A Years Worth of Days

Yesterday was my 49th birthday.
So this means next year I'll be 50.
Golly.
I'm not sure quite exactly how I feel about that.
It does seem like a very large number.
Does it mean I should feel like a proper grown up?
Because, well, most of the time I don't.
I do, however, have a plan.
Each day of the year means something to someone.
Be it a birthday, an anniversary, a national holiday, a raising awareness for a charity day, a day important to a particular religion.
You get the idea.
So every day between now and my birthday in 2018 I shall mark each day with something that is pertinent to that date.
It's something I have done now and then and if you have been reading for a while you may remember S and I crafting for ballet day, or the cake I baked in honour of Rick Astley's birthday, or something as simple as wearing a brooch for sunglasses day. 
I've spent time over the past 6 months researching this little project and have a very long list of ideas of things to do.
Of course this is going to have to fit in around everyday life and so some days it will have to be something which doesn't take too much time. 
Therefore it could be something as straightforward as my choice of clothes that day or what I cook for our evening meal. Other days I may try something crafty or bake something I've never attempted before.
Each and every day is special and in some small way I want to show that.
I would like a whole year worth of everydays each with a little bit of extra ordinary in them, something extra added to each as we head towards my 50th on 21st July 2018. 

As each new month begins I plan to list all celebrations right at the start and if anyone would like to join in with me on any given date then please do, it would be fab to see what ideas others come up with.
As we are near the end of July here's what's up coming for the remainder of the month.

22. Mango Day
23. David Essex's birthday
24. Lynda Carter's birthday
25. First woman to walk in space
26. Coffee milkshake day
27. 2012 London Olympics opened
28. Union flag adopted in 1707
29. Tiger day and Lipstick day
30. Cheesecake day
31. Shredded Wheat day

Let's kick things off with something nice and easy for Mango Day. 
Two things I've never tried before.

A delicious Mango smoothie was how G and I started the day.
One cup of mango, one cup of pineapple, one banana blended with one cup of vanilla yogurt. Delish.

Then to end the day we will be indulging in a bottle of this mango and raspberry cider.
Cheers.

Weekend Snaps

Saturday morning breakfast was banana and oat pancakes.

I am a little undecided about whether or not I liked them, it was a texture thing rather than the taste.

G liked them.

One of the recipe options has a chocolate chip variety, I may give these a try.

I decided to paint the key cupboard red, then decided that actually it really needed to be pink.

The decorating of the utility room has stalled. The hot weather has sapped my energy when it comes to painting. When G toddled off to London for most of Saturday (he went to see Bat Out of Hell with his sister) I decided I really needed to be a bit more proactive and so phase one of the key cupboard makeover was set in motion.



A new A4 sized notebook has been purchased.

Back in 2015 I finally figured out a page a day diary set up which worked for me. This served it's purpose well but over time I began to miss the option of having a whole week on view, I just find this easier when trying to plan the week. 
Over a few weeks I trialed some new layouts and have now settled on going back to having an A5 week to view diary for my handbag which I can scribble the day to day stuff in. This A4 book stays at home, close to hand, and on a double page spread for the week contains the master list of all things which need to be done or are happening.



Whilst doing the above along with some more general pottering I finished watching The Gilmore Girls.

I bought myself the first season a couple of years ago and since then G bought me series 2 through to 7 as either birthday or Christmas presents.
From what I've read I'm not sure I want to watch the four specials they did last year to bring the story up to date.


Sunday morning we went to the car boot sale.
I spent half an hour with G and then when my mum and sister arrived I went wandering with them whilst G was happy to go and do his own thing. He gets bored waiting for me as I dawdle round whilst he prefers a more speedy approach.
My sister spotted this brand new M&S dress for me. The seller was only asking £3.00 which I thought was very reasonable and I was going to buy it until my mum offered to buy it for me as part of my birthday present. As it's only a few days away she suggested I took it on home with me, which I was more than happy to do.

20 Years

Today marks our 20th wedding anniversary.

Golly.

Two decades of married bliss!

To celebrate we met in town after work and went to watch the tennis.

A huge screen has been erected and rows of deck chairs set out.

The whole area has been covered in fake grass as well which is a great touch and I like the sign they have up.

As to a glass of cooling refreshment, well it just had to be a Pimms didn't it. 
I could quite get used to this after work.

