Well if you stood still too long at home in the last few weeks, you got washed, polished or both! Even Coco is down for a Spa Day next week! Of course our weather is now back to our normal rain most days with some sunshine in between!!! I could not have finished the Spring Cleaning without DH’s help, especially the climbing on the ladder to reach the high places! However it is done now for another year, I know that most people would not know if they just came to our home but we know it is all clean and done.
So the weekend was used up finishing those jobs off and sorting work stuff out as well. Saturday was nice and warm again so DH pressure washed our patio and then got the outside furniture out, which of course meant that the weather changed! We did get to do a BBQ with Eldest, Partner and Little Man on Saturday evenign which was lovely. Yesterday evening was a “blue” moon rise, which means the second full moon in a month and it always looks slightly blue hence the name. Whenever there is one of these celestial happenings it is thick cloud or raining in Derbyshire and we never get to see it!!!
This week is, again, a quiet week, work happening of course but not too much else which is quite nice as I am finding little bits of time here and there to do other bits. Next weekend we have a swimming event that both DH and I are at on Saturday evening and then Sunday Youngest, Fiancée and Little Lady are coming for lunch.
I am also hoping that the weather is kind and we can get some outside jobs done. The joys of ownig your own home it is a never ending circle of jobs!!! I don’t mind as I love it when they are done, it is just that they all need doing again pretty quickly. I also like to try and sort out a few weekends where we are not doing jobs and can go out and enjoy other things, although living in Derbyshire you NEVER go out on Bank Holiday weekends (the three day weekends) because everyone else comes to Derbyshire then! It is getting so bad that they are having to put parking restrictions in, in the Peak District to try and ease the congestion!
The next sunny day I will get some pictures of the garden so you can see it in its summer finery.
Today of course is June 1st, the start of summer and now six months through 2026, how is it going for you? We have had an interesting first six months of the year (!) and I am really hoping that the second six months of the year will be quieter but I suspect not. June is a busy month for us, we have Partner’s Birthday, my Birthday and Jayne’s Birthday which is a big one this year. We are out for Afternoon Tea for our Birthdays which I am really looking forward to. It is also the start of our 35th year in business (!), five years for Eldest in November, Carnival begins at the end of this month too and we are away in August, so the next few weeks and months are going to be busy as always.
A week on Friday is Book Club Friday and I have a few books for you to look at.
Have a great first week of Summer. Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx
I don’t know about you but generally I plan my days around work and home jobs and as the weather has been so nice over the last few days I have been washing everything which needs to be outside to dry such as my curtains. I have managed to get a lot of them done and today was definitely home job day and I was also going to get said curtains ironed and back up. We got up really early as DH had a lot to do too and also getting my jobs done before it got too warm. One of his jobs was to take the delivery van from the Compnay in Nottingham to Eldest as it needed a part. Then chaos happened.
DH rang, the part was not available until tomorrow! DH’s truck was at the company in Nottingham, my car is with Eldest at work! So DH needed to come get me in my car, we drive over to Nottingham to get DH’s truck to then drive back to Eldest to give him my car back for DH and I to come home! Are you keeping up with this? That little scenario took us three hours! Now I should be at Eldest’s tomorrow working so you might think well do the work today instead and save going there tomorrow? No we have to get the van back tomorrow and then I have to use my car to go get DH and go back to Eldest’s for him to have my car! I also forgot my glasses so could not do the work today even if I had wanted to do!!! Mainly because I did not think we would be there long!!!!! Meanwhile Eldest is still on call at the Fire Station so needs a vehicle!!!! If it is not one thing it is another!
Needless to say I did not get my home jobs done, well I tell a lie I got upstairs all cleaned but not downstairs and I did not get all my ironing done either! We did not get back until 6.45pm and then Youngest came over as he is coaching tonight and it is nearer from here to the swimming pool than their home! I still need to do quite a bit of washing; one more set of curtains to wash, the linen from the dining room, the back door mat, Coco’s bedding and our bedding and then I will be able to get it all ironed and put back! Well it’s a plan until DH and Eldest decide to change it again!
