Thrifty Thursday

Basket bought at church fete 50p.
'Like you really need another one' was G's comment.
But I haven't got one like this.


Scarf bought at the charity shop yesterday which is originally from H&M, £1.50.

A t-shirt I bought for T. So worth the £2.00 for seeing the smile on his face grow wider and wider as he read through it!

Making me Smile

S and her travelling companion.



The stunning stained glass window in the church we went to on Saturday as they were holding their summer fete.

A poppy growing by the side of a busy main road into town.

A free muffin!

Mum bought this cross stitch kit over a year ago. I started it almost immediately and then stopped. An hours work on Saturday evening and it was complete. Why did I leave it so long?

A freshly used paint tray.

Yep the painting has started.

I began at 9.30 and painted until 2.30. My shoulders ache but it's work the effort so far.

Hope there's lots making you smile today too.

My Week

I hadn't intended to post Monday and then be quiet for the rest of the week, but we all know how things don't always pan out the way we would like.

G didn't go to work Monday as his back was really bad again which is obviously extremely painful for him but also meant he wasn't able to make a start on any decorating! I am sympathetic really.

I came home from work on Tuesday with such an awful headache I was up laying on the bed by 7p.m, had been sick by 8p.m and then fallen asleep fully clothed by 9p.m. Not a great way to end the day.

Wednesday morning I went off to the charity shop for my weekly volunteering session and then afterwards I went and collected this.



The walls still haven't had their prep coat so aren't ready for the final colour but at least it's in the house waiting more patiently than I am.

I had to swap my second working day from Friday to Thursday as yesterday T was off to the Isle of Wight school for an actvity weekend with the school and I needed to drop him at the ferry point early afternoon.
The terminal was heaving with people off to the music festival this weekend. It was so amusing watching them all. Some went with hardly anything more than a rucksack, others looked like they were going camping for a week. Lots were wearing wellies.
T's headteacher was there to wave the children off. He said he had just rung one of the teachers to make sure all was o.k prior to them sailing to be told that Kate Moss was on board and she was very friendly. Bet that caused a bit of a stir!

So what with swapping work days, G not 100% and me feeling icky the dining room is still lacking any new paint and I am getting a tad fed up with it.

One of the highlights of my week was when I got to the charity shop and I found this.

I have wanted one of these for the longest time. The stairs are constantly strewn with all sorts of flotsam and jetsam and this will help to keep it all a bit tidier. Until it overflows of course.

Another highlight was receiving so many replies to my 'Postcard' post, I enjoyed reading which one you all chose!

New people have popped by and left comments and decided to be follwers which is just brilliant as it's lovely meeting new bloggers.

So thank you to you all and have a great weekend whatever you may be doing.

A Postcard From Bournemouth

Make mine a Fab please.
Which would you choose?

The Laughing Policeman

and his ridiculous looking mum!

Me and T having a good giggle when we were trying on assorted police hats at the annual family day. A jolly good time was had by all.

The dinkiest police van I ever did see. Great colour choice too.

A Different Day Out

The plan hatched on Wednesday evening between me and G was that we would have a family day out on Thursday and we chose Poole as our destination.
Research was done on the internet regarding things to see and do once there and we decided that once we had arrived by train in Bournemouth we would then get the open top tour bus down to Poole. A perfect way to travel on such a sunny day.
Only we didn't manage to get on the bus. It drove past us. Us and the other 2 groups of people waiting at the bus stop. You can either get the bus from it's starting point at the pier or the next point on which is the town centre. We went to the town centre as it was a bit closer to walk to from the station. It was due to arrive at 11.00am. It came into view at 11.15 and just as swiftly disappeared!
We stood there agog for a second or two and then G gave the company a call. Apparently we were supposed to hail the bus as there are over 100 stops on this route. Reading the website the night before it never mentioned this and it also states there are 22 stops. Given that we were at a designated bus stop on what we were led to believe was a limited stop service we thought the bus would slow down in it's approach to see if there was anyone waiting at the very least!
The service runs hourly and the last bus back is 5pm so we didn't want to wait around for an hour and have an less in Poole, so Plan B was put into action. Luckily I had bought the children's swimmers and a towel with me so we hit the beach.



G didn't have his so he after a quick paddle he nipped up into town and bought a pair of swim shorts so he could go in an enjoy himself with T and S.

Thankfully we had a really lovely day in the end as you can see by a very smiley Miss S.

The children played in the sea for hours, we ate fish and chips and just enjoyed being on a family day out.

I am normally a bit of a wuss when it comes to fairground rides but I actually fancied this one, maybe next time!

Just had to snap this very stylish lady I noticed on our way back to the station.

What a fabulous dress!

As a footnote to the above, we spoke with the other people at the stop and they weren't aware of the 'we only stop to a hailing request' policy either.

Today I sent a very polite email of complaint to the company and they have replied with an equally polite email and said they will send us a complimetary family ticket to use so we shall get our trip one day, I hope!

If it's half term

then it must be time for a picnic in our local park.


Entertainment was provided with tennis ball and rackets and S's new hula hoop.
S is very adept at hula hooping the hula hoop on different parts of her body.
Strange expression optional!

T prefers jumping over the hula hoop as it rolls back to him, which he did 9 times out of 10.

The flowers, shrubs and trees at this park always look so well tended as demonstrated by this border running the length of the old wall.

A team of council gardeners were hard at work whilst we were there planting up more beds. Hard at work in between the 2 rain showers and one hail shower we had in the 3 hours we were there.

The work the staff do is not only appreciated by us but also the bees who were everywhere being busy.