Friday 24 June 2011

Midsummer Miscellany - It's Cancer's Turn


Time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labour.
Tomorrow we'll find out what the garden visitors have to say.

I'd still like some colour in this view from the kitchen window,
but this is as good as I can make it - it'll have to do. 




There was little time to cook
This is what simple ham and egg can be made to look like.
Just a touch gastro-pubby but it tasted good.




Ludlow's Dinham Bridge over the Teme 
and the castle on the hill above looked good too yesterday.
There was just enough time for a quick trip to do the weekend shop in the market.



And if you happen to be born under the sign of cancer, this is what the  Kalendar of Shepheardes, 1604, has to say about it:

The man born under Cancer shall be avaricious. He shall love women, be merry, humble, good, wise and well-renowned; but he shall have damage by envy, and strife and discord among his neighbours. He shall have often great fear on the water; he shall find hidden money, and labour sore for his wife. At thirty-three years he shall pass the sea and shall live seventy years after nature.

The woman shall be furious, incontinent, soon angry and soon pleased. She shall be humble, serviceable, wise, joyous, but shall suffer many perils by water; if any person do her a service, she shall recompense them well. She shall be labouring until thirty years, and then have rest. She ought to be married at fourteen years, and shall have many sons. She shall live seventy years.

As well the man as the woman shall have good fortune, and victory over their enemies.



The more of these things I read the more I realise that even in the 17th century the wise man covered his bases.

See you on Tuesday, friends.


45 comments:

  1. I was born under Cancer and I've been laboring fifteen years longer than called for in that excerpt. When do I get my rest?

    I think your garden looks peaceful and fertile and inviting. Different greens are colors, too, you know.
    And that bridge!!! A step back in time...!

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  2. nice. looks like a good breakfast to me...great view of the castle too, and i think you have done a fine job on the garden...

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  3. Loved the bridge and castle; even enjoyed the astrology. It was obviously a beautiful day, much like we're enjoying today. Jim

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  4. we went to ludlow castle with our school a long time ago, i keep thinking i should go back and see what, if anything, i remember

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  5. yummy looking stuff.

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  6. Jingle appreciates your support to our poetry potluck.
    Our week 41 Theme is: Saints, Monks, and Meditations,
    Yet, old poems or poems unrelated to our theme is welcome… ;)
    Always, your poetry is sunshine to us!
    Looking forward to seeing U!
    Stay Blessed,
    Love and hugs.
    xoxox

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  7. Your garden looks prepared to embrace visitor's with a lovely welcome, both up-close and with more distant views. Thanks for a beautiful late breakfast and entertaining food for thought via the Kalendar!

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  8. Your garden is breath taking. Well done both you and Gardener. Your visitors will be delighted.

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  9. Hello:
    You have clearly worked tremendously hard on your garden and it shows. It all looks so beautifully presented and full of interesting plants in both form and variety. We do hope that the weather will be kind to you for your opening this weekend.

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  10. smashing pics!!



    Aloha from Waikiki


    Comfort Spiral

    ><}}(°>


    > < } } ( ° >

    < ° ) } } > <

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  11. Hanne speaks German,Danish,English, Spanish, a little Turkish. Michael, English, Danish, took German at school. We are now clicked in as your followers, even if you live in such a beautiful place as Ludlow. ( Jealous )
    I got a job once near there, but didn't take it, more's the pity...
    Did you mean donner und blitzen? I think blitsht is Russian....Oh by the way, nice garden!

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  12. Does that mean that Cancer women pee in their pants?

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  13. What a lot of...... errrrrr......qualities the Cancerian has!
    Your garden is gorgeous - you should be proud of your efforts!

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  14. Hello Friko - another wonderful post. Come by my blog & pick up an award I gave you. Cheers.

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  15. Not too sure I am into any astrology but those photos are stunning!

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  16. the cancer people are a mystery to me. steven

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  17. The gardens look fabulous! And what more could one want than that gorgeous view of the castle and bridge. Breakfast deliche...

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  18. You and Gardener have done well!

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  19. Everything looked perfect right down to the lovely blue sky -- and the garden, bridge, and castle -- even some type of raptor gliding around the castle. -- barbara

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  20. Bee-YOU-tiful! I love the gardens, it makes me feel so good just to look at 'em. Congratulations to you and Gardener!

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  21. What a beautiful life you paint--who could ask for anything more. Seriously.

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  22. Oh Friko, what lucky folks will be able to walk through your garden! May the weather gods smile, also.

