HOW COMPLEX THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IS I've copied this amusing little rhyme from a 'Forward' I recently received from a friend. I don't know who compiled it, so I can't attribute credit.... You may already be acquainted with it, but for those who have not, here goes.... We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes, But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes. One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese, Yet the plural of moose should never be meese. You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice, Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice. If the plural of man is always called men, Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen? If I speak of my foot and show you my feet, And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet? If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth, Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth? Yet hat in the plural would never be hose, And the plural of cat is cats, not cose. We speak of a brother and also of brethren, But though we say mother, we never say methren. Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him, But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim! There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; Neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England. We find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fing, Grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, What do you call it? If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English Should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?

We have noses that run and feet that smell.

We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway. And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, While a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? We ship by truck but send cargo by ship... We have noses that run and feet that smell. We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway. And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, While a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language In which your house can burn up as it burns down, In which you fill in a form by filling it out, And in which an alarm goes off by going on. And in closing.......... If GrandFather is Pop, how come GrandMother's not Mop.??? Have a good week everyone Marion

A HAPPY NEW YEAR....

Another year I enter

Its history unknown;

Oh, how my feet would tremble

To tread its paths alone!

But I have heard a whisper,

I know I shall be blest;

"My presence shall go with thee,

And I will give thee rest."

What will the New Year bring me?

I may not, must not know;

Will it be love and rapture,

Or loneliness and woe?

Hush! Hush! I hear His whisper;

I surely shall be blest;

"My presence shall go with thee,

And I will give thee rest."

Unknown Author

The promise of Spring has already arrived here in a village garden, these daffodils have been in bloom since November.... always early. I took a stroll around my own garden yesterday and saw that already a few primroses are in flower, the peonies are pushing their red shoots through the soil and a clump of yellow poppies have survived from last summer.

As most of us will have thoughts about starting this new year with a little more exercise included in our day I thought I'd share this amusing rhyme that caught my eye recently.

Push your luck

Stretch your income

Raise your eyebrows

Run to the toilet

Jump to conclusions

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

Marion

ADVENT...

The season has changed, days are shorter and nights are longer, we are now into the spiritual season of Advent, a period of preparation, waiting and hope. The third candle of our Advent wreath was lit on Sunday .

There are many other decorations that we put around our homes and traditions we follow at this time of year that are symbolic of this season.... nativity scenes, the Advent calendar, carol singing, Christmas plays, Christmas cards, the Christmas tree aglow with sparkling decorations... and not least that significant star at the top. We light up our homes with candle light and place lighted decorations in our windows... our streets and department stores sparkle, we surround ourselves with light. So let us not forget the real meaning of Christmas... it is not just about tinsel and presents...let us share the true spirit as we remember ‘Jesus is the reason for this Christmas season’.

The first snow of winter has fallen on the mountain and smoke curls up from many cottage chimneys as fires are lit. The coal and log man are frequent visitors to the village now delivering winter fuel.

We usually take a delivery of good seasoned logs in October and amongst this year's load we spotted a number of birch logs... I know that some wood burns better than others, and not having burned birch before I set about to search the internet and came upon this little rhyme that tells all..

The Woodman's Poem

Beechwood flames are bright and clear,

If logs be kept a year.

Oaken logs burn steadily

If the wood be old and dry.

Chestnut is only good they say,

If long dry years it's laid away

But Ash when new or Ash when old,

Is fit for a Queen with a crown of gold.

Birch and Fir they burn too fast

Blaze too bright and will not last.

Build a fire of Elder tree,

Death within your house you'll see.

If you would bake the sweetest bread,

Use Hawthorn, or so 'tis said.

But Ash when green or Ash when brown,

Will please a Queen with a golden crown.

Elm will burn like churchyard mould,

Even the very flames are cold.

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,

Burns your eyes and makes you choke.

Applewood will scent your room,

With the scent of flowers in bloom.

But Ash when wet or Ash when dry,

A Queen may warm her slippers by.

Well now you know.... We'll be looking out for Ash wood logs in future.

The boxes of Christmas decorations have been pulled down from the loft. How many of you are like me I wonder and follow the same ritual every year of placing certain items in the same position. This rustic nativity scene is always set out on top of the writing bureau...

...the stone one is always placed in the oriel window... do they look their best there or is it my lack of imagination in finding a new place for them?

The garland is always hung on the central beam... but I do think that is the right place for it.

I may have a change around if time and energy permit, but if not, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Thank you for the e-mails and comments I've received. John and I are recovering well.

The valley and snowcapped mountains look tranquil in the winter sunshine. However, the Met Office has issued a warning to prepare for the windiest week of the year with heavy rain moving over Wales and the likelihood of damage. So its batten down the hatches folk!

Take care, keep warm and stay safe - Marion

AUTUMN BEAUTY....

Autumn time comes swiftly

With red and brown and gold,

And leaves us joyful memories

To cherish and to hold

It fills our world with colour

And magic every day,

So take the glow the autumn gives

Before it slips away

(Iris Hesselden)

Days have become cooler and daylight hours shorter, whilst the colour of autumn leaves have surged into that final finale before falling to decay. I like to think that this wonderful display of colour is God's assurance to us that after the death and decay in garden and countryside, lies His promise of the future.... the promise of spring time and re-birth..... a sweet time to look forward to.

