Thursday 9 September

[Kath Mulligan]

Just come back from Marple Garden Centre after taking Mum out for lunch. Not the best meal we have had there by a long chalk, it was meant to be vegetable soup but for soup read pureed mush! There was no liquid at all, in fact it was so thick we almost needed a knife and fork to eat it! Not like them, their soups are usually rather nice.

However we had a lovely browse around afterwards, Mum bought some birthday cards and some gorgeous notelets that she is planning to give as a Christmas present, while I bought loads of bulbs! I was only intending to buy some prepared hyacinths and paperwhite narcissi, which I did get (4 narcissi, 4 each of Jan Bos (red), Blue Star (dark blue) and City of Haarlem (yellow). The City of Haarlem are for Mum, she says she has never had any yellow hyacinths before. I then started wandering around the display of all the rest of the bulbs - as you do - and have ended up also buying a 2kg bag of Cornish daffodils called Lothario (yellow with frilled orange cup) and a bag of very pretty dwarf tulips called Little Beauty (deep pink with white and deep purple centre). I chose Lothario variety because they are supposed to be April flowering, all the others were March and I figured since I shall be in Cornwall for two weeks of March, April ones were a better bet.

Had a phone call from my brother whilst we were out inviting both Mum and me round to his house for a meal tomorrow night so after receiving visitors during the day, she is now dining out as well! Just as well she is having a quiet day at home on Saturday before she comes to us on Sunday for another buffet tea party. The girls were invited to Mike and Jane's as well, but they are both out tomorrow night.

Am now off to find my bowls to plant up the hyacinths and narcissi.

Kath

[jane jackson]

A very productive day then Kath. I've bought quite a few bulbs but not planted them yet as the pots are still full of flowers but they are fading fast after the 2 days rain we had on sunday and monday. Today however has been another glorious day which is great as it's my friend Maureen's birthday and she's been visiting with her husband. We all went out at 7am, Maureen, Bryan and I went to Porthcurno beach with the girls and watched the wonderful waves while Alan went running from our home down to The Prom, along to Mousehole and on again over fields and coastal path nearly to Lamorna and back again!!!!!!!!! He's in training for a half marathon a week on sunday and is the same age as me....................I was using my stick later when we went to St Michaels Mount as my back was playing up ~ oh well, never mind, he never rode horses............................Off to The Minack this evening for The Rover, a restoration comedy so hope this good spell of weather keeps going so we stay dry.

We went to St Just yesterday and called at the Cook and Bookshop. I was looking out for any Chronicles but couldn't find any but I did buy a very nice hardback in good condition called The West Country and it has excerts from various authors from or about the area including one from Derek so I was well pleased. Maureen bought a book about the beginings of Vogue magazine with lots of beautiful illustrations.

[Janet Swan]

At the risk of sounding a bit dull compared to Kath and her bulb foray (your home and garden will be wonderful next Spring, Kath) and Jane visiting much loved Cornish places, I had my annual eye check up today! I'm always nervous about it since there is a family history of glaucoma and cataracts, so was overjoyed to be told all is well again. Rather than kiss the optician - he's a lovely Welsh man (!) - I went and celebrated by buying a "cross body" bag in Next, even though I bought a shoulder bag only a couple of weeks ago and, hardly dare to mention it, a 2011 diary 'cause they had just appeared by the till!

Janet

[jane jackson]

Good for you Janet, you can never have too many bags! My eye test recently was fine too and no new specs needed, always a bonus.

[gloria townsin]

Well done Janet........I had cataracts in both eyes operated on 13 and 12 years ago.........have no idea why I had them so early in life, other than I have often wondered it their arrival was linked to the bad accident I had with a youngster, when my finger was chopped off at the top joint. My Dad had glaucoma but slightly, used drops etc. so I am always glad when my eye tests are done and o.k. Unfortunately my Mum suffered with Macular Degeneration as she got older and she couldn't read or keep up with her TV programmes due to her sight fading........not a nice thought. Was pleased to read recently that they think there is a treatment for it in the near future.
Kath you're having a busy time of it........hope your Mum enjoys her birthday treats and outings. Pity about the soup, sounds as though they put too much thickening in, potato maybe........sounds a bit filling!!

[Kath Mulligan]

There is supposed to be an outdoor Proms in the Park event tomorrow afternoon in our local park just a few yards down the road from here but it is currently pouring with rain, and the forecast for most of tomorrow is pretty grim too. Such a shame because it is usually a lovely event where families take chairs, rugs and picnics and sit on the grass while listening to all the music associated with the last night of the Proms. I had thought about going down there, and I will if it is fine but I'm not prepared to stand/sit for a couple of hours getting soaked to the skin!

Kath

[gloria townsin]

The weather can make or break an event and it's such a pity when a lot of work has gone into putting something together and then the weather mucks it up. I'm not one of those stoic people that will go to something whatever, other than Memorial weekend that is............although I used to stand in all weathers with ponies and children at competitions, so guess I have just outgrown standing up to bad weather.

[Sybille Weber]

Hope the weather will be nice for you this afternoon, Kath, so that you can enjoy the Proms event.
The Last Night of the Proms from the Royal Albert Hall will be broadcast here in Germany tonight. So something to look forward to.

[jane jackson]

Hope you've recovered from your op Sybille and enjoy the Proms this evening. Kath I hope you manage to enjoy your Proms in the Park too, with no rain. It's been sunshine interspersed with a few short sharp showers here but lovely and warm.

[Kath Mulligan]

I haven't gone to the Proms in the end since, although it is fine at the moment, we keep having really heavy downpours at regular intervals and I just don't feel like getting soaking wet today. It is very warm and sultry though, one of those days when it feels quite hard to breathe in any fresh air. Wouldn't surprise me at all if one of these heavy showers doesn't turn thundery later.

Kath

[gloria townsin]

Nina, Jeff and Lena were here earlier and the weather was quite o.k. We played in the garden with the dogs, Trystan had great fun of course, but by the time they left to go to the cinema the sky was almost black!