This little chap is celebrating his 75th Birthday!!!!
His creator, The Rev. Wilbert Awdry, released the Thomas story in his Railway Series but soon became the favourite along with Gordon, Edward and Henry. He originally created the story for his son, Christopher, as a bed time story when he was at home with measles.
Needless to say both of our Boys adored the books and eventually the DVDs’ and more often than not the bed time stories were one of the Thomas stories. In fact they both have a huge book full of the stories and the original drawings.
We are very lucky where we live to have a steam railway near and they host Thomas The Tank Engine Days regularly during the year and we always went. Here are the Boys with Thomas. Eldest is 10 and Youngest is 6. In fact Eldest actually spent his third Birthay at a Thomas day at the railway!
Even when they were older and we were visiting the steam railway for another event they could not resist getting into the toy Thomas on the platform!
Above is the model railway they both had in their bedroom when they were young and they played for hours with it.
This was taken at the next station along on the steam railway line and we just love the old fashioned style of it.
So Happy Birthday Thomas The Tank Engine, you are looking good for 75.
Stay Safe All. Hopefully we will be able to go to the Steam Railway again very soon.
It has been doing this all day today, I have got very wet everytime I have been out!
So Mom has been working at her desk today and I have been extremely busy helping from my basket next to her desk.
It has also been very cold. Mom did put the heating back on yesterday but Eldest switched it off again last night so when Mom and I got up at 5.00am it was really cold again!! Eldest did not get up that early and the heating controller is in his room so Mom was not able to switch it back on until he was up!!! Mom put my blanket over me to keep me warm.
I am hoping that the rain will stop by the weekend and I can be outside all day!!!
I have been working at my desk all day today, Treacle has been busy helping by being in her basket with me in our Den! It has been raining all day, the garden does need it but is cold again, such a difference to the last few weeks, hey ho! I have also put our heating back on, because of sitting at my desk it is really cold!!!!
These two delivered the trollies to the hospital today and they were very impressed with the face masks and the gloves they wore!! I have made another three today and will make some more tomorrow as spares.
It is National Gardening Week this week, don’t know if we will be able to get in the garden though as it is due to rain all week!!! I have some other jobs to do which won’t take too long, I may try and get them done between the showers.
I cannot believe that we are at the end of April. It certainly has been a very strange month and although we have been busy and done lots around our home etc I also feel that we have almost sleep walked through the month!!! It will also mean that four months of the year have gone. We certainly won’t be forgetting 2020 in a hurry!!!
Tomorrow I have some work to finish in the morning and then am going to get some other jobs done in the afternoon. I am trying to split the days up to keep them from running into each other!!!!!
Don’t tell anyone but I went out in my car today!!!!! It was only in our village and it was to collect a business thing!!!! But my car definitely needed a run as it has not been out for six weeks!!!! I duly collected said parts and got back before anyone noticed. To say I felt like a criminal being out is an understatement!!!!
Over the weekend we finished cleaning the machines, including the oven!!! So that concludes this year’s Spring Cleaning!!! DH and Eldest also got the garage tidy, as we had cleared it out two years ago but it had just gotten messy. Next weekend we are tackling the attic, again tidying rather than clearing out, which we did last year! We went round the garden as well on Saturday doing odd little bits and trimmed the two big trees.
We had glorious weather again over the weekend with warm temperatures but today has reverted back to normal April temps and it is cool again and we are due rain showers all week, so definitely April weather. I hope the nice weather does come back soon though as it has made the Lockdown so much more tolerable.
It looks as if we are still going to be in Lockdown for the next two weeks, although they think we are coming out of the peak now but to try and save a double spike, although we do need to get back to work asap. DH and Eldest are delivering trolleys to an NHS hospital tomorrow.
Yesterday whilst they were playing in the garage I made them two facemasks for tomorrow and with a little bit of adapting of the pattern by me, got them to fit better so I will be using that now to make more. I also repaired a pair of jogging bottoms for Eldest, Teddy for Treacle and put a new zip in some jodhpurs for Girlfriend! I now remember why I hate dressmaking!!! I am also in the process of sewing on all of Youngest’s Scout Badges from his shirt onto his Camp blanket. He left Scouts in 2014 and I took off all the badges from the shirt then and they have been stored in my sewing box since!!!! Anyway I am now getting it done!!