How was your Thursday? Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx
We had another three day weekend here in the UK and of course this whole week is going to be confusing!!! Really today is Monday for me but it is not!!!
Over the weekend it has been extremely warm (!) yesterday being the hottest and it got to 33°C in Derbyshire. Our homes are just not equipped to deal with that sort of heat. Our bedroom is at the back of our home and gets the sun from about 10.30am until 6.30pm and so it was like an oven! Homes in the UK are geared up for the cold and are great in Winter and when it is cold, not so much in the heat. I always said if I was lucky enough to design and build our own home I would definitely now put in air conditioning. Coco coped well with it although her coat is starting to grow again so a trip to her Spa is on the cards soon if this carries on. It is due to be as hot again today but cooler the rest of the week but when I say cooler I mean 24°C to 26°C!
Of course as we had the extra day this weekend it was my final push to finish the Spring Cleaning, especially as the end of May is this coming weekend and that is the end of Spring before the summer months begin (where did the past five months go to?). We did get everything done except for one thing which we can finish next weekend. We also have outdoor jobs to do again and that was definitely not happening in the past weekend’s heat although DH did get the lawn cut early before it go too hot. I also have the Spring Cleaning to do at Eldest’s work but that is one entire day and I will have to do that when I am not doing anything else there, so possibly a Sunday when we have one free.
As our Den is also at the back of our home where I work I am getting my work done early today first thing and finishing at lunch when it is the height of the heat. At the moment Coco is outside but I am sure she will be in soon.
My question is what do you eat in this weather? We have had salad but you do not feel like cooking but then what do you eat? I think it will be something and rice tonight which is one of our “quick” meals!!!! It is always the same with us Brits, we don’t like the cold but then we don’t like the hot, we are a Nation of Goldilocks!!!!!!!
This week, surprisingly, is a quiet week business wise and also home wise too which is a bit of a relief as it has been manic for the last few months. There are still things happeneing but generally a quiet week although it will soon be getting busy again as we have a few swimming competitions coming up, as well as our Cluh Championships, it will be Carnival Week in the village before we know it and then DH and The Boys are off to Goodwood as well for The Festival of Speed. We are also coming up to our Business year end again so have to re-set everying for the new business year which is being done on June 12th.
We also have a family Birthday at the beginning of June and Jayne and I are going out for our Birthdays on June 9th for Afternon Tea again. We went last year and really enjoyed it so have booked again for this one. It is also a BIG Birthday for Jayne so we have to celebrate! July 9th we have another event on and then it will be three weeks later we go away on vacation and Coco will be on her vacation too. Youngest and Crew are house sitting for us when they are home and then Eldest and Crew will be looking after our home when they are back after being with us in Scotland. They are each sharing a week again with DH and I have about three days to ourselves during changeover!!! It is going to be busy and happy chaos as always but looking forward to it.
Of course before we know it, Summer will be over and we will be into Autumn! I am sure there is someone in the Universe who keeps winding the Universe clock so that it is going faster?! I know everyone says this especially as you get older but I really do think that the first half of this year has flown by.
My plants are doing well in the garden and I will get some pictures to show their progress. I do have some jobs to do in the garden but again hoping to get them done next weekend.
DH has had a bad leg over the last two weeks, for which he has seen our Doctor’s for. He had a bite at the top of his leg and this happened before when it swelled, so he has had a course of antibiotics and it is slowly getting better. What with me and my eye and now his leg they are such small things but just an absolute pain to deal with!
Anyway I hope you are all having a great week and I will see you tomorrow.
Which are large but the rubbish bin which is black is only emptied twice a month. Then we have a brown bin which is for all our garden rubbish and then a blue bin which is for recycling. Our local council has now introduced a new bin, a small green one with a lockable lid, for food waste!
