My Week Away Part One - I meet Kitty

I'm sorry I've been gone so long. It's taken me ages to sort out the photos from my trip to the UK to stay with my son Jason, his wife Sam, little 4 year old Jack and new born Kitty Elizabeth. I arrived at tea time on the 4th June and they all picked me up from the airport. I had a peek at Kitty but couldn't see her very well in the car seat. Jack was all excited as usual. Back to Jason's and I had my first 'hold'.



She seemed a good size for a newborn baby but she was 8lb 4oz (the same weight as her dad).








The necklace I am wearing has a photo in it of Kitty number one, my mother.

Sam and Jason were tired of course but Jack was full of bounce! Jason took this photo of us together before his bed time:



I think Jack was trying to take my shoe off.













It was lovely to see Jason feeding Kitty











We all retired to bed fairly early. I started to read 'Euan's Torch' by Naomi Nielson, her first novel. Amazon recommended it and it is published by the same company that published Rachel Green's first novel. The publishers are 'Discovered Authors'. By the end of the week I had finished it and I do recommend it. I couldn't read it fast enough.

I was up with the lark on Friday as Jason and I were going to do a trial 'school run' for Jack. Sam cannot drive yet as she had a Cesarean section, so I am going to do the driving. Jack loves his nursery. It's an easy journey, one even I cannot get lost on. I have no sense of direction.

I tried during my stay to do the washing up most of the time and look after Jack and do anything else Sam needed doing, such as the hoovering. Nanny Maureen and Great Grandad Ivor came over for lunch that day and it was good to catch up with them. Maureen often does Sam's ironing which is great. I played Pirates and Mothers and babies with Jack then we did 2 jigsaws. The days seemed to go pretty fast.




Kitty on June 5th












Sam looking remarkably cheerful considering her lack of sleep. Jason and I tried to get her to have a sleep during the day, which we managed sometimes.












It was a lovely day on the Saturday and Jack and I played outside. We had great fun with the pebbles round the new Suffolk Barn (garage). He has such an imagination. We stacked the stones into an old water tank, which became a train! Then we put them into bricks, which were jelly moulds! A little chicken popped in from next door and trailed us around most of the day. It was a bantam I think:






Isn't it cute?














A lovely photo of Kitty I took in the morning.












Jack and I went for a little walk and I took this photo of him in front of a field of barley:









Then he took this one of me







I think my camera was too heavy for him!!








In the afternoon we went to Ickworth, our favourite National Trust stately home which is quite near to Wickhambrook. This is what their site says about the house:

A Georgian Italianate palace in an idyllic English landscape

• Explore acres of parkland and woodland on waymarked walks
• Have fun in the play area, family cycle route and 'Trim Trail'
• Enjoy the licensed restaurant and tempting gift shop
• Join in many special events and activities throughout the year
• Learn about historic Ickworth House (now open at 11) and collections
• Relax amidst the idyllic parkland and seasonal beauty of the park, gardens and historic Pleasure Grounds

It really is a beautiful house which has a 'Rotunda' where all sorts of lewd and bawdy parties were held! Do go and visit if you are ever in the area.

There was an amazing wedding going on and I took this photo of the bride with her father? Or maybe it's the groom!

It was obviously a designer dress and the guests all seemed pretty well heeled.











Jack took his scooter and we had a fabulous time there. I took a few photos of course! Makes a change from babies.




I love this border with the mauve nepeta















Sam stopped and fed Kitty while Jason played with Jack
















Jack wanted to show me how they did a 'wheelbarrow'











But he soon collapsed in a heap!














We walked through this lovely archway but not before I had photographed this stunning honeysuckle



























This was the family church and is in the grounds. It is being restored by English Heritage.
















We walked to the lily pond. I was very pleased with this shot










Then it was across this old wooden bridge.













Past a couple of fabulous wonky old gates


















As you head back up to the church, you can see the Rotunda on the horizon












Jack had to do some running repairs to his scooter! Back up to the church






We then let Jack play in the park for a while. He loves the 'death slide' even though he's really too young to go on it!







Here he scattered the children on the platform!











Then it was back home. We were all pretty tired by then. Kitty was fed and here she's being 'winded'. She likes to keep hold of her wind!


















I think that's enough for part 1. I hope you've enjoyed it so far! Only 6 more days to go.

Unexpected Night Out, Gorgeous Garden Days 30.5.09

Gosh, the weather's been just lovely the past few days. Summer has come at last and we're loving it. Yesterday we gardened of course, mostly planting things that Jim has grown. I tackled the back of the sleeping shed. I had started it a little while ago and thought I'd finish it. It's also in the shade so more comfortable to work. It was all full of brambles and stinging nettles and buttercups, which I removed as much as I could. Some time ago we have used many of the stones holding up the bank for our road and the larger ones had just tumbled down and landed in a haphazard fashion, which is where they stayed. I thought I'd have a go at moving some stones to hold the bank up again and ended up creating a rough rockery with a flat section at the bottom, which Jim seeded. Now we'll be able to walk around the back of the shed (when the grass grows) instead of fighting through stinging nettles, etc. This is the end result:
I'm really pleased with it. The flat section is a bit hard to see but it's behind that little bush just to the right of the shed. I planted the rockery with wild flowers and garden annuals that Jim had grown from seed. It should look good then. Do click on the photo to enlarge it. I then tried to carry on weeding around the shed. We have a nesting box on this end and the 2 blue tits were going frantic with me there, so I gave up on that idea and moved round the other side of the shed, so that they couldn't see me!

