5th - 11th November

A short post this week as the end of it got a little weird.

This week I have been

Watching - Rocky trying to adjust to wearing his cone. He had the snip last week.

I took him back to the vets today, all is healing well and he's allowed outside once again.

Celebrating - with a sparkler. G's sister's birthday is on 5th November. As you can tell from the photo this year was a special one for her. 
Family friend L (along with her son, daughter and son's girlfriend) created a wonderful two tiered bonfire cake and they also made this Guy and box of fireworks. Included were a set of mini sparklers, one for each guest at her celebratory birthday meal.

Trying - to look fierce with the help of these fangs. On November 8th 1847 Bram Stoker was born, so with the help of these photo booth props left over from Halloween we channeled our inner vampire.

Extraordinarily Grateful - to our wonderful NHS. 
When I woke up yesterday morning G told me he had been awake for a few hours with chest pains. What kind of pains I wanted to know. Not worrying pains he said. 26 years ago he had a viral infection which affected the pericardium and he said it felt similar. So he rang 101 for advise. They said because the pain had been there for a few hours they were sending an ambulance to check his heart. It arrived shortly afterwards and an ECG was done. The results were leaning towards another incidence of pericarditis but they took him to hospital so he could be thoroughly checked and the option of a heart attack ruled out. Thankfully after having various tests and seeing a cardiologist this was indeed the conclusion so 12 hours later I collected him from the hospital. He has some medication and needs to rest. 
Here's to a less dramatic week ahead.

15th - 21st October

This week I have been

Wearing - a little blue combo of a crown patterned top and a bunting strewn cardigan after the pregnancy of the Duchess of Sussex was announced.

Feeling - a little blue at times too. Wednesday was the birthday of T's brother L who passed away a couple of years ago. When the children were little this would have meant a day trip to London for us all to catch up. Now being older and mobile T drove himself up to Norwich, staying for two nights to see his birth siblings and spend time with them.


Trying - not to succumb to the temptation of snuffling a cake (or two) on Chocolate Cupcake day and so deciding to go down the brooch route instead.

Grateful for - the comments left on my last post which contained messages hoping we were all over our various bugs. Much appreciated.

Watching - The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. G and I have watched 3 episodes of this so far and we are hooked. It's written by the creators of The Gilmore Girls and I loved that long series so it's really no surprise we are enjoying this one.
Rocky adores Graham and ignores me most of the time, but whilst we were watching this TV show last night it seems my lap was the spot he preferred. Look at the size of his feet!

Eating -  steak and chips. Can't remember the last time I ate steak. We are lucky enough to work near some fab bars and restaurants and so a little gathering was organised for after work midweek. What a treat. 

Loving -  this late Autumn sunshine. To make the most of it the 3 of us took ourselves out for a walk on Saturday.
We took the train to Shawford and then walked the 3 miles along the Itchen Navigation trail into Winchester.

Over the years we had done various sections of this trail, which takes you past some beautiful river views, 

and this time we also took in St Catherine's hill. A walk up the hill is on the agenda for another day.

Hoping -  for a little colour in the front garden come the colder months after I potted up this colander and a terracotta planter with winter pansies. 

24th September - 14th October

I've not been around much as things have been busy plus S was off school for one day not well, G had a birthday and then I managed to catch a bug which had been doing the rounds at work.

So from the past few weeks I have been 

Wearing - brooches to go along with the theme of the day. 

There was the Coca-Cola can for Crush a Can Day

and this strawberry for Strawberry Cream Pie Day.

Reading - the next book from the Maisie Dobbs series. This is the one I have enjoyed least so far. I have the next couple on my book shelf and the later ones are on my Christmas wish list. G is aware!

Enjoying - messing about with a fake felt beard for Lumberjack Day

My mum and sisters were coming over and so I asked them to wear their best check shirt and we each had our photo taken whilst modelling the beard.

A few days before hand it had been Elephant Appreciation Day so we went out in the garden and played the Elephant Game. 

Watching - talented people at the theatre. My birthday present to my friend T was tickets to see Women In Power. It's a new production, a collaboration by some very well known women and we were thoroughly entertained by the fabulous cast who acted, sung, played instruments and danced non stop for 90 minutes. 
The second trip was with G and some friends to see Austentatious. Each night the performance is different as each performance is improvised by the cast. They had us in stitches and I would thoroughly recommend going to see them if you ever get the chance.

Loving - that Rocky is settling in so well and finding his own favourite places. This was where he liked to settle down a few weeks ago. Lately he has made the top of the freezer his own, he likes to keep and eye on us and he is quite close to where we store his food!

Buying - little china treats from TK Maxx. I went in to look at the Halloween offerings and was very restrained and just bought one little bowl. 
Just the right size for chocolate based treats.
I was unable to resist adding to my mug collection with this slightly wibbly wobbly one. With the stars and Joy decoration it does have a festive flavour but, I will admit now that it hasn't been stashed away to be used later, it's been used daily since purchase as a little Joy everyday is a good thing I think.

Doing - a jigsaw. I found this one whilst having a tidy up. I think it was one of G's stocking filler gifts.

It's made up of 250 pieces and so G and I raced through it in no time at all and it's now sat in a bag ready for the charity shop.

The theme is sweets from the 1970s and although there were lots of things we recognised there were also quite a few we didn't.

Visiting - an exhibition named We March On all about the history of Southampton Football Club. I'm not footie fan but I still found it all very interesting. The Saints are G' team and so we went to see this on his birthday.

Wondering - if this is really what I look like? To mark World Egg Day a plan was hatched(!) between me and my colleagues that we would each decorate an egg in our likeness. Due to being unwell last week I completely forgot about it until a colleague sent me a picture of hers the night before we were due to take them in. I was feeling tired and not at all in the crafting mood but felt like I should make the effort. I'm glad I did, we all had a giggle and it made our Friday a quite eggscellent day.

10th - 16th September

This past week I have been

Listening - to the cricket and hearing Alistair Cook's final innings for England. The test series between England and India this summer made for such thrilling listening and it was made all the more entertaining by the sensational TMS team.

Wearing - a new to me blouse. Bought at the car boot for £1.00 this pretty lightweight long sleeve blouse is perfect for layering on these not quite summer, not quite autumn days.

Spending - a CK voucher I was given for my birthday last year. Can't believe this stayed unspent for so long when there are so many things I love in that shop. But then maybe that's the reason, just what to spend it on when there is so much I'd like. I finally plumped for this sailing boat bag.
Loving the look of disdain on Rocky's face as I use him to model it for me!

Going -  on a night away to Weymouth. This little trip was part of my birthday gift from G. 

G had booked us into a lovely Air BnB property which was a 10 minute stroll from the centre of town. 

As we walked along the front we looked at all the hotels and BnBs on offer. Some places looked very unappealing, dead flowers in plant pots and plastic woodland creatures stuck to walls were two of the things which did not enhance the kerb appeal and then others had little touches like this bunting hanging over threshold and it just made the world of difference.

Feeling - nostalgic for holidays of my childhood when we came across this row of holiday chalets. Love the very CK colours they have been painted in.

Eating - ice cream from Rossi's. I chose the natural flavour whilst G went for the peppermint and chocolate chip. So light and creamy. Delish.

Cooking - on Thursday I cooked a chicken curry using coconut yogurt for the sauce instead of coconut milk and as both G and S liked it that's one new recipe which will find it's place in the new weekly menu. G has lost another 5lb this week and there are many more new recipes still to try.

Walking - around Weymouth trying to see as much as possible during our weekend stay. The area around the harbour was very picturesque.

Hoping - the car was going to pass it's MOT but knowing that it was quite unlikely.

We will now be on the look out for a new one.

Reading - Five Quarters of the Orange. Another Joanne Harris book which did not disappoint. I wasn't sure I was going to like this one but in the end I couldn't put it down and so having lots of train travelling time was a real help.

August

So here we are at the end of August. 
Just another couple of days left before that first day of school feeling hits and S stands by our front door for the traditional photo shoot and heads off on the start of a new academic year.

The weather has been good during the summer break. S has been out and about meeting up with friends at local parks, she's been to the cinema a couple of times, mooched around town, been trampolining, met my mum for lunch, had friends to stay and gone on a sleepover.
Plus in the middle of the holidays we had our own holiday when we took the Eurostar to Belgium.

I have well and truly fallen out of the blogging habit this month which is a shame as it meant I have missed the 10th anniversary of when I started recording our lives here at Jumble and Jelly. Although I don't post as regularly now as I did when the children were younger I can't imagine stopping because it's so lovely having a record of us and the things we do.

I am borrowing an idea I have seen on Pinterest and decided to write a round up of August using a series of prompts. An idea I can see me taking forward into the next decade of blogging.

This month I have been

Reading 

A French Affair by Katie Fforde. I took this away with me and read most of it on the train journey to and from Brussels. I wanted something which would be light and easy to read and I thought the title was very apt seeing as we had to travel through France.

How did it take me until I was 50 to read this book. I loved it. L-O-V-E-D it.

Watching


Serendipity, a fluffy rom com with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale as 18th August was Serendipity Day.

and Forgetting Sarah Marshall as it was Mila Kunis' birthday on 14th August.

Trying

To make a jelly in a seaside sandcastle bucket for Sandcastle Day. 
But the darn thing didn't fully set and ended up a quivering heap on the plate!

Cooking

I made lemon rice pudding meringue as a nod to Lemon Juice Day.
I made S some macaroni cheese and bacon sandwiches.
I also made honeycomb lasagne and ham and mustard hash. The lasagne will be making another appearance but the hash won't as although G liked this S didn't.

Eating

We made sure we included raspberries in our picnic lunch in Antwerp as this was the closest we could get for Raspberries and Cream Day.

Belgian fries. G liked them, S and I weren't that fussed. But the waffles. Well what can I say, we all loved those.

Drinking

Watermelon Day was on 3rd August and so I made sure to have some in to make a smoothie with it. I know this should probably be obvious because of it's name but I didn't enjoy it in a smoothie as it made it too, well, watery!

Doing

Silly things with my lovely daughter. It may not look it in this photo but she was laughing as much as me and G whilst we were posing for this!

Going

To Belgium. We stayed in Brussels and had day trips to Antwerp, Ghent and Bruges. We had a great time and I would thoroughly recommend a trip to Belgium to anyone considering it. 

One evening a couple of weeks ago we met up with some with friends and we took ourselves off to a local green where we enjoyed fish and chips for our tea. Their younger children played with S and we sat around chatting about this and that. A perfect way to unwind after a day at work and spend a relaxing summers evening.

On a great clue solving day out to Lymington. The treasure trail took us around the town as we worked our way through the puzzles. We got the answer wrong, but we didn't care as we had great fun trying to solve the mystery.

Loving

Rocky.

Let me introduce you to the latest member of our family.
He's 18 months old and needed a new home. How could we resist?
He was already named Rocky and of course we had to keep it but within a day or so we were calling him Rocky Road. Due to the fact he is always around your feet, especially when you are trying to walk down the stairs he is now being called Rocky Road Trip Hazard.

Feeling

Annoyed is how I was feeling a week or so ago after I discovered that now S's school will only allow girls to wear on of two 'official' style skirts I am expected to pay out £22.50 to purchase one.
The reason this new school uniform rule is being introduced is because other girls were wearing skirts which were too short and didn't comply with the rules. So now the school have decided that all girls have to wear one of the skirts they deem as acceptable. Never mind that many girls did wear skirts which were within the uniform guidelines. It makes me so cross.

Wearing

A dress which matched S's drink

and a bottle green scarf in homage of Word Scout Scarf Day.

Thankful.

This month marked the 10th anniversary of when we lost our dearest Dad. It feels utterly impossible that so long has passed since then. I still miss his dreadfully but will ever be thankful that he was my Dad.


Wondering

If I would find a lion suitable to photograph on World Lion Day and then finding this smiling face on a door not far from the apartment we were staying in.

Listening

I bought this Shaky album for 1 Euro whilst we were in Ghent. Bargain I'd say.
We used the cover for this year's take on Vinyl Record Day.
And in case you are wondering, yes that's me knelt against the washing line support in our back garden.

Although it hasn't happened as yet, in actual fact we're off to it tomorrow evening, G and I will be listening and warbling away when we go to Sing Along with Grease. Can't wait, what a way to end the month.

Malcolm

Last week we had to say goodbye to our beloved Malcolm.
He wasn't at all well during Sunday night and G took him to the vets first thing Monday morning.
He had blood tests. They thought it may be his thyroid but that came back all clear.
Could be the start of an infection they said.
They also mentioned a possible issue with his heart.
He had a injection.
He was not himself Monday or Tuesday.
Wednesday he seemed a little better and ate breakfast which something more like his usual enthusiasm for food.
But Thursday he took a turn for the worse and we needed an emergency appointment at the vets.
S decided she wanted to come with me and I prepared her as best I could for what was likely to happen. She was incredibly brave.
I held Malcolm close and talked to him as he went to asleep and we were given a few minutes alone with him afterwards.
Loving them as much as we do we make that decision because we can't let them suffer and that's the thing you have to keep reminding yourself when you are missing them so very much.

Running....

.....out of time to blog.

..... to catch up with myself.

...... as in proper running, in proper trainers and getting all proper hot and sweaty.

Surprisingly all the above apply to me during this past week.

Of course the running out of time one isn't any real surprise but I should explain more about the proper running.

G and I decided that enough is enough.

We are both overweight and not very fit.

Regular exercise in some form or another needed to be introduced into our lives.

With a little help from Mr Google I found a 12 week plan on the NHS website.

What attracted me to this was the way it's set up.

It's a combination of the Couch to 5K programme and a set of Strength and Flex exercises.

It's a gentle start on week one to get you going and then each week gradually builds towards upping your fitness level.

We are right at the start, just two days left of week 2, but so far so good.

And I love it that we are doing this together.

So there we have it.

