Category Archives: Our Family

It is what it says – our Family!

I Am Sure The Weeks Are Getting Shorter!

The evenings are definitely drawing in, but I am sure the weeks are getting shorter! There are supposed to be seven days a week but they are absolutely flying by! The weekend was really busy; DH, Eldest & Partner, Youngest & Fiancé and Little Man went to a truck show on Saturday. The weather was great, warm but not too sunny as a lot of the exhibts were outside. I did not go of course because of my hip, so I was doggy sitting Gordon and Coco.

Friday DH and I had a busy day getting jobs done. We have started sorting out the boxes from the attic which are now in the garage and getting rid of things and also giving things to the Boys!! Hopefully it will be finished by the end of this year. We also have the attic to tidy, but there is not too much in there now.

Sunday DH, Eldest & I went to look at a new vehicle for me. Well I say me but DH and The Boys all use it as well. We had a good visit and it looked great so we are now in the process of sorting it out and hopefully I will have it by Friday of this week.

©Universal Pictures

This weekend DH has his first swimming event of the new season but only for a few hours on Saturday and in the evening we are going to see the new Downton Abbey film at the cinema. We have not been for ages, mainly because there has not been anything ,on we wanted to see, but this is only being shown at the cinema first so I thought we would have a date night. Sunday will be nice again so I think we will be carrying on in the garage.

We did do quite a lot of work in the garden and have gotten quite a few of the plants which needed trimming done. We have arranged for the tree men to come at the end of October to trim the trees in the garden hopefully before the storms begin. We did them about two years ago but they need doing again. Our Roofer came to sort out the drain pipes last week and we asked him to go all over the roof to check it and he found one bit where a tile had slipped and it needed re-positioning and re-pointing which he did. We are so glad he did because the next day you have never seen rain like it! If we had not had that done we would have had water coming in!

This week is busy again with work of course and I have lots of home jobs to get done too, as well as a basket of ironing. I am going to Eldest’s business on Wednesday to get work done there too and then Friday we are waiting for a delivery to arrive and then hopefully picking the car up.

The other news we have in the family is that Youngest & Fiancé are expecting! Yeah! We are all so pleased for them. The baby is due at the end of January 2026 and we had a Gender Reveal here a few weeks ago with just the family and they are expecting a little Girl! Little Man’s face was a little disconcerted as he has, of course, two sisters and now will have a little girl cousin. He will be surrounded!!! Above is the table set waiting for everyone to arrive. I made lasagne’s for dinner with salad and garlic bread and then we had cake . They had got the smoke to reveal the Gender and it was very pink!!!!

Little Man in his highchair at lunch.

We are all so pleased for them and cannot wait to welcome the new arrival into the family.

I will try and post everyday this week as I am slipping with things mainly due to the days flying by!!!! I hope you lovely lot have a fantastic week.

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

Coco has had a slow day today in her basket next to my desk!

Work & “Ber”!

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Well we have been back home for almost two weeks and it was like we have never been on holiday! It took me all of last week to catch up on our work and Eldest’s work and then home jobs, all the washing and ironing from holiday and then the first week back.

I went back to our Opticians to get them to change the lenses in my glasses as I was not getting on well with the new style. He did test my eyes again and I now have a problem with my left eye which he is referring me to the hospital for! It may be that it could resolve itself or the hospital may not think it is a problem so I am keeping my fingers crossed

Talking of Hospitals I have been today for my Pre-Op appointment! I have got to now have my left hip replaced, having had the right one done in 2018. It has been bad for a while and I started the process of getting it replaced in February last year and have been waiting since then. This is one of the issues we have in the UK with our National Health. We don’t pay per treatment/visit but we do pay via our taxes but since Covid when they got so behind on these types of operations and of course new people being added to the lists they are now behind. I have been waiting eighteen months now and it will be another two months before I actually have the Op. I am nervous about it but will be very thankful to get rid of the pain and taking pain medication every four hours. Of course it looks like the Op will be end of October and then it is a six week recovery programme which takes me up to the first week of December! That is going to be interesting getting everything done for Christmas! I will not be able to drive until I have had my six week appointment after the Op so I will be relying on DH, The Boys and The Girls this year.

