Well, this week has been a busy one, mainly due to work and Christmas preparations, so I’m definitely ready for the weekend. Here are some of the highlights of the past few days:

1.We had our work Christmas Party on Saturday night, which was a great evening! We went to a new venue this year – Alton Towers Hotel – and everything was fabulous, from the stunning Christmas decorations to the delicious food to the great atmosphere, with lots of eating, drinking and dancing going on until the early hours. A great time was had by all!

2. Compared with certain areas of the country, we were very lucky here in Derbyshire that we didn’t suffer any adverse weather conditions, but things weren’t so rosy up in Lancashire, where B is at school. They were without power for two days, and the day school was closed on Monday and Tuesday, but the boys seemed to treat it as a great adventure – encouraged by the fantastic staff. Brunch was cooked over a fire on Sunday and pool was played by torchlight; day staff came in on Monday to give the boarders a morning of sports activities; and they were then taken on a shopping trip to the Trafford Centre for a change of scenery on Tuesday. Apparently the boys were all brilliant during these trying circumstances but a very special “thank you” goes to the staff, who looked after them absolutely fantastically.

3. This week has seen plenty of deliveries coming my way, so I have spent a lot of time wrapping presents – which I absolutely love to do! This year’s wrapping theme is tartan paper with red or green ribbons, which looks very festive.

4. Due to the fact that it is now only two weeks until Christmas, some of my festive attire has made an appearance – Christmas socks, jumper and earrings have all been worn this week!

5. One of my favourite purchases of the week has to be the new Christmas star decoration which I bought on Wednesday. Isn’t it great? And only £5 from Primark!

6. We got the good news this week that G has passed her grade 7 piano exam, which she took a couple of weeks ago. Well done, G!!

7. It has been a pretty wet week on and off yet again, but I managed to get a lovely sunny walk in early on Wednesday morning, which was beautiful.

8. Crumpets! I spotted some crumpets when I was on my way into the Co-op during the week and was suddenly struck with a craving for them! We haven’t had them since we introduced our French exchange friends to them in the summer – delicious!

9. It is looking as though G’s knees are on the mend at last, which is great news. She has been suffering with them since about March this year and we have been having regular trips to the physiotherapist for them, but she now only needs to go back if they get worse again. They aren’t completely right at all, but are much better than they have been so hopefully they will be back to normal soon.

10. Christmas fiction! I love the fact that you can get Christmas novels at the library or on special offers for the Kindle at this time of year, and I love to read this kind of thing throughout December, so I’ve been loving getting into the Christmassy spirit this way too!

We are off to a Christmas Brass Band concert tonight at the cathedral, which I am so looking forward to – you can’t get much more festive than that, can you?

Thank you for reading and I hope that you all have a lovely weekend.

All together now – “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!” Hurrah for December – probably my favourite month of the year – so this has been a good week!

1.One definite highlight of the week happened last Friday, on my way to collect B from school. I had made an arrangement to pop in to visit a lovely lady called Eileen, who was the Brown Owl when I helped at the village Brownie Pack for several years, as well a being a good friend of my parents. I haven’t seen her for over eight years, but I’d spoken to her on the phone the previous week, and she sounded exactly the same, so I was really looking forward to seeing her. However, when I arrived, not only was it lovely to see her, but she had also arranged for the two others who ran the Pack at the same time, Margaret and Linda, to be there too. What a great surprise! And none of them had changed a bit! It honestly made me so happy to spend that time with them, and reminisce and catch up on what they, and their children, are now up to. So much time had passed, but it could have been only yesterday that I had last seen them. What a fabulous start to the weekend!

2. This was followed by collecting B, who was home for three days, as his school had an inset day on Monday, so, as always, it was absolutely lovely to have him back with us.

3. The only downside to the weekend was that G was away from Friday until Sunday afternoon at cadet camp, so we didn’t have the whole weekend as a family, but I was so proud of the fact that G was so keen to go, not really knowing many of the other cadets that well and it being her first camp. She had a fantastic weekend and loved every minute – well, apart from the disco on the Saturday night, of course!

