PEAR TREE LOG

pear tree log: I started this blog to keep my younger son, Jonny, in touch with life in Lincolnshire, while he spent a year working in China. That year turned into five! Now he is home and training to become a physics teacher. This is simply a patchwork quilt of some of the things I enjoy - life in rural Lincolnshire, our animals, friends, architecture, books, the gardens, and things of passing interest.



Tuesday, 24 July 2012

Happiness is...

Jonny holding Francesca and showing her to his girlfriend, Ming Ming, in China - courtesy of Skype.
The sight of 4 year old Harry charging around the gardens, plastered in factor 50 sun cream and wearing nothing but a huge grin and a pair of crocs.    


These huge American, Heritage tomatoes - grown from seed sent to me by Meggie on the Prairie.

My friendship with Meggie.







Seeing how well the surviving vegetables are responding to a few days of warmth and sunshine.



Sometimes when I bake bread the texture of the dough just feels perfect, and I know it is going to be a wonderful batch.

The smell of freshly baked bread.

A slice of fresh home-made bread, slathered in butter.

The perfume of sweetpeas  and their beautiful colours.


Today we drove a few miles to visit the ruins of Bolingbroke Castle...



it lies in a dip in the Wolds, in one of the most peaceful villages in Lincolnshire, far from any main road.


The castle was built in 1220 and a King of England was born here...I'll post fully about the castle in a day or two.



Just a short distance from the ruins there is a church and we also took a look around it.


The sky was blue, the sun shone; it is a place steeped in history, and I had two of my favourite men with me.





This is not an exclusive list of things which make me happy, but it is a short list of some of the things which made me happy today.


Did anything make you happy?





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36 comments:

  1. Elna24 July 2012 at 20:36

    The first picture is adorable! Nice tomatoes and so big.

    Hugs
    Elna

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 11:13

      Hello Elna, Thank you! Those tomatoes are so large they would almost fill a tea plate. I hope they ripen soon.

      Delete
  2. John Going Gently24 July 2012 at 20:45

    this blog did elaine!

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 11:13

      Hello John, You say the nicest things.x

      Delete
  3. Pauline Persing24 July 2012 at 20:57

    A good question I should remember to ask myself every day. The rain today made me happy. We have had drought conditions this summer and today we had a wonderful rain, enough rain to fill the bird bath.

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 11:15

      Hello Pauline, Such a precious gift, when you need it. I imagine the birds were as happy as the humans, I used to love watching them splash around in our bird bath (before we got the cats) and having such fun.

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  4. Joanne Noragon24 July 2012 at 20:59

    A warm and happy day. Have you compared baby pictures of your children with baby pictures of your grandbabies?

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 11:19

      Hello Joanne, For a while, Francesca looked very much like me, as a baby, something to do with the chubbiness factor! She looks a little like her mother, but I can see my father's determined chin and mouth. I do keep looking through the photographs and every so often I triumphantly hold one aloft ...no one else sees them quite the way I do!!

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  5. Jane and Lance Hattatt24 July 2012 at 21:06

    Hello Elaine:
    What a post of joy you cheer us with today, Elaine. Francesca looks adorable and everything looks so much better in the sunshine. Enjoy!

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 11:21

      Hello Jane and Lance, How lovely to see you back - I hope you are enjoying your summer? The sunshine has really helped to make the world a beautiful place, everyone is cheerful, the mood has lifted. It is sunny again today...and I still feel happy.

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  6. Crafty in the Med24 July 2012 at 21:22

    Hello Elaine,

    I'VE BEEN THERE Bolingbroke Castle that is,taking my sister's dogs for a walk...it's lovely ...so now I know more or less where you live....this helps to visualize :-)
    Lovely pic of your son and babe....so very glad the sun is shining for you now....I was beginning to feel just a tad guilty,LOL!
    That bread looks so yummy I can nearly nearly smell it!!!

    Many thanks for your comment on my latest post.
    Keep a lookout please my first giveaway coming soon.


    Amanda :-)

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 11:24

      Hello Amanda, Isn't it a beautiful old ruin! Yes, you are in the right region, we are just about clinging onto the edge of the Wolds, beyond lies Nowhere. The sun is still shining and everyone is happy - today is too hot to bake, just as well I made a batch! I'll keep an eye open for your giveaway.

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  7. Bonnie24 July 2012 at 22:12

    Elaine... It is always a wonderful things to make note of things which make us smile. Precious Francesca looks like a sweetheart. I love her expression. Today's smiles come via a pleasant phone call from my dad who has dementia and from my daughter calling just to say hi.

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 11:33

      Hello Bonnie, One of the reasons I love that photograph so much is because it shows Francesca in a rare moment of seriousness. She has an ever ready smile, the sort which makes even those people who don't like babies respond with a smile. I am so pleased you had a happy day - good to know that your dad was having a good day, I know it can be very difficult.

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  8. Ms Sparrow24 July 2012 at 22:39

    Your post made me smile today. Have you met Ming Ming yet? I'd love to hear more about her.