We had a very busy weekend too. Friday was Eldest’s Birthday and all the family were here for dinner and it was so nice we were able to eat outside. Little Man had a great time helping Daddy open his gifts and then getting stuck in to Burger and chips for dinnerbut he loved the Birthday Cake best!

The above picture was the day they arrived on holiday having got up at 3.00am to leave at 4.00am. They all went back to sleep while Eldest drove and it was a good plan but they all had a snooze in the afternoon. We did the same on the way back too leaving by 4.00am and got back home by 12.30pm having stopped for breakfast! It was a busy weekend on the roads as it is the last few weeks of the school holidays so a lot of people were going away.

The above was on Eldest’s Birthday. None of us get a look in when Grandad is around with Little Man, he absolutely loves to be with Grandad and be carried around doing things. Here they are sat on our steps into the garden!Eldest’s Birthday cake. I did not make it. I normally do but I am not able to stand and bake at the moment due to my hip being so painful.

We also had another busy family day on Sunday as well and again we were so lucky with the weather and were able to eat outside.

Monday here was the last Bank Holiday of the year and that has thrown the whole week out with work of course! DH was with Eldest at the garage doing odd jobs and getting some things sorted for his new ramp going in. He already has two large ramps and has now fitted a small one which when not in use goes into the floor. This will be for jobs that just need a quick look and something small doing on them.

Eldest on the fork lift getting ready to take the delivery off the lorry.

Here is the ramp extended.

When not in use they go flush to the floor.

The mat on the desk is another present from us.

His Partner bought him this sign for the wall of the garage.

Here it is in place.

This weekend we are at home and although the weather is not very good we are trying to get the garden tidy. DH managed to get the grass done last weekend, but we have some weeding to do and some of our plants need trimming.

Next week begins the “Ber” months, which I think is a great description of the last four months of the year. SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovemBER, DecemBER! I do love all the seasons but I love this time of year Autumn going into Winter and of course Christmas at the end of it. We have some great things coming up in the next few months which we are looking forward to.

If the weather does not ccooperate then we are planning on docing some home jobs inside and also carrying on with the decluttering that I began a few months ago. I am still aiming to get it finished before the end of the year.

I hope you lovely lot are having a great end of summer and I will see you tomorrow.

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

Coco on night patrol!

Ladies Who Lunch.

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Jayne & I went to lunch today and it was great. We had not seen each other for over a month as she had been away and we are going this Saturday. We discussed our Book Club Book which she chose for July and we both really enjoyed it. This was the book below, which I reviewed on my last Friday Book Club. My only comment was that there was an Epilogue which I did not think was necessary.

The Book below is what I have chosen for August’s Book Club with Jayne. I decided to go out of my comfort zone with this one! It is a love story and I am sure could be a Hallmark Movie!!!! Daphne loves Peter and their love story until he finds true love with his childhood bestie Petra! Daphne ends up rooming with Petra’s ex, Miles, and they do not get on until one night after a lot of alcohol they form a plan to take photographs together to imitate a relationship so that their ex’s see them. However things happen and could Daphne start to fall in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancé’s ex? It is what I would call a frothy book but a good one to read in the summer. I hope Jayne likes it!

I am busy this week trying to get all my work jobs done, my home jobs done, washing & ironing done and getting things packed for our holiday. Youngest, Fiancé, Gordon & Blaze are moving in to look after Coco whilst we are away and the animals are in kennels for the week that they are with us and then back home when Youngest & Fiancé get back!

I will let you know how things go this week! Have a great week.

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

What A Weekend.

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Yes we sweltered in the heat over the weekend. It is not as hot as I know some countries are but what does it for us is the humidity. I was doing okay on Friday evening until I got up to tidy up, load the dishwasher etc, by the time I had finished I was wet through with sweat! I had the fan in our room going full pelt and Coco and I very much appreciated it!

DH and The Boys had a wonderful day on Saturday at Goodwood Festival of Speed and actually it was cooler there than here. Here are some pictures of the day.

The sun was up bright and early as well as The Boys.

The Grandstands did offer some respite from the sun, whilst they were watching the start of the Hill Climb.

The Boys went to the Goodwood Shop first to have a look at what they had in and found a rather special Visitor there.

The Duke of Richmond owner of Goodwood House where The Festival of Speed happens along with many other events. Above he is with Eldest and Below with DH and Youngest.

He very kindly signed several things for them.

They then had a walk round to look at all the cars who would be taking part in the Hill Climb and the displays.

Richard Hammond, of Top Gear & The Grand Tour fame, was also there with the little car he drove in the Top Gear episode in Botswana which was an Opal Kadett and was called “Oliver”.

“Oliver” above and Richard Hammond below having his mic put on.

All three of them had a great day and they got to see and do everything they wanted to do.

Us Girls got together in the afternoon with Little Man and had a great Indian Takeaway for dinner which was really tasty!

Honey was hot but found the bend in the stairs to be the coolest place and was fast asleep.

This was our garden before we went out in the hot sunshine.

Sunday we did not get up early and had a lazy morning and The Boys got back around 2.00pm so it was a great weekend for us all.

Yesterday was a sort out day as well as work and I also did my ironing because it was so much cooler than the weekend. Today it has been raining most of the day and a lot cooler, in fact I have a thin jumper on because although it is still warm it is 10° cooler than the weekend. Our plumber has been to repair our downstairs toilet and the tap on my kitchen sink, there is always something!

Today has been all work and then tomorrow I am with Eldest at his work and then Thursday will be home jobs. Friday I am having my hair cut before we go away and I have some jobs to do before the weekend when Saturday and Sunday we are at the pool for our Club’s swimming Championships. Normally we do not host these events until October or November but have had to move them because of some County events which are now then. There is also going to be a Club BBQ on Saturday night but I am going to come home, as I will be shattered and we have to do it all again on the Sunday! In between I have some jobs to get done too! Quilting has taken a back seat this week.

I hope you have a wonderful week.

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

HOT!

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Well all of us in the UK have roasted today! Where I am in Derbyshire it was 31°C but other places it has been up to 34°C which I know is not hot to some of you but it really is for us. We as a Nation do not have air conditioning in our homes, so are reliant on fans which the more modern ones do quite a good job, although nothing like air conditioning. DH has been at one of the companies we work with today and then in his truck, both of which are air conditioned. Sometimes I think it is worse because you are loving the cool but then have to come out in it and of course eventually home!

Coco has been out for most of the morning when it was cool but I brought her in just before lunch at 11.45am and closed the back door to keep the heat out and hopefully the cool in, it wasn’t too bad. Although she was sick this evening a little bit and I am sure that was the heat, she is fine in herself.

I have been at my desk all day with my tower fan going and it was okay and I did get all my work and some extra things done which I had been putting off. Tomorrow is still hot but not as bad as today. I have a few home jobs to do tomorrow so I think I will get those done early.

I am very thankful that Little Miss Coco had her Spa Day on Friday so she has the least amount of fluff in all this heat. In fact she has not been panting at all but that is because of less coat and she is able to go in and out of the garden when she wants to.

Carnival has begun in the village. This is all of DH’s PA equipment for the next week where various combinations will be used for the different events.

Above was the first event of the week the Fun Run and then Crowning of the Carnival Queen and Attendants and Crown Bearer in the afternoon with the Picnic on the Park. Last night the Dog Show and Junior Football were cancelled due to the heat and they will take place next Monday now.

Tonight is the Treasure Hunt and Senior Football and it is a little cooler as it has not been sunny at all today but it is muggy.

Coco went to visit Eldest at work after her Spa Day and of course she had to get involved with work! She is far more strict as a Supervisor!!!!

