Well for those of you who have followed me for a while know I love tennis and in particular Wimbledon.  I have been very lucky to have attended The Championships three times, once when I was at school, once when Eldest was three and the third time for my 40th Birthday.  That day we did not see any tennis at all as it rained all day but we had a lovely day with lunch in The Wingfield Restaurant and sat watching the World go by.

The Championships began on Monday this week and for the first time in its 148 years they no longer have line judges.  This means that all calls are being done via the computerised sensors in the ground and there are no challenges to any of the calls.  I suppose the idea is to make the games quicker so they are not stopping and waiting for calls to be assessed or arguments over a call.  I have watched three matches so far and I can honestly say the games seem soulless.  

I am also not up to speed with a lot of the players in both the women and men’s draws now after several of the players, who have been on the tour for years retired.  Again I think this is making it very flat.  

Finally the woman who has taken over from the great Sue Barker who now helms the show for the BBC is dreadful.  For many reasons she as a person ticks a lot of the woke boxes that the BBC like, so she gets all these jobs.  However she has no idea about tennis and whenever she speaks about tennis or interviews anyone her comments are inane and she loves the sound of her own voice, thus very irritating!  She originally started her career commentating on horse racing.

I will continue to watch a few of the matches but it is such a shame as it really is a highlight of the summer for me.

I have been at Eldest’s today working but got kicked out earlier than normal as he and Youngest are helping DH tonight at the Duck Race!  Although we are not sure how the Ducks are going to manage to float as the water is quite low due to the heat!  I think they are going to need to be encouraged!

Today has been cooler than the last two, which is a relief for everyone and it is about the same for the rest of the week, especially when I have home jobs to do tomorrow and a few extra jobs to do on Friday.  Saturday I will be at home dog sitting and there may be some rain during the day which is typical.  Sunday we are out to lunch with Youngest & Fiancé.  Next week will be busy with work and that weekend The Boys are away for their weekend away and us Girls are going to have a girly weekend.  Hopefully the weather will be good for them.

I hope you are having a good Wednesday, middle of the week. 

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

Here is Blaze to be your Lucky Black Cat for Friday June 13th!

Well we have made it to the end of the week and as usual I don’t think my feet touched the ground!!!  I am still checking the weather forecast every few hours and they are still saying some rain for tomorrow but I really hope not! 

I forgot to show you Jayne’s Birthday gift bag.  I managed to find it, of course, on Amazon but really liked it!  She loved her gifts!

DH & I belong to 41 Club and Tangent, these are the Clubs you move into at certain ages from Round Table and Ladies Circle!  I must admit with work, home things, swimming and everything else happening we have not been to any of the meetings for a while.  However each year I do the Directory for Tangent with names and details in, the Programme for the year, Past Chairmen etc.  It is not a big job as most of the details do not change and then it is just adding a few things and setting the programme out.  It only takes me about half an hour to do and it is my contribution to the Club as I have not had chance to go to any of the meetings.  Anyway I got these lovely flowers from the ladies for doing them this year.  They have been on my desk now for over a week and I just love them.  I especially love the Hydrangea but we cannot grow them in our garden as they do not like our soil at all. 

I will remember to get some pictures of the table and things of tomorrow’s dinner and everyone of course.  Sunday will be clear up day and again get some jobs done around our home and in the garden, so that we are on top of everything.  The week after my Birthday it is the start of Carnival in the village and there have already been two events early in the months as it is 100 years of Carnival in the Village.  As I say I will be getting on with the decluttering whilst DH is out at events and especially on Carnival Day.  The week after the main Carnival Day DH, Eldest & Youngest are heading off South for the Goodwood “Festival of Speed” and again we are keeping everything crossed that they will have a lovely dry day.  Fiancé, Partner, Little Man and myself are all getting together on Saturday to have a Girly day and Fiancé is coming to stay with me with Gordon & Blaze.  Coco will have her friends here for the weekend.  Again I will try and get pictures.

