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Monday 27 June 2022

A simple day

 Today has been one of those day's when I felt I was on the winning side.  

I went to bed really early last night, I was shattered after working in the garden for most of the day, I was too tired to even knit once I sat down so took myself off for an early night.   Mark finished painting the Summer house and shed while I worked in the garden.  He started painting on Saturday, it rained on and off but that part of the garden is sheltered by the tree so he could carry on, it was really windy though and I think he'd had enough of being out there.  It needs another coat when he's back at the weekend but, it looks so much better already I think.


I felt so much better this morning after my early night, I got through all the jobs on my list and even managed to do a pile of ironing before lunchtime too 😇
It was while I was ironing that I thought about summer stitching, (my mind wonders and random thoughts pass through my brain when I'm ironing!!)



It wasn't all work today, I had a lovely relaxing afternoon knitting and watching the new Downton Abbey film and then later watched the boys for a hour while Jenny and James went to the open evening at the school for when Arty starts in September. 


A simple but lovely day, lets hope the rest of the week is just as good.

How has your day been?

-X-

Thursday 23 June 2022

Just a quiet Thursday

 I've just come up to sit in my summer house with a coffee and my knitting for a while before it's time to start making my tea, just a chicken salad tonight, I don't cook much when it's just me in the week, something quick and simple is fine.   

I have three pairs of socks cast on at the moment, they are all knit down to the start of the heel flap so I can now work on them in turn to knit the heels and then the foot part.  This is the Beach ball colourway from Tea Cup Yarns which was a recent purchase from Wool@j13.  


 I think the colours are so pretty, here they are close up with the cute little ladybird progress keeper I made.


I gave my little summer house a make over yesterday, It was unintentional, I had only planned on a good clean but then ended up painting all the inside, one job always leads to another with me, do you do that, start a small job and it ends up bigger?  I always seem to make work for myself.   Mark Is going to paint the outside at the weekend if the weather holds out, at least now it will look fresh inside and out. 

I noticed yesterday when I was watering that I had two teeny tiny strawberries, can you see them?  I had to look hard, lol, not worth getting the cream out for but they did taste nice.  There are more to come but I don't think any of them will be winning any prizes.


I had a cinema date with Oliver yesterday, we went to see the new Jurassic World film


In truth It was me who wanted to see it more than him but I thought people would think me a little strange going on my own so I went undercover of taking Oliver, ha ha.  I really enjoyed it, but then I enjoyed the previous two films, and anything to do with dinosaurs I find fascinating.

The weather is set to break tomorrow with showers predicted but at the moment the sun is still shinning lovely so I'm going to finish my coffee, knit a few more rounds on my sock and enjoy the last bit of the days sunshine.

-X-

Monday 20 June 2022

Whats in the garden

 
















Our garden is far from perfect and it's certainly not neat but I'm very happy with how everything is growing at the moment. The Nasturtiums I grew from seed are filling the kitchen window baskets lovely and just producing flowers now, I'll definitely grow those again next year.  The Marigolds are just starting to fill out, I sowed two packets and thought It would be too many but in hindsight it was just enough.   

I'm excited to see what wildflowers appear, the tub is overflowing with greenery so fingers crossed for some lovely colour and food for the bees.   The lavender that Stevie was going to throw out because she said it was dead is very much alive and thriving, its already outgrown the pot I planted it in.   I'ts the only lavender plant I have in the garden and I'm tempted to get more, if I can find a space.   I think my favourites at the moment are the Erigeron Stallone, those pink and white daisy flowers are so pretty, it's common name of Fleabane doesn't do it justice at all.  The Oxalis is another favourite, I know Its considered a weed by many people but I love it, this one has green leaves and lovely pink flowers, It is in a container though as I wouldn't want it all over the garden.   

The weather is fine and dry today, the rain and cooler temperatures at the weekend were a welcome relief after the heat of last week, that was a little too much for my liking.  I'm all caught up with housework and sorting so after doing just the necessary things this morning I've had a day pleasing myself, knitting on my socks, hopefully they will be finished to share with you next time.

What are you loving in your garden at the moment?

-X-

Friday 17 June 2022

Cancelled flights and surprise guests

Indulge me with one more post about the wedding and holiday, It's all worth a mention and writing a blog post means that I will be able to look back on it.

 You may have see or read about the flight disruptions that are happening at airport around the UK, we had anticipated long queues at security on our outbound flight but that all went quite well and we were only delayed by 40 minutes. 

I was the first time on an airplane for Bonnie, Jacob and Arty.  They all did really well managing to stay awake the whole time, kept entertained with tablets and games. 

