Triumph

For her birthday last year we gave S a bicycle.
She was initially very excited and enjoyed whizzing around on it and then over time it developed a problem with the stabilisers which led to a balance issue and the inevitable falling off.
So S has been bike less for a while. We had been keeping our eyes peeled for a replacement and last weekend G spotted one for sale at a local animal charity's fundraising day.
As you can see S is very pleased. with it.

Unfortunately I didn't have the camera with me whilst we were out last weekend so I couldn't record her first ride without stabilisers. On the way back to the car G asked her if she wanted to give it a try, she got on and was away. Simple as that. We were amazed!

Yesterday, after buying a bike rack from a work colleague of G's, we loaded up it up and went off to the park.

And here is S whizzing around loving her new bike. You can't really see the cheeky little grin she has on her face, but she was looking very pleased with herself! It was lovely to watch.

And here are my 2 men in green looking very sporty on their bikes too.

What a Shot!

Here is G enjoying the fun on offer at a local church summer fete yesterday afternoon.


And the person who threw the sponge which was just about to land (not for the first time) smack on target ?
Why it was T of course!

Why if it's 7th July

did I need to wear my, £1.00 from charity shop, ankle length red wellies when I took S to school this morning




and not my pretty pink, £1.50 from charity shop, Dr Scholl's summer sandals?

New diary

Last week I went to one of my favourite shops to buy one of my favourite things.
I went to Paperchase and bought my new diary.
Up until a couple of years ago I had the regular January to December type and it was always a pain having to transfer all the school term dates and other school related info from the old to the new. Then I realised how much simpler things would be if I bought an academic diary which would run from July to July.


As I paid for my diary I confided to the shop assistant just how excited I was.
So many empty pages waiting to be filled.
So many possibilites.
I feel the same way when I buy a new notebook too.
I bet I'm not alone.

How long is

a piece of

My latest love.
Who knew a 50p round orange plastic box could make you smile so much.

Thursday Trip

G and I were planning a day out for the two of us on Thursday but with the school closure our plans changed and instead we had a family trip to


We wanted a trip to the seaside but also wanted not to have to travel too far so after some leaflet consulation and googling we decided on getting the train to New Milton and then walk down to Barton on Sea.

And this was the scene which greeted us on our arrival.
Just lovely.

A great clear view over to the Isle of Wight too.

The beach huts here aren't painted in the prettiest colours but I wouldn't say no to owning one.

We liked this jolly little sailing boat.

It was fairly breezey and this chap certainly made the most of that. He was up in the air for quite a while.

It was lunch time when we arrived so we sat on the grassy bank to eat our sandwiches and as our food disappeared so did the sun, until we had a canopy of black cloud over our heads.

G decided he woild try and make them disappear by dropping S into the pit of despair (just a small gap between 2 huge rocks, the other one is right in front of him, honest!) as an act of sacrifice to the weather gods. She wasn't too keen!

The children were desperate to get into the water but as it just got a bit too cold we kept busy playing different games of catch, until the clouds did disappear and they were warm enough to venture in.

They weren't the only ones to enjoy the water, this dog was having great fun running in to retrieve it's toy until it got lost. T very kindly gave his ball to the dog's owner so they could carry on playing. An extremely thoughtful gesture we thought.

There are plenty of other places (and beaches) to visit along this coast line and we hope to visit more of them during the school holiday.

This was a great start though, especially as it was finished off with an ice cream and then a quick trip round the charity shops before heading home again.

June Scavenger Hunt

My offerings for June, a day late because we took advantage of the school closure yesterday and we went out for the day. More of that later.

Childhood memory- when I saw this purse in the 10p toy box in our charity shop recently I had to buy it. These little beaded purses take me right back to holidays when I was a child. It's just the kind of thing I would buy with my spending money.



An elephant- one of my many shopping bags.

Tree branches- the rowan tree in our garden laden with berries.

Night- another recent find in the charity shop. Beautiful illustrations.

View outside your door- thank you for the ladder love. This is the view outside our back door.

Cutlery- coffee spoons with coloured handles. I love these to bits.

Cheese- all together now, ba ba ba, ba babybel!

The name of your town- one of the many paving stones in the city's QE2 mile which leads through town down to the waterside.

Architectural feature- I used to see this most days when I collected T from his infant school and never tired of looking at it.

Wheel trim- I was going to use one of ours until I spotted this yesterday just leaning against a hedge!

Something beginning with Z- half a zebra's face in an advertisement at the railway station.

Farmyard animal- 3 for the price of 1 on this banner advertising a local market.

Thank you Kathy for the new list. It's looking very festive and full of summer colours.