Friday, July 20, 2012

Summer at last


                                   It makes such a difference when the sun shines. J

Hungry cats (two of last year's kittens)

Comfortably replete cats

Washing

Mowing

Just enjoying the view

62 comments:

  1. Any view is better with sunshine...and isn't there something special about washing blowing on a line!

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    1. You can see it properly for a start, Fly, which always helps! :-) Those hills were invisible behind a curtain of rain only two days ago.

      I love to hang washing out - one of my little moments of pure pleasure.

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    2. Me too, Big Sis. I always regard the first fine warm spring day as a banner day when I can peg out washing for the first time in the year. Some of my earliest memories are of handing up pegs to Mummy as she was hanging washing, and learning the difference between one, two and three.

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    3. So that's where the instinctive love comes from, baby Sis. It's obviously in the blood. :-) As you know, we don't have much space for washing here when it rains, so hanging it out is important as well as pleasurable.

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    4. We are not alone, it isn't just atavistic. Several of my friends love pegging out washing. One calls it drying her laundry by solar and wind power. It's very green, and for big items especially it is vastly superior to the winter options of tumbling or draping on radiators or a spare room airing rack, although I think few things could beat a ceiling airer over an Aga or a Rayburn, if one wanted to be very traditional...

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    5. You've said it! Save the world - hang out your washing. :-) We're lucky to have the conservatory back in Wales and washing dries well there even in winter if the sun comes out, though I will admit to using the dryer when it rains, for lack of an Aga or Rayburn. Our radiators aren't on long enough to dry washing, though .....

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  2. So glad you've finally got some sunshine Perpetua. Thanks for the photos, especially those of the cats & your view over the Normandy countryside.

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    1. So am I, Ricky, so am I. :-) It's a lovely area here, very quiet and rural, and was looking its very best today. The cats come and go as they please, like all cats....

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  3. Greetings, Perpetua!

    Since you love reading and you are English ;-), I wanted to invite you visit my blog: http://www.longbowsandrosarybeads.blogspot.com

    It deals with various aspects of British history and culture.

    God Bless,
    Pearl of Tyburn

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    1. Hi Pearl and thanks for visiting and for the invitation. I'm rather behind with my blog reading at the moment, but I'll be pop across when I can.

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  4. I've just returned from buying a new dryer...the old one gasped and died this morning while leaving me with wet sheets and towels. How sweet to see your picture of that sheet blowing in the sunshine. Wish I could do something like that...unfortunately living in a townhouse a dryer is my only option.

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    1. Poor Astrid, both for having to buy a new dryer and not being able to hang out washing. I do have an old, half-size dryer here for emergencies (donated by DD) but I've never yet used it. :-)

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  5. It looks like summer has arrived wherever you are. There are no sheets blowing in the breeze here - it's a very wet breeze!

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    1. We're in southern Normandy, Pondside, and for the moment summer does seem to be here. I'm almost afraid to say that in case I scare it away. :-) I do hope it arrives for you very soon.

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  6. Delightful! A perfect place to enjoy summer! I'm so glad you're there and thriving!

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    1. Thank, Kathy. It is really lovely here and we never cease to appreciate our surroundings. In fact we're so content here at home that we don't go out and about as often as you might expect.

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  7. The French weather this year has been somewhat but not much better than it has been here! I, too, love pegging out the laundry when I'm in France -- hard to explain why. It's a funny thing, but when we have guests they, too, enjoy that task and I have to share ;-) Hope it's sunny days from now on in your beautiful Normandy. I can't believe it but I'm off tomorrow -- I'll give a wave as I fly overhead!

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    1. So I gather from various blogs and forums, Broad. Only the south-east hasn't had changeable weather and they are now suffering a heatwave. Having just hung out another load of washing, I think it's something about the open air, the sun, the birdsong and the awareness of place, as well as doing something our mothers and grandmothers always did.

      Glad you're off at last. Safe journey!

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  8. Pleased to hear you have some nice summer weather. Yes, washing drying in a warm dry breeze is just great.

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    1. Thanks, Susan - it's been a long time coming. :-) It was great yesterday to be able to bring the washing in from the line and put it away at once.

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  9. Dear Perpetua, the photographs seemed so serene to me. Or maybe it was that they filled me with serenity. In my Tuesday posting--if I end up writing what is occurring to me today--there will be clothes on a clothesline--one stretched across the length of the living room. I'm so glad you are enjoying sun-filled days with "replete" kittens who come and go, knowing that they've tamed you like the fox and the little prince. Peace.

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    1. That's a very perceptive comment, Dee, as I've always found this a very serene place to be. We bought the house thinking of it as a base from which to explore more widely in France and now find ourselves happy to spend most of our time quietly here at home. I must be getting old....:-)

      Both sun and kittens/cats have proved elusive much of the time so far, but we do enjoy each of them when they appear.

