How Long Has It Been

since I last blogged? I have been a bit rubbish with finding time to get on-line recently. Life just goes like that sometimes I suppose, so in an effort to catch up (again!) there now follows a selection of randomness.

The Saturday after our hot dog picnic we all went to Netley Abbey for a couple of hours. It is quite rare these days for all 4 of us to take a trip together and for it to happen twice within the space of one week is nothing sort of miraculous. T had a smashing time on both occasions, we think that perhaps he just forgot going out with your mum and dad can be fun.

So to prove he was with us here he is doing a less intense version of the Karate Kid pose!

My mum rang me very excitedly one afternoon to say she was looking through the local paper, just as she does every day, and there on the page staring back at her was T and S, a photo taken at the sponsored walk! G is at the back with part of his head on show and all you can see of me is my leg as S is stood slap bang in front of me. We didn't realise we were going in the paper so I nipped to the shop sharpish and bought a copy for G's mum to keep.

How good do these cookies look? I can vouch for their deliciousness. They were made one evening by T and S. One evening after we had eaten T asked if he could bake a cake, I said he could  but he had to choose which one and do it himself. He is a great one for wanting to get someone else to do everything else for him! In the end he decided cookies would be quicker. S was very keen to help and between them they did it. It was lovely watching and listening to them work together.

It is the season of the summer fete and I took S to one a couple of weekends ago.  The organisers had devised a decathlon for the children which included throwing wellies, balancing along a bench, scoring a goal, putting a golf ball and scrambling under a tarpaulin. Once all were completed a certificate and small bar of chocolate were awarded.

G and I have been very busy in the back garden. We've been to the tip and finally got rid of the last bits and pieces of rubbish. Window boxes have been planted for the front of the house and strawberries were bought from B&Q for a very reasonable 6 for £3.00 and hung in hanging baskets in the back garden. The honeysuckle is out and it smells heavenly. There is still lots more to do but it's so much tidier and that helps enormously.

Then at the end of our busy days we have a rest in these. Stripy deckchairs which used to belong to my dad. So many reasons to love them.

S's school have held there first proper sports day. They always do something, but it's in the concrete playground and so is a bit restricted, no playing fields for them. But this year each year group was taken to the City sports centre and parents were able to go along and watch. We saw S take part in the 4x100 relay. She was on the second leg and her team were in second when she took over, by the time she did her leg they were in first and they finished second over all. Well done S you're the best!

And so to last weekend, Sunday to be precise. We all (yes again!) went into town for the Thai festival. Sweet chilli chicken, chicken satay, prawn tempura and noodles were all enjoyed once we had walked up and down the various food stalls and decided which one liked the look of the most.

J is a friend of T's. They went to Infant and Junior school together and still keep in touch now and she was dancing at the festival and she looked gorgeous in her beautifully bright coloured dress.

As well as the traditional dancers the Lady Boys were on hand strutting their stuff in skimpy outfits

I haven't been out and about in charity shops or any shops really but I did manage a quick look in a couple on Saturday when we went to Salisbury where I found the cutest little egg cup which had to come home and live on the dresser.

Hot Diggety Dog

Friday is the longest day of the year and I was toying with the idea of us packing up a picnic and spending the evening at the local country park, marking the occasion by staying outside for as long as we could.

Looking at the forecast on Tuesday it was showing rain was likely for Friday so the decision was made we would go out on Wednesday instead as this looked to be the best day of the week.

Instead of a traditional picnic I popped some vegetarian hot dogs into a flask of boiling water. They cooked on the journey and were eaten along with a big bag of chips we stopped off on the way to buy.

Once we were full it was time for the tennis rackets to come out. We had the place to ourselves, apart from a few dog walkers, so we had plenty of room to whack the ball around!

T and G did a bit of racket balancing too

'You can not be serious!'

T wasn't getting het-up here, in fact I'm not sure what he was doing, but there was no grumpiness from anyone all evening, it was such good fun all the way.

We went down to the shore before we left, S unable to resist a paddle along with the stone throwing.

This was the last photo I took of the sky just as we left the shore to go back and pack up before going home.
One of those evenings I am very thankful to blogging for because as well as tucking it away into my happy family memory bank I get to record visual snippets of it too. Perfect.

Another Week.....

....has gone by and so it's time for me to try and record a bit of what has happened.

Last Sunday's car boot offerings were a bit thin of the ground for me although everyone else did well. My only spend was £1.00 on this heart print scarf.

I spent a bit more later on in the week when I found these large bags in Store Twenty One.
I have been on the look-out for a pretty and practical storage solution for all the Christmas and birthday gifts I buy during the year. I like to keep the things I buy in our bedroom and apart from a couple of polka dot patterned boxes I have just been using boring and basic cardboard boxes, these are a much prettier alternative.

Wednesday was book group. We talked out last month's read, The Grapes of Wrath, which everyone agreed was outstanding and this is our book for June. I am half way through it already and am finding it pretty boring to be honest. Maybe the second half will be a bit more interesting.

