This week I finally…

…got round to putting my digital scrapbooking layouts in an album.

I don’t know why but there are some things that just take me ages to do and this little job has been one of those things.  You could call me a master procrastinator.

Actually a lot of my layouts were already placed in the album, I just needed to stick them in place.

I thought I needed those sticky photo corners you buy but every time I went shopping I would forget to buy them or think they were too dear and that I would get them cheaper somewhere else.  (I do that a lot!)  Then I realised I could use two sided tape of which I had some all along.  Anyway, so now here I am all up to date and that is my very satisfying simple pleasure with which I am linking to Dayle at A Collection of This and That where others are sharing their Simple Pleasures  too.

I must be the last…

… blogger around to have discovered Picnik. 

For ages now I have admired all the mosaics out there in blogland and known that a lot of bloggers use Picnik to make them but I’ve just never bothered with it.  Well, things are going to change because I’ve just had a proper old nosey at Picnik and it’s great!  I’m going to be posting a lot more mosaics like this one!  Hopefully better ones as I get more used to the ins and outs of it.

These are pictures of George and Nicholas at the start of their new school year.  Of course it’s Nicholas’s first school year ever.  He started nursery school a couple of weeks ago, he’s only three, and he’s very proud of his uniform.  He also likes going to nursery so that couldn’t be better for everybody concerned.

TTFN

A Sunday Stroll…

…by the canal.  It was a gorgeous autumn, sunshiny  day yesterday.   Billy and I had said during the week that if the weather was good we’d go for a walk on Sunday, it was and so we did.

 

William’s knees were hurting, he’s having an allergic reaction to some tablets he’s taking, so he wanted somewhere on the level.  My immediate thought was the canal, in particular the one that runs through Uppermill.  It is just so pretty!   We started at the Brownhill Countryside Centre

 

Everything was very still and peaceful, no wind at all.  The water was glasslike.

There are quaint, stone-built cottages dotted along the sides of the canal, more so as you get closer to Uppermill village.

 

This one has its own mooring and long boat too.  I’ll bet that is somebody’s dream house.

 

I took this picture using my camera’s remote control.  I’ve had that thing for a while and forget to use it but now I’ve remembered about it I’m going to try and use it more.  The looks on our faces say is it working or is it not?  It was.  Next time we’ll be more confident and not look quite so mystified!

After this we walked back to the garden centre, where we’d left the car.  We had a drink and something to eat then a mooch around.  Like everywhere else they’re gearing up for Christmas – I’m definitely not ready for that yet!  We are on the lookout for one of those fire pits for the garden but they didn’t have any.  We definitely need one for Bonfire Night so we’d better keep looking.

All told it was a really nice afternoon and now that William no longer has Sky Sports it might be something we’ll get to do more often!

Before I go I want to say “Well done!” to Caroline.  She has been on a study course this weekend which is in preparation for part two of an important exam at work.  Not only did she pass the course but did it in style coming top of the class!  All that hard work is paying off, keep it up.

Ciao for now.

Naughty but Nice.

Caroline, Charlie and I went to The Trafford Centre today for a tootle around.  I had stuff to take back to Marks and Spencer from my shopping spree with William last weekend and Caroline had stuff to return to Next.  Shopping isn’t a big expense for me at all, I always seem to take back more than I keep!

Anyway before we started our leisurely traipsing round the shops Caroline and I indulged ourselves and made for Krispy Kreme first.  My donut was the “chocolate covered custard centre” one.  Which would you choose?

Now if that isn’t a simple pleasure I don’t know what is!  Therefore I’m linking to A Collection of This and That for today’s assortment of  other’s Simple Pleasures.

TTFN.

Let’s Make a Cake.

I asked Charlie today if he’d like to make a cake with me.  

He practically flew into the kitchen and grabbed the stool he needs to see over the counter top.

I think the answer was yes!

TTFN.

Budding Musician?

Yes, we have a budding musician on our hands.  George came home from school yesterday with a cornet!

He wanted to come and show it to me today after school.  And of course play it for me too.  He can already get some awesome sounds out of that thing but I’m looking forward to hearing him play when he’s had a few lessons!

I wonder where he’ll practise?  Will it be in the house, in the garden or on the big field at the back of their house?!  Time will tell.

Good luck with it, George.

Ciao for now.

Oooh, I would love…

…one of these.  In fact I would love this one in particular.

It’s a VW Beetle and I spotted it outside Marks and Spencer in Handforth Dean this afternoon.  I like Beetles anyway but the graphics on this one just made it stand out from the rest for me.  I think it just looks soooo cool!  My girls will love that, me using the word cool, eh girls?.

William and I went on a little shopping spree today.  I say little because we only went to two shops one of which was M & S in Handforth Dean and the other was my favourite shop, John Lewis,  just down the road from it.

It was a very productive shopping trip, we got what we went for and a couple of things besides.  One of the things besides was this pair of  FitFlops   Not a very good picture I’m afraid, I pinched it off the internet. Why do they put a mainly white product on a white background?  You get the idea though I hope.  I didn’t know I needed these sandals until today but I’m glad I got them.  They really are so comfortable and feel so good and what’s more they are supposed to be very good for your feet, your bottom and everything in between too!

