Monthly Archives: September 2019

Busy Day.

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Goodness me where has September gone?  It has been a busy old month and today has been a busy day!  DH had his annual check up at the Doctors this morning then we had to go to Nottingham to visit our accountants then get back for a very quick lunch before DH had to go and have a tooth checked at the Dentist to then get back to do some work before he has gone off this evening for swimming meetings!  I mean how many things can you get into one day!

The weekend was busy and we got some jobs done and also some socialising as well!!! Good job as the next three months we have one weekend per month free and all the others are filled with swimming things or DH announcing!!!  However that means I will get lots done!!!

I did upset my optician the other day.  I went for a check and she was talking about Christmas and that she must get organised as she has four children to buy for and she asked me when I started getting things done, to which I replied that half of it is done already!!!  Oops!!!!

I am getting on with my quilting projects as well and have almost finished the baby quilt but I cannot show you that yet. 

It is Goose Fair at the end of this week.  DH and I will be going on Friday evening as usual and I am hoping that the weather is good or at least not raining!!!  Hopefully I will get some pictures for the Blog on Monday.

Have a wonderful Week you lovely lot.

Hugs, Susie xx

Moon Rise.

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Happy Thursday Everyone.  I have a few new Followers to I just wanted to say Hi and thanks for following and I hope you enjoy this journey with me!!!!

As The Boys are away working hard this week, DH and I went out last night (!) now don’t faint it wasn’t to swimming or announcing or anything else we actually went out to Derby Cathedral.  No it wasn’t a religious service but an evening of song by the very talented ladies called “The D Day Darlings”.  They sing songs from the 1940’s and specifically from WWII.  The other reason for this particular evening is because there is an art installation at The Cathedral called “Museum of the Moon” from 16th September to 6th October, which is a touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram. 

The Moon is suspended from The Cathedral ceiling, it measures 7 metres in diameter and features detailed NASA imagery on the lunar surface and is internally lit.  To keep it inflated there is a small fan embedded into its north pole which continually pumps air in.  Once it is inflated it weights 40kg.  The installation has already visited thirty countries worldwide including USA, China, Korea and Italy. 

It really is quite stunning.

When the lights went down this was the lighting for the Moon.

The concert was very good and so different, we both enjoyed it.

As it’s Thursday I have been working this morning and this afternoon it is home jobs!!!  It is raining again today (!) so Treacle is busy helping me with the cleaning, well she is following me around from room to room so I suppose that’s helping!!!

I hope you are having a Thrilling Day.

Hugs, Susie xx

The Wednesday Wag.

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I think that Mom is having one of those weeks!  Plus it has been raining since Sunday evening, so I am not happy as every time I go out I have to be dried when I come in!!!!  Plus the dratted squirrel had been in the garden all day digging holes in the lawn and burying berries!!!!  I am not happy either!

So what is a dog to do but snuggle in bed all day!!!!

I was in trouble with Mom and Dad though on Monday evening as I was sick in my basket!!!!  SO Mom had to wash all of my bed and hose down my basket so I did not have it all day yesterday.  I was not happy!

The local pet store is running an Halloween photograph competition, Mom took this and will be sending it in!!!!  That’s about been all of the fun today!!! 

Mom was up at 4.30am this morning baking cakes for Dad to take to the company that we work with in Nottingham as they are having a cake morning to raise funds for cancer research.  I am not happy as I didn’t get to taste one!  Mom has promised to make some more at the weekend though!!!

I hope your Wednesday is going well.

Woof, Treacle xx

Retro Event.

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DH and I did the Retro Event on Saturday evening and everyone seemed to really enjoy it, although it was completely different to other events we do as they were there to play the retro arcade games!

The event was held at the Old Library in the centre of Derby, which sadly closed a year or so ago and the books were moved into the Council House.  However they are now using the space for these types of events and is now part of the Derby Museums.

This is two sides of the ceiling and sky light in the centre of the Library.

The door onto the balcony.  Sadly they have not kept books on these shelves which I think would have been a better idea but hey ho!

The sky light.

One of the old book cases.

Everything ready and set up.  As the games were mostly from the 80’s we took all the old 45rpm singles which you can see at the back on the left!  They weren’t too bad.

DH checking the lights!

We finished at 11.00pm and then cleared up so got home at 1.00am having had something to eat on the way home!!!  It was a long night but good fun.

