The Swan Thieves

Georgia made reference to this book in her blog and I have just finished reading it.  It is about mental illness and art so I felt right at home.  It is a very worthwhile read.  It also made me think of another day Mum and I spent with my cousin Cynthia and John.  This time in Kew Gardens at the beginning of our holiday before we went to Wales.

Share the love

In honour of our 10th !!!!! Wedding Anniversay, love spoons carved by Steve a long time ago.  And a beautiful Welsh blog and website:  Jackie Morris  Cheese and Pickles  The lady from Cheese and Pickles, Deborah Withey, took the workshop that Georgia and I graced in St Davids.  I love her painted stones.  Jackie Morris lives in an old cottage with her children, dog and cats (who also have their own blog) and does the most beautiful book illustrations.  Enjoy.

The Ebullience of Cousins

I've been looking forward to doing this post for sometime.  It is a day from our time in England that I had forgotten and that then came back to me with all its emotion attached.  Just before we left England to come home, Cynthia and John drove us to Rickmansworth and we walked around a lake and along another part of the Grand Union Canal.  Mum was pretty tired by this time and sat watching the lake while John, Cynthia and I walked.

The Man who loved Lock Dancing

We saw this cat as we walked back along the canal.

She had a sort of come hither look so we followed her to this barge.

Then a young man came along carrying a duck.  He was like the personification of the Green Man.  He and his father lived on the barge.  He had found the duck injured some months ago and had nursed it back to health but it still had difficulty swimming, so he took it for a supervised swim everyday.  As you can imagine, I was enchanted.

If you look very carefully, you can see the duck by the open door.  Cat and duck get on fine together.

And here's another barge cat we met - just in case Ella is looking.

The Brilliance of Cousins

The seats in the Secret Garden where Mum and I used to read and doze after yummy lunches at The Refectory at St Davids Cathedral.  Captured by my Cousin David around Christmas time.