Personal Blogs

A bright new Rose opens up in the Rose Garden

The Porch overlooking the green lawn.

Cats Playing Hide and seek on The Garden Lawn

A Dark Pink Rose in The wild border.

Some Wild Roses growing in the garden borders.

My current book that I am reading is 'Exile and the Kingdom' by Albert Camus.

Albert Camus (1913- 1960) He was a French philosopher, writer and Journalist. His works include His works include-  The Stranger, The  Plague, The Myth of Sisyphus,  The Fall  and  The Rebel.
This book I am reading is a collection of short stories. It leaves you feeling deeply about life, about loneliness, finding meaning in life or no meaning in life,  about what matters and what doesn't. These are just like little parables,  that you can reflect on and find the meaning yourself within them.

Four of these short stories are set in Algiers on the fringes of the desert. The descriptions are vivid and interesting. You feel  yourself immediately transported to those exotic places. All the stories are very good so far and I am about halfway througb the book. So far so good.

I will read the rest of the book then finish my summary of the book in my next blog.

This week is "Mental Health Awareness week" and I have been taking lots of photos of flowers and nature to pin on my bedroom wall, because these scenes can be really cheerful to look at.

There is nothing better than going for a relaxing stroll through the park, nature reserve or a small natural woodland. 

There is always something new and interesting to see, whether it is a snail with its delicate small shell, a rosy red robin, a gay green foliage,  a beautiful bright butterfly or colourful cheerful flowers. There is always something in nature to see that can make you smile! 🙂

Today after studying in the 9, we had a lovely park walk, around the perimeter of the park field. We had chosen a quiet time of the day, when there was not too many people about.

I had soon spotted a lovely little grey squirrel and pointed it out to my son, he took out his binoculars to have a look  "Yes, it is a squirrel it has a very big bushy tail" said my son, but then that elusive little squirrel ran quickly away up the tree trunk, and disappeared  underneath the large canopy of leaves.

Large tree in park where we saw the squirrel

In this time of the year, it's the time of the blue bells, the redish pink ragged robins, yellow king cups, as well as daisies and bright yellow dandelions. The woodland looked quite enchanting at this moment, with all the dandelion clocks, like fairies dancing in the sunlight beneath the trees 

There was not a cloud in the blue sky, it was a beautiful day. We walked along the little footpath, through the woodland that led on to the park and large playing field.

The other path led towards the pavilion with its bright wooden picnic benches outside. Beyond this is the childrens play area, with swings, slides and roundabouts which at this time of day were empty.

Walking briskly we take the path that lead past the tennis court and along the path beneath the trees. We found our favourite spot with the little wooden bench to sit on beneath the trees, and I had brought a hot flask of tea and sandwiches with us.

Playground and pavillion in park

 Here we could sit and look out across the large park and eat our sandwiches in peace. Looking across the playing field, was a bit like like looking onto a large green stage.

Green playing field

It is quite a large park and on Satudays and Sundays they have well organised football or cricket matches on the field. At that time the park is busy full of spectators, mums, dads and children all moving about across the field and around the pavilion. 

At other times you can see dog walkers diligently walking their dogs, who are hopefully well behaved and on their leads. Then there are all the fairground rides and fetes throughout the summer.

However, today it is the birds that are the centre stage, as they swooped down to pick up the insects. There were Magpies, Crows, a few small Wagtails, Wood pidgeons, Doves, Starlings and Sea gulls all pecking about for small insects and worms that they find there, in the very lush green grass.

We sat and watched the comings and the goings of the birds, as they swooped down to swallow insects, some birds landing on the ground. We quickly tried to name as many as we could,  I had to be really quick as they were so flying around a lot,  it wasn't easy!

Suddenly and without warning some of the birds flew up into the air, like a huge dark cloud with wings flapping,  while at the same time came the sound  of the lawn mower, that could be heard chugging and spluttering into action!

I had not noticed the man on the other side of the field- (the park keeper) standing  next to the shed, who had mounted up onto the sit -on -mowing machine. He began his long slow journey on the far side of the field, making nice straight lines up and down the field.  The birds scattered and flew away as soon as he approached on his machine.

After finishing off our tea and sandwiches, we moved back on to the footpath once more and made our way back out through the park gate.

 It was time to leave the park behind us, but we had both very much enjoyed this walk,  on a  lovely sunny afternoon.  Then as soon as we heard the cheerful chimes of the ice -cream van, my son asked me if we can have an ice - cream "Oh why not! " I replied.laughing.

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'Love thy neighbour. '
 Respect your neighbour. "Do no harm to your neighbour who dwells peacefully beside you."

"Love is the fulfillment of the law" Romans 13:8-10 (NT Bible)

The 10 commandmentsExodus 20:2–17, The Bible

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Passerelle au-dessus du ruisseau

Sentier autour le champ

Un arbre magnifique

Arbuste d'aubépine

C'est mon itinéraire habituel,  je commence ma promenade à travers le champ,  le long des sentiers balisés, jusqu'à la sortie du village. 

Ce week-end, le temps a été particulièrement humide, avec de nombreuses grosses flaques de pluie.
Il y a eu beaucoup de pluie cette nuit!

Les zones sombres du champ étaient celles où la majeure partie de l'eau était encore posé en surface.

C'était bien que je porte mes bottes Wellington !

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/creamy-mushroom-spinach-pasta

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I can't help admiring our french cousins. They are on average a lot slimmer than the US or UK  citizens and eat smaller much healthier portions!

