Tree of life...

All sorts of folk-law attached to hawthorn isn't there , Pp ?
Hollow old tree there too .

and a little window!!

looks like a little face poking out the window there :-)

A perfect place for a nest .....

Love it. :)

I may just move my box there over the winter ;)

I think secret lovers met here and whispered words so passionate that they were eventually heard ...)))

......and then what happened Pimp????

Hush, hush.........a story here.

I need the names of two secret lovers...

Lily and......?????........?????

Tiger Lily and the thorn tree..,.,.,.,?

Come to our special place ;)
I am waiting.....

I think the rest of us had better tip-toe quietly away . . .

LOL Sheila!!!
No worries as though it looks as though I have been stood up ;)
Off to weep now ;)))

if they were secret we wouldnt know their names??

come on pimms, please can we have some more of the story?

I'm convinced it's an Ent! (Come on, you've all read Lord of the Rings, haven't you?)

NO Gattina!! I used to work in the local bookshop, and was once accosted by an indignant 'county' type Englishwoman, who could not believe that I hadn't . . she said "You work in a bookshop, and haven't read Lord of the Rings???!!!" as tho' that should have been the criteria for getting the job (as opposed to being sweet and friendly and knowledgeable about all the other books on the shelves, lol).

I started reading LOTR when I was in hospital, 40 years ago now, having just given birth. In those days they forced you to stay in there at least 10 days, whether it was necessary or not, and I was bored. I got as far as about 4 pages in, gave up and didn't pick the book up for about another 10 years. It took me lots of goes and many more years to work my way through the whole damned saga. Still not sure it was worth it, but the Ents were one of my favourite bits. So glad they made a film of it: now you don't HAVE to read it, and you can go and make a cuppa or paint a ceiling when the boring fighting bits are going on.

It may well be an Ent....a young restless one, a portal, the whispering tree.

Lol Gatt.....Got the day off BTW

Amazing!

Hurrah! Which one?

that's an impressive tree, and a great angle into it, thanks, Pim.

lol I did a google and had only got as far as "tree lore" when up popped possibles, hwawthorn being the very first.

I bought my LotR as a single volume with my first week's wages after being out of work 18 months - in fact, that's the only reason I still have it! i'd written that in the flyleaf, and the "friend" i lent it to said that was the only reason he gave it back to me. some chum.

LoL! What a tomb!! The Hobbit was enough for me!!

I preferred the Alan Garner and John Wyndham books

I read a few of John Wyndham (even after my dad complained to the school about the swearing in day of the triffids) but I haven't heard of Alan garner?

You would love "The Weirdstone of Brisingamen" Sticki. You can actually walk the same places as the children..Google it.

I think that you would like "the Owl Service" as well..I think that it was made into a TV show but not sure.

Owl service rings a bell, I shall google/amazon that other straight away, thank you.

You can get it as a free download ebook it says, four files? How will that work? Lots of memory used?

Oh I still like paper books Sticki....

So do I! It was just that it was free!

The Wierd Stone, is set in Alderley Edge Sticki ....The resting place of Merlin ;)

There is also "The Moon of Gomrath" set there as well.

I shall look out for them, thank you

I found Alan Garner almost impossible to read. I grew up with John Wyndham.

Why is it difficult? The ideas?
Do you like children's books too gattina?

The potholing bit made me feel quite ill: I had to give up. You should know by now, Sticki, that am quite a childlike person.....

It gets very claustaphobic in that section..

The Chrysalids is my fave Wyndham book.

Oh gattina you can't be worse than me.

Not sure I read that one, midwich cuckoos was interesting but triffids most memorable.

Paper books for me too . . . and there are so many wonderful books on the shelf marked "children" which are just as great for us! e.g. Michelle Magorian, Noel Streatfield, A.A. Milne, lol.

I was taught to read by my Granddad using A.A.Milne, Beatrix potter, and then, when I COULD read, Noel Streatfield. I still have the copy of "Winnie The Pooh" with a crayon outline of a very small hand drawn on the flyleaf, and next to it, in wobbly letters, "My hand". I must have been about 3.
I don't ever remember hearing of Michelle Magorian.

It's shame Michelle Magorian isn't better known . . . would Goodnight Mr Tom ring a bell? Here in the UK a lovely film was made of it with John Thaw as Mr Tom - a grumpy old bachelor who had to house a young boy, who'd been evacuated during the war. A very touching story, as they gradually came to love each other.