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    1. Oh, I will, thanks, Relindis. Today we even managed to have lunch in the garden for the first time since we arrived. :-)

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  11. Dear Perpetua - the Jet Stream has moved for us too. What a difference it makes to your whole wellbeing when the sunshines and the skies are blue - it has been a long wait.
    One of my cheap pleasures is hanging the washing in the fresh air to dry. It smells so delicious when you gather it in.

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    1. Very glad to hear that you are sharing in the improvement of the weather, Rosemary. As you say, we've waited a long time for this and I know that I already feel more energetic and ready to tackle things. :-)

      I completely agree with you about the wonderful scent of washing fried outside. It beats the artificial aroma of fabric conditioners any day....

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  12. Oh how beautiful! My goodness...I wouldn't know what to do with myself in that much open beauty! Well, that's not entirely true. I'd love every minute of it! Enjoy while you can...it must be so delicious! Debra

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    1. It is lovely, Debra and we really do enjoy it - even more when the sun shines and we can spend a lot of time outside. That said, he countryside is looking particularly lush and green this summer after so much rain. No wonder Normandy produces so much butter and cheese, as well as cider from all those apple trees. :-)

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  13. The sunshine just makes all the difference and it looks as if we'll be getting more this week! Nothing beats laundry dried outside. Antoinette

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    1. Absolutely, Antoinette. I've just rechecked the France Meteo website and it's looking very promising for the next few days. :-) I'm now crossing my fingers that it holds for our fete communale a week tomorrow. Off now to bring today's load of washing in from the line...

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  14. Glorious, summery photos, Perpetua. I love the feeling of hanging washing out in the sun too - may have overdone it yesterday when I did THREE loads in one day - all dried in nonoseconds! We've another heatwave upon us with temperatures well over 35 degrees and I am wilting somewhat.

    Hope everything is OK with you and yours - it seems strange not hearing from you more often but it happens sometimes that life sort of takes over!!

    Enjoy your lovely sunshine....though I do confess that from my perspective and geographical location, you can get too much of a good thing!

    Love,
    Axxx

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    1. Thanks, Annie. I made a point of recording the blue sky, just in case it didn't last.:-) I do NOT envy you your heatwave, however quickly it dries your washing. I wish I could send you some of our cool breeze.

      Everything is fine, thanks, and I'm touched that you miss me.(()) I was very occupied with having my dear mother-in-law here and since then my brain seems to have gone on go-slow, though the sunshine is definitely waking me up. :-) Now taking every opportunity to catch up on the neglected outdoor jobs.

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    2. It's been a bit like not hearing from my family but I'm glad you've been spending time with yours - and delighted the sun has at last come out for you to enjoy that lovely garden. I'm reassured all is well - catch you in the ether again before too long! Big hugs, Axxx

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    3. Awww, thanks, Annie. :-) The garden is actually an old orchard, which is still grazed by our neighbour's cows when we're not here. So the grass is lumpy and bumpy and well-fertilised(!) but looks good when the sun shines and I've just mowed it. xxx

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  15. Thank you for visiting my blog. I look forward to our blog friendship!

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    1. So do I,Relindis. It's always fun to find someone else living a split life and I look forward to exploring your blog.

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  16. Hello Big Sis (or should I say Slightly Older Sis as at six foot I am the Big Sis of the family!)

    Just risked putting a load of washing out here.

    Sun is shining so far which is good as one of the girl's friends is getting married today. Apparently it's the first time officiating at a wedding for the new female curate (with pink streaks in her hair).

    Enjoy the sunshine XX

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    1. There is a wedding going on in Oxford as well today - The Daughter's elder cousin on her dad's side is celebrating her marriage in her father's college (where her parents married back in the late 1970s0. The wedding is in the Town Hall and the reception is in Trinity College so I suppose they are hoping everyone can spill out into the college gardens for photos and mingling.

      We are in HH enjoying some finer weather than we have seen of late. It isn't exactly sunny but it is at least dry and mild.

      I have washing on the line as well! And The Husband has set some wholemeal rolls to rise in the airing cupboard, so we are being fabulously domesticated in a very Old School way...

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    2. Thanks for the 'slightly' older, PolkaDot. :-) I hope your washing dried as well as mine has done. It's such a relief after weeks of trying to dry it inside without using the dryer.

      I had a strong fellow feeling for the new female curate officiating at her first wedding. :-) I still vividly remember my first one - how nervous I was and yet how much I enjoyed it. I always loved taking weddings....

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  17. I'm so pleased the sun has appeared for you, and delighted that the cats are back and prepared to be spoiled again by you. I agree about the washing, it is always so lovely to hang it out....and take it in again 10 minutes later. Hope your' sunshine lasts. J.

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    1. So do I, Janice. It's looking promising for the next week or so and hopefully a bit longer. The cats come when they choose - not at all for days and then several times in the same day. A bit like feeding teenagers really. :-)

      I'm trying (and failing) to imagine how hot it must be to dry your washing in 10 minutes! You and Annie must hardly have finished pegging it all out before it's time to take it in again....

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    2. I have to confess the washing dries in a very short time but it's sometimes just too hot to fetch it in! I wait until dark to wrestle with sheets and the children now know that of course they have clean pants, though they haven't magically arrived in their drawers, they're on the line.

