Gosh, Another year Goes By...

Last night we watched our December super moon around midnight. The Lakota Sioux Indians of the the Great US Plains call this Wanicokan Wi; "the moon when the deer shed their antlers". Below over the field opposite us sparkled a neighbour's Christmas garden lights.

So another year draws to a close. Our tribe is well & we hope that this is also so with our family & friends. Here is our picture round up of the year:

No you are not rolling on a boat or plane, but with a little artistic licence, here is Colin's Jeep on a training session with 4x4 Rescue. Later in July, Colin was busy for two days helping folk at Kendal Calling, a Cumbrian music festival.

After visiting the RHS Show in Chatsworth in June we visited Jamie at work, in the ITV archive in Leeds. Jamie was delighted to take up a substantive post with ITV in March. We hope to give him a little help to get onto the property ladder soon.






We celebrated our 30th Wedding Anniversary on 27th June with a day trip to the fabulous & rather eclectic Bowes Museum. As you can see we've not mastered the selfie technique!

 

We've been uncharacteristically romantic. Nine years ago we brought back eight small diamonds from Cape Town. Three of the diamonds are now incorporated in Colin's wedding band, one for each decade of service! The other five have been made into a bespoke gold brooch representing the Southern Cross. My late father, Ian, often used the Southern Cross to navigate when driving at night through the bush in Botswana in the 1940s /50s. 

Again in June, I had a wonderful trip down memory lane when my school friend Suzanne contacted me from Perth, Australia asking if I'd like to visit our Alma Mater, Ayr Academy, which was to close as a secondary school and become Ayr's primary school.

We had a wonderful day as 16 / 17 year olds, meeting folk, recalling names and stories which have been lost in the mists of time. We were amazed to find the school hardly changed in 39 years. Suddenly the war memorial in the hall & pictures in the dusty cabinets had a relevance and poignancy as never before.

And a visit to Ayr is never complete without a visit to Alloway.

The Burn's Monument Gardens are now open for visits.

I can't remember the name of these roses but they looked lovely, not red but such a reminder of the bard,

     "O my Luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June:
O my Luve's like the melodie,
That's sweetly play'd in tune." 

(1794)

In August we had a two week trip to the US. Nicky & Rob came with us. We visited Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota & Nebraska. We loved our 'fully loaded' GMC Yukon. It was good to also to catch up with our Billings friends, Alex, Lucy & Sally.

Yellowtone's Geothermal Magic

Nicky & Rob at Jenny Lake, Teton National Park - a favourite spot

Metallic Statues of Chief Joseph overlooking the highway, named after him, in Wyoming. Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, guided his tribe through this vast wilderness to safety in Canada in 1877.

We joined friends Linnea & Kent
near Boysen State Park,Shoshoni on Monday,  21st August for the

Total Eclipse of Sun

... a transient but outstanding 

natural wonder...

Below is a picture of an unknown family, anticipating the moments before totality.

No mashed potatoes towers were created during the visit to this US
National Monument -

The Devil's Tower, Wyoming.

"According to the Native American tribes of the Kiowa ans Lakota, a group of girls went out to play and were spotted by several giant bears, who began to chase them. In an effort to escape the bears, the girls climbed atop a rock, fell to their knees, and prayed to the Great Spirit to save them. Hearing their prayers, the Great Spirit made the rock rise from the ground towards the heavens so that the bears could not reach the girls. The bears, in an effort to climb the rock, left deep claw marks in the sides, which had become too steep to climb. Those are the marks which appear today on the sides of Devils Tower. When the girls reached the sky, they were turned into the stars of the Pleiades / Seven Sisters." 

Source:Wikipedia

Back at home we have been busy too. Despite the summer being a bit of a 'damp squib' we got lots done.

In late winter our final Pacific Redwood was taken down piece meal, as you can see from this photo. Earlier in the winter while taking down the larger tree, our tree surgeon fractured his spine after cutting through his rope (unnoticed) & then abseiling in to thin air; falling some 35-40 feet. Poor guy had to go to Newcastle for treatment and is still in pain.

