Blackberry Bounty

Definitely a weekend of two halves as far as the weather went.

It started with a miserable, drizzly grey day.

I did a variety of household chores and to get me through the monotony of the ironing pile I watched I Capture The Castle.

Things perked up when it came to the evening as I went out to a school reunion.

I jointly organised one of these 12 years ago and know how much work goes into it and so I felt nervous on behalf of C who did this one. The feeling of wondering if anyone is going to turn up is horrible.

It was a great evening and lots of fun was had by all that went.

Sunday dawned warm and bright and so once the essentials were completed at home we headed out with plastic tubs to do a bit of blackberry picking.

The blackberry bushes grow very near to a private school which opens up it's building and grounds to take part in Heritage Open Day events.
We went along to this a few years ago and thought it would be good to do again and make the most of a sunny afternoon.

This splendid house was once owned by Lord and Lady Swaythling who donated The Swaythling Cup for the men's table tennis world championship which is still being played for today.
I was looking forward to a tour but when we arrived the Southampton Ukulele Orchestra were in full swing out on the terrace. We've seen them several times before at various events and they are so entertaining that we decided to sit in the sun and listen to them.

Once they had finished we wondered off down the Gertrude Jekyll designed garden and it was then S received a text from a friend asking if she was in and wanted to go out with her. I decided the fair thing to do was to leave. I can go back and see the house another time, S was going to be far happier going out with a friend for a couple of hours compared to what I had planned for us.

We managed to fill one tub with blackberries and they have all been washed and frozen ready to use in smoothies. We reckon another foraging trip needs to be made in a couple of weeks when more should be ripe and ready for picking.

Novel Idea

Whilst looking through the photos I have taken over the summer I came across this one I took of the birthday gift sent to me back in July from very good friend T.
I thought it was such a thoughtful gift.
She sent me the Jojo Moyes book Me Before You and it's sequel After You. 
And what item is absolutely necessary when reading, why a lovely bookmark of course and for these particular tearjerkers a packet of tissues. I wonder if one pack will be enough?
To make my reading time even more indulgent she included two packs of chocolate. These have been stowed away in my secret stash to await devouring when I start the first instalment.

Senior School

S has been excited all through the holiday about the start of senior school and today was that day.
S went to bed early last night because of course the earlier you go to bed the sooner the morning comes when you are excited, just like Christmas!
Looking so smart in her new uniform she was raring to go by the time ticked round to when she had to leave.
I must admit I was feeling anxious for her. The thought of something going wrong or that this much longed for day ended up being an anti-climax was a concern but thankfully all went well.
Long may it continue. 
I'm so proud of S for her positive attitude and enthusiasm.
And I love that big smile too.

Zebras - Part Two

Here are the zebras from our first foray into town.

I didn't have my camera and so had to use the one on my phone.

Crystal- this one is S's favourite, all those shimmery colours proved irresistible to my 11 year old daughter.

 Carpe Diem- A beautiful pale blue with koi carp decoration

Zoostar- love the wild animals on this zebra sponsored by Bluestar, a local bus company.

Zeffe- part zebra, part giraffe.

Who's You? -  depicting residents and landmarks of our City including the bridge I walk over to get to work. We liked the nod to the City's historical links with RJ Mitchell and the iconic Spitfire.

Fantastic Mr Fox - what more can be said. A zebra painted to resemble the dapper Mr Fox.

Zebbie-Go-Round - a zebra eating an ice crwam enjoying all the fun of the fair.

Zebraversity- this zebra is beautiful, painted with insects, flora and fauna. Which makes it all the more sad that this was vandalised. Why do people feel the need to do this?

Zycling zebra - a bicycling zebra decked out in lycra.

Skittles - this has to be one of my favourites. A zebra decorated to look like a carousel horse.

Ticket to Ride - the second zebra sponsored by a bus company. Can you believe this zebra was stolen? You can read about it here (and see the actual bridge I walk over to get to work if you are interested). Bad enough that some of the zebras were damaged but really why would steal a zebra.

