Longer days are coming
Bright and sunny early dawns
Nature shrugs off winter
As it stretches and it yawns
Waking from a slumber
Dusting off the gloom
Time to come alive now,
To blossom and to bloom
Spring has brought new outfits
For all the naked trees
Flowers are making pollen
To please the busy bees
Birds are coming home now
It time to meet a mate
It looks like spring is coming
And I for one, can’t wait!
This week for TJ’s Household Haiku Challenge we are to use ‘teacup’. I took this photo at my sister’s house as she always makes an occasion out of it when she has visitors. In my house, you get a mug and like it, but hers you get a pretty cup and saucer and tea made in the teapot too!
So onto the haiku:
Glorious sunshine
sipping tea in the garden….
but where is the cake?
Thanks to the wonderful Ronovan for this week’s prompt words of ‘rise’ and ‘save.’ Mr Grump also contributed by giving me the subject as I was going to write this Haiku first:
“I need a pay rise”
“Forget it, you are fired!”
One way to save cash.
Instead, I have gone with this:
I know us Brits are always talking (or should I say moaning) about the weather. If we get a really hot day then we complain that we are exhausted,and can’t sleep because of the heat. We don’t like the rain, loathe the snow (especially as the whole country comes to a standstill) detest the wind, and our favourite, whinge about the cold.
Well in the last half and hour, we have had something for everyone! It started off quite mild and pleasantly warm, then suddenly the sky went really dark and we had an unexpected hailstorm (you can see in the pic the hail that settled on the top of the ledge in the garden).
That lasted for about 5 minutes then I noticed there was a lovely rainbow as the sun was starting to come out. (You can just see it between the trees)
I turned to the left and there was a lovely blue sky and fluffy white clouds as you can see.
Now everybody should be happy, as we have had the lot all in one go!
What a pleasant day it turned out to be today. As we have just had a Bank Holiday, and the kids are off on half-term, the weather forecast had been rather gloomy for this week (typical), so to see the sun shining this morning was a bonus.
Yesterday my younger sister had given me some cucumber and tomato seedlings, 2 sunflower seedlings and some sweet peas to put in my garden as Mr Grump has not planted anything this year. Luckily, the rosemary, chives and rhubarb we had previously as well as my roses, are doing pretty well, so our garden will not be too sparse this year after all!
Anyway, Miss Hap was out with her friend for the day so I got on with a bit of housework, but had a nice unexpected visit from my sister-in-law. We then went off to pick up my little sister from work and went back to her house to sit out in the garden for while.
My sister (Masterchef) likes to makes an occasion our of everything, we sat outside drinking Earl Grey tea from pretty china cups (she kept glancing over at me as I am usually not to be trusted with anything delicate due to my clumsiness) and tucking into a huge platter of cheese, gammon, feta cheese and biscuits.
It was so lovely sitting there chatting, as we rarely get to spend time with each other. The garden looked beautiful with the flowers and plants just coming to life, the sun was shining,and we all were laughing. It was such a simple pleasure, but gave me a much-needed boost to my mood!
Oh and when I got home I got sunburnt – but of course being me, it is only on the one arm! Classy! 🙂
Yesterday evening was unexpectedly pleasant, and after having a bit of a rough couple of weeks, in one way or the other, Mr Grump suggested we take the 5 minute walk down to the local pub, and take Roxy with us. She always loves an extra walk loves it when we sit outside at the pub as people quite often make a fuss of her.
We met up with Miss Hap who was with her friend at the park; she stayed long enough to cadge some money for some sweets, before deciding that the park was much more fun than sitting with us old gits and going back off to play.
As the back garden of the pub was packed, we sat at one of the two tables out the front which was like a little sun trap. There are a number of shops there as well as the vet’s surgery where Roxy goes to get her jabs when needed. (She is the only dog I know that loves the vets and tires to drag us in there every time we walk past).
Sure enough, when Mr Grump went in to get our drinks a little girl came over and made a huge fuss of Roxy which she loved. Mr Grump came out with the drinks and a couple of packets of my favourite steak crisps which Roxy is rather partial to as well.
As you can see by the photo, Roxy loves a drop of beer and Mr Grump let her have some of the froth from his, although I am sure she would have drunk the lot if he had let her! Luckily they both managed to walk home ok!
Well what a beautiful day we had today. The weather was surprisingly mild for April and following on from yesterday’s spring clean, I ‘persuaded’ Mr Grump to venture into the airing cupboard (with step-ladder) and get out my summer curtains. Yes, that is how optimistic I was feeling!
Mr Grump had also been bitten by the Spring Fever bug as he decided that it would be great to have a family BBQ tomorrow, so we sent out invites (via text of course), and set about the job of tidying up the garden.
A bit of scrubbing and maneuvering later and everything looked shipshape and ready for tomorrow, It was glorious to feel the sun on my back as I was outside in just a little vest top.It certainly makes me feel better when I see a bit of sunshine.
