Well, I’m not sure where the sun has gone, as I have woken up to grey, overcast skies and actual RAIN this morning, but we have had a lovely week in the beautiful weather, so I can’t complain – and it is good for the garden!
Here are the highlights:
- We had a wonderful family day out to Warwick Castle last Saturday. D and I last went there in 1997, so it was a first for the children, and it was great. The weather was lovely, which meant that we could wander around, have our picnic, watch the trebuchet and jousting displays and complete the tower and ramparts walk in the sun, as well as doing one of the organised tours of the state rooms, which was really interesting. It really was such a good day.
2. I did a little bit of furniture restoration again this week, which I am so pleased with. We were given four old wooden garden chairs a little while ago, to chop up and use as firewood, but when I looked at them properly a couple of weeks ago, I discovered that they were actually in quite good condition, just very unloved and neglected, so I decided that I would try to give them a new lease of life. I painted them white, and then made new cushions with some lovely fresh, striped fabric. I bought a new white tablecloth for our old outdoor table as well, so it now feels like we have a complete new set of garden dining furniture, which we have since used a lot this week, for the grand total of £30.
3. To follow on from this, we have really made the most of the beautiful weather this week, spending a lot of time out in the garden – we have had two firepit evenings and have eaten a lot of our meals outside, which we love to do. The lunch below, for example, was delicious – homemade guacamole with crackers and crudites – and it was made even better by eating it al fresco!
4. We have been reaping the benefits of our thriving herb garden again this week – our roast lamb on Sunday was adorned with our rosemary, and then we also made fresh mint sauce to accompany it, as we have huge amounts of mint – and there are only so many mojitos we can drink!
5. We had another nice day out on Monday, meeting my great friend, Hettie, and her two young children, at Carsington Water. Again, it was a lovely day for a picnic, in beautiful surroundings, and G and B did a great job of helping entertain the little ones.
6. We have come up with a new possible career option for G this week – comedian! She has been so, so funny this holiday, so quick-witted and absolutely hilarious that she has had me and B holding our aching stomachs and in tears from laughing so much.
7. B once more came into his own last night when he made us a delicious turf and surf meal – it was so good, especially the prawns, which I am generally not a huge fan of, but it was all just so tasty.
8. I have been loving doing Lucy Wyndham-Read’s workouts this week – she does quite short routines which focus on different areas of the body, so you can choose whichever areas you wish to concentrate on, and then do a few as they are pretty short.
9. As well as eating out in the garden on many occasions this week, we also spent one afternoon playing board games out there too, which was great fun. A lovely way to while away an afternoon!
10. We are definitely hoping that the good weather returns again, as we are off to Norfolk today for another ten day stay. D can only be with us at the weekends, but we will still have fun, and try to make the most of the last couple of weeks of the summer holiday, which is passing far, far too quickly.
Have a great weekend!
