Sunshine

Sitting in my garden enjoying some lovely warm sunshine this afternoon, it is difficult to believe we had a harsh frost at the beginning of the week.

I'm afraid that I have been so busy at work, that I haven't had much time for anything else, so the photos I took on Monday morning had stayed on my camera until today.  I know it's good to be busy at work, after all it does pay the bills, but it really is inconvenient when it gets in the way of life!  Perhaps, in hindsight, it wasn't the best idea to plan to visit my sister right at the end of the tax year.  But I was quiet and up-straight with work when we arranged dates.  Oh well, it's pretty well organised now, and I will enjoy a few days with my sister.  A bit of shopping is planned, with some nice long lunches and yummy cakes too.

Anyway, back to Monday.  It was freezing.  When we woke up, it was as white as it has been all year, but an hour later when we were off to school, it had started to pretty much melt and was a beautiful morning.

Work starts on the school cricket pitches.

A noisy welcome as I walk by this little fellow - or maybe he was shouting at me to move on?

The holly was almost twinkling in the sunshine.

Can you see our footsteps as we'd walked towards school.  I'm on my way home now.

I love this view and in the summer mornings it provides a bit of shade as we walk to school.

 It's still quite muddy in places

 Blue skies - don't they lift your spirits?

The sheep were here!  Matt used to collect this wool to give to my step-mum to spin.  He's too grown up now.  How time flies.

 Looking towards the village church.  One of my favourite landmarks when walking.

Back home - a blue carpet

 daffodils wilted by the frost

 More blue skies and apple tree buds

 But it really wasn't that warm!

This weekend

We had a slightly different weekend to our usual ones.  All term time weekends are taken up with a school match on a Saturday, and then club rugby or cricket on a Sunday.

However, this weekend, Matt went on a camp with school.  (Yes - I know they chose one of the coldest weekends of the year!).  So we had the weekend to ourselves.  Once we'd taken Matt to school for 9am on Saturday morning, we were able to potter around.  I made a cake, had a coffee with my mum, and made some birthday cards.  We then drove to Kent to meet up with friends for supper.  Such a relaxed day.  Sunday - a lie in on a Sunday!!!  What a rare treat.  There was even time for a spot of shopping before collecting our very tired, and grubby son.

I didn't take any photos of us - it was all a bit relaxed and not very photogenic, but thought you might like to see Matt's preparation for his Duke of Edinburgh award weekend.  Matt's school run CCF (combined cadet force) and Matt is in the "army", hence the kit.  He is very proud of this - as you can see by the shiny boots.  I don't recall him getting kit ready the night before for anything either - but it was all laid out the night before.

Getting ready requires precision.

Can you spot the crochet?

And then it was time to go...

To be honest, I couldn't see the attraction of camping out under tarpaulin in a basic sleeping bag on a roll mat.  (Not even the luxury of a tent). No proper food - only ration packs, and having to do a night watch in the freezing cold.  

Various other "exercises" were undertaken - which seemed to involve an awful lot of camouflage paint which proved tricky to remove! But he loved it - and he definitely appreciated his own bed last night!

Hope you had a good weekend too.

Sara

x

Busy, Busy, Busy

Hi there

A really short post from me this evening.  I had a busy start to the week in the office, and then yesterday, Mark and I took the day off to go to the Ideal Home Exhibition.

We had a great day.  I'm afraid I was particularly excited to buy a "spinny" mop.  I know, slightly odd, but life would be boring if we were all the same!  We bought a few other bits too, mainly for me - a new hairbrush and ceramic curling tongs, and a new scarf.  

Mark had his musical portrait played!  Quite an unusual concept where a small group of musicians asked him a few questions, looked at him, and then improvised a piece of music which they felt represented him.  Quite a unique experience.

I wish now I had taken my camera.

I've also had a great day today, back in London too.  I probably won't go back for the next 6 months!  Mum and I had booked to go to see Billy Elliott.  Neither of our husbands fancied it, so it was a just us.  A nice lunch and then we saw the matinee performance.

Again, I didn't think to take my camera, and wish I had.  The show was fantastic, and the theatre was really beautiful.

Hopefully the sun will come back for the weekend, and I can take my camera and share some photos, as I'm definitely better at photography than writing!

Hope you're having a good week.

Sara x

This time last year.....

on 13th March last year - the garden looked like this.

What a difference a year makes....


Smudge enjoys the sunshine in the conservatory

and I enjoy lunch and a little crochet outside, in the sunshine.

Have a great weekend.

x

Sunny Sunday

We rushed about yesterday getting chores done - nothing major, but the little things you leave for the weekend,  Matt had a hockey match in the afternoon, and it was actually warm, and pleasant watching.  Chatting with the other parents was more relaxed - we could hear each other, there was no wind howling across the astro, and we weren't huddled under umbrellas.  It made us look forward to the cricket season.

Today "the boys" have gone to play golf, (rugby was cancelled) so I have the day to myself.  As I say, chores were completed yesterday (including the grass being cut - thanks Matt) and I intend to spend the day relaxing, a bit of reading, photography, and plenty of crafting.

I finished my Nordic Shawl - I can see this getting lots of use when I watch cricket through the summer.  It will be perfect when the temperature drops in the early evenings.  (Ok - I may be being a little optimistic, but surely it can't be as cold as last year - huddled in coats and under blankets, pretending we were having fun watching our sons?)

This morning, I have taken some photos in the garden 

because you can't have too many photos of daffodils and flowers in the sun can you?

And now I'm sitting down with a cuppa and a slice of blueberry and lemon cake - I saw the recipe here and it is delicious.  Thank you Jen.

I intend to craft out here, listening to the birdsong, with the odd walk into the kitchen to make another cup of tea, and breathe in the lovely scent of the flowers my mum gave to me yesterday.

Doesn't a bit of sunshine and warmth make a difference to the weekend.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Sara x

After a busy day

......... a beautiful sunset to enjoy.

Even if it was whilst I was doing the ironing!

Have a great evening.

x

Meteorological Spring

According to the weather men, Spring starts today.

I think they might have been right!

It was even warm enough, to sit outside and have a cup of tea and a quick look through my magazine which arrived in the post today.  Look who I found!  Jacqui - Bunny Mummy is featured in Simply Crochet .  I met Jacqui when we visited Yarndale in September - and meeting someone whose blog I read was really lovely.

I even managed to do a little crochet in the garden - another row added to my Nordic Shawl

A great way to start Spring.  (Back to rugby tomorrow though. I hope the weather is as nice, as we have to travel 2 hours to get to the match.  An early start for us!)

Enjoy your weekend.

x