NO FLOWERS TODAY, BUT...

...I’m sure there will be flowers next year!  Mr. HCB spent the morning, which was gloriously sunny first thing, in the garden lifting his chrysanthemums.   He was especially pleased that some cuttings he took last year did very well this year, so he is hoping they will be as good, if not better next year.  He did say that he hadn’t looked after them as well as he should have done, but I know why that was and I’m sure those who know us can guess too.  However, next year, he says the blooms will be bigger and better.

He has already taken up his dahlias and they are now in a bag in the garage and hopefully will stay frost-free, ready to be planted out again next year, but I know he already has his eye on some new ones to supplement these.

I had a good morning making more broccoli and blue cheese soup, because our Blip friend, Heidi, messaged yesterday to ask if she could come and visit.  She said she was having lunch with another friend and wanted to call on her way home, so instead of afternoon tea, I thought we could have soup and freshly baked bread rolls as well.

I decided to make a collage from the various photographs I took of our Blipmeet today, so from the top left and going anticlockwise you can see Mr. HCB digging up his chrsyanths, then Heidi and “yours truly” standing next to Alfie, Heidi's motorhome, pulling funny faces - although you may think we always look like this!

Next is Heidi waiting patiently to start her soup and then of course, I had to get a shot of Heidi and Mr. HCB.  The one above that was taken by Heidi and shared with me and the top photograph shows one of the lovely gifts that Heidi brought with her - Stollen from Lidl, which she says is the best you can get.  I did put out some fruit and although I had two satsumas, I must confess that I did indulge in some broken pieces of Stollen - mainly because I understand that if something is broken, the calories leak out!! ;-)  

It’s just gone 8 o’clock and Heidi has just left - we love seeing her and wish her well for her foot/feet operation on Monday - another Blip friend is also having a foot operation on Monday - must be a good day for that kind of thing! I’m sure we will be in regular contact and just wish we lived a bit nearer so that we could help her in some way.  Hopefully she will have lots of friends to keep her company and she said that as well as doing some cooking herself and putting meals in the freezer, various friends have also rallied round, which is good to know.  This is such a wonderful community of people and we are so thrilled to have met Heidi many times.

I am thinking of changing my name though - the friend Heidi visited before she came to us thought my name was Mrs. Honeybunch - wonder if it would catch on?

Have a great weekend and stay warm and safe.  M xx 

P.S.  The Stollen was delicious but I definitely made sure each piece was broken before I indulged!

P.P.S.  Just looked at my emails and there is an email from Lucy, the Administrator of St. Andrew's Church, Shrivenham.  If you are interested, there is an extra shot giving details about the organ at the Church - from a survey of the church, published in 2002 by National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies (NADFAS).

P.P.P.S.  Ha ha don't suppose many have this many P's!  One of the gifts that Heidi bought me was a little Forever Friends bag with some bright pink nail polish because I had admired her toe nails - now I will have to paint mine.  But the other four things in the bag were four little candles - and for those who know the Four Candles sketch by the Two Ronnie's, this gift was prompted by me sending her the Christmas card you see in the extras - bought from my favourite charity shop, DEBRA.