Here's to April

Well, hard to believe, but here we are at the start of April. I love April - mainly because it's my birthday 🥳 month, but, also, because the days are getting longer and the garden is full of Spring flowers.  Well, here in heavenly Devon anyway!

The word April comes from the Latin verb Aperire, which means 'to open', and it is the first sign of the Zodiac. 

I wish you all a very happy April, which this year will include Easter. May it be a time of new beginnings and renewal for all of you. 

All images from my garden, with the exception of the last one, which is courtesy of Pinterest.com

International Women's Day 2022

Today, on the 8th March, we once again celebrate International Women's Day. It is now the year 2022, and no Country in the world has achieved gender equality. My, but it's a slow process! The theme for 2022 is #BreaktheBias.  The Campaign asks you to cross your arms in solidarity to call out gender bias, discrimination and stereotyping.  Together we can forge women's equality. 

I think it is important to talk about this event each year on my Blog, as we celebrate women everywhere, all over the world, and recognise the progress that has been achieved, and to give thanks for all the courageous women over many, many years, who have fought for women's rights. Rights that promote a position of legal and social equality of women with men. 

 

 Huge strides have been made over the years. Certainly since the 1960's when I was a young woman.  We didn't have a lot of the freedoms or rights that women have these days. Women certainly were not allowed to get credit under their own name. So a mortgage would be out of the question. Women at that time were very much looked on as mothers and homemakers.  Hard to believe, but right up until the late 60's, women were not allowed to wear trousers in the workplace.

 

Of course, if modern mums want to still be stay at home mums and raise their children themselves, there is certainly nothing wrong with that. In fact, in my eyes, that is to be lauded. Many women these days, of course, HAVE to work, purely for financial reasons. 

Personally,  I feel that the #metoo movement has been such a good thing for women, and I applaud women who have had the courage to speak out.  

I suppose my point is, that the younger women now have CHOICE, which was certainly not available before, and that, surely, has to be good for everyone. 

 

 

 

My wish is that my granddaughters will live in a world where they can be anything they want to be.  I also take this opportunity of celebrating all the women that follow my Blog. Remember, you are ALL special and you are ALL important. 

I also honour my two daughters and two granddaughters today.  My eldest granddaughter runs her own Company with her best friend, which tackles sexual harassment  in the workplace. It truly saddens me that, in 2022, this is very much still going on. 

Today I also think of all the poor women in Ukraine, and all that they are suffering at the moment. My prayers go out to each and every one 🙏🏻🇺🇦💙💛🇺🇦

Linchpins of our Lives....

Hi there everyone. Well, here we are in the month of February, and, my goodness, I am so glad to see the back of January. I am well aware that I say this every single year. You would think by now (and at my advanced age!) that I could come up with a way of dealing with that dreaded month .... but, no! Every month I moan about it (and I'm not really one of life's moaners - truly I'm not!!).

Anyway, here we are in the month of February, and the days are gradually getting longer. Oh, deep joy!  For some reason, this month always gives me hope.  I think it's because the garden is very slowly starting to awaken, with the pretty snowdrops everywhere, and daffodils starting to appear once again in the garden. 

I was casually thinking about life the other day, as you do, and thinking just what WAS important in our lives. I think this dreaded Pandemic has really focused our mind on that. Whilst lots of different things bring us joy and give us moments of happiness, I think most of us would agree that the linchpin of our lives are family and friendships.  I think the absence of hugs over the past couple of years, has been a really big thing. Thankfully, I am now getting hugs from the family again, but I've noticed that even very good friends are much more reticent to hug each other at the moment, which is quite sad. 

This next photo shows a nice cosy scene and the image after that is a pic of my Summer garden. 

I hope you are all looking forward to brighter days once again - although many of you, of course, will have Autumn approaching, and the shorter days - and so the Seasons come and go. I am just thankful to be able to enjoy another year of looking forward to Spring, to hear the birdsong and to see the garden bloom once again. 

I wish you all many happy and joyful moments in the year ahead, and I hope you will feel loved. 

Proud to be a Devon Maid!

My hometown City of Plymouth is known as Britain's Ocean City. It is a vibrant waterfront city which is surrounded by water, and with the hills of Dartmoor close by.  I love living in heavenly Devon, and I'm proud to be a Devon Maid 🙂

 

The magnificent Plymouth Sound with the art-deco lido, where I learnt to swim, over 65 years ago. Seems like only yesterday 😂😂.

Today I thought I would take you on a tour of the historic Barbican, with its cobbled streets and Elizabethan buildings. To me, it has always seemed remarkable that these buildings are still standing after the continuous bombing, known as the Plymouth  Blitz, during the Second World War. The city suffered  a series of bombing raids, which flattened many parts of my home city. My parents were involved in one of those  raids. In March 1941, my dad was returning home on a short Leave from the Army.  As darkness fell, he turned the corner of the street where they lived, and the house was gone, reduced to a pile of rubble, and my poor mum was buried underneath. Neighbours were scrabbling at the bricks with their hands,  desperately trying to get to her. Fortunately, she survived,  but her back was badly damaged and she suffered for the rest of her life with severe back problems.  After the Blitz, very little of Plymouth remained, and the whole City had to be rebuilt. During the 59 bombing attacks, 1,172 civilians were killed and 4,448 were injured. King George the sixth is pictured  here visiting the devastated City. 

 

Image courtesy of Daily Mail archives. 

But now it's time to continue with the tour. I hope you will enjoy these photos, which were taken on a glorious Summer's day last year. You can just double click on any of the photos if you want to make them larger. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The quality of the following  photo isn't particularly good (I took it from Plymouth Hoe looking out to the Sound) but I thought the old with the new was pretty cool 😊.

 

I do feel very blessed living in this little corner of heavenly Devon!  On that note, I'll love you and leave you until the next time.