During October we have enjoyed some spectacular dawns, it's that precious time before the sun itself appears.... when the eastern sky begins to lighten and the mountains are silhouetted against an ever changing glorious light.

Morning has broken, like that first morning......

I intended to post two more of our beautiful church kneelers earlier in September.....

I think this one depicts the end of summer so well.... a cornfield with poppies.

Another beautiful summer scene so skilfully stitched, it could so easily be a picture of a sandy bay on our Welsh coast.

Now I invite you into my little summer house, I've shown many pictures of it from the outside, but not so many inside. It is a colourful, restful little haven and well stocked with books, magazines and writing material. I'm always looking for extra space to store such things, so John installed these useful little shelves each side of the door way.

At one end there is this small dresser which holds Mother's cottage ware and her wild game plates.

The birdcage was a charity shop find.

Back to autumn colours.... the cotoneaster has been spectacular this year.... a winter feast in store for the birds.

You can always rely upon a magnificent autumnal display of colour from the Virginia Creeper... it truly is amazing how its leaves morph from summer time green to reddish orange and shades of burgundy.

Rosy apples..... another post I had in mind to write and include this picture to celebrate Apple Day on 21 October. Not wasted though, it fits perfectly here.

This pergola is a shady place on a hot day, the Virginia Creeper grows dense along with honeysuckle and white jasmine

Apples fall so dangerously close to the greenhouse.... and accidents have happened!

Cabbages and purple sprouting broccoli have been planted under the cloches to protect them from the white cabbage butterfly. The runner bean stick have now been taken away and surplus beans sliced and stored in the freezer....

A colourful tub of begonias, the flowers last until the first frosts.

Lily Picasso is a beauty and has given much joy this year.

The months of September and October have held both sad and anxious times for the family. My son Christopher had two lots of surgery on a severe back injury, recovery is slow.... there have been two deaths.... John had surgery six weeks ago, he is doing fine now and on Tuesday, I am to be admitted for surgery too.

Blessings to all my blogging friends, I'll catch up with you again soon.

Marion

LOOKING BACK ON SUMMER....

Before we leave this season too far behind, I invite you to join me on a little tour of my garden on this sunny day....

Come up the steps and see the decking and balcony we built last year, it has been of great benefit and a joy to use... whether we are enjoying the morning sun with a cup of coffee or surveying the view across the village.

Having the French doors flung wide open has been like an added extension to my kitchen, particularly on a warm day like this... when a refreshing breeze gently wafts through.

Kenzo enjoys this new way in and out of doors too...

Although Privet is usually used as a hedging screen, we've allowed this one to grown into a tree. It is massive and in late spring/early summer it is always smothered in clusters of creamy flowers, their perfume fills the garden and the house with such an exquisite fragrance. I love it, but if my son Christopher is visiting who is an asthmatic, he is troubled greatly by the pollen.

Whenever possible we eat out of doors.....

......and our little summer house is still my favourite place for an afternoon snooze or a good book.

The veggie plot has been very prolific providing us with beans and peas by the bucket full.

Kenzo has really enjoyed the beans and peas being so accessible. I've never known a dog that could quite easily be a vegetarian. I'd often find him chomping on a stem of peas, he's even pulled up radishes and eaten them too.

Kenzo also adores apples, and that's a bit dangerous at the moment.... I have to gather wind falls up quickly... I'm afraid of him taking ones with wasps in.

Salad leaves have been plentiful this year too.... so handy to nip out and gather them fresh. One minute they are growing then, after a quick rinse they are on the plate.... can't get much fresher than that can you!

Our wood store is stacked ready for colder days when stoves will be burning. Such a satisfying feeling isn't it!

This is the end of the garden path, and just beyond here the bank falls down to the river. Listen, you can hear the river running by. Village children have great fun splashing and playing in the water.

This handy slate shelf was put in place to act as a potting bench, but is little used for that purpose. I like the look of the old terracotta pots stacked there, it's a garden decoration in itself don't you think!

Another garden decoration I'm delighted with....... earlier in the year I was given this lovely old stone fountain..... a wonderful surprise birthday gift from my brother....

However, one of my disappointments this summer was that not a single Agapanthus flowered not in border or pot, there's a clump of them in this stone urn.... all leaves but no flowers. Probably all it could muster after the very harsh winter.

A shady seat you may care to rest here a while.

I like the effect of grouping pots together don't you!...

The pots that hang in a row along the garden fence here have put on a pretty display.

This year I planted a few cultivated blackberries.... although we have many that grow wild in the hedgerows... these produce fruits that are much larger and so very sweet.

Lavender bushes have produced many flowers that I've gathered and dried.... they will be used in the making of

little gifts for church sales.

Several clumps of Monkshood - Aconitum have grown in the garden for a few years, they are so pretty and a gorgeous colour. But I recently discovered it was an extremely poisonous plant that can also cause an alergic reaction. I felt compelled to take it all out as Kenzo has such a fondness for eating what grows out here.

My love of David Austin roses is a joyful experience each year. Yes, their perfume is quite delicious.

Hollyhocks grow so tall against our sitting room window.... they can be enjoyed both outside and in.

The birds have a feast in store with so many berries on the cotoneaster

....and the day lily patch thrives so well under the apples trees.

.....and last but not least, admire

the magnificent flower of the Yucca, pure white and so majestic.

Now, shall we go and have a cup of tea....

I hope you've enjoyed walking with me around my garden,

have a great weekend everyone.

Blessings - Marion