Six Word Saturday

Six word Saturday

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Never promised you a rose garden

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Here in the north east of England we’ve had a few days of capricious Summer.  Knowing its fleeting nature I’ve been out enjoying it.  If there’s one thing that Britain does well, it’s gardens, so I thought I’d try to dispel yesterday’s gloom, if only for a little while.

Come with me to Sutton Park, a stately home in Sutton on the Forest, North Yorkshire.

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The Grade 1 listed Georgian house is the family home of Sir Reginald, 8th Baronet, and Lady Sheffield, and there are connections to both David Cameron’s wife, Samantha, and to the Duchess of Cambridge.  The history page on the website traces a link all the way back to the Templars.

Within the extensive grounds are an Ice House which you can actually walk inside, and a huge kitchen garden.

The house and gardens are only open in May, June, and a couple of weekends, so I just made it in time for a delicious scone in the tearooms.

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Ready to face the world again now.  Enjoy your weekend, whatever you have planned.  I’ll have more gardens and a castle for you in my Monday walk.  Don’t forget to pop in on Cate before then.

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Shall we revel in curvaceous beauty?

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Sensuous swishing,

Shaking off the kiss of rain.

Don’t you like my curves?

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After the rather sombre mood of my last post I’m in need of a little uplifting beauty.  The Weekly Photo Challenge gives me the perfect opportunity. I hope Jude will approve this for her garden too.

Gilly – for you I have your own personal six words.  “I don’t have time to tanka”.

Warm hugs to all.  Have a great weekend, and don’t forget to share with Cate.  Join me on Monday for one last Polish walk?

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Does this say Summer to you?

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What do you think?  Jude is asking for The Essence of Summer this month.  Wonderful what you can do with a sunny hour or two, isn’t it?

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Spot the intruder!  This was going to be all about the Iris, but I was very taken with the Cersiums and I’m afraid they just sneaked in. Jude is busy in her new garden but she’ll make time to say hello.

Have a great weekend, and don’t forget Cate.  Another, very busy lady.  This is my 200th Six Word Saturday!  Maybe I should quit while I’m ahead.

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Reasons to be cheerful, 1, 2….

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It’s been a cold and murky old week here in the north east of England, but are we down-hearted?  Reasons to be cheerful this week include a stroll through the back streets of Durham, and a trip to Newcastle-on-Tyne to meet up with a lovely friend.  I came across a few Numbers along the way.

Share your ‘reasons to be cheerful’ with Cate at Six Word Saturday.  Have a good weekend and I’ll see you on Monday for a cool, English walk.

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Good time on a grey day

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The sun doesn’t have to shine to make me happy.  Being with people I love in a beautiful place does the trick too.  Thursday had me slip-sliding about at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (in the wrong shoes, again!)  But it was worth it when I found the rhododendrons in full flower in the woods.

I will be taking you there on one of my Monday walks, but I just had to share this beauty.  I half wondered if it would qualify as a wildflower for Jude’s Garden Challenge.  Then I decided it didn’t really matter.  She’ll love it anyway.

Happy Bank Holiday weekend to all you Brits!  Hope you find some sunshine somewhere.  Cate is having problems at Six Word Saturday.

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Thursday’s still Special on a Saturday

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Last Saturday you accompanied me to a rather wonderful cake shop in Kraków.  Just so you don’t think that I spent the entire two weeks eating cake, I think you should come with me on a little stroll to the park.

It’s a very busy household I was staying in.  Work in the bakery starts in the early hours and often Łukasz leaves home before 5.  Ula combines study with learning the trade, sometimes in the cake shop till 10 at night.   Their father, Adam, is at the helm of the bakery and machine manufacturing business all day long.  Which leaves wife Marta at home, feeding and nurturing, whilst oldest daughter Weronika looks after eleven month old Bartek.  So what was I to do?