An evening Out

We had to pop down to see Danny to arrange some cat feeding while we're away. Joe mentioned that there was a bit of a do on at Cannys Pub in the evening. The local councillor Pat Hayes was hosting an evening to raise his profile and his brother, Martin Hayes, was going to play the fiddle with a couple of other musicians, one on squeezebox and one on guitar. We made up our minds to go. Now Martin Hayes is an internationally renowned fiddle player and it was too good an opportunity to miss. The following is a little bit about him, so you can see the status of the man:

MARTIN HAYES is regarded as one of the most extraordinary talents to emerge in the world of Irish traditional music. His unique sound, his mastery of his chosen instrument – the violin – his acknowledgement of the past and his shaping of the future of the music, combine to create an astonishing and formidable artistic intelligence. He is the recipient of major national and international awards: most recently the prestigious Gradam Ceoil, Musician of the Year 2008 from the Irish language television station TG 4; previously Man of the Year from the American Irish Historical Society; Folk Instrumentalist of the Year from BBC Radio; a National Entertainment Award (the Irish ‘Grammy’); six All-Ireland fiddle championships - before the age of nineteen - and cited by the Irish Sunday Tribune as one of the hundred most influential Irish men and women in the fields of entertainment, politics and sports in the year 2000, as well as one of the most important musicians to come out of Ireland in the last fifty years. He has recorded two acclaimed solo albums, “Martin Hayes” (1993) and “Under the Moon” (1995) on the Green Linnet label. Martin Hayes is the Artistic Director of the Masters of Tradition Festival held in August each year at Bantry House in Bantry, West Cork, where Ireland’s most distinguished traditional musicians are invited to play in an exquisite chamber music setting. In January 2009, Martin Hayes will lead a group of Masters of Tradition musicians to the Sydney International Festival where they will perform at the Sydney Opera House for two nights.

A native of County Clare, to which he returns for extended periods several times a year, Martin Hayes has been based in the United States, now living in Connecticut, for the past twenty-three years. He has drawn musical inspiration from sources as diverse as the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, the Spanish viola da gamba master, Jordi Savall, and the jazz genius, John Coltrane, but remains grounded in the music he grew up with in his own locality, Maghera, Feakle, East County Clare where the music which he learned from his late father, P. Joe Hayes, the legendary leader of the long-lived Tulla Ceili Band, profoundly influenced his musical accent and ideas forever after. In his younger days he played in an experimental electric band in Chicago; recently he has composed scores for film, theatre, and modern dance, and has collaborated with like-minded musicians from other genres, such as jazz guitarist, Bill Frisell and eclectic violinist Darol Anger. He views these explorations as a means of shedding light on his ongoing artistic journey, as well as a challenge to any rigidity of thought. The fundamental artistic quest is to go deeper and deeper within traditional Irish music and himself.

It seemed the evening wouldn't start until about 11pm, which is normal for Irish events. We donned our glad rags and off we went about 10.30pm. Mary Leonard was there, a local we know through the Gort Show, so we sat with her. Martin Hayes was there but not playing and Joe and Hilary turned up shortly after our arrival (our neighbours). Pat Hayes eventually arrived and it was gone midnight before anything happened! Martin played his fiddle and it was, without doubt, breathtaking. We have seen quite a bit of live Irish music but his playing was something else, as you can imagine. What a privilege to watch him - and for free! Pat seemed a good egg and bought everyone in the pub a drink! We also had some rather splendid sandwiches and a fair amount of Irish dancing went on too. It was a great night, we were thoroughly entertained and all so totally unexpected. Jim took a few photos but it was a bit dark. I'll post them anyway:




Martin Hayes is in the white shirt















Martin and some of the dancers














More dancing. Look at the size of that chap's belly on the left. He could hardly move.








Jim also took a little video with his camera. The light wasn't strong enough but you can hear the sound and get a taste of the terrific atmosphere that there was.



We left about 2.30am and it was still going although the musicians had stopped by then. What a crazy place. There was one man propped up against the wall and he was fast asleep. I kept worrying that he would fall off his chair!

Jason, Jack and Kitty

In the Green household, Jason has put some photos on Facebook and I snaffled 2 of them! They are just wonderful:

Jason feeding Kitty. I don't know why it's so small









Jack and Kitty. Look at Jack's little face... aaah.











The Garden

With the sun out, the tortoiseshell butterflies were out today, feeding like crazy. I took a few photos:
























































I also took a lot of flower photos but maybe I'll keep them until tomorrow!


It was the final of Britain's Got Talent tonight and the much feted Susan Boyle came second and the thoroughly deserving winners were Diversity, a dance group of friends and relations. They were utterly brilliant throughout.

Buster

Buster was far too hot today. Here he is cooling by the bench on top of the Fairy Hill














Then he decided to walk off with a hedgehog ornament under the bench!
















Wind Farm

We can see a vast wind farm on top of the hills from our gate. It's not always clear but today it was, so I made a panorama:

I'm sorry it's small, please click on it to see the wind machines properly!

I also took a photo of the Tipperary hills from the meadow:

It's a bit of a poor join I'm afraid. The sky was wonderful.

Finally, this is Martin the farmer's field, bursting with buttercups.

Flowers tomorrow then!