Little Man has had a busy few days. He went to his sisters’ Sports Day at school and he and Mummy had a picnic under the trees. The above picture is him busy sorting out his pasta shapes for lunch!

In true little boy form if there any cars nearby he has to have a look.

This was Saturday dinner after visiting us and his Uncle & Auntie for the day, they got home and had pizza for dinner.

The rest of the week will be busy with Carnival, tomorrow is the Duck Race in the local brook, Thursday is Wild, Wet & Wacky the silly games for the even sillier teenagers, Friday is the cake competition and bike race and finally Saturday the day itself, although at the moment they are forecasting rain for the morning! I will not be going to any of the events but will be here, dog sitting and food providing!

I hope you lovely lot are having a great week.

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

Which Week Are We In?

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Well we keep saying it but where are the weeks going to? I find that no sooner have we started a new week on Monday it seems to be Sunday evening again and I honestly don’t know where that week has gone to!

Work has been really busy which I am greatful for, especially with all the uncertainty about at the moment with the political situation. As you know I do not watch the news and am trying to avoid it at the moment as I think it really can make you very depressed.

We have had a few days where the temperatures were getting into the 90’s and that means that nothing gets done. DH is lucky that if he is in the truck or the offices they are generally air conditioned, Coco and I just have to cope at home and our den where I work is at the back of our home where it gets the sun all day! I do try and get things done early in the morning and then stop around lunch. I did that today as it was Home jobs day so I got the cleaning done really early before it go too hot. Coco has spent the day mostly outside or lying on the mat in the back door looking out at the garden.

Over the last few days I have been feeling a little off. I cannot decide if it is a bug, or the result of some tablets I am having to take at the moment! I have felt a little better this afternoon. I did manage to get all the home jobs done and tomorrow Miss Coco is having her Spa Day! DH has a swimming event in the evening and then Saturday we are hoping to get some jobs done in the garden, because Sunday is the start of Carnival Week. 100 Years of Carnival so not only is the normal events on but a few extra ones too. At the moment the week looks good weather wise. DH is out most evenings and will be there all day from early a week on Saturday and then Sunday we are having a chill day!

On my nice to do list I have managed to get the baby quilts made, quilted and am now sewing the binding down. I still have the bed quilt to quilt but I will be tackling that over the next few weeks. I have been keeping up with my reading aims this year and not only reading but also listening to audiobooks whilst working. Some of the audiobooks have been successful and some not so much. I will be reviewing a few tomorrow for Book Club Friday, which I know I am late with! The Fridays fly past too!

During Carnival Week I am also determined to get my decluttering finished! I have quite a lot of boxes in our garage to get through but by the time they are done, we just have the attic to do and then we will be decluttered!

I had a wonderful Birthday with all the family last Friday and we had a takeaway. we even managed to sit outside for dinner which was lovely. Little Man had a great time going up and down the garden and The Girls also enjoyed playing outside. I had some lovely gifts :

These are a selection of the Hermes fragrance lines. They are very light and definitely for summer.

DH bought me this lovely pouch which you can use when travelling for all sorts of things.

DH bought me some of my most favourite perfume, lotion and a new compact.

Also had a new mug from Eldest & Partner and some new oven gloves from Fortnum & Mason.

Youngest & Fiancé bought me this Porta Puzzle where you can put your puzzles in, but then zip them up when not in use.

I hope you lovely lot are having a good week and a terrific weekend to come.

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco

What A Weekend!

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Happy Father’s Day!

To DH and Eldest, Happy Father’s Day to the best Daddies in the World!

We all had a lovely day but it was a little overshaddowed by Partner’s Big Birthday!!!!

This was nineteen years ago at Easter in Scotland on the boat cruising Loch Ness! Eldest was ten and Youngest was six! I just love this picture.

Now here is Eldest with Little Man!

Saturday we celebrated the Birthday and no I did not set the table outside as the weather forecast was all over the place! It was going to rain, it wasn’t going to rain then it was really windy, so I gave up and just set the dining room up.

Our Dining Table, above & Below, set with the flowers, candles etc. The Cake.

