Saturday 23rd November

It's still a couple of months away but this paricular Saturday evening in November is one we are all eagerly looking to.

Reason being it's the date of the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special.

Very exciting stuff.

As with all very exciting events there needs to be food and drink to accompany it and this one will be no different.

There will also be Dalek straws.

I was in Lakeland last week and couldn't resist buying these items from the new Doctor Who range.

We already have a Dalek cookie cutter so I'm sure there will be biscuits and to go with them we will have cakes topped with, among others, K9, the Tardis and one of G's favourite baddies The Weeping Angels.

Can't wait!!!

Five years

Five years ago today my dad died.
Five years.
I can't believe half a decade gone by.

When we were sorting through dad's things we found all the birthday, Christmas and Father's day cards we had sent him over the years. I now keep all the ones I sent him in a box along with other keepsakes. Along with photos there's a black clip on tie from dad's job before he retired as a traffic warden. Dad was never without a cotton handkerchief and I have a couple of those as well as two of this ties and a pair of his braces.
This box sits on top of my wardrobe and I haven't been able to look at it's contents for the last few years but today I felt I could.

In our hearts your memory lives with never ending love so true, there isn't a single day Dad we do not think of you. Love you always. L, T and C. xxx

In and Out

Another week of the school holiday has slipped by and I have been a bit lax with the picture taking.

After a quiet day in on Monday we all went out on Tuesday to meet up with my friend G and two of her children for our annual afternoon at Netley Abbey.

G and I sit on picnic rugs and chatter the time away whilst the children play hide and seek and generally lark about.

These two photos were taken by T.

Wednesday was another day spent indoors as S woke up with a sore throat and a bit of a cough and generally just feeling a bit blah.
She spent most of the day in bed snoozing.

Thankfully the rest did her a world of good as on Thursday we were off out again with my mum, my aunt and her two little grandchildren, my cousin and her two children to the country park and I knew S was excited about that.
The children had a fab time together playing and blackberry picking but unfortunately I forgot to take my camera. 

Our plan on Friday was to go into town and treat ourselves to breakfast, pop to IKEA to check out bedroom furniture ideas for T and then finish the rhino hunt. We managed the first two of those things. IKEA took way longer than we really wanted to spend in there but at least we had a good breakfast! 

And so to the weekend. Each day S spent some time painting and making, each day T played Minecraft and each day we had to pop out to the shops and do some normal run of the mill shopping and stuff.

Although Sunday we did also manage to squeeze in a trip to the park to feed the ducks and enjoy the sunshine for a while.

Today

I'm feeling a little dotty. 

Bowie and Biscuits

Sunday morning started with bacon muffins for everyone. Not something we have very often but after reading Angie's post  and seeing her breakfasts I decided we should indulge in some this weekend.

With a picnic all packed we left home just before mid day to catch the train to Salisbury. We were meeting up with G's mum and sister at Elizabeth Gardens, a ten minute stroll from the station.
Unfortunately we appeared to have left the sunshine in Southampton as within 15 minutes of arriving it began raining.
We decided to take shelter under a tree and by the time everyone was gathered and the food was unpacked the rain stopped.

The reason for our visit was a free outdoor concert by Bootleg Bowie. There had been a couple of others earlier in the summer I would have liked to have seen, jazz and Romanian Gypsy, but we were busy doing other stuff and as G loves DB it meant we got to one of them. 

There was another shower halfway through the act, but the combination of the company, the music and the views to our left

and to our right couldn't possibly dampen our enjoyment.

All in all a very nice way to while away a Sunday afternoon before heading back home.

Geraniums in a window box spotted as we were leaving the station.

Today S and I have been busy in the kitchen.
First off we baked these Cheerio muffins, no photos I'm afraid I forgot.

Next up was biscuit decorating.
I opened up a packet of digestive biscuits and mixed up some icing.
S added the food colouring and then we got busy with the sprinkles.
My biscuits on the left.
S's firework inspired biscuit on the right.

A Quieter Week

We have been out this week but it's been for appointments rather than nice little trips, not exactly exciting but necessary.

We weren't sure whether or not to go to the car boot on Sunday. It was cloudy and grey and there had been a few light rain showers first thing. I sent my mum a text to find out if she and my sister had gone and let me know if it was worth it. She replied saying they were there and it was busy so we decided to pop along for an hour.
I'm so glad we did because for one whole pound I bought this little shelf. I have been wanting a proper old printers tray for a long time but they can be pricey. Once this has had a little makeover and the pink has gone it will go up on the wall in the dining room. At least I think that's where it'll go.

The other thing I bought which I was really pleased with is this charcoal grey throw. It needed a good wash and has come up looking fab. T will have this at the bottom of his bed for an extra layer of night time warmth when the colder weather comes. Both children like extra throws and fleece blankets on their beds I suppose they like the snuggly comfort feeling as much as I do with mine.

