Promise of Summer

The leaves, mostly Oak, from last Autumn still lying on the ground in the small wooded area near the river. they will eventually rot, like others before them, and enrich the ground so that Spring flowers, like these Crocuses, will flourish and bring a promise of Summer.

Bicycle Ride

It's a better time of year now, weather wise and it's good to see people out as a family, exercising and getting some fresh air. I watched this little group and thought, at one point, the little lad was going to swing too far to his left and head off down the bank! Bramble knows this spot very well indeed!!

Sunny Bournemouth

It's good to see some hardy souls enjoying the beach, Spring is coming. It has been a beautiful sunny day but with a cold wind, hence the anoraks, etc!! Comments about the pictures - 1. Nice little family group but one has escaped.  2. Just resting.  3. Must be hard pushing that buggy on the sand.  4. Just breaking into a run before the wave gets him, it didn't, Ooooh!!

It's been a busy day

I did my paper round this morning and thought I would have a peaceful day because seven ladies were coming for a scrapbooking day and I would not be involved because I don't do scrapbooking!! Think again, first I had to get all the tables assembled, then I had to help all the ladies in with their heavy boxes of stuff, of course, they didn't all come together, so I was on my toes for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon. When I did get a break I had photographs and templates to copy, questions about computers to answer, and oh the noise, unbelieveable! Then I had to help the ladies out with their even heavier boxes of stuff because they had bought things. Finally, I had to remove all the tables, I feel quite worn out!! Picture shows Gill in the foreground, all the others were spread out throughout the bungalow.

Walking by the river today I came across this very dirty, scruffy unkempt boat which looked as though it had never left its mooring for years, very sad. That is probably why the seagulls have comandeered it as their favourite perch to watch the world go by, nobody bothers them. They perch on the top and do their business and when they want to move to the lower level they don't fly down, they slide down the windows, hence the streaks that you can see. Very funny to watch, they don't seem to notice that they are sliding in their own excrement!! Look at the shambles on the other side of the river, this particular spot is definitely not in keeping with posh Christchurch. 

Tragedy in New Zealand

I took a picture of the Regent Centre in Christchurch when I was out today and remembered that I had taken a picture of the Regent in Christchurch NZ when there on holiday in 2001. NZ is shown top right UK bottom right which I have just converted to match, I was into black & white film in those days. What a terrible thing to happen to so many people and to such a beautiful city. On the left is Christchurch Cathedral as it was, so sad when you see the news pictures today. We just pray for all those people affected by this disaster.

Time for Elevenses??

This is in The Square in Christchurch, it was coffee time, it was a grey day, lots of drizzle and I was tempted but it's a bit too expensive for me, not so for the pensioners inside, it seems. They are not sitting down though so perhaps they are still thinking about it. The old guy with the wheely didn't hesitate, just walked straight past with a sort of determination that he wasn't going to be parted from his money!

Bike Fanatic

This notice is fixed to the garage wall of a house just around the corner from us, in Thornbury Road. I don't know the guy but I do know he has a Harley Davidson. He is not what I would call a "typical biker", he is more a respectable, middle aged, businessman type. He probably belongs to the local branch of the Harley Davidson owners club though. Who knows what he gets up to if he is out on the bike with other club members! 

Church Family

This little lad is fostered by our Pastor Gary and his wife, Lorna. He is being carried in this frontal harness by their daughter, Beth, a lovely girl who absolutely idolises the baby. The foster period is only short term which is hard for them as they really bond with the baby and then have to give him up. I happened to have my small camera with me and quickly took the photograph but I was some distance away and the result was out of focus and the colour was garish so I decided to do some work with Silver Efex Pro, a Photoshop plugin from Nik Software. 

Farm Conversion

Wick Farm had a wonderful setting in its time, near to the river and part of a nice little village. The area is not so good now, and, of course, the farm was sold up some years ago and all its buildings were renovated and converted into privately owned properties. All the buildings were tastefully finished but I especially like this one because of its tower with the clock. I have no idea what happened to encourage the farmer to sell up in the first place.

Men at Work??

Saw these guys working, well they were supposed to be, but, you know, British workmen, etc. The building is the Town Hall in Christchurch. I think it did need a bit of a facelift, most of the building is encased in plastic sheeting at the moment. Looking forward to the finished result!

Messing about with boats

Five men in a boat, five old men in a boat! The coxswain appears to be asleep, if he is, that would explain why the other four look a bit aimless and don't know what to do, they are just drifting. I saw them again later, they had managed to reach a very small landing stage, can you imagine the scene as they tried to get out of a flimsy unstable racing boat, bad enough for them to get up from a firm floor at their age. I thought they are not going to make it before nightfall and I couldn't hang about. I didn't want to embarrass them with my camera anyway!

Christchurch Wildlife

I saw this charming little scene near Christchurch Quay whilst out walking today. The man with the umbrella was leading the little lady, probably his mother. She was walking very slowly, with difficulty and didn't seem to know where she wanted to go or where he was trying to take her. She had no idea she was being followed by a column of swans which, on close inspection seem to be pretty much in step. I approve, my military mind, you know!!