We also have a small grey bin which sits in the kitcehn to collect the waste. Now Miss Coco thinks this grey bin is her own personal snack bin (!) and keeps trying to get into it although fortunately it is lockable too! At the moment when I am in it sits next to the kitchen bin on the floor but I think we are going to have to pick it up when we are out, just in case she decides to try and open it! Airedales are clever little so-and-so’s and I am sure given a few hours she would have worked out how to get in it!!!!!
April 1st!
Have you had any tricks played on you this morning? I have seen a few on Instagram including one from the farm where our milk comes from! They put out a post saying that they have run out of grazing for their cows, so each home that gets a delivery will have a cow dropped off for them to graze on the grass and then be picked up again for milking! Very good and I am sure there will be a lot of people who would like a cow at home! The children are all off school for the Easter holidays so I am sure they would love to look after the cows!
I have been working all day today although I was supposed to be doing home jobs(!) and tomorrow I am at Eldest;s so home jobs will now get done on Good Friday! In the morning it is due to rain and hopefully clear up by the afternoon so I can get it done then and get into the garden in the afternoon! Monday is supposed to be nice so that is the second day for the garden!
This is my little grow house when I had just stained it in 2019. Well it needs doing again and this time I want to paint it a pale colour! I need to clean it out and wash the interior shelves and the glass and then set some seeds for summer. I also need to wash all the pots that my summer bedding plants go in and get the veg bed ready too and clean and tidy the shed which also needs a coat of paint!
I hope you are having a lovely Wednesday, half way through the week and with a long holiday weekend coming up.
I am still here, and no Op! There is a lot of good in our NHS healthcare system in the UK and then there is some which is not good! Mainly the organisation and booking of appointments. I won’t go into the whole saga of it enough to say that the adminstrative staff who were supposed to book the Op didn’t and I am now trying to sort out a date which is suitable for DH and I! Looking now like middle of February!
I forgot in all the Christmas posts about Stranger Things ending! DH and I had been out for New Year’s Eve to friends for dinner and had a great time and did not get home until 2.00am. Of course that was when the Stranger Things final episode dropped in the UK so by the time we got home and ready for bed, DH of course fell fast asleep but I could not resist putting the final episode on! It was two hours long so I started it at 3.00am and finished at 5.00am!
IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT YET DO NOT READ ON!
What did I think of the final! It was good although I thought some parts of it were a little too much in it, especially the soldiers and the “new” character played by Linda Hamilton. I know why they included it but If I am honest I skipped over a lot of those bits as I did not think it added to the story at all. I was a bit miffed with Eleven’s ending but was glad that the Duffer Brothers did do a proper ending with the characters especially the afterwards, which quite often does not happen. I was sad that Nancy and Jonathan split up in the final episode and although I understand why I think they could have left that out.
Finally is Eleven alive and living on her own in a far away country? I want to believe it is so, but there are many, many questions of well how did she get there, what about money etc and I am sure they would say well Dr Sam Owens did not die and he found El and helped her get out of the country with new papers and money that was really from Papa’s estate which he left to Eleven as she was his only true success and although he subjected her to horrible tests he really did love her. Well that’s my bit of storytelling.
I know the whole series was only five but over ten years in the making and I am sorry it has ended. I thought it was good and I loved seeing the character development and seeing the children grow into adults in the series and real life. It was one of those shows where they did get the casting right. I am now going to have to find a new show to watch which is similar to this!
So not having my Op has given me another weekend free with DH so we are out for dinner on Saturday with some friends and we have a few jobs we can get done at home which I had put off until next month. We are still waiting for little one to arrive and Fiancée is completely fed up now, however taking after Daddy who was ten days late!!! I will let you know when the event happens!
You know how I said Monday was Blue Monday well today has gotten to me. All this week has been like this, rain and grey skies and I don’t think we have seen the sun for weeks and it is depressing. I understand how some people can suffer from SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder. Trying hard not to be though!
Sunday is Burn’s Night, a celebration of Robert Burns birth on January 25th 1759 and as Fiancée is Scottish I am doing a traditional dinner of Haggis, neeps and tatties and a Scottish dessert! Of ccourse this is planned and so Little One will arrive!!! Hey ho!
