Morning everyone,
That salvia is beautiful, 2jays - another to add to the list! We popped into The Grosvenor Garden Centre yesterday, and I spent a little time amongst the herbs and looking at other possible plants for the garden project - that will really start to kick off next week, with a couple of meetings with staff at the college I'll be working with, and with me approaching a few places, existing garden projects, that I'm hoping will give us some advice and support to get our project off the ground. And a small wildflower area is definitely up for discussion as part of the garden, Red - the local council have planted up a few roadside areas with wild flowers, and apart from them looking gorgeous, the environmental impact has been really good - something that will appeal to both the college and funders (and me).
I've been to Flint Castle, JM - but not Rhuddlan!. Chirk and Boddlewythin were favourites with my kids when they were younger, especially Boddlewythin - they have a large room there, as you probably know, filled with puzzles and games from mainly the Victorian era, that visitors can play with, plus some dressing up stuff - kids heaven
Plus the maze, aviary and adventure type playground. Chirk I still love now, mainly for the gorgeous grounds there.
I'd love to see Evita, Slugsta. Hoping the rain didn't spoil the afternoon tea out - here, on Saturday we had a really lovely day - but yesterday was very wet, and for the first time in ages, I actually went for not only a jumper, but a coat too, when we went out.
Oldest and her bf are visiting - as I thought, both are enamoured with Luna, and I suspect that if they are able to move to a house after Christmas (the current plan) then a cockapoo is going to be top of their list to buy! They have wanted a doggy for a long time - dau describes herself as canine broody (!) - and have had many an argument over breeds, but Luna seems to have brought them to an agreement on the type of dog they want. Son and his GF are also dog hunting at the moment. Jessie, their dog, is missing Patch, the dog they lost a month or so ago, and she clearly loved being part of the pack here when they stayed recently - but fretted when she went home. So, they are visiting local shelters this weekend, and I am expecting a phone call or message anytime now to tell me that we are getting another granddog!
Things are (touch wood) really good with Mil at the moment. She is over the chest infection, though her breathing is still quite poor, but in herself - she is so fiesty and lively! More chatty than she has been for months. On Thursday when I visited I got a wonderful tale about how she had been on the 'telly, chatting with Eamon Holmes' that morning - he apparently interviewd her about Ireland and dogs (!) - its the first really detailed confabulation I've heard from her in a long time! I never thought I would see the day when I would consider her confabulating as a positive! Oldest and OH visited her yesterday, and they got a tale about one of the male residents who, Mil claimed, had been walking about all morning - naked! Sadly, the physical violence is still very much a feature - from a hug one moment, to her throwing her tea (complete with cup) at you the next. No warning, just from smiles to swearing in a split second. Physically, she is deteriorating, almost before your eyes - getting frailer, COPD really having an impact - but mentally, more alert and switched on than she has been for months.
Yesterday we headed to Chester with oldest and her partner. And I finally, finally, got the 600mm zoom lens thats been top of my wish list for 3 or 4 years now - just in time for our holidays. Its most definitely a specialist lens, designed for wildlife, birds and so on, so not an every day lens, and it weighs as much as my camera again - but I cannot wait to get to grips with it (so to speak) and see what a difference it makes when I get the chance to use it!
We did a zoo trip on Saturday (would have bee a great chance to try out the new lens, actually!) first time in months and months that we have been. So I'll end by sending everyone lots of love, and with a few pics. Enjoy whats left of the BH weekend everyone xxxxx
A Prevost Squirrel
Mamma Oran and her baby
One of my favourites - anteater
Cheetahs
Black Jag
And a really sleepy Ural owl, that just yawned non stop - and set us all off yawning too