Once we landed in Paphos we had over an hours wait for our baggage to come through as several flights landed in quick succession, it meant that we didn't arrive at our hotel until around 2.30am.  We were all very travel weary but to the hotels credit they dealt with our arrival very efficiently, we were allocated room keys quickly, given a food package and our bags were taken up to our rooms, it was much appreciated given the late hour.

Jumping ahead to our flight home for a moment because that's a tale and a half.....  Our hotel pick up was 9pm, by the time we arrived at the airport we already knew that our flight had been cancelled but were not told what was going to happen, nothing was appearing on the screens, it was only by talking to other passengers, some of whom had received text messages that we found out that another plane had been arranged for us, a Spanish airline was coming from Larnaca, (this flight already had passengers so they were being diverted to pick us up!).  

We eventually boarded at 5.15am, six hours after we should have taken off!  That was bad enough, hanging around an airport when everyone is tired is no fun, but when we landed we then sat on the airplane for 2 hours because although they had put the steps out for us to disembark, there was no bus to transport us to the terminal.  It was only when the pilot got fed-up waiting, got off and caused a fuss, (his crew had been on duty for 25 hours (!)  that a bus magically appeared.  You would think we had endured enough, but no, we had to wait another hour and a half for our bags to come through.  There are now hoops to jump through to claim compensation, we'll start that joy process tomorrow. 

So, back to the holiday/wedding...

Given the hour we went to bed we didn't have a very early start to our first day, but the next morning we discovered that our room had a great view of the main pool.  There were two other pools besides this one and one for children as well as water slides.


Although It was a lovely place with a great choice of food on offer and plenty to entertain, I'd say it was a place for younger people and couples with young families, I would have preferred something with less going on, but we weren't there for me.

Jenny, James and the boys stayed at a different hotel, apart from the wedding day we did also get together a few time over the week.  The complex they were at was definitely more for families, the boys had a blast.
They all had a great time enjoying all the activities, Jacob took a bit longer to get adjusted.

We went down to the beach one day with Bonnie and Jacob.  Jacob winged the whole time, first it was "I no like a water"


Then it was,"I no like a sand" (I'm with him on that one though, lol)


Then on the way back it was "I no like a walk"

Bonnie on the other hand would have been happy to stay and play there all day.


Everyone got together for a meal in the town the night before the wedding.  Darren had bought a colourful holiday shirt to wear and thought he was going to be the only one, little did he know that Stevie had asked others to wear one too.  I had to buy Mark one, sneak it in the case and give it him to wear on the night, he would have said no way otherwise.  As it turned out I did good, he said he quite liked it, sometimes you've just got to make the decision for them, ha ha.  
By the way, James is the one with his arm in a sling, but that's a story for another time.


Two of Darren's friends and their girlfriends surprised him at the airport on the way out, he had no idea they were coming, Stevie has had to keep it quiet about it for months, and then there was another surprise for him at the night before the wedding meal

His cousin and girlfriend had booked to come over for a few days for the wedding and arranged with Stevie to surprise him, they walked in just after we sat down

Both Darren's parents passed away quite young, both were only in their early 50's.  
His dad died quite suddenly two years ago while on holiday and his mother just as suddenly last October.    He was close to both of them and it's been difficult for him.

Two of his aunty's, his mums sisters, and their daughters and children came over for the wedding.  His mum's brother couldn't make it so when his cousin turned up it was quite emotional.  I'm so glad that he had extended family to share the day with him, I know attending a wedding abroad isn't ideal for a lot of people but knowing they had make the effort made it extra special.


Stevie and Darren will be coming home on Sunday, hopefully they will not have the hassle of cancelled flights and delay's that we experienced.   They have had a fantastic time, been on a few excursions and made some lovely memories.
I'm so proud of them, they both worked hard to buy their first house and over a couple of years fixed it up beautifully, with help from dad, of course😉  That first house then gave them the step up to enable them to buy a brand new house last year.


Stevie also starts a new job next week with Social Services, in the Children's Sector.  Since university she has worked first as a nursery nurse and then more recently as Deputy Manager of the nursery.  From a little girl she always wanted to work with children, I'm happy that she followed her dream and is doing something she loves.  Of my three girls Stevie is the more easy going and laid back one but has a quiet determination to achieve what she sets out to do.  This new job will be something different and more emotionally challenging but, I know she will give it her all.

🥂

Wednesday 15 June 2022

Mr & Mrs

 


Darren, holding back the tears, bless.


The vows




I'm sitting and having a coffee after catching up on things all day, I thought I'd post a couple of short videos of the wedding and one funny moment when Jacobs shorts fell down, thankfully it was after the vows.  It didn't faze him at all, he just carried on picking up the rose petals like nothing had happened.

We are making the most of the lovely weather to get caught up in the garden, it's surprising how much needs doing even after only a week untouched.

I'll be back soon

-X-