Suzie had a lovely day, they came early and spent the day with us and we had dinner early evening. It was a warm day so we were outside when we could be and Little Man loved being in the garden. I made the cake last year but ran out of time this, but this was bought and it was really nice.

Eldest & Little Man in our garden. He loved the steps going up them on his own and then being “jumped” down them by Daddy! Daddy’s back just about survived!

It was a lovely family weekend. Next Friday they are all here again for mine, but we will be having a Take Away in the evening.

Today was a bit hectic with unplanned jobs to do but I still managed to get my work done as well. Tomorrow should hopefully be a little less hectic and I should be able to get work done and the home jobs as well. I am due to be at Eldest’s on Wednesday and then get the rest of our home jobs done on Thursday as well as grocery shopping. Friday DH is taking me out for lunch before they all arrive in the evening. DH has a swimming competition on Sunday so Saturday will be getting a few little jobs done and then he will be setting up for Sunday. I will be in my sewing room trying to get quilts finished!

We looked after Gordon on Sunday whilst Youngest & Fiancé were out for the day and he and Coco spent most of it running around the garden like a pair of lunatics! DH cleared up for me after the dinner and I cleaned the kitchen and got everything put back. We then sat outside for lunch with the two Terrors (Terriers!!!) This week our weather is going to be very warm, the first heatwave of the year, with temperatures into the mid 80’s and sunshine wall to wall. I have a few jobs I need to do where I need it to be very warm and sunny, so they will be done in the next few days too! I will try and get pictures.

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

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

Manic!

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Anyway the only way I can describe the weeks or to be more precise the last seventeen days between my last post and today, it has been manic!

With the help of DH I have managed to finish our Spring cleaning although we are now in Summer! I still have a few little jobs to do but the bulk of it has been done!

We have been helping with Little Man and his Mummy & Daddy and it has been hectic in their home too. Also helping with Eldest’s business which again has been busy. Also this weekend it is Partner’s Birthday which is a Big One involving a “4”! I have been planning the food, table settings and presents of course. We are hoping to eat outside and it will be a warm, balmy day but at the moment it looks like we may have some rain! I love our country except when you are planning a possible outdoor event and we cannot guarantee the weather at all!

Our business has been busy, after a quiet year last year, and so DH and I have been really busy. It has also been our Year End at the end of May so I have been sorting out all the Accounts paperwork and getting things ready to go to the Accountants and putting the last year away. Also setting our budgets for the new business year. DH and I got that done on Saturday and so we are now ready for the new year!

DH and I got our room and dressing room painted and it looks so much better! We now have the kitchen, laundry, downstairs bathroom and den to paint probably at our last three day weekend at the end of August. We did paint it last year but the paint we used was not very good so it needs doing again but at least it will only take one coat. We then have some painting outside to do which needs to be done when it is warm and definitely not going to rain!

One of the jobs last weekend was tidying the garden and getting it looking nice for this coming weekend.

I need to get some summer plants for the pots and also some things for my vegetable planter. I am hoping to go on Friday to get these.

Youngest & Fiancé have been busy getting things done at their home and Youngest is enjoying his new job back at where he did his apprenticeship. We are so happy for him.

Tomorrow Jayne and I are going to be Ladies who Lunch, in fact we are actually having Afternoon Tea at The Cavendish Hotel, Baslow where we usually go for our Christmas meal. This is because it is our Birthdays this month, Jayne’s is on Thursday and mine is a week on Friday! DH and I have had Afternoon Tea there before and it was lovely, so I am hoping Jayne likes it too. We have read our Third Book in our Book Club which I picked and I hope she liked it, I loved it!

I will try and get photographs of tomorrow and the weekend. I hope you have all been okay and have a great week.

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco

Little Man enjoying an ice cream! Good job you did not see the “after” picture!!!

Thursday Jobs.

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Well Thursday has come round quick this week, or it certainly seems to have. Home jobs to do today and any work work which needs doing and I have to go out later this afternoon as well. Today the weather is cooler than of late and not sunny at all and we have also had some rain but we do need that. The rest of the week is supposed to be nice but we might get some rain over the weekend, but at least we can have the windows open when we are painting.