4. D and B went out for the afternoon on Saturday, having a “boys trip”, which gave me the opportunity to have a really long catch-up on the phone with one of my closest friends. It’s always so good to have a proper chat.

5. Sunday was Christmas Tree Day –  despite the fact that it was by far the earliest we have ever put our tree up, but it had to be done, as B is now not home until the end of term. Plus it was the first Sunday of Advent, so most definitely allowed! I love to have a real tree, and decorating it, with the mulled wine flowing and the Christmas music playing, has to be one of the highlights of the festive season.

6. Sunday also saw me and D going to church. I had been looking for a church in which I thought that I would feel comfortable for a little while, and we came across a possibility when we were in Mickleover for Remembrance Sunday, so decided to go to one of the services. It was exactly what I had hoped for – very traditional, so we knew the format of the service and “what to do”, and everyone was really friendly, so we will definitely go back.

7. So December began on Tuesday, so out came the advent candle, which I have had waiting for the past few weeks. A definite sign of Christmas – lovely!

8. We had G’s Parents Evening on Wednesday, which, as usual, was lovely. Even though she always seems to do very well, it is still reassuring to hear directly from all of her teachers that she is working hard and has made a fantastic start to her GCSE courses. A complete star!

9. Similarly, we received B’s school report on Thursday, which was great – with him being away, we don’t get to see his school books, to see teachers’ marks and comments, so it was really helpful to get this update on his progress. It was very positive indeed, especially pleasing to see that he seems to be trying hard in almost every lesson, and with some useful tips and targets to work on.

10. My new car arrived on Thursday, which is very exciting! Although I am really sad to see my old car go, as I absolutely loved it, I’m really happy with my new one – and am currently loving that new car smell!

We have a bit of a mixed weekend ahead, as it is D’s grandma’s funeral today, which will obviously be a poignant occasion, but this is then followed by our work Christmas Party on Saturday night – what a contrast. I hope that you have a good weekend, whatever you are up to.

This week has certainly been much better than the last, thank goodness! I hope that you’ve all had a good one. Here are some of the highlights of mine:

1. Last weekend got off to a fabulous start with an early morning walk at Calke Abbey. G was out early at a cadets training morning, so D and I set off with the dogs for a lovely wintry ramble – the sprinkling of snow on the ground, along with the bright blue sky and brilliant sunshine made it a very beautiful morning, so we had a wonderful walk, followed by a bacon cob and pot of Earl Grey from the tearooms at the end – perfect!
2. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I love “I’m a Celebrity” so am enjoying unwinding at the end of each day with an hour of this at the moment – I just love Ant and Dec! It always reminds me that Christmas isn’t far away too, which is always a good thing.
3. I’m not sure how I have never heard this Christmas song previously, but I’ve come across it a couple of times this week, and absolutely love it! It is “The Man with the Bag” and it’s great – I’ve even downloaded the music so that I can learn to play it on the piano.
4. Following our attempted break-in the other week, we had to have new patio doors fitted, as the mechanism was broken and was actually obsolete due to the age of the doors, so the replacements were completed this week. They are great – such an improvement on the old wooden ones we had, and they finish the all white dining room off perfectly now.
5. Tuesday was the day of G’s grade 7 piano exam, and fortunately she came out smiling! It is such a relief for us all when these exams are over, as they require so much hard work, and seeing her coming out happy was definitely a good sign.
6. Wednesday was one of my favourite days of the year – Christmas shopping day!  We went to Intu in Derby this year, and had a pretty productive day – considering the amount of time we spend shopping compared to the time spent on coffee, lunch and chocolate stops. And the Prosecco with lunch was particularly good!
7. Due to the drop in the temperature over the past week or so, we have lit the woodburner several times, which we still love – it’s so cosy to snuggle up in front of a real fire, you just can’t beat it.
8. The flexibility of my work this week has been priceless, as it has been a crazy few days, with having the patio doors replaced, G’s piano exam right in the middle of the day, Christmas shopping, then G off school for two days for Founders’ and inset days – I am incredibly grateful that I can fit my work in around all these things by working from home when I need to.
9. I made my first batch of sugar-free biscuits this week -and they’re really good! You can’t tell that they don’t have sugar in at all, as the honey and spices make up for it completely, so I was really pleased with them.
10. My final one hasn’t happened yet, but B is home this weekend, as it is exeat weekend, so we are all really looking forward to seeing him. G won’t spend too much time with him, as she is away on cadet camp, but we will try to make the most of our family time, which will be lovely.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Well, that was another rather wet and windy week! But how warm? I know that I shouldn’t complain, but I am now more than ready for it to turn a bit colder – we are almost halfway through November and have been having temperatures of 16 degrees, which is just not right.

