Seaside

Whilst away we spent a few hours in

This place holds lots of, mostly fond, memories for G as this is where his grandparents lived and so he spent many holidays here.
T, G and me visited for few days a couple of years ago and made some happy family memories of our own too.
Of course in more recent times there was the awful fire on the pier but the new building work is nearing completion and there are lots of changes happening around the sea front.

One change, which S in particular enjoyed, is this very newly opened children's play area and water park. It's really well done with a great variety of play equipment.

Of course some big people couldn't resist having a play too.

Harbourside

Whilst in Bristol we stayed just across the road from the huge Harbourside development.
As we walked across the square I spied this statue and immediately recognised the super suave and handsome Mr Cary Grant. I would love to have met him in his Hollywood heyday.


A few feet away from him is William Tyndale who is well known for something so completely different to film star adoration.

If we go back for another visit with T's brother and the weather isn't so kind to us then at-bristol would be the perfect venue, there seems to be a huge amount on offer there

including a planetarium in this fabulous looking shiny ball.

Happy faces!

Bristol has a lot of water features which had a magnetic like attraction for the children, they had to put their hands in them each time. If you're reading this Sue, do you recognise S's backpack?

The final part of the square I want to share is the vibrant and jolly art work on the designed by Hannah Broadway which are very recent additionsand are covering ugly wooden hoardings.

I love them each for different reasons.

My favourite bit on this one are the different fabrics used for the trees

Polka-dots, who doesn't love polka dots?

Bunting!

This is a close up of the corner which I couldn't photograph because of a street lamp.

2 things I like to do. Plus I would like to be the person in the jeans and red jacket and shoes.

More polka dots.

I think they sum up summer and Bristol really well.

How about you, you, you

We've just come home from a couple of days away. We've had a little trip to Bristol and I have to say I am now in LOVE with this city.
But let's start at the beginning.
In fact in the Pumpkin cafe on the platform where our journey started.
If you want a full cup of coffee do not bother buying from this chain. It is indeed frothy as the advert shows, but it's two thirds frothy milk and 1 third coffee. This is how the staff are instructed to fill the cups so G was told when he took our cups back to complain about the lack of coffee content.




After a pleasant and non-eventful journey, which G was hoping for after the train he and the children had caught the previous day to Salisbury had caught fire, we arrived at Bristol Temple Meads station where they have the most humungous and most beautiful hanging baskets on display.

The reason for our trip was for T to have a contact visit with his brother L

and our venue was Bristol Zoo. Zoos done well, which this one undoubtably is, are a great way to learn about wildlife, but there is the nagging feeling of guilt looking at these magnificent animals in cages. This lion did look so majestic, strutting his stuff and roaring his head off at one point.

The lemurs were in an enclosure where you were able to wander around close, but not too close to them.

These 2 looked liked the Tweedledum and Tweedledee of the penguin world.

The Capybara just looks like someone put a gerbil in a supersizing machine.

No otter to be spotted but the poem made us grin.

We have thought about making a home for bugs in the garden, this construction looks like it would provide some pretty fancy accommadation.

I like this exotic flowe craft idea, may have to borrow that to do one rainy summer holiday day. The inner is a plastic cup.

This photo I took with the idea of putting on the biscuit jar, just to make me stop and think before I take out one, or two, or three to have with a cuppa!

We were at the zoo for 4 hours and only saw about a third, it really would be a full day out. Also on offer was an attraction named Zooropia. T was very keen to have a go and as it was a special day and we thought it would be a great confidence boosting exercise for him we paid for him and L to have a go. Once up the scramble net and able to see how high up he was he wasn't so keen!

There are lots of different sections and this is where the batteries on my camera failed, the 2nd section. I was so disappointed I couldn't record the whole thing for him. G took a short video on his phone a bit further round which T was thrilled to watch when his feet were firmly back on the ground again.

gnocchi business

This photo, quickly snapped by G as I was rolling the gnocchi, helps to explain why my home is never tidy.
On the worktop next to the cooker is a list of jobs I wrote out on Monday and have asked G to do, this should be on the noticeboard.
The white packet contains some chocolate chip cookies I bought for the children as a mid week treat. These should be in the 'treat basket' not on the kitchen side.
I'd finished with the Flora so this should be back in the fridge.
I've left the cupboard door open after getting out the plate I needed.
Washing up left draining and not dried and put away before I start on cooking this evening's meal and start to make even more mess!
A tin of cat food next to the sink. Bought at 4pm and won't be needed until tomorrow morning so why didn't I just put it away as soon as it was bought indoors?!
If I was just a little tidier and more organised as I went along things would be so much easier. Especially as what you see if more or less the extent of my kitchen work space.

But the gnocchi was a success. Tried with a new recipe tonight. Served it with bacon and baby spinach in a soft cheese and garlic sauce.

EDIT... the sauce was 5 rashers of bacon chopped and fried, 100g baby spinach added and wilted for 1 minute. Stir 3tbsp milk into 150g of Philadelphia type soft cheese with added garlic and then add to bacon and spinach. The cooked gnoochi is then stirred in too.

I'm sure Michela is the best person to give us a recipe but the one I use is from a cook book of potato recipes and is 250g cold mashed potato added to 1oz melted butter, 1 cup flour, a good sprinkling of black pepper and half an ounce of parmesan cheese. Roll into balls. Place in a pan of gently simmering water, when they bob up to the top they are done. Couldn't tell you what they taste like as I HATE mashed potato, but G, T and S eat them ok!

clematis and cats

A few years ago in a burst of garden creativity G built a couple of wooden spire type things. One of them is a support to 3 different clematis plants.

One of pale purple



This looks quite pink it's really more of a dark red

and a white one.

How cute are these two? Malcolm going over to say hello to Melvin having a rest in his new favourite place.

transporation

I took loads of photos with my new camera this weekend but only a handful were in focus! I think I need to read the instructions.
We had a full and fun weekend with lots of time spent outdoors.

G wasn't with us on Saturday as he had a day out in London at the High Voltage music festival. Not my kind of music, but he loved it.
Early afternoon me, T and S wandered up to our local park and when T spotted the flowerbeds, newly planted since my visit in May, he asked 'Can we go and play down there, we had great fun the last time we did?' I can't tell you how happy that made me to hear say that. So we spent some time there with our prizes from the wacky games evening, a frisbee and a football.


From here we went to Weston Shore to get in position in time to watch a fly past of a Lancaster, a Spitfire and a Hurricane. You'll have to take my word for it that it was a spectacular sight, one of the many times my photography was inadequate this weekend, but I always get such a spine tingling sensation when I see them.

The evening was spent at a party celebrating my cousin's 18th birthday. All guests were asked to wear only black or white so Emily could stand out in her stunning fuchsia pink long frock.

My two looking smart, well I am biased!

Sunday morning we walked into town as we needed to buy new trainers for the children. This week, much to T's disgust, they will be going to a sports playscheme at his school. I hope to get lots of stuff done at home whilst they are kept busy. Another reason for going into town is there were a couple of events happening. The first was the skyride. There was a live music, lots of stalls selling food (I bought a walnut loaf), stalls selling cycling paraphenalia, free drinks of water and Gatorade being given away and just across the road in another park other live music by various groups at the bandstand which we enjoyed listening to as we ate our picnic.

The final mode of transport we saw was a selection of old classic cars. There were only ever 99 of the Gordon Keeble cars made and approximately a quarter of them were on display in the city centre. The one below is number 3. I took a couple of photos of the interior, but yet again these aren't worth sharing. Very swish inside though.

I don't really get excited over cars, but these are so very sleek and elegant.

So this weekend G used the train, we saw some old planes, we watched hundreds of cyclists and a handful of rollerskaters, coveted classic cars and took a bus ride together.
Plus a quite of bit of shanks's pony thrown in for good measure.

birthday winner

Thank you for the messages on my last post and for the birthday wishes.

Not only did I receive lovely presents from visitors, but some lovely gifts arrived through the post too. A heart necklace from my in-laws, some pretty bath confetti all the way from Sue in America (with a card which I shall treasure) and along with some other goodies this party in a bag from the ever generous Diane, chocolate, party poppers, streamers and confetti!



A big surprise gift from G was this little camera. It's so light, perfect for taking out and snappy daft bloggy things with. There isn't a load of instructions to read it's pretty much point and shoot and hopefully I'll get to use it lots now the school summer hols are here.

I'm more a bangles and beads hoarder, with I'm very happy to report many more additions to my collection since Wednesday(!), than a shoe lover but I saw these when we were in London at the weekend and G kindly added them to my birthday stash. At only a fiver they were a bargain!

A few more books to add to the ever growing to read pile. The 'Is there Life after Housework?' one is from my sister. Some of you may remember that my sister and I only buy each other gifts that come from jumble sales, car boots sales and charity shops. With a budget of £10 she bought me 31 things! Ranging from jewellery, a card game, a jigsaw, a picture, an apron and 15 items of clothing!

In the evening at a local country park T's cub pack were holding a family picnic and wacky races evening as it was the last meet up before they broke up for summer. My sister and my mum joined us and below is me with C just as the velcro band came undone as we were hobbling along taking part in the 3 legged race. Although we failed miserably and S didn't win the race she took part in I am happy to report that T won the stilt race, G won the welly throwing and I won the egg and spoon race. I also won an egg and spoon race on my birthday when I was 8 so after 34 years I still haven't lost the touch!