Runnin' On

Have a good old chinwag

Some years ago I heard that there was going to be a meeting in Downham Market about The Talking Newpapers, this intrigued me, so I decided to go to the meeting to see what it was all about. Ever since hearing how much the local newstapes would interest a wide range of folk, who for various reasons are unable to read a local paper, I wanted to help them in some way.

It must be almost twenty years ago that Chinwag the Talking Newspaper appeared in Downham. Through Chinwag I have made many friends and once a month I edit a news tape. The time I spend with "my" team is a chance to catch up with all their news and of course, we do have a laugh while we are working. Well, to be honest, we have a lot of laughs while we work.

Yesterday was my Chinwag day and on the drive into town we noticed a huge circular cloud hanging above it. The edges of the cloud resembled a really ragged mushroom, I wanted to get indoors before the downpour started! Mr T got me there just in time. Now today, we are having another wetting, it is more like a tropical storm without the sticky heat.

At least the garden will be getting watered, and, once the plants have picked themselves up I'm sure they will have benefitted from the rain. I do wonder how the lilacs will cope. We have a white lilac and a lilac one, both doubles, their branches are weighed down now. I hope they don't snap.

In the early evenings I like to go around having a bit of a tidy up among the shrubs. I have been surprised to find how much fragrance from the lilacs stays on my clothes, it's a good job that I like it. The sprays of blossom are so silky, I give them an appreciative stroke. I hope they enjoy it as much as I do!

This year we have lupins growing in the lawn, this is their idea not ours. I have rescued some of them, I hope they stay in the borders, I don't want the lawn mower to get them. I'll have to put bags over this year's lupins once they start to fade. I must get more organised before the seeds are scattered across the lawn again. It just shows you how quickly nature organises everything if we don't shift our selves.

Last week was Red Cross week, I have been collecting in our road for several years now and I enjoy catching up on the news. I also see a lot of flowers I haven't noticed before. This year's treat was a carpet of white stars scattered under trees, fortunately their owner knew what they were, so, wood anemonies are on my shopping list now. I'd better check with our gardening book to see if we have a suitable situation for a scattering of white stars.

It looks as if I have chattered to the bottom of a page, that's all I do; I hope there are some readers who can understand my ramblings!

Janet Tilburn