Gardening and A Mini Geocache Adventure!

Hi Guys,

     For the last few days, here in the UK it has actually felt like summer!  The sun has been blazing away in a nearly cloudless sky and its been lovely and warm.  So, because of this unnatural event I have been rather busy for my last two days off trying to make the most of it, both in my garden and rushing around on a series of mini adventures with my eldest daughter and grandsons.

     If you have read my profile you will know how I love my garden.  I am actually lucky enough for it to be quite large and have given it two aspects, a gravel garden, which during family parties and bbq's tends to be hogged by the grown ups and therefore more sedate, this area also claims to be home to my small veg patch and a more open green area with a patio, a fish pond, some bushes, small fruit trees and shrubs.


At the moment the laburnum is in flower and looks beautiful.  Someone once wrote "A garden path where flowers unfold, a slim laburnum dripping gold!" I have no idea who wrote it but it always comes to mind when I see a flowering laburnum, it really does look as if it drips gold, the long yellow flowers move gently in the breeze and reflect the sunshine, giving them that golden glow.

Anyhoo...
 
     I spent my first day off repainting the wooden furniture in the gravel garden, I choose a really lovely shade of green garden paint this year, it blends in with the natural feel of the gravel and the shrubs. (actually I didn't realise quite how hot the sun was and burnt my shoulders!) I must own though, there is nothing natural about the hidden stone Gargoyles or the weathered Meerkats that peep out from behind the odd bush as you pass by.  Although the gravel garden is nearest the road you don't really notice the traffic behind the fence (not that there is much and it's also a sun trap and quite tranquil, in fact  I wrote a lot of my notes for my book 'The Tessellation Saga' here.

  There's even have a stone Beethoven head sitting proudly watching over my veg patch, not that he keeps the slugs or snails away... Grrrrr!

     The second morning I spent typing and doing my usual chores, I got up really early to type as once I start the time tends to fly by and before I know it the day has gone! After lunch I went to my daughter's home where she, her two sons and I began our adventures...

Hendry's first 'Cache' find!

     In a magazine, she had read about an activity called 'Geocaching.' Knowing absolutely nothing about it she did a wee bit of research on her trusty pc and we gave it a go.  The idea is you hunt for a 'Cache', a small trinket of piece of treasure, using the GPS on your mobile, write your name on the list inside the 'Cache' container ( a watertight one is best!) and let folk know you have found it by uploading that you have.  Before moving on to the next hunt however, you must leave a little something in the pot yourselves for the next Geocachers to find.  For example, my grandson found some plastic figures in one and a train ticket to Glasgow in another.  In return for these goodies we left a 50p piece for the next players in each one we actually found.  It was such fun and I would definitely recommend it. Its a worldwide phenomenon and the best thing is it is ABSOLUTELY FREE. You can choose a suitable difficulty level for the type of hunt you want to do and the participants ages.  (My grandsons are 3 and 1.)

We spent a lovely afternoon checking out the local countryside and parks all for free.

Well, do I like butter?

Mum, theres nothing here!

    Its easy to get started, go to      http://www.geocaching.com and check it out!

     GEOCACHING is a free real-world outdoor treasure hunt. Players try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using a smartphone or GPS and can then share their experiences online.

There are 2,101,836 active geocaches and over 5 million geocachers worldwide.

Based on excerpts from
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geocaching, Second Edition

  http://www.geocaching.com

Its a HUGE game suitable for all ages and abilities, (my grandsons are 3 and 1) There is even an idiots guide which if read my stuff regularly you will know is an absolute must! lol

My beautiful baby girl is all grown up!

This is my baby, with her baby and I can't tell you how great a time we had on our hunt. I'd like to wax lyrical about how great a mum she is but then... I'm probably biased! lol 

So now, I'm off to work. Yes I'd rather stay here and type with the four fingers that actually do all the work, no, I must correct myself I occasionally use six and I will get around to using the 'Teach Yourself To Type' facility on my pc but until then, my family, my garden and the government's demand that I actually pay my bills stand in the way!

London Heathrow... Here I come.

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee     till next time.   

A Letter for Shane, my Friend.

Hello there,

A friend of mine has Cancer with a capital C, he was diagnosed  last year and after a rigorous course of chemotherapy his entire stomach was removed and a new one built.  (Which in itself is amazing!)  After tests he was told everything was OK, his cancer was gone.  Now, less than six months later its back.  He knows he has only months to live and whilst myself and his other friends feel helpless and scared for him and angry at the wrongness of such a charming, kind and funny man having this thrust upon both he and his lovely family, he himself, is still coming into work, living each day to the full and promising himself a 'wing walking' experience next month when he goes on a final holiday with his beautiful wife!

Typical Shane!

Last week we had coffee together, "I'm sorry Dede," he said, "but I may not get to finish your book and I want to know how it ends, I'm enjoying it so far, you write well!"  I nearly burst into tears right in front of him, his bravery and stoicism in the face of his prognosis, humble me.  He is loved by not just his family but also by his many friends, all of whom look up to him with both admiration and respect, this clever, knowledgeable man whose humour is renowned, trained not only me but I imagine a quarter of the officers at London Heathrow.

Shane, my prayer for you is that a miracle will happen, that your months will become years and you get to spend more time with your lovely family, doing exactly the things you want to do.  Maybe even taking Jayne on the back of your Harley Davidson roaring along the entire length of Route 66!  

I want you to know you put me to shame my friend, I am ashamed for worrying about the stupid stuff, you know what I mean, family, relationships and things like my smile, I don't smile as often as I could because I don't particularly like my vampire teeth.  I don't like the wrinkles that mean I'm getting older, I complain about my 'baby belly' the stretched skin most mums have around their middle that's hard to lose and I moan because I'm 'vertically challenged' as you say, 5'2", well 5'1 and a bit!  And although I love my job I'd rather win the lottery and stay home to write full time...

Today though and because of you I will smile, I promise from today and everyday forward I will count my blessings, today I will give grateful thanks to 'whomever' is out there that you are still my friend, that I am alive and that I can feel the wind in my hair and the sun on my face, even if it has to travel further to reach me. 

You trained me way back then Shane, you are training me still... 

Always,

Dede X