Rain Rain Go Away

It has been pouring with rain all day here unlike the graphic above.  Isn't it beautiful?  It also reminds me of my beloved Grandmother who always had a print of the painting The Monarch Of The Glen hanging on her wall.

There are very few flowers left in the garden which brings to mind the poem and song - The Last Rose Of Summer

Taken in our garden by Mike

'Tis the last rose of summer,
Left blooming all alone,
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone.
No flower of her kindred,
No rose bud is nigh,
To reflect back her blushes,
Or give sigh for sigh.

I'll not leave thee, thou lone one,
To pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping,
Go sleep thou with them;
'Thus kindly I scatter
Thy leaves o'er the bed
Where thy mates of the garden
Lie scentless and dead.

First two lines of poem by Thomas Moore 1779-1852

In truth, not the last rose because we do have a couple more still offering up their blooms.

The Sedum was just coming into full flower and had started to attract the butterflies but now the wet weather has driven them away.

Now we have a sure sign that Autumn is here.  I do love the colour of the berries.

Talking of flowers, I had a lovely surprise this morning.  One of my readers (now on holiday abroad) sent me an e-mail yesterday telling me to expect something in the post and to be sure not to refuse it because we were not expecting anything. We exchange Christmas cards so she did have our address.

Well, the parcel arrived this morning.  She had bought us some Friolina Pansies, the ones fairly new on the market that trail and can hang down three or four feet.  There were enough to plant up two hanging baskets.  I hope to be able to purchase some others and will be looking online.  Fingers crossed they will not be too expensive.   Actually I have already looked on the site where she bought them but, alas, they are sold out.

Wasn't that a lovely gesture, something done from the heart?  They have already been planted up but are in the greenhouse at the moment to give them a head start and to make sure they do not drown in the rain.  Apparently they will go through the winter weather as they are frost hardy.  Thank you so much Pat, your kindness has really touched us.  I will contact you on your return from holiday.

Well, not too much else to talk about today.

I am happy that my journal is attracting readers from places other than the UK and the USA - places like France, New Zealand, The Czech Republic and quite a few others.  Whether they come out of curiosity I do not know but some of them have become regulars.  I say hello and welcome to you all.

I will leave you today with something that was sent to me in an e-mail last night and which amused me greatly:

Last night, my friend and I were sitting in the living room and I said to her

"I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug".

She got up, unplugged my Computer, and threw out my wine.

She's such a b....

Tags: blogplugs, roses, sedum, berries, poem, song Thomas-Moore