Friday Smiles 2025 # Week 51

Well here we are at the last post for this year. My son is arriving from Denmark for a long weekend on Boxing day so I know I will not be doing a post then.

I have so much to smile about  so here goes looking back at last week. I spent all day Saturday at my son's house, borrowing his oven to make six dozen mince pies. As you probably know it is part of my Christmas tradition to make lots of mince pies and as I give most of them away, I couldn't wait for my new oven to get baking, though I do hope to make a few more in my new kitchen over the weekend. My son, Mike also had two of his grandsons for the day, Alfie who is almost eleven and Reuben who is three, and it was lovely as I don't get to see them that often. I didn't know Mike had taken this photo of me while I was busy in the kitchen.

We arrived back in Oswestry in time to watch a Tractor Illuminati roll through the town. It was quite a spectacle. One hundred and five tractors with a few other farm machinery, mustered at the cattle market and drove slowly through the town and out to a few villages, each one dressed in many bright lights, plus reindeer, santas, snowmen etc. It was very noisy as along with the engine noises they all had blaring horns and several chose to play the 'baby shark' song as they rolled along. It is a reminder than we are again living in a semi-rural area. Oswestry is a lot bigger than Los Gallardos, but it is still surrounded by fields and farming.

During the evenings I have been doing the final edges to my crochet. This is not a good photo as it still needs to be blocked, so it doesn't hang properly yet, but it is the best I can do for now. 

Our son Ben came over for the day yesterday and he assembled the bed settee we have bought. It fitted nicely into the space I made in my room, even when it is extended to make a double bed. And it is somewhere for me to sit if I need a break from the computer or crafting, as well as somewhere for occasional visitors to sleep.

The kitchen is almost finished. I should have taken a photo this morning while it was relatively clear but I took these this afternoon. All the cupboards and work tops are in place. The oven, hob and microwave are installed and connected so I can use them. Under the window there is a sink fitted with a 'quooker' tap that delivers cold, hot or boiling water, so I can make a quick cup of tea without boiling the kettle! Today Dave, the builder, and Pete, the electrician, managed to move our big American style fridge/freezer out of the sitting room and into its housing next to the oven unit. Today is all about the tiling. It would have been done yesterday but they sent the wrong tiles, so we had to wait for new ones to arrive this morning. Dave will be back tomorrow to finish putting them up and he'll pop in on Monday to grout them.  My 'extra' that was a last minute idea is the splashback behind the hob. I sent my favourite photo of sunrise over the park, to a company that printed it onto glass. Their service was quick and efficient and I love it. You can sort of see it in the photo but the hob is covered with a protective layer while the tiles go up, and the splashback is partly hidden behind one of Dave's tools. The bare walls and ceiling will be painted after Christmas, when the utilty is done too. But I am very grateful to Dave who promised he would do his best to give me a working kitchen by Christmas, and he has done that.

One of my sisters who is 91 in February, is staying with her daughter in Wolverhampton for Christmas, and on Monday Jo is driving her over here for a day visit. I am really looking forward to seeing her again. I might even be able to bake a cake in my new oven for her.

And that is it for this week, and indeed for this year. I am sorry I didn't manage to do much visiting last week, but am grateful that you still popped over to my blog, and I will be able to do better this week I think. Though my weekend may be taken up with cleaning out the cupboards and moving things up from the cellar, and from my temporary kitchen in the utility, I am sure I will get here at some time.

So I will finish by wishing you all a Very Happy Christmas and a New Year full of Promise.

And of course, one more photo of a lovely sunrise over the park.

Firday Smiles 2025 # Week 50

Today my post is mostly about Christmas. And I love Christmas so there is plenty to smile about. 

When we were in Spain I often said how traditional their fiestas were, with everything staying much the same each year. But the last few years we saw some small elements disappear so the fiestas were slightly smaller. The old folk are getting older, and the young ones have too many other distractions, but I think their traditions will still continue for years to come. Here in Oswestry we have our own traditions, but here they are growing year on year, and what we saw last weekend was immense compared with what happened before we left.

The first Friday in December is always late shopping night. Lots of small business stay open well past the usual closing time here of 5.00-5.30, and they used to be brightened up by a band on the main square, and a few food stalls along the streets. Now however it is a full scale fairground in two big car-parks and along the main road. There were heart-stopping rides for those who love such things, (I feel anxious just seeing them!). The market street was full of stalls selling everything from burgers, to scotch eggs, to cakes and cookies, and even one with churros and chocolate - a must at any Spanish fiesta!

