Falling leaves ....

Hallo again little bloggy friends.  We are approaching the end of another week.  Christmas draws ever near and, of course, my American friends (not sure about Canada, as I think they might have already had theirs.  Although I'm probably totally wrong, of course!!) have their wonderful Thanksgiving to look forward to.

It's only since I've been blogging for these past three years, that I've realized just what a big thing Thanksgiving is over in America.  I've read about all the preparations leading up to the big day, and the wonderful array of food being prepared, and I am totally jealous that I am not a part of it all!

What wonderful blue skies we have been having over here this past week.  Not a cloud in the sky, although it has turned much chillier these past few days.  I don't mind that though.  At least you can wrap up and get out in the fresh air.  Far better than the dreary drizzle that we tend to get so much of here in Devon, although this year we have been truly blessed with our weather.  So no complaints from  me! I promise you that the above photo has not been enhanced in anyway!

I was delighted to receive a book in the post today, which has been written by one of my American bloggy friends, Becky Povich. She has written her Memoir, entitled From Pigtails to Chin Hairs, and I am really looking forward to reading it.  One of the reviews on the back of her book, says that the Memoir is a series of finely drawn vignettes that does everything a good memoir should do - makes you laugh, makes you cry, makes you want to sit down and have a cup of coffee with the author".

Becky writes a delightful blog, and I'm sure she would love it if you popped over to say Hi!  She is at http://beckypovich.blogspot.co.uk/

Look forward to seeing you again soon dear friends.  Meanwhile, I'm sending hugs your way.

Ze Leetle Grey Cells ....

Can you guess what this post is going to be about from its title?  No? Shame on you! 

Perhaps if I mention the name of Agatha Christie, this will help!

I am talking. of course. about her literary creation, Hercule Poirot. I love watching the television adaptations (along with Miss Marple). Well, on Wednesday evening I settled down to watch the very final episode, entitled Curtain.

It was good to see Poirot's old friend, Captain Hastings, in this episode. He means well, but he is usually pretty hapless when it comes to trying to solve the murders!

Amazingly, the actor David Suchet played Poirot for 24 years, first appearing as the detective in 1989. He was a very finicky little man, and could be irritating at times, but I loved him. Eleanor also loves the show - I think that is one of the attractions of the television series, in that the whole family could sit down and watch it together. 

I believe that Suchet was made for the part. Captain Hastings says, when he first saw Poroit, that he was just 5 ft 4, has a head the shape of an egg, a military moustache and with extremely neat attire. "I believe that a speck of dust would have caused him more pain than a bullet wound!"

Strangely enough, Agatha Christie herself said that she found the character "insufferable" and by 1960, she said he was "detestable".   After his last appearance, in Curtain, published in 1975, Poirot had an obituary published on the front page of The New York Times, the only fictional character ever to have done so! 

Earlier this year, Agatha Christie was named the Best Crime Writer of all time by the Crime Writers' Assiciation. 

Here in the U.K., we were treated to a final four episodes, shown over four weeks. One of these episodes, 'Dead Man's Folly' featured Agatha Christie's own holiday home, here in Devon.   Greenway, on the beautiful River Dart is only about half an hour away from where I live.  The Producers thought it was very appropriate to use the interior and exterior (note the beautiful gardens if you watch this episode) of Greenway, as the series was coming to an end.

The following photo was taken beside the boat house at Greenway, where you can see the beautiful River Dart in the background. I have sat by that peaceful spot on many occasions.

Some of you may remember that we took Eleanor to visit this special property (which is now owned and managed by The National Trust) and she absolutely loved it.  All Agatha's belongings were there, and it was just as if she had popped out for the afternoon!  Eleanor was even able to have a go on the actual typewriter on which all the Author's novels were written. Here are a couple of photos I took on our visit.

Wordless Wednesday

In Remembrance ....

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.

Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;

They sit no more at familiar tables of home;

They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;

They sleep beyond England's foam

I'm sure we all know the lines, "They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old....", but, in honour of Remembrance Sunday here in the United Kingdom, I thought I would post the poem in its entirety. 

The poem is entitled "For The Fallen" by Laurence Binyon and was written to honour the fallen of the First World War. 

Both my grandad and hubby's grandad were killed in that War, so it is always relevant to us at this time of the year. 

Thankfulness ....

Every so often I like to take stock, and to

remember to be thankful.  To be thankful for all my blessings, for my family, my

health, my friends, my home, and so many other things that are so easy to take for granted. 

Obviously, I am thinking about health at the moment, because I had a bad spell during the summer, and now my eldest daughter is suffering. 

Emma is now home, but still very delicate   and not able to move about very much. I am thankful that I will be staying on for a while, to help out in any way that I can. 

Of course, I am truly thankful for all my Followers, scattered all over the world. You really do give me so much support and encouragement. That's what friendship is all about, isn't it!

I've picked out some quotations from

Pinterest, which I hope you will enjoy. 

Hopefully catch up with you all again soon. 

Author Of The Emotional Wedding Poem ....

Here I am again, hoping that you are all in fine fettle on this November day.

Do you remember the post I wrote back in July, about Emma's friend's wedding.  For newer readers, you can read it here http://southhamsdarling.blogspot.fr/2013/06/sunday-snaps.html

Everyone was very touched by the beautiful poem that the groom's teenage son read out to his new stepmum. Well, completely out of the blue, I recently received a comment on that post from one Minnie Chatterfield (what a delightful name!).

She informed me that she is actually the writer of that poem and that, every now and then, she checks to see where her poetry ends up on the internet. She went on to say that my blog post which contained her poem was one of the best places she had ever found her work, so thank you for that Minnie. The words of the poem were truly beautiful and very emotional..

Now fellow bloggies, isn't that a refreshing change from the blogger who berated me for posting a photo of a rice pudding which I had found on Pinterestwww.pinterest.com

Most of us would consider it a compliment if we chose to share their work with others, unless it was copyrighted of course.  Minnie seems to have several blogs, one of which is called A Poem A Day, but I can't seem able to give you a link to it.

Just thought you might like to know that little snippet of news!  Emma is still in hospital by the way, but I will let you know when we have any more news. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers - you really are the best! (But you know that already!)

See you again soon.

Another Month .....

Hallo my bloggy friends. Hope all is well with you. Emma is still in hospital and they don't seem able to control the pain, so she is unable to move. 

They finally gave her injections in the spine yesterday, so I am praying that there will be an improvement when we visit this afternoon. 

Well,we are here again at the start of another month. I came across this on Pinterest and thought it was worth sharing with you. 

Please forgive me for not having time for much blog visiting this past week.