Anyway, enough of the weather, here are the highlights of my week:

1. Number one has to be the John Lewis Christmas advert which came out last Friday. As always, I think it’s lovely, and, although I haven’t seen much TV this week, it definitely feels like Christmas is coming when the adverts start appearing.

2. I made a start on my Christmas shopping last week when I came across some perfect presents, just by chance, for the younger children on my list. They are all just a little bit different, so hopefully they will be well-received – and it feels good to have made a start.

3. I mentioned last week how much G is enjoying army cadets, so we were very proud of her giving up her Saturday last week to sell poppies in a nearby supermarket for seven hours.

4. This was followed by the Remembrance Day parade and service, which was so lovely and very well-attended. I do find Remembrance Sunday very difficult, for personal reasons, so I am always very emotional on the day anyway, but to see G marching with her fellow cadets at the front of the large parade was very poignant and moving, as was the service at the memorial.

5.G being so tied up with cadets for so much of the weekend meant that D and I had a very quiet, relaxing couple of days, which made a very welcome change from the usual rushing around and busyness.

6. Even though it wasn’t really cold enough to justify it, we lit a fire on Sunday night, which was so lovely – a very cosy evening to watch the final episode of Downton!

7. B eventually made the decision to go on his school trip to Normandy next summer, after being very undecided for weeks. He first said that he would go, then changed his mind when he thought that none of his friends were going, then discovered they were but was then worried about speaking French! But he has made what we think is the right decision, and we’re sure he will have a fantastic time.

8. I had a nice evening on Wednesday, when it was my turn to host book club. I had managed to finish the book the evening before (I just can’t read it too long before we meet otherwise I completely forget everything that I have read – I can really love books and films, but very quickly forget what happens in them!), but our chats about the books are never too lengthy, as we always find plenty of other things to talk about as well, so it was a great evening.

9. You know you’re getting old when you get excited by gardening equipment, so I obviously am, as I was thrilled when my leaf blower arrived this week! To be honest, it wasn’t quite as satisfying to use as I’d hoped, but it still does a pretty good job and is an awful lot more efficient than raking and then picking them up by hand – and I do like a tidy garden!

10. Last but certainly not least is the meal out that D and I had last night. We took advantage of the fact that G was at the theatre with school until late to go to Turtle Bay for a delicious meal, which was a real treat! And the Reggae Rum Punch was very authentic!

We have a crazily busy day tomorrow, with a trip up to Lancashire to see B (with a very early visit to my parents’ grave en route) for his school speech day, followed by lunch out, then a tour of Lancaster Castle, ending with a cinema trip – hopefully!

I hope that you have a great weekend, whatever you are up to.

Well, after feeling that September went really slowly, I can’t actually believe that we are almost at the end of October already! I guess it’s something to do with all the family birthdays we have this month – D’s gran’s, G’s, D’s, D’s dad and one of my sisters – an expensive, but fun, month!

So it may just turn out that a few of my “happy things” this week may be autumn-related – I think I love this season more each year, and I’ve been particularly relishing it this time. So here goes:

1. Top of my list isn’t actually anything to do with autumn, but down to B being home for the week for half term. My prayers were answered and the M6 was pretty kind to us last Friday, so we were all home by about 6.30pm and are really enjoying having a week together again.

