RED BIRDS

 

An early morning visitor came this week: a beautiful baby King Parrot.

I decided to use the photos to practice blogging on my phone in preparation for travelling.  Can I do it?

Well that was interesting: I managed to upload four at once.

Soon mother bird and father appeared and looked curiously at me in the kitchen.  They are shy birds, and soon flew away back to the bush.

End of Experiment 1.  Have a great week.

Xxxx

VIVA MAGENTA AND SOME TRAVEL TALK

 Quick off the mark, Pantone has announced the 2023 Colour of the Year:

Viva Magenta!

Is is purple or is it red?

Illustrations seem to vary, and I have not seen it on any fashion items in the shops - yet...

I guess it is something like this trouser suit, a bluish red.

Red is a colour I rarely wear, although every few years I seem to invest in one red item...

Five years ago when we visited Canada in the depth of Winter, I made a red wool dress which makes an occasional appearance..

Do you like to wear red?   or Magenta?

Happy Birthday to Catherine, Princess of Wales, seen here in her first State Reception since receiving her new title.

I think she looks incredibly elegant, and will continue to perform her role beautifully as the years go by..

In other royal news, I read today that King Charles and Camilla will soon depart on a short overseas tour, the first since he ascended the throne.

I will be looking out for a new tour wardrobe for the Queen Consort, having a particular interest in nice clothes for women of, ahem, a certain age...  

I really liked her deep blue gown with sapphires...

They are going to a few places I have loved:

Paris.  Everybody loves Paris.

2014: The last time I saw Paris...

Berlin:  we loved it in 2018

The museums are astonishing - we had a fabulous five days there..and five nights at the Opera or the Symphony - bliss!

We saw the great Daniel Barenboim, conducting the Debussy opera 'Pelleas and Melisande'.

I thought I had died and gone to Heaven...

and not just because they had champagne and bagels at the Opera...

Ah, travel.

I hope the King and Queen enjoy a little of the Arts as well as the official aspects of their tour.  

I think they deserve a little break after the intensity of the past few months...

Have a great week.

I am starting to plan for our Canada trip this year.

So much to think about!

XXXXX

WELCOME TO 2023

 

Hello Dear Readers..

2023 has arrived, a baby New Year as full of promise as the tiny pink buds on my favourite rose bush.

At the Red Cardinal nest, we no longer stay up until midnight to welcome the new year, but had a very pleasant roast chicken dinner with champagne accompaniment.  It was followed by an assortment of unusual chocolates kindly bestowed on us by our children for Christmas.

As other bloggers have commented, I too cherish the week after Christmas as a special quiet time, a time to regroup and recover.

Our Christmas was very special, a beautiful lunch at the home of one of our sons, enjoying the company of our three youngest grandchildren and our other son and his family.  The twins, who are two, really enjoyed the whole Christmas period, with a visit to Santa Claus,  decorating a Christmas tree, and the placing of a Nativity scene.  They loved all their gifts and had a generally fabulous time.

Due to a lot of heavy lifting during Christmas prep, we both acquired sore joints and knees after Christmas Day, and have had a very quiet time recovering.

After a few days, we starting on the Garden of Neglect, and a lot of weeding and pruning, and planting of herbs has been going on.

Every year I report on my efforts to keep my pansies flowering from our mid-year Winter (best time to plant Spring flowers), until my birthday in November, or better still, Christmas.

Well this year, I have triumphed!  For the first time I reached the New Year, and still have a pot of blooms:

Will they survive another heatwave?

Tomorrow is predicted to be a 37 c. 'scorcher'.

Come on little flowers, you can do it...

I have been walking as much as possible.

Sometimes I take the road past these beautiful horses:

They are so friendly to a passer-by...

This week we have been not once, but twice, to the movies.

This is noteworthy as since the global pandemic began we have only been once to a movie theatre.  We went in the morning to a small local theatre with a very small audience.  And wore masks.

We love history, and loved 'The Lost King'.

Perhaps you might remember this true story: the movie is about the discovery in 2012 of the remains of English King Richard III by Philippa Langley, a British writer and researcher.  I was fascinated at how she became interested in the fact that Britain's last warrior king, defeated and killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, had no known final resting place.  Using her astonishing research skills she came to a reasonable conclusion that a certain area in the City of Leicester was worth investigating, and she was right.

I came home, downloaded Philippa's book on my Kindle and am engrossed in finding out more details than the film could cover.

Our film festival continued a few days later with this one:

'The Banshees of Inisherin' is set on a remote island off the coast of Ireland in the early 20th century.  Both comical and tragic, the story of the breakdown of a friendship is told against the background of the Civil War.  The photography is magnificent and I think this one could be Oscar material for 2023.

Trillium, the floral emblem of Ontario, Canada

Our big plan for 2023 is a trip to Canada to visit our daughter and her family in Ontario.  We have made our reservations and in a few months will be flying across the Pacific, the first time since 2019.  I can't wait to see a beautiful Canadian Spring once again.

Happy New Year everybody!

XXXX

Canadian Lilacs