Thursday, 31 May 2018

Rest of May and the Start of June

Paper Airplane Day was last weekend, 26th May to be precise.
S was away on a school trip, having a wonderful in Paris, and so it wasn't until midway through this week we set about playing a target practice game with planes G talked us through folding into shape.



Tuesday was Biscuit Day and so there was only one choice of brooch, it had to be my jammie dodger.



Quite a while ago I found the most perfect accessory to wear to mark the anniversary, of when the Great Clock on the Elizabeth Tower first started to work, 31st May 1859. This was originally a pendant on quite a long chunky chain which I wasn't keen on. I asked G to do a little work on it so I could wear it as a brooch instead. Unfortunately I asked too late and so the brooch back I had stuck on the back didn't have long enough to set. Never mind.


I can't believe we are going to be turning over the calendar to June tomorrow!
In the evening I shall be watching Some Like It Hot for many reasons.
1st June is Marilyn Monroe's birthday, the 3rd June is the birthday of her co-star Tony Curtis and later on in the month, on 22nd, it's the birth date of the film's director Billy Wilder. So that's 3 of June's days in one go.


Tuesday, 29 May 2018

Victoria at Osborne

My original plan for Monday 21st May involved cake.
As it turned out the cake wasn't needed because something even better ended up happening.
For Victoria Day I was going to bake a Victoria sponge (as shock horror) I don't think I've ever made one before.
Instead I had a brilliant day out at Osborne House with
T, my best friend from school.

Queen Victoria described this home as snug.
As you can see from the two photos below snug isn't the first word which comes to mind given the size of it.
Being a Victorian home, albeit on a grander scale than most, every surface is covered and everything is highly decorated.



Images of Victoria and Albert are seen countless times as you go from room to room 


but it's the small details which caught my eye, such as the carving on the bannister


and the tools of the trade for laying out the dining table in the correct way.



I enjoyed seeing Queen Victoria's private rooms and although they were stuffed to the gills with furniture and treasures and were very grand, they did also seem to have less formality to them than you would expect.
That's where I got to understand the idea of Osborne being a snug family home.





The tour ends with the famous Durbar Room.
It's an astounding feat of workmanship and must have seen some spectacular evenings over the years.


 After we had finished inside we ate our picnic and then made our way down to the beach. Here we sat for ages and ages chatting and eating ice cream. It really was the perfect spot for whiling away an hour in the sunshine.
From there we made our way to the Swiss Cottage where we found a dressing up box. My friend T is a much smaller dress size than me so she was able to get into the children's size dress (although it was a little too short) whilst I put on the adult jacket and skirt. 


Osborne House is well worth a visit. My advice would be to get there early as there isn't a lot of space in some of the rooms and to be able to read the information boards and take it all in you would do this better when the rooms were less crowded. 
The one part I was disappointed with was the 'downstairs'. There really isn't very much to see and again it's quite a confined space. 
But definitely have an ice cream whilst sat in one of the deckchairs as you gaze across the Solent.


Monday, 28 May 2018

Three Quick Days

I have a couple of other longer posts to do to help me catch up from this past week but first up is the easiest one to share.

Thursday 24th May was Tiara Day and although a bit more crown than tiara in it's design, I popped this brooch onto the collar of my dress.




Friday 25th was Wine Day and so once home from work (and my last run of week 4 had been completed) I sat down with a glass of this, which I didn't really enjoy as much as I thought I would!



Yesterday was Grape Popsicle Day.  Now the weather has been very obliging this weekend, perfect for the consumption of ice lollies and let me tell you a few have been enjoyed but for marking this day I went with a quick and easy craft.
I bought a pack of these shaped book marks online a little while ago. With the aid of a tiny roll of sellotape stuck to the back of each one I added them to a length of pretty pink and white lace.
The dresser now has some summer bunting.




Saturday, 19 May 2018

The Royal Wedding

For Harry and Meghan's big day I made sure the front room was decked out with bunting.
 My old floral Primark scarf was put to good use draped across the window



and my wardrobe choices when getting dressed this morning were red, white and blue, just like they were back in April 2011.


