BLOG BIRTHDAY WISHES AND CATCHING UP WITH....me!

HAPPY 1ST BLOGAVERSAY TO

LIBBY AT WOODLANDS WORLD

MAKE A WISH AND BLOW

On Mondays I usually try to catch up with the latest flowers in bloom but things are really starting to slow down......although we had a terrible week of weather I think the time of year plays a major factor in this. So this week much of my catch up will be about what I've been doing the last few days.

It was such a miserable day weather wise on Thursday and as Chris's mum Eadie was staying with them we all went up for a game of bowls to cheer ourselves...........................somehow I managed to win again!

We had a great time and rounded the evening off with a MacDonald's.......Manda had a kiddies Happy Meal because she wanted the toy!!!!!!

In "ghost busters" mood we decided to walk home via the old church which is reputed to be haunted..........Ladies if you are of a delicate disposition please avert your eyes....it was really dark and when I said I needed to put the "FLASH" mode on my camera to take a photo of Eadie Chris took me literally........

I took a few photos in the church yard........I promise you that this photo's not doctored in any way..........are these ghostly orbs floating around?.......they certainly didn't show up to the naked eye or in my view finder!

We told each other a few ghost stories and didn't get home till 11pm!
Friday I went to Colchester to see Leanne & co. We saw the slightest glimmer of sun

and it didn't actually rain......a first for quite a few days..............

Leanne's Phygelius (Cape Fuchsia) has started to bloom......

While Phil signed on at college we girls went to Matalans.....I'm glad we did...I desperately need some new shoes and found a pair for £1.75!!!!!!!!!!

We walked back through..........I think I messed up one of my settings when I was looking for the flash mode on Thursday evening as some of my photos have come out very "blue"!

Such a shame as the colours of the petunia "mounds" by the bandstand aren't showing up very well.......The Star and the Moon displays were beautiful..................sadly once again the colour's not right......
There were sad reminders of times gone by....some of the flower beds being memorials.....

quite poignant in the light of the recent lives lost by 3 of our soldiers in Afghanistan...all members of 1st Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment.

This is the first time I've seen the Teddy Bear arrangement....based on Colchester's very own blogger B.T.Bear no doubt!

All in all we did quite a few hours walking and even I (who LOVES walking) had swollen ankles by the time I got back home to Cornard. ...and joy of joys not a drop of rain to dampen my spirits.

When I woke up Saturday morning it was really foggy...................then the sun started to come through.................and the rest of the day was wall to wall blue skies...HURRAH!!!!!

After all the rain the poor garden was looking rather bedraggled.......there was so much dead heading to do and I noticed that many of the roses are suffering badly from Black Spot now.....I'll have to make sure that i clear every dropped leaf in the Autumn and give the roses a good mulch so that any spores laying dormant in the ground can't "jump up" next year! One thing I have noticed this year is that I've hardly seen any green fly or black fly since spring.....I guess the frogs and birds are doing a good job of keeping them down...............The sun brought out the butterflies and moths......................

and the perfume of the Lilies was almost overpowering...........this time of year the sun's starting to leave the garden and so I've had move all the sun lovers up to the top .........I was surprised to see this Foxglove in flower........this is the third flush this year!....I cut them right back after each flush has finished.......


Sunday was another beautiful day....technically this isn't a new bloom as I've posted a photo of a Toad Lily before....but I love them so much ...and this photo is from another clump I have in a different part of the garden......

Sunday afternoon I went out for a walk; I was hoping the gates to the Lock would be open but they were locked.......LOL the gates to the Lock were locked!...........so I couldn't get more than a few yards along the bank.


I couldn't believe how big some of the fish in the river are getting.....can any fishermen/women tell me what sort of fish this is?

He soon swam away when this swan approached.......I guess he didn't want to risk being Sunday dinner.....I was surprised more people weren't on the water...these were the only sailors I saw.

Today I'm going to the river bank nearer the town....our local church is having a (plastic) Duck Race, Tug O' War as part of their Bank Holiday Fun Day. Let's hope this spell of good weather lasts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!