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    3. Chortling here at that last bit, Annie. :-)) You'll have to make bringing in the washing the children's job before bedtime - though not of course the sheets, unless you want to have to wash them again....

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  18. Just when we thought summer had been cancelled this year. Lovely glorious sunshine here all day today.

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    1. I am SO glad to hear that, Molly. If it's been unpleasant here, it's been terrible for you in Britain. Enjoy the sun, you deserve it!

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  19. Bucolic comes to mind, Perpetua, in the most wonderful of ways, from your wash on the line to dry, to the sweet kittens, the sun a gift after so many days of rain. Enjoy.

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    1. That's a good word for it, Penny. It is certainly deeply rural here, with no large centre of population anywhere near. Washing on the line in the sun is only one of the little pleasures of life here. The one year-old cats, two (occasionally 3) of last years kittens are a lovely bonus. :-)

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  20. That picture of the washing is so evocative of summer. I felt myself relax looking at these lovely pictures :D

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    1. Glad to be of service,Annie. :-) The washing on the line seems to have struck a chord with a lot of readers and I managed to get another big load dry today, so that the linen basket is finally empty!

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  21. Gorgeous day at Clywedog today - it was 'Push the Boat Out' day (RYA event to support the Olympic & Paralympic sailors) and we had about 50 craft on the water (including canoes, kayaks and rowing boats). Very colourful, and good fun - but, of course, rather less wind that we'd have liked and very fitful and variable in direction (Ah well, we can't nave it all ways, I suppose!) However, I did get out on the water for the first time this season, and BH was able to sail his boat as well, despite the gout in his hand. Good say. sollowed by a 'Greek' meal and 'mini-Olympics' this evening (I missed the latter as I had to get home to finish preparing for tomorrow morning). Love your photos, & aren't the cats gorgeous (I love the tortie one!)
    Love to you both.

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    1. Glad the sailing day went well for you, Helva and that the sun shone after so much rain. The wind dropped here too during the day, though not so much that the washing didn't dry. The cats are beautiful and I love the kohl-rimmed eyes, which show up especially well on the tortoiseshell.

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  22. Thanks, Linda. A combination of lovely scenery and smashing weather.

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  23. Your place in France is so beautiful and I'm pleased that at last you have sunshine.

    It is so hot here that by the time I peg the last piece of laundry on the line, the first piece is dry!

    Enjoy your summer xx

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    1. Thanks, Ayak. We were very lucky to discover this quiet, unspoiled area and we love it very much. Mind you, I don't think anything could beat that fantastic view from your house.

      You'll have to get Mr A to rig you up a circular washing line that you can just pull round as you peg things out and then take them in without moving from the spot. :-)

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  24. Hello Perpetua:
    What an idyllic picture you paint here of life being led in a simple, relaxed and very enjoyable manner. And to at last have days of sunshine must be such a joy after the weeks of dismal weather which, it would appear, the whole of the UK has been experiencing for the greater part of the summer to date.

    The cats are lovely. How we miss ours.

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    1. Welcome back, Jane and Lance. I hope you had a wonderful holiday. Yes, it is truly idyllic in weather like today's, with hot sun and cloudless skies, and even in the rain we still enjoy being here. The weather has been dire for months over large areas of western Europe, whereas the south has been sweltering under a heatwave with disastrous consequences in some places. I wish we could even things up a bit.....

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  25. That so looks like the ideal French place that all Brits dream of, how lovely that you have somewhere like that. Hope you enjoy the rest of your holidays.

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    1. Thanks,we will, roughseas, though we tend to think of a stay of three months as just living here, rather than being on holiday. :-) The house in the top photo is our farmer neighbour's. (We're in a little group of 3). To see our little cottage and how we came to find it, have a look at: http://perpetually-in-transit.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html

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  26. Glad you have sunshine at last. It really lifts the spirit doesn't it. Love seeing last year's kittens. They are obviously surviving well enough by their own devices when you are away which is great. I'm sure they appreciate extra rations when you are there. As to drying washing on the line - ooooh yes! One of the joys of summer is to peg freshly washed bedding on the line and have it dry enough to put back on the bed that night. Sheer bliss!

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    1. The past week has been truly glorious, Sian, hot, sunny and cloudless. Absolutely wonderful after so much rain and grey skies and as you say, the joy of washing bone dry and useable the same day.:-) The cats come and go, from 1 to 3 of them, but most often these two.

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  27. I have also been really appreciating the summer weather, since we have had so little of it. It's been lovely to just get out without having to dodge the wet. But now my flowers are starting to look discontented - I'll have to water them again.

    I love to see and hear washing flapping on a line. Better still, I love to smell it.

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    1. Hasn't it been wonderful, Jenny, though alas not looking likely to continue for much longer, at least here. Next week should be dry but very much cooler. Sigh.... Still, as long as I can work in the garden and put the washing out (even if it takes longer to dry) I'll be happy and yes, the flowers won't need so much watering. :-)

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