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Find a bench in the Park and watch the world at play.  All was peaceful when I first arrived, but soon excited voices broke into my reverie.  A posse of pre-schoolers were being coraled in the playground.  Peace was gone, but a smile lit my face.

Paula makes Thursday special every week, and you know that’s still true on a Saturday.

Hope you have a great weekend. Why not share your six words with Cate, and I’ll be back on Monday with a Polish walk for you.

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Niestety, mówię tylko troche po polsku

“Unfortunately, I speak only a little Polish” but the language of cake is universal.  Staying in the home of a baker could be ruination for the figure, so it’s probably as well I came home when I did.  Chmurka malinowa (raspberries and meringue) was my undoing.  Sadly, after 2 weeks in Poland I was just starting to get my head around the language and have the confidence to try to speak it.

The photos above are from my cousin Adam’s newest shop, and Dad is there with the family, waiting to sample ciastko- cake. Something which he is extremely good at.  Must be a family trait!  The last is taken through the shop window.  My lovely niece Ula has just finished work for the day.

One of my weeks was spent with family in Central Poland, where feeding one week old ducklings- kaczki– was part of the entertainment.  I was also lucky enough to meet up with Meg in the city of Łódź.  Such joy that gave me.  I’ll be taking her along on my Monday walk next week.  Come with us, but don’t expect to get a word in, will you?

Meanwhile, have a great weekend!  Pop in on Cate if you have six words you want to share.

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It’s not all lamb and salad!

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Nor is it the best of photos, because it was an exceedingly murky day.  As Mam used to say, ‘it’s not all lamb and salad’- in other words you have to take the rough with the smooth.  Monday just gone was the perfect example of ‘rough’.  As a general rule, our group don’t walk when it’s wet, but we had already set out for Hurworth Burn when the weather decided not to cooperate.  Nothing for it but to pin on the grin and go.

The company was still good, even if the view was… indistinct.  Gorse provided a little colour, but it’s a real contrast with my Burgeoning Spring, isn’t it?  There’s usually a reason to be joyful if you look for it, and I did have the opportunity to practise some Macro.

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Pussy willows are lovely, aren’t they, even when wet?  Can’t share them with Jude, because these aren’t in a garden.

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I’m walking again next Monday (I’ve booked sunshine!), but that will be my last post for a while.  You might have noticed a lack of Algarve photos lately.  That obviously means it’s time for a bit more ‘lamb and salad’.

Have a happy weekend, whatever your weather!  Spare a minute to drop in on Cate with your six words?

P.S.  I don’t normally do ‘plugs’ but if you saw my 6WS last week and liked the ‘teapot book’ you might like to look at Joanne’s stuff.

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What else we did at Easter

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Phone a friend, of course!  One of the lovely aspects of this Easter was that Lisa was able to renew a friendship from her very earliest years.

This exquisitely folded book, made by Joanne, is a lasting memento of their meeting.  It fits so well in Lisa’s beautiful, artistic home, with her hand-painted flowers and birds.  There’s always a project at Lisa’s, and after our visit to Butterfly World, she asked for some photos to begin another. That evening we dragged out old photo albums from school days and giggled over the pigtails and pinafore frocks.

The weekend weather was a little unpredictable, and Sunday brought a good soaking in the park, complete with hail stones.  On Monday we opted to spend time in the Museum of Hartlepool, safe from the elements, before a swift stride along the seafront.

Tuesday saw the lovely lady heading home, and me bereft, for a while.  But I have so much joy to look back on.  How about you?

You can join me at Six Word Saturday, if you like.  If not, I’ll see you on Monday, for a rather unusual, industrial walk.

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An Easter bouquet, from our house…

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to yours!

Lisa arrived, in a burst of colour and joy, with flowers and the card she’d made.  My Good Friday was the happiest I have shared in a long time.  We walked, in warm Spring sunshine.  We talked.  We ate, and laughed, and smiled a lot.

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This morning my house is peaceful, while I wait for everyone to stir.  Wishing you all much love this Easter!  I hope that you are equally blessed.

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