I then have a binding to sew down on a quilt I made ages ago, the original binding was terrible, so I took it off and put a new one on. Then I have some actual quilting to do on some tops I made last year and have not gotten around to doing!!! That’s all the quilting so far. I will show you as I progress.
I spoke to the ladies at Treacle’s Spa today and they are, of course, not working at the moment but I have added her to their ever-growing list, so when they are open again she will get an appointment. Over the weekend when it was warm she was seeking shade but loves it today as it is a lot cooler! The same cannot be said for our hair at the moment. I would not tackle Youngest’s ever, his hair grows like Topsy and is very thick, Eldest has his hair as short as short can be but does not trust me with the clippers (!) and DH is trusting me to just cut the back of his hair to stop it irritating him with his shirt collar!! Mine? I keep “trimming” my fringe but that’s it and I have not had it cut since December (!) Goodness knows how long it will get. The other problem is the (grey). I don’t colour all my hair but have highlights, which are now growing out!!! Do I get a semi-permanent colour just to tide me over or leave it and wait for my hairdresser to go back to work? However they are saying that hairdressers may not be back at work for another six months!!!! Oh good grief!!!!! I will be back to age 14 and sitting on my hair like then!!!!!
I hope you all had a good weekend as we begin Week 6 of Lockdown.
Today is St. George’s Day, Patron Saint of England.
There are various histories about the legend of St George all of which seem to conflict each other but most say he was a warrior who refused to renounce his Christian faith. He slayed the Dragon who was about to eat the King’s daughter and when the King showered him with wealth for saving her, St George gave it all away to the poor. This apparently did not happen in England but Libya but we seem to have adopted him as our Patron Saint along with several other countries!!!!! Anyway it makes a good story.
To be honest I have always been fascinated by dragon stories and loved the ones in the Harry Potter books. I imagine the one St George killed looking like the one above from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire!!! Who doesn’t love Toothless in How to Train your Dragon!!!! Don’t we all want to be Mother of Dragons?!!!!!!
Yesterday it was Her Majesty’s 94th Birthday, Many Happy Returns Ma’am.
Today is Earth Day! It has been a lovely warm day here in Derbyshire and I know many will say that it is because of Global Warming that we are having such a warm April but at the moment, during Lockdown, I am so grateful for the sunshine!
This week is National Secretaries’ Week! Give your Secretary a “hug” (social distancing in mind of course!!!)
I have finished the big part of the Spring Cleaning, all I have left to do is clean the machines!!! Sounds horrendous doesn’t it!!! I mean the washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher, fridge, freezer and the oven!!! Everything in the house has been washed, dusted and cleaned to within an inch of its life!!!! I have even got all the curtains washed, ironed and put back up!!!!
I can now get on with some nice jobs!! I mean quilting and getting on with the Boys memory books and we still have two weeks of Lockdown to go!!! I must say it will be interesting to see how we actually start to get back to normal. There is so much going around about phased returns, so it definitely won’t be May 11th off we go and they still think we will have to still social distance so who knows how we will get back to normal if we ever do! People are also saying that they may be scared to actually go out again after so long!!!!
We are due to have warm weather tomorrow, Friday and Saturday and then a little cooler again on Sunday so we will be able to get the garden done and DH and Eldest are going to have ago at tidying the garage and attic!!! I will have to go around and photograph each room, garage, attic, drive, garden etc because I don’t think it will ever be like this again!!!!!!
I hope everyone is okay and coping with the situation. Stay safe.
Hugs & Love, Susie xxx
Your Daily Treacle, Playing ball in the sunshine!!!!
We almost, but not quite, got the Spring Cleaning finished at the weekend!!! We only had the dining room, sitting room, laundry, downstairs bathroom and kitchen to do and we were doing okay until DH had to go out and get some parts which were ready earlier than normal!! That meant we lost a day so Saturday and Sunday we got the dining room and sitting room done so I am going to do the rest this week!!! We are still in Lockdown so it is not really a hardship to do it in between working!!!!
The weather was quite strange over the weekend too; it rained all day Saturday and was realllllly cold!!! Sunday it was bright sunshine but not that warm. Today it has been lovely and sunny again and a bit warmer and over the week it is going to get warmer again!!! I think that at least with the sunshine out it is making this Lockdown feel a little bit easier!!
Here is your Daily Treacle! She is sat outside Eldest’s room waiting for him to get up!!!
I got up with DH this morning at 4.45am and got my work done and then started some of the cleaning jobs!! I have managed to get all the pots out of the dresser in the dining room run through the dishwasher and those that can’t go in I have hand washed. When Eldest was up and had breakfast he cleaned all the silver, brass and copper for me so another job off the list!!!! The laundry and downstairs bathroom will be easy to do but the kitchen always seems to take the longest to do!!!!
We are keeping up with the garden and doing odd bits here and there and some of the seeds I have planted are growing!!! DH and Eldest are going to tidy the garage at the weekend and then we have to just tidy the attic!!! We cleared it out this time last year and it just needs a quick tidy up. I always take our vacuum cleaner up there and get the cobwebs up and any creepy crawlies I find!!!
I only then have to wash three pairs of curtains and some cushion covers and get them out on the line at the end of the week when it is warm and it will then all be done!!! I don’t think I have ever got all my jobs done this early in the year ever, so in that sense the Lockdown has done me a favour!!!! Of course I can always find other jobs, some of the rooms could do with decorating but we don’t have the paint for that but maybe we can get those done later in the year!!!!!!! 🙂
When I have finished the cleaning this week I will then get my quilting out and take some pictures to show you what I am up to.
We definitely have restrictions now for another three weeks and hopefully by then we will have some idea of how we actually start to get back to some sort of normal, although they are saying that we shall still have to social distance which for DH and I is not going to be a problem how we work but the Boys may have to begin working shifts as they cannot all be at work at the same time. One thing is for sure it will be a different World after all of this.
It has been another lovely Spring day here in Derbyshire although cooler than recent days and the garden is getting very green now. DH has been out today collecting some parts and Eldest has been detailing his car. He did wash and polish mine and his Dad’s too!
Over the weekend I am hoping to get the Spring Cleaning finished and then over the next three weeks of lockdown get some quilting done. Yes I know now don’t faint, a quilting blog with some actual quilting on it!!!!!!!! 🙂
Here is your daily Treacle!!!! This was the other day when it was sunny and she was sunbathing on our bed!!!! The look says “what do you mean I can’t be on the bed?”!!!!
I have also had some new followers over the past weeks. Thank you for following and Welcome to my Blog. I hope you find some fun and friendship here, whilst we are all staying home.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend and stay safe all.
Ten years ago we were in Florida for the Easter holidays. It was also the year that big volcano in Iceland gave us an extra ten days!!!! Here are a few of the pictures from that holiday. I would love to be there now with DH and the Boys!!!!!
The second day after we arrived the last night shuttle launch happened so we went to see it. This was after the launch at about 4.00am!!! As you can see the Boys looked a little tired!!!!
Eldest waiting to go on Thunder Mountain.
Youngest waiting for Thunder Mountain.
Above waiting to go on the Pirates of the Carribean Ride.
Sat waiting for the Parade in Magic Kingdom.
The Fire Works at the end of the evening at Magic Kingdom.
On the ride into the park.
Any car doesn’t matter how old and the Boys are there!
Waiting for the fireworks at Epcot.
On the ferry boat to the Magic Kindom.
NASA Day!
Discovery Cove Day above.
Our pool at the villa. Swimming has always been a big thing for the Boys.
We went to see the Tampa Bay Rays and they were playing The New York Yankies!!!
Fort Christmas.
And a little bit of quilting, as this is supposed to be a quilting blog!!! This was the year I bought some fabric and quilting things and started my quilting journey!!! This wedding ring quilt was in one of the cabins at Fort Christmas showing how they did the quilting by hand.
We had an amazing three weeks and some great family memories.
I hope your Thursday is going well and stay safe. It looks like we have another three weeks of Lockdown!!!
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