Friday - flowers... A CATCH UP POST

The coptic is doing its worst and today we woke to a very grey and grim start with rolling mists circling the house when I rose this morning.  The forecast for today and tomorrow is not great and we have organised a WLB (work life balance) day with Lou and H tomorrow down at Latchi taking a picnic.  Accuweather is showing blustery showers so we will need to have a contingency arrangement if the prediction is accurate.

It was very blustery during the night and so I did a quick turn around the garden to see if there was any damage to be sorted.  Everything was fine, in fact we have some lovely blooms in the garden - the anemone do particularly well up here and the wirlygig osteospurmum have just come into flower with their strange folded petals tinged with shades of violet.

There is only one more storm left in the coptic calendar before we get a lull - the next one is at the end of April after that then the gazebos can go up without fear that they will be immediately torn to shreds which is what normally happens.  We will want the garden looking at its best for when we have our visitors come to stay so we have a few ideas about things we would like to do - time, money and weather permitting.

We had a fabulous session at pickleball this afternoon.  We were the full six as Liselotte had returned from Denmark earlier this morning.  I have devised a game rotation list which we all agree seems to suit everyone's requirements.  Until John and Liselotte shoot off to badminton we all get a chance to sit out but after than when it is just the other John, Mum, Diana and I we try and squeeze in three rotations without a break in between.  Liselotte remarked on how much Diana's game has improved in the two weeks that she has been away in Denmark.  She is right and Diana's game seemed to improve even more when she played with a decent paddle so I have been investigating the cheapest way of getting a good paddle over here for her.

Mum and I very quickly shot down to the Hair and Beauty shop as I wanted to try and find a nail varnish to wear when we go to the wedding - it is fatal in that shop because there are so many great things at good prices including Thorntons chocolates although sadly not their toffee this time.

Mum managed to find Dad some sunglasses - he has found the conditions in their sun room a bit bright and he is still recovering from his operation.  He goes for his checkup next Tuesday and we want to make sure all is well so sunglasses were the order of the day - he looks a bit like an aging drug dealer in his wrap arounds!!!  Anyway my lovely dad has bought for me a magnolia tree which should be ok up here in Droushia - the variety is Magnolia Susan which should apparently grace our garden with beautiful purple blooms.  I plan to grow it in a pot because apparently they do not like to have their roots disturbed so by growing it in a pot I can move it around to find the best location.  It needs a sunny sheltered spot so I have put it near the shower - I just need to make sure that new growth doesn't get burned by the wind.

The weather this evening was awful - thunder and lightning and a power cut.  We weren't too bothered as we have come to expect a loss of power when we get conditions like this.  We were well prepared with candles lit and the woodburner lit and our supper prepared in advance so that it was cooked and hot and ready for whenever we wanted to eat it.

John loves it when the house is battened down and cosy and warm and now that he has solved the problem with the rain coming in the front door a storm no longer fills us with dread.

Our house is most definitely a winter house and for that I am very grateful - no wearing layer upon layer upon layer and wrapping up in a duvet just to keep warm - we are more likely to be flinging the doors open because the wood burner can be seen from space!