Janet Brien's favorite articles

As you all in the UK are aware, we have had some amazingly sunny days lately and even some warmth too - which is oh so welcome. Apparently we can expect some rain this coming week, which isn't very good, but I suppose that it is necessary for the plants etc. My bluebells are thriving on the driveway - a sea of blue, a visitor called it, all made possible because I don't drive a car over it now, because the car is well and truly done with, I swear it's growing on the drive!!!!! There are flowery…

Well folks, the weather is playing with us. We've already done the "Spring forward" hour with our clocks a few weeks ago. Two weeks ago it was warm and Emily actually did the first grass cut of this year and I left the window open for a while because it was so warm. Now further along the month and you'd be okay to assume that the temperatures would be going up - er no such luck!!!! I realise that Europe as well as here in the UK have been subjected to horrendously cold weather. Snow and hail and…

Hiya folks, sorry I've been so lax in both answering your blogs and photos and also letting you know what's been going on in my part of the world. As you know - I was taken into hospital again!! Apparently in their haste to rid me of the fluid around my heart, I lost so much that I endangered my kidneys!!! So I had to go into hospital to have the proper balance worked out. I can add that I'm fine now, but because my medications were changed three times inside a month, they totally disagreed w…

Even though we've had a lot of very cold weather - I think the double glazing has helped by not letting the freezing cold get to them. When there is a little bit of sun, they relish in it. The hoya has seen fit to try and escape through the pelmet at the top of the window!!!! When Emily comes on Tuesday, I'll ask her to tie it back again!!!! It's lovely seeing the red splashes of colour from the "flamingo plant"...... but Emily bought me a Bromeliad plant with a lovely…

What have I done to deserve having so many wonderful friends? Emily sent me more clothes (with extra knickers/trousers etc) so I should be fine. Also she sent in some soap,shampoo and conditioner!! Yay - I'll be smelling beautifully soon. Best of all - she sent me in my camera!!!! To this end, I am able to show you my bruises!!! These are all on my left hand, because I'm right handed and they might as well ruin the arm I don't use very often, and give my right hand a bit of luck. So…

Hiya folks, Sorry I haven't been writing much here, but with this lockdown going on - I'm not going out much neither!!!! So I've been making resin pendants to give to people for Christmas and then I have to make some things for the men in the group who have helped me - they won't be wearing pendants will they? LOL - maybe some paper weights or key rings - have to think about that!! I made these today - I quite like the colours here. Mandi has asked me to do her colours like this, a…

Mandi's latest brood of kittens are starting to make themselves known and have decided that they prefer the lounge and also they have grabbed Mandi's part of the couch for their own!!!! Mandi took these pictures to show mum, Fluff, making the kittens at home on Mandi's jumper on the couch...... So Mandi is now all squashed up on the part of the couch that's vacant. Dogan has his own part of the couch, and he manages to have it all to himself, until he went to sleep!!!.. One of t…

Hiya folks, sorry I haven't written a blog for a while, but to be honest - my life is so much the same every day, I haven't had anything to write about. At least Mickey can write about his gardening, but I don't have even that!!! The last few days have been wonderfully sunny, but very very humid. Well today we had really big rolls of thunder, and so I had to semi-close my windows, but the rain didn't come and the thunder has moved away - but leaving the humidity with us!!! The mombretia i…

Yep we did have one good day this weekend, yesterday!!! It was lovely and sunny, even warm enough for me to have the window open for most of the day!!! Such a contrast to today though. Rain, all grey cloud cover, cold wind - no windows open neither!!! Back to yesterday - I wandered around the house into the garden. When I went around the front of the house, I noticed how much purple loosestrife there was. The flower was everywhere making this rough patch look so beautiful.......…

Lately I've been having problems walking and so I tend to stay indoors most of the time. However it was such a glorious day, Wednesday (yesterday) that I just had to go and get around the garden. As I have donated most of my garden to wildlife (!!!!) I can only get to the top part of the garden with the grass and the blossom trees. The garden is in 4 layers, which means it's a total no-go area down there, even if it wasn't covered with weeds and wild plants!!!! - I can't walk downhill like that.…

