Friday 20 May 2016

Five on Friday




look closely for the baby coot




Joining in with Amy and Five on Friday.

1. I'm still enjoying the spring things everywhere. Sarah has the most fantastic post looking at a local hedgerow, all is green, green, green. She's pretty good at identifying everything as well and her photos are second to none. She's completely captured the magic of this time of year.

Down at the wetlands place there are little feathery chaps everywhere, cheeping away, and plenty more to come. Hopefully some tiny cygnets next time we go, and maybe even some baby cranes. I shall wrestle the long lens off of the biggest boy and try and get a shot or two.

2. A new lavender. I can't resist them, although they don't always do very well for me. This one is called Anouk and it's a lovely dusky reddish purple. Although I find they seem to change colour on me somehow. I bought a white one last year that's now half purple, and a very subtle pink that changed to a bright pink after a year. There's some strange garden centre alchemy at work I think.

Have you ever seen those orchids that they make bright blue? What are they thinking?! I'm tempted to buy them just to nurse them back to whiteness. Maybe that's the plan.

3. Blotting on with the calligraphy. Blotting being the operative word. When I first dip the pen the ink comes of in a big blob, then it runs out really quickly. The first few dips of the session don't seem as bad though, so I'm thinking I may need to wash the nib every so often. I do love a few good lines of something to copy out. I have a couple of poetry books at the ready - "By Heart - 101 Poems to Remember" and also Carol Ann Duffy's "The Bees" which is wonderful. I shall write a few lines out for next time, it's heady stuff for bee lovers.

4. Notes from before. Someone asked about the rhubarb shortbread. It's from Nigella.com and there's a picture of one I made earlier (a year ago in fact) here. I also have rhubarb crumble and rhubarb flapjack in the fridge now...

And the plant I asked about the other looks likely to be a saskatoon. Also known as a western serviceberry or western juneberry. Apparently they eat nothing else in Canada. It's a bit like a big blueberry only less fussy about the soil. My antennae have pricked up and I'm on the lookout for one now. I shall grill the plotholder when I get hold of them.

5. A friend of the biggest boy has a new dog. He explained to the littlest boy that it was a stray. Here was a conversation we had later on.

Him: Mum, if you find a stray dog can you keep it?

Me: You'd need to try and find his owner sweetie.

Him: Yes, but if you couldn't, could you keep him?

Me: You could talk to the Dog's Home, they'd know what to do.

Him: Yes, but if you wanted to, could you keep him?

I think we all know where this is going. No unleashed dog will be safe. Lock up your hounds.

31 comments:

  1. Oh how I love seeing your calligraphy grow and improve and get more beautiful by the day. Bravo! I know your littlest one wants a dog of his own so bad. To feel that warm furry thing next to you and know he's your very own. Our little Buddy has given us so much love and joy for so many years. I hope he gets his furbaby sooner than later. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  2. Bless your son - he's obviously getting a little desperate if it's coming to dognapping! How many years is it that he has to wait now?! Your calligraphy just gets better and better - is your writing getting more like that for everyday stuff (shopping lists and the like)or is it just for the calligraphy sessions? Our rhubarb is growing apace, so I'm just off to google your recipes. We tried rhubarb and strawberry lattice pie this week - it's surprisingly nice. Have a great weekend. xx

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  3. I always enjoy looking at your photos, you have such a good eye and amazing photography skills that put me to shame. I keep thinking about a course but never get around to it. Your calligraphy skills are really coming on to, very impressive. We had rhubarb crumble this week, but I do like the sound of rhubarb shortbread.

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  4. Beautiful photos and so plenty of that yellow iris! I have that growing in my garden pond, not yet blooming though. Have a lovely weekend!

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  5. Your calligraphy is now officially amazing. It's great to watch your steady progress, this photo has totally blown me away. Brilliant indeed.

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  6. Love the story of your boy and a dog conversation :) Beautiful calligraphy, and lovely nature photos.

    Diana

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  7. Ah yes, your little boy is working hard on the dog front, sweet. I am still loving spring, too, although my joy has been dented yesterday when 'my' swan couple got attacked by a fox and all their eggs are gone. Worst, the female is injured. I have been writing a post about my swans but I am now not sure if I can carry on with it. I did call the animal helpline and they went to see her yesterday. They did say swans are resilient creatures but I am really upset. I haven't seen any bright blue orchids (possibly because I don't go near shops) but it sounds wrong. I am sure they would bloom in their genetic colour when they produce a new stem but most people throw them out once they stopped flowering so would never know. Must go, have a lovely Friday. x

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  8. That first photograph is really beautiful. I don't like flowers that are unnatural colours either.

