Good newsof our friend Mary from Alabama

 WE have just got (via a friend on Facebook) a message passed on from Mary's family." She and her doggies are OK.  Her house has no electricity.  Huntsville was hit by no less than 6 tornadoes.  More than 200 people have been killed by the storms whipping through the south yesterday".

On this happy wedding day in the UK spare a thought and your prayers for those in America and all those who have suffered natural disasters recently around the world Haiti, Queensland New Zealand Japan and elsewhere .

Wedding Mania hits the Brits

Top (Wills and Kate practice their balcony wave in the Midlands)

These Isles are in full swing ready for the Wedding tomorrow

• Schools had Street Parties -children made crowns and union flags .
• Children in the Schools in Kate Middleton's home Village practiced singing songs for a village community party tomorrow
• William and Harry did a walkabout shaking hands on the Mall at 8.45 pm in the evening
• People are camping out along the route to the Abbey
• There is a camp site on Clapham common for crowds staying in London
• ......the capital has been invaded by Americans



Letter to America /2 "now the green blade riseth "

England has been bathed in summer temperatures for the Easter period and as a result we are graced with beautiful apple blossom ,carpets of bluebells ,pink herb robert colonies, celandine and I noticed Ladysmock and cow parsley all ringing out the spring .The honeysuckle in the garden is also in bud.In the South it has been the hottest April since 1949 .Oh yes and the wisteria under the front window is promising purple blossom within the next few days!

 

 

 

Our noble Finan is progressing well. He excelled himself at the vet and is quite a favourite with the nurses.He has finished his antibiotics and pain killers and when the vet checked he has a very clean gum which is healing well .He is has been eating wet food entirely for a week ,but now we are on dry kibble soaked in water for about another week just to give the jaw a chance to heal even more.We are glad we have insurance! It took a while to get back to exercise at full pelt but yesterday we did and he was contentedly off the lead.

 

The royal wedding is receiving full coverage on Friday and on Thursday 2 pm I have been invited to a School's  Royal Wedding Street party at an infant school !So we shall be with about 140 5 - 7 year olds........what a real blessing!

 

 

I was listening to "Start the week " on radio 4 this morning and Shakespeare was on the agenda for discussion as they are producing a play he wrote with another author in London  shortly. Apparently he had one of the widest vocabularies of some 30,000 words so he literally could paint a canvas of words of 30,000 differents tones and colours.!!

 

One of our friends (a photographer ) is going on a Storm Chasing holiday in Oklahoma within the next fortnight ( http://www.featherlightphotography.co.uk/gallery.html) .

 

Easter week was full of services of all types , friendship , relaxation and at last I have space to recharge before we see you both .,Listened to a radio biography of Carl Sagan and his programme the Cosmos(1981)  on Saturday -that certainly put life  into a proper perspective .

 

We have an Easter Egg delivery here awaiting Rhys and Sophie hope to see them today .Thank you so much for all your friendship in arranging this trip !

 

TTFN

 

With love

The Silver Hoodie and the Rock

Making a house and garden smile

Yesterday Keith and I sat down and made a spring cleaning list. It has been drafted to help us make the house "smile" ready to welcome Jan and Stan when they complete their walk of the Cotswold Way and come and stay for a few days. I think it was the first bluebells that I spotted in a patch of wood near the Country Park that nudged me into action.

Each day we have manageable jobs to do.Yesterday began in the garden patio weeding cutting back unwanted growth and bringing welcome light to those things that have had to struggle against dominant weeds. I was delighted to rediscover a small red acer in amongst the faster growing shrubs and its feathery leaves smiled back a thank you for the inspiration of welcome new light.

Communication with both Mary in the part of the States where there are currently storms and Jan and Stan in Alaska means we are experiencing the different pace of Spring's arrival in three distinct parts of the world

Jan e mailed yesterday

"We are finally in full spring --here called "break up" as in breaking up of the ice. We had a wild walk yesterday. 6 doggies took their chances (bears and wet trails) as we walked at our old haunt around the Soldotna airport. There was still alot of snow and there were huge puddles frozen over.  One ice field obstructed the entire trail and we decided to venture out on the ice to slip and slide across to the other side of the puddle.  All of  sudden, Daisy BT broke through the ice and fell in over her head.  In trying to rescue her we caused all the ice to weaken and Ellen, I and one other doggie fell in as well in turns.

  We were all able to trudge through the rest of the icy puddle to the other side where we emptied our ice filled wellies and continued on our walk, laughing all the way.   What a day!
 Mary in warmer climes in the south has been using her creative photographic talents to record  Spring as it touches Shakerag Hollow- a unique Cumberland Plateau ecosystem  on a wildflower group hike.  Temps were in the forties and the trail was a slippery, treacherous mess from the previous day’s storms, but the place was simply too gorgeous to have missed because of a little inclement weather.  It did, however, take  the remainder of the day for Mary  to get warm once she had got back home!The butterfly picture below was taken on the hike.