2. A family meal at Zizzi on Saturday. I had got Tesco vouchers for Zizzi a few weeks ago but then we didn’t manage to get there, so the four of us ate there at the weekend, and it was delicious. I had spaghetti carbonara, which was cooked the more authentic Italian way, without any heavy cream, so wasn’t as filling as it often is.

3. It was D’s birthday this week so, although he was working on the day, we made the most of the time we had together, having a special breakfast of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, then a lovely evening meal, cooked by B, of koftas and couscous salad – with a bottle of Prosecco, of course!

4. Inspired by last week’s “Back to the Future Day” on G’s birthday, we thought that it would be good to introduce the children to what it was all about, so we watched the first film on Sunday night, then the second on D’s birthday on Tuesday. A real blast from the past, but they are films that still really “work” – enjoyed by all!

5. A trip to the library! I absolutely love going to the library and taking my time to meander around the shelves and selecting a real mix of books. The most exciting find this time was a bit of a weird one, as it is a murder mystery by Richard Castle, who is actually a fictional writer in the fabulous American TV series, Castle, which D and I love, but I had no idea that “someone” (no one seems to know exactly who!) had ghost-written books under that name. Intriguing – and very well written.

6. Autumn walks have featured highly this week, with some taking place on beautiful, clear, sunny days, while others have involved some pretty eerie low-lying mist, into which B loved trying to disappear. I’ve frequently been reminded this week of one of my favourite autumn songs – Autumn days when the grass is jewelled…

7. Autumn breakfasts – I know that you can, and indeed we do, eat porridge all year round, but I’ve been particularly enjoying my seasonal version this week – oatmeal cooked with coconut milk, with apple compote, honey and cinnamon. Just delicious.

8. Layering! I love this time of year, as you never know quite how the weather may turn out or change throughout the day, so layers are definitely the way to go, with cool shirts under cosy jumpers, thick socks under my boots, etc. Lovely.

9. Candles – yes, G and I are a little obsessed with candles right now, but it’s so lovely to close the curtains, now that the clocks have gone back and it’s getting dark so early, and light some gorgeous candles. I even found a fabulous grey one which I now have on my desk here, so I think that I have just about every room covered now!

10. A trip to Kedleston Hall yesterday. It was a pretty quick trip around the hall, as we have been there previously (how I wish that G and B were more interested in history though, and savoured these places more) but it was followed by a very nice cream tea in the restaurant for lunch, so all in all, a nice trip out.

Happy weekend everyone!

Hi there – I’m back! I was asked a few times about the lack of Happy Friday post last week, but it honestly was simply due to a lack of inspiration and photo opportunities – not in any way a reflection of it being a bad week, just a very “ordinary” one. However, I’ve had no problem coming up with my “happy list” this week!

1. G’s birthday party last Friday evening. She invited six friends around after school, and, after getting changed and eating cupcakes, they went shopping for a couple of hours in Intu, Derby, where we then met them for a meal at TGI Fridays – sitting on separate tables, of course! The staff there were fantastic though, keeping us up to date on the progress of the girls’ meal, so that we could take our time accordingly, and really looking after them well. We then took the girls home for a quick tie-dye activity, before three of them had to leave and the remaining three stayed for a sleepover. I have to say that I love the fact that parties are now so much easier and low maintenance -they very much looked after themselves, and we didn’t hear a peep from them all night, so it was all very successful -and G has some lovely friends!

2. This was then followed by a lovely day on Saturday, which saw us heading up to Lancashire. We collected B from school and then went for a delicious lunch in Lancaster, before heading over to Lytham to visit D’s parents and gran, who had celebrated her 98th birthday the day before. We did try to see the Blackpool Illuminations on the way back to Lancaster to drop B off again, but failed in this mission, as the traffic was at a complete standstill – not moving an inch – so I’m not sure what the issue was there.

3. Sunday morning was a lovely, chilled affair – my favourite kind – which gave me the chance to make butternut soup and homemade bread rolls – so yummy!

