Terrace BEFORE I left. |
Lovely to see the chestnut trees in the Burg in flower on my return; blooming good!. And, days later, saw many, many more chestnut spires in majestic trees in the Station area. Remembering the line above in the blog title, from the dimly-remembered 'At Kew, at Kew in lilac time' [Alfred Noyes] I am searching for sweet lilacs too and saw several, again in the station area. Do hope to find some lilac to buy on the Wednesday market; it reminds me of a lovely elderly woman in Wye who used to give me a bunch of lilac blooms from her garden every year. The trees in my own square, with foliage just peeping before I left, are now in young green leaf hiding part of the buildings opposite and shading the benches below their thick canopy. I have spent hours on my terrace today, rescuing pots from plants which died in my absence, sweeping up the carpet of decayed leaves and dead flowers. Either frost or drought have killed two hortensia, one hellebore and caused a litter of dead, half-open flowers from the camellia. Is there ever a right time to leave potted plants for several weeks? I do hear there was much cold and snow during April and insufficient rain. Small comfort!
Part of the back garden indicating the hilliness of Emerald Hills. My daily walk was Slow. |
However, SO enjoyed my stay with elder daughter and her little family in Emerald Hills,
Redwood City, California but great to be back in beautiful Brugge.
After the first day back which passed in a zombie-like state as I
washed and ironed my way back to Belgium time, came a few days with a
dear old friend from New Hampshire here to stay as part of his annual
pilgrimage to the UK and Germany and now, Brugge. He is, at nearly
90, a role model par excellence as he travels determinedly across the
world; he left yesterday on a six hour train trip to Karlsruhe to see
other old friends before a flight to Britain to catch up with family
and friends. Ageing gracefully while continuing to enjoy Life is, I suppose, Not Giving In to the
diminishing of stamina, strength and mental agility. A sunny
disposition and an inquisitive nature also help! Whatever it is, he
has it in spades!
I have
lots of memories of my Californian stay; some unsurprising. No Trump
fans; lovely to enjoy
Genevieve setting up a lemonade-stand to raise money for a dog charity in San Francisco. Evidence of a philanthropic spirit which emerges now and then. |
A bedroom! |
I
remembered that today as I walked out to try to catch the main Post
Office before it closed; the P.O. was moved last year from the Markt
[five minutes walk away] to the far end of Smedenstraat [at least
25/30 minutes walk] so a bus was essential down to ‘t Zand. I
hurried towards Jan Van Eyckplein, waving desperately at the driver
of the Number 14 as it overtook me. Miraculously, he waited and in
about ten minutes I had arrived at ‘t Zand with the Pinkster [Whitsun] Fair in
full swing perched along the edges of the huge square, itself still
resembling a mini-Somme from the make-over still in progress after
months. Within minutes I was entering the Post Office with ten whole
minutes before closure to spare. I am not sure if Bruggelingen
actually appreciate fully the little miracle that is the bus service
here but I do. And even more so after California! And the drivers are
incredibly kind and patient too, explaining to, and advising,
countless tourists; accommodating wheelchair users; threading through
frequent road-works and taking different routes as yet another straat
is suddenly closed to through traffic.
The former Post Office is the redbrick building to the right. Built in 1924, it was not only beautiful but conveniently in the Markt i.e. the centre of town. |
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