75 years ago yesterday Auschwitz was liberated. In Remembrance of all those who died here and the other concentration camps. To the fortitude of all those who survived. We must remember so that we ensure this never happens again.
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In Remembrance of a Gentleman Athlete and his Daughter. Our thoughts with his family and friends.
Susie xx
It’s Monday again, it does come round quickly!!! The weekend went sideways as Youngest’s car is not repairable so DH, Eldest and Youngest went car shopping Saturday!!! He needs something which is reliable because of work etc so we have managed to find a newer, less miles one for him and so that is being sorted out for later this week so he is still rolling around in mine so I am vehicle-less at the moment again!!!
Fiancé’s Mom has a big Birthday at the end of this week so I took her out for Breakfast this morning, well she drove and I paid!!! She is going away next week with her DH to The Maldives to celebrate and I am sure the weather there will be a lot better than here!!!
Yesterday DH and the Boys were “playing” in the garage most of the day so the extra jobs I had planned went out of the window again so I gave up and spent the afternoon reading as it was pouring with rain and I just did not want to try and sort out my sewing!!! I will do that next week sometime. I had a great few hours though reading!!!!! As you know it is one of my Aims this year! I also have a whole shelf full of books to read so there really is no excuse!!!! Treacle kept me company in the sitting room in the warm whilst I was reading and the men were in the garage in the cold!!!!
We are off to the hospital tomorrow with Eldest to see the Consultant regarding his shoulder and I have everything crossed that he will be able to do something to stop it rolling out all the time!!!! Please All keep everything crossed too because if not he will have to change jobs which he really doesn’t want to do!!!! I will let you know how it goes!!!!
Hugs, Susie xx
I am so glad it is Friday!!! It has been “One of Those Weeks”!!!! Nothing major happened but just a lot of work and backwards and forwards and cars!!! Don’t mention cars, I am tired of them!!!! They are great when they just work and a real pain in the rear when they don’t!!! DH, Eldest and Youngest are out tomorrow morning on a car looking trip!!! I am NOT going!!!
Managed to get caught up on my work, which is a relief, and home jobs and just have some bits of ironing to do and then we are all up to date again!!! It definitely helps me to be up to date!
The weather has just been grey for the last few days. You know the sort of days where it really doesn’t get properly light and you have the lamps on all day and it has been like that all day today. We saw the sun last weekend whilst we were in London and it makes everything seem a lot better but not this week!!!!
Sunday we have some home jobs to do and then I am going to get some sewing out and do that, especially if it is going to be grey over the weekend which looking at the forecast it will be!!!
I have been enjoying the Australian Open. I record it over night and then watch the matches the next day! There have been a few upsets, particularly Serena going out, but the tennis has been really good and it certainly helps get over these dreary January days!!!!
Over the last week I have also had some new followers, so a Big Hello to you and thanks for following and hope you enjoy my ramblings!!!!
I hope you lovely lot have a great weekend whatever you are up to and the weather is kind wherever you are.
Hugs, Susie xx
Only to January 1st!!! I never got to say what my Aims were for this year. I don’t do resolutions as, with most people, I forget about them so by the end of January they have gone by the board. Aims, however, seem to keep me motivated and I also have a list (you know I love lists!!!) with a reminder of them.
1. Always to be more organised and tidy with work and home.
2. To try and do some quilting each week.
3. To read more.
4. To be healthier for all of us.
5. To balance work, home and social things.
Only five things but there can be quite a lot under those five things but you get where I am going with this!!! I will let you know at Easter if I have achieved some or all of these Aims!!!!
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The situation with the Duke & Duchess of Sussex has been dominating our news now for several weeks after their decision to step back from Royal life. I think the thing that has annoyed me the most about this whole situation is how we, as a country, have been called racist which is why the Duchess of Sussex cannot live in Britain! Firstly in any Country there are elements who always want to cause trouble whether it is racist, anti-semitic or hatred of anything but we, as a country, are more tolerant of diversity than most. She was welcomed as Prince Harry’s Fiancé and after the wedding but things seemed to go down hill from there.