This morning whilst I was washing up - I noticed the blue sky behind the white lilac which is just outside my kitchen window. The wind was blowing but the white blooms stayed put. I couldn't resist taking some pictures - the blue sky only lasted about an hour, then it was clouds galore - in fact at one time I thought it would pour down, the dark grey was so prevalent. Anyway folks, I was so thrilled to see these flowers, and I know that soon they'll disappear, further down the drive is the…

Well hiya folks. Things have been rather strained here these past few weeks. I hadn't realised I had a bad chest infection which stopped me from breathing properly, which made any movement etc a great effort. The big thing about this, is that I live on my own and it's very easy to be scared in the middle of the night when you are struggling to breathe. There were many times when I almost rang our emergecy services, but apart from "I don't want to bother them", I knew I wouldn't have the strength…

After a long bout of weather consisting of heavy rain,drizzle,fog rolling down from the hills and sea mist rolling in today dawned better with a hint of sun to come. What a relief after days of having to dress up like an backwoods man. first job feed the cats and give them their morning cuddle,not an option more a command from the felines.Next out to fill the bird feeders. THe wind was in the north and bitingly cold but it was dry. I made a coffee and started to get geared up when I noticed a…

I must begin this article by offering my very sincere thanks for the kind messages of support and concern we have received from so many ipernity members. It really has brought home to me that this is a very caring community group, not merely a photo sharing site. The essential point you need to know is that Pauline and I, and our furry friends, are safe and well and apart from being covered in soot and losing power and communications, our property has not been affected by the fires. As at wri…

I just wanted to thank you all who wished me a happy birthday. I had a lovely day, both of my neighbours popped in with cards and pressies, my daughter rang from Turkey and both she and her hubby wished me happy birthday. Then my son and his kids sang a lovely birthday song on Skype. He couldn't come up as his wife has just had an operation and she's in bed convalescing, so he can't leave her alone for another week. The day was gorgeous - sunny and just a slight breeze, however yesterday it s…

EN vDEAR ALL OK... WE JUST HOME NOW . IT IS 10.21 PM IT HAS BEEN A TERRIBLY LONG DAY A WONDERFULLY SUCCESSFUL DAY I AM VERY SORE FROM THE PROCEDURE AND HAVE A LOTS OF DO NOT DO FOR A FEW DAYS ! BUT !! EVERYTHING THAT WAS A DISASTER LAST TIME WAS PERFECT THIS TIME .. YES... ALL WENT PERFECTLY. DOCTOR CHEEMA MY BRAIN SURGEON GOT TO SEE THE AVM https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/brain-avm/symptoms-causes/syc-20350260 UP CLOSE WITH THE CATHETER . BECAUSE OF TH…

Hiya folks, all I can do is apologise to you all for not writing much lately. Things have been all "6's and 7's" here (that's English for all over the place!!!!). I've been making a soft toy for my helper, Emily - an octopus can you believe? It'll be finished tomorrow, thankfully, although I must say I have enjoyed making it. It's so straightforward, I've not had a pattern to follow, I just went by a picture she gave me. I'll take some pics of it when it's finished. Mainly I've been very…

Emily offered to take me to the surgery this afternoon, so I could have my free flu jab. It was a drop-in clinic, so we thought it would be a good idea to arrive early, so we wouldn't have to wait too long. When we arrived there were a few already sitting in the waiting room, but not too many to get worried about a long wait. I'd been given a ticket with a number on it, 424, which when the nurse eventually came out to start the clinic and called 418, I was quite happy, knowing I only had 6 peop…

People often wonder how the images become picked to ipernity Explore . And here I try to figure it out and explain, as well as I can. The very first thing one needs to understand is that Explore is more or less an overview on what is popular during last few days. However, popularity is a tricky concept. One should keep in mind that what is popular may not match with any subjective or shared understanding on what is quality . If number of ipernity members like images of fences, or more p…

This is only a quickie, but I just had to share with you.... Emily, my helper/cleaner, took some baby spider plants a few months ago, from my larger plant... I'd put the babies in water and told her to wait until the roots showed and then plant them into soil. Well when she came today, she said that she was wondering why there were tall thin shoots coming out of the top of the plant. Then she looked at my plant in the kitchen and said - that's exactly what is happening with her p…