New life for old

 Over the past couple of years, I have been closely following the restoration of a little cottage in Derbyshire. Why? Well, I came across it by accident one day, and I couldn't believe that it would ever be anything other than a complete ruin.

This is it. It's called Aquaduct Cottage, and it lays at the junction of the old Cromford Canal with a side arm that went out to a mill. The land around it once belonged to Florence Nightingale's family, and is now a Wildlife and nature reserve. It gets its' name from the fact that it stands at one end of the aquaduct that carries the canal over the River Derwent.

So totally ruinous, with trees growing up through the brickwork, no roof, and walls close to crumbling away, it appeared to be lost forever.

Yeah, right, I hadn't reckoned on the efforts of Mr. Ron Compton and his merry band of volunteers. Charitable donations have been sought, materials bought, and volunteers trained in the arts of stuff like old-fashioned lime mortaring.

Now? well, you wouldn't believe it. It nears completion, and the Nature Reserve will have its' own visitor centre, complete with a new staircase up into the heart of the wild wood, and gardens filled with native plants. 

Who'd a-thought it?

Hopefully, I'll be able to visit it for myself next year. Meanwhile, a round of applause for all the hard work is due! 

Hilary Mantel rules!

 'Virgins are so rare these days, they are sending unicorns out to find them'. I'm currently working my way through Hilary Mantel's historical output, and with words like that, why wouldn't I? Miss Mantel is a superb wordsmith, and I will give a due resume when I have completed the Wolf Hall trilogy (I'm currently on book 2, and at over 600 pages each, there's a lot of reading still to do!)

UPDATE: I have now read 5 of Miss Mantel's books, and I can't praise them highly enough. The 3 volumes of the Cromwell trilogy present a massive commitment, being around 600 pages in each volume. But I doubt there has ever been such an in-depth realisation of Henry VIII's marriage tribulations.

The other 2 were of a much lighter aspect, with one being downright comical. My suggestion would be to read one of the smaller stand-alone volumes first, before tackling the enormous trilogy!

Definitely a 5/5 for all of her books

With all that has happened...........................

 ................it's seems a lifetime crammed into the past year, when I've had neither the enthusiasm or the inclination to blog. 

After all, it's been a year of almost total isolation, with only the shortest of breaks last midsummer. Sadly, the rate of infection over Christmas 2020 was so high, we were locked down again, unable to see either friends or relations. 

We lost friends and family. First to pass was one of my work colleagues from overseas - dead from Covid and less than 30 years old. Then one of my friends who was Indian by birth, but who had married and become a Canadian citizen, had to return to Mumbai to deal with his father's affairs after losing him to Covid. Vijay walked out of Mumbai airport, was hit by a truck and killed.

The next was my darling Uncle Rex. He was in his 90s and suffering from dementia. He had a fall at home and was hospitalized so that they could monitor him. Sadly, in hospital, he caught Covid and died.

 SO ENOUGH OF YOUR ANTI-VAX NONSENSE. AND DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME THIS VIRUS IS A HOAX

Finally, one of our closest friends died of leukemia a few weeks ago. 

Then my daughter-in-laws father - maybe best not spoken about here.............

All this, plus isolation and not going out, has taken its' toll on my mental health. I badly needed a restorative trip away on my own this year. Sadly, that won't be allowed to happen. 

So forgive me if I'm not my usual positive self, and if I don't want to write or do anything much at the moment, except crawl into a dark corner somewhere, alone............................

Random jokes and amusing musings

 Legend has it that Fred Astaire opened the oven door once and his treacle sponge exploded...

He had pudding on his top hat, pudding on his white tie and pudding on his tails.................................. and I bet you sang that in your head

does anyone know what it was that the knights in white sat in?