Unlike William and Kate's wedding this one wasn't going to be shown on a big TV screen in our city centre so it was at home G and I settled down with some nibbles to watch the nuptials.

I made a lovely refreshing drink by mixing
100ml lime cordial
300ml apple and raspberry juice drink
one bottle of 750ml elderflower and rose 



and to finish off I made a variation on these eclairs using vanilla whipped cream.


The whole day was joyful, it was what weddings should be about, full of love and optimism. May they have a life full of happiness.

Tuesday, 15 May 2018

Chocolate Chip

There really was only one way to go with today's activity.
I got busy in the kitchen and using this recipe we now have a tin full of cookies for Chocolate Chip Day
Time to put the kettle on.



Monday, 14 May 2018

Captain of the Carpathia

What a wonderful afternoon wander I had today.
And the thing which made it even nicer was, unexpectedly, being joined by T.
I must admit I didn't divulge just how far we would be walking, it wasn't actually that far, but if I had told him what I planned he wouldn't have got out the car!

14th May is the birth date of Arthur Rostron.
Sir Arthur was the captain of the RMS Carpathia and when on 15th April the ship received a distress call from RMS Titanic he ordered the Carpathia to head towards the Titanic and by doing this they were able to save the lives of just over 700 people.

We parked by St James church


and walked along the road to the house Captain Rostron lived in.
The house is called Holmecroft and is situated at the top of Chalk Hill.
The house is screened from the road by lots of mature greenery.




At the bottom of Chalk Hill is a relatively new collection of housing which has been named Rostron Close.



Our route back to the car was a circular one and just before we reached it we stopped off at the burial ground which is linked to the church where we found the final resting place of Captain Rostron.


Sunday, 13 May 2018

James, Fred, Irving and Florence

We've had the chalk out again, this time it was for marking the birth of J.M Barrie on 9th May.
G  drew me a set of fairy wings and a wand so I could pretend to be Tinkerbelle from Peter Pan.



Thursday and Friday were rolled into one with the viewing of a truly dreadful movie called Blue Skies. This movie was selected for Fred Astaire's birthday on 10th and Irving Berlin's birthday on 11th.
Irving Berlin wrote some wonderful songs but the threadbare story which was used to string them together in this film was uninspiring to say the least.



Another birthday for 12th. 
I'm sure you can guess from this photo whose it was.
A lady with a lamp.
Yep, it's Florence Nightingale.


Today is Hummus Day and I had bought the ingredients to try making my own for S and I to have for lunch, but she was invited for a sleepover last night and didn't come home until early afternoon. They will keep and I'll do it another time.

To finish off here is a photo of S after she came home from youth club on Thursday having just become this year's Duck Race Champion.


Thursday, 10 May 2018

Running....


.....out of time to blog.
..... to catch up with myself.
...... as in proper running, in proper trainers and getting all proper hot and sweaty.

Surprisingly all the above apply to me during this past week.

Of course the running out of time one isn't any real surprise but I should explain more about the proper running.

G and I decided that enough is enough.
We are both overweight and not very fit.
Regular exercise in some form or another needed to be introduced into our lives.
With a little help from Mr Google I found a 12 week plan on the NHS website.
What attracted me to this was the way it's set up.
It's a combination of the Couch to 5K programme and a set of Strength and Flex exercises.
It's a gentle start on week one to get you going and then each week gradually builds towards upping your fitness level.
We are right at the start, just two days left of week 2, but so far so good.
And I love it that we are doing this together.

So there we have it.
Having to make the commitment to finding the half an hour needed each day of either the Couch to 5K or the exercises has meant that blog time (writing and reading and commenting) has had to take a back seat. As has the ironing, shame that.
I'm sure I'll get the balance right at some point.

Before I get myself changed for tonight's exertions here is a round up from the past week.

Do you remember the scene in Grease when Rizzo throws a pink milkshake over Kenickie and says 'to you from me Pinky Lee'. Click here to remind yourself if you don't.
Pinky Lee refers to a comic who had his own show in the 1950s and his birthday date is 2nd May. As I love Grease so much I had to go with this film reference and so I wore a pink milkshake brooch.


