Spring has sprung....................

At last, it really feels that Spring and warmer days are with us. I love this time of renewal. I watch the trees go from bare branches to tiny pin head buds and then watch the buds shoot fresh green leaflets. It's the most amazing thing to me. The days roll on and the tiny leaflets become recognisable leaves and the crowning glory, the beginning of the flower which will transform a plain deciduous tree into a magnificent Pieris, like the one on the left.  This is 'Forest Flame' and was uprooted from my Dad's house in 2000 and has been living with us ever since.  Every two years or so we replant it in a larger pot.  It's now, in it's pot, about 7 - 8ft tall!.

Last year my white lilac just had one flower stem. I was so disappointed as this is a lilac with the most gorgeous scent. But, this year it is smothered in mini flower buds, so now I cannot wait to see it in all it's glory. I tried to take a photo but was in a bit of a rush so the foreground is out of focus, but if you look closely you can see the flower buds just emerging to the left of this photograph. 

Elaine and Richard, my eldest son and his wife, bought me a Camellia in a little pot 3 mothering Sundays ago.  So after three years growth the photo to the right shows what it looks like now.  It is full of buds and a beautiful colour.  But will need to re-pot it this year as you can see, it has well grown out of it's original container. :o)



I haven’t introduced the members of our family. That is the four legged members. We are blessed with three dogs and three cats. Without them, before Eddy retired, I truly would have been not only lonely but miserable too.

First comes Max, he is a 14 year old spaniel and the best friend I had when I was recovering from my stroke back in 1997.  He is getting on now and is deaf and has very poor sight, but his tail still wags for England and walks and foods are the most important things to him now, oh yes and snoozing, which he does most of the time.  Thank goodness he doesn't snore!

Next in order of age is Thomas our oldest Cat.  Loved to bits, Tom is 19 years old and we are praying that he will manage to reach 20.  He suffers from kidney disease and has lost a terrific amount of weight but he is still soldiering on.  Loved to bits,.  The KD really takes it's toll and the first sign that a cat with KBD is coming to the end of their lives is when they stop eating and drinking.  Tom did this a few weeks ago and I really thought we were about to lose him.  After three days of not eating or drinking.  Sitting in a sphinx like position, not looking at all comfortable I believed this was the end.  But as a last resort we opened a can of tuna and tried tempting him.  He sniffed for a bit then wolfed half a small tin!  Next he stood at the fridge meowing for milk, so we put a small amount in his saucer and he slurped that down.  He hasn’t looked back since.  I know it is so the wrong diet, but he is eating and drinking so if that’s what he wants he shall have it!
 

 
 
 
Orla is our middle dog,and will be 10 in December.  Orla is a rescued ex racing greyhound from Ireland.  She won a number of races and then when she stopped earning her syndicate money she was due to be bumped on the head.  Luckily a terrific rescue organisation called Greyhound Gap saved her.  She has totally forgotten that she is a greyhound and happily plays tag with all the kitten and with Poppy.  If her Greyhound mates could see her now they would disown her.  She has to be the laziest dog and is usually found lying flat out on the sofa, legs in the air (she is such a tart!) and tongue lolling out.  Yes, a bit like her pose here.
 

Yes, she does have ears and legs, just to prove it I am going to have to add another picture of this lazy, lazy girl. See what I mean! Bit of a fuzzy photograph, but you get the idea!




So, that's the first half introduced I'll get you to meet the other three in my next blog update.



As I started at the beginning of this post, it's truly spring like today. We took a ride out and a mozzie around the shops during the morning with my best buddy, Janet, JEB to her friends, well special friends, ermmm well, just to me then! JEB is the mother of Kevin and Rachael and Rachael, aka fluffy muffin,  has her own blog In My Own Little World If you need to get a smile on your face in the mornings her blogs will do it for you!


I love spending time with JEB as we have known each other from almost the Spring of our lives and now into the Autumn. (getting quite poetic aren't I, it wont last!) Today we arrived early to pick her up so she came wandering down the stairs with her hair still wet from the shower. That gave me an excuse to practice my blow drying skills and took me back thirty years or more to the days when I not only blow dried Jan's hair but coloured it too! I have a fab photo of her in those days but darned if I can lay hands on it when I want it so will perhaps put it in another posting. Anyway we had a lovely time the three of us and now, what with all that fresh air and all this typing it's time for my siesta!