People are comparing her to Diana, Princess of Wales but she was only twenty when she married Prince Charles yet the Duchess of Sussex was thirty six when she married so can hardly be described as a naive girl. She had had a career, own home and I am sure far more aware of situations then Diana was.
I am sure that life in the Royal Family is not easy but there are a hell of a lot of advantages than dis-advantages and although they feel that now they are able to do what they want, when they want, I think they may find that having ditched the security of the Royal Home and all the security of managed outings that they will be even more prey for intrusive photographs and being hounded all the time.
Also the timing of pictures appearing on their website when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are carrying out engagements is also getting a little annoying and really does give the impression of sour grapes from Harry & Meghan. Also telling the Canadian people that they were, in fact, just a staging post until policital things change in the USA was not the brightest of statments to have made!!!!! Which gives rise to the phrase “spoilt brats”!
Hopefully now that they are no longer in Britain they can get on with whatever they want to do and our press will stop running stories about them and we can get on with life!!!!!
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Saturday is Chinese New Year and 2020 is The Year of the Rat! DH is announcing for the celebrations during the evening.
Saturday is also Burns Night! So if you are one of those families who have a take-away on a Saturday evening you have a choice of Chinese or Haggis!!!!! My father’s family are from Edinburgh so we will be celebrating Burns Night, although DH and the Boys are not too keen on Haggis!!!!
Took DH to the railway station this morning for 6.00am as he is in London all day for work and collecting him at 9.30pm tonight!!! I have done all my work so far today so am going to get a head start on home jobs!!!!!
Happy Thursday everyone.
Hugs, Susie xx
Mom, Dad, Youngest & Girlfriend were away for the weekend and I got to spend lots of time with Eldest who was looking after me! I did get some presents when they got back though!!!!
They went to Mungo & Maud and I got a new softie!
I also got a new brush (not too sure about that!), one of their peanut butter bone biscuits which are yummy and there were some new wipes for my eyes and a little pot of cream for my paws when it does snow.
Of course I loved my softie best of all.
Molly got snow the other day in the US but we have just had lots of frost and cold which has been a nice change to all the rain we have had but no snow. So I am really jealous, enjoy the snow Molly, wish I could come over and play!!!!
Mom and Dad have some errands to run over the weekend and catching up after being away last weekend but after that and if the weather is okay I will be off on another extra long walk!!! Keeping my paws crossed that it is not heavy rain again!
Happy Woofy Wednesday.
Treacle x
This is the thing with digital cameras now there is no restriction on taking pictures unlike when you had to get them printed!!!!! In other words another picture heavy post!!!!
DH and I went out early on Saturday morning after breakfast in the dining room at the hotel (above) to walk to Treacle’s store!!!
On the way we passed the Philip Treacy store who is one of the Queen’s Milliner and was a favourite of Diana Princess of Wales.
You can see how bright and sunny it was and the buildings across the road were reflected perfectly in the windows!
Here is Treacle’s store; Mungo & Maud! I found them in the November when DH and I came down for our Wedding Anniversary and they do some great Eye, Ear & Paw wipes which Treacle doesn’t mind us using on her for her eyes!
We then walked down New Bond Street and saw this in one of the windows and thought the dog looked like an Airedale!
Half way down New Bond Street there were three fire engines and a lot of firemen in the Jimmy Choo store! Obviously an alarm had gone off but they could not find any fires. DH sent a picture on our Family group chat to say that Jimmy Choo were having a “Fire Sale”!!!!!!!!!
Tiffany & Co were using everyday things to advertise their latest collection and I saw this typewriter, very similar to the one I learnt to type on!!!!! Mine did not have turquoise keys though!!!!
The Royal Arcade. I just love the shop fronts here.
We went into the M&M store in London and got Eldest a present.
We had dinner on Saturday evening before the show at Byrons and the food was really good.
The show was at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket which was built in 1720, is the third oldest London Playhouse and seats 893 patrons. The above is the view of the stage from our seats in the Royal Circle. The boxes below. The show was “Only Fools & Horses” which is based upon the long running TV show of the same name.
The show ran on the BBC for ten years and starred David Jason (left) as Dereck “Del Boy” Trotter, Nicholas Lyndhurst as Rodney Trotter and Lennard Pearce as Grandad Trotter, who sadly died after the first two seasons and was replaced by the Uncle Albert character of Buster Merryfield. The show follwed the fortunes of Del Boy trying to make a living out of a suitcase at Peckham Market selling dodgy gear helped by his much younger brother, Rodney, who Del had brought up after their Mum had died, whilst looking after Grandad and later Uncle Albert as well.
One of the phrases from the show said by Del Boy all the time was “Next year we will be millionaires” and at the end of the series they actually became millionaires after buying a very famous and lost pocket watch in an estate sale years before!!! The show was very much a loved piece of British TV and the musical had been written by the creator, John Sullivan’s son Jim and Paul Whitehouse who plays Grandad in the show. It retained all the jokes and humour from the show and the actors playing the parts had almost been cloned from the originals they were so good. We all really enjoyed it and the show has been so popular that they have extended its run until May this year!
Sunday after breakfast again we went out for a walk and wandered around looking at some of the different stores and also got Eldest a present as a thank you for looking after Treacle and our home for us whilst we were away.
We popped into Harrods to see if we could get something and above is a picture of the stairs looking down from the fourth floor!
One thing that does seem popular with individual stores and we saw quite a lot, is to have artificial flowers around the main doors on the outside. Here are a couple we saw:
On Sunday afternoon we went back to the hotel for some lunch and I took some pictures of the garden at the back of the hotel.
The very fancy wine cooler!
We then made our way to the station for our train home. Above picture the roof of St Pancras (not quite Platform 9 3/4!!!!!).
It was a lovely way to spend a January weekend, which can usually be a bit of a let down after all the fun and family of Christmas and New Year! Youngest really enjoyed it as it was he who had seen the show advertised and so it was his and Girlfriend’s Christmas present from us but we got to go too!!!!!!
Work is still busy which is good and next weekend DH is busy with commentating duties as it is Chinese New Year on Saturday as well as Burn’s Night. He is doing Chinese New Year and I am doing Burn’s Night at home as my Dad was from Scotland, although our lot are not too keen on Haggis!!! I love it!!!!
I hope you Tuesday is going well.
Hugs, Susie xx
The weekend flew by but we all had a lovely time. Eldest and Treacle were tucked up at home for the weekend and Treacle loved every minute of having Eldest to herself. We had a lovely time in London with visits and shopping and to see the show on Saturday evening. Here are some pictures of the weekend.
DH and I caught the train early on Friday morning and once we had left our bags at the hotel went for lunch at Fortnum & Masons in The Gallery.
It wasn’t too busy when we got there but soon filled up.
The Gallery over looks the sales floor.
Dessert, orange panna cotta
Hundreds of years ago Tea was a very expensive commodity and it was almost a thing to be displayed such as this tea house in Fortnums.
Tea was also kept in locked caddies such as these as it was so expensive.
From the first floor looking down to the lower ground floor and this spectacular spiral staircase in the centre of the store.
Youngest and Girlfriend arrived in the evening and we had dinner in our room.
Pictures of our room.
We had evening drinks in the lounge before Youngest and Girlfriend arrived. It is very cosy with the fire especially as it was very cold and frosty on Friday evening which made a change after all the rain again.
I will show you more pictures tomorrow.
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.
Hugs, Susie xx
Have a Lovely Weekend All, see you back here on Monday with pictures!!!
Hugs, Susie xx
PS. We love London even if certain other persons don’t!!!!!
As those who read my Blog regularly know that Clive Cussler is one of my favourite authors and he is also one of the authors who has managed to get very good co-writers for his books. This is the one I am reading at the moment.
The Oregon is a very unique ship, made to look like a beaten down tramp steamer, when in fact it is a hightly sophisticated ship inside. It is run by The Corporation who consist of ex-CIA, ex-Marines, ex-anything who have the skills needed to carry out covert operations around the World led by Juan Cabrillo.
