TARRAGON & THYME

I have been watching a repeat of a favourite television series of mine H E Bates, the Darling Buds of May. Whilst watching I was taken back to some of my earliest memories by a swing that Pa Larkin and the General were sat on. It was the exact duplicate of one that my Aunty Rene had. I have very fond memories of that swing. I first started to go and stay with Aunty Rene, Uncle Jim and Uncle Pat when my brother was born. I was three years old and my brother was born in September. It was a warm September and I remember sitting on this particular swing in Aunty's garden in the hot sunshine and falling asleep on the swing. It wasn't a child's swing but a full length sette style swing that adults and children could sit on alike. It was a quiet peaceful September with butterflies buzzing amongst the deep flower borders but we were safe in the shade of the swing It was a green and orange and black stripe fabric covered swing that took apart so that it could be stored for ...

I don't know whether it is a country thing or not but my Nan always used to do a big bake and keep something in the tins for unexpected guests. It was a formality that she never budged from or compromised and good friends were often offered something to eat several cups of tea from the very large teapot and/or Mazawati coffee; if she had just got a new batch of wine that had recently been bottled an improptu glass of this and that would be offered as well. To say my Nan was interesting was an understatement. She was a very quiet woman who had her own set of priorities and a christian faith which she did not shove down your neck and allowed you to be yourself. She had a very good sense of what was right and wrong, as did my Popl. She was a very peaceful person and the home that my Granddad (Pop) shared together for 60 years was a very peaceful place a little eden in the madenss of the progressing world. Nan didn't often blow her top but if she did you knew about it. She was a...

I love the Moon that big bright glowing orb that hangs in our skies in all her glory once a month and its full moon in a couple of days time. I am now supposedly a grown adult, and I still adore the moon, but as a child I was always very aware of the moon in all her glory. I was always fascinated by the shadows that the moon used to cast and the silvery moon beams as they used to reflect off items. Pure magic to a child who flew on magic carpets to Egypt with her father at bedtime, ,saw the sphinx the pyramids and camels roaming under a massive expanse of sky. These were my normal bedtime stories and we couldn't wait for bedtime as my father was a born story teller and kept us entranced. My father encouraged my imagination and gave me a place to go to escape once life got too tough in the big wild world. To me she, the Moon is magnificent and always has been - sometimes more beautiful than at others especially when you get a proper harvest moon when she seems to develop a go...

I can always remember as a young child going to stay with my aunty and uncle and being kept entertained with a large old highly decorated sweet tin absolutely full of beautiful unique buttons. I used to be set the task of trying to match as many of the buttons up as I could. It used to keep me quiet and entertained with some highly individual beautiful buttons being stored within its confines. I used to lay on the rug in front of the fire sorting the buttons and examining each one and admiring them for their beauty. Any clothing that was sent to the rag and bone man always had its buttons chopped off and restored to the tin to be recycled at some future date on some home produced garment either a dress or a knitted cardigan or jumper. You didn't always have a choice way back then it was a home creation and only very rarely a tailored dress - this was down to cost more than anything else - times that seem to be coming back. Times were that girls were well prepared on how to run...

By the day it is a year today (Monday) that my darling father passed away. By the date tomorrow (Tuesday) is the actual day he passed. I miss him terribly (as do my mother, brother and his family (especially my two nephews who he absolutely idolised) and I cannot believe it is a year since we lost him. I miss him terribly but I often feel him around me - strange, but true. I think that is why I wasn't able to grieve for him like my mum and my brother - I was looking after them but I could still feel him - he is never that far away. I feel things - even other's pain as I am an empath too. Although I cannot always express what I feel to others, I do feel. My Dad was one of the few who understood me and was able to get past the defences. As a child he used to reason with me and spend time with me - sometimes it would take him six hours or more but he would press on and make the point that needed to be made. The worst thing for me is not being able to hold or hug him; but I ...

"Dolly's Tea Set As a little girl I used to beg my mum to let me play with "Dolly's Tea Set" which used to sit in the cupboard under the sideboard on the shelf. It was cream and gold and I could never understand why she would not let me play with this "tea set" in fact in retrospect I can never remember my mum using it so it must be "Dolly's Tea Set". I used to get ever so frustrated about the fact that she would never let me play with it. It was only when I got much older that I realised what in fact I had been calling the service "Dolly's Tea Set" was in fact a Coffee Set,consisting of Coffee pot, cream jug, sugar bowl, 6 coffee cups and 6 saucers. Today my mum gave me "Dolly's Tea Set" and permission for me to "play with it" I attach some photo's for you to share. The other item is a treasured cake stand. Not an expensive one but it has many memories of my early birthdays as Mum always used t...

Following on from my posts yesterday they kinda made me feel all nostalgic and started to remember things that I hadn't thought about in ages. Many of you may not know but last year very suddenly I lost my father - too quick too soon and with us not being able to say a proper good bye which sort of left the family floundering at bit. I am very glad to have known this very special creative and complex man and he has given me so much - some of which I am still uncovering. He gave me a love of reading and a love of music - very special gifts. A big part of my memory bank has always been music; I tend to recall an event and if music was part of it I not only remember the event but remember the song. Part of this stems from the fact that music was the be all and end all of my father's life, as a lad he was a chorister in the Lincoln Cathederal choir, and often was a soloist with visiting well known singers. His life therefore revolved for many years around the church and music...

Talking of High Tea and my Nan's cooking reminds me very much of an occasion when we went to see her one Sunday. Now ever since I was small Nan has always cooked a proper Sunday lunch, making the most of seasonal produce and making a little go along way by being careful what she served up and how she served it. We always had Sunday lunch it would probably be a small piece of pork served with home made apple sauce, at this time of year sprouting broccoli, carrots and mashed potato and roast potato and parsnip. Oh and Nan's home made sage and onion stuffing. Yummy. Her and my granddad grew all of their own vegetables rarely did they buy them that was anathema to them The meal was always good first time round and she used to get a second sometimes a third meal out of everything. Monday was always traditionally her washing day [old habits died hard] so Monday's meal always consisted of cold meat and bubble n squeak. If there was anything left from that it used to go into a...