Sadly it rained fairly persistantly all evening but that didn't deter the crowds, and it was quite a challenge to get through them. But the atmosphere was happy, and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

This was followed on Saturday morning by the annual Christmas parade. Run by the local Rotary club, this had grown from a handful of lorries with excited children on them, to a proper carnival parade with floats reresenting local sports clubs, nursery schools, and trades. Again the crowds were out in force, eager to catch the candy thrown from the floats, and small wrapped portions of cheese from the Cheese Company float. The last float always carrys Santa.

Sunday was a red day as over 500 Santas mustered on the square ready for the 5K santa run. YTheir entry fee provided them with a running number and a santa suit. They ranged from serious runners, to dog walkers (joggers), to young folk pushing pushchairs. We saw them off and walked back home across the path, just in time to see the last few runners passing our house. 

One of the fastest runners is dressed as The Grinch and anyone who makes it to the finishing line before him gets a free breakfast. I haven't heard whether anyone managed it.

All in all it was a good start to Christmas for Oswestry.

Apart from that we have mainly stayed home, watching our kitchen slowly emerging and becoming a reality. On Monday the fixtures arrived. We do not have easy access to the house so most pieces were brought in along the back alley and through the utility area. But the last piece was huge and the alley wasn't an option so the builder and delivery man together managed to bring it up our not very easy front steps and through the narrow hallway.

The cupboards were all ready assembled at the factory, so they were piled up wherever there was a space. I am glad I wasn't the one to sort them out.

Now most are in place and by tomorrow they will be fixed. Next week the appliances will arrive. Work will finish next Friday for the holiday break, but Dave has promised to have it all in working order for us for Christmas. In the new year he will be back to do all the finishing touches, and make a start on the utility.

Amid the choas of kettle and mugs in the sitting room, later than usual dinners when the workmen have left for the day and I can get through to the back kitchen etc, I did manage to get all my cards and a Round Robin letter written and delivered or posted by Monday. 

And I have worked one side border on my crochet with the second one in progress. So maybe we will have a slightly easier week next week. Only one more post to go this year. I don't suppose many folk will be writing on Boxing Day. So see you all next week.

Friday Smiles 2025 # Week 49

So here we go again. I do declare the days are passing so fast I can't keep up with them. But I have a few 'smile worthy' things to write about  so let's have a quick look at the past week.

Our days are marked by which set of workers might be popping in, and they have all been quite busy this week. The plasterers have done a super job and the walls are so smooth now. The electrician has  installed the ceiling spot lights so we  can all see what we are doing now, and the floor has been sealed and levelled, and the first couple of tiles are down. The rest will follow tomorrow.

I was determined to get my decorations out so the rather skimpy little tree is now well dressed and looks quite good.

My wreaths are up at the front door and on the walls, my 'Willow tree' nativity looks good on the mantlepiece, and my light-up scenes from last year survived the packing and stand at either end of it.

I sent these photos to my son Tom in Denmark. I visited him one Christmas and found all the shops sold gnomes; very few Santas and no nativity characters, but lots and lots of gnomes. Of course I brought a few back with me and they show their faces each Christmas for a few weeks.

On Wednesday Chris had an eye appointment at Shrewsbury hospital, so I went with him in case his sight was a bit blurry after the treatment. It was about an hour on the bus, but it was warm and comfortable, and I took the opportunity to get my bearings. Then there was a brisk walk to the hospital and a lot of waiting around as Chris was tested, then waited to see the doctor.  Once we got out we walked round to the other side of the building, and my these hospitals are big!, where we caught a bus into the town centre.

As we walked into the first shopping mall we were greeted by this light bauble and immediately it felt like Christmas. 

Then I spoted this display of polar bears. I have a soft spot for bears, so I had to stop to take a photo. 

We did a bit of shopping and found some tasty lunch, and then we walked through the shops and out onto the main road. Here we had to walk aroud the legs of this huge reindeer, with his name tag a mash up of his home town and tradition. 

After that we went back to the bus for the drive home. I enjoyed getting out of the house for a while, and during the day the builder had spread the sealant on the floor which couldn't be walked on until the next day, so it was a good day to be away from home.

I said last week that I would try to finish joining all my little crocheted motifs, and last night I did just that. It is such a joyful riot of colour. I really like it. It was joined by crocheting with a slate grey yarn, and now I have a lot of ends to sew in, so that is tonights work sorted. Then it will need to be stretched and steamed to get it properly square and then have a border worked. So it is not quite done, but the end is in sight. 

