Thankful

Today I am **profoundly** thankful for the kindness shown to us by a member of the nursing staff at the major teaching hospital we visit pretty much weekly - she very kindly sent a prescription down to the hospital pharmacy well before our appointment, so that we would not have to wait two hours to collect extra supplies of routine medication for DD3 :-)

Another Walk With The Dog

This is another compilation of  photos taken at Margam Park when we have walked the dog there - I hope you enjoy them!

The  mediaeval ruins of the old church on the hill.

A  glimpse of Margam Castle through the trees..

And again.

The park has a huge number and variety of ancient trees.

                           Here is DH  - and the dog, who is deciding to roll in the grass....

Swans on the lake.

.

A  closer view of the Victorian rebuilt Castle.

Even the drain pipes are ornamented!

The central tower, surrounded by chimneys.

Everything is elaborate....

...and rather lovely. 

This is a period where craftsmen took enormous pride in their work

 and money was no object when commissioning things to be made.

Coats-of-arms and blank niches.

Elaborate stone garden fences.

Formal gardens....

And surprising secret corners.

Ornamental buttresses to help support

 substantial weight-bearing garden walls....

And a final view of Yr Hen Eglwys, The Old Church,

 high up on the hill.

I Blinked And Almost Missed Today...

Between making sure DD3 gets all her medication on time and stays well-hydrated, cooking food for everyone, cleaning the house, washing dishes, fielding three phone calls from an incapacitated elderly family member, buying food and delivering it to the same person and dropping off a full weekly shop to our dear elderly friend John, today has simply flown by :-)

It is of course also the anniversary of the outbreak of The Great War of 1914-18.  In many homes, churches, cathedrals and museums across Britain, there will be a candle-lit vigil from 10 pm tonight to 11 pm to mark the solemn and sad occasion. Westminster Abbey is broadcasting a live service and has also published the text of the service to their web pages -  it can be found here.  I shall be watching the service and also lighting our lampada in memory of those who lost their lives in that conflict and for those caught up in conflict  at this present time.

Evening Chores

Having just finished cleaning out our three hamsters' big cages this evening, I opened the cupboard under the sink to get out some things I needed to re-stock the cages with food, bedding etc, and I was assailed by a smell of damp :-(

The drain pipe from the sink has been quietly leaking over the last few days and destroyed lots of stuff which we had stored under the sink. Luckily more or less under the leak was a large metal bowl which was now full of water and had saved us from worse damage. The cupboard has been emptied, cleaned out and a bowl placed under the leak, and everyone given instructions *not* to use the taps until DH can fix it tomorrow in the daylight.

The hamsters are all now back in their nice clean cages and ready to play all night :-)

In Bloom In My Garden

If I sit in the living room and look, out, this is what I see :-)
The flowers on the bottom right  are part of this bush, pictured below:

In the back garden, we have two varieties of honeysuckle. 

A yellow and cream one....

And this glorious fuchsia coloured one, 

which smells much nicer!

......and is my favourite!