DH has one swimming event on the calendar on the Sunday after my Birthday but I can get some more quilting done.  In a change to our usual format for the Swimming Club our Club Championships have had to move due to Country and Regional Events being put on in October and November when we would normally host them.  So this year they are going to be on July 19th & 20th!  This is going to seem really strange!  On the Saturday evening they are also going to have a Club BBQ for all the swimmers and their parents etc but I will not be going to that.  Then the weekend after that we go away and I cannot wait!  So looking forward to being away and I don’t care what the weather does!

I cannot believe how fast the weeks are flying by!

Have a wonderful weekend whatever you lovely lot are up to and I will see you back here on Monday. 

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

The Cavendish Hotel at Baslow is where Jayne and I had Afternoon Tea.  This is where we have been for the last few years for our Christmas meal, so we decided to go in summer for our Birthdays meal!  DH and I have been for Afternoon Tea before here and it was lovely so I was quite happy to recommend it to Jayne.

This is the main Restaurant above.

The view from our Table and although onto the car park the view beyond is towards Chatsworth House and the park.

We got to sit in the main restaurant for Tea rather than the garden room, which is in the white conservatory in the hotel picture.

Jayne & I both had tea to drink.  You get a plate of finger sandwiches and a warm sausage roll.  Then warm scones, one fruit one plain, with jam and clotted cream. Finally a selection of pastires for afterwards which Jayne and I took home as we were both full after the sandwiches and scones.

It was also a lovely warm day and sitting by the window looking out was great although we had to have the blind down after a while as it was getting very warm!  Jayne’s Birthday is tomorrow and she will be going out for dinner with her family.  All my family are coming here on mine a week on Friday and we are having a take-away!

Eldest’s Partner’s Birthday is Sunday so we are really looking forward to dinner at home on Saturday night with us all including Little Man.  I am still keeping everything crossed that we will be able to eat outside, but at the moment it has some rain here in the afternoon.  However you know that they are not very good at predicting these things and I am really hoping they are wrong!  I will remember to get pictures whether we are inside or out!

I hope you are all having a lovely Thursday. 

Hugs & Love Susie, Jayne & Coco xxxx

I don’t know whether it is because the nights are getting lighter or because our weather is at the moment very nice and warm, but I am getting lots of jobs ticked off my very long lists.

However DH and I did have a bit of a slow weekend.  I think after, especially DH, we had such a busy February with a swimming meeting every weekend and then being really busy in March too, we need a few weekends where we are not doing a lot.  We did get to see our Boys and their other halves which is always great and we did get a few jobs done, but it was also nice to chill.

I have got a few Spring Cleaning Jobs done off the list and did clear out the dresser in our kitchen.  One or two things went to Youngest and I did recycle some other things and threw away one thing.  I am now moving on to the rest of the kitchen.  I am up to date with normal cleaning, washing and ironing which is always a bonus.  Over the weekend  we did go through our dressing room and sorted out the clothes, shoes and my handbags.  Two of my bags I gave to Partner & Fiancé who loved them.

This coming weekend is another long weekend for us in the UK and with DH now having Friday’s off we have four days in which to get some more decorating done.  This weekend we will be getting our main Bathroom painted which is actually only now one wall and the ceiling to paint, since we had the rest of the walls tiled when we renovated it.  The other room to be painted is Eldest’s which I am camping in for sewing.  It is the smallest of our rooms and it will be painted white, it also has a cupboard in it which will need painting too.

We have another long weekend at the end of May, again four days, and we will be decorating our room and dressing room.  We have not done our room for a long while so it is going to need two coats and I am keeping my fingers crossed that the nice weather continues as it dries quicker went it is warm.  We will be sleeping in our new guest room whilst we decorate our room and to make sure it is all ready for when the Boys and their other halves stay.  Coco has already been sleeping in there and I am sure she thinks it is her room really!!

Of course the garden is an ongoing project, now that the nice weather is here and DH did get the lawn mown at the weekend.  We have a few things which need pruning, which can be done at any time of the year, and also I have a few beds I need to re-do and put some new plants in.  That will be in a few weeks time.