Oh YES! Love that film. Hadn't realised it was by her. It prompted me to find out more about WW2 evacuees. Fascinating!

Three cheers!! It always seems a tad unfair when a film becomes really popular, and hardly a soul is aware of the author's name. There are probably quite a few like that :((

Her face is a little better known than her books as she is an actor as well as author.

I have a set of Alison Uttley books that belonged to my sister. She was throwing them away, I will now pass them on to her grand daughter in a couple of years....lovely illustrations.

Yes . . . lovely illustrations, even tho' slightly old-fashioned. I'd no idea that Michelle Magorian was an actor . . . what has she been in?

Rep Theatre, I think she was still acting when Goodnight Mr Tom was published.

I am a bit of a Harry Potter fan , so I think some of the books you mention might suit me , too Pp .
I will have a look for Mr Tom as well , Sheila , it sounds a bit of a weepy though .
That "take " on Bleak House that I told you about a while ago was hard work , maybe reading BH first would help but haven't got around to that yet !

Goodnight Mr Tom is a lovely but sad in parts film, I didnt recognise the author's name either.

Alison Uttley i love, she has also written about a country child growing up.

Noel Streatfield ~ Ballet shoes? i liked that which was surprising because i did not like ballet. [still dont]

read all harry potter driad, but i liked the first two far more than the rest, i fancy reading her new one too when it comes out

Read all the Harry Potter books. Very good and inventive, but I shan't be reading them again, which is strange for me. Gave them all away to son of Italian friend. Oh Little Grey Rabbit! Wonderful. "One for Rabbit, one for Squirrel, two for Hare....." We still quote it when dishing out mini Easter eggs. Guess who's Hare!

lol...

Remember the film "You've Got Mail" . . . with Meg Ryan as the owner of a children's book store? Guess why that's one of my favourites!!

Oh thats lovely gattina, do you remember little grey rabbit's christmas or was it squirrels birthday and they played spin the trencher??
and there was speckeldy hen who made herself a little house in the base of a tree ~ i really liked that idea.

thanks pimms this is a lovely blog

yes i remember that one too sheila!!

I like that you can all remember these things. I am blessed in as much as I can watch a film or read a book and then almost instantly, entirely forget it. That means that I enjoy them anew each time I revisit them. :0)

There's plenty I forget Pimm's, believe me :)

Sorry Driad, I don't remember anything about a 'take' on Bleak House . . . could it have been another Sheila?

i can ONLY remember childrens books!!!! i never know which road i am supposed to take or where i have put......... um, what i have put where!!!!????

This blog is ace!!!! I would really like to live in that hole in that tree! And maybe write a book after all this literary talk!!! Cannot read or watch Goodnight Mister Tom ever again as the 'cupboard' bit makes me weep just writing about it! Grey rabbit much safer for me!!!

let us know if you write a book Jill, and welcome to GoY!!

How about the ladybird books? I just about remember the story of the squirrel that ran away from home and got lost in the snow, but I can remember the pictures in great detail.
I have most of the Beatrix Potter books off by heart:- first, because my Granddad used to sit me on his knee and read them all to me, and second, because I used to read one a night to Daughter, who at the age of about two, knew them word for word. If I was exhausted and desperate to speed things up and attempted to precis the longer ones, Like "The Tailor of Gloucester", she'd complain, tell me off, and make me go back and read every single word. I told you she was(is) a tyrant, didn't I?

cant remember that squirrel one, there was one called 'the wise robin' that i loved; there were a series about some kittens i seem to remember

i have most of the beatrix potter books and the set of winnie the pooh. still love wind in the willows

Ah, yes, "Messing about in boats........."

my favourites in beatrix potter were all the naughty ones; peter rabbit, squirrel nutkin, two bad mice, tom kitten etc.

"she'd complain, tell me off, and make me go back and read every single word. I told you she was(is) a tyrant, didn't I?"

My niece Knew/knows every blinking word to "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" book and film! The first of the Narnia books.,.,.,.after reading the book we would have to sit down and watch the Video. She still at 28 watches the entire BBC Chronicles of Narnia every boxing day.

Amazing! The power of stories eh?