I went out Thursday morning to buy a couple of things the children had requested for Father's day and whilst I was out I spied this polka dot windmill. It stuck out of my shopping bag and whizzed around in the wind as I was walking back to the car.
I had quite a long list of things I wanted to do once I was home again but when I was out I didn't feel at all well. My legs felt a bit wobbly and so did my tummy. I got home and crawled into bed and slept for nearly 2 hours!

Saturday morning we were all up and in town by 10 am as G and T were doing their sponsored walk for Stroke Association.
When we arrived in the park there didn't seem to be much activity and in fact only 13 people had signed up for the event. To help boost numbers people who had come along to support some walkers joined in and so S and I donned a t-shirt each and we took part in the walk too. There were walks of various lengths to do and we opted to do the longest one which was a walk up to the Common and back. G said this would make sure we earned the sponsorship money!

Huge thanks to those who made a donation and those who left messages of support, everyone was very much appreciated.

As we were all now taking part we had to re think our plans and so we stopped off in the Hawthorns cafe at the Common for our lunch and found that the friendly robin, who was there during our last visit and who had very obligingly posed for photos then, was happy to do so again. 

And so to today. It's been a very mellow Father's day. A difficult one for G as it is the first without his dad. I can remember the first one without my dearest dad and how much it hurt and how I ached to be able to see him and talk to him.
It does still hurt of course, but the pain isn't as raw as when it's 'the first'.

S wanted to buy G mint Matchmakers and a bottle of cider and T's idea was to buy a little storage box for screws and nails and other DIY bits and fill it up with little bars of chocolate and fruity chewy sweets. G loved all of the gifts and said he felt like a very special dad indeed.

My sister gave me this card and today is a good day to share.

Stroke Association

G and T both have a new t-shirt in their wardrobes, all ready for them to wear on Saturday.

As some of you may know G's dad passed away last year.

Over the course of many years he had a series of strokes and when G saw on the Stroke Association website they would be holding a fundraising event in our City he signed himself and T up for it.

This isn't the first event T has taken part in to help raise money for the Stroke Association as twice in the past he has been part of a swimming relay team. I am very proud that he has taken part and is continuing to take part in helping such a worth while cause.

I have agreed that in this post I would add his fundraising page on the just giving website in case anyone reading has had someone in their lives who has been affected by a stroke and would like to make a donation for which we thank you.

I will report back at the weekend how the event go, fingers crossed for a dry day!

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. 

A Make and a Musical

I've been having computer problems. My laptop has been getting slower and slower and doing anything has taken so long, I have transferred all my photos onto a memory stick and this has helped. It's just as well as there are loads to sort through and get printed, it's one of those things I always mean to get round to........

School starts again on Monday. We had our PJ day earlier in the week and S has stayed over with my mum one night and they have both had friends over so they have kept busy.

On Wedneday I had to take T to the orthodontist and so our day was geared to working around the afternoon appointment.

In the morning S and I made a firework rocket each.

Crepe paper and stickers were stuck onto a cardboard tube and then lengths of ribbon hung around the bottom.

There are quite a few charity shops near where I needed to take T and we had just enough time to pop into one before hand where I found this top for £1.99. Like I need any more!

The highlight of Wednesday was a night out at the Nuffield for me and G. Way back in January I had booked us tickets to see Miss Nightingale. If you click on the link it'll take you to the website where there is a further link to a trailer.
It's a love story set against the backdrop of war torn London in 1942 and is full of sometimes very funny and sometimes very heartfelt songs. Amber Topaz who plays Miss Nightingale was superb as was Ilan Goodman. Well to be honest they were all fabulous, a small cast who could all sing, play instruments and act. Well worth the wait from January for. If it comes near you on it's tour then I would say go, it's a thoroughly entertaining show.

PJ Day

It's been pouring with rain all day and so we are having a PJ day.

 We were lucky to have had two days full of sunshine at home after our trip to London. 

Yesterday afternoon was spent in our friend's garden for the naming celebration they were holding for their daughter. 

Sunday afternoon was spent in our back garden.

G and I were busy with various tidying jobs and making plans for how we would like the garden to look.

We don't have many plants in the garden but we do have a couple of clematis, they look so pretty, this one even more so with the aquilegias poking through

and as well as looking lovely they provided welcome shade for Melvin who was never far away from us as we were pottering away.

One of the jobs G did was paint the side wall of our neighbour's garage, the side which borders our garden. He had a willing helper for a short while too, until she was invited to a friend's house to play. In fact S was out for most of the afternoon as was T with his friends and it was a very strange feeling not having either child at home.

We don't have any plans for the rest of half term, which is quite unusual for me. I usually make sure we have a few ideas of things to do but with me working on Friday and our invitation to friend's yesterday I thought I would just see how things pan out for the middle days of the week and everyone seems happy with the PJ day for today.