I am still quilting and will show you when I can, but I am actually doing things, I just can’t show you just yet.

Yesterday I had visitors for lunch :

Little Man had a day out with Youngest & Fiancé and they came here for lunch.  It was so nice we ate outside which was a real treat. Today was even warmer, so I had my lunch outside and read my book, which is Jayne & I’s Book Club Book for this month. 

Tomorrow I am with Eldest at the Garage working and Thursday I am home with my home jobs to do and I have deliveries arriving for the guest bedroom.  It is going to be a hectic day I think!

I hope your week is going well. 

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

I always think of Wednesday as being one of those funny days.  We have got over Monday and Tuesday is usally getting sorted day for me and then Wednesday I am usually with Eldest but he is doing some more training for being an on-call firefighter, DH is there because of some work being carried out so there was no point in my going today, I will be going on Friday instead, so I had a “free” day!  Do you ever have those days and you think I will could do a million things and then end up doing nothing?  Well that was me today.

Over the last few days it has been really cold here and Coco, despite having quite a woolly coat at the moment, has been snuggling up and she did this, this morning so I did not get up as early as normal!  I got a lot of our work done yesterday so only had a bit to do today.  I could have done some quilting or some reading or got ahead with my home jobs but I really did not feel up to doing any of it!  I think sometimes you do need to rest and not do anything so decided that would be today and I have really benefitted from it.

Tomorrow is home jobs day and grocery shopping and then I will be at Eldest’s all day Friday.  Saturday I am going to get those extra home jobs done with DH’s help and then Sunday he is out all day so I can do more quilting and in between all that some reading too.  I am getting on well with Jayne’s and I book club book.

I did get all my washing & ironing done the other day but of course the pile is growing again as usual.  The weather tomorrow and Friday is due to be warm during the day and spring like and my daffodils are starting to flower as well as my winter violas which are looking great.  I will have to get some pictures to show you.

We have just over a week to go before we put our clocks forward an hour, which I actually hate.  I love having the light nights but hate losing that hour, I never seem to feel the same until the hour goes back in October!!!!

I hope you are all having a good day and middle of the week, Thursday tomorrow. 

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

Well the old saying of March comes in like a Lamb and goes out like a Lion is coming true here in the UK.  It was very mild and calm at the beginning of the month and after a quite warm weekend too, today has been very windy even though it is only the 10th day of the month.  After the warm weekend today has been a shock to the system as it is cold again and we are due for freezing temperatures at night all week too!

I am still without my vehicle as Eldest has repaired his but decided that now was the right time to sell it and get a different vehicle.  He no longer needs the truck as his work does not really require it and ovbviously with the growing family it would be better to get a bigger vehicle so he is going for a VW 4×4. It will mean that the children will have more room in the back with all three car seats in.  He and DH are going to look at one on Saturday so he is keeping mine until then.

The weekend changed from what was planned of course and Saturday DH was helping Eldest. We saw Youngest & Fiancé Friday night and Eldest, Partner & Little Man on Saturday night and then DH was out all day yesterday at swimming.  I did spend yesterday quilting and I will show you it when it is done.  My Engaement ring is back and they have made a wonderful job of it.  Please ignore my hand, this picture makes it look dreadful!!!  My wedding ring is my Mom’s, my engagement ring is in the middle and the top one is my Eternity ring which DH gave me on our Fifth wedding anniversary which has five stones in it; two rubbies and three diamonds.  We have taken two other rings in to them to get them cleaned and sorted; one was given to my Mom on her 21st Birthday and the other is my Grandmother’s ring.  I have plans for those later in the year.

This week work wise it another quiet one fortunately and on Thursday DH and I are going to visit a customer in North Wales.  We have known him for a lot of years and when he used to visit us when the Boys were small he used to help them with their homework whilst we were sorting out paperwork!!!  I am hoping that the weather is nice. 