Our First Ladies are doing well. We still have two from our original flock from 2013. They love to sun bathe whenever possible & bring much life & activity (not always appreciated) to the orchard.






Here is Colin with Mr Soot. Mitsy is 10 and poor old Fritz is in the 'slippered pantaloon' phase, but enjoys his food and a walk.











My latest garden ornament has been in the form of a homemade 'Straw Bogle' (Old Scots for scarecrow). As you can see her head is enormous, so I've had to make a large frill for her hat to try & get some proportion back!

A rare sighting of a Mother Hen & the fledged Chicks!

We have a new great nephew & niece to join Bradley in the ranks of the next generation. 

On 27th June Alexander (Alex) Gerald Croft arrived ( niece Jo & hubby John's first) & 

on 12th September, Faye Catherine arrived as Bradley's kid sister ( niece Emma & John's second)

Now here's to much Festive Cheer

Merry Christmas 

&

Health & Happiness for 2018

Love from 

All The Rodgers Tribe in Cumbria

xxxx

Merry Christmas & Here's to 2017...

So what a year it has been: Brexit, US election results, many celebrity losses! But how lucky we are that it's not 100 years ago when WWI still had another two years to go.

Cumbria has slowly been recovering from last year's Storm Desmond & this week the lovely, lit Christmas trees have started to twinkle in the bay windows of the homes of Warwick Road (a main road always affected by flooding) in Carlisle.

Luckily the 'Rodgers Tribe' are all in the pink. Overall we have had a fairly busy year, especially with several weddings to celebrate of both family and friends. So here is our year in pictures...

One of the few wintry days of 2016. It's always magical walking by the beck

Yesteryear - sister Lorna & Colin

An Ulster lass is never far from a brew - Bettie

 

Bath time chaos - contemplating grand kids?

Springtime in Cumbria

April dawned with Hutcheson, niece Jo's wedding - when did we get to being the oldies? 

Hutcheson - Thornhill Family Group

Amy, Pete, Andy, Nicky & me

Mr & Mrs John & Jo Croft

 

Spring time in the orchard - there was an  explosion of blossom & so much fruit to follow

Allan Cyna - a conference break

May & June brought visitors from South and
West of the globe and cousins. Meanwhile
Colin did get some time with the Quick
Quacks in Yorkshire / Lincoln.

The Iain / Ian 'Hutcheson' cousins & me

Of course the garden is never far from my thoughts - still a curate's egg - but I so enjoy it. I don't think Colin followed the advice of the US horticulturalist, T. H. Everett (1903 - 1986) who said,

“A man should never plant a garden larger than his wife can take care of ".

The Orchard in Late Summer

The Albertine Roses

A tad wet - mid summer deluge

Here are some of the various wedding photos - the Rodgers Tribe looking fairly smart for once!

Bridesmaid Nicky & Rob - June 24th

The Boys in 'Blue' - September

The 'Brown Eyes' - September

July - The scene is set for a truly romantic Scottish wedding in Gretna of friends Sue & Gareth. And yes the minister did bless the marriage 'over the anvil'. My friend Sheila & I were given free rein to decorate the calf shed as we pleased. And it's not every day the bride arrives on her dressage horse & wearing cowboy boots!

September brought a chance to visit friends who are now living in Brittany - an easy drive from the St. Malo ferry port. They live in a granite farmhouse where they have two gites, a large garden with a pond and swimming pool plus a new Golden Retriever puppy, Amber.

http://www.frenchgitebrittany.com

Mont St. Michel - way too busy for a visit - 2nd most popular French attraction after La Tour Eiffel

Found a lovely boy - Quemada

Colin in Dinan - It really is this pretty!

December has arrived and on the first of the month, the Bishop of Carlisle was able to dedicate the Cumberland Infirmary's organ donation memorial, The Tree of Life. The artist is our Brittany friend, Sue. The memorial project's inception was under Colin's watch as the Trust's Clinical Lead for Organ Donation (before retirement) almost four years ago.