We watched the final set of the Federer/Raonic match and then G suggested we made a little detour on the way to hopping on the bus back home and in doing so we wandered past this little seating area. I think they are supposed to look like old travelling cases because of our City's links to the sea, G thought they looked like hay bales.

Our destination was the registry office where we said I do. We weren't expecting to be able to get in as we were certain it would all have been locked up by then but as luck would have it there was access to the area next to the registry office where thousands of people must have stood over the years to have their wedding photos taken, us included. Today we made do with a quick selfie.
Happy days.

Dance and Music

S's dance group had a mini performance slot at a local primary school's summer fayre on Saturday afternoon and she said she would be ok with me and G coming along to watch her.

It was lovely seeing S and getting a flavour of what she does each Friday at her street dance class.

Whilst there I took the opportunity of having a look around the school garden.

What is more colourful and cheery than a bicycle basket full of geraniums.

The other colourful feature which I really liked were these funky looking birdhouses.

Sunday saw us in Salisbury.

A little wander along by the river

before we settled ourselves in Lizzie Gardens 

for an afternoon of Music in the Park. It's the third year we've been going to these free concerts and it's such a lovely way to spend a sunny summer afternoon.

The band playing yesterday were Break Cover and they played a whole range of songs. We had stuff from Status Quo, The Kinks, ZZ Top, Steve Earle, Billy Idol and The Monkees. An extra reason for going along yesterday was for G to say hi to an old school friend who is one of the guitarists. He is the chap second from the right wearing a hat. They haven't seen each other since 1993.

And here we all are. I like this photo G took of us all as we sat chatting away.
Lovely family times.

Leaves and Acorns

I bought this skirt a couple of weeks ago in a charity shop where everything costs £1.00.

It's a size 14 and normally that's fine for me but after wearing it to work today I've decided it's not a keeper. I spend most of the day sat down and it was too tight around the waist for comfort.

I have one skirt in my wardrobe which is a 12 and fits fine, a few 14s, a couple of 16s and even an 18.

Sometimes the labels can't be relied upon.

 This one will either go off to another charity shop or I may try it on ebay first.

I was drawn to it because I liked the neutral colourway and the styling of the flowers and leaves reminded me of the work of Angie Lewin.

I wore a plain beige scoop necked t-shirt with it and my choice of jewellery was easy to pick. This necklace with an acorn, leaf and fir cone kept the natural theme going.

There could only be one choice of earring, squirrels to go along with the acorn!

Cat Nap

I'm watching the tennis.
Melvin is doing what cats do best.
I think he's feeling quite relaxed don't you.

Southbourne to Boscombe

Last Monday G and I took ourselves off to the seaside.

We hopped on the train nice and early and hopped off again a short while later at Pokesdown.

We've made this journey a few times and always headed off to our right, down the high street towards Boscombe.

This time our plan was to turn left as this would take us towards Southbourne.

Southourne is definitely much more trendier and tidier than it's near neighbour.
Things which caught my eye within a few hundred yeads were the faded sign on the side of a shop, the turret and a beautiful shop on the corner.

This window is also part of the shop. 

It was such an elegant building with so many architectural features it was a shame it was empty.

Does anyone else like the coffee shops Coffee#1? We've been in a few of these now and we like to see what art work they have on the walls. Each one seems to have something on display which pertains to the history of the area it's situated in. The one in Southbourne had a purple heron which has been spotted at nearby Hengistbury Head and a Victorian seabather harking back to when the area became popular with those coming to the seaside for the benefits to their health.
Another reason G likes Coffee#1 is for their cheesecake, he recommends you try it if you can.

Had we not already stopped for refreshment then this find further down the road would have been a good choice. Called Close Knit it's a combined cafe and wool shop.

The knitted throws, parasol covers and hanging basket made it look a very inviting place to stop.

Just a short stroll away from the shops was our destination. 
And mighty fine it looked too.

We took our time walking along the front. Stopping to gaze out to the horizon, feeling the sun on our faces and enjoying the cooling breeze too. Wandering past the rows of beach huts and then sitting a while too to drink in the view, storing that feeling of calm time out at the shore can give.

Then it was up through Boscombe Chine gardens and into Boscombe itself for a spot of lunch. 
Just the kind of day out we needed.