While I am trying to fix the timed- out comment problem….please copy your replies in case you are timed out.
A view from my greenhouse through CLOSED doors…..dogs have to run and all that! I have spent the week hiding in there!
The weather this last week has matched my health! It has been wild, wet and dreary and I have been sneezy, sniffly, snuffly, and spluttery…..
So WHAT is a girl to do…..well I could have felt sorry for myself, but instead…
hubs and I sauntered off for an Indian meal. Now you just can’t beat a dash of spice to blow away the cobwebs. My meal was delicious, it seemed to be curried boiled eggs and new potatoes…..YUM!
I developed the most awful flu while covering the endless extra shifts at the rescue. There I was, heroically dragging my carcass around in the wind and the rain while staff members sunned themselves in exotic climes, and do I get any thanks???? NO! They’ve all returned, one by one….caught my germs, and are now going down like bowling pins….CURSING me they are! A few weeks ago I was fondly referred to as the Cavalry…..now I’m the devil incarnate! I shouldn’t laugh, but it’s funny seeing everyone so tanned but with shiny, red streaming noses.
It’s such fun watching the whirlygigs spinning at speed in the high winds. Y’see…there’s always a silver lining.
And when you are cold and wet and lurgy-ridden, you just can’t beat a huge steaming pan of…
lentil soup, with homegrown carrots and kale……my favourite flu-soup!
There are other things that lift the spirits too…..shopping for plants. I treated myself to four climbing roses and six shrubs which arrived as bare root plants and are now potted up. Dreams of new bowers and borders warm the cockles of my heart.
The haunting cries of the geese returning home each evening echo the melancholy the flu evokes. There are fourty thousand geese a short drive away and I simply love to watch and hear them flying over en-masse. It’s an autumn sight like no other.
I took a lingering last look at my courtyard before the tail end of the hurricane came in, it certainly doesn’t look like that now!
And flu or no flu, I made a start clearing the veggie patch…..long way to go yet!
The sight of the first toadstool had me smiling, just in time for Halloween, and, how very clever of it to grow by the stocks. It’s on the bottom left of the pic, I’m hoping a ring grows, it usually does.
And finally….
You just can’t beat having a dog either side of you on the couch when you’re ill, the best medicine EVER! The downside is having to take them out whatever the weather….even in a hurricane, well…tail end of one, but it was still SCARY!
And however grotty I feel, watching a good wrestling match always has me laughing!
Lol…..you can NEVER have too many food pics can you!!!xxx
The soup and the indian both look amazing, – more photos of food please!! x
Wonderful post and images. The birds and animals must just love your place. Thanks for your recent visit. The weather is improving here in NZ, but we get the spring variables.
Thanks Peter, we are lucky to have so many critters hanging out here…..gosh, it’s always odd to think that you are enjoying spring!xxx
I’m going to write this quickly although I do have to stop and think so hope I don’t get timed out. A note to say hope you’re feeling better and the thought of those doggies cuddling up to you, the curry, the climbing rose plan and the soup make me glad I’m back in England and able to communicate again. No amount of time in the sun makes up for contact with blog friends.
It is SO annoying to think that everybody is being timed out…I think I have fixed the problem, fingers crossed!!!
Ahhhh….what a lovely comment….yes….contact with blog friends is rather lovely isn’t it. Thanks Linda.xxx
Always good to read something about stuff that keeps you cheerful. Everything on your list works for me. Well, maybe not the dogs, but everything else – especially the Indian food.
Oh yes….Indian food is just the best, especially when the weather cools….
Are you not fond of dogs? Thanks Jason.xxx
I’m ok with dogs, but I wouldn’t want to take care of one. Judy can’t stand most dogs, a definite cat person.
Ah…..lot’s of people prefer cats over dogs. My sister is a cat person, I love both.xxx
Hello Dina
Love the new header photo :o)
Sorry to read you’ve been under the weather – hope you are feeling better now.
Your lentil soup looks yummy.
We don’t have geese fly over very often, but I love to hear them on that odd occasion that they do. By the way I love the stocks :o)
How wonderful
That your furry friends have been keeping you jolly.
Thank you for your lovely comments.
Hugs
Rose H
xx
Thanks Rose, I have changed the theme on the blog as everyone was being timed out all the time….fingers crossed the problem is now resolved…
Geese are wonderful, such a fantastic spectacle in the Autumn, you can’t beat the sight and sound of them. We get to see them in their thousands, an amazing sight.
Lol….glad you like the stocks, they come into their own at Halloween!xxx
Request timed out. I didn’t even have time to copy what I wrote.
Get well soon!
It is a nightmare isn’t it, I have been running around like a headless chicken trying to sort the problem….fingers crossed it may now be resolved as I have answered these comments without being times out. Sorry it’s such a pain, it must be driving everybody crackers. Thanks Menhir.xxx
So sorry to hear that you have the flu. I don’ t think you should be digging or going out in hurricanes . You should go and lie down with a book and get someone to feed you grapes. Glad to see your skeletons have nice warm hats on, we don’ t want them getting flu. Your soup looks really good. It should do the trick. That and a hot curry.
Do tell us what the roses are.
Lol……thanks Chloris, maybe a girl should take to her bed when smitten! I’m just not sure who will volunteer to feed me grapes….
My boys Skulldoug and Denzil insist on a little warmth now the temps have dropped, I am looking out for woolen strides and jackets for them, nothing too upmarket mind!
My roses are….Shrubs- Alexander, Macmillan Nurse, Margeret Merril David Austin,Madame Pierre Oger,Haratio Nelson and Absolutely Fabulous.
Climbers-Dixieland Linda, Madame Alfred, Gardenia and another David Austin, New Dawn. I am rather excited to think what they may be like in a few years.xxx
Dogs are the best medicine! But we can be their best cure, as well. One of mine spent a day at the emergency vet and glued himself to me when he came home. I’m surprised he didn’t go to the toilet with me, too! Hope you’re feeling better. You need some rest!
Dogs certainly are wonderful medicine, born comforters they are. Ahhh, your poor pooch, I do hope all is well now. Yes, after a vet stay mine are the same, glue themselves to me they do. Thanks Casa.xxx
Boy, oh boy, Dina, if that beautiful soup doesn’t bring you up to snuff, I don’t know what would…well, a few things come to mind, but…yay, soup! Hugs for your return to fine fettle, too. 🙂
I love your whirligigs! Wow! Is that a crow with a top hat? It is so cool!!!
Pups are so healing: their antics and their snuggling! My cats like to circle around me when I’m sick, too. Aren’t we lucky?
You did such a superb job of tending the shelter while everyone was off on their jolly travels…too bad about the flu circling around; hope all are well soon.
Joy and strength and more joy in the coming week…all looks lovely and what lovely shrub and rose dreams you can have all winter!!!
Oh how I love soup!!! Especially homemade with homegrown veg, unbloominbeatable and as you say, works wonders……and so wonderful in the Autumn when a distinct chill is in the air and the wild winds are a howling around!
Lol….glad you like my crow with the top hat, I have two of them and they fly around….I love to see the wind being measured, I only cycle when they are moving slowly.
Oh yes, it is a gift to have animals around, you can’t beat having something warm and furry around, especially when under the weather.
I am really looking forward to planting the roses out, I have to have a bower made….yes, making plans….you can’t beat it! Thanks Kitty.xxx
Good heavens woman, what are you … Superwoman???!!! Don’t you realise that with flu you get into bed and sniffle and snuffle and feel sorry for yourself??? You don’t go cooking soup and digging the garden and taking the dogs out and finding silver linings … what are we going to do with you??!!
I love it xx
Hahahahaha….how I wish I WAS Superwoman, you should see me shuffling around, sneezing and a spluttering! I love soup, the very sight of a steaming pan of the stuff cheers me up! Thanks Gilly.xxx
What a ‘jolly post’, despite being…”..sneezy, sniffly, snuffly, and spluttery…..”. Such cheerful pictures…and that incorrigible sense of humour. Splendid! First thought that came to mind…’Yeah, Feed a Cold and Starve a Fever’. Touch or more of Spice…Yes!
Hope you are soon fully recovered while the ‘suntanned languish’..Ha! Ha! Take Care! Hugs! xxx
Ahh, thanks Bushka. My mother always said you had to feed a cold, so I was happy to go along with that, especially in an Indian restaurant…I think the suntanned ones have had enough of my bugs now, especially as it has mutated and we are all on the second dose! xxx
Having a dog to play with and cuddle certainly lifts the spirits.
Which varieties of climbing rose did you choose as I’m trying to decide on one or two myself? Maybe a yellow and a cream to start with.
Ah yes, a dogs are such wonderful loyal companions and they seem to sense when a cuddle is needed.
I chose….Dixieland Linda, Madame Alfred, Gardenia and another David Austin, New Dawn as my climbers, I liked the variety and hope at least one will fly up the bower next summer. Thanks Sue.xxx
I do hope you are feeling much better…..oh that soup looks sooooo good:)
The dogs are amazing and could lift anyone’s spirits. I do believe your two are some of the happiest I have seen……
Enjoy the cosy dark evenings and have a fantastic Halloween 🙂 xxxxx
Thanks Janet, I do love home-made soups and lentil has to be my favourite, I like to make it so thick that a spoon can stand alone in it!
