Love is the beauty of the soul.
Saint Augustine
2 Comments CherryPie on Feb 16th 2026
… ready for a Valentine’s day meal out.
6 Comments CherryPie on Feb 15th 2026
While it is February one can taste the full joys of anticipation. Spring stands at the gate with her finger on the latch.
Patience Strong
2 Comments CherryPie on Feb 8th 2026
A few days prior to a procedure to fix Mr C’s unexpected health condition that caused us to cancel our Madeira trip in October we had a last minute day trip to London.
We enjoyed a special meal deal in The Ivy looking towards Tower Bridge, our destination for the day. Tower Bridge with its glass walkways and views of London from above is well worth a visit. After our tour of the bridge we had hoped to visit the nearby Tower of London but in winter months it closes earlier, meaning we had run out of time. Instead we visited Foyles book shop where neither of us were tempted to buy anything.
A couple of days later I took Mr C on the 50 minute drive to the hospital (in appalling weather) where his procedure to remove some anomalous non-malignant cells was due to take place. General anaesthetic was administered but when the consultant prepared to do the procedure he found that the anomalous cells had vanished…
He was allowed home rather than having to stay in hospital overnight. Another 50 minute there and back again journey for me. We stopped on the way home to pick up something for our evening meal. A cup of tea was in order and we were tempted by naughty cakes.
6 Comments CherryPie on Feb 3rd 2026
TWENTY bridges from Tower to Kew -
Wanted to know what the River knew,
Twenty Bridges or twenty-two,
For they were young, and the Thames was old
And this is the tale that River told
― Rudyard Kipling
6 Comments CherryPie on Feb 1st 2026
But pleasures are like poppies spread, You seize the flower, it’s bloom is shed; Or, like the snow-fall in the river, A moment white, then melts forever.
Robert Burns
2 Comments CherryPie on Jan 25th 2026
Photograph of a poster in Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Guyanese-British artist Hew Locke created ‘Foreign Exchange’ for the Birmingham 2022 Festival. He reimagined the sculpture of Queen Victoria in the city centre, surrounding the bronze statue with a boat containing five smaller Queen Victorias. Each wears a helmet and carries a medal relating to an important colonial battle. Hew Locke described the statue ‘leading a battalion of other statues to represent the home nation throughout the Empire’. After the Festival he generously donated the five smaller Queen Victorias to the city.*
*Information from a signboard next to the Victorias
2 Comments CherryPie on Jan 22nd 2026