    Today, 6/24, is one of my very best friend's birthday. I read those desciptive words, and tried to find her within them. Not sure I found a perfect match.

    Best happy birthday wishes to all Cancerians! You summer babies! xo

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  23. Your gardens are ready for visitors - complete with a blue sky and puffy clouds...just perfect! Hope any visitor Cancerian born has moved beyond being avaricious or furious!! They should be very happy in such beautiful surroundings.

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  24. I wish you plenty of nice garden visitors and am sure, they will enjoy to discover it. Here, all week it has been raining and raining but for next week it shall get hot and dry so they say. Feeling lucky to be a cancer :-).

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  25. I can't wait to hear the responses your get from your visitors, it looks just glorious. The 1604 account of cancerians is fascinating!

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  26. What a glorious view from your kitchen window. The hills beyond are an extension of your garden. I hope the sun shines on your visitors - I'm sure they will be well-pleased with what they see and have their notebooks out to jot down names and species (or is that just me?)

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  27. I am a Cancer too...not sure I like their outcome! Ha!!
    At their count, I only have a few more years left to live...yikes!
    I better get busy!
    Ha!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  28. what a beautiful garden!

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  29. incontinent? glad I'm not a cancer.

    your garden looks lovely.

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  30. Your garden looks wonderful to me, full of interest. I could happily wander in it for hours!

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  31. I wish I had a view like this from my kitchen. What I see from the kitchen window is my garden shed. The dining area is a little better with a view of the side garden where I have bird houses. Your ham and eggs made me hungry. I think the garden will please many visitors. Have a good weekend. Dianne

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  32. My sister is a Cancer, and this is apt: soon angry and soon pleased, though with practice there is less of the former, thankfully. She's now 64 and a golden heart.

    I will not stop being astonished at your garden.

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  33. The garden looks gorgeous just as it is, and that breakfast makes me hungry. Glorious view of the castle and bridge. Thank you.

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  34. The ham and eggs in the middle of the rest of the pics makes it stand out more! I loved the bridge photo and the cancer report. Will be by again soon.

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  35. Your garden is glorious, Friko! So much colour and sunlight...it truly glows and looks so warm and inviting. You do really appear to live in a Mediaeval wonderland...it all looks so enchanting...do you feel as though you're permanently on holiday or living in a make-believe world of folklore? I am sure I would! Even your meal, simple though you profess it to have been to prepare, looks too good to eat!

    I'm so glad I didn't grow up reading those gloomy sun signs!

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  36. I have just scrolled back through a few of your past posts, Friko and now understand what you were referring to here when you commented that you hope your visitors will enjoy the garden. I thought you were speaking in general (or poetic) terms...I now realise you're having an open day at your home, to show your garden! How exciting and how wonderful! I am SURE your guests are going to LOVE what they see. You have created an incredibly beautiful garden...I do hope you'll be taking lots of pictures to share with us :) And I hope your gardener's back is now fully recovered!

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  37. The Real Deborah here...(no offense intended to the First Deborah)

    Martha ain't got nuttin'on you, Friko. Everything looks perfect, everywhere. I'll remind you of that the next time you complain about where you live.
    Hope you're not so flagged that you can't enjoy it all.

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  38. Perhaps you can paint the sky a nice shade of orange? But apart from that I think your garden is absolutely beautiful and colourful enough.

    What are those crispy things on the plate? I recognized the ham and eggs and the salad leaves, but the other things are a mystery to me.

    Beautiful view of the bridge and the castle.

    x
    Carolina

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  39. The garden was looking beautiful and will have given all your visitors wonderful ideas .
    Your love of plants and harmony .... and sheer hard work .... have made it heavenly !
    Both you and faithful Gardener desrve a medal .

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  40. Hi Friko,
    Thanks for this lovely post.
    Love,
    Herrad

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  41. Yours is a lovely garden. I’d love to take a book and sit on that bench and read a good book. Here I could not do that, no garden – mostly trees, no bench and plenty of mosquitoes. Plus if I sat on an open bench like this I would be cooked to a lobster color within no time (we are in the low to mid 90s now (32 to 35 C.) I also don’t get tired looking at your castle and bridge – both quite charming and, I imagine, very different according to the seasons.

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  42. Cancer is all over the place. I wonder if the neighbor down the street is a Cancer, sure sounds like it.

    Your ham and eggs look beautiful; is that a side of potatoes, or perhaps a sugary yummy bowl of something I don't know the name of?

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  43. Your back yard is stunning ... I'd be in that window all the time taking photos!

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