Where has 25 years gone?  A day I will always remember.  Eldest was six and Youngest was almost two, Eldest was at school and Youngest at home with me and I was working as usual and he had been watching Thomas The Tank Engine on the TV when he told me that there was something wrong.  I checked and the news was scrolling at the bottom of his show.  I distracted him with some books and turned the TV to BBC News and it was there.  DH got home about an hour later and we just watched it all unfold.  It was our generations “where were you when …….”, our parents had been when JFK was shot or the moon landings and before that the abdication of King Edward VIII.

I am sure for all the families who lost loved ones on that day it only seems like yesterday but whether it is one month, one year or twenty five we will always remember.

Susie xx

Apparently now this is what the next four months is being called, The “BER” months!!!  and yes September 1st the start of Autumn although I am not sure I want to say goodbye to Summer just yet!.

Autumn

“Don’t you love New York in the Fall?  It makes me want to buy school supplies.  I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address”

Nora Ephron from my Favourite Film “You’ve Got Mail”

In fact I have seen quite a few Instagram posts about films to watch as we go into Autumn and this one and my other favourite film, “When Harry Met Sally”, are on the list!  I have not had chance yet to get all our Autumn decor out but will do this week.  DH and I spent the long weekend doing a few jobs but also had a chill day too.  I sometimes think that you need to have a purposeful chill day, otherwise you just spend all your spare time doing those jobs.  Yes I still have a load of jobs to do and could probably find about ten more to add to my ever growing list, but we also need the downtime too.  

DH and I are having a steady work week, missing one day of course, although we were at our Accountants this morning.  This coming weekend and next week are going to be very busy though as Little Man is coming to stay for the week!  Eldest & Partner are going away for the week, something they have never done before and so we have the joy of looking after Little Man.  Now I have not looked after a two and a half year old for twenty five years so that is going to be interesting.  DH is going to also be working from home that week to help out and to be honest, and I am sure there are other Grandmother’s out there who know this, Little Man prefers Grandad over all of us, except Coco!!!!  I will let you know how we get on.  Not sure how Mummy is going to cope though?!!!!!  Also Honey their dog is coming to stay too!  Oh boy.

©Dolly Parton Instagram Account

I have also been reading and seeing a lot about Dolly Parton over the last week and particularly about her sayings which I hope that someone puts into a book if they have not already done so.  One of my favourites is “It takes a lot of money to look this cheap”!  Just love that one and I have also seen a lot of tributes to her and so :

“I tumbled out of bed and stumbled to the Kitchen, poured myself a cup of ambition, yawned and stretched and tried to come to life.  Jumped in the shower and the blood started pumpin’, out on the street, the traffic started jumpin’, with folks like me on the job from 9 to 5”

When this film came out in 1980, I actually started work in 1981 and worked 9 to 5 at a Lawyer’s office and it was very similar to the film in that you really did not move on up you just stayed in the job you were employed to do!!!  I loved the film and have this song, along with many others of Dolly’s, on my phone.  Not only was she a great singer/songwriter her charity work especially with the Imagination Library, another great love of mine books, has done so much for so many.  She will really be missed.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and a good week to some and I will try and get some pictures of my Fall decor and the garden too.  Also will update my reading lists here soon as well. 

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

 

As we have had quite a few periods of hot weather here in the UK, which is unusual for us, our gardens and more particularly the land has become very dry.  The last time it was like this in the UK was 1976 which I remember very well.  I was at Senior School and I remember walking to and from school and everywhere looked like a desert, especially our school playing fields where the grass disappeared and the ground started to crack through lack of water.

It has certainly been brown and dry but not quite ground cracking yet.  It has also meant that around the country our Fire Services have been dealing with a lot of Moorland fires and fires that have started on land which is very dry.  Eldest was out a lot with his Station on a big Moorland fire in the Peak District and then just before we all went away, at a big farm where their entire hay and straw bales went up.  

Around the country there have been a few other Moorland fires and sadly one fire got out of hand and did destroy some homes which is, of course, devastating for the home owners.  Several farmers have had crops set on fire too and of course this is their livelihood.  Some of these fires have been from careless use of BBQ’s and discarding of rubbish.  If they are caught they are now being fined.  

So Thank You to all Firefighters, Forestry Workers, Mountain Rescue Teams, Land Agents, Farmers and people who have provided support be it with help fighting the fires, food and drinks and clearing up afterwards.  In a normal year Eldest’s call outs are pretty steady but they have been doing double duty this summer.  

It just shows you how different our weather can be, because at the start of 2026 we had fifty days of rain from January into February.  We thought then that we would never see the sun again!!!!  