I hope you are all having a good week. As it is Thursday here is a #TBT picture.
Thomas Day at Great Central Railway2005. TheBoys were ten and six!
March 2007 in Inverness The Boyes were twelve and eight.
Need to get on with home jobs now! Have a terrific Thursday.
I am sure I am missing days somewhere! No I am not drinking and I certainly don’t have blackouts but I cannot believe that it is Thursday again! Wednesday flew by and I really think I stood still and like a train going through a station and not stopping, that was my Wednesday, I blinked and missed it!
My whole week this week has been thrown into chaos as I went to Eldest’s work on Tuesday because yesterday they were coming to fit a new gas meter to our home. Apparently the new meters have a battery in them which then sends the data to its hub for them to produce our bills. Sounds simple enough but when the batteries run out they cannot just replace the battery the whole thing has to be replaced. Now who came up with that idea? Normally I would be at Eldest’s on a Wednesday so that completely threw me. It does not take a lot these days for me to be completely confused! It is like when we have a long weekend, the next week just does not feel right.
So if Tuesday was Wednesday and Wednesday should have been Thursday then today should be Friday or should it be Monday again? Who knows.
Madam has decided that as it is dark most mornings we are getting up now, staying in bed is definitely the best idea! She is not happy when I move her to make it.
Everyone at the moment seems to have this bad cold/flu thing going around including Fiancé who I have not seen because, like Jayne, she is being extremely kind to me and not wanting to give it to me before I go in on Tuesday for my Op and I am very grateful to them. I have told DH that he is not to catch it either otherwise he and Coco will be sleeping outside if they do. I don’t mind afterwards if I catch it just not before.
Today is home jobs day. I have managed to get our work and Eldest’s work up to date. I also have some washing and a basket of ironing to do and then I am all set. This weekend DH is at the swimming event both days, so I am going to spend some time in my sewing room quilting and also reading. I won’t be able to show you what I am working on as they are for presents but will keep them in my file for when they have been given out. I am also going to pack my bag for Tuesday. I already have a few things sorted and I have chosen my books which I am taking in with me which I will show you tomorrow.
As it is #TBT (I think?) I thought I would show you these. Always on Birthdays the Boys used to come in our room to open their presents from us first thing inthe morning. So the first picture is from 2022 when they were both living at home again. Eldest is 27 and Youngest is 23 and it is DH’s Birthday. I am still in bed but DH and the Boys are up and dressed and ready to go to work, but they still came in to our room for DH to open his presents!
So the two pictures below, they are both Boys 10th Birthdays, the first one is Eldest and Youngest is six and in the second one Eldest is 14.
I love seeing pictures from the past. DH’s Birthday is coming up at the end of October and then we are busy with events too. There are the Carnival fireworks to conclude the 100 years of Carnival in the village, DH also has the usual Halloween Swimming Event and also the men are coming to trim the trees in our back garden as well, so it is going to be a very busy few weeks as always.
Have awonderful Thursday you lovely lot and I will see you back here tomorrow for Book Club Friday.
On Tuesday of this week, Jayne and I were Ladies Who Lunch! We went to a Restaurant at Alfreton in Derbyshire called “Pesto” which is an Italian Restaurant but they do things a little differently. They have three menus each priced £1 more than the previous one. If you go for the most expensive one you are able to pick dishes from all three menus but if you have the middle priced menu you can only pick from that or the cheaper one and if you have the cheapest then you can only have dishes from that one. You then get to pick three dishes.
There are many different authentic Italian dishes and the last time we went which was in February in the snow, I didn’t quite get the combination of dishes right! However this time I did. I had a small piece of lasagne, some rice balls with beef and cheese in them and a house salad. Jayne had the lasagne, pasta with smoked salmon and chicken wings and she shared my salad. It was really good.
We had a lovely time and we caught up on all the news and also discussed our Book Club book which we read in August which was this :
It was my choice and something that I would not normally choose but it was a really good read. Very easy to read and the story was great and I will definitely be getting Emily Henry’s other books. This is what I love about Jayne’s and my book club, trying different styles of books. So far, when we began in April, we have done really well with the books we have chosen.