After the booty we stopped at my sister's for tea and biscuits and she showed me these boots she had bought. 'They are a size four but a bit for a big four, but at 50p I couldn't leave them there,' she said.
I said they were just the kind of thing I was looking for for the autumn/winter to go under my jeans and asked if I could try them on. I'm a size 5 but they fit me perfectly and they are so comfortable too. She said I could have them and before she could change her mind I had whipped out 50p from my purse to pay her the money she had spent on them. Result.

I had to take my mum to a hospital appointment on Monday afternoon so our day was built around that. A walk in the woods first which led us to tracking down another rhino. This one is opposite Hampshire Cricket Ground and is suitably decorated with cricket balls and cricket pads.

There were also a couple of ladybirds painted onto the legs which we liked because of it's heartshaped spots.

Tuesday saw another trip to try and buy school uniform. I normally buy this from Sainsburys but I had already tried two of the stores and wasn't having much luck. I didn't want to have to resort to ordering online either because S has grown so much recently I needed her to try clothes on to judge the right fit.
We managed to buy trousers which was one thing ticked off the list and I wanted some ice cream cones to try out this idea. I bought the ones we needed but couldn't resist these cones as well. Too cute. I nibbled his ears off first when I ate mine!

I do like the Tu clothing and jewellery ranges at Sainsburys. As I was looking at the school uniform I just had to browse the rails and saw they had a few pieces of jewellery in the sale. I was very pleased with this corker of a ring reduced to £1.00. I like big rings but can't always wear them as my fingers aren't long and elegant, I definitely inherited my dad's hands (and his legs but that's another story!).

Another hospital appointment on Wednesday and this time it was for S. She had to have a check up to see if the cryotherapy treatment had been successful on the granuloma she has on her top lip. It has shrunk to such a very tiny dot and because it is now so very small and it doesn't give her any pain or discomfort we are going to leave it as it is. Hopefully it will continue to shrink but should it return, apparently there is a very small percentage chance that it will, we can go back for more treatment.
Going over to the other side of the City meant a little stop of in Wilkinson's. I do like this shop for picking up odds and ends.
I keep a notebook in my handbag at all times which I use for keeping track of presents I've bought for family and friends and also gift ideas. The one I had been using was falling apart and so it was time to buy a new one. Mr Foxy here fit the bill. They were selling a mug with him on which I very nearly bought, maybe next time.

Yesterday morning was spent tidying S's bedroom. Earlier in the holidays we had gone through her bookshelf and her wardrobe. She sorted through lots of toys she no longer wanted and we have some for the charity shop and some for friends who will be becoming adoptive parents very soon.
Love these fly vision glasses!
See the tooth, front left, sticking out at an odd angle?
Well it's not there anymore!
Our appointment for yesterday was with the dentist and she had the wobbly tooth out in a jiffy.

Today we spent the morning meeting up with friends at a new soft play centre (exciting) and this afternoon it's a hair cut for me and a grocery shop (necessary) which seems to sum up the balance of our week.

A park, a farm and a walk

Cheeky!

This Keep Britain Tidy poster spotted at the country park made us all giggle when we saw it on Thursday.

We had a day in on Wednesday waiting for T's new bed to be delivered and then me attempting to put it together, so we were ready for a little trip out the next day.

The country park had once been the site of a military hospital and they had a self guided trail to show how many different jobs there would have been during this time. My mum joined us and together we shared a picnic, did the trail and enjoyed an ice cream.

Our pass to Manor Farm is due to run out within the next few days so with G being off with us on Friday we decided to pop out there for a couple of hours in the afternoon. T didn't want to come with us so we took a friend of S's and the girls had fun feeding the chickens.

G has bought a new point and shoot camera which he took with him. He was taking random photos to just get used to the settings and he took one of me stood by one of the farm fences. Back home with the photos downloaded I asked him (vainly!) how the photo of me turned out, 'Good' he replied and this is the one he showed me.

Cheeky boy!

No wonder this sow was sound asleep these are her babies and she is probably exhausted by them.

Beautiful golden sunflower in the cottage garden.

The girls weren't that fussed about looking round the farmhouse so I nipped in quickly, it was busy so no photos except this one, a pretty wicker basket full of laundry.

Our plan for today was for a day trip to Southsea for various activities going on down there but due to various sleepyheads unable leave their beds we had to abandon that idea.
What to do, a day at home or not?
Out came the box of leaflets with ideas for places to go. We picked a local-ish walk and just over an hour later we were on the train to Totton. 
It's a five minute train journey from the main station in town and then a ten minute walk, past loads of very nearly ripe blackberries, from the station the other end to start the 2 mile walk.

We walked past the Eling Tide Mill and over the toll bridge and very soon found ourselves in a lovely open green space with cows to the right

and a very different view to the left, the container terminal at the docks.

This has to be one of my favourite photos ever of S. You can't see them but she has a mini cuddly toy stashed in each pocket of her hoodie, so sweet.

From the field we took a path up by the side of the church, through the churchyard

and round to the front of the church where a wedding party was gathering.

Love this dolls house looking home situated exactly opposite the church.

The end of our stroll took us across a boardwalk through reeds

over a wooden bridge

and then along by the rivers edge back to the mill.