A Small Country House and Garden..........

...........Spent most of the morning at Grantham Hospital undergoing Lung Function tests which were rather trying and, oh, it was so hot in there, the "nose pincher" thing kept falling off because I was sweating so much. They didn't say how things were but I expect they will liaise with the Consultant.

Afterwards I decided to have a drive around some roads and lanes I had not been along before. I have no idea where I was but this beautiful house caught my eye - my dream house I think -though I have seen others about which I've said the same thing! I think I must have been born with somewhat grandiose ideas and not to live in a tiny cottage like mine! We can't always choose and truly I'm very content - what more can anyone REALLY want! - but we all have dreams and life would be much less fun if we didn't.

Had a call from Anni at about 1.30pm - she is on her way home from yet another "mission" - this time to Scotland and hopes to be home by about 5p.m.

I didn't write my usual BOUI yesterday but here are a few bits regarding:- Trees (yesterdays MonoMonday subject!)

1) Some religious groups such as the Druids worshiped other gods but used trees as places of gathering for worship. They did however value the trees considerably and even planted trees to form groves in which they could worship.

2) Providers of shade and bearers of fruit, trees have long been associated with life and fertility. Evergreen trees, which remain green all year, became symbols of undying life. Deciduous trees, which lose their leaves in the winter and produce new ones in the spring, symbolized renewal, rebirth after death, or immortality.

3) A Japanese myth tells of a poor elderly couple whose only joys in life were their pet dog and the beautiful blossoms of the cherry tree. After the dog found buried gold for its owners, a jealous neighbour killed the beloved animal. The old man and woman buried the dog under a cherry tree and believed that the dog's spirit inhabited the tree. With wood from one of its branches, they made a mortar—a bowl for grinding grain—that magically produced plenty of flour, even in a time of famine. The same wicked neighbour burned the mortar, but the old man found that its ashes, when sprinkled on the dog's grave, caused the cherry tree to produce its lovely blossoms at any time of year.

(I really like this even if it is a bit sad!)

4) Trees—or the fruit they bore—also came to be associated with wisdom, knowledge, or hidden secrets. This meaning may have come from the symbolic connection between trees and worlds above and below human experience. The tree is a symbol of wisdom in stories about the life of Buddha, who was said to have gained spiritual enlightenment while sitting under a bodhi tree, a type of fig.

The weather started off beautifully but by 10am looked as if it could rain and/or thunder but it hasn't and now the sun is shining with a temperature of 66 Deg.F. so very pleasant.

Hope you are having a tremendous Tuesday!