Where is Mr J.W.M. Turner RA when you need him to paint a picture? Looking eastwards, mist in the Tyne Valley from the military road, Hadrian's Wall

So

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

Love & Best Wishes for 2017
from Us All (Colin, Jamie & Nicky)
Trish x

Festive Greetings & Good Wishes for 2016

It seems strange to be writing this seasonal update after all the torrential rain in Cumbria this last weekend, resulting in such flooding & devastation. We are SO lucky to be safe & dry. Here is the River Eden at Warwick Bridge, just one and a half miles away from us;

So this year's "instead of Christmas cards" donation will go to the flood donation.

The senior members of the Rodgers Tribe are fine doing the usual; gardening, motorbiking, volunteering & holidaying in the Western USA.

Jamie has secured another year's contract in Leeds with ITV in the archive unit but with bonus of  a salary increase & laptop ( I've not managed to capture him on my iphone pics - he's pretty elusive). Nicky is into her second year of children's nursing in Newcastle - working long hours but she seems to be thriving.

So here are some photos & craic from this year:



The partial solar eclipse from Broadwath, 20th March 2015.
It was a rather moody moment.







Below is me getting Orla ready for her journey to her new home in Kent in April. A sad day for me but my friends helped me to find her a good home.

Our camellia x williamsii 'Donation' hedge was stunning this year as there were no frosts. This is such a special hedge planted over 20 years ago by my Dad, Uncles Bill & Gil. And needless to say all grown from cuttings propagated by Dad in Ayr!

The wisteria was lovely in the late spring & scent so sweet and almost unexpected in the evenings. The wisteria always blooms later & waits carefully till the temperatures are right before unfolding its racemes of flowers and bright olive coloured leaves - quite unlike it's neighbour across the path -
the camellia with all those blousy blooms on show whatever the temperature!

The back garden in full summer - haphazard but a riot of colour - blending with the re-painted arbour.
This year I, together with some friends and neighbours who are all members of the local gardening club, opened our gardens for the club's social evening. Wow it was stressful, trying to get things in order - I still had majestic collections of nettles on show in several areas! On the plus side, the garden looked it's best ever. I don't think we'll be opening our gardens for the National Gardens Scheme though ... maybe for charity???

 In July Nicky and her boyfriend, Rob visited her Nana in Belfast. 

Though in her 90th decade Bettie is keeping well. 

When Colin visited last month she had TV quiz answers to anagrams

& arithmetical problems solved long before him!

 Above is just a sample of the crazy, funny,
delightful balloons at the Albuquerque Fiesta!

We had a great trip through the western US in the autumn. We started with a visit to our friends (Alex & Lucy) in Billings, Montana. We then visited Yellowstone, drove through southern Wyoming into the Colorado Rockies (Steam Boat Springs, Bueno Vista) and into the Land of Enchantment (New Mexico). Friends (Linnea & Kent) of friends (Jeanne & Ross) very kindly treated us to wonderful hospitality in Albuquerque. Thereafter we flew to San Francisco & spent two exciting days sightseeing with Colin's cousin Jolene to guide us - our first visit to the Pacific. Colin was chief photographer this year & took some great photos. My favourite was one of Colorado's Great Sand Dunes & National Preserve,

 There are people tracks & people showing the scale.

"The dunes appear in the distance as you approach, but at first seem dwarfed by their backdrop, the 13,000-foot peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Not until you're nearly at their border does their vast scale become apparent: dunes up to 750 feet tall, extending for mile after mile"

 http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/great-sand-dunes-national-park/

 

 Our splash orpington cock died this year. 

But on return from the US my young cousin Andrew gave us his handsome
silver, spangled, bantam Hamburg Rooster.

We have called him President Ulysses S. Grant.

But with all his gorgeous plumage perhaps we should have named him after 

the great Lakota Sioux chief & warrior, Crazy Horse.

I took this picture of the Christmas Geese in September. They have been organically reared at Cumbria Wildlife Trust's Gosling Sike Farm in Carlisle

MERRY CHRISTMAS