Experiment, week 19. This week’s five things which have made me happy or for which I’m grateful.
- Orchids. Yesterday I got my first ever orchid flower! About a year ago my mother gave me an orchid plant which had finished flowering to see if I could get it to flower again. It’s been sitting on our bedroom windowsill, receiving no special attention, all that time and has just come back into flower. This is the first flower and there are another 7 or 8 buds on this one flower spike. I never thought I would have my very own flowering orchid.
- Friends who give you a lift home at 11PM. Last evening we went to a performance of Bach’s St John Passion at Ealing Abbey with our friends Sue & Ziggy. Sam (S&Z’s eldest; just a teenager) was singing in the choir. Afterwards we went back to S&Z’s for a drink. And Ziggy volunteered to run us home at something gone 11PM. He didn’t have to; we were quite happy to get a taxi. But he insisted. Thanks, Ziggy! Much appreciated.
- Local Auctions. Last Thursday our local auction house, Bainbridge’s at West Ruislip, had their roughly monthly sale. We keep saying we must go to a viewing and this week we managed it. As I’ve blogged so often before, their sales contain some gloriously incongruous toot as well as some very nice pieces. Sadly not a lot of silver this time. But there were two decorative halberds. We nearly went to the sale to bid on them. But common sense got the better of us. I mean where do you put two 10 feet (3 metre) long halberds in a 1930 terraced house? The viewing was a fun hour or so though.
- Sunshine. I know! I know! I keep saying “sunshine”. But we’ve had such a lovely sunny week; all the buds are beginning to break; the Spring flowers are out; the birds are singing and it is definitely warmer. It really does feel like Spring. And the forecast for the next week is more of the same. We do need some rain though!
- Thetford Forest. On Friday we went to Norwich to see my agéd mother, as we do every few weeks. I always love driving through Thetford Forest and Elveden. I love the pine forest; there’s always something interesting to see. As usual there were plenty of muntjac grazing just off the main road; and a couple of hares loping across a field. As well as the ubiquitous pheasants and rabbits. In the afternoon we sat with my mother in the garden of the care home where there were loads of primroses in the lawn and the only sound was of birdsong!