Breakfast this morning at my desk before I start my jobs!

Youngest & Fiancé took Gordon to the seadside over the weekend and here are some pictures from their trip.

Gordon is beginning to look more like a West Highland White now.

Do you remember me telling you that Blaze got into the habit of stretching the same way that Coco does when they were with us? Well Gordon has started to copy Blaze now when he is lying down:

Gordon has started “loafing” like Blaze does, when they tuck their paws underneath them!

They are all coming to stay with me in July so goodness knows what they will all be getting up to then!!!!

Coco waiting for a little bit of my breakfast!

Don’t know if I showed you this at Easter on my kitchen counter. The little houses light up at night. I also bought three for Christmas. I have now changed the flowers and put the bunny rabbits away for Summer.

I am off now to get my jobs done before painting begins tomorrow, again!

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

More Days or Hours Needed!

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I don’t know what it is at the moment but I could do with several more hours in each day and at least another two days per week!!!!!

Our work has been really busy over the last few weeks, which is really good but hectic. It is also coming up to our Year End on May 31st and start of the new year on June 1st. It involves quite a lot of organising and paperwork which I have managed to get done this week, including shredding the old year and emptying the filing cabinit of the year and also getting the paperwork ready for our Accountant! Here in the UK we have to keep our business records for seven years so we have a rotating seven years of boxes with the paperwork in. It takes ages to get the oldest year through the shredder and I end up with six bags of shredded paper!

Been busy with the Boys and various things with them and helping out with Little Man at the weekend. Also trying to finish two baby quilts, which I have got the tops done just need to sandwich them and get the quilting done. Still trying to finish the bed quilt I am making as well as a handful of repairs which need doing.

This weekend is another three day weekend for us and DH and I are intending on painting our bedroom and dressing room and if we have time the landing and down the stairs. That will then be the entire top floor done and just then need to do the ground floor! The weather is supposed to be nice over the weekend, although it is forecast some rain, which is much needed.

We need to do some jobs in the garden as well and if we have any left over time at the weekend we could get a bit done. Also have the Spring Cleaning to finish as well so there is plenty to keep us busy!

This is a quick peek at our guest room. We still need to put some pictures on the walls and some other bits in but I thought I would show you a bit of it. As you can see Coco’s bed is next to the radiator and she does sleep on it but also the bed as well. I am convinced she thinks it is her room!

Little Man is growing up fast. Above he is sitting at the table to have his dinner instead of eating on his tray.

This shirt says it all! When Grandad is around none of us get a look in!

This was last Saturday’s dinner I had made them Lasagne for dinner and you just need to use your hands with it!!! Who needs knives and forks?!!!!

Jayne and I had lunch last week and had a lovely meal. It was great to see her and have a few hours out of the day where I was not working. We have also read the second of our Book Club Books and it was really good although both of us said it did not get going until half way through the book! We have a new one for this month which is a historical mystery, something Jayne has never read before, so I am hoping she will like it.

The next few weeks we are free in that DH does not have any swimming events on, so we will be getting jobs done. In three weeks time Eldest’s Partner is having a big Birthday and I am planning a lovely dinner for her at home on the Saturday evening, the day before her Birthday. Jayne and I are going out on the Tuesday before for our Birthdays and are having Afternoon Tea for a change. Then the following week it is my Birthday and again we will be at home but we will be having a take away! In five weeks time it will be the start of Carnival in the Village and this year we are celebrating 100 years! There are some extra events on for this special year but all the usual ones as well. I will be using the days and evenings to carry on with our decluttering. Then the following week DH, Eldest & Youngest will be off for their Christmas Present to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Whilst they are away the Girls & I will be getting together for a lovely day and food! It is going to be a very busy few weeks again. Tomorrow is home jobs day.

I hope you lovely lot are having a good week and enjoying some lovely Spring weather.

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

Coco’s tired!