It carries onto adult life, unfortunately, Pim., Daughter can do every word of every episode of "Victoria Wood", "Absolutely Fabulous" and "Blackadder", with actions, funny voices and accents, too, and knows every single word of several films - "Tootsie" "The witches of Eastwick", "Moonstruck", "Educating Rita" and "Shirley Valentine" amongst others.
Who says the British education system is going to the dogs?

Lol..I used to make up stories for them off the cuff....The next bedtime I would have to remember every single thing..completely exhausting. She and her brother between them know the entire history of "Ragged Russell", "Towser the Mighty" and "Glove wars...You started it..Grr" All of them about my Patterdale Terrier. It cracks me up when they quote them now.

You should have written them down, P.! If Enid Blyton, and J.K.Rowling can do it, I'm sure you could.

We have tried to persuade and convince him gattina!

He's a stubborn Mancunian, isn't he?

I have a half well 1/4 started manuscript in a blue folder somewhere..

" HUMDRUM....the place beyond boredom." Been in that folder since 1984. :)

2012 could be the year Humdrum surfaces again?

Hey up . . . I went to sit by the log fire (have the rest of you got laptops on your laps perchance?!). This computer of mine is in a COLD room . . .

Anyhoo, it's the next morning, and I've just come back to say . . . starting is the easy bit, isn't it Pimm's? I have a pile of notebooks with the beginnings of short stories, and possible novels even - "I've started but I HAVEN'T finished, lol". One complete children's story about a cat who lived in a bookshop, beautifully illustrated by a colleague at the time, but rejected by a publisher! Puts you off a little ... :((

I once made up a song about Two Little Boys to help my two to sleep on an overnight ferry - then Rolf Harris pinched the idea!! They remember the occasion but not the words . . . not like your incredible neices and daughters!

computer in the kitchen and ipad for anywhere else sheila!!! cant live without them ~ well, prefer not to!!

My computer's in a cold room, too. Not fair!

i would have to have a change round!!!! OH has given up ~ thats why he let me have the ipad!!!

Friend has iPad - It looks very impressive, but I don't need any more encouragement not to do the important things in life like shearing the potatoes and planting the pigs.

please hold on a moment while i peel the bath and hoover the cat.

Lol, Gattina . . . had to read that twice! (hands still cold, typing in fingerless mitts . . .)

Oh Sheila! That's terrible! Can you sit in the sun? Or how about a wheatgerm bag warmed in the microwave? Or hand warmers?

Hang on a minute - put washing out 5 minutes ago, took a 'phone call, looked up and the heavens have opened, so everything was much wetter than when it went onto the line. It's throwing it down now, and now I'm as wet as the washing and walking mud all over the stairs. Rushing up the garden made me much warmer, though, but coughing fit to bust, too. House full of damp cat, too. Good news is that I've managed to mend my vacuum cleaner this morning with an old coathanger, and have managed to get my internet connection working again. Just call me a Technical Whizz. Think I shall treat myself to a trip to the hairdressers tomorrow - I look like a lightning-struck haystack. A damp one.
When is Summer coming? Answers on a postcard, please. Even just warmish would be good. Please.

have you fixed the internet connection with a coathanger too??

Shiela , I might have got you confused with Oliveoil , sorry ! It gets that way sometimes , you know .
Sticki , the kitten and cats Ladybird books were early favourites with mine , too .
Gattina you know your weather will improve soon , whereas we cannot count on it here . Thought that you were coming back for a visit soon ?
Pp , I have a friend trying to get her children's stories into print , turning out to be hard work , but there must be a more than ready market , go for it !

JK Rowling had to try loads of times to get printed, so did Roald Dahl!!

Sticki, the internet connection took a little bit more than that - 2 cups of tea, a lot of swearing, a small tube of Werther's Originals and a hairpin. Actually, a very long pin number and five minutes. I'm getting better at it, but it doesn't always work.
Yes, Driad, I am coming back in a week's time, but the weather in the UK looks no better than here. Just doing a trial pack with big sweaters, boots, umbrella and a thermal vest or two. Oh yes, and a pac-a-mac. (remember those?)

umbrella???
looks wet and cool at the moment im afraid gattina.

im impressed you got it working!!

did you get your new camera or is that when you get over here?

