Another Birthday

Yes another year has flown by, another birthday celebrated and instead of bemoaning being another year older I'm celebrating getting this far.

My darling daughter took me for lunch at a fabulous new eating place called Cosy Club.

Beautiful Art Deco

with a feel of Havana

We both had a delicious Cherry Bakewell Cocktail,

 cherry juice and amaretto almond liqueur, Mount Gay rum and a drop of caramel syrup.

It was difficult to decide what to eat, it all sounded delicious. Eventually I chose salmon fishcakes

with hollandaise sauce and a perfectly poached egg, my daughter had a burger in a brioche bun.

We didn't have dessert, opting instead to visit Hotel Chocolat!

These beautiful flowers arrived from my darling Aussie daughter, along with some truffles, and the

following day a bottle of Martini Asti Spumante arrived, she found a supplier in Birmingham to post it.

With a John Lewis voucher from my daughter and a gorgeous rose gold charm

for my Pandora bracelet from my grandson it was a lovely birthday.

∼ Be safe and well ∼ 

Polly x

Rufus' Diary

Hello dear reader, Rufus here, got my paws on the laptop to write a bit about what's going on.

Autumn already, mornings are dewy and cool giving way to beautiful warm days. We have had some lovely hot weather but not enough for Polly to say it's been a great summer. 

Autumn means blackberries, and Polly has been gathering loads for a blackberry and apple pie and a delicious crumble. I waited patiently on the lead each time while she picked them, it seemed to take ages. She kept saying what a good boy I was, and she did give me a few blackberries, and a few tasty morsals of cheese :-) I was hoping she wouldn't be picking any more because she doesn't think the red ones will ripen now, but she was checking them out this morning!

In the country

Back in the spring we had a lot of humid rainy days, which resulted in lots of fungi. 

These look pretty

but they're probably lethal

As for this one, well it's just rude, it smelled disgusting, and had flies all over it.

This looks like a poached egg!

Crops have been harvested

That's a mighty impressive machine

  fields are being ploughed

This field smelled lovely after the grass had been cut

We've seen a few trees with numbers on them, I think they are going to be felled.

In the garden

this hollyhock grew to about 10 feet

What a splendid spider

Polly loves the David Austen roses

Isn't this perfection

A house we pass regularly on our walks had lots of childrens toys outside with a note saying "please help yourself". Polly thought this was like a cute mini version of me! It hasn't got any beads on it, or anything dangerous. I don't chew things though, I just collect them and keep them close by.

In the village

The cream teas on the church lawn have finished. There have been six throughout the summer, raising money to reburfish the church. It hasn't been the best year weather wise, three had to be held in the church because of rain. Polly baked a couple of cakes and helped out serving.

And finally, a bit of fun

Where's my dinner, no seriously where is it?

Be safe and well

Rufus 🐾

Another Nice Walk

This walk involves a lot of fields

First the playing field. The direction of the walk is behind me

but I couldn't get a good photo because of the sun in my camera.

Through the first wheat field

and another, and another one beyond those trees

onto the road

I have coveted this house for years. I would love to have a look inside.

we turn off the road at that fir tree

and walk along the edge of this property, up to the gate.

Rufus has to be on the lead because I think that tape is electrified.

I'm not sure why though, I've never seen any animals in this field.

Saying hello to the horses

and onto another field, heading to those trees in the distance

to a shady track

that is lovely and cool on a hot day

it leads out to a lane

This used to be a very nice pub, very old with beamed ceilings and a roaring open fire in winter, and it was beautifully decorated at Christmas. They served good food with special offer days. My friend M and I used to go for lunch on Wednesdays. Unfortunately it closed a couple of years ago. It changed hands a few times, and chefs, and it was quite old fashioned, carpeted flooring, dark mahogany furniture, horse brasses and lots of old pictures. Nowadays people tend to want modern wood flooring, Farrow & Ball decor and modern light furniture.

If I'm pushed for time I turn right here, otherwise I turn left. Let's go left. 

This hedgerow is excellent for blackberries

I picked some good ones last week for a blackberry and apple pie. But there are a lot of red ones

that I don't think will ripen now. Not enough rain and sun at the right times 

There is a lovely listed house under that tarpaulin. It was home to an elderly gentleman who died a while ago. I only ever said "good morning" when he was in the garden. I met his daughter one day. The house had been neglected, the roof was damaged and the beautiful chimneys were in danger of falling down.

The builders are doing a fantastic restoration job.

Another gorgeous house

with a duck pond in front of it, and a sign asking to look out for them when they cross the road 😊

Onto the lane leading back into the village

Almost home

I hope you have enjoyed the walk

 

∼ Be safe and well ∼ 

Polly x