Emily x 2 Mended, Cold but Sunny

Brrrrr, it's been so cold lately. Stanley is struggling to cope and we seem to spend half our time sawing wood. Being such an old cottage we have draughts everywhere. Jim spent some time trying to stick tape over the holes in the kitchen ceiling! He hates heights but was very brave!




















Buster's 2 dolls, both Emily, have had a bit of a battering and needed repair. He pulls the stuffing out of them otherwise. I took pre and after mend photos! They are very grubby but he doesn't like it if they're washed!


Sad Emilys











Happy Emilys!











Jim made some marmalade using one of those tins of concentrate. Very yummy it is too. Then he washed up some of the mess:







Marmalade








What a multi talented husband I have!














We had an old pillow in the bathroom ready to wash. Buster decided it was a good place to sit while I have a bath. So I made a cover for the pillow, then another one and Buster thinks his new bed by the radiator is splendid! It's just behind my desk.


















Today it's been quite sunny on and off with showers of rain. We managed to get some of the willow fences trimmed. There is such a bright moon tonight that I worked until 6.30. I kept thinking of Oberon's line to Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream, 'Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania'. I played Titania in a production once. A fabulous part too.

Buster went for a walk about 5pm and has only just returned, after 9pm. We were both worried about him. He is off to the kennels tomorrow until Monday too. Anyway, he's back now. He bounces in without a care in the world, as if to say 'are you pleased to see me?' Both Jim and I say 'Where've you been?'

We had quite a downpour of rain and another gorgeous rainbow earlier.




Rainbow over Flagmount










Rainbow over the back of The Deenery











I managed to take this photo of the newly cleared area opposite the Fairy Hill before the rain started. It looks so much better.









Jim trimming the top of the small living willow fence





Here he's moved on to the long living willow fence. This is where I took over and carried on until 6.30pm








The cats are never far away from us. They're playing around the stream



















Buster looking across to Jim











When the rain started, we took refuge in the barn and cut some more wood. The sun was still shining, thus the rainbow. You can see the drops of rain.


The cold spell has seen off the cosmos, so I removed them from the arboretum flower beds and put them on the compost. One rather sad, lonely rose was trying to flower in the rose snake bed.















The bird table's been really busy. We've recently had blue, great and coal tits, chaffinches, greenfinch, goldfinch, sparrows and siskin visit. The black and white wagtails run along the conservatory roof catching insects and drive the cats mad! We also spent a while watching a goldcrest out of our bedroom window flitting around in the contorted willows.

Tomorrow it'll be getting ready for our early morning flight to the UK on Thursday. We return on Monday evening and pick Buster up on Tuesday morning.

My daughter's wife Luisa has been very poorly with asthma, in and out of hospital so please keep her and Kay and Rachel in your thoughts.