4. G has been on half term this week (and next, lucky thing!) so it has meant that a couple of our mornings have been much more relaxed and slower, which has been lovely.

5. I had a wonderful evening on Monday, when I went out for a pizza in Belper with my great friend, Hettie. It was a while since we had had a proper catch up, as our outings recently have involved cinema and theatre trips, which are lovely but don’t give much (enough!) opportunity for chatting. We certainly made up for this on Monday – we hardly drew breath in almost four hours we were together – it was fabulous! (And the pizza was pretty good too!)

6. The pooches have been particularly cute this week – they were trimmed last week, so are all velvety and sweet-smelling, but they just keep cuddling up together, which is the sweetest thing!

7. It was G’s birthday on Wednesday, and we had a lovely girly day. This obviously involved shopping, as she had received some money and vouchers as gifts, so she had lots of fun spending them, on both clothes and things for her room, which is in the process of being decorated.

8. G and I then had a great trip to the theatre on the evening of her birthday. D was supposed to be with us, but sadly there was an accident on his way home from Stoke, so the journey took him 4 and a half hours, hence he missed the show completely. It was a great amateur performance of “Me and My Girl” at Derby Theatre, and it was lots of fun – especially seeing G cringe during the audience participation (which did only involve people clapping along with the music!).

9. As you can see from the photos, we had an additional houseguest at the weekend (along with G’s party guests) in the form of a beautiful racing pigeon. Lottie and Honey found it hiding in the woodpile when they went outside after we returned home from TGI Fridays, so D fetched it in, and found that it appeared to have been injured several days before, possibly on a telegraph wire. So we made it a temporary home in a cardboard box, and gave it water and corn, which seemed to help it perk up a little. On Saturday morning, D then managed to locate its owner, thanks to the ID ring on its leg and a website of all registered racing pigeons, and its grateful owner came to retrieve it on Sunday.

10. Well, the M6 beckons for me and G today, as we happily go to collect B for the half term holiday. I think that we are all very much looking forward to being together again for 9 days, so here’s hoping it’s kind to us!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Well, last Friday was the first time that I have missed writing a Happy Friday post since I began this blog just over six months ago, and I did have a good excuse – I was down in Kent for a lovely family wedding, so didn’t have a computer with me. But I’m back!

So, here are a few of the highlights of the past couple of weeks:

1. My niece’s wedding has to be my number one – obviously! It was all lovely – from the amazing sunny weather to the beautiful bride and bridesmaids, the men in their uniforms, the food, the amazing little touches like the welcome champagne slushy (a huge hit!), popcorn, candyfloss and the ice cream van. Not to mention that fact that my sister gave a fabulous mother-of-the-bride speech! It really was a lovely day.

2. G and I had a lovely girly trip down to Kent for the wedding, as D had to go up to collect B from school for the weekend. We had a great morning before the big event, wandering around Deal, along the pier and on the beach. It’s not an area of the country that I know well at all, and I was blown away by how beautiful it is.

3. The bed and breakfast we stayed in the night before was also a highlight. We had a lovely room, beautifully decorated, and the owner was very friendly and welcoming. And of course, there are few better ways to start the day than with a great B&B cooked breakfast – delicious!

4. It was then lovely to get back home to spend the weekend with B – so nice to all be back together again.

5. One of the things that B is loving about his new school is doing Food Technology, so he came home brimming with enthusiasm to demonstrate his new skills and recipes. He made sweet and sour chicken for Saturday lunch, followed by lasagne on Sunday. Not only were the meals absolutely yummy, as soon as he had finished cooking them, he then washed and dried everything he had used, put them away, cleaned all the surfaces and polished the sink! I could get used to this!

6. I have had a stinking cough and cold this week, so I have been indulging in plenty of comfort food, with the absolute ultimate being meat and potato pasties, made according to my mum’s recipe. It is so long since I have had these but they tasted so good.