And so is the end of my post for today. I hope everyone is enjoying the run up to Christmas, and not getting too stressed about it all.  I'll be back with the next installment, next week.

Friday Smiles 2025 # Week 48

The weeks do fly past, and here we are approaching the end of yet another month. I wasn't  sure I had anything to write about , but there is always something to smile about, so here goes.

Firstly for those who weren't sure, the lovely pink and yellow rose I posted last week, is indeed the Peace rose, bought in memory of my mum. Chris has done a further big tidy up of the front garden so we are ready to plant the roses as soon as we have a dry day when the ground is not frozen!

And talking of frozen ground, on Monday we woke up to a park white with frost, and this time it was a hard frost that lasted for most of the day. The grass was so hard that folk were cutting across it on their way into town, instead of using the foot path that goes all the way around the park. It is a short cut we have used many times but it has been too muddy to cross most days just lately. Again the sun came up for a while and cast shadows of the trees across the land. So lovely. Sorry for all the photos of the park, but next summer I shall do a scrapbook page of the park through the year, so I can't help taking snaps every day.

The builders have been hard at this week. The ceiling and alcove cupboard are now plaster-boarded and the walls have a coat of "blue/green grit" which apparently seals everything up nicely and they will be back on Monday to skim plaster all over it. 

Then the builder will be back to do the floor. It has to be cleaned and a levelling material laid and then the new tiles can go down. We have one tile here that the supplier brought round to make sure he ordered the right one. It is propped up against the wall in the hall. As you can see they are big tiles so there won't be too many joins to try and keep clean.

I have been continuing with my crocheting in the evenings and am now joining up all my little coloured motifs. It is a tedious job and needs some concentration, but hopefully it will be finished soon. Then I need to block it, and work the border. I will try to get a photo for next week. I have found a sort of 'knit and natter' group though it is not quite like my one in Spain. The group is called Oswestry Makes, and they meet twice a month in the library foyer on a Wednesday afternoon, twice a month on Wednesday mornings at a place called the Climate Hub in the centre of town, and once a month on a Saturday afternoon at a local art gallery. Some of the ladies only go to one of these groups, some go to all, and some just pop into whichever one is convenient for them. So it will take me a while to get to know everyone. So far I have only been to the library group, but on Saturday I am going to the Willow Gallery to help another lady try some crochet.

My son Ben came over on Sunday afternoon and stayed overnight. He helped me move some furniture in my craft room so there is now a space to take a double bed-settee, ready for his next visit, or anyone else who wants to stay overnight. On the Monday we went to a big garden centre. It was always one of my favourite palces to visit when I lived here before. I was sad to see it had changed hands, and the Christmas displays were nothing like as good as they used to be, but it was still nice to look around.

I love my Christmas decorations, and always get them out the first weekend in December, and leave them up until 12th night, on 6th January. But this year I have very little space, and will have to be much firmer with myself. Our big double fridge-freezer is currently in the sitting room until the kitchen is ready for it, so I cannot have my usual big tree, but I was determined to have something all the same. I managed to find a little 4ft tree, (artificial), with white lights already attached. It looks a bit sad right now, but time I have finished putting my favourite, and special decorations on it, I am sure it will look fine. Update picture next week.

But for now I will close, and get back to making some quick and easy Christmas cards.

Friday Smiles 2025 # Week 47

Having checked and double checked, I have decided that this really is week 47! Hence I have been numbering wrongly ever since I had a break a few weeks back. So this is my second post titled week 47. (Might as well get it right before the year ends).

We woke up to frost across the grass in the park today. That's a first here. The water in my bird bath is still frozen. But it was a bright sunny morning, so while I ran some errands, Chris did a bit in the front garden, cutting down a small shrub that is very deseased, and also tackling the catoneaster that is growing throughout the back and front gardens. It was all along the front of the house and was very neglected so it was full of dead branches and rotting leaves. We want it gone because we have just ordered some rose bushes and there will be a pink climbing rose on either side of the window. They have been dispatched and are on the way to us. I have also ordered the Peace rose I promised mum I would have in my garden. It is a more meaningful way to remember her than occasionally visiting her grave, (not really within visiting distance for me anyway). I am sure I will be talking to her most days by her rose.

Some more of the cotoneaster is growing in three places along the back garden wall. They all looked much the same when we moved in, but now one has lost most of its berries, but has dense green foliage, one has lost its berries and the leaves are mostly  yellow now, and the one in the middle is bright red with its overload of berries. A big blackbird comes to sit at the top of it and feast himself. Yesterday the bush was caught in a shaft of sunshine and it shone out like a beacon. We won't be cutting that one down until the winter is over.

Walking through the park I felt quite sad to see all the bare trees. Even our favourite little red tree has lost its leaves now. But one tree, though leafless, is covered in small bunches of pink blossom and it is so pretty. I took a couple of pictures so I could ask Google lens to identify it, and apparently it is Viburnam.

Our workmen arrived on Monday and we now have the fire taken out, and the alcove cupboard removed. As the builder is also a plumber he has brought water pipes down from the bathroom to feed the new sink, and removed a radiator which will be sited further along the wall once the plasterers have been in.

When he took up the carpet we found the floor was covered in very old red and black tiles in a checker-board pattern. If they had been in better condition we might have kept them, but several are chipped or broken, and the floor is not level, so it will be treated with a levelling gel, and our new chosen tiles will be layed on top of them.

The electrician was also here and he has chased in the wiring for all the new sockets, and made holes all over the ceiling ready for the spot lights.

We are in limbo now as the plasters are needed next and they are not available until next Wednesday. So we have to be patient. At least the work is underway now.

And that is about it for this week. I will try to send my link round in the morning.

Friday Smiles 2025 # Week 47

I expect for many of us, this week started with a service of remembrance on Sunday, or an armistice parade on Tuesday. We went for the Sunday service held at the front park gates. We walked round in the dry, but it had started to drizzle before we went home. There was a good crowd and the local  Porthywaen silver band provided music for the hymns and played the Last Post and Reveille.

Afterwards many folk placed a wreath on the park gates.

I have spent many November Sundays at this event while one son played trombone in the band, and the younger boys were on parade as scouts and cubs. I used to put extra layers of clothes underneath  their uniforms as it was often colder than it was this year, and they had to stand there for so long. I was pleased to see they now have warm, matching fleeces or jackets, which is a lot more sensible.

Monday dawned with a lovely sunrise. As I drew the main curtains this is what I saw. Of course I reached for my camera though it is hard to catch the full beauty of a scene.

The low sun cast long shadows across the grass and it was very peaceful.

As the sun rose higher it sent shafts of brightness between the branches.  The wall at the bottom of this picture is our front wall so you can see how close to the park we are.

Soon the sun was right up and shining brightly through the trees. The little red tree in the centre of the grass is a favourite of ours, and of our son. It holds on to its leaves longer than the others (except for the oaks), and it has turned a lovely deep red. The sun sent a shaft of light across it almost like a spotlight high-lighting it.

We walked across the park to our son's house just a few minutes away, so we could meet our new grand-daughter, Niamh Violet. (Niamh is an Irish name and is  pronounced Neeve). She is beautiful, just like a little doll. She was so contented and didn't so much as squeak all morning. I cuddled her for ages, and even Grandad had a little hold. Even with all the picking up and putting down she didn't stir. I hope she stays that way for a while, so her mum Ella can get some housework done and have time to rest. 

Ella sent me some comparison photos of her with her big sister Aisling, who is so excited to have her little sister at last, and they are like 'two peas in a pod'. But so far they do not have the same temperament.

It will be such a joy to watch her grow. I didn't meet Aisling until I came over for her first birthday, so I missed all the stages they go through.

My oldest grand-daughter Emma, lives on the outskirts of Oswestry and she popped over last night for a couple of hours. We put the world to rights and caught up on all the news of her three boys. It was lovely to spend some quality time with her.

The rest of the week has been rather wet, though not too cold, and we have only gone out when we really needed to.

But we did spend one afternoon at the company who are going to build our new kitchen. We checked out the details of the appliances we will have, and confirmed our choices of colour etc for the cupboards, walls and floor. They are hoping to make a start on the work next week. There are so many men to be co-ordinated, but the first step is to the strip the floor and walls, and wire in where the sockets etc will be. Then the plumber will do his bit and the plasterers will make good the walls.  I think the floor is next and then the cupboards and work surfaces. They have said they will just work on the back room which will be the kitchen so they can hopefully finish it before Christmas. Then we will be first on the list in the new year to have the utility room stripped and fitted out to match the kitchen. So I can continue to use the utility to cook in, as I do now, while the first phase is being done. Then I can move into the new kitchen while they work on the second room. It is all very exciting.