Oh yes, dogs are just wonderful medicine and it’s so lovely to have one either side of you.
They are such a happy pair, and it’s lovely to see them enjoying their doggy lives….I am now stocking up on candles, you can’t have dark evenings without them. You have a wonderful Halloween too. Thanks Janet.xxx
Good move to go for an Indian meal, a bit of spice always makes you feel warmer inside. I’d love to hear lots of geese heading off, we get the occasional V-formation in the sky and that’s thrilling to see. Hope you’re feeling better soon (fabulous revenge on the suntanned ones!), it’s good to get the seasonal flu bugs out of the way, hopefully you’ll be set up now for a healthier winter! Take care. Caro xx
Spice is a cure all for sure, and Indian food is just gorgeous, I could live on it!
I love to see the geese and this is the perfect time to enjoy them flying over in their hundreds, calling all the way, it’s a sound I can’t get enough off.
Ha….yes, the bronzed staff members are NOT amused!!! Thanks Caro. xxx
A cheerful post, and lovely pictures, despite you not feeling well. I hope that you feel better soon. xx
Thanks Flight, I am on my second dose now….sighs…xxx
Oh that’s a bummer. Take care of yourself and get well soon. x
Thanks Jess, the lurgy is a total pain.xxx
I’m sorry to hear you’ve got the lurgy, I hope it doesn’t stick around too long and that you’re feeling better soon. Plant shopping certainly lifts the spirits though, I’d love to know which roses you’ve got, I’m thinking of adding a climber or a rambler to the garden to cover part of the fence so I’m on the lookout for a nice one. We have geese flying over at the moment too. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many as I did yesterday morning, you couldn’t hear yourself think for the sound of them all, and then just as they’d gone, a lonesome Canada Goose flew the other way. I hope he wasn’t lost.
I think the lurgy have mutated, we’re all on our second dose now…plant shopping is one of my favourite things, you can never have too many plants!
These are the roses I have bought…
Shrubs- Alexander, Macmillan Nurse, Margeret Merril David Austin,Madame Pierre Oger,Haratio Nelson and Absolutely Fabulous.
Climbers-Dixieland Linda, Madame Alfred, Gardenia and another David Austin, New Dawn.
I am so excited about planting them next year, if all goes well I should have a lovely display. I hope you find the perfect climber, there are so many to choose from aren’t there? Thanks Jo. xxx
Oh no the colds and flu season commences. Sorry you are one of the first to get the lurgy – it always comes when you least want it – especially when you are so busy with the animals. Love the look of your soup – I shall have to get my soup-making hat back on – one of my favourite autumn/winter pursuits and a good way to use up any veg lurking in the fridge. That wind was horrendous wasn’t it – leaves and twiglets everywhere the garden looks like a bomb site. Love the picky of the wrestling dogs – never a dull moment hey. Take care of yourself and get better soon and keep your germs to yourself – good job you can’t catch a cold over the computer. Have a lovely weekend.
The lurgy is circulating at the moment, I’m now on my second batch that must have mutated…..sighs….yes, it’s a good job you can’t catch it here!!!
Autumn is the perfect season for soup, yes, all those veggies can go straight into the pot.
My garden is still completely trashed from the winds, I think it’ll take AGES to sort it all. Ah well….upwards and onwards. Thanks Elaine. xxx
Oh good. I was learning to write my comments somewhere else and copy-paste them before the comment police kicked me off for loitering!
Oh, that naan. Everything looks so so lovely. Found a little Indian place near home — not very spicy, but it’ll do in a pinch. I’m so sorry you’ve been sick! Hope that soup cures you, my friend.
New roses! You have to name names! Enquiring minds demand to know! And I do hope you don’t have too too much to clean up after the run in with the edges of a hurricane.
Oh the trouble I have had trying to fix the timed out issue….as you can see I’ve now had to change the theme of my blog to fix the issue….sighs…I think that’s sorted the problem.
So, to more pleasant subjects….roses….ah yes. here we go, I didn’t want to bore everyone with the huge list but I’ve been dying to list them all…
Shrubs- Alexander, Macmillan Nurse, Margeret Merril David Austin,Madame Pierre Oger,Haratio Nelson and Absolutely Fabulous.
Climbers-Dixieland Linda, Madame Alfred, Gardenia and another David Austin, New Dawn. I just can’t wait to see them all grow, and it’s you I have to thank for my total conversion and passion for roses.