I love me a brass band and to day The Salvation Army band was outside Marks’s playing their hearts out and shaking their collecting tins of course.  I feared at first that they were playing Christmas carols!  They weren’t though, so that was OK.  It’s bad enough that the shops are gearing up for Christmas already.  I wish they wouldn’t do that in September.  Surely after Bonfire Night would be soon enough!

By the way I took these two photos with my mobile phone’s camera.  Didn’t  turn out as bad as I thought they would.

That’s it, until next time.

Cheerio.

Fluffy clouds in a blue sky.

One of life’s simple pleasures for me is the sky. 

The sky at sunrise (although to be honest I don’t see that very often) and sunset.  I look out my window most nights and am able to see a partial sunset and that gives me no end of pleasure - but to live where I could see it all, now that would be something!

A sky dark and heavy when a thunderstorm is  looming. 

A clear sky at night full of stars is magical to me and can take my breath away. 

But for sheer beauty it’s hard to beat a blue sky with lots and lots of fluffy white clouds!

The sky in all it’s guises is one of the greatest free shows on earth, don’t you agree?

I’m linking to Dayle at Simple Pleasures where other bloggers are sharing their Simple Pleasures.

TTFN

More about the holiday.

No visit to Oakdown, the campsite we stay on down there in Devon, is complete anymore without a visit to the Donkey Sanctuary.  It truly is a wonderful place, not only is it heaven for the donkeys, it’s a little bit of heaven on earth for humans too.

It’s a place to stroll and enjoy England’s green and pleasant land.  There are several trails/woodland walks to follow, one of which leads to the beach at Weston Mouth.  On our visit last week Billy and I chose to follow this path but we didn’t quite make it to the end.  The path leads steadily downhill and the track in parts was very wet, stony and slippy and that was the part where William almost did a roly-poly down to the sea!  Poor man, he lost his footing and took a bit of a nasty tumble!  He was more or less OK, thank goodness, a few cuts and scratches and a sore knee.  There he is above, high-tailing it back to level ground and a cup of coffee at the cafe.  I have to add that he was very pleased with me afterwards for helping him up and not telling him to stay where he was while I took a picture!! 

We all, the Williams’ included, really did have a good holiday, apart from William’s fall.  Oh, and I trapped my thumb in the car door on the Friday when we went to Burton Bradstock - boy, did that make my eyes water!   Seriously though, I know how very fortunate we are to have this little “holiday home”and to have been able to use it so much in this our first year of having it.  When I count my blessings it ranks right up there in the top ten. 

Thank you, Caroline and Trev, for coming up with the idea of buying a caravan between us in the first place.  It’s worked out very well hasn’t it?

TTFN

We’re Back and Burton Bradstock

Well, we’re back again from a week’s holiday in Devon, our last one for this year.  We had a lovely week, that’s not to say the sun shone every day but living in England we know not to expect that.  Having said that we did see plenty of sunshine and didn’t ever get wet, almost blown away a couple of times but that’s OK.

On the Monday it was my birthday and I was given the deciding vote on where we would go that day.  I chose Burton Bradstock.  It’s a beautiful little place.  Not a lot there, there’s a great beach, fantastic scenery and what’s more there’s a wonderful beach cafe.  That’s where we headed first.  We love to sit outside a cafe with a Kaffee und Kuchen and this cafe is just about top of our list for doing just that.  Look at the view!

We then took a walk up the hill facing the cafe.  It was quite a steep hill, especially pushing a buggy.  Thank goodness I didn’t have to do the pushing is all I can say.

The views at the top of the hill were well worth the effort.

  I took some photos of Caroline, Tee and Charlie. 

On Friday William and I went back to Burton Bradstock again.  It was perfect weather to be there.  The wind was blowing quite fiercely at times and the waves were ginormous.  It was glorious.  We decided to walk up and along the coastal path in the opposite direction of Monday’s walk.  Here I am at the start of the walk.

William’s not too keen on heights and the edge of the cliffs was really not that far from the path.  When we saw this sign I thought oh no, that’s the end of this walk!  I was sure he wouldn’t go any further but he did.  Well done, William!

Muffin is a funny little dog.  He gets fed up of going for walks, especially when we’re on holiday.  In the picture above he was refusing to move.  He wanted to go back to the car.  Seems too much of a good thing is a bad thing in Muffin’s books.  We literally had to make him carry on by tugging at the lead.  It’s a shame for him isn’t it?

Yeah, Burton Bradstock is definitely one of my favourite places.  I’m so glad Caroline and Trev discovered it for us all.

More holiday pics tomorrow.

TTFN.

Hen and Chicks

I love houseplants, especially ones that “do” something.  Like my Purple Shamrock I posted about here.  It goes to sleep at night.

My mother used to love cactus and succulents and I always think of her when I see them.  Many a time I would come away from a garden centre my hands full of little prickles after picking up and putting down a dozen or so cactus for her to examine.

Anyway back to my little beauty.  I bought this succulent plant last week, it’s commonly called Hen and Chicks because it has “babies”.  Shoots will appear, well I’m hoping they will, and grow into baby plants.  Plenty of them if I’m lucky and look after it properly.  

I’ll be back with another picture as soon as Mother Nature works her magic.

With this post I’m linking to Simple Pleasures.  A new blog I’ve recently found where others are sharing their Simple Pleasures too.