Seeing clearly.

Wow what a colourful world we live in !!!  I must have been walking round with my mouth open all week in amazement at the difference now I no longer have a cataract.

Before the op. I knew there were birds there, Could probably guess as to what type of bird they were.  But now - just think of the song, " I can see clearly now...."

I have been going through my paintings and wonder how I would now paint the colours.  Down in the shedudio I have just watched the brilliant colours of the birds coming to the feeders.  But it wont be long before I paint again. 

Next ?

My ribs are almost better.  Not bad for an old woman. Its 3 weeks today since the accident and I just have one area still giving me jip.

So, as the insurance paid up.  I went from this

to this.  

Matches my eyes which I can now see clearly are blue.

Much better.

After my walk yesterday, and home again, the Dawn Patroller sat with his coffee watching the birds.

Then this happened.

Our bird feeding station has lots of branches tied to it and last year's Christmas tree.  The reason for all that is so the DP can take photographs of the birds in a 'natural' setting.  So with no more ado,

Chaffinch.

Goldfinch.

Yellowhammer.

Great Tit.

There were lots more, but I dont want to overload you.

Then today.  Well, totally different.

And whats more I got to the Esplanade for my walk all by myself.  Loan car delivered this morning.

Much better.

The Dawn Patroller.

Well now, the DP actually does not get up and off at Dawn.

2.30 a.m. the Blackbirds start singing, as it is light.  In fact it does not really get dark at all up here in the North East.  

As we sleep with our window open, Blackbirds are not my favourite bird of the moment. 

Plus I then spend the rest of the day singing, a la Paul McCartney, "Blackbird singing in the dead of night."  Which gets a bit wearing for the DP.

So, off he goes.  The photograph above is of Rattray Lighthouse.

Below, some seals on the beach at St. Combs.  From whence you can see the lighthouse.

A lonely poppy.

Evening mist and the sign post near our garden.  

  You would not believe the amount of cars which screech to a halt, reverse, look again, and still do not know which way they should be going.  As nothing on the sign means anything.  Turn towards Cortes and you can then go to Aberdeen, Peterhead.  But it dos not say so, the sign.  Their SatNav brings them thus far and then abandons them.  


Lonmay School, is no longer a school, but a private house.  Carry on in that direction and you come to another junction which is equally not informative.  So we get many knocks on our door.....

Sith being an ornament.

Minerva McGonagall and the DP share a book.

And finally I become a Granny Racer, (as opposed to a boy racer.)  Well, it is that sort of car.

Rant.

My lovely, lovely car has failed it's MOT big time.  This is one car that I have loved.  I do not do big mileage, but then I do not do much maintenance either, so.....the entire exhaust system, brakes, bit of suspension, I could go on.  The garage did....
  
Though I wonder how it passed last year.


So the search is now on for a replacement.  Just what I need when I will be paying out for the wood burning stove due Tuesday, the fitters and the plumber - latter required so it will heat the water as well as the downstairs of the house.  
Just have to console myself with all the savings that will be made on the liquid gold (oil)  and then what happens?  


It is June, heading towards Midsummer's Day (and our Wedding Anniversary) and it is FREEZING.  I have four layers on and a blanket round the nether regions but I just have to press the forward button and put on the heating.


After all I am old and get my Winter Fuel payment from the government, which actually went down last year while the cost of electric, gas, oil went up.


So the Wedding Anniversary gift is the wood burning stove and my Christmas present and birthday for the next ten years, should I live that long, is the 'new' car.


You may well ask why do we need two cars.  Him and Hers.  Well if one breaks down and we only had the one we would be marooned out here, there are no buses, unless I wanted to hail the school mini bus and then I would presumably not be allowed without the necessary police checks.  


When the family descend we need two cars to transport them from Aberdeen train station, and still some of them have to get on a bus.  Okay - should never have had four daughters, who then procreated....Aaaargh.


I think I will just say a fond farewell to the lovely Honda in the way I know best.  Cheers.

Wednesday - yet more witterings.

My Summer House/Drinking Den/Art Studio/Opera Theatre is now fully re-roofed!  Yay.

However I still have to paint it!  I never thought that I could have given them the green paint.  They have treated it with as it was before (because I never did get round to painting the roof)  so fair dos.  But I could kick myself.


Bit of a drama this morning.  The 'new' car wouldn't start!  The DP shot off to the vets in mine which imperilled me with missing my art class. (Puzzle cat having another antibiotic jab.)  However he was back.  We had a go with the jump leads, turns out they have passed their sell by date.  I went off to my art class and meanwhile the garage/seller came and got it going and left us with our old car and took the new one away to get it sorted.  It was the battery, fingers crossed as we all agreed the battery looked new.  Hmmm.  Collecting it tomorrow.


The next drama was on my way home from art class I called in the supermarket for the paper and lottery ticket and a bottle of wine.  A gust of wind caught my car door and hit the best kept car in the car park.  While I licked the marks off I had a lecture from this dear old man, probably the same age as me but he had gone into cardigans in a big way, about wind, parking in small spaces, dont get upset dear, I can polish that out on my daily buffeting, and so on.  But after I had kissed his highly polished brogues a couple of times he  said he didnt want my address or phone number.  "Dont worry your pretty little head, "  obviously going blind.

Poor Mother Nature, she really doesnt know whether she is coming or going.

Tulips flowering fully whilst daffodils do, and cherry blossom also?  Goodness.

Unfortunately the grass is as tall as the miniature daffodils.  So the DP is huffing and puffing to get into the mindset of mowing the lawns.  Fortunately ?  The weather is to revert to normal at the weekend indeed snow is forecast north of us.  

Changes.

Changes.

The Dawn Patroller's car, the one below, has recently had a fair bit of money thrown at it.  I say thrown as you might as well throw your money in the air when it comes to cars.

We tend to run them into the ground figuratively speaking.  So do get our moneys worth out of them.  
Where we lived before was more inland and had deeper snow, so a four by four was essential .  
We were also used to having big cars as we had four children to transport. And when they moved to university lots of goods and chattels to be transported.


We do need room for baby car seats now,  but twice a year filling a car up with people and babies is a bit of a silly reason for having a large car.  And we do still have two cars.  
We are not on a bus route.  So if one car has a problem we are stuck.  So we need two cars.  We also like our independence of each other.


So let me introduce you to our latest.

Suzuki Alta.  The car tax is £30.  Can you believe that?  I am now looking squint eyed at my Honda HR-V, which I love, mainly as I can see over walls.  But should I be paying a shit load of money just to see over walls?  

Definitely that time of year again.  This is a house sparrow.  The nest box is on our electric pole which quite clearly states on the yellow notice you can just see, "Danger of Death".
This is but one reason for a)not putting nest box on pole.  Also b) house sparrows prefer terrace houses/nest boxes in which to nest.  But then sparrows can't read.  Nor are they members of the RSPB who state that house sparrows prefer terraced nest boxes.

 Sunrise this morning, with gorse which has bloomed the whole winter.  This is an artistic photograph courtesy of the DP.  Presumably his flash lit up the gorse. 

 And at last we begin to see lambs in this neck of the woods.

And a Rook heading straight for the photographer.


Could be change there to the DP!