This is probably due to their eating habits of a more Mediterranean diet. We in the UK on the other hand are much stockier and plump, living on an island that sees much colder, wetter, wilder, weather in general, so we have to eat a diet with lots of carbs particularly to survive the harsher, colder weather conditions.

However, the french love food and especially fine cuisine!
"Mangez bien, riez souvent, aimez beaucoup" meaning "eat well, laugh often, love much" is a common saying in France that sums up the nation's enthusiasm for food.

Note the "eat well" rather than "live well" - eating is to be savoured as a central part of life itself.

French movie star Leslie Caron knows a thing or two about French food, having run a restaurant near Paris for nearly 20 years.

"I eat sensibly – every day at lunch I have a steak with a big salad and I eat fruit, vegetables, yogurt and muesli," she says. "I seldom eat pastry – maybe once a year. I never eat desserts and I don't drink. That makes a big difference."

On the other hand, numerous studies have indicated that red wine, and French red wine in particular, contains high level of antioxidants. So French women can rest assured that one or two glasses a day are not only pleasurable but beneficial to their health as well. Santé!

Unlike the UK or the US
Food portions are much much smaller in France. It is quite common for french women to leave half her plate or save it for later!

Food is celebrated in France and enjoyed with  family and friends.  The french eat 3 times a day but they never eat between meals!

Food should always look pleasing to the eye and beautiful on the plate. Nouvelle cuisine is the popular choice of meal and remember less is always more.

1. Exclude All Processed Foods. ...
2. Emphasize On Whole Foods. ...
3. Shop At Local Food Markets. ...
4. Think Quality, Not Quantity. ...
5. Cook Every Single Meal. ...
6. Eat A Wide Variety of Foods. ...
7. Eat Everything In Moderation. ...
8. Stay Thin simply by living your life. (Everyday excercise.)
9. French women walk everywhere!

So I think we can learn a lot from our french cousins. Bon appétit!

* Sources - Stylist.co.uk

*leoncechenal.com/french-diet- how -to - like- a - french-woman

Today was Easter Saturday, the sun was shining and the weather looked good. I asked J if he would like to walk with me across the field to the next village. He said he would and would be glad of a walk.

Set off walking across the fields, walking along the footpath. The first field was a small cabbage field, the smell of cabbage was quite pungent!  We laughed, but I happen to like cabbages so I didn't really mind. From here we came into a lovely wild meadow, where we spotted wild yellow primroses, crocus,  yellow gorse bushes. king cups, wood anemones, harebells and other wild flowers. 

There was also the pretty white Hawthorn flowers growing on the hawthorn bushes, by the side of the footpath and the field.

J soon spotted 2 rabbits at the edge of the field scurrying quickly away, we watched as their little white fluffy tails disappearing quickly down the rabbit hole on the bank at the side of the field. When we came to the little footbridge over the stream, I commented about how deep the water was, and how fast it was flowing after the recent rainfalls. J agreed the streams were fuller than usual.

We sat on the footbridge to rest for a little while. By now we were about halfway there, but I felt tired already,  so it was nice to sit and rest and drink a fruit juice. The sun felt very warm, but fortunately there was a slight breeze too.

Played at throwing sticks onto the water from the footbridge and waited until they appeared on the other side of the bridge. I think mine must have sunk as I couldn't see it anymore!  J cheered as he saw the stick appear again still intact on the other side.

Next, we took the narrow footpath that ran along the backs of the gardens, beside the cows field except no cows were in there today,  because they were in the lower meadow, beside the lake.🐂🐄 (thank goodness I am a bit scared of cows!)

We both liked looking at the back gardens as we passed by on the footpath, there was a riot of colours! One garden was full of brightly coloured tulips while another garden was full of golden yellow daffodils of all varieties. 

 There were quite a lot of different  butterflies about,  we saw a peacock butterfly, a yellow one, common white, a red admiral or painted lady? and a little blue one. A few very large bumble bees buzzing around the flowers too.  Some ducks were quacking noisily, beside the pond in another garden! 🦆🦆

Soon we arrived at our destination, which was the little chapel in the centre of the woods hidden beneath the trees. Here, we were able to rest inside the little warm chapel for a while, and I whispered a little prayer of thanksgiving,  that I even made it there, my first real long walk since covid!

I like this little chapel, with its quiet altar, its flowers, the candles and behind the altar on the wall, the words of the Lords prayer on the left  side and the 10 commandments on the right hand side. Just to remind us what God expects of us.

On the way out of the church we saw the lady vicar just leaving the house of one of her parishoners nearby in the village, so I waved.. She knows me and she waved back. "Would you both like a lift back home?" She asked. "Yes please, that's very kind of you" I replied and gave a big smile and huge sigh of relief!  "Thank you." I think God just answered my prayers, as we were both feeling so tired after that walk!

Easter is a time of renewal, of new life. Emerging from the dark winter days, we look forward to a new life in Christ. Christ who has died, Christ who has risen and Christ who will come again. Jesus Christ died for our sins to bring us closer to God.

All our sins will be wiped out, when we believe in Jesus's sacrifice, that he died for us to take away once and for all every sin we have ever committed. Only then can God look upon us as his pure children.

Repent, believe, receive!

"Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be white like wool."

https://www.biblegateway.com/

NIV version
Isaiah 1:18

Matthew 20:28

"The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” That was his purpose, his mission on earth to show us the way and to lead us to God.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Ref. The Bible
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