I am having a new washing machine delivered on Friday when DH is at home.  Our old one is not that old, six years, but it has been heavily used by us all and I have found that on the white wash there are black oil marks appearing and it has now ruined one of DH’s shirts!  Obviously these marks could be appearing on the dark clothing but we can’t see it!!  DH thinks that a bearing is going and it is throwing oil into the machine when it is washing.  We looked at getting it repaired but with the call out fee, the possible price of the part, if they can fix it, and then another visit it could almost amount to the price of a new machine which of course has a three year guarantee on.  SO we decided to buy a new one.

Saturday night we have the final round of the swimming league that our Club is in at the local pool which I will be helping with.  Sunday DH is out all day again at the big pool for another event so I will be quilting again.  This week and next Eldest is doing some more blue light training so we are keeping an eye at the garage then the following weekend I am hoping to get some home jobs done on the Saturday and then Sunday DH has another swimming event so I will get another quilting day in.

My sewing things before Eldest came home!  I will have to get some pictures of the room now but it needs a good Spring Clean and does need painting too.  But the set up is more or less the same.

DH did suggest that I move all my sewing things into Youngest’s room now they have gone and then set this room up as the guest room.  Youngest’s room is bigger but that means more furniture needed, but I do like the smaller room as it is very cosy.  We could get a double bed in here as Eldest had a king size bed but then it does not leave much room for any other furniture.  So I think we will leave it as Youngest’s will be the guest room and I will have this for my sewing room.  However we know that as soon as the guest room is all sorted it will actually be Coco’s room!!!

Little Miss Floof likes the chair in here anyway!!  Speaking of Floof she needs a spa day but it has been and is going to be so cold I am putting it off, hoping that it will get a little warmer soon. Easter is usually when we start sorting the garden out after Winter but we are going to paint Youngest’s room so we can get that sorted.  We really need to paint Eldest’s room and ours as well so perhaps we can get that all done during the Bank Holidays this year.  If all goes well we may be able to get some gardening done during the Easter long weekend too.

Two pictures of Little Man.  Above in Grandad’s Truck.  Little Man loves buttons so he had all of Grandad’s emergency lights going!!!

If that is not a cheaky little face I don’t know what is!!!!  Waiting for food at their treat dinner of McDonalds.

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

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

I know we say that the weeks fly by but so do the weekends!  We all had a busy one; DH was out on Friday setting up for Saturday’s swimming competition and then out early on Saturday for the day.  I spent the day doing home jobs, the washing & ironing and shopping, got to bed late and then up early again Sunday morning as they were all with us for Sunday dinner for Fiancé’s Birthday.  They all went home about 4.00pm, DH cleared up and I cleaned, again, we had some tea and were shattered!

The Girls are on half term holiday this week, when all the other schools were off last week, because of the Shrove Tide Match in Ashbourne on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.  A football match which runs up and down the main road of Ashbourne centre and to the outskirts and takes place over the two days.  It is for those born in Ashbourne above and below the river and they are known as the Uppers and the Downers.  I always have to make sure when I go to Eldest’s work I go the main road way avoiding the town centre which is completely closed off.

This week is relatively quiet, which makes a change, although DH is at another swimming event, on Sunday this time.  I will be quilting again.  Tomorrow Jayne and I are out for lunch which will be lovely as I have not seen her since January due to us both not being able to make it in February.  I will tell you all about that afterwards.

Little Man has taken to his cot and loves it.  The “sleeping bag” he is in is a great invention as it keeps their body and legs warm. I remember when Eldest was in this very cot and you used to put the blankets on him but by the morning they were in one corner and he was in the other!  I put him in baby grows for quite a while to keep him warm!  On the back of the cot is Little Man’s first quilt I made for him.

He also loves dinner time and is starting to use his spoon but hands are still preferred at the moment!

As you can see it has been very frosty over the last few days, although it is due to get a little warmer later this week.  This is Coco’s preferred spot at the moment.  This is where the Boys den used to be and we removed it and at the moment it is being called Coco’s Platform, she could run for Government!!!!!

Have a wonderful week you lovely lot. 

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx