We went to Hereford yesterday, to check out Wheelchairs at the Mobility Centre, and bought one which will do grass and gravel (it has Mountain Bike tyres and cost an arm and a leg), but need to go back tomorrow to collect it as it had to be ordered. We couldn't help noticing how brown and sere it was everywhere - the hot weather has really scorched everything growing.
We will have an early autumn - there were drifts of yellow Birch leaves along the roadside and entire golden trees amongst the struggling woodland. Beeches are turning already, Sycamores dropping leaves and everywhere SO thirsty. There was some rain on the journey, but not much. It had passed us by, bar a few drops first thing, but yesterday evening we had a little thunder and then steady rain which the garden greedily absorbed. I should think if I put a spade in later it wouldn't be more than skin-deep dampness though.
I had intended to go to M&S for a couple of things I needed, and to Doughty's as they have 10% off fabrics at the moment, but we were late leaving, then got held up in a long line of traffic on the A438, so I did a 3 point turn and headed up the Bredwardine turning and we came in Madley way. When I mentioned getting lunch, Keith realized he'd left his tablets behind and so plans to go shopping were swiftly abandoned (I seem fated not to get a leisurely browse at Doughty's), although I did listen to the siren call of the brown "Eaton Bishop Church" sign I'd noticed on the way in and stopped for a swift round of photos. Apologies for another church quite so soon (and there should be Pilleth next but I will put that on hold) but this one is worth it for the Medieval stained glass.
Triple 14th C sedilia in the chancel.
The photos of the lower levels suffered from poor light - must go back and try again. If I have Keith with me, I am always in a hurry to get back to the car.
This morning I am struggling to stay awake. I unwittingly inhaled a lot of fine straw dust by driving along with the windows open yesterday. I have been awake, not able to breath well, all night and have had to take one of my extra-strong anti-histamines this morning, which has finally helped.
Glad that it is so much cooler now and we have had some rain, with more forecast. Hope things are more comfortable where you are too, for my UK followers.
Would that be a Tramper?
ReplyDeleteLook for secondhand...that is how friends in Cornwall got theirs
No this is just a good off-road wheelchair. We are STILL waiting for the OT's approval on Keith's mobility scooter - having found out there is a waiting list so it could be the end of September before we could get one, none too happy.
DeleteWow that church is dark your flash was working overtime, It's something I never use preferring to just set up on a tripod if needed and change the settings for the light. Thought you might have found the light switch to turn them on. The church has some nice features apart from blue buckets and the old roof line is quite noticeable. The stained glass is superb and I like how they incorporated the 14c with the more modern. Everything around here is similar to there with brown grass even our lawn is looking that way. Lucky no fires around that I know of though I see Fforest Fields had a forest fire a w week or so ago. Is the wheelchair motorised with the knobblies on it, you might need it off road
ReplyDeleteThe lights didn't work!! Most churches have a 10 minute light switch but I was in the gloom. Never invested in a tripod.
DeleteAs I said to gz, we're waiting on the go ahead for the mobility scooter we were recommended. The wheelchair is to be pushed by me to go places that the Mobility Scooter can't and will be here so Keith can go round two Fairs at the end of the month. Glad we have pasture around us, rather than grain fields as a lot of those have gone up in smoke after machinery has struck a flint or stone.