No, I've got it, but I'm ashamed to say that it hasn't been out of its box yet. I have so much "duty" stuff to do, that I feel I need to get that done and then I can reward myself by exploring it and trying out some pictures. In this weather, there doesn't seem much to shoot that is worth the effort. It's my "carrot" for doing all the jobs that have been put off for months (if not years). It should galvanise me.

you are very good, everything else would be on hold, i would have that camera out and be playing!!

Bucketing down this morning...I shouldn't complain as everything is looking lush and green and yesterday was lovely.

The camera is very easy and very portable Gattina. You know the plastic film that you can get to cover the screens on a smart phone? Try and get a bit to protect the screen on your camera...Blackberry size would do it.

Oh, right. I shall trot off and buy a Blackberry and peel the screen protector off............:o))))

Raining here too, morning you two larks!

Thanks for the sympathy Sticki, but honestly typing in fingerless mitts is no problem (the hand warmers don't stay warm long enough!). I can't go and "sit in the sun" as I don't have an iPad - I sit in the greenhouse with a pad and pencil though sometimes.

Great idea about the screen, Pimm's . . . though come to think of it I probably wouldn't be taking pics in the rain . . .

put one on your christmas list sheila!!!

Not sure about that Sticki . . . as you know, I'm a techno-prat! (quite apart from wasting enough time as it is when I should be cleaning the windows, lol).

cleaning windows????? oh yes, thats the thing i do so i can get a photo of birds!!!

i dont believe you btw!!! what is nice about them is you can sit in the lounge, casually looking in on the web sites but at the same time watching tv. [OH thought i would spend more time in the lounge if i had one]

But if it's not raining, I think I'd rather be outside, even if I'm just pottering. Sitting in the lounge is for the evening!

Im often outside if its warm enough!!

Not that we've gone "off message" or anything, Pimm's . . .

sorry pimms

I don't mind at all Ladies..It is nice to have a general chat :) A lounge room, if you like.

thats how i like to think of it ~ thanks pimms;

tea anyone??

i will make cake if you would like

Civilisation...d'oylies as well Stickie

naturellement!!! [is that how you spell it?]

Oui.

Have you got some Lapsang Souchong or shall I bring some , Stiki ?
I'll bring some scones too , if you like .

Cutting the crusts off the sandwiches and icing the petit fours

all on the list, now where did i put the tea strainer?

[no i havent got that driad, please can you bring those]

this is comment 106 ~ is this like twitter???

I can bring some Marmite sandwiches too , they are my forte !
I made some for a children's party , once and they never appeared until everything else had been gobbled up , I wonder why ?
It's our own twitter , Sticki !

I love Marmite Driad..when I was training as a social worker years ago, I had a placement in a nursery. At 2:15 each afternoon marmite toast triangles were served....Bliss.

I bought Vegimite a month ago because I thought it was more or less the same...WRONG! It nothing like the real stuff.

A teaspoon of Marmite melted in boiling water is an excellent pick-me-up: made it for my Aussie daughter-in-law when she wasn't feeling too good . . . it did the trick!

What does Vegimite taste of, Pimm's?

Not of Marmite....! If I were being honest it is vaguely Marmite~esque, a thin pale taste by comparison and less salty.

I love marmite! True marmite baby and so are my sons.
Driad, marmite on ritz crackers is lovely, seen that at several parties
Pimms, i can imagine you doing that, you are such a 'people person'!
Sheila, I have had marmite as a drink and used it as stock but for a drink I prefer bovril!

As they say , you either love it or hate it . It separates the men from the boys !
It is made with the residue from beer making , hence it is a Burton-on-Trent speciality , ( being a daughter of that town ) me and mine are big fans .
It is full of the B vitamins so it is a good pick-me-up , Sheila .
Pp , I agree , vegamite does not hit the spot , I tried it once when the Salt Police were about ; but Sainsbury's do an own brand with less salt which is ok .
What about Oxo as a drink , Sticki ? Haven't tried it for years , we used to have it after anti-natal visits at the hospital as a treat ! (I think that I need to get out more !)

Melt butter in a pan add Marmite...Spread on toast

the only way I like Marmite is Twiglets.

i have tried oxo drink driad but its not strong enough for me [40% is best!!] bovril is a lot stronger
i used to eat the oxo cubes raw!! bit salty tho!!

Lovely drink, hot Bovril, and totally non-fattening! I'm not sure how you could eat Oxo cubes raw, tho' Sticki - how's your blood pressure?

It's fine and cholesterol was ok too!