I will publish this in the morning and try to get it linked up with everyone else. It is not so easy now we don't link through Annie, but I don't want to lose touch with my blog-land friends.

My Friday Smiles 2025 # Week 46

There is not a lot of news this week, but I did have a lovely meet up with an old friend from Spain. Chris and her husband Phil returned to UK a few years ago, mainly for health and declining mobility problems, but we have kept in touch by video calls and this week she had a hospital appointment near us so we arranged to meet in town. I didn't invite her here as I knew she couldn't manage the front steps , nor the stairs up to the bathroom, so we met at 'The Old Schoolhouse', a small but cosy café/restaurant in the grounds of the big parish church near here. It had been highly recommended to us, and we enjoyed a nice lunch while we chatted and caught up on all our news. Just before they had to leave, my Chris took this photo of us which I know my friend Chris will share around others from Spain that she has kept in touch with.

I did manage to do some more crafting this week, and the pile of cut out pieces I showed last time, are now a set of 12 Christmas cards. They are basically all the same design with some small differences in layout and backgrounds. Now I am working on a new design to make another batch from.

My walk through the park to the shops is now very autumnal, with the ground carpeted with leaves in every shade of green, gold and red, and the trees are looking barer. You can see a squirrels drey up in the branches of this one. 

I chatted to one of the groundsmen this week. He spends every day sweeping the leaves off the grass because it ruins it if they are left to rot there. He told me his team aim to have them all cleared by Christmas when most of the trees will be completely bare.

My real news this week is that we have a new grand-daughter, born at 11.15 this morning. I won't share a photo or her name yet as I haven't asked her family if it is OK to do so, but maybe next week I can. It is lovely to have another little girl in our male dominated family, and I can't wait to have a cuddle.

My Friday Smiles 2025# Week 45

Well I am back this week. I am still plagued with a bad cough, but I feel much better than I did last week.

My post today is mainly about the weekend I had in London a fortnight ago as I wasn't up to writing about it last week.

We caught the train up to London on Friday morning. We managed to get a train that went all the way from Gobowen (the nearest station to Oswestry) to Birmingham New Street. There we had to change and take the five minute walk to Birmingham Moor street to get a second train to Marylebone Station, and another short walk to  Baker Street. Then the underground took us to our son's place in Sydenham. Our son Jim actually came to meet us at Marylebone as there were cancellations on some lines and he wasn't sure we would find the best way on to him. It sounds a bit of a mission, and although it is not a huge distance it does seem to take up a whole day, but we had good seats on all the trains, (they need to be forward facing for me!), so we were quite comfortable.

We spent Friday evening with the family and Saturday morning. But Saturday evening we went to a lovely wedding celebration party by Crystal palace. These two dear friends were married with a small group of family members to support them, last month, so this was a party for all the friends and wider family. 

There were well over a hundred of us there  and it was lovely to sit and chat with friends old and new. We knew David and Darren from my church in Spain, but they came back to UK over a year ago and happen to live very close to our son. My special friend Margie and her husband, who also returned to UK a year ago, were there, and Dawn who still lives in Spain came with her daughter, so we were able to have a good catch up and it was lovely to see them all again.

Sunday again was a family day for us and we went out for a lovely meal at a nearby cafe/restaurant that has quite a special menu.

It was my birthday on Friday, and for my present Chris had booked two tickets to see Les Misérables at the Sondheim Theatre on the Monday evening. He was not interested in going himself so my daughter-in-law Jo came with me. And it was all I hoped for. The theatre was beautiful. We had seats in the front row of the upper circle so it was a long way down to the ground floor seating. We made sure to arrive early so it looked quite empty when I took this, but every seat was filled by the time the show started.

This rather beautiful ceiling and chandelier were immediately above us, and from our elevated position we could easily see the whole stage.

I love all the music. The songs are familiar to me because when I was in the choir in Spain, we sang a long medley encompassing most of them, which took up half the programme for a concert. I wanted to sing along with them on Monday night, but I managed not to spoil it for those sitting around me!

At the end of the show we took photos from the front of the theatre. It always amazes me how busy the street of London are at any time of night. This was getting on for midnight and it was quite wet, but the trafiic never stops and the pavements are crowded.

We decided to go home by bus as there is one that goes from there all the way to the stop outside our son's house. So we strolled along to the stop and on the way we passed the M&M shop. I couldn't resist going in and had to take a photo of this rainbow array of M&Ms. Who knew there were so many colours made, and different flavours too.

