Hitty June says her goodbyes...

Hitty June is about to undertake a big move across the world to Hittyville's Adventure Land where she will be observing a family of unusual tortoises who have suddenly appeared in this animal sanctuary.  Although sad to leave Rose Cottage and her Hitty family she is excited about joining her new family.  So with both sadness but also with joy she says her goodbyes to family and friends at Rose Cottage.

Becassine is busy preparing a farewell dinner and is sad to see Hitty June go.

Hitty June says goodbye to the boys Miles and Noel.  Miles asks Hitty June to show Lewis the card he picked to travel to Hittyville with her.

The Hittys all gather to say their farewells.  There is much hugging and kissing and a few tears.

Hitty Madge gives her sister a big hug and tells her she is a very lucky Hitty to be going on such an adventure and wishes her all the best in her new home.

Hitty June also says a fond goodbye to Brittany.

It can be hard moving so far away from 'home' but a new home is always to be made with new friends and family and where there is love there is a home.  Hitty June we at Rose Cottage will miss you, but know you will be very happy in your new home.

In the garden...

Miles was thrilled to find some Dandelions in the garden today so he could send photos to his friend Lewis at Hittyville   As you can see there are rather a lot in the garden at Rose Cottage!

Although perceived to be a weed, Miles thinks Lewis is quite right - there is something special about a dandelion...plus the guinea pigs love them!

Hitty Rimu was delighted to discover the 'Love lies bleeding' plant has just started flowering as well.

Hitty Madge visits Verulamium

We are having some amazing April weather.  The temperatures are lovely and the sky is a fabulous blue.  Hitty Madge enjoyed an outing today in St Albans and visited the Amphitheatre ruins.  Built about 140AD this theatre is the only example of its kind - being a theatre with a stage rather than an amphitheatre -  in England so we feel very lucky that they are so close to us to visit. The arena area would have been used for anything from religious processions, dancing, wrestling, armed combat and wild beast shows.  Later, around 180AD the stage came into great use and the auditorium was extended and by approximately 300AD the theatre could seat about 2000 spectators due to redevelopment work that had taken place.

There are some newer excavations which reveal a row of shop foundations, a Roman Villa and a secret shine, all dating from around the First Century.

Yahoo Groups and The Garden

Here at Rose Cottage we are all feeling rather miffed at Yahoo Groups at the moment as it seems they have um stuffed (read a ruder word if you wish) again.  We can no longer receive emails from the groups.  We set up a forwarding Gmail account, but then we can't reply to the emails we receive into our regular email inbox.  The only way we can do so is to log into our new Gmail account and read and send from there which we didn't want to do as it kind of defeats the purpose of wanting to read and reply to emails at our leisure without having to go on line too much so to avoid too much time on the computer as this contributes to our persons chronic pain problems.  Technology!  Seems Yahoo are working hard to stuff up their groups and put people off wanting to use them.  These aren't the first of their 'improvements' or whatever some person who seems to feel the need to 'upgrade' etc... to justify their jobs does. Well being Hittys we have come to the conclusion that this is all just too much for us at the moment and hope our Hitty friends will still keep in contact - we will miss the ongoing fun that happens on the group but until Yahoo resolve this issue, it is just too convoluted to get round it.

Anyway onto better things.  Upon Hitty Madge's return from 'Down Under' in New Zealand, Hitty Rimu took her on a tour of the garden at Rose Cottage to see and admire all the spring growth.  Of course we will need to put in a request that the front lawn is mowed as it is rather long!

Admiring the little violets.

The magnolia smells heavenly.

Primroses are starting to flower again.

Gorgeous purples!

Haruru Falls New Zealand

Hitty Madge enjoyed taking in Haruru Falls 

She sat and quietly contemplated

While she listened to the rush of the water tumbling down the falls.

Her person told her about the camping trips she had when she was a little girl

The camp ground is still there, although not like it was...

Thoughtful...

Hitty Madge in New Zealand - 5th March 2015: Orewa Beach

In early March Hitty Madge enjoyed some quiet contemplation on the rocks at Orewa Beach in New Zealand.  The sun was shining and the sky was a beautiful blue as was the water...

Happy thoughts indeed

as she sits and watches the sea

The tide was out and an enjoyable walk along this beautiful beach was had.

There was hardly anyone on the beach - so peaceful and quiet.

It certainly was a glorious day.