Category Archives: Our Family

It is what it says – our Family!

Christmas Has Arrived!

Yesterday DH, Eldest, Girlfriend, The Girls and I went to Great Central Railway in Loughborough to see Santa on the steam train. Fortunately the day was clear and sunny when we arrived although it got misty as evening came on.

This is the Ticket Office and entrance to the Rails.

The Signal and Porters Lodge

We went and looked at the Museum

The four of them stood by The Station Master’s Office.

On the Train waiting to leave.

Eldest & Girlfriend.

Parcels waiting on the Station.

Eldest & Girlfriend’s Youngest.

Santa arrived and brought a gift for both Girls.

The Cafe at Rothley Station.

The decorations in the garage which had twinkling lights.

Santa and The Girls.

Picture Time.

On our way back to Loughborough and it was getting dark so the lights were all very bright.

Here are Eldest & Youngest with Santa from 2007. Eldest was 12 and Youngest Eight, on the very same steam train!

We all had a lovely day and came home and had Lasagna & Salad for dinner.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and great week to come. December at the end of this week and then the next few weeks to Christmas will fly by!!!!

Hugs & Love, Susie xxx

Coco’s Corner & Another Tuesday!

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You will never guess what happened to me a week ago? I was taken to my Doctors and my Hoomans left me! They came and fetched me in the evening and in between something happened! (Coco you went to be spayed). Then I had to wear this blow up collar thing (Coco it is much better than the cone of shame the Vets give you). I then got taken back to my Doctors yesterday and they examined me all over again and declared I was well and truly well and I did not have to wear the collar any more! I do not want to do that again! (Don’t worry Coco you won’t have to do that again!).

It has been very wet here and so I have not been out as much and especially after the Doctor’s visit but I have had chance to lounge in my bed and snuggle! There is more rain forecast for the rest of the week too so I won’t be moving much. At the weekend we had a home full with Eldest, Youngest their partners and the Girls as well as Mom and Dad. I had great fun with them all.

Mom is waiting to take me to the Spa now for a few weeks and trying to time it with Christmas coming up! Can’t wait for my Spa day!

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I cannot believe where the days are going to. No sooner do I get up in the morning on Monday I find it is Friday evening and another week has flown by! I know we are busy but it is getting a bit silly. I have had a cold over the last few days, and felt quite drained but still working. Last Friday we went out with friends for dinner and the restaurant was okay but extremely busy and very noisy so it was hard to talk! Saturday everyone was at home as it was DH’s Birthday on Sunday, but he was going to be out at a swimming event so we had dinner on Saturday evening. It was great night.

It is a quiet business week this week, which has meant I have been able to get some other jobs done too. DH was supposed to be at the Borough Firework display this weekend but they have had to cancel it due to all the rain we have had and still to come, so the ground is water logged and it would not be safe.

Happy Halloween!

Today is Halloween and it is not raining at the moment so we may get some Trick or Treaters! In fact it is also Half Term Holiday here for the children so that may help. I have put the Boys’ X-Rays up just for a bit of fun! They noticed when they came for dinner on Saturday!

Eldest has been to the Hospital today for a checkup on his shoulder and all is fine. He already knows that he is hyper mobile in the shoulders and he will just have to be careful but at least he does not need to do anything else!

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So as DH does not have to be out, we have a weekend in. As you can imagine this is rare at this time of year so I am determined to make the most of it and not spend the day discussing what we need to do and getting zero done!!!

Christmas is coming up fast and I am seeing more and more Christmas things; adverts, catalogues coming in the post and the shops are being decked out! I have got quite a few gifts already and I need to start wrapping and sorting out our Christmas card list too. I am also getting a lot of emails about events happening, Christmas markets, concerts and light switch on’s. We have quite a few coming up so the diary is getting quite full.

I hope your week is going well you lovely lot.

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xxx

Next Year Will Be Busy!

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Our Family is going to have a busy year next year! Because of things in the past I never really look any further forward than the next month but we are this year because of this:

Eldest and his Partner are expecting!

This is the twelve week scan and all is going well. When they started the scan the baby was upside down and would not turn round so already taking after its Daddy! He was a little monkey when he was little!!! The due date keeps moving so at the moment end of February beginning of March!!!

We are all very excited!

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

When You Have One of Those Weeks!

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We had one of those weeks last week where everyone had something go wrong or an issue! You know how when the Universe decides it is bored? Well the weekend did not go well for DH and The Boys.

They had tickets, which was their Christmas presents from me to them last Christmas, to go to the Festival of Speed at Goodwood on Saturday. Anyway they set off on Friday and stayed nearby so that they could get to Goodwood early Saturday and enjoy all of the day. Friday night we got a message that the event was cancelled due to bad weather (mainly high winds)!!!!!! To say they were all gutted was an understatement.

Of course that made me feel guilty as I had my Spa appointment still, which I did go to and was great! Anyway DH and the Boys went to see some other museums and popped into London too so although it was not the day they planned they were together. I have got a picture of the three of them but not allowed to put it here by decree of the Boys!!!! They still had their rooms at the hotel so decided to stay and start back early Sunday morning.