In this book they are trying to trace the Nine Unknown who hold scrolls of knowledge passed down through the centries from the original Nine Unknown. They have grown into huge corporations and businesses because of the knowledge but one of the Nine now wants to take it all and run the World. The Corporation need to find out who the Nine are and try and stop the One!
I have only just got a quarter of the way through it but it is living up to Mr Cussler’s excellent sense of adventure and is just the right book for me to escape this dreary January weather!!!!!
There are several different novels by Mr Cussler all with different and exciting characters and anyone would be a good starting point. The first one I read of his was “Treasure” which is the ninth of the Dirk Pitt series and that definitely carries you away to foreign lands and adventures.
Tomorrow DH, Youngest, Girlfriend and I are off to London so I will have lots of pictures to show you on Monday
Have a wonderful weekend and don’t forget if the weather is bad, grab a book and disappear for a few hours to another World!!!
Hugs, Susie xxx
We had a rocky start to 2020 and sorry for no posts!!! New Year’s Eve we were at a friends home for dinner and to celebrate New Year and it was a lovely evening. The Boys were both busy with their Ladies but we all got together on New Year’s Day!
On the Saturday and Sunday following New Year it was the swimming club’s Open and there had been traumas about whether it would happen as someone on the staff on Christmas Eve had left the drain open and the pool had emptied all the water! This may now sound like a big issue until I tell you that it takes a week to fill and then several days for the levels to be sorted and for it to heat! Anyway the Leisure Centre managed it and we were there for the events. However DH was not well and the gland which came up a year ago when we were on holiday was swollen again.
By the Monday morning he looked like he had three of Treacle’s tennis balls around his neck! We got him into the Doctors who said it was an infection and gave him medicine. He then had to go back in the evening to have his neck dressed!!! Tuesday Treacle was ill! She went to her Doctors and there was a bug going around in the dog and cat population so she had tablets! Eldest is still off with his shoulder and is at the Hospital today for an MRI! Now DH has a cold!
We also managed to go down from five cars to none as DH was at work, Eldest’s car needed some repairs and an MOT, Youngest car also needed some repairs so he had mine and Girlfriend had hers so I was left without transport for two weeks!
I am REALLY hoping that this is not going to be the trend for this year!!!!!
Anyway here are some more pictures of Christmas.
Girlfriend & Youngest Christmas morning!
Treacle Christmas morning.
Fiancé and Eldest Christmas afternoon.
Any more Presents Mom?
Stockings!
My very good friend Susan in Washington sent us some wonderful gifts. Here is Treacle with her new lead made by Susan’s Daughter. It is nice and long and glows in the dark too.
Susan also sent me some lovely quilty gifts and this wonderful calendar for the year and Tom some very useful torches for his Truck.
A new bag and planner.
A Christmas Dreamcatcher
Some wonderful quilting things. The tray is magnet and will help me from constantly dropping pins.
She also made me this wonderful table runner which is now in our dining room.
We also received some wonderful gifts from Sue and Molly in New York.
As you know Treacle loves opening presents.
Sue and Molly know how much we love Snoopy and sent Treacle a lovely new Snoopy Collar.
She also sent Treacle a softy Snoopy which she loves. I was hard pushed to give it to her but I do have a cuddly Snoopy too. Treacle loves her new softy.
Sue and Molly also sent Treacle some of Molly’s favourite treats and this wonderful woolly of an Airedale running. Sue does some wonderful work and it is now next to the mat she made for me with an Airedale on that too.
I also got some lovely chocolates.
I have sent emails to Susan and Sue & Molly to thank them so much for my wonderful gifts. We all had a really lovely Chirstmas & New Year.
I also know I did not get around to doing Book Club last week so will try and sort that out for tomorrow. Friday DH, Youngest, Girlfriend and I are off to London for the weekend so more pictures next week. Eldest decided to stay at home and look after Treacle for us.
I hope your start to January was a little easier than mine!!!!
Hugs, Susie xx