Having to make the commitment to finding the half an hour needed each day of either the Couch to 5K or the exercises has meant that blog time (writing and reading and commenting) has had to take a back seat. As has the ironing, shame that.

I'm sure I'll get the balance right at some point.

Before I get myself changed for tonight's exertions here is a round up from the past week.

Do you remember the scene in Grease when Rizzo throws a pink milkshake over Kenickie and says 'to you from me Pinky Lee'. Click here to remind yourself if you don't.

Pinky Lee refers to a comic who had his own show in the 1950s and his birthday date is 2nd May. As I love Grease so much I had to go with this film reference and so I wore a pink milkshake brooch.

Thursday 3rd was Garden Meditation Day. I haven't a photo to show me sat quietly enjoying being outside in the garden but I do have a photo of our new fence.
One of our neighbours had a huge pile of planks of wood and decking that he no longer wanted. G asked him if he could take it off his hands. Of course came the answer and so during the past couple of weeks G and our neighbour's daughter K have used it to construct 3 new fences between our gardens.
They are a bit cobbled together and have a certain rustic charm to them but they are perfectly adequate and they are very proud with their handy work with wood which would have otherwise been scrapped.

May 4th is, of course, Star Wars day.
Behold three slightly wonky looking Wookies.
You may remember that this Chewbacca headband was G's table present last Christmas. I knew it would come in handy at some point!

The wonderful Richard E Grant celebrated his birthday on 5th May. I know, without a shadow of doubt, G would have chosen to watch Withnail and I but as he was at work I went with watching Twelfth Night which also tied in with Shakespeare's birthday the week before.

On Sunday we were up bright and early to go to the first car boot of the year. It's a little later than normal but the wet weather meant that the field has been too muddy.
As it turned out the field was still too muddy.
To get to the car boot you need to travel down a long twisty road and as we approached it we saw a ridiculously long queue of traffic. 
Temporary traffic lights we thought, but with the help of Facebook G was able to ascertain that people were getting stuck in the mud and needed to be towed off site by a tractor. Later on in the day we saw someone we knew who told us they had sat in the traffic queue for an hour before they arrived at the booty. 
Once we found out the conditions I turned the car round and we went for a walk in the woods instead.

Sunday was Beverage Day and many varieties of drink were consumed to keep up our liquid levels on such a hot day. Tea, coffee and squash mainly as although I had planned on opening the home made sangria we were given at Easter to have with our evening meal I forgot. I blame the heat.

On Monday I woke up with a hideous headache, so it was just as well I hadn't opened the sangria as it could have been even worse.
Monday was Cosmopolitan Day but I couldn't contemplate alcohol so G made us a delicious strawberry and banana smoothie to enjoy instead.
I spent most of the day in the garden, first off planting up some geraniums and then just lounging around. I had a million things I could have done but decided my time would be best spent doing nothing.

For VE Day on Tuesday I turned to my Marguerite Patten Victory cookbook and baked eggless chocolate buns which we enjoyed with custard.

In other news S is still continuing with her therapy sessions and although they are hard work they are making a difference.
Excitement levels are growing on a daily basis as S's trip to Paris edges nearer.
G and I have booked a night away in Somerset whilst she'll be away having fun.
T is still job hunting, he has had a couple of interviews but no success as yet.
Last weekend marked the fourth anniversary of when he lost his beloved brother L, always such an incredibly difficult time.
Malcolm cat was chased by the dog of one of our neighbours.
They never put them on leads when they take them out of the house to load them in the car to take them for a walk, one of them spotted Malcolm and that was that, he went off after him and the owner couldn't get control of him. Luckily Malcolm was quicker and more nimble but I was fuming at their lack of responsibility.
Melvin cat has been unwell and had to spend a couple of days in the vets. Fingers crossed he is now well again. One afternoon he decided that the way to lay was with his paws between a watermelon and the wicker fruit basket. He stayed like this for ages and then rolled over so his head was resting against the melon like it was a pillow.

That's all for now, I'm off to get my trainers on.

A Day For Malcolm

I can't tell you how chuffed I was when at a Sunday car boot sale a couple of months back I found this little felt finger puppet.
I bought the cat, a lion and Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
They were all in their original packaging and cost 30p for the lot.
I passed Goldilocks and the Bears on to a friend who teaches Reception aged children so they have gone to good home.

With a clasp glued to the back he became the perfect brooch accessory for black cat day.

Malcolm may not be a totally black cat but I couldn't let the day pass without including a photo of him and Melvin.

Yesterday  I blogged about my attempt at baking a pumpkin pie. I am pleased to report that it was delicious. When I opened the tin of puree there was certainly a vegetabley aroma about it but this turned into a very subtle taste once the sugar and spice was added. 
I would say if you've ever wondered what it's like then definitely give it a whirl.