Trees

Trees can be funny characters. Perhaps it is because I haven't had a chance to visit them recently that they decided to play hard to get. No faces in the bark could be seen! Finally, one relented. He set his cap at a jaunty angle, covering his left eye and muttered out of the corner of his mouth: "Okay, take a photograph now!" I did and this is the result. Thank you, Tree.

Vegetable Animals!

One of the disappointments of my childhood was never having the opportunity to create a garden on a plate. But I bet many of your did have the chance. That said, I was intrigued when I visited a flower show and came across some entries for the 'create an animal from vegetables' category.

Here are a few examples. I particularly liked the sheep and the elephant. The fifth photo leaves me baffled! What on earth is it? Suggestions are welcomed.

Sooty

Today is a very bad day. My beloved little schitzu - Sooty - died this morning. She came to us after escaping several years of torment and ill-treatment from the previous owner. Her teeth had rotted and had to be extracted and her tongue hung out the side of her mouth in a gap where her jaw had been broken by a kick.

Despite feeling heartbroken, I am remembering how faithful she was - always staying close and cuddling - and feeling a bit happier that we had been able to provide her with several years of love and affection that hopefully made up for her earlier miserable life.

Spare a thought for her, though. Hopefully, our late Jack Russell - Bert - is showing her the ropes as she is adjusting to her new life in doggie heaven where all her frailties will have vanished, the sun always shines and she has a new set of teeth so she can feed herself. Bye, bye Sooty . . .

Birds I Have Met

Recently, I had an opportunity to get close to two birds - both large. The first was a Raven. What a majestic bird and it fixed me with its eye. The second was - I think - a long-eared Owl, although if I am wrong, perhaps an expert can correct me?

A Dogs Cemetery in Jersey

This card is a recent acquisition. The original purchaser has written August 1955 on the reverse.

The memorial records the following:

The Haven of Rest

The Abode of Love

Opened 1928

Here rest the relics of our friends below

Blessed with more sense that half the folks we know

Fond of their ease, and to no parties prone.

They damn'd no sect but calmly gnawed their bone

Performed their functions well in every act

Blush Christians if you can and copy them

Buried Treasure

Another example of buried treasure excavated in a garden. These fragments of history were spotted in the corner of a walled garden in Pembrokeshire, Wales. What a fantastic dinner service the house owner must have had.

Blind Percy

In the early part of the last century, charitable organisations used picture postcards to tug at the heartstrings of potential donors. Often they showed waifs and strays. Here, Sister Eva and Blind Percy are 'posed' in support of Her Majesty's Hospital for Waif Children at Stepney Causeway in London. The establishment is a Dr. Barnado's Home. Blind Percy looks content, but I wonder what became of him?