Thursday, April 23, 2009

Mon - Weds in the UK, 50,000 mile Service

What, you didn't miss me? I went to Worthing, where we still have a house in the UK for a full service! Not the car, me. The trouble was, I was sure I was due to go on Tuesday to Thursday. Jim kept asking me what time we needed to go as I was weeding away in the garden. Suddenly I realised he meant that day! I had to drop everything, come inside and have a wash and then Jim ran me to the airport. It's a good thing one of us is on the ball. The weather in Worthing was beautifully sunny with a light breeze. Now what do you think I did on the Monday afternoon? That's right, I sorted the garden. Much snipping and chopping ensued. It had all become very overgrown and fairly weedy too. This is a photo of the back garden as it was when we lived there:



It was a very small garden, so we had to pack the plants in!














We had a pond with fish, a little water feature with a small fountain, numerous hanging baskets, some with tomatoes in and others with flowers. There's even a greenhouse at the end of the garden










Since then, it's all got a bit out of control! I ended up with huge piles of garden waste so I bagged it all for Jim to take to the tip when he next comes over.

I was tired, so had an early night. Dentist was my first visit, at 8.30am. I leaped out of bed, rushed into the bathroom, washed, dressed then thought, 'it's a bit dark', re-checked the time and it was 4.30am!! I just lay on the bed and dozed until 8! What a fool. So, off to the dentist. All well there, then into town by bus (what a novelty) to go and visit the hearing aid shop. I had an appointment there at 11am. Full check up there and a new hearing test. My right ear has dipped very slightly at the top end of the hearing range, but nothing significant. The consultant thought the best thing for my type of hearing loss (I have otosclerosis) would be glasses, which have the hearing aids in the 'arms' and they sit on the bone behind the ear. We tried some out and I could certainly hear very well with them. Only one drawback, they cost £4,000!

My next appointment was with the doctor at 6.10pm, so I had the whole afternoon to myself. My hair looked a mess, the grey roots coming through, so I went and had my hair coloured. A proper pampering it was too. After that, a trip round the charity shops, of which there are many in Worthing. Ireland has hardly any at all, and I do miss them. I picked up all sorts of bargains and ended up a bit like a donkey carrying all the bags. I also took a few photos and had a walk along the sea front to the pier. Time was marching on by then, so I picked up a taxi, dropped off the shopping and headed to the doctors just in time.

All went well there too. It was a 'review' of my medication and it was basically 'keep taking the tablets'. It was a beautiful evening so I walked back home, which took about 45 minutes I guess. So that was my day done. I had bought some knitting needles and oddments of wool and knitted a couple of ATCs!! They're fun. Here are the photos I took on the Tuesday:




Along the sea front is The Old Coastguard House. The gate is rather tatty!











It's a lovely gate, but needs a touch of paint













This is one of my favourite sea front houses. It's so tiny. I'd like to buy it. The beach and sea are opposite. This was the old lifeboat station so Jim informs me.


















Worthing beach and pier. The tide was right out.









The beach in the other direction, a bit later on. It's all pebbles, as you can see! They get swept up into a big pile by the sea, then a tractor comes along and pushes them all back again!











A concrete bench on the promenade and a row of delicious Victorian and Edwardian houses. All very grand.












Another bench had this rather splendid lion for its arm

















Half a bench?










Then in the 70s and 80s the local council went mad and built this monstrosity. It's a car park with a bowling alley at the bottom. Hopefully it will be pulled down before too long.










Rather splendid lighting along the promenade













A back bencher looking out to sea!











These Chinese lanterns swung in the breeze



















I wonder whether this seagull ever caught his taxi?





















The clock tower in the shopping centre. At Christmas it's all lit up



















Some rather sad looking seating in Goring. Goring is a village that has grown and is now attached to Worthing. Look at the long evening shadows.















I had to laugh at this pet shop window in Goring. It looks as though everything has been thrown into it!









Someone has given this apple tree a very odd haircut! It looks like a cake.













I've often admired this splendid house, although it is now divided up into flats.



















A very fancy wrought iron gate with a wooden gate behind it to keep the garden from prying eyes. Shame.














Isn't this simple little sculpture delightful?



















The lilac is all out and looking stunning
















On Wednesday I tried to get hold of Jim's 2 girls. Ali was out for the day with her work colleagues so I didn't get to see Poppy and Jenny was full of cold, so I didn't get to see her either! Ah well, it was back out to the garden and more work there. My flight was a late one and I arrived at Shannon at approaching 11pm. Jim picked me up and home we went, catching up on the news as we drove.

It seems our old barn, adjacent to the cottage, is about falling down and it would be wise to take it down before it falls on the cottage! We have another, newer barn, so it's not a total disaster and will open up the views from the extension enormously. Every cloud...

That's it for today. I do hope you've enjoyed your little trip around Worthing, on the South Coast of England. I will blog about the garden tomorrow.

22 comments:

marianne said...

What a nice trip, altough a dentist appointment is not much fun......
The house you lived in is cute and the garden was fabulous!
Welcome back!

Bella Sinclair said...

BT, MY, your thumbs are green. Your whole two hands are green! Look at that splendid garden you had. I love UK houses. They are always so romantic. You are right about that carpark. It is a monstrosity. Splendid photos, and I'm glad you got the all-clear from head to toe!

Stampmaiden said...

BT, I LOVE your small garden, although it looks big to me! I can see the love you put into everything you do out there. It's funny, I was just thinking how great it would be to put a small pond in our backyard's corner then I had a vision of cats falling in. LOL! Did you have cats back then and how did they do with the pond? Did it have fish?
Thanks again for taking me along on your trip! It was fun. I have to say that the blue gate looks just fine with it's weathered appearnace. I wouldn't paint it!
Linda

Heather said...