I went to bed early and dropped off to sleep but then was woken up at 10.40pm by a phone call from DH. Eldest’s work alarm had gone off, the cameras had gone down and they thought they could hear someone inside! They were three and a half hours away so I got up and drove over! One of Eldest’s fire colleagues was there with his keys. Fortunately no one was in there and nothing had been touched and we think it was the high winds which had caused the problems with the cameras and made it sound like someone was inside. The Police came and checked everything too. Anyway DH & The Boys decided to check out and come home so I went to Eldest’s Girlfriends home, Youngest’s Girlfriend drove over too so we sat there drinking tea and chatting until they arrived home at 3.00am! Needless to say we did not get up early yesterday!!!

I did get to watch both Championship Finals on Saturday and Sunday and it was great to see two new Champions. So Wimbledon is over for another year. I did get to see quite a few matches over the two weeks, so much so that today it was a bit of a Monday blues as there was no tennis to watch!!!

We are now on the run down to our Family holiday and I am writing lists to make sure that I don’t forget anything!!! I am sure the next three weeks are going to fly by! The Boys will be home sitting the week they are not with us! Can’t wait!!!

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

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

Where Do The Weeks Go?

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We are almost at the end of March and I honestly don’t know where the weeks go! I have been busy with our work, Eldest’s work, all the usual home jobs and Youngest has now started his own business too, just to add into the mix!

Sunday was Mother’s Day in the UK and Eldest booked for us to go for Mother’s Day Brunch at a little cafe in Nottingham called White Rabbits Teahouse. It was lovely Brunch and the food was great. I also got to go to the Bookshop which is around the corner from The Teahouse! Of course I came away with a couple (five!) books! Obviously Nottingham is DH and My home town. This is a mural on one of the buildings which is in the heart of what was The Lace Market of Nottingham. There used to be many lace factories in the area as well as the homes of the Lace Barons. There was never a market there but the factories had sales rooms where buyers could view the different types of lace. The whole area has been restored to its orignal look and is now home to many businesses.

https://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/9181 ©Alan Murray-Rust

The above picture is some of the fantastic buildings in the Lace Market.

In the evening Youngest cooked dinner for me which was also lovely. It is always great when you don’t have to cook dinner!

I feel the last few weeks I have been racing to catch up with everything and keep on top of things. We had the final round of the Swimming Leage competition last Saturday evening and our swimming club won! Which is a great achievement for them especially for our new young Coaching team including Youngest! A great night was had by all.

DH is out all this weekend at another swimming event so I will be able to get quite a bit done then. The weather has gotten a little bit more Spring like here, as it has still be quite cold, so we are hoping it will hang around although we are now getting April showers in March. March also seems to be going out like a Lion this year but it did come in like a lamb so fair’s fair!!!

Madam has now found another place to stand up and look out of the window! This is in our dining room and she can see out onto our road. Treacle used to do this until she knocked over a vase which smashed! She didn’t do it again!

I couldn’t find her the other day when I was busy cleaning and then found her here:

She was in her crate chewing one of her toys!

I hope you lovely lot are having a good week and I will do Book Club Friday this week.

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

That Was The Week That Was!

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Last week passed in a blur of work and trying to get things sorted. Nothing major going on just lots of jobs!!! “That Was The Week That Was” was an old TV show in the UK during the 1960’s, I just thought the phrase was appropriate for last week!

DH and I were out on Thursday for work and also managed to catch up with a work colleague who had retired and he and his wife have not long moved to a new home and we called to see them. Their new home is actually built into the hillside and looks a little like a Hobbit home. It really is amazing and although very modern which I don’t usually like, it is really designed well. We then called to see our Boys Godparents and had a lovely catch up with them too.

The weekend passed in a blur of getting jobs done and Youngest was at the Hospital yesterday to have his mole removed, so he will be at home with me for the next two weeks. The removal went well although it was quite large and situated on his spine. They are testing to make sure it is okay but the Consultant did not think it would be a problem, it is just the healing process now and also because of his job they do not want him bending, hence the two weeks off.

Now I know that there are lots of places in the World hotter than this but for us in the UK this is REALLY HOT! Above is today’s top temperatures this afternoon and tomorrow below:

As you can see even hotter! We in the UK are just not geared up for this heat unlike hotter countries, certainly in our homes as we do not have air conditioning. All we have are fans doing battle with the heat! Of course it is only due to last today and tomorrow and by Wednesday it will be back to 70° so we will be wearing jumpers by then!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is this morning’s job before it gets too hot and I also have some business work I need to do before again it gets bad. Jayne and I were due to go out for lunch tomorrow but have moved it to next week now as businesses are talking about closing so we thought it best and also to not be out in a car during the worst of the heat!

It is always the same though in the UK we get a few days of some extreme weather and the Government and Media become Chicken Licken running around shouting the sky is falling!!!! As I say by Wednesday it will be back to our normal summer temps and raining of course!!!

