As one door closes.....

....another one opens.

Tomorrow 28th February 2014 John retires from work  - after commuting to the City of London for just over 50 years and working in both the marine and aviation insurance world - he's closing down his PC, handing back his season ticket and leaving the daily buzz of the City's financial sector behind him.

The blue building is 'the office'

He should have retired at 62 and was fortunate to be able to carry on for another five years. I say fortunate - he really enjoys his work and would have liked to carry on for another year or two on a three-day-a-week basis. But hey ho the powers that be felt that the time was right - a lot of his work now being sent to India!

So - a new chapter in our life is about to begin. Plans are being put into place -

projects to be mulled over

... camper van jollies to be had

...lots of walking

...even more gardening

maybe a holiday or two

new ventures

and time to relax

I retired at 57 so I've had plenty of  time to do my own thing, but who'd have thought when I graduated with my Degree last September and didn't know what to do next, that John would be finishing too within a few months.

A leaving 'do' has been arranged at his office tomorrow, when I shall travel up to the City to be a part of this slightly sad but memorable day.

See you soon x

Look what the postman brought me....

.....some beautiful loveliness in the shape of a giveaway that I won over at the lovely Gilly's blog -  Gilly Makes. My parcel arrived this afternoon and I'm over the moon with my selection of Cath Kidston goodies all wrapped up in pretty rosebud paper.

 with a handmade tag attached.

I was just so chuffed when I opened the parcel

So many gorgeous gifts

CK hand cream and tissues

A gorgeous CK pinny 

CK paper napkins and a pack of 12 mini clothes pegs

Look at these wonderful CK trimmed rubber gloves

pretty dusters

and kitchen cloths

(methinks housework will never be quite the same again!!)

Thank you sooooo much Gilly for this wonderful gift - I adore it. Your generosity is truly appreciated.  

Have a great weekend and I'll be back again soon x

A book to re-kindle memories

Hello everyone - just to let you know I'm w-aaaaaaay behind with my post reading at the moment but hope to catch up in the next day or two. Apologies though if I have missed you, this was not intentional, just a glitch.

As I mentioned a week or so ago, I have joined Laura at a Circle of Pine Trees in the Year in Books challenge which you can find here. Basically we have to choose a book at the beginning of the month (a bit late in posting mine I'm afraid) and post about our choice and maybe write a little about last month's book.  So - my choice for February is

 East of the Sun by Julia Gregson, published in 2008

As I said before, as much as I love them, I'm trying to wean myself off historical novels, so this fits the criteria - well almost. Set in Autumn 1928, three young women are on their way to India, each with a new life in mind. 

Rose, a beautiful but naive bride-to-be, is anxious about leaving her family and marrying a man she hardly knows. 

Victoria her bridesmaid couldn't be happier to get away from her overbearing mother and determined to find her own husband. 

Viva, their inexperienced chaperone is in search of the India of her childhood, ghosts from the past, and freedom.

Each of them has their own reason for leaving their homeland, but the hopes and secrets they carry can do little to prepare them for what lies ahead in India.

I chose this book as I was drawn to its location in India. We travelled to there five years ago for a ten day tour - known as the Golden Triangle where we visited Delhi, Jaipur and Agra (including the Taj Mahal) 

                              

At the end of the holiday we chose to tag on another five days to stay at the hill station of Simla, a beautiful old colonial town set high up in the foothills of the Himalayas which was once the official summer retreat for the British Raj.

                  

It was wonderful - the people, the culture, the history and the magnificent landscapes. 

Anyway - I digress

So you can see where I'm coming from with this book - I'm hoping to re-kindle some of the sights, sounds and smells of a fantastic trip with the added bonus that Viva herself travels to Simla too.

Anyway, last month's book Dissolution by C J Samson was definitely worth reading. I'm not a lover of crime novels but this had a slightly different edge to it as it was set in the era of the Reformation (which was right up my street so to speak). There are several others in the series which I would love to read - but for the moment will put them on the back burner for another time.

Thank you all for your comments on my last post and hope to catch up with you all very soon.

Once upon a time.....

....there was an abundance of Conifer trees 50ft high overhanging my (not so deep) garden at the back, giving us no end of grief with their sticky brown and dead needles falling onto my garden, leaving a mess and killing my plants as well as giving me no light in my kitchen which meant having the light on ALL  day. You might remember my post here here last year.

This is what the trees looked like last summer - straining at the leash towards the sun

Well - one day the nice tree surgeons lopped about 15ft off the tops for the lady who owns them. 

You can see (through my French doors) just how much was coming off

and this is them today after we had them 'shaved' on our side. Quite a difference don't you think. We wanted them taken right back but apparently they would have ended up just brown trunks and branches with no greenery so we've got to think seriously about what to do next. Anyway, this is the view from my bedroom window - they're still tall but nowhere as near as tall as they were

Now then - there is a story behind the house you can see here, also from my bedroom window. I haven't seen this view for several years - so you can imagine just how tall those trees were. This is the 16th century Thundersley Manor House.

Courtesy of Thundersley: A pictorial history

The current owner sold off a very large plot of land about 30 years ago and a small development of fifteen houses were built on the land. One of which is mine backing directly onto her side boundary. This old picture was taken around 1920 and if you look to the right you will see an old barn - well that is EXACTLY where my house now stands.

Thundersley Manor, was reputedly used by Henry Vlll as a hunting lodge when he frequently visited Hadleigh Castle a couple of miles away high up on the Benfleet Downs. His second wife Anne Boleyn once lived in the medieval market town of Rochford some ten miles away where her father Sir Thomas Boleyn owned the 16th century Rochford Hall - and it is thought that Anne used to accompany Henry on his visits to the Manor.

Inside the house there is said to be a Priest's hole - a secret chamber built into many Catholic houses of England which were used as hiding places for Catholic priests during the Reformation. This Priest's hole has supposedly an underground passage that leads right up to the top of the hill to our local church. I have been inside the house once and its quite amazing. 

It's quite surreal to think that King Henry Vlll and Anne Boleyn could very well have strolled through the grounds on a sunny afternoon - which 500 years later was to become my own back garden !!

See you soon x