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 11:38

      Hello Ms Sparrow, I'm so pleased I made you smile! I have said 'Hello' and had a couple of short chats to Ming Ming via Skype. She is very beautiful, very bright, works hard, and seems a little shy. The most important thing is that they make each other happy...if I can wrangle a photograph out of Jonny I'll post it, with his permission, of course.

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  9. Deb24 July 2012 at 23:55

    The first photo is lovely. Your son has beautiful eyes. How nice to just be a drive away from an old castle. What made me happy today..brought little Audrey home from the vet and she is now spayed. Yah! Deb

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 11:41

      Hello Deb, My children's eyes make me smile - same parents, yet one has very deep blue eyes, another has hazel eyes, and Jonny has green eyes. Sweet little Audrey, I hope she manages to stay quiet for a period of convalescence! She is such a beautiful, lively little cat.

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  10. Little Home In The Country25 July 2012 at 00:16

    Well, yes, actually ~ seeing your pictures made me happy! I just had a wander in my garden to survey the hail damage and was pleasantly surprised to see that my plants faired rather well... THAT made me VERY happy indeed!

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 11:42

      Hello Little Home in the Country, Oh my word, the last thing you need is hail damage, I'm so pleased your plants survived. You have a wonderfully productive garden, I am definitely going to try your methods with the brassicas next time.

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  11. Anonymous25 July 2012 at 02:06

    Love the photo of son and granddaughter! Reading your blog makes me happy, but I will say that the bread (and the memories of the smell of baking bread) gave me a particularly joyful jolt.

    Janet

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 11:45

      Hello Janet, It is amazing how Francesca immediately decided she loved her Uncle Jonny. Whenever he is in the room her eyes stray to him and she performs every trick she knows to get his attention. Fresh baked bread is one of the nicest things, I wish I could bottle the smell and send it to you...along with a couple of fresh loaves, of course!

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    2. Anonymous25 July 2012 at 17:47

      My address is ... ;-)))) kidding! But if you do manage to bottle the smell, I'll be first in line.

      No one's better at picking out those who have "good" energy than babies and dogs (horses, too)! Jonny has a very sweet, open, friendly face.

      janet

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  12. Evlyn25 July 2012 at 04:05

    Finding happiness in the little gems of the everyday is a wonderful gift. Your family, the food from your garden, you visit to a beautiful old castle were a pleasure to read about and to see. I had a call from a dear friend today who I haven't heard from for a while and that made me very happy.

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 11:48

      Hello Evlyn, Seeing your pretty painted toenails made me smile, such fun! After all the rain and dull skies of the last two or three months we have sunshine and the vegetable garden is finally growing, happily. It is a pleasure to work there at the moment. Sunshine really lifts my mood, if only we could bottle it for those darker days.

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  13. Meggie25 July 2012 at 04:14

    Dearest Elaine....your post is definitely part of my happiness today. I can hardly wait to read and enjoy your post about the castle. Look at the Texas-size of those tomatoes now growing in your garden. They are real beauties! What a sweet photo of Jonny and Francesca.....

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 11:50

      Dear Meggie, I hoped it would make you smile. I think you will enjoy the castle, you could have soaked up a lot of atmosphere. It is quite remarkable to think of all the lives and the happy, sad, good and bad things which happened in and around the place. The tomatoes are really coming on a treat now that the sun is shining - after all, that is what they expect!

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  14. Cro Magnon25 July 2012 at 05:36

    Just about everything made me happy yesterday. It was a perfect day in almost every respect. Even the tomatoes are ripening by the dozen.

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 11:51

      Hello Cro, I'm so pleased that you had a good day too. How wonderful to your tomatoes ripening like that, we have had a few, but most of ours have a long way to go yet. They taste so much nicer when they are warm from the vine and home-grown.

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  15. Unknown25 July 2012 at 07:27

    Oh my gawd!!! Andy and I drove through Bollingbroke yesterday!! That is so funny. Such a lovely village isn't it? Reading your blog makes me happy xx

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 11:53

      Hello Dom, Isn't it a small world - did you also stop and look at the castle, or did you just drive through? It is such an interesting little village, so much history in the area - well, in our part of Lincolnshire, really...and thank you. xx

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  16. Knatolee26 July 2012 at 17:17

    All wonderful things! My new ducklings make me happy. :)

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    1. Elaine4 August 2012 at 10:52

      Hello Natalie, Your new ducklings would make anyone happy, they are wonderful. We are hoping to get some - and a new batch of rescue hens.

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  17. A Colorful World29 July 2012 at 04:06

    A wonderful list of wonderful things! It made me happy just to read them!

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    1. Elaine4 August 2012 at 10:53

      Hello Marie, Thank you, that makes me happy too.

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  18. Lynne6 August 2012 at 13:10

    I just found you . . . from a blog I was visiting, (now I must go back and find who it was) . I Liked the name, Pear Tree Log and searched more and there you were. Stunningly beautiful . . . I can't wait to visit you more . . .

    Happiness this moment, right this minute . . . finding elaine . . .

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