Thankyou Gina, it was lovely to see Worthing again - my parents lived there many years ago. I love the sound of the sea receding over those pebbles. Lovely photos and a most interesting post. Glad your medical checks went OK and were mostly positive. Happy gardening and artandcrafting.

Rachel Green said...

Super photos. Glad the trip went well.

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

A doctor makes appointments past 6pm in England? Wow! It's always hard leaving gardens behind... but having two in two different coutnries seems hard, too!

Bjornik said...

Hi BT, what a lovely garden you have here. This is just the kind my mother has always dreamed of! I'm glad you had a fun vacation.:)

DK said...

what wonderful pictures! I LOVE Worthing... ~wistful sigh~

Let me know next time you do that and I'll meet you there mum! :-) x

aims said...

What a beautiful little town.

I can't tell you how much my heart aches to see shots of the water and beach like that. I love water. It draws me. And here I sit and watch it snow in the middle of a very dry prairie. What the hell was I thinking when I moved here?

soulbrush said...

and look how sunny it was there...it has been a fabadabadoo week here in the uk for weather...glad you enjoyed it. love that sculpture.

Son1 said...

Glad you got some of the weather on your trip to the sea, it has been lovely.

It was a good tour. The garden looks good.

PS. Thanks for the postcard, xxx from Jack. Brilliant.

xx

Bea said...

Of course you were missed. I was forced to actually do some work in the yard instead of sitting here reading about your day!
What a wonderful, flower filled back yard you have in the UK.
I loved seeing all the pictures. I love that little gate. Thanks for sharing a little part of your world with us. I thoroughly enjoy it. :)Bea

BT said...

It was fun Marianne and my dentist waxed lyrical about how clean my teeth are! The garden in Worthing was lovely but very small.

Bella, ha ha, I sound like the Hulk with green hands! I love UK houses too, they are so varied.

Stampmaiden, you made me laugh with your comment about cats falling into the pond!! Our pond was raised up and our cat used to drink from it and catch the fish, so while we had the cat, we didn't have any fish. Then she died so we stocked it with fish again!! My son has a pond full of fish and both their cats drink from it. The fish then think they are going to be fed and the cats end up licking the fish, but they never show any interest in catching them!! The only problem is with children, but animals won't come to any harm. If you make the edges graduated, the birds will drink from it too.

BT said...

Heather, I had forgotten your parents lived in Worthing, mine retired to Lancing! the sound of the sea is wonderful, and the sea gulls. It was so far out on Tuesday, I didn't hear the sea over the pebbles. I agree, it's a wonderful sounds.

Thanks Rachel, it was a successful trip.

Monica, indeed they do (the doctor). I think there are so many patients, they have to go on until about 7pm some evenings. We made the UK garden easy to manage as we aren't there that often. I also put paved paths in the front garden and that, too, is easy to manage. I just have to weed it a bit when I go there.

Bjornik, good to see you. I'm glad you like the garden. We have a huge garden in Ireland though, 5 acres of it, so it's not nearly as jam packed as the UK one is. I hope your Mum is ok.

K, I will indeed, that would be fun! Though I'll be doing more appointments I expect - and shopping!

aims, you are funny. Maybe it's time for a move? To the sea, or near a river. I, too, love the sea and our lake and rivers.

soulbrush, the weather was wonderful, so warm, with just a little breeze, which I like as I don't like it too hot. I didn't even take a coat this time. I loved that little sculpture too, it was just stuck in someone's rather untidy garden.

Jason, it was sunny in Ireland too! But hotter in Worthing. Glad Jack received his postcard. I thought it was a good one. The garden photos are old ones, it doesn't look like that now. Fewer flowers and no hanging baskets as we couldn't water them. Still looks good though.

Bea, I'm so glad you had to do some work!! I love it that you Americans call your vast gardens 'yards'. The only ones we call yards are tiny back yards, usually paved and with a storage shed and a place to hang your washing. Anything bigger is a 'garden'! I'm so glad you enjoyed the photos. I love to take some of somewhere different for a change.

DK said...

ooh yes that reminds me - Lina got her postcard too! :-) She loves getting them x

BT said...

Hi, K, so glad Lina's postcard arrived too. It was the same one I sent Jack, I thought it was a bit unusual.

EB said...

What a lovely post, you notice just the things I think I would! that sounds terribly narcissistic - I hope you know what I mean...

Elizabeth Golden said...

I forgot the beaches there are covered in rocks. I am so use to my beach of endless sand. Sand is a very big thing here in many ways. I loved your gate pictures and the humor you have - the sea gull catching a taxi - one to keep me smiling through the evening. Thanks

Cris, Artist in Oregon said...

Oh I love it.. just pop over to England at a moments thought. How long is the flight? I lived with a small garden like yours for years until we moved to Oregon. It was all satifying but this is much better. Your place in Ireland is going to be awesome when done. and lovely view. Enjoyed your trip too.

BT said...

EB, I do indeed. You have a photographer's eye.

Elizabeth Golden, thanks so much for your comments. I do like to smile a lot too! Oh we can do pebbles very well in Worthing!

Ha ha, it's only a 1 hour flight Cris and Ryanair is one of those incredibly cheap airlines. If you book in advance, you can get flights for five euros! Crazy. We both have children and grandchildren in the UK so hope the flights stay that cheap for us.

Unknown said...

What beautiful photos. I'm so glad you visited my blog, should I could take all of them in.

Please visit again. I'll be back here too.

The barn will be nice once the work is finished, yes?

BT said...

I'm glad you liked the photos Pagan Sphinx. I enjoyed your blog and will definitely be back!