 

Happy Easter and Springtime to you all !!

 

Kelly Lake Sasquach Hunt .(one for the grandchildren)

A Sasquach

After reading Jan's news of the itinerary of our trip I became extremely fearful ,but God bless GOOGLE. I now find that Poppa and I are travelling half way round the world to perhaps meet another member of the Gruffalo clan at night near a wilderness hut WHAT FUN auntie Jan ! Seriously you should have seen the smiles on Keith's face when we read of your plans for us .I've always wanted to write a book for the grandchildren and perhaps when I meet the Kelly Lake Sasquach he may give me a few ideas .

Welcome to members of Border Terrier World also who are following this blog .Its great to think we shall be meeting Daisy (BT ) and Scouty (JRT ) soon .I think an alternative title for this post could have been" teeth news" because poor Fin had a broken canine tooth removed two days ago along with two others possibly damaged by chewing tennis balls . He has been rather poorly and they found he also has a heart murmur but thank goodness not life threatening although he may have to have a heart scan as a preventative measure on our return. Today he is back to himself but still tired .

Canine tooth of a dog



Letter to America /1

"Indeed ,the beauty of nature is often the wisest balm for it gently relieves and releases the caved mind.Calmness flows in to wash away anxiety and worry" The Invisible Embrace of Beauty John O'Donohue

  

 

Dear Jan ,Stan and Mary ,

 

This week I am resorting to other forms of communication as I have closed my Facebook page -hence the Letter to America /1.

 

England is experiencing a Spring heat wave this weekend  with temperatures in the 20 degree plus region and nature is responding in its turn . I just hope the honeysuckle drifting over the pagoda in our garden will wait until your arrival and welcome you with its wonderful scent.Keith has cut the grass twice this spring !As you can see the outdoor furniture has been unwrapped and the red umbrella is poised ready to protect us from the sun if we choose to sit outside. Because they are blue and tan Border Teriers  Tilly and Finan cannot take too much heat and move between the garden and the shady cool of the lounge. A bright blue sky accompanies an easy all around warmth today; all is still and gentle.We watched the Masters at Augusta last night and felt quite at home with the images of your Georgia spring .

 

 

 

I must say I miss both your facebook pages there is an immediacy about them that breaks down distances when I log in most days .I most enjoy the web links and reading the American newspaper articles that you share. Can't wait for Anglo- American hugs to be exchanged .

 

Finan and Tilly have had their annual check ups and as a result Fin is to have a tooth extracted on Friday at the vets. The litter of 10 labradoodles that we visit are really growing .We saw them today and they really have established canine body language . All are up on all fours strutting around confidently licking ears ,barking , establishing dominance and playing happily .This gives Coco their poodle Mom time to leave the nest and rejoin the  pack of 6 other dogs where she is leader. She even had a rest in the sun  outside the grooming parlour.The pups have teeth now and so are gradually being introduced to solid food .

 

I have forwarded your invitation to Nick and Sherrie and the family to join you on the Cotswold way for a day  and I expect they will be in touch.

 

So can I expect a letter from America  perhaps not in Alistair Cooke style but more the friendly interest and banter that I have come to expect from your side of the pond ?

 

Love

 

The Silver Hoody and Keffie

 

PS .John O'Donohue's book "The Invisible Embrace of Beauty " matches the atmosphere of these early Spring Days .p47 "For Aquinas understands that each thing is alive and on a journey to become fully itself "

The Prospect of Change in the distance

Things are beginning to happen that excite the prospect of  change and the journey ahead.We had another Skype communication with Jan at the weekend and she  told us that the  hours of daylight in Alaska are already far greater than ours but that the snow is still only gradually melting.We discussed suitable clothing for June and came to the conclusion that layers are the best option.However I may need a skirt when we attend a local Russian Orthodox Church Service. A night in a wilderness hut has been booked and a friend of Jan's is going to help us take equipment there to "survive " the night !!. ARE WE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT ? So much for these intrepid seniors with British reserve ! 

Jan belongs to a knitting club , the Soldotna Dog Club of which we are "the  honorary members from across the pond " and she and Stan work with others for a "Community Food bank " . Stan is  as a Finance  Officer for a native American Indian tribe with an interest in archeology .Both love reading .In fact we hope that we can experience both the Soldotna community life and the wilderness of the one of the National Parks .Hope my facts are correct there Jan and Stan ? Both Jan and Stan   Alaska 8 years ago and decided to stay .Both enjoy Nature as we do and will themselves be walking the Cotswold Way when they come to England .