3 weekends

Well here we are in October.

 September was a blur. 

Every weekday I had off was spent going to appointments, such run of the mill things like the dentist, hospital, doctor and car MOT.

Then there has been the time hanging around the house waiting for workmen to turn up. Initially to lay new lino in the bathroom and then again because they had done such a rubbish job having to go through the whole thing a second time.

 Frustrating to say the least.

As for work, that's all changed.

 I've been doing the same job for the last 7/8 years but now I have been moved to a new role on a newly created section. 

This could be seen as an exciting new opportunity and I really am trying to be positive about it but I can't help feeling that in reality I am totally unsuitable.

 There are big changes at work involving many staff being moved and the truth is I wasn't chosen to do this role for any other reason than my working hours are a better fit here than elsewhere.

I felt pretty tired for most of September.

 I started the month with the worst bout of IBS I have ever experienced and finished it with a stinker of a cold, one which completely knocked the stuffing out of me. I took Tuesday off work sick and really should have taken Wednesday too but as I was starting my new job last week I went in and then spent just about all of my day off on Thursday back in bed again!

BUT, before I sound like a completely miserable moany old bag, there has been some fun stuff too, especially at the weekends.

S and I finally managed to complete the Rhino trail.

I was a bit concerned we weren't going to get to see this rhino because we read he was one of three which had been removed due to vandalism. Thankfully he was still on show at an indoor location. Love the hard hat over his ears.

Love a bit of bunting.

This rhino was sponsored by the Mayflower theatre and the decoration relates to loads of different shows which had been staged there. It was fun spotting ones could recognise.

Two of the baby rhinos S liked which had been decorated by local schools. She liked the glitz of this one

and the recycling of old plastic toys on this one.

On our way home we stopped in the Guildhall Square. There was an all day music event and although S wasn't impressed I had to stop and listen to this Ska band for half an hour. Shame G was at work, he would have enjoyed it too.

This is a bad photo of S's very good school project we made the same weekend. She had to make a sculpture out of things which would normally be put in the recycling bin. We made a bird cage from a Whiskas cat food box covered it in wrapping paper and strips of cardboard packaging. S cut a bird shape from a cake box to which she glued some shredded paper. It was topped off with the lid of a shampoo bottle.

Now on to the next weekend. Last year I went to the Tudor house for amongst other things a talk on Tudor fashions. This year the Tudor revels took part in a different location and there were quite a few things I was interested in seeing but unfortunately the timings of some of them clashed with each other.

I needed to pass some time in between events and so I went for a wander along part of the old City walls which run alongside a big brown brick office building owned by BT. I have seen this building hundreds of times but I had never seen these tiles. I liked the carving round the edges on these top two panels.

The walls, or specifically the Friary Gate, was used as a back drop by two actors talking about the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. The Friar at this time was Friar Peacock who made a speech against the King and not surprisingly ended up being thrown in jail.

The talk I was most interested in going to was by Sarah Morris. Sarah was there to talk her new book In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn and the time she and King Henry spent in Southampton whilst on Royal progress in 1535.

Sarah looked fabulous in her tudor gown and I managed to have a quick chat with her afterwards as I wanted to tell her how much I had learnt from her in such a short time. Sarah was so enthusiastic during her talk, the passion she has for Anne Boleyn was so clear to see. The book is definitely on my Christmas list.

Having a go at Tudor dancing was also on offer. I didn't have a go, but everyone who did looked like they enjoyed it.

Baking biscuits with S rounded off the weekend. The Minnie and Mickey mouse looked a little deranged in some of them but they tasted pretty good.

Saturday was a beautiful day and just right for the Autumn day in the local park.
We started off wandering around the stall selling old English varieties of apples and left with a big bag full of something juicy both S and G liked.

The ferrets were back again and here they are raring to go. The darker one is called Ferris but with the marking over his eyes I thought he should be called Zorro.

G has fallen in love with another. 
They cuddled for ages.
Her name is Boots.
She is a skunk.
In case you are wondering she has been descented.

To console G after he had to return Boots to her owner we made our way to the ice cream van. G and S's friend L chose a bubblegum sherbet dipped ice cream. G thought it looked like Papa Smurf had been frozen and stuck in a cone.

All Creatures Great and Small

Tuesday was the first day of school for S and she was very happy to be going back again. She practically skipped down the landing to her room at bedtime happy in the thought that the next day she would be seeing all her friends again.

She is now in Year 4 with a teacher who is new to the school and all was fine and dandy during these first days back.

T went back on Wednesday. I had to return to work on Wednesday and as T had a late start, not needing to be at school until 11.30, I had to leave him to ready himself. I didn't feel particularly comfortable about this but T had no such issues.
This photo was taken at the end of the school day rather than the start but it's still a record of his beginning Year 9.

Knowing that he can sometimes leave getting organised to the very last minute (sometimes second!) I left him a list of what he needed to do and when he needed to be ready by as I could easily envisage him frantically looking so something crucial with a minute to the time he had to leave and me getting a phone call at work. 
When I got home from work I found this very hastily scribbled note from him which he did just as he was going out the door. I thought it was very sweet of him, it's little things like this I hold on to when he's being a 'teenager.'

Those two are the Great creatures and now to two Small ones.
Don't scroll down if you don't like mice or bats.



Yesterday morning I went to a jumble sale where I scored a huge bag of clothes for S and another good haul for my sister. I have had so many good finds recently I must get around to doing a post, or two, about them.
In the afternoon we wandered down to the local nature reserve for their late summer fair. It was their 25th anniversary celebration and we were expecting a bigger than normal fair but it actually turned out to be smaller than normal.

We spent a little time talking to someone who runs a wildlife rescue centre.

There was a tiny little mouse in a big glass case who was constantly on the move, running around and in between all the foliage and corn stalks, each time returning to the blue dish full of food.

There were lots of people gathering around her to look at this baby bat. She really was the sweetest little thing and so soft which we found out when we got to delicately stroke her back.

A day indoors is on the cards for today. It's currently pouring down with rain and is forecast to be like this on and off for most of the day. Still it means there is plenty of time to get those first pieces of homework done.

This Week

Let's go back to last Sunday and a family celebration.

My cousin A and his wife F had invited us along to the christening of their son R. 

He did look a little perturbed when the water was poured over his head but there weren't any tears.

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As always happens on the first quiet day at home after a school holiday I was pretty busy getting things ship shape again on Monday, but I am very pleased to report that with the help of the downloads from Brocante Home I am starting to establish some routines which work for me and so this time getting sorted didn't take as long as it has in the past.

My radio station of choice is Radio 4 and whilst listening to it on Tuesday morning as we were all in the throes of readying ourselves for the day ahead I heard a report about the special service taking place that day as part of the  commemorations for the Coronation. I thought it would be fitting if the brooch I wore on my jacket to work that day was the twinkly crown one.

I decided to try a new recipe for our evening meal on Wednesday. As no-one is particularly partial to courgettes I just used white potatoes in the middle layer and topped it off with sweet potato. G and S ate it fine but T took against it instantly saying it didn't look very nice, he liked everything on his plate just decided he wasn't going to eat it. That wasn't the most relaxing tea time of the week! He ate it in the end but getting to that stage wasn't without some stress.

I was on a shopping quest on Thursday as S needs a couple of school dresses. I couldn't find the dresses but I did find these glass juice bottles. At only £1.99 each I snapped them up smartish. The children like apple juice with their breakfast whereas G and I prefer orange, so this pair are just perfect for the fridge.

G took the day off on Friday to complete a couple of application forms. There is a very uncertain time ahead for him and his colleagues regarding the safety of their jobs.

Yesterday was just the kind of day we needed.
Along with our good friends S and J we took the train down to Boscombe.
We trawled a fair few charity shops and then met up with G's brother and his partner before heading to the pub where we all lunched together. From there we went to the beach for two glorious hours. The water was pretty cold and so all I managed was a little paddle but it didn't deter G, S and S who all waded in and enjoyed jumping the waves. 

Water Vole Way

We were organised yesterday and checked ahead for the weather forecast for today. Finding that it was going to be dry first thing we decided a walk in the morning was the way to go and so then it was deciding which walk to do.

In the end we chose the Water Vole Way which is part of the Itchen Navigation Trail where it is possible to walk from Southampton to Winchester.

This part of the trail starts just down the road from Eastleigh train station.

For ease I took the little point and shoot camera with me but I wish I had taken my other camera and tried to take some better pictures with it, though I'm not sure how much of a better photo of these ducklings I could have managed. They were practically running across the water they were moving so quickly!

There were a couple of places along the 3.5 miles which provided good photo opportunities for G and S. T was otherwise engaged with friends and didn't join us.

The river backs right on to many gardens and this was a particularly sweet one with all the bluebells blazing away in the sun and a bench ideally placed for enjoying all that the countryside scene had to offer.

We saw a few butterflies, heard lots of birdsong and as well as the ducks we saw a lone swan. Whilst admiring another back garden G called out to me 'quick look over here there are two cranes.' Very funny.

At one point I had to stop and tie my shoelace and when I looked up this was the view. I love the faded green of the gate and the smattering of bluebells.

The last part of the walk was along Church Road in Bishopstoke and on the front of one of the houses is a plaque. It's in memorial of a local family who had once lived there and had been passengers on the Titanic.

Back to the Farm

On Sunday we went on a return visit to Manor Farm.

There were lots of new arrivals in the farmyard such as the cutest twin baby calves born 5 days earlier

and in one of the barns there were lambs which were also just a few days old.

It was feeding time not longer after we got there, a fact this pig was well aware of! She had heard the farmer's voice and had lifted herself up and was snuffling the air sniffing out the bucket of food he was bringing over for her.

Brown paper bags full of chicken food can be purchased and we always buy a bag to feed the multitude of hens, cockerels and ducks who wander around the farm.

We have never spotted this shepherds hut on any of our previous visits, the steps of which made for an ideal photo posing opportunity.

Just look at the dinky little stove set inside it.

The others weren't really bothered about going back to look inside the farmhouse again, but this is just about my most favourite part I had to nip in.

How cosy a scene is this?
A real fire blazing away and as well as the armchair itself being swathed in crochet blankets this clever lady has a shawl of granny squares draped around her shoulders as she works on the most beautiful blanket. Perfection.

And as if that wasn't wonderful enough there were even more beautiful items to feast my eyes on as I wandered around the room featured in the Wartime Farm TV series.
No more words from me ,except to say if you are ever in the area a visit is a must especially if you coincide it with one of the special events they run during the year. Now just enjoy the vintage loveliness in the rest of the photos.