Words

I was looking through a magagzine this afternoon and came across an article about a garden in the Wye Valley. It was titled "A Froth of Flowers" and I thought how lovely the phrase was, and how it describes perfectly the way a cottage garden looks with its mix of pretty blooms bobbing in the breeze. It is a perfect example of how a well chosen word or phrase can convey a world of meaning which of course is what language is all about. It also reminds me of how poverty stricken we are in this country when it comes to such things. Language does not seem to matter to some, and I get the "no-one cares about things like that" speech when I point out the difference between there and their; to, too and two and the list goes on. Well, I care and I become decidely grumpy at the whole thing.

What I am beginning to find irksome is that I have arrived at the point where I cannot remember where the apostrophes live, or sometimes how to properly string together a sentence. Grammar rules I learned at school seem to have been lost in the mists of the last 30 years or so. I know that I used to know them, but the more we are bombarded with stray apostrophes, poor grammar and appalling spelling, the more they look correct. This also makes me grumpy.

We are almost in May and the weather is showing some signs of picking up. We have had a number of consecutive dry days and some sunshine, but the temperatures have been a little too low for my liking. We have had a bank holiday this weekend, so naturally, I expected the weather to be appalling. I was mistaken. We have had a couple of glorious warm and sunny days which the cats have enjoyed to the fullest.

 

Finally......

I hope you are sitting down for this, but we have sunshine. Yes, real honest to goodness sunshine. The skies are blue, with fluffy white clouds being chased by a light breeze, a breeze which is also making the branches of the trees dance. The cats are outside asleep on various chairs, shelves (long story, don't ask) and in plant pots, Harry Belafonte is on the CD player, and I have a steaming mug of stong coffee beside me on the table. The day could not be more perfect. Unless I win the lottery of course.

I need to get some work done on the car, although an awfully nice man from the AA effected a temporary fix for me during the week. Then there is the work that needs doing on the house - I won't list it it would take too long. I have been in this house for about 16 years and I don't think that it has ever been finished. There has always been at least one room which has needed something doing to it, be it tiling in the bathroom or kitchen, bare plaster walls in the hall or something else which I either can't do or don't have the money for. Add to that that the fact that the whole of the outside needs to be re-rendered, the windows and doors painted and you get the picture. Not pretty is it?

So if the lottery gods are watching would you mind very much picking my numbers tonight?