holiday round up

Our week away was blessed with blue skies apart from the morning we left. We were very lucky.
This is the view from beside the pool outside our apartment block. I quite liked the look of the little row of houses across the water from us.



And this is the view from the pool at the apartment block next to ours. There was a narrow causeway you could walk along to reach an tiny island. G is the minute figure making his way on the path towards it when he went off for a wander one afternoon.

Another view of the row of houses I liked but this time from our apartment balcony.

One particular evening T and S discovered their own new types of eyewear.

One day we went for a wander down to the beach and as we ate ice creams and walked on the sand we had a good nose at all the beach side homes!

I would like to be curled up with a good book in this hammock RIGHT NOW.

Now for some floral prettiness.

I LOVE this first plant and actually bought one just before we went away. Unfortunately our house sitter mamaged to take good care of every single plant in the garden apart from this and it was bone dry and very frazzled looking when we got home. I'm hoping it'll be ok with a good drink.

This last batch of photos are of things that pre-blogging I would have noticed and they would have made me smile and then I would have passed by.

Now with a blogging diary I have a good reason to indulge in obscure photos of plastic beach paraphenalia and a stranger's exotic trouser wear!

Happy days.

holiday antics

Pedalling.

Licking.

Lounging.

Splashing.

Burying.

Playing.

Walking.

Smiling.

Joking.

Being a family.

home again

And this was before my evening quota of Sangria!
We had a wonderful week.
Less scary and more picturesque pictures to be shared soon!

we're off on

Word'>photo source


Cases- packed.
Passports- found.
2 children- excited beyond words.
Tomorrow morning we are off to Majorca.
See you all in a week.
Have fun. xxx

freecycle

Don't you just love Freecycle?
Years ago I saw a picture in a magazine.
Can't remember which housey type of magazine it was, but the feature was on gardens.
One beautiful garden used an old wooden stepladder in amongst a border as a means of displaying flowers in odd plain and painted terracotta pots.
It's something I have always fancied having in our garden as neither of us are natural gardeners, our garden is a bit of a mess and this idea seems to fit quite well into the general mish mash untidiness.
2 days ago a fellow Freecycler offered 'an old rickety ladder which isn't safe for using as a proper ladder'. I enquired about it and he said it was mine! I went and collected it this morning! S couldn't understand why I was so excited about it. Just need to buy some more plants and get busy!

day trip

The reason for my day trip to Portsmouth was to go here, the city museum (postcard from giftshop)



to see this touring exhibition from the V&A.

On the way to the museum I walked through Victoria park and spotted this bushy tailed little chap who wasn't at all put off by passers by.

I walked down to the harbour and saw HMS Warrior at the dockyard.

Just across the road is a retail outlet called gunwharf quays. I popped in briefly, mainly becuase I needed the loo! And very impressed I was too. So clean and well maintained I had to take a photo!

It's at this shopping complex I nipped into Whittards and took the photo of the Tea poster and made a small purchase. Couldn't resist this plate. As yesterday wasn't about shopping I didn't spend much longer at Gunwharf but instead made my way to the museum.

The exhibition was really good. Lots and lots of black and white photos of singers from 50's and 60's. The Beatles, Bill Haley, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, The Everley Brothers, Brenda Lee, Helen Shapiro, Adam Faith, Cliff Richard, Tommy Steele. So many of these I listened to from an early age as rock and roll was one of my dad's favourite choices of music. He actually worked with Tommy Steele before he became famous on one of the big cruise liners. It was just for one trip and he said he drove everyone crazy singing and playing his guitar whenever he was off duty.

I didn't recognise Shirley Bassey from this photo. I don't think I've ever seen a picture of her as a young woman.

And this was a highlight. Seeing Billy Fury in full swing. I think he had a lovely voice.

I got talking to a couple who were also looking round the exhibition and who remembered going to the cinema to watch Cliff Richard in Expresso Bongo, clips of which were playing through an old TV. They told me about the dancing they did and the clothes they wore. He was very proud of a pair of crepe soled shoes which were adorned with treble clefs and she told me how her mum would rinse her petticoats in sugar water before hanging them on line to dry so they would be stiff and keep their shape.

I did wander around the rest of the museum and would have liked to have spent a while longer looking at some of the exhibits. But my highlights are this gorgeous room set of an old kitchen

this poster for promoting the art gallery. The original painting was also on display. The artist is Benjamin Haughton. Isn't she beautiful.

And these 2 vintage advertsing posters encouraging visitors to the seaside.

If you do find yourself in Portsmouth then a trip to the museum is a great way to pass an hour and it's free.

tea time

I've had a day out on my own today.
I took the train down to Portsmouth and went to a photography exhibition and had a mini mooch round some shops.
The full details will go in another post but I just wanted to share this wonderful poster I saw in Whittards.

Isn't it great.