Rural Living.

Thank you garden birds! We have loads of these beauties. The first to flower and its nearly as tall as me. What is odd that the sunflowers are all in a row. Equidistant from the fence. Do you think we have a secret gardener or just a precise planting bird. Or he/she gets so far before losing its grip on the seed?

In the late afternoon I stagger down to the summerhouse and just sit.

I try to squint and only see the bits I have painted and not the bits waiting for me to regain my energy.

You will have to 'hit' this picture. Brer Fox early morning on Mikes walk.


Bucha is known as the Land of the Big Sky - so no apologies for more sky pictures.

I was sitting in the summerhouse the other day when our neighbour D called in. To invite me to the Rural.

In England - the Womens Institute, in Scotland the Rural Womens Institute.

My Mother was very active in the Womens Institute and whilst I lived at home and therefore could not argue I was dragged in too.

Some of my memories of that time and the Womens Institute are happy ones. Perhaps I have emptied my brain of the unhappy ones, if my Mother was involved there would have been plenty of the latter. Ho hum.
One good one was a trip to Ireland. Two days in I fell off a piano (dont ask) and broke a bone in my foot. I spent the rest of the bus tour on a stool in the middle of the aisle, where the tour guide should have sat, with my foot on the dashboard.

Ireland is strongly Catholic. Our bus driver certainly was. Every time we passed a church, of which there were many, both hands off the steering wheel while he crossed himself.

The other thing was that where in this country we have 'Give Way' at road junctions, in Ireland it was 'Yield!', which I found hilarious.

Not so hilarious was that I missed the tour round the Guiness Factory as there wasnt a wheel chair.

Now I am in a bit of a quandary with this invitation. One thing you could say for my Mother was that altho a staunch traditionalist she moved with the times.

The delights that await me in my local branch are;

Competitions - Fruit smoothie. Knitted article to be donated (to whom?!)

- Arrangement (of what?!) 2 sweet mince pies.

- knitted cushion (unsewn), table runner (any craft) bridal slice (2)

And on my birthday next year - 3 hyacinth, 6 narcissi, pot of own choice. Exciting or what!

I shall probably go if only to meet the local hoi polloi.

It is also the same night of the week as the Rotary so I have a good excuse for not going every time.

Hoping I am better by October when its a talk from Jimmy Buchan of Trawlermen fame. Although I have heard it all before and I either have to do a doric limarick(sic) or make 2 girdle scones.

Better get practising.