Much more comfortable thank you BB. We have had steady rain since breakfast time and it has only just stopped and the sun has come out. The heat scorch has been very noticeable here in my garden and sections of the beech hedging are already crispy gold and so many leaves have fallen from the big Acer Saccharinum that the ground below is covered in the prettiest pastel-coloured leaves. On the plus side I have red juicy delicious outdoor tomatoes - for only the third time since starting my allotment career in 2001! I went down to the veg plot earlier and harvested yellow courgettes, red tomatoes and green basil - the colours of your stained glass - as I wanted to feel the rain on my skin. The bucket is an interloper but at least it is Ecclesiastical purple! You are so kind to share these brilliant churches and I am sorry to hear about the straw dust in your lungs. My spinning friend and local sheep farmer said that the straw was so dry after harvesting the grain that it was proving a struggle to mechanically bale it. At least the harvest is all in around here. Our daughter (your Aries twin) came down on the train yesterday afternoon. We had a lovely evening eating and drinking and star spotting and bat watching outside and now she has gone for a walk with S. I really think/hope she is coming up from this trough of despondency where she has been stuck for the past four years or so. Tonight we are off to Chichester to see Crazy for You (Gershwin musical) at the festival theatre which will be a proper treat for all of us. Hope the scooter pick up goes well today. I remember when my dad - who was such a car person, built his own motorbike, always had VWs which he serviced himself - had to give up his car for a mobility scooter. But it gave him so much independence for shopping, eye, hearing, GP appointments, visiting friends etc and after he died I think we sold it for pretty much what he had paid for it. I see lots of people on mobility scooters in Petworth town and often stop to ask about them. Some of the off-road ones look very sporty and such a great way of getting out and about not just on bumpy countryside but around a town with uneven pavements and cobbled streets. When you go out with Keith you will have to secrete a tab in your purse for unplanned excursions. I have done this a couple of times. I will say again you are doing brilliantly. Your energy for sorting out the wheels for Keith, the patience you have shown dealing with the doctors, the support you are constantly giving - I am in awe. Sarah x
ReplyDeleteBecause I planted about 15 new perennials this summer, I have been having to try and stop them keeling over in a permanent faint. Fortunately the grey water from the kitchen has kept them going. I hope that your Acer has managed to survive although early leaf-drop inevitable. My two Acers are but tiny chaps from Aldi but have survived - even the one I rather stupidly planted on the hot, dry bank.
DeleteTam grew outdoor tomatoes on her Yorkshire allotment, firstly to the sniffiness and then the amazement of fellow allotmenteers. The secret was they were Russian ones, trialled in Wales and bought from Brithdir Mawr. She KNEW they'd do fine. I have a lightweight but tasty ongoing harvest from my polytunnel cherry toms.
Glad that my birthday twin has turned the corner - sounds like a lovely evening. Have you got a bat detector? A friend has one and loves to take her grandchildren out in when it gets dimpsey.
Enjoy tonight's musical - it's a long time since I was last there. 1980 I think!
Will make a note of secret medicines - just need to blardy well remember!!! I am doing my best but after no sleep last night (straw-dust asthma from our journey) I am absolutely drained today and have slept an hour or more a.m. and p.m. Thank you for your support and encouragement.
I hope Keith's mobility scooter brings new found freedom.
ReplyDeleteThe stained glass is indeed glorious.
Much cooler now, almost Arctic with a strong northerly wind blowing wild!
Lord knows when we'll get it though RP - we seem to be perpetually WAITING this year - first for medications to work and now for approval for a charity's application! Arctic Northerly winds at least allow you to sleep at night without overheating . . .
DeleteI have an increasing appreciation of stained glass windows and can't wait to get back to Hereford Cathedral and appreciate those even more.
I'm sorry about your bad night - it does leave you drained, doesn't it. And then knocked out by the antihistamines is a double-whammy. It was a shame the 10 minute lights weren't working, your camera was certainly doing overtime!! I love seeing your churches, so different from our New Zealand experience. Thank you. I hope you feel better tomorrow, and Keith's new wheels fill the bill.
ReplyDeleteHi Virginia. Fortunately the anti-histamines are non-drowsy ones, so I didn't get knocked sideways by them. The churches here are Something Else - some a thousand years old and on sites which were even earlier. Mindblowing. I rather think Keith's new wheels are going to get a lot of exercise!
DeleteHope you have had a better night last night and all goes well with picking up the wheelchair.
ReplyDeleteStill no rain here except for one shower that dried as it landed.
(I just won second prize at the village WI show with a photo of Stokesay Castle Gatehouse taken years ago. It was the only photo I could find of 'An Historic House' to enter)
I had a much better night last night thanks Sue. yesterday I felt completely drained -it's exhausting to breath for yourself. Hope you get some rain (Lincolnshire got your share by the sound of things).
DeleteWell done with your old photo of Stokesay Castle Gatehouse. What a coincidence.
The wheelchair has turned out to be orange and black (we ordered red and black!) but obviously that's all they had in stock. It will be called something like the Ginger Ninja! There's a racehorse called that.
We've just got back from a few days visiting our old neck of the woods in North Wales and everything was very lush, very green and very productive. They've obviously not gone without any rain on the hillside there. It's so much better now we have it cooler again isn't it and we had some really heavy rain last night much to the gardens relief.
ReplyDeleteWe have noticed it is MUCH drier here than it was in Carms, where it rained a lot heavier and a lot more frequently . Good for dairy farmers. Here there are fields being cut for wheat (or barley or oats) and a lot more golden as a result. Glad you had such a nice break and saw the bits you never had time to visit when you lived there.
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