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

©Dolly Parton Instagram Account

It has just been announced that the great Dolly Parton has passed away at the age of 80.  I think we all have one of her songs that we like and mine was “9 to 5”.  In my early career I was a secretary so this song was very apt. 

Rest in Peace.  

Susie x

 

Sorry for the radio silence over the last month, it has been a bit of a roller-coaster!  June is always a busy month anyway but this year it seemed to go mad.  May is our business  year end so I have to do a lot of work to close the previous year off and get the new year up and running.   We have had swimming competitions for both myself and DH which has been busy and next week we have an SGM meeting which is to discuss and vote on the future of the Club and how we move forward and as you can imagine this has created a lot more paperwork, emails etc. 

 I continued with my Spring Cleaning, although we were in the first month of summer, with help from DH doing Eldest’s garage.  I had not done it for two years due to waiting for my Hip Op and it definitely needed doing.  We were quite grimy when we had finished but it did look better.

I have been keeping up with our work and Eldest’s work which is one good thing, although I have not had any opportunity to do any quilting.  Although I have been reading in between work, home jobs and everything else.

Last week was HOT, no way to describe how hot it actually was.  It hit 37°C in parts of the UK and 34°C here in Derbyshire and 29°C in our den where Coco and I spend our days!!!  I got up very early every day and worked in the morning and then gave up by lunch and sat outside until it got too warm and then our sitting room which is at the front of our home and a little cooler.  Our homes in the UK are not built/set up for this type of weather.  We are so used to keeping the heat in during the cold months so in this heat our homes get hot and then we cannot cool them and of course we do not have air conditioning!  It is a cool 23°C this week but getting warm again next.  Of course people in the UK are never happy unless we are discussing or moaning about the weather, it is a National pastime!!!  

We have also been dealing with some other things which I won’t go into here but it has been, along with everything else, a lot.  

One of the nice things I did in June, Jayne and I went out for Afternoon Tea for our Birthdays.  We went to The Cavendish Hotel at Baslow, https://cavendishhotelbaslow.co.uk/, Derbyshire where Jayne and I go for our Christmas celebrations too.   The above is The Gallery Restaurant at The Cavendish and Jayne and I sat at the table in the window.  The Afternoon Tea was lovely

It was a Big Birthday for Jayne (!)  The sandwiches and sausage rolls were lovely and the cakes, well as you can see wonderful.  We had a glass of champagne to celebrate Jayne and then moved to tea.  

We also had Partner’s Birthday three days after Jayne’s and five days before mine!  I told you it was busy. 

In fact I was thoroughly spoilt for my Birthday with dinner, again at The Cavendish, on the Friday with DH.  The dinner was lovely and as it is June it was sunny and warm when we got there and slowly moved to dusk and then full dark.  The last picture is Chatsworth in the distance all lit up for the evening.  

On my Birthday I went out for lunch with Eldest and crew to The Hug & Heave, https://www.thehugandheave.co.uk/  in Ashbourne.  This is owned by one of the Firefighters and family in Eldest’s Station and it is run entirely by them too.  The food is excellent and it is very cosy inside even though it was a very warm day.  Then in the evening we had to go to Matlock pool to set up an event that DH was commentating at on the Sunday.

Sunday I got to see Youngest & crew which was great and we got to sit outside for lunch as it was lovely and warm again.  DH was doing the event and getting very warm as you can imagine in spectator area of the swimming pool.  It was also Father’s Day and DH had some lovely gifts and I gave him this:

A large pork pie from Fortnum & Mason, a link to his family past and it was very good.  I will be ordering one for Christmas.

Coco was taken for a Spa day and I am so pleased I got her clipped before the hot weather last week.  However DH mowed the lawn one weekend and that evening Coco did nothing but sneeze and scratch at her back, neck and anywhere else she could reach!!!  Off to the Vets she went and apparently this is a common thing for dogs this year, it appears that there is a lot more pollen this year than normal and lots of dogs who have not been affected previously have got a canine hay-fever!  As we had taken her in straight away she was not too bad but has now got tablets, which did work straight away and stopped her scratching.  

On the way to the Vets in Daddy’s truck!  

When we were on our way to the swimming pool on my Birthday we called in at home to just put something into the garage and did not need to go into our home.  Someone was not happy and this is the face that appeared at the dining room window:

She pokes her head through the curtains, which are drawn to keep it cool in the house, and looks out!!!!  Little monkey! 

Sunday was the start of Carnival in the village, the above picture was from  2015, but it is as always a frantic week.  Monday was The Dog Show and Junior Football.  