After finishing the two quilts I am now sorting out my quilting and trying to put aside what I want to take with me on holiday. I like this process of sorting out things and getting things tidy again even if it is all tucked away at the moment! I am hoping this coming weekend to do a bit more quilting and am aiming for a “Christmas in July” quity weekend, well that’s the plan. DH is out all weekend at the new 50m swimming pool in Derby which has just opened. The event is to see how things go and if anything needs to be sorted out before hosting a major competition there, so that should be fun. I am going on Friday evening to have a look see!

Coco went with Eldest to his business on Saturday and he got out to open the gates and this was the face looking at him, as if to say “and where do you think you are going without me!”!!!!!!!!! She had a great day and came home around 4.00pm exhausted!!!

Still got lots of jobs to get done which I am trying to sort out this week, especially as it is going to be so warm!!! I hope you lovely lot have a great week and stay cool if you are having top temperatures too.

Hugs & Love, Susie xx

Nicknames.

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Do you have a nickname? Or a shortened version of your name that you are known by? My “Sunday” name, as we always call it, is Susan, when I was at school everyone called me Sue but at home my family always called me Susie. To my Dad I was “Ooney”! This was because I could not say Susan when I was little and used to say “Oosan” which Dad shortened to “Ooney”.

When I married DH I went from having one of the longest maiden names, 13 letters none of which were repeated, to a very short surname, Parr. Then some wag said Sue Parr and then laughed and said “oh Supar”!!!! Needless to say I now introduce myself as Susan Parr!!!

Treacle was always Treacle but I used to call her “Treaks” and “Teak teaks”. Our Boys names are called by the shortened versions of their names as is DH. Coco we didn’t think would be shortened but I have lengthened it by calling her “Coco Pops” after a breakfast cereal in the UK, I have also found myself calling her “Cocolokes” (your guess is as good as mine!!!!!!!) and I cannot get out of my head the song “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys!!! particularly “down in Kokomo”!!!!!

Our neighbours and friends said they were determined when their daughters were born to give them names that could not be shortened, so they had Holly and Poppy. Sure enough they call them “Holls” and “Pops”!!!!!Names are such a funny thing. All our friends children have what I call normal names but as Grandchildren are now being born the parents are choosing quite unusual names especially what I would call quite old fashioned names. We know a Stanley and a Florence, there was a Sylvia and at the swimming club there is an Edith. Quite a few of the older names have come back into fashion and sound okay but I do think some of them really should stay in the past. We did have an Hermione which I think is lovely obviously named from the Harry Potter series. Our Boys have normal names, both with a strong Scottish influence, as my Dad’s heritage is Scottish and DH and I both liked the names and had not gone to school with anyone of those names we hated!!!!!

I hope you are having a lovely Wednesday, two days to go before the weekend and it is going to be a busy one for us!!

Hugs & Love Susie & Cocomo!!!!!!!!!!!!! xx

Here Again.

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Well June passed by in a blur of work, social things, family and Birthdays. In fact it flew by! July looks like it is going to be the same, especially in the run up to our vacation in August which I am so looking forward to.

To All my American Friends & Follows Happy 4th of July.

Last week flew by in a blur as it was Carnival week and I hardly saw DH & The Boys with work and the events. Saturday was the main day and it started for them at 5.00am and they got home around 9.00pm. Yesterday was a sort out day and bed early as we were all shattered. I have been quilting and I will show you the two quilts when they are finished. Just have to do the bindings now!

It is the second week of Wimbledon Fortnight and we have had some great Tennis already with a few quick exits of some top names. The weather has been up and down with quite a few showers but with the two roofs now the matches are being completed. Unfortunately we are busy this weekend so I will have to watch the finals when we get back!

I woke up this morning not feeling stellar for a Monday but I think it is just because of being up early and then up late too!!! Hopefully by the weekend I will be feeling more normal.

Tomorrow for Coco’s Corner we will have a little show and tell but this was taken yesterday evening when Youngest took her for her walk. She is looking very grown up.

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

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

Happy Father’s Day

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Happy Father’s Day!

To the Best Husband and Dad. We hope you have a wonderful day.

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To all Daddies/Dads/Grandads/Step Dads out there we hope you have a terrific day too.

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Sorry for lack of posts this week it has been very hectic as always with work and it is also our Business Year End, Carnival in the Village at the end of this month, swimming events and everything else I normally have to do in the week!!!! No excuse I know but……..

I hope you have had a wonderful weekend.

Hugs & Love, Susie xx

Sunny Summer Sunday!

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It has been a bit warmer over the last few days and it is so nice. The sky has been very blue and it is great spending time out doors.

It will be Wimbledon soon, despite all the controversy, and the strawberries will be out in full force and hopefully we will get some good matches. Can’t wait.

And when the sun does go down we can light the candles and carry on reading!!!!

We have been busy doing jobs and keeping Coco from getting into too much mischief in the garden. It is amazing how many hiding places one puppy can find!!! Hopefully I will be able to sort out the Book Club Books this coming week too as I think I have missed a month! Hopefully by the end of the month I will be back up to date with everything!!! You will not believe how many lists I have floating around at the moment!!!!