7. Despite the dreaded lurgy, I have had quite a productive week at home, getting on top of all our home filing one evening, and then eventually organising the photos I took of doors in France (almost three years ago!) into a collage, which I have ordered in poster form, so that I can then frame it. I get there in the end!

8. Maybe in another nod to creature comforts, I have started knitting a blanket this week. I am not a great knitter – scarves and squares have been my only specialities in the past – as I really need to keep it simple. I decided that a blanket can be very simple, and I have nice, thick, chunky wool so it grows quite quickly which is satisfying, but it is going to take a while to be big enough for a blanket. A nice project though, hopefully with a luxurious result.

9. I made a decision this week that has also made me happy – I am going to try to volunteer at a nearby hospice. Ever since my mum spent her final days in one almost ten years ago, I have wanted to do this, but the time has never been right, with the children, home and work to deal with. However, there was a piece in the news earlier this week about how we are the best in the world at providing end-of-life care, which made me realise that now is actually a really good time for me to eventually be able to do this. I have contacted the hospice, and hopefully will be able to sign up for their training programme starting in January, so that I will then be able to volunteer once a week there.

10. A light-hearted one to end with! Whenever we come back through the back gate from a walk, Lottie plonks herself down in the low variegated bush just inside the garden. This has become a real habit – not sure why she does it, but how cute does she look?

So we are off to Norfolk this weekend, which I’m really looking forward to, as we haven’t been for about 7 weeks. As D has been away all week, it will be really nice to spend a lovely relaxing weekend together – although also poignant, as it will be our first trip there without B.

I hope that you all have a fabulous weekend

September has been a funny old month – unlike the rest of the year, it seems to have gone quite slowly. I’m not sure of the reason for this – maybe it’s something to do with us all getting used to B being away – but we are nearly at the end, and October, a month which for us is crazily busy with birthdays, is very much in sight.

So, here are some of the little things which have made me happy this week:

1. I eventually got around to making avocado toast for breakfast last Saturday, and it was delicious. I have been meaning to do this for months and fortunately was not disappointed. I added cherry tomatoes and fresh basil to it, and it went down very well with both me and D.

2. We went to Derby Theatre last Saturday to watch an amazing production of Brassed Off. I have seen some fantastic, and very varied, productions at this theatre over the past few years, but I have never seen the entire audience giving a standing ovation before, but this was so well-deserved. The performances were all absolutely fantastic – both the acting and the brass playing. On reading about it when I returned home, I discovered that some of the main parts were played by actors with relatively little experience, which was a shock to me, as they were all outstanding. They could take this production on a national tour very easily, it was so fantastic – I, for one, would most certainly go to watch it again!

3. Sunday, in many ways, was a complete write off for me, as I became unwell during Saturday night with a stomach bug, so spent all of the day in bed or under a blanket on the sofa, feeling completely wiped out. However, one good thing that came of this was that it gave me time to read my book for Book Club which I went to on Wednesday, and, as I had not previously started the book, I really needed that time!

4. I finally placed my Snapfish order for our holiday photos this week, which, again, I’ve been intending to do for weeks. In the end, it was a pleasant evening of looking back through all the photos we had taken in Grenada, which is never a chore and brought back some lovely memories, so I’m now looking forward to them being delivered, so that I can decide which ones to frame and which ones to put in the waiting album.

5. I ordered my dress for my niece’s wedding (which is NEXT WEEK! – how exciting!) this week and it arrived two days later. I am very happy with it – thank goodness – so can now relax knowing that my outfit is ready (well, when the handbag and fascinator arrive!). Just G to kit out now!

6. Signs of autumn have made me happy this week. Much as I do love summer more now than ever before ( I was always a most definite winter-lover, but now like summer just as much), I still enjoy to see and feel the changes of the different seasons. The chilly mornings, the changes in the leaves and trees, and the final blackberries have all brought a smile to my face these past few days.

7. One of the things that we love about where we live is the fact that we can walk through a gate at the bottom of the garden onto a lovely park. This is a very well used space, which is great to see, and it is also fantastically maintained, so although we most definitely live “in the suburbs”, it really does feel like our little piece of countryside, literally on our doorstep, which is so wonderful for walking the dogs.

