Monthly Archives: September 2016

Happy Friday 30.09.16

Happy Fridays

 

 

Well, how we got to the last day of September so quickly I’m really not too sure, but here we are! The weather has definitely felt more autumnal this week, which I am pretty happy about – much as I absolutely loved the long summer, I am definitely ready to embrace the boots and jumpers now required (well, for the next two weeks anyway, until G and I fly off to the Caribbean for our little holiday!).

Anyway, the highlights of the week:

  1. First this week has to be the gorgeous snowberries that I bought last Friday. I always buy fresh flowers when I do my weekly shopping on a Friday morning, so I opted for these beauties last week – they are so pretty and even G commented on how lovely they were when she first saw them
snowberries
2. We had an absolutely lovely weekend away in Norfolk, starting with a coffee trip on Saturday morning to Stiffkey Stores. It is ridiculous that we have not been there before, but we will definitely be going again. It is a beautiful little place, with a great range of really unusual cards, books, gifts, homeware, etc., as well as making extremely good coffee and chocolate brownies! A great way to start the day.
ss3 tray ss2 ss1
3. We then did a lovely seven mile walk on Saturday afternoon, around Ringstead. The weather was really good for walking and it was perfect for the dogs, as the majority of the route was on tracks, so they could be off their leads. The sea views at one point were fabulous, but a highlight has to be that you can stop just over halfway through the walk at The Gin Trap for a gin and tonic – or any other beverage of your choice!
4. Sunday was another lovely day. We had a potter around Burnham Market, where we bought G a beautiful necklace for her birthday which is in three weeks time, then stopped off at Briarfields for a pre-lunch drink. We went there a few times during the summer and sat outside on the lovely decking area, but this time opted for the comfy and cosy area near the inglenook fireplace. The fire obviously wasn’t needed, but I can’t wait to go back when it is lit – although I think that it may be a very popular spot!
dan
5. G and I had a trip to Ripon on Monday afternoon, as Ripon Grammar school is an option for her sixth form years. We had a great journey, and then were made very welcome at the school – we had a really interesting and useful talk with the headmaster, who was lovely, then were shown round the school and boarding house. We really loved it, and the academic potential there is great, but it is going to be a hard decision, as G loves her current school so much.
georgie
6. More progress has been made on sprucing up the bathroom this week. I have lost count of the number of hours that I have spent scrubbing the grout between the tiles in the shower area, as it was awful. However, I found some amazing spray online which I used this week – I literally sprayed it on, left it for half an hour, and all the grout is completely spotlessly white. Incredible! I have also painted the mirror, so now all that remains is for D to put up the new blind and towel hooks.
7. I have seem similar photos to mine below on social media this week, but it really was worth capturing just how incredibly beautiful the sky was on Tuesday evening. Definitely no filter needed!
sky
8. I’m not sure what inspired me, but I decided to make some blackberry jam on Thursday. I haven’t made any jam for a while, but it is so easy, and I love these cute jars I found to put it in. It was pretty good on my toast this morning!
jam
9. As I haven’t been able to do any more of my proofreading course this week, as I am waiting for my first assignment to be marked, I have made use of my free time to write the content for my website, so hopefully we can get that up and running soon.
10. The last one has to be the very, very naughty but extremely delicious cinnamon bun which I bought whilst shopping this morning and ate before writing this post. A Friday treat!
bun
B comes home later today for the weekend, so it will be lovely to see him and catch up on what he has been up to for the past couple of weeks. G is “on duty” at her school open morning tomorrow, so we are going to pop along to see what she is up to, but other than that, we have very few plans – which is nice!
Have a great weekend, everyone!

Happy Friday 23.09.16

Happy Fridays

Woah, these weeks are passing by so quickly – it is very weird to think that we will be in October in just over a week’s time! All the more reason for me to collect my happy memories, so here is this week’s list:

  1. We had a lovely family picnic and walk in the Peak District last Saturday. The weather was perfect for walking – blue skies, sun, but not too much heat. G was still in Duke of Edinburgh mode after her expedition the previous week, so got her map out and planned us a lovely route, which was just perfect.
pd1 pd2 pd3 pd4
2. We don’t do this as often as we should, but we had a delicious Sunday roast the following day. We had roast pork, which is definitely not my favourite meat, but it was totally worth it for the crackling, which was so, so good (as were the ‘porkshire puddings’, as we call them).
3. D bought me a beautiful bunch of flowers home last Friday, which have really brightened up the bedroom this week – gorgeous!
4. I forgot about this one from a couple of weeks ago, but I’m saying that it counts, as it is not yet up on the wall! While we were in Norfolk, B helped me take some photos on the beach of natural objects in the shape of letters, which I then printed out to put in this frame below. I had seen and loved the idea but wasn’t sure how it would work out, but I’m really pleased with it.
love
5. I have been ploughing through my proofreading course this week, and have completed my first module, which has now gone off to be marked. I’m under way!
pr
6. I had a lovely couple of hours meeting a fabulous friend for coffee on Wednesday. It was great to catch up – we literally never stop talking when we are together – and so we are now planning a way to celebrate 2 decades of friendship at some point next year. One to look forward to!
7. I have made more progress with the bathroom this week, having stripped and painted the wall. I have bought some small bits and pieces for it – new flannels, light pulls, hooks, etc., and I am definitely much happier about it, so am now in no rush to get a whole new bathroom anymore.
8. I am loving the fact that “the nights are drawing in”, as they say. Much as I adore the long days of summer, I am always ready to make the house cosy by this time of year, lighting lamps and candles, and getting the blankets out, etc.
cosy
9. G and I have been thinking about our upcoming trip to Grenada this week, and so I have emailed off with our ideas for things we would like to do while we are there, so we will hopefully have these arranged soon. It’s coming so quickly!
10. Simple things – we had a delicious chilli con carne last night, which had been “doing its thing” in the slow cooker all day. We haven’t had chilli for so long, so it tasted particularly good, especially with taco shells!

So we are off to Norfolk tonight for the weekend, which we are so looking forward to. Have a great couple of days everyone!

Happy Friday 16.09.16

Happy Fridays

Well, what amazing weather we have had this week. Although I was feeling that I was ready for autumn, I certainly wasn’t going to complain about a little more summer, so the heat this week has been a real treat.

Anyway, here are some other things that have made me happy this week:

  1. G completed her bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition last weekend, so it’s good to have that “ticked off” the list now. The weather was predictably very wet for the first half of day one, but then improved, and was perfect for the second day, so the girls had a good time – although were very, very glad to get home, showered and into comfortable beds!
  2. As D and I therefore had the house to ourselves, we took the opportunity to get some jobs done. We had been planning to get a new bathroom fitted but that may be postponed for a little while, so we did some remedial work on it, and I have been painting it this week, so hopefully it will last us a little longer.
  3. As  it was such a beautiful day on Sunday, and we had to head into the Peak District to collect G at the end of her expedition, we decided to make the most of the day, so went for a lovely five mile walk around the Wetton area. The views and houses around there are stunning, and the dogs loved it too, so it was such a great trip out.
pd-dan pd-fi
pd-2 pd1
4. Following on from last week’s “social engagements”, I had lunch with another friend on Monday, which was lovely – always good to have a proper catch up over some delicious food.
5. I did make a couple of cheeky purchases this week – just things for the house, which I saw, loved and couldn’t resist. I haven’t yet decided where to put them, but I will!
candles
6. I finished a book that had recommended to me by a friend this week, which I had loved!. It was “Turning Point” by Freya North. The beauty of it was that it was set in two locations – British Columbia in Canada and North Norfolk – and there were so many references to places that I know so well in Norfolk, that it did make me smile A LOT when I read them. If only my friend had warned me how sad it is as well though!
7. The weather this week has meant that early morning walks have been happening again, as it has been too hot for the dogs to go too far during the daytime, but I do love being out early – the light and atmosphere are so different and it is quieter too, so they can run around crazily on their own.
wellies
8. Lottie and Honey were trimmed yesterday so now look so smart and beautiful – and extremely cute!
pups
9. Last night was Speech Day at G’s school, which is always such a lovely evening, celebrating all the fabulous things that have gone on throughout the year. It was especially good for us this year, as, now that D is a governor, we had reserved seats on the second row, so had a great view of everyone and everything – especially G collecting her academic prize!
10. The final one for this week is looking ahead slightly, to tonight, when B comes home for the weekend. We are all very excited to see him and have a proper family weekend again – hurrah!

Have a great few days everyone!

Happy Friday 09.09.16

Happy Fridays

Well, the transition back to reality after the wonderful summer holidays has now happened, so new routines are being established and early mornings are again the norm. However, there have still been plenty of highlights from the past couple of weeks:

  1. We ensured that we made the most of the last days of the summer holidays, enjoying another ten days in Norfolk, then a couple of days at home, before G went back to school. We had a lovely day out meeting friends at Rutland Water, where the children all went on the Aqua Park, before enjoying a picnic lunch and then back to our friends’ house for a quick drink.
  2. After G had gone back to school, B and I went for a lovely walk with the dogs at Poppy Wood. It was really good to have a couple of days alone with him before he went back to school, so this was a special trip.
poppy3. It was G’s turn to cook last week, and so she made us a delicious tapas feast on Thursday night, with meatballs, prawn and chorizo skewers and spicy squid – truly yummy!
tapas
4. Whilst in Norfolk, I had collected a lovely piece of driftwood from the beach, which, with the help of a chisel and hammer, I turned into a tealight holder, which I absolutely love!
driftwood
5. We had a very lazy, but fun, family afternoon on Saturday. We spent most of the second half of the day snuggled up in the sitting room, as it was pretty rainy, watching our new favourite family TV programme, Hustle, playing board games and eating snacks – a great way to spend a wet Saturday.
6. As it was B’s last night at home on Sunday, we went to the Cuban restaurant in Derby for a meal. The children loved the huge selection of tapas, and we had a lovely evening.
dang fiben
7. This week has been a productive one, and I have managed to achieve just about everything on my “to do” list – making appointments, booking accommodation and trains for the holiday G and I are taking next month, touching up some of the paintwork in the house (still plenty more of this to do!), etc., etc. I do love ticking things off a list!
8. The beautiful lilies I bought last week at Lidl (£3.30!) have made me very happy this week – they are huge, such a vibrant colour and smell amazing.
lilies
9. I had a lovely lunch – and well overdue catch up – with a good friend yesterday. We had a great natter over a delicious Thai meal – fabulous!
10.I still have plenty of things that I want to do around the house, but it is nice to be able to start forming some kind of plan to do these things, and I am now also able to begin my proof-reading course as well, so this is very much a week of looking forward to all the positive things happening shortly – always a good feeling.

Well, G is off on her DoE expedition this weekend (we have everything crossed for better weather for her then during the practice!), so D and I have some time to ourselves. We haven’t planned anything yet – but it will probably involve some kind of sorting or organising at some point, so wish us luck with that!! Have a great weekend!