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  9. I love lavender too, so pretty. Classic dog conversation! Love it!

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  10. Your flag irises are beautiful, ours seem further behind than yours. Your son is certainly persistent , good luck with that one! The calligraphy is going well, I feel it would be therepeutic if I had the patience. Have a good weekend. B x

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  11. Your calligraphy is very impressive. That 'thick and thin' effect is very difficult to master. I think you're doing really well.

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  12. Ha! I will have to make sure I keep an eye on our black lab. What is it about lavender? They are not doing well in my new garden either but I had one in our old house for years, I always thought it was a really hardy plant. Good luck with yours. I love calligraphy, good luck with that too! Have a great weekend xx

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  13. Lovely post and good pictures. Number 5 had me smiling. Flighty xx

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  14. Oh I am laughing about the dog conversation!!! I hope that you don't find one tucked away under his bed or something!!! Your calligraphy is beautiful, I hope that you work out the blotty thing. I was thinking about rhubarb shortbread earlier this week, but I couldn't remember where the idea had come into my head from - I fear I am getting very forgetful! - so I am going to write this down now so that I can have a go! Thank you for taking part in Five On Friday, I hope you have a good weekend!

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  15. I've had opportunities to take calligraphy classes here but just haven't given it a go. I know that hydrangea change colors based on the soil so perhaps that's what's happening with your lavender. Lovely photos.

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  16. The littlest boy needs a dog, I am voting her gets one!
    Meredith

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  17. I don't know about flowers, but will be watching to see how you turn those blue flowers back to white.

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  18. I am envious of your lavender! I hope it grows well for you. I only have two small bushes (I'm not even sure they're big enough to be called bushes) but love them so when they're in flower. Your calligraphy is inspiring.

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  19. Love the lavender and it won't grow worth a darn for me. As kids my sisters and I were always trying to lure strange dogs home, wonder we didn't get bit.

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  20. Love the color of the lavender and the story of the stray dog and the littlest boy. Sweet. hehe.

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  21. Lovely pictures. Love the calligraphy and the adventures with the pen. I'm aging myself now but once we 'graduated' from using our pencils we had to learn to write with a fountain pen. Luckily it was one with cartridges but I remember the mess they could make. I now write with my little finger sticking out - a remnant from when I learned to write with the pen and trying not to smudge with my finger!

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  22. How beautiful is that lavender, gorgeous colour and lovely chunky flower heads.

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  23. You've got to admire your son's gentle persistence re dogs. I'm rooting for him. Just imagine his face when you finally get one... :-) Lovely photos, as always, CJ. The lavender is very pretty. I wonder whether they change colour depending on the soil they're in, like hydrangeas do. I've not heard of it but perhaps that's what's happening. I love blue as a colour but very blue-blue flowers just look plain wrong to me, as though they're chemically enhanced. Have a good weekend – hope you get some time in the garden. Sam x

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  24. We had your rhubarb shortbread for supper last night. Yum! I do wish we lived nearer- there are two terriers here who'd love a neighbouring boy to play with them xx

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  25. Baby cranes - how exciting! I think I saw a t.v programme a while ago which explained how they have to raise them in order for them to be released into the wild. We have cranes living on the wetland here. Several years ago we caught a tantalising glimpse of them when we were out for a walk. Ever since then I have been obsessed with spotting them again!

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  26. In 1975 our foster daughter found a stray cocker spaniel. Littlest Boy's questions and your answers reminded me of the adventure we had with our furry friend who stayed with us until we found his owner, much to our foster daughter's dismay. Now that I think of it, we had a procession of three dogs in our household during the three years our foster daughter was with us! xx

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  27. I have to laugh about the saskatoon berries. I live in Canada and they don't grow here (on Vancouver Island) at all. But we have lots of blueberry bushes, so that's what we enjoy. Saskatoons grow further north and on the prairies.
    The rhubarb shortbread sounds delicious - I'm off to explore!

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  28. Thanks for the heads up CJ, I'll keep my little dog under lock and key :) I totally agree with you about the blue orchids, I can't understand the reasoning behind these - always best to let nature do her own thing. Have a good Sunday x

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  29. Great photos, I love the yellow flag irises. I am attempting to grow some pots of lavender at the moment and am hoping they do well, yours is looking good. xx

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  30. lets hope if he finds a stray it's a small one. my youngest announced tonight that he'd like an Alsation. I offered him another portion of crumble instead..........

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  31. Haha, oh CJ, the dog conversations...I'm laughing. It's the same here. Sly suggestions combined with outright campaigning. I wonder which of us will crack first?! Xx

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