Lemon Confection

There was no way I could leave this night time twinset on the £1.00 rail in the charity shop.

It's in absolutely pristine condition.
I don't think it could ever have been worn.
The label shows it came from Freemans.
It reminds me of something some pretty blonde actress would have worn in a 70's sitcom when opening the door to the milkman, G says it reminds him of something one of the leggy ladies from a Benny Hill 'chase' sketch would have been wearing.
Either way it a frothy creation of man made material I couldn't resist buying.
And before you start wondering (if you haven't already) I won't be wearing it, it's in S's dressing up box. Perfect princess clothing.

Swanage

One of the ladies I work with in the charity shop is very active in her church organising social activites and days out. When she mentioned that one of the coach trips was to Swanage I asked if I could book some seats. I've never visited this seaside town before and as it's not linked up to National Rail it's not somewhere we are likely to get to on a day out.
So bright and early Saturday morning me, my mum, T and S set off with 40 odd other people to spend a day at the seaside.

Our drop off point was just opposite the Swanage Steam Railway. If we were going to be in this part of Dorset for a short break we would definitely have been having been taking a ride on this.


Our first stop was to get a cuppa and we found a little place called Country Foods Kitchen (blogger won't let me do a link). Would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting. Our toasted teacakes just hit the spot and mum said her coffee was delicious. And the staff were really helpful and friendly too.

After being refuelled we were on a mission to buy a bucket and spade and a ball to take to the beach. These we found quite quickly in between stopping to watch the 11th Signals Regiment exercise their freedom of Swanage by marching through the town centre.


We gasped in awe at seeing a real live dalek through a shop window and dashed in to have a closer look. The very kind gentleman inside was more than happy for us to take photos. This made T's day!

Whilst my mum went into another shop I crossed the road to snap this balcony above a deli. Love the faces on the terracotta pots. It all looks so colourful.

Of course being Sawnage the pub in the town centre had to be The White Swan.

My sister had visited Swanage a few months ago and told us about a shop we just had to go into called. Curiosity. Well I could have spent all day in there. So much to look at, it was a bit over whelming! Candles, hearts, jewellery, badges, purses, crockery, photo frames, trinkets, glass ware, the list goes on and on. And the biggest selection of door knobs I've ever seen, these are only part of it.

The children were so good waiting for us to make our selection from the goodies on display we headed straight to the beach to find the right spot to enjoy our lunch.

As you can tell from the photos it wasn't the sunniest of days but this didn't put us off.

The children went in the water, played catch and made sandcastles.

And enjoyed an ice cream, as modelled by a very sandy Miss S here.

Here's mum trying out one of the deckchairs just before we started to pack up and head back to the coach.

Instead of going back the way we had come we decided to go in the opposite direction as I was sure it would lead us back up the hill to our pick up point.

As we strolled along we spotted so many places we hadn't had the time to investigate.

Giant bears.

Beautiful buildings.

More seaside shops.

Shops selling wicker baskets, always a favourite!

Shops selling lovely items for the home and garden.

The pretty floral entrance to the Salvation Army hall.

As we got to the top of this hill it became apparent that my theory was wrong, but luckily there was a couple out walking their dog who told us if we took the short cut we had just walked past we would be right back on track. Thankfully we made it back to the coach on time and we weren't the last ones!

Ladder Love

You may remember last year I acquired a ladder, through Freecycle, to use as a means of plant display. These aren't the only ladders we have in the garden though. A very many years ago we rescued another set which were being thrown away by a neighbour and G fixed them to the wall between us and our neighbour.
And there they sat, only being used sporadically when I could be bothered to use pot uo some plants.
That is until this Spring when we were treated to all that sunny sunshine and then further inspiration struck when I found a couple of little red seaside buckets at a car boot for 10p each.
I gave the wall a lick of white paint to smarten it up, T and S helped me paint the ladders blue and with a few busy lizzies I'm really pleased with the finished result.



The other ladder is still empty as I'm still on the lookout for more suitable red containers to use combined with little terracotta pots.

Thrifty Thursday

Another cardigan for me. Not sure how many I have now, must do a count sometime.
Couldn't resist this one though with it's stripes and scrummy buttons and a snip at £1.75.

A book for S. All the children's books are priced at 30p in our charity shop and with such a beautifully illustrated cover I had to buy this for S. I've never read Anne of Green Gables and as this is the prequel hopefully we can discover this story together.

Another book, this time for me. I find anything about stately homes and their occupants interesting and this has the added bonus of being a signed copy so I happily paid the £1.00 asking price.

I'm trying to take books back to the charity shop after they've been read, but I think this one will be a keeper.

Happy Father's Day

One minute it's all smiley faces and jelly bean sharing,


the next it's shouting and play fighting.

Thankfully still with smiles.
Happy family life.

Happy Father's day.

Countryware

I have always had a passion for collecting china and crockery and many years ago when I worked for Wedgwood I was able to indulge this by buying some really lovely pieces.
My biggest investment was 4 place settings, plus other oddments, in the cabbage leaf design named Countryware.
Unfortunately I have never really made use of it and have probably only used it all half a dozen times. It's been sat in the china cupboard for so many years and now with all the decorating and furniture changes being made in the dining room the time had come to make a decision.
Should I start to use it or sell it on.
After much debate I'm (hopefully) going to sell it.


It's so lovely it really should belong to someone who will use it, after all that's what it was made for.

Thrifty Thursday

Basket bought at church fete 50p.
'Like you really need another one' was G's comment.
But I haven't got one like this.


