Buscot Warriors

So - my grandson is out in China and visiting the Terracotta Army....so - well, I've been to Buscot Park near Faringdon. So there.

bluebells and peacocks

Off to the Arboretum - spur of the moment decision as it was a glorious day and I had heard that the bluebells are out...and of course there are the peacocks too...

....and indeed they were, the bluebells and the peacocks. Not being very mobile, this place is perfect, a walk round the bluebell wood with several stops to sit on benches and admire the expanse of blue.....

....the colours here are amazing...

Sat on a bench are read Ted Hughes in the sunshine, surrounded by peacocks screeching, but they do give you a fright when they sneak up behind you....

Begins at 'Visit to the snows of Calgary'

As I was away for over two weeks, this has been split up into mini-blogs. Scroll back down (and possibly back to 'older posts' to the entry headed 'Visit to the snows of Calgary' and then work your way back up to the last entry when I left to go home.

Leaving the snows of Calgary

Looked out of the window on the last day a little sadly, knowing I was leaving my family for who knows how long, yet again.

Left snowy Calgary on an April day, to fly all the way home

to find that spring had arrived, and I went for a walk down by the river to look at the swans and admire the colours

The end of a lovely holiday.

This and that

A few sundry pics for fun - this first one is looking out of the window at the Harley Davidson diner.

One of my little chandeliers with pretty reflection - in N's kitchen

Lovely lift floor indicator at Banff Springs Hotel

Interesting T-shirt seen though window of shop in Banff - where we bought a T-shirt (not this one) for Josh.

Heaath tucking into breakfast almost as big as he is.

Snowboarding

We went to watch Olivia snow-boarding (quite difficult to find her among all those on the slopes until she got close)

This looks a bit like a film set.

Ah, here she is!

Natalie's Magical Mystery Tour

These little darlings above are called Gay Bombs, and as I feel an explanation is called for, it is below. Beneath that are other wonderful glass items from an exhibition I went to with Susan.

The full story goes like this - Natalie decided that, as she was at work, she would send Susan and I on a mystery tour - there were several envelopes to be opened at various times, and we were given directions how to get to places but not what they were! We were also given $20 for the first venue, which was a huge second-hand store called Cat's Eyes and you could fill a bag for $20 - we were there for AGES it was brilliant, crimpelene heaven - fifties, sixties, you name it they had it in brilon, nylon, fur and furbelows. From there we were directed to a lovely 'natural food' cafe, then an envelope contained something for me that I had to wear in public - it was a sash with BIRTHDAY GIRL on it!!!! I wore it everywhere, and on being wished a happy birthday I said it wasn't but that at my age every day was my birthday. Our next stop (still wearing the sash and taking photos) was the brilliant blown glass exhibition above.

Susan and I had such a great time and bought crazy clothes and had a lot of laughs. Thank you Natalie.