Not such a good start to July, healthwise things have been a
Suffice to say I missed the end of the month 'what did I do' post.
There were two craft finishes I had shared with you ...
and the books I read were :-
The Lost Village by Neil Spring was a 'supernatural spooky thriller' (that's what the blurb says) a tale set within the village of Imber. Imber is the real UK village on Salisbury plain that was forcefully evacuated by the Ministry of Defence in 1943 and the residents have never been allowed to return. It's still owned by the MOD and a live firing range. You can only visit there at certain times of the year. Sadly, many people still have relatives that are still buried at St Giles the church that is still standing.
The Sealwomans Gift is the first novel by Sally Magnusson. She has woven a story around the real life incident that happened in Iceland in 1627 when Barbary pirates raided the coast, abducted 250 people and sent them on a long boat journey into slavery in Algiers. It tells of a preacher, his wife and children and the wife is the main character in the book and the life she had. I really enjoyed this one and knowing it was true made some of the things that I read hard.
Kate Morton was a nice read, her usual type of story, but I did feel in parts that it waffled on a bit.
There are a couple of other finishes on my camera, but i'll wait till 15th when its the Gifted Gorgeousness post as they will fit that nicely.
I have picked the first posy of sweet peas of the summer and very lovely they smell too.
With the warm/hot sunshine the greenhouse is producing a nice crop of tomatoes and cucumbers and DH and brought from the community allotment garden some tasty potatoes, peas, raspberries, strawberries and gooseberries, lettuce and radish. It all helps saving the pennies doesn't it.
I must take some pics of the community garden for you to see it. Such a lovely friendly place to meet twice a week and grow. We have a very small amount of money each year from the local council and everyone who lives locally is welcome to give a little time regardless of disability or experience, children must come with an adult though. Always something to do in a garden, and they can harvest and take home the fruits of their labours when ready all for free. But, like most places its the same old few that come along. We seem to live in a very apathetic society these days. Is it the same where you are? Do you volunteer within your community?
Love and blessings
Julie
I hope you are feeling better soon, its horrible feeling unwell with sunny days.
ReplyDeleteHopefully you'll start feeling better soon & have some energy to keep motivated. The sweet peas are so pretty & would smell lovely. Volunteering is something I used to do, but things changed & I now donate a few quilts on occasion & do my best to basically be a nice person too. As you say, it's a different world to what I grew up in. (long time ago)giggle. Take care & huggles.
ReplyDeleteThe community garden is a great idea, not sure that we have anything like that round here.
ReplyDeleteI don't do any volunteering, my days are very full as it is, I don't think I could fit anything else in, lol. Oh, I suppose you could count looking after the grandchildren as volunteering, loll
I hope you feel better soon, I can recommend a massage hahaha It's helped with my shoulder and neck pain, which has in turn made me feel better in myself.
Take care xx
Julie hoping things get better for you soon.
ReplyDeleteLove your sweet peas my ones are very late this year and are not deep colours like your pretty colours , only one pink one so far.
Hope you are enjoying your community garden .
We would love to start one in the future , we have our history garden but only a few are using it but saying that it , seems to be growing in use each year.
Ron has been asked to take over the judging for the best garden and shop or pub flower display this year .
This will be fun or will it ! take care my sweet friend hope you have a better week hugs.
I'm sorry to hear you're having such a tough time health wise, and with family issues too. I do hope things get better very soon. The books you've read this month sound really interesting. I haven't grown sweet peas since I had the allotment, they're such lovely flowers though, beautifully scented. I don't do any volunteering now, I used to be on the PTA when my kids were at school and even there it was the same few faces who turned up to all the meetings.
ReplyDeleteOh dear you do sound a bit down, so I hope things get better really soon. It is hard to write upbeat posts when things are tough, so great that you managed it.
ReplyDeleteThe community garden sounds a great idea, but it is hard for people to make regular commitments to things. I volunteer at my local library as the council cut back on its full time staff. Delighted to say I have nearly clocked up three years there.
Thanks for the book reviews. I am always on the look out for good books.
Hope that you're feeling better soon Julie and a bunch of flowers and a good book always brighten my day. My sweet peas are still climbing though not many flowers yet although the everlasting sweet peas seem to be doing well. Take care xx
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that you haven't been feeling so well at the moment, I hope things improve soon. I read The Clockmaker's Daughter recently and enjoyed it at the time but when you mentioned the book it took me ages to remember what the story was about so not so memorable as some books which stick in your mind for ages. Your sweet peas are gorgeous, mine haven't even started to flower yet. Take carex
ReplyDeleteHello Julie. I am sorry to hear how you are feeling my dear. I do hope things improve for you soon. Your sweet peas are lovely. Thank you for sharing them. I do miss my garden. The only volunteering I do, is visiting the elderly with Henry. We go to the local nursing home.
ReplyDeleteHope you feel better very soon. Plus your other family members. Health issues just refuse to leave us all alone. So frustrating. Beautiful flowers.
ReplyDeleteOh, dear... I'm so sorry to hear that July has not started out so well for you, Julie. I do hope things improve as the month goes on for both your health and for your family issues. It must be hard to stay positive--I know I would struggle.
ReplyDeleteYour sweetpeas remind me of my mom as she always planted them growing up a trellis by our back door when we were growing up. I've tried growing them, but have not had any luck.
I think I would volunteer if I lived in a village or town setting, but sadly I live in a large suburb of a large city and we have no town so to speak. There is really not much of a community feeling. I've thought of going back to the library to volunteer, but decided against it as I think it would just make me sad...
Hope you are starting to feel a little bit better! The sweetpeas are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI am the Queen of Volunteering! 16 years of running the Toddler Group, 12 years of PTA (2 different schools) and Admin for a growing number of community groups on FB - from painting rocks to photography and stitching of course!
Just signed up for a bit of craftivism too. I'll do a blog post and let you all know about that soon.
I used to volunteer for years at the local primary school, did a TA course and went on to do the next level with the open university and finished my degree. I stayed for a few years after my boys left but gradually withdrew as work got busier. One day I may go back but not for a few years yet. My youngest (16) will do his last week there next week - just 3 afternoons for 4 weeks. He finished school and with the holidays stretching for 10 weeks and having no work experience at his school, I thought it'd be good for him. On the whole he's ok with it and enjoying the experience.
ReplyDeleteHope health issues improve, take care. Cx
(((Hugs))) Julie, lovely sweetpeas. You and DH do so much for your community in many ways.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why but I never have sweet peas in our garden and I love them so much !
ReplyDeleteThat little cardigan is so sweet, I'm going to look for such a cardigan but with long sleeves, because grandchild will be born just before Christmas.
That posy of sweet peas looks a delight.
ReplyDeleteSending healing thoughts to you.
All the best Jan
I know I've been reading your posts backwards, but I hope you're doing better now?
ReplyDeleteTwo adorable finishes, the little cardigan is precious!
The sweet peas are so pretty, such beautiful colours.
No community gardens here, and no volunteering really, just with the church/school.