Scarf bought at the charity shop yesterday which is originally from H&M, £1.50.

A t-shirt I bought for T. So worth the £2.00 for seeing the smile on his face grow wider and wider as he read through it!

Making me Smile

S and her travelling companion.



The stunning stained glass window in the church we went to on Saturday as they were holding their summer fete.

A poppy growing by the side of a busy main road into town.

A free muffin!

Mum bought this cross stitch kit over a year ago. I started it almost immediately and then stopped. An hours work on Saturday evening and it was complete. Why did I leave it so long?

A freshly used paint tray.

Yep the painting has started.

I began at 9.30 and painted until 2.30. My shoulders ache but it's work the effort so far.

Hope there's lots making you smile today too.

My Week

I hadn't intended to post Monday and then be quiet for the rest of the week, but we all know how things don't always pan out the way we would like.

G didn't go to work Monday as his back was really bad again which is obviously extremely painful for him but also meant he wasn't able to make a start on any decorating! I am sympathetic really.

I came home from work on Tuesday with such an awful headache I was up laying on the bed by 7p.m, had been sick by 8p.m and then fallen asleep fully clothed by 9p.m. Not a great way to end the day.

Wednesday morning I went off to the charity shop for my weekly volunteering session and then afterwards I went and collected this.



The walls still haven't had their prep coat so aren't ready for the final colour but at least it's in the house waiting more patiently than I am.

I had to swap my second working day from Friday to Thursday as yesterday T was off to the Isle of Wight school for an actvity weekend with the school and I needed to drop him at the ferry point early afternoon.
The terminal was heaving with people off to the music festival this weekend. It was so amusing watching them all. Some went with hardly anything more than a rucksack, others looked like they were going camping for a week. Lots were wearing wellies.
T's headteacher was there to wave the children off. He said he had just rung one of the teachers to make sure all was o.k prior to them sailing to be told that Kate Moss was on board and she was very friendly. Bet that caused a bit of a stir!

So what with swapping work days, G not 100% and me feeling icky the dining room is still lacking any new paint and I am getting a tad fed up with it.

One of the highlights of my week was when I got to the charity shop and I found this.

I have wanted one of these for the longest time. The stairs are constantly strewn with all sorts of flotsam and jetsam and this will help to keep it all a bit tidier. Until it overflows of course.

Another highlight was receiving so many replies to my 'Postcard' post, I enjoyed reading which one you all chose!

New people have popped by and left comments and decided to be follwers which is just brilliant as it's lovely meeting new bloggers.

So thank you to you all and have a great weekend whatever you may be doing.

A Postcard From Bournemouth

Make mine a Fab please.
Which would you choose?

The Laughing Policeman

and his ridiculous looking mum!

Me and T having a good giggle when we were trying on assorted police hats at the annual family day. A jolly good time was had by all.

The dinkiest police van I ever did see. Great colour choice too.

A Different Day Out

The plan hatched on Wednesday evening between me and G was that we would have a family day out on Thursday and we chose Poole as our destination.
Research was done on the internet regarding things to see and do once there and we decided that once we had arrived by train in Bournemouth we would then get the open top tour bus down to Poole. A perfect way to travel on such a sunny day.
Only we didn't manage to get on the bus. It drove past us. Us and the other 2 groups of people waiting at the bus stop. You can either get the bus from it's starting point at the pier or the next point on which is the town centre. We went to the town centre as it was a bit closer to walk to from the station. It was due to arrive at 11.00am. It came into view at 11.15 and just as swiftly disappeared!
We stood there agog for a second or two and then G gave the company a call. Apparently we were supposed to hail the bus as there are over 100 stops on this route. Reading the website the night before it never mentioned this and it also states there are 22 stops. Given that we were at a designated bus stop on what we were led to believe was a limited stop service we thought the bus would slow down in it's approach to see if there was anyone waiting at the very least!
The service runs hourly and the last bus back is 5pm so we didn't want to wait around for an hour and have an less in Poole, so Plan B was put into action. Luckily I had bought the children's swimmers and a towel with me so we hit the beach.



G didn't have his so he after a quick paddle he nipped up into town and bought a pair of swim shorts so he could go in an enjoy himself with T and S.

Thankfully we had a really lovely day in the end as you can see by a very smiley Miss S.

The children played in the sea for hours, we ate fish and chips and just enjoyed being on a family day out.

I am normally a bit of a wuss when it comes to fairground rides but I actually fancied this one, maybe next time!

Just had to snap this very stylish lady I noticed on our way back to the station.

What a fabulous dress!

As a footnote to the above, we spoke with the other people at the stop and they weren't aware of the 'we only stop to a hailing request' policy either.

Today I sent a very polite email of complaint to the company and they have replied with an equally polite email and said they will send us a complimetary family ticket to use so we shall get our trip one day, I hope!

If it's half term

then it must be time for a picnic in our local park.


Entertainment was provided with tennis ball and rackets and S's new hula hoop.
S is very adept at hula hooping the hula hoop on different parts of her body.
Strange expression optional!

T prefers jumping over the hula hoop as it rolls back to him, which he did 9 times out of 10.

The flowers, shrubs and trees at this park always look so well tended as demonstrated by this border running the length of the old wall.

A team of council gardeners were hard at work whilst we were there planting up more beds. Hard at work in between the 2 rain showers and one hail shower we had in the 3 hours we were there.

The work the staff do is not only appreciated by us but also the bees who were everywhere being busy.