Zebras - Part One

During the school holidays we've been out twice on zebra hunting expeditions and we still haven't seen them all.

The statues are in situ until the end of September so we may well be able to squeeze in another afternoon in town and tick them off all the map.

The photos that follow are the ones we tracked down last weekend.

Captain Stripes - the colours of the Union Jack teamed with the stripes of a zebra.

Zozy Zebra- each stripy band is painted a different colour and a list of animals from a-z are written along the stripes.

Ziggy Zebra all at Zee- David Bowie in zebra form.

King Zalfred - in honour of the king who burnt the cakes

This one will have to remain nameless- can't remember which one it is!

Biff- decked out in a hard hat and fluorescent jacket and named after a business waste company.

Southern Gold- classic black and white with an added twist of gold discs.

ZZ Top- dark glasses and piano keys for stripes.

Reggie- so royal even his stripes are purple. I really loved the extra detail of kings and queens on this one. 

Seafaring zebra- clever little touches by the artists on these zebras are one of the highlights of the trail. Just look at the way the curve of the mouth has been used to make the shape of an anchor.

Zayla- such precision in this design.

Zebastian the Seabra - a zebra painted with a multitude of sea creatures- can you spot the 'seahorse'.

And finally for today we have Glitter Fish. The name says it all, he is painted with fish and there's glitter.

8 years

This handsome little chap is my nephew's dog. His name is Ollie. He is just over a year old and today is the first time I met him. He was a gift to J from his girlfriend L and although he belongs to J Ollie spends most of his time with L and her family.
But this weekend he is at my sister's. My sister's home is the house we lived in with my dad when we were teenagers. We had a dog back then too, his name was Ben and he was a big softie who adored my dad.
Being in the back garden of our old home playing with a dog was an appropriate place to be this morning as today marks the 8th anniversary of when our lovely dad died.
8 years. It doesn't seem possible. Our dad was there for us whenever we needed him, a pillar of support, full of love and the biggest hugs to make you feel safe when the world seemed to be against you.
What can I say, he was the best, loved and missed but forever in our hearts.

August

(My mum's birthday cake, nothing to do with this post, but everyone likes cake don't they)

How is that during the summer break when the children were younger and I was off with them we were busy with days out but I still found time to blog about it all and now they are older and mostly doing their own thing I don't seem to find the time?

Here we are at the end of week 5 of the school hols and not a thing about them has been recorded.
Let's do something about that right now.

T's summer antics are very straightforward. He has either been putting in extra shifts at his paid part-time job or extra shifts at the charity shop. Another month and he'll have been volunteering there for 2 full years! His focus, with exam results now in, is very much set on what to do come September. 
S's holiday began with a week at school. An activity week at her new senior school where the children did fun stuff such as cookery, team building games, bracelet making, a cycling proficiency course and a sports afternoon. The children were able to meet other new starters, a few of the teachers and get a good feel for the school layout whilst it was empty. G and I went to the sports afternoon family picnic and when we left S said 'Why can't school start again next week, I'm so excited.'
Other highlights for S have included sleepovers, lots of visits to the park with friends, a trip to town to shop and have lunch as part of a friend's birthday treat, hours riding around on her bike and two separate days spent with my mum whilst G and I had to work. Picnics in the park were a regular occurrence in holidays past but we've only managed one of those so far. Plus there has been a special treat of a trip to the theatre with Auntie D, J and G to see Cats and we have completed part of the zebra trail (post to follow).
There was a low point when S hurt her back, how it happened we just don't know but st one point it took half an hour to get her out of the car. Thankfully she is all ok now.
Squeezed in around all of that was a few days away with me and G in Eastbourne- that's a whole other post as well.

I must also mention all the Olympic watching which took part. Not by T and S but by me and G. What a fantastic result for Team GB. It was an absolute delight to watch athletes excelling at what they do and then conducting themselves so well during all their interviews, fabulous role models.

With the bank holiday weekend coming up and a extra day off next week I hope to get round to visiting all my friends and seeing what's been keeping all of you busy.