Around lunchtime we decided to hit the coast which is only a few miles away. It was so warm down there (even with the sea breeze) that we still didn’t need a coat. There were even 2 very brave little girls in the sea in swimming cossies. The dog and Miss Hap both wimped out of going in, although Miss Hap did stick her toe in!
Of course, being at the seaside you have got to have an ice cream (well if you are a child certainly), and Miss Hap had a double 99! I was going to get some chips but did not see any, so had a pancake instead! I had cheese garlic and it nearly blew my head off. God knows how much he put in there but it was at least 2 raw cloves. I must have stunk the car out on the way home, as I was the only one to have it. I felt a bit queasy myself as I kept getting a whiff of it!
We came home then called in on my younger sister (Mrs Masterchef) and her husband (Mr Musician) plus my niece was there (Ms Beauty).They were burning some garden rubbish so we sat outside around the fire until way after dark, before going indoors for a sing-song.
What a gorgeous day. It really does seem like spring is on its way!
What a glorious day today was! It was so sunny, and reasonably warm as well. I had already decided that I wanted to change my logo picture on my blog, so me, Mr Grump and Miss Hap set off to a lovely little village nearby to get some photos.
The pictures we took were of a traditional phone box (I like the one I had in the pic before but it was a stock photo and I wanted my own) which is situated right next to an old well. To me the phone box is quintessentially British, plus it is all about communication, both of which depicts me!
Anyway, we got a lovely load of photos and only a few strange looks (it was obvious we were not tourists, plus we were taking pictures of a phone box with mobile phones, which probably struck people as odd!
Next stop boring shopping which actually killed some of my good mood, I hate grocery shopping on Saturdays at the best of times. What makes me really cross is when I am looking for something on the shelves and someone plonks a great big foot right into my personal space, then follows it up with the rest of their body so we are almost nose to nose! Bugger off out of it, why don’t you!
On the way home I spoke to Mr Grump about maybe calling in on a nice pub to sit outside and enjoy the weather perhaps with a spot of lunch to go with it. we decided to drop the shopping in first, and as we turned into our road, we saw some odd woman waving madly at us to go first even though it was her right of way. Once we got home we realised this car was right behind us, and the mad woman was in fact my sister-in-law in her lovely new car!
It was so nice to see her and have a gossip and a catch up. She decided not to come with us as she had errands to do, We finished our cuppa then headed off to the pub in a little village a couple of miles away where my niece and her fiance were .
It was glorious there, we sat in the garden right next to the river which was populated with trout and other assorted fish.The sun was warm and bright, and there were quite a few families also enjoying the unexpected sunshine. It was by now quite a bit past lunchtime and myself and Miss Hap were starving so Mr Grump ordered some food for us.
After a while, I was greeted by the most enormous ham sandwich I had ever seen! Each slab of bread much have been an inch thick, containing a good quarter of a pound of hand-carved ham! A generous portion of dressed salad and (what seemed like) a whole packet of crisps completed the meal! Wow! Finally a place that does my kind of portions!
A couple of very pleasant hours ensued until my poor frozen body could take it no longer and it was time to go, (After all, it is still only March)! Yes spring is just around the corner!
Ahhh, spring is in the air. I do so love the fleeting, tantalising glimpses of sunshine that have been coming out to play, off and on. I love the daffodils that are just starting to bud, breaking the monotony of the brown landscape that is all around (that reminds me to chuck out the daffodils in the vase on the kitchen window sill as they have gone a bit brown and crispy now)!
I love the fact that I might be able to hang my washing outside on the line, and see it waving gently in the breeze (I do hope the weather doesn’t change before the washing cycle ends) as opposed to hanging limply in the shade all day only to be wetter when I take it in than when I hung it out!
I can’t wait to be able to wear less clothes, and not have to bother taking a coat. (Well, that is always a risk in England, even during the height of summer). Mind you, summer clothes means more skin exposed, which also means, I hope this bloody diet kicks in soon, and the weight drops off (I wish), so that I am all slim and lovely in my pretty summer dresses.(I can’t expect miracles, I know)!
I am looking forward to Mr Grump planting all sorts of things for us enjoy over the summer. (Well the rhubarb takes care of itself, the herbs have all gone a bit wild and woody over the winter, and pumpkins aren’t ready until the autumn!
He does so love to be pottering about in the garden; cursing and swearing as he tries to repair the fence (again) that has been swaying perilously during the winter, held up by popping heavy plant pots against it, and attaching one end to the shed with a carabiner. He loves the fact that the garden is slopey and therefore quite squidgy in places where it is waterlogged!
And for the big finale! The good old ‘Spring Clean’! Oh yes, this is the time of year that we all love. The poor house is quaking in its foundations at the thought of being strip-washed and exposed, whilst being scrubbed, polished and buffed into submission!
Ahh yes, I love the spring!
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