Top picture is DH and The Carnival Queen for this year, Erin, at The Dog Show and The Best in Show winner was Gentleman Jack, an Airedale!  Monday evening was also Junior Football and last night it was the turn of The Senior Football teams.  Tuesday evening is also the walking Treasure Hunt around the village.  It started with rain but cleared up quickly for all those attending. 

Tonight it is the annual Duck Race in Bottle Brook which runs through our village.  DH is, as always, commentating and Eldest is helping, although this year Youngest cannot.

These are My Boys from last year. 

It is always a manic week.  This coming Sunday is supposed to be a day off but we have to go to Eldest’s work for me to do all the paperwork and we have some home jobs to get done too because next week is going to be even busier. 

Monday DH is going to a work colleague’s funeral.  We have known him for a long time and he had had some medical issues and sadly passed away two weeks ago.  In the evening we have the SGM meeting for Swimming which we are doing over Teams which will help as emotions are running high on this subject.  Tuesday will be another busy day and I will be thinking about a very good friend who has to visit the hospital for some assessments.  Wednesday I have to go and get a chocolate cake for the swimming Head Coach as it is  his 30th Birthday a week on Sunday so the Club want to present him with a cake and card etc but I have to take it up on Wednesday to swimming as DH and I may not make it to the presentation which is happening on Thursday evening as we are out all day on Thursday at a wedding!  We are hoping to get there as the wedding is during the day.  Friday DH and The Boys are going down to Goodwood as it is The Festival of Speed weekend and they are there on the Saturday!  I will be going over to see Partner and Little Man on the Saturday evening.  Of course at the present moment I am still car-less as Eldest still has mine as his is currently being fixed and we are both hoping it will be done by next week.

So that rounds off next week as well.  I think the following week I will need Monday off to recover!!!!

Wimbledon started on Monday and I have been enjoying watching the tennis although I do not know many of the players names this year!  This coming Sunday is also the Formula 1 Grand Prix at Silverstone in the UK so again very busy weekend.

I hope you have enjoyed this catch up of the last month and I will get around to doing a catchup on Susie’s Book Club Friday too at the end of the week.  Happy Wednesday you lovely lot.

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

Today has been a lot cooler than yesterday!  In our Den yesterday it hit 28°C and it was about 34°C outside.  Coco stayed in her crate much of the day as it is cool in there.

Although cooler it has been very sunny again so I have taken the opportunity to get a lot of washing done and out on my line to dry in the sunshine, particularly curtains, throws, cushion covers etc.  This is the last of the Spring Cleaning and I still have Miss Coco’s bedding and throws to do, the door mat from our back door and then tomorrow all the bedding and towels.  

The worst bit of the extreme heat is knowing what to eat for dinner!  Cooking hot food is just awful and I hate to say it but I get so tired of just salad!!!  I did sweet and sour chicken and rice last night which was quick.  Tonight  will probably be Spaghetti Bolognese.  Tomorrow is again going to be 30°C so I will be getting up early and doing all my jobs before it gets too hot and then have a chill.  Friday, Saturday and Sunday is warm but cooler again and then Sunday evening into Monday and Tuesday we will have some rain.  However this is what it is like in the UK swinging between really hot and then rain!!!

Friday I will be at Eldest’s doing his work and hopefully his car is going to be sorted soon and I will get mine back.  At this rate I will have forgotten how to drive!!!  The weekend will be sorting out the final jobs, one of which is to clean our patio and get the outside furniture out.  Of course doing that will ensure that the weather is not good when we are able to sit outside!

I am continuing to read this but so far it is quite slow!  I will probably finish it but not so sure about it!!!

Happy Wednesday half way through the week. 

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

You think you are going to have a quiet week where you can get lots done and then the Universe decides you need some more challenges!  On Saturday the Plumber arrived to service our boiler and check the gauge but he could not get it to start again!  The makers of the boiler had to come out and try and fix it and they could not come until today, so we had no heating and no hot water!  DH decamped to a hotel on Sunday evening next door to where his customer visit was in the Lake District and Coco and I hunkered down at home.  

Sunday was a lovely warm day again so we got more jobs done in the garden.  Below we have planted four plants behind the deck at the top of  our garden and they are all evergreen so will look really good against the fence once they grow a little bit. 

So because we had no hot water and heating we were not able to have our friends round for dinner but we went out to the local pub instead for a meal.  It was a lovely evening, we had a good catch up as we had not seen them since Christmas.  

This week and weekend is going to be Spring Cleaning as we have a three day weekend so we can get a lot done.  We are babysitting Little Man on Friday as his Mummy and Daddy are going out on a Date Night to see the new movie “Michael”.  Saturday, Sunday and Monday will be busy though. 