8. Talking of which, seeing them chasing each other around madly on their time off their leads on our walks this week has made me smile – the little ones have so much fun together, and burn off loads of energy, which is always good.

9. A nice surprise came in the post on Wednesday, when we found out that B had won the Year 7 Reading Prize at his old school, which he left in July. They had held their Speech Day and Prize Giving last week, when it would have been presented had he still been there, but we knew nothing about it, so it was a lovely surprise to receive – and to tell him about. What a star!

10. Again, swimming features this week, as I continue to love getting back into it. My aim is to do 250 lengths per week, but I only managed to go for the first time this week on Thursday, so I have to make two more trips over the weekend – I completed 100 on Thursday, so I’ve made a good start though.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Well, the first full week back in the usual work/school routine is coming to a close, and it’s all been pretty good. It’s amazing how quickly we all become accustomed to the changes – early mornings, packed lunches, and, for us this time, Ben being away. We have all missed him, and he us, I think, but it has all gone far more smoothly than I thought that it might. We are seeing him this weekend as well, so that’s definitely something to look forward to.

In the meantime, here are some of the highlights from the past week:

1. My niece’s hen party last weekend in Chesterfield. This was just for the girls in the family, and it was lovely to all get together, as it doesn’t happen all too often. We had a very civilised afternoon tea (with Prosecco!) followed by a meal out in the evening in Bakewell, where my niece now lives. I’d forgotten just how lovely Bakewell is – G thought that it looked just like a “model town”. G and I then stayed overnight, heading back home on Sunday morning – a lovely little jaunt out for us both!

2. The location for our afternoon tea in Chesterfield was the H&F Vintage Tea Rooms, which is an absolutely gorgeous place. The vintage décor is fabulous, and means that there’s lots to look at. It was very busy, but we had a large table reserved towards the back of the room, which was ideal. The food and drinks were lovely, and the staff (dressed very appropriately in vintage outfits) very friendly and helpful – especially the very kind waiter who took our photos!

3. We had a great fire pit evening on Sunday, after a few weeks of not having one for a variety of reasons – being away, inappropriate weather, etc. It was lovely to get out there again – it’s just so relaxing, with the fire to keep you warm, candles and fairy lights to combat the dark and a tasty gin and tonic to enjoy.

4. We had a picnic tea out in the garden last weekend, which was so nice. We had been thinking of going to the classical music concert in Darley Park, so I had bought some picnic food in readiness for that, but we decided that we were just too tired, and would prefer to stay at home and eat in the garden instead. Later in the evening, we could hear the music and fireworks anyway, so all was not lost.

5. After having very little communication from B, we received a call from his housemaster on Monday, which was very reassuring. He was able to put our minds at rest by telling us that B had settled very well and seemed happy and to be getting on with everything well, which was exactly what we needed to hear.

6. One little thing that’s made me happy this week is the new nail varnish that  G and I chose when we had to get some change for the car park last weekend. It’s Rimmel/Rita Ora’s Go Wild-er-ness and is such a lovely shade of lilac – love it!

7. For some reason, we seem to have had some very relaxing evenings this week. We seem to have been able to keep on top of everything more easily, so have had time to listen to music, read, and watch a little TV at the end of the days, which has felt like a real treat.

8. My new Dublin River boots arrived last weekend, and I love them! They’ve had a few dog-walking outings already, of course, and they’re great – as long as you wear thick socks with them, which I found out to my cost one day!

9. One of the other things that I’ve been able to do this week is spend a little more time than usual playing the piano, which always feels like quite a luxury, so I’ve really enjoyed that.

10. Last night was G’s speech night at school, which is always a lovely evening. It is so good to see the whole school together, celebrating everyone’s achievements, and there’s always a great speaker, providing further inspiration for the girls. I always love going to anything associated with G’s school, as I’m just so happy that she loves it so much.

So that’s it from me for this week. I hope that you’ve all had a good week and have an even better weekend.