Magnificent morning

Good Friday and no work. No need to get up early. So why did I wake at 6:30 and find it impossible to get back to sleep? Typical.

Anyhoo because of the early morning and the lack of anyone else being up I had an hour of two of solitude and saw the sun side-lighting the magnolia against the backdrop of new silver birch leaves which was something special.

I nipped out in my slippers to snap it and noticed a few degrees of frost… the top of my car was white, across the driveway. However the magnolia seems to have been spared, perhaps in part due to the place I planted it, fairly close to the house, in the more sheltered front garden, rather than in the wind exposed back garden. I noticed several creamy white magnolias with browned flowers as we travelled about the county today.

The early promise of a beautiful day faded to grey skies and a cold wind. Who knows what tomorrow brings?

Chariot fashions

I realise that cherished colleagues have been spurred by the recent spots of spring sunshine to prepare for the long hot summer we all eagerly anticipate. Honing our abs, polishing our six-packs and deepening our perennial tans, we are already planning how to impress the waiting world with our fashion selections for the new season. Aren’t we? No. OK. Continue reading “Chariot fashions”

Have a guess

Hay-on-Wye is the place of legend, or so it would have us believe. A place for writers and writings, with its annual book festival, mysteriously situated in Powys, Wales but with a postal address in Herefordshire, England (no bull – geddit?).

So have a guess which other mysterious place – somewhere in the world, perhaps at the other end of the rainbow – is ‘twinned’ with Hay? (No googling just yet, p-lease.) Then, if you get it right, you might wonder Wye!

First Name

Now I know why I need the Chariot. If your e-mail service didn’t work in the last hour – you can blame me. I wouldn’t be one bit surprised if the e-mail I’ve just blasted to my electricity supplier burnt the system to a cinder…

For some reason, not at the moment ascertainable, Bearsy put the electricity account in his name. I have a query on the bill, but due to *!*!* Privacy laws I cannot get an answer to that query. I have explained on the phone and by e-mail – and all I’ve got is the ‘Standard Reply’: Bearsy must contact them directly and make me an ‘authorised’ person … I have asked whether the electricity company will accept ‘my’ money to pay the bill that I’m not allowed to query… Well, we all know the answer to that. Continue reading “First Name”