Anyway we got on the bus and settled down as we knew it would be almost an hour's journey. But on the way there was a problem with the side door and wheelchair ramp, and we ended up having to all get off and wait for a replacement bus to come along. But we made it home in the end, and I had a goody bag of programme, T-shirt and fridge magnet to remember my special evening out.

We travelled home of Tuesday and I knew by then that I was not 100% and I ended up spending a few days in bed, or huddled in my red furry 'oodie' in a chair, while Chris did the shopping and laundrette run. Now he has the cold, and I am a bit better, so I am back shopping and I did the laundrette run today. It will be good when the kitchen is done and I have a washing machine again, but we are managing without so far.

This is half term week for the children but I haven't encouraged visiting by any of the children as I don't want to share my cold with them. But on Sunday our son Jonathan came around with his hedge trimmer and did a great job cutting the shrub that grows all over the back gate, and also the holly hedges on either side of the front garden. 

Yesterday our son Mike came round and took all the bags of trimings away to the tip. We do have a garden waste bin now but it only gets emptied once a fortnight so it would take ages to off-load all the bags we have, so taking several to the tip was a great help. 

Mike was going to visit sooner. He works in a school so has half term off too, but on the day we returned from London, his own son who is 18, (maybe 19 now!), was taken to hospital with appendicitus. He had an operation the next day so Mike's half term was taken up with driving to and fro between his Home and Shrewsbury hospital. But Finlay is back home now and he is making a good recovery. The NHS gets a lot of flack these days but Mike and Fin couldn't say enough about the fast and efficient treatment he had.

I have managed to come up here to do a little bit of crafting the last couple of days and have been busy cutting out, frames, robins and holly, ready to assemble a run of a dozen Christmas cards tomorrow. I am usually making a few all through the year, but of course this year that hasn't happened, so I am making a batch of just a couple of designs, so that I have enough for immediate friends and family at least.

And that is my fortnight catch-up. I hope things will all be back on track by next week.

My Friday Smiles 2025 # Week 43

For anyone who comes looking for my weekly post, I am sorry there isn't one this week. After a lovely long weekend in London, I find myself with a head full of cotton wool due to a bad cold, so I did not venture up to my computer to write a blog post or for anything else. 

I will write about my weekend next week when I am sure I will be fighting fit again.

My Thursday Smiles 2025 Week 42

Thursday again, and I am doing a quick post. Later I need to pack a case ready for a long weekend in London. 

It has been a bit chilly and overcast this week so last night we gave in and lit the fire in the sitting room for the evening. We are not using the central heating until we get back after the weekend, just in case there are any problems, but the fire was just right to make the room cosy.

I have managed some crafting this week. Of course I wanted to try out the exhaust box for my laser cutter so I made these two little angels.

I have since made a set of six of them , and also two of these hearts. I made these previously from paper but thought wooden ones would be more durable.

Despite my decision to buy as little craft equipment and materials as possible now, (I have enough to last me three life times as least!), I did buy a new set of pens this week. Even as a child I loved having a new set of colouring pencils or pens, and as soon as these arrived I sat with them balanced on my knee while I filled in the colour chart they provided. These are acrylic paint pens which I have never used before, and they are lovely to use. They are very smooth and for a block of solid colour they are perfect. I am not sure how well they would blend but I haven't tried that yet. I bought them to add colour detail to some of my wood cuts and for that they work very well.

Chris has been busy in the garden tackling a variegated ivy that had swamped our out buildings. It was tough work and at the minute he is managing with secteurs, but he got it down. The debris has filled two bins so far and there is still some to be done. We decided to leave some ivy at the bottom as it is more attractive than the brick wall, but at least we can nearly access the shed door now. We still have to cut back next door's climber that crept over their fence but that can wait for another day.

The birds seem to like the well pruned tree across the road from us. After the rain, the grass in the park is covered with worm casts and the crows come in every evening to have a good fill. They like to perch on the very top cut branches of the tree to survey the area before swooping down to ground level.

I said I was looking forward to seeing the colours of autumn in the trees and this week they  have been shining everywhere. Sadly some dropped their leaves very quickly but there is still plenty of colour across the park, because there is a wide variety of trees over there. So here is a collage of some of the trees.

As I write this, my cutter is working away next to me. It has nearly finished so it is time for me to sign out and get our lunch, so I am ready to find a suitcase this afternoon.