Yesterday we spent tidying up the equipment and going through the singles as well so it is all very tidy now but we didn’t get much else done!!!!! 

And so we begin another week(!)  The dryer is still playing up so the engineer is coming back tomorrow again(!) DH is out at a swimming meeting tonight(!)  Eldest and Youngest are both down in Milton Keynes this week training (!) and I have lots of work to do and some home jobs too!!!!

I hope you all have a great week!!!

Hugs, Susie xx

Little Late to the Party But Excellent.

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DH and I missed seeing this film at the cinema and then we bought the DVD and have not got around to watching it (!) but it is now on our TV Channel so, whilst I have been in the kitchen this afternoon, I have watched it.  Brilliant! 

We are both huge Queen fans and “our record” is “It’s a Kind of Magic” by Queen which was released in 1986 when we started dating.  I was actually a huge fan of Queen from their first records in the 1970’s, all my friends were more into The Osmands or a Scottish Group called The Bay City Rollers, but I was definitely into Rock and in fact the first single I bought (showing my age now!!!!) was “We are The Champions”!!!!

Sadly we never got to see Queen live but in 2008 we did get to see Brian May, Roger Taylor and Paul Rodgers as Queen live in Nottingham and they were great and they had also included Freddie via hologram and it was a stunning set.  However I really do wish we had seen them live in the 1980’s.

Rami Malek who plays Freddie in the film is fantastic and deserved to win the Oscar for Best Actor but the other actors, Gwilym Lee (Brian May), Ben Hardy (Roger Taylor) and Joe Mazzello (John Deacon) were also inspired casting and Queen came to life in the film.  I think it also helps that it was produced by Brian May and Roger Taylor as well so is accurate. 

Of course the story is about the Band but it is the music which is really the whole thing of the film and to be honest is still as good today as it was when it was originally released.

This has set me up very well for the Retro 80’s Event tomorrow evening!  Hopefully I will get some good pictures for Monday.  Have a great weekend.

Hugs, Susie xx

Definitely Autumn.

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Well it is definitely Autumn here as the first few leaves of our big cherry tree in our garden have started to fall.  It is also cool in the early morning and in the evening when the sun has gone down, so although we are due for some warm days the heat does not last long!

My dryer is now fixed, the part had to come from Germany, and yes I have another load of washing to do courtesy of DH and the Boys!!!! 

I managed to get my Baby quilt finished on Sundy and the binding sewn on so I just now need to hand sew it to the back, wash it, dry it and it will be ready and waiting for when the Baby puts in an appearance.  It is due on Youngest’s Birthday although we know that that does not always happen!!!

I have been busy sorting out all the Birthdays I need to buy for between now and December with presents and cards, so that in a few weeks I can concentrate on buying Christmas presents.  I find that if I do it this way I don’t forget anything.  In past years I have been so busy sorting out Christmas that have then forgotten Birthdays!!!  Especially those in December like Youngests!!!

DH is compering an 80’s Retro Event on Saturday evening and I am going too as to make it authentic he is going to use the vinyl singles we used to play in the 80’s!!!  They are all scratched and pop but they are authentic!!!  It is also a gaming event with genuine 80’s arcade games so it should be good fun.  As far as I am concerned the 80’s was the best decade for music since I was alive, the 70’s were good but I preferred the 80’s, and play a lot of that music today on my iPod!!!  In fact Youngest is a big fan of the music and has a lot of it on his iPod too and wishes he had been alive in that decade!!!!  I turned sixteen in 1980 so I suppose I hit the decade at the right time!

 

Of course you always look back with rose tinted spectacles but I think it was a great decade.  I was at college and then got a job earning real money, I gained a lot of new friends through work and started going out on a Friday or Saturday night.  Princess Diana came on the scene and influenced a lot of fashion during the 80’s and as she was only three years older than me I really related to her.  The fashions were better after the weirdness of the 70’s!  and, of course, I met and subsequently married DH during the 1980’s, so defintely the best decade for me!!!

I will try and get some pictures on Saturday to show you what it looks like!!!!

Today has been busy work wise again but tomorrow I am out in the morning visiting a friend whose Birthday is later in the week.  I hope you are having a thrilling Tuesday.

Hugs, Susie xx

Goodness Me!

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You know all about the chaos at the moment in the UK regarding Brexit.  Well our Government have also decided that all businesses must now submit their VAT returns via their accounting software!  This is because some businesses lie on their returns!!!  I never have and the old way of submitting the return was great but because of a few we now have to use the new way!!  Well today I have spent most of the afternoon on the phone to our Accountant trying to sort it out!!!!!!  Chaos reigns!  After three hours I finally managed to get my software to talk to the Government software and submit it!!!!  I think I now need to go and lie down in a darkened room!!!!!!

I have been busy making jam, particularly Bramble Jam and Strawberry Conserve.  I still need to make the chutney’s for Christmas.

My Tomatoes are starting to ripen.  I caught Treacle the other day just about to pick one of them off the plant, a ripe one of course not a green one!!!

We have been busy sorting out the plants in my pots as the Summer bedding was just about finished so we have put some Winter Violas in, so we have some colour when it is cold and grey!!!

The new plants we have put in where we have cleared out some old bushes are doing well and hopefully they will survive the Winter!

Over the last few weeks they have been forecasting a really hard Winter with lots of snow and very cold temperatures.  However they have said this in past years so we shall see!!!

As you can see Treacle is really worried about the cold weather!!!!  She was fast asleep and snoring when I took this picture!!!!  The weather over the weekend was quite nice and this week and coming weekend is supposed to be quite warm again, so a real Indian summer!  It is great as we can get quite a bit done in the garden getting it ready for winter.  One job we have to do is to stain the shed and den again and also re-do our wooden outdoor furniture before we put it away. 

I hope you all had a great weekend and a good week to come.

Hugs, Susie xx

Susie’s Friday Book Club September.

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Well the months are flying by now and you, like me, are no doubt being bombarded by companies about Christmas!  However one Christmas email I always like to receive is from the various book shops with their Christmas offers, especially for the children we buy for. 

A lot of books were always on my Christmas list, so much so that my parents used to say isn’t there anything different I would like for Christmas but no.  I always read a lot but especially during the Autumn and Winter months when it was dark early.  I still do now!

Anyway onto September’s Book Club entry and it is a book I read whilst away in Scotland.

This is a new character, Atlee Pine, for David Baldacci and hopefully he will write some more.  She is not your usual FBI Agent preferring to stay away from high profile offices and stationed in the wilds of Western United States.  She is tasked with helping to find a missing person in The Grand Canyon but all they find is a dead trek mule and a million questions which leads to a far reaching conspiracy including her immediate Boss.  Atlee and her personal assistant end up on the run for their lives not being able to trust anyone and the truth leads them right to FBI Headquarters in Washington DC.

As with every one of Mr Baldacci’s other books this keeps you wanting to read just one more page, until late into the night!  Can highly recommend it.

I got a lot of reading done whilst we were away so have quite a few books waiting for their day on the Friday Book Club.

Been hectic today with home jobs, grocery shopping, washing and ironing!!!!  Weekend is busy too with DH out on Saturday evening commentating again and hopefully Sunday will be nice weather and we can get some garden jobs done as well.  I hope you lovely lot have a Great Weekend.

Hugs, Susie xx

#TBT – Goose Fair.

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As we are heading into the Autumn months there are quite a few events coming up which we always do and go to as a family.  One of which is Goose Fair, which is at the beginning of October.  The last few years the weather has been very kind and it has been cold but dry.  DH and I will be going again this year, if it is not raining.  We always go as this was where we went on our first date!!!!!

So as it is Throw Back Thursday here are a few pictures of last year’s event.

One of the Big Wheels at the Fair.

The Galloping Horses, my favourite ride when I was little.

A blurry picture of the whole site from the top of the bank.

In 1284 A Charter was granted by Kind Edward I to Nottingham for its city fairs.  The name of Goose Fair comes from the time when thousands of Geese were brought into the Market Square via Goose Gate to be sold so they could be fattened up for Christmas. The Fair also had other traders, many of which were cheese merchants, as well as entertainments, hot chestnuts and spiced ale.

Obviously over the years it has transformed into lots and lots of rides with every food imaginable available including the famous mushy peas with mint sauce (not everyone’s taste but it’s like chips they smell wonderful outside!). 

DH and I like to go early and then come away early before it gets busy later on in the evening and we always go on Friday night which is when I always used to go with my Mom and Dad.  Then we always have a fish and chip supper afterwards just like my Mom and Dad did for years.  I love these traditions and it is always part of the year, although if it is pouring with rain we tend to drive past and see the lights and then have supper!!!!!! 

Happy Thursday Everyone.

Hugs, Susie xx