Christchurch Again

I think we are really blessed living where we do, we can just walk down to the river and enjoy the peace and calmness of the area. The Captain's Club Hotel is in the background, it's very posh, well, posh prices at least. We went there once for an afternoon toasted teacake and crumpet, it was dreadful, the crumpet was hard and goodness knows where the teacake had been, it was so stale, both items obviously past their sell by date. We haven't been since and are not likely to.

Re-construction

I got a bit nostalgic about this bungalow, just round the corner from us, thinking about the people who lived there and called it "Home". It was a nice place, a bit small, but situated on a large corner plot. Now it is all derelict and in a cage, rather sad. It was on one of my paper rounds and I used to deliver The Times there but I never saw the people who lived there, I wonder where they went.

The Family Bash

It was a great time with the family this weekend, lots of fun and laughs as usual, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and we are so thankful that we have such a wonderful supportive family. We enjoy listening to the family chatter and watching everyone interacting, it warms our hearts.

Shopping Expedition

We were out shopping in Southampton with Ernalyn, our friend from P&O. They had just evacuated West Quay and I got a bit worried because our car was in West Quay car park with Ernalyn's shopping in it and we had to get her back to the ship, Oriana, by 2.00pm. All was well in the end, we delivered her safely and headed for home to prepare for a special family get together. I will post something about that tomorrow.

Toy Rescue Service

All through the year we collect soft toys and other items suitable for Samaritan's Purse Christmas shoeboxes. We have a good link with one particular charity shop in Boscombe, this picture shows the pile of stuff we have just collected from there, we get this sort of amount every 2 or 3 weeks. Ruth goes through it all, a small amount is rubbish and is binned. Of the rest, all the grubby soft toys go through our washing machine and tumble dryer, other items, such as jewellery, are cleaned and bagged, dolls are sent to a friend of ours who lovingly cleans them up, does their hair and makes clothes for them. At the end, good as new, everything is taken to the warehouse in Christchurch and stored, ready for the shoebox season starting in November.

Lethargy

We were sitting watching a film called the "Bee Movie". John had seen it before and it was just as well because he didn't see much of it this time. We'll be kind and put it down to lingering jet lag, not to mention the warm comfortable house and copious amounts of excellent food prepared by the resident chef!!

Family, Australian Section!

John Josie & Matthew arrived safely yesterday from Australia via Abu Dhabi where they met up with Gideon for a few days. Matthew loves food and jumped up when he spotted Ruth walking in with cutlery in her hand at lunch time today. The food didn't arrive though and he was at a loose end for a while but was persuaded to set the table. He didn't get far and was caught "sitting down on the job", but he still got a fair crack at the food in the end!

Stour View

It was such a beautiful day I was out for a walk crossing Tuckton Bridge when I saw this view, especially the reflections and thought I needed to capture it. Unfortunately, due to the brightness and cloudless sky, the SOOC (straight out of camera) shot was not good, far too blue and quite mundane really. So, I decided to change it to a soft sepia tone using Silver Efex Pro from Nik Software. It's definitely an improvement but I didn't have a lot of time, Josie & john's arrival is imminent!

Heating Problem

Sorry, this is not very interesting, well, not to you anyway, not to me either, actually. We are at panic stations because this heater with its cover off has given up the ghost and John & Josie are arriving tomorrow from hot Australia via even hotter Dubai. At the moment we are gathering up heaters from far & wide in the hope that they won't notice a devastating drop in temperature compared with what they are used to.

Our Church Again

You may remember from an earlier post that the date of our church AGM was shown on the screen. Well, today, was our AGM. I took this photograph with my iPhone which I don't think is too bad considering the distance, the mixed lighting and the fact that I had to be quick. We did things differently this year, following our morning service we had lunch together in church, then the AGM, much better than coming out on another evening. The group you see near the stage are "The Watchmen Singers", a dozen or so men from our church who are in great demand in the Bournemouth area and further afield. 

Beautiful Granddaughter

I didn't actually take this photograph today, I took it at Christmas, but I have printed out a copy today to go in a frame for our wall here in the bungalow so I feel justified in using it for my blog! Anyway, it is of our granddaughter and I thought you might like to see it.

New Runway in Poole?

For Flying Fish. of course!!

Local Wildlife

It has been a beautiful day today in very sunny Bournemouth. The local wildlife are starting to show an active interest in doing something to produce a lot of young local wildlife.

Winter Cleaning

I've had this little lady scudding around the house most of today, crashing and banging and fiddling about, most distressing, makes me nervous. She's sorted out most of the house and is now in the throes of re hashing the front room - again. I feel a headache coming on!!

Flowers in the Porch

I've got this photoshop templates set called "magic blog it board" from MCP Actions. The set has a range from 2 to 16 openings in various formats. The product is designed for web or blog sites and can be used to tell a story or show a theme or group such as I have done with these flowers currently residing in our porch. As you can see I have used one of the 5 opening templates.