Tomorrow I have to get all my washing and ironing done as the engineer is coming to fix the washing machine on Thursday!  I told you it was one of those weeks.  Thursday I will be getting my home jobs done as well because Friday day we are at Eldest’s doing his work.  

This Friday I will do our Friday Book Club, sorry it’s late, the flip side is that I have read more books!!! 

Happy Tuesday you lovely lot.  Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco  xx

This was Monday morning, Coco did not want to get up!!!!

Yesterday was Earth Day 2026

It is lovely and sunny here although this picuture does not do justic to it.

Happy Belated Earth Day!

Little Miss Coco has an appointment with her Doctor’s tomorrow for her annual check up and booster injections! She will love being out with Daddy but not so happy after her injections!!!

I am out at Eldest’s work tomorrow, I have been doing Home jobs here today, as well as our work and then at the weekend we are going to get some of our Spring cleaning done and Saturday evening we have friends coming for dinner. Sunday will be another day for Spring cleaning!  The weather over the next few days is going to be lovely and sunny and warm during the day but cold at night, so much so that we will be scraping the truck windows in the morning and no doubt have the heating on in the evening!  It is just that time of year!!!!!

The only bit of social media I take part in, besdies my Blog, is Instagram and I am very mindful of who I follow.  However one account is about health and they had a post the other day about people waking up between 2.0am and 4.00am every night.  For anyone who has followed me for a while knows that I go through periods of this and then it stops for no reason.  I do the same things most days so have never understood why I go through these periods and put it down to Menopause etc.  Anyway they said it was because the brain should be resting and repairing itself during the night but people who wake up, their brain is in threat-scanning mode, replaying what has happened during the day, what is going on tomorrow etc.

They came up with a technique.  If you wake up, lie there and think about random numbers not in order so :  34, 98 2, 54, 12 etc.  Doesn’t matter what numbers they are so long as they are random and you think them do not same them. You can also think of random things; Train, chair, suitcase etc.  What this does is interrupt the brain’s default mode, by focusing on random meaningless input, you give your brain nothing to analyse or worry about. It therefore calms down, feels safe and sleep occurs.  

Over the last few days I have tried this when I have woken up.  I have not looked at my clock or my phone and just lay there with my eyes closed and did the number count and do you know?  It worked!  So I am going to do this every time now.  The only thing I have noticed over the last two days is that I have worken up in the morning when our alarm has gone off feeling tired, but I have put this down to catching up on sleep!!!! I will let you know how it goes!

Happy Thursday you Lovely Lot.  Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

Today would have been the 100th Birthday of the Late Queen, Elizabeth II.   I am sure if she was still here she would be appalled at some of the things which are happening around the World!

DH and I got some more jobs done in the garden on Sunday last when it was quite nice and warm.  I am very much a fair weather gardener!  The bed on the right is where we took out the large box bush and several other bushes that were not doing well.  It is something I have wanted to do for a while but not got around to it.  The bed on the left has also had an upgrade and we have put some new plants in there too.

As my hip was so bad last year I did not put any veg in to my bed or the bags but this year I have.  So far we have tomato plants in the veg bed, brocolli in the left two bags, strawbery plants in the right hand two bags and onions in the one on the step.  In the pots behind there are two miniture apple trees and a miniture pear tree and I still have some other things to put in.  

I have also put some seeds in my grow house in the hope that they do well, so far there are signs that they are growing although it is still a little cool at the moment.

The bit of warm weather we have had has greened up the garden nicely and the cherry tree is looking great after its trim in the Autumn. 

We did trim the conifers at the bottom a little bit much to Coco’s annoyance as that was her hidy hole!!!!

The Rhododendron at the top of the garden is beginning to come out and I am sure will look great when it does.

My Spring cleaning has been put on hold as we were doing the garden whilst it was nice, but this weekend I am going to get all of upstairs done, as well as our Den and the Kitchen & Laundry.   Next weekend we have a long weekend so should be able to get our Dining room done and the Sitting room which takes all day as we have all the bookshelves to do.  So by the end of that weekend it should be completed.  I will still have things to wash; curtains, cushions, pillows etc  but am going to do those when I can hang them outside.  Then we have the Garage and Attic to tidy and our cars to do, the front garden to tiday and then Spring cleaning will be done.

I had a check up yesterday at the Hospital for my eye and things are getting there and although I was hoping to be discharged yesterday I have to go back again in four weeks and I also have eye drops again!  He is now thinking of doing my right eye to help with the vision in that one (!) but it will not be the same operation fortunately!  

Today should have been Coco’s Corner but she has been having too much fun outside now the weather is picking up!  This look says you have taken my hidy hole away!!!!!  

I hope you are all having a great week.  Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx