On a recent group cycle ride we stopped at a delightful café in Wivenhoe. It is compulsory to stop for coffee and cake. (We are called FCC – Friday cycle and coffee/cake for a reason). This café is run by a Syrian couple and they serve delicious Mediterranean cakes and VERY strong coffee! Our group…

I wrote on the subject of shoes in a previous TFTD (29-6-26).                                                                                           A recent visit from the infamous Bill the boxer left me with an unwearable pair of gardening “cloggies”. It was Sunday morning and he was left at home in the sole charge of my husband. On my return from church, I found…

In March I went to the funeral of a very good friend who died after a 6-month battle with cancer. She was clearly loved and had touched the lives of many people judging from the numbers who attended. As we left the church we were all given a packet of wildflower seeds and bulbs. I…

My daughter-in-law is learning to drive which gave me opportunity to revisit the basics of driving theory. There are probably many of us who were “fortunate” enough not to have to sit a driving theory exam. I can remember in my driving test being asked to read a number plate and identify a couple of…

It was my granddaughter’s first birthday last week, and as you would expect we all gathered to celebrate the joy that she has brought into our lives over the last 12 months. Looking at the date I was reminded that my grandmother, (her great -great -grandmother) was born 143 years before almost to the day.…

Every year my husband tells me he isn’t going to try growing aubergines again, and every year he does. And every year we get some fruit off the plants he has grown from seed. Part of his initial reluctance to grow them is that it seems to take a long time for them to germinate,…

We have a Victoria Plum tree in our garden and despite the drought and the apparent lack of pollinators we seem to have had a bumper crop of plums. I love to wander in the garden and eat the fruit straight from the tree. Unfortunately we seem to have a heavy infestation of plum fruit…

The next plant to mention in this series is Rudbeckia with beautiful yellow flowers that have grown up through the cracks in the paving stones in our backyard. These have not been knowingly watered and were certainly not intentionally planted, rather they seem to have self-seeded from last year’s flowers and flourished independently of anything…

This is a series of TFTDs inspired over the months of July and August – the hottest on record! East Anglia seems to have been particularly affected by the long hot and dry summer, with brown lawns, trees and shrubs shedding appearing to wither before our eyes and devastating wildfires on Dunwich Heath that required…