightings of many waders especially Redshanks and Curlews. Plus a favourite bird of mine- the Lapwing  or Peewit. There are many boards to help with bird recognition along the route we took.

In the background of this last photo are the cliffs of Pegwell Bay Isle of Thanet Kent. The setting of this famous Victorian painting by Dyce.(1858)

As it was such a lovely day My Faithful Four Legged Friend and I walked to the tiny hamlet of Ebbsfleet (not to be confused with the Ebbsfleet International near Dartford)

Here a cross has been erected to mark the spot where St Augustine in 596  landed in Kent and met with King Æthelberht. St Augustine had been sent by Pope Gregory to Christianize  the King  Æthelberht of the Kingdom of Kent from his native Anglo-Saxon paganism. Kent was probably chosen because it was near the Christian kingdoms in Gaul and because Æthelberht had married a Christian princess, Bertha, daughter of  the King of Paris.

I am linking with Karen at My Little Home and Garden for Sunlit Sunday

Sun and Greenhouses.

The sun was shining on Sunday and in sheltered places it was fairly warm although the temperatures at night fell to minus 2 or 3. One warm place is  my greenhouse and I keep a small chair in there  as I love to read my gardening books  bathed in the free warmth from the sun . My glasshouse is nothing compared to this beauty .
 This is the Italianate Greenhouse  in Ramsgate , Isle of Thanet Kent.

 This was built around 1810 and was part of a property own by Queen Caroline when she was Princess of Wales. It was then owned by the Duke of Wellington's brother and later by Sir Moses and Judith Montefiore. This greenhouse has recently been restored as is a Grade 2 listed building .
I like to visit  greenhouses to see what is grown  and gain ideas.

These pictures are of Charles Darwin's greenhouses at Down House Kent where he propagated many plants to be used in his investigations.



The next two photos I took at Clumber Park Nottinghamshire such a beautiful garden to visit and I was amazed to see these glasshouses. They were so extensive and tidy.

Peach tree.

This year I am hoping to be more well organised in my much smaller greenhouse . No room for a peach tree!  However, I have definately decided that I will still keep a chair  for those moments when, although, the sun is shining the air temperature is still chilly.
I am linking this with Karen at My Little Home and Garden for Sun Lit Sunday

Meandering through Kent.

I had a very busy weekend. Saturday was spent in the Turner Contemporary Gallery in Margate as it was the first day of a new exhibition entitled Turner and the Elements. There were over 80 of JMW Turner's works on show. It was fabulous to see so many Turners especially those depicting Kent.

In his painting 'The New Moon, or I've Lost My Boat, You Shan't Have Your Hoop' (1840)  he has painted a scene in Margate with the Jetty and pier in the background. Also, with the sun in the sky and reflected in the water I thought it would   be suitable for  'Sun Lit Sunday.'

 Later on I met up with a friend of mine and we meandered around Sandwich.
The origin of the word 'sandwich' for an item of food is thought to have been named after the 4th Earl of Sandwich.( 1718-1792.) He is said to have asked for meat to be served between slices of bread, to avoid interrupting a gambling game.  I like to think that this was the origin of the sandwich.
 Some facts about Sandwich Kent

• Sandwich was once one of England's main ports.
• The Curfew Bell is still rung from St Peter's Church every night at 8 pm.
•  Instead of the colourful robes that mayors usually wear on official occasions, the Mayor of Sandwich has worn black robes, ever since the French raid in 1457.
•  It was one of the  Cinque Ports (established in 1155) 
• Sandwich still has many original medieval buildings. 
• The Open Golf Championships are regularly helds here  .(2011's was in Sandwich).

The following are photos taken from the town and from  points along the town wall  . It was raining when we set out but then the sun shone.