The story is about Daphne who is going to marry Peter but just before the big day he calls the wedding off because he has realised that he actually loves his best friend since they were little Petra. Not only is the wedding cancelled but Daphne has to move out of the home she was sharing with Peter as he owns that. She bumps into Miles who was living with Petra and who is equally devastated at the betrayal and to help Daphne out offers her his tiny spare room which she takes. After a drunken night drowning their sorrows they decide to put on social media that they are an item and take a loved up picture which has the desired effect on Peter and Petra, disbelief that their exes are together! Slowly as the weeks go by Daphne and Miles become friends, however Peter & Petra are detemined to break them apart! Can they get over the betrayal and make a new life for themselves?
As I say a really easy read but good fun and well written. This is our book for September :
I obviously saw this book when it came out but was not too sure as to whether I would enjoy it but it is Jayne’s pick for this month and as I said it is all about trying new books that I would perhaps not normally pick for me. I will be starting it this weekend.
Tonight we are at Youngest’s and Fiancé’s home as DH is helping Youngest with his truck and I am with Fiancé and no doubt we will get a Takeaway for dinner, well it is Friday night.
DH and I managed to get some jobs done in the garden in between showers and me doing the washing as well. A Box bush that has been in the garden for about twenty years that we did put in when we first moved here has developed Box Blight which affects Box plants and is a fungal disease. Once the plant has it you cannot get rid of it and just have to dig them up and replace it with something else. It is in the front bed on the right and is quite big so we have decided to put mulch and compost down and perhas plant some spring bulbs in the area that has been left and then next spring re-do the area and put some new plants in then.
Over the weekend it is due to be raining so it will be inside jobs to do and there is always plenty of them! Hopefully Sunday is going to be okay and we can finish the garden. Have a wonderful weekend whatever you lovely lot are up to and I will see you back here on Monday.
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.
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.
At the end of the week we are in for some more hot days over 30°C again! It is not so warm where the Boys are going. At least it is at the weekend when I don’t have to work.
Wimbledon has picked up a little bit although the new AI line calls have come under fire for getting things wrong, oh what a surprise! I know that the human line judges were not always right but at least they were there unlike the disembodied voice and the players are not happy with it either!
My only other complaint about Wimbledon this year is the fascination the media has had of the “names” attending! You just know that these “celebrities” are not interested in tennis at all, but are there because they have been asked into one of the Hospitality areas and it is good for publicity!
It was the British Grand Prix on Sunday where it rained for most of the day but a British Man won, Lando Norris, mainly because the British drivers are used to all the rain in this country!!! We did not get to watch it as we were recovering from Carnival and out with Youngest & Fiancé but saw the highlights.
Whilst the Boys are away us girls are getting together on Saturday and for dinner we are having an Indian meal which we are very much looking forward to. We will also try Little Man on a very mild sweet curry to see if he likes it. He is keen on the children’s versions of the curry so we will see how he gets on with this one. I will try and get you some pictures.
I will be trying to get the backing done for the bed quilt and then need to get it pinned and started on the actual quilting. I will probably we taking it away with me to get it finished and get the binding done and sewn to the back.
Little Miss Coco waiting for her Biscuit.
Straight afterwards she was in her basket fast asleep!
One corner of our garden is in flower at the moment. I decided, as I had missed when we should have put the bedding plants in, not to do them this year and will just put in the Winter pansies when it is time. I have also not put in my usual tomatoes that I grow but may put some salad leaves in when we get back from holiday.
Managed to get this picture of the Peacock Butterfly on our Buddleja and there is a bee to the left of it too.
Tomorrow is home jobs day and I will be getting on with them early as it is going to be warm as well tomorrow but not as warm as Friday & Saturday! Also have the washing & Ironing to do and grocery shopping. Friday I may sneak the day off and get the quilt back done.
Happy Wednesday you lovely lot.
Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx
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