Thursday 3rd was Garden Meditation Day. I haven't a photo to show me sat quietly enjoying being outside in the garden but I do have a photo of our new fence.
One of our neighbours had a huge pile of planks of wood and decking that he no longer wanted. G asked him if he could take it off his hands. Of course came the answer and so during the past couple of weeks G and our neighbour's daughter K have used it to construct 3 new fences between our gardens.
They are a bit cobbled together and have a certain rustic charm to them but they are perfectly adequate and they are very proud with their handy work with wood which would have otherwise been scrapped.



May 4th is, of course, Star Wars day.
Behold three slightly wonky looking Wookies.
You may remember that this Chewbacca headband was G's table present last Christmas. I knew it would come in handy at some point!



The wonderful Richard E Grant celebrated his birthday on 5th May. I know, without a shadow of doubt, G would have chosen to watch Withnail and I but as he was at work I went with watching Twelfth Night which also tied in with Shakespeare's birthday the week before.




On Sunday we were up bright and early to go to the first car boot of the year. It's a little later than normal but the wet weather meant that the field has been too muddy.
As it turned out the field was still too muddy.
To get to the car boot you need to travel down a long twisty road and as we approached it we saw a ridiculously long queue of traffic. 
Temporary traffic lights we thought, but with the help of Facebook G was able to ascertain that people were getting stuck in the mud and needed to be towed off site by a tractor. Later on in the day we saw someone we knew who told us they had sat in the traffic queue for an hour before they arrived at the booty. 
Once we found out the conditions I turned the car round and we went for a walk in the woods instead.


Sunday was Beverage Day and many varieties of drink were consumed to keep up our liquid levels on such a hot day. Tea, coffee and squash mainly as although I had planned on opening the home made sangria we were given at Easter to have with our evening meal I forgot. I blame the heat.

On Monday I woke up with a hideous headache, so it was just as well I hadn't opened the sangria as it could have been even worse.
Monday was Cosmopolitan Day but I couldn't contemplate alcohol so G made us a delicious strawberry and banana smoothie to enjoy instead.
I spent most of the day in the garden, first off planting up some geraniums and then just lounging around. I had a million things I could have done but decided my time would be best spent doing nothing.


For VE Day on Tuesday I turned to my Marguerite Patten Victory cookbook and baked eggless chocolate buns which we enjoyed with custard.


In other news S is still continuing with her therapy sessions and although they are hard work they are making a difference.
Excitement levels are growing on a daily basis as S's trip to Paris edges nearer.
G and I have booked a night away in Somerset whilst she'll be away having fun.
T is still job hunting, he has had a couple of interviews but no success as yet.
Last weekend marked the fourth anniversary of when he lost his beloved brother L, always such an incredibly difficult time.
Malcolm cat was chased by the dog of one of our neighbours.
They never put them on leads when they take them out of the house to load them in the car to take them for a walk, one of them spotted Malcolm and that was that, he went off after him and the owner couldn't get control of him. Luckily Malcolm was quicker and more nimble but I was fuming at their lack of responsibility.
Melvin cat has been unwell and had to spend a couple of days in the vets. Fingers crossed he is now well again. One afternoon he decided that the way to lay was with his paws between a watermelon and the wicker fruit basket. He stayed like this for ages and then rolled over so his head was resting against the melon like it was a pillow.


That's all for now, I'm off to get my trainers on.

Tuesday, 1 May 2018

Lei Day




I'm sure you'll agree that grass skirts and plastic coconuts are the most perfect accessories for Lei Day

When I was little the one place in the world I was desperate to visit was Hawaii. As a young man my dad had visited during his time working on cruise ships and he confirmed it was indeed paradise on Earth.
And if I did have any doubts seeing Elvis in Blue Hawaii soon got rid of the these. This is definitely my favourite Elvis movie and I would have watched it this evening but I had to go to S's school for a meeting about her forthcoming trip to Paris.

My final nod to Hawaii was G and S's evening meal of sweet hawaiian chicken in the slow cooker although I only put in the same amount of sugar as soy sauce as half a cup of sugar seemed a little excessive.