A Wet Weekend cont'd

Bank Holiday weekends are meant to be for fun not for being ill.  Poor Victoria has not had much fun this weekend.  Poor thing has got a bad case of tonsillitis and is feeling rough!  With a really sore throat, so sore that it even hurts to swallow her saliva and a temperature of 103 degrees  I think I'd feel rough too!

Gary, her husband, has therefore been in charge of keeping the boys entertained and out of the house as much as possible so that Victoria can get some rest and recuperation.  After taking the boys to the park and playing there for ages Gary called in at our house for a visit on the way home.

With a cup of coffee in hand Gary and I chatted and watched the boys ride their bikes behind our house.

An adjustment to Nicholas's saddle was needed, hence the wrench in Gary's hand.  Nicholas has only been riding his bike without stabilizers for a couple of weeks, hence the tongue sticking out of his mouth for concentration.

A little bit of climbing is always fun.

As you can see it didn't rain all the time, it only felt like it did. 

Vicki is on a course of antibiotics and hopefully will  soon be feeling better.

Kathleen.

A Wet Weekend

Well, mainly wet anyway.  Which is typical, because it's also a Bank Holiday weekend.  Just when the workers have an extra day off work the sun hides from us.  So what do we do?  We find somewhere indoors to go and hope the sun might just come out at some stage of the day and that's what happened on Saturday. 

My daughter,Victoria, her four year old, Nicholas and I went to Uppermill garden centre for a look around, a coffee and a bite to eat.  In particular I was looking for a pot to put my Hen and Chicks succulent plant in because it's not doing what it's supposed to.  It's supposed to give off shoots which grow into young plants and look wonderful but it's just not doing that.  Unfortunately I didn't find a new pot but I'll keep on looking until I do.

After the garden centre the sun did come out and we were able to take Nicholas to the park a short walk away.  Where I thought I'd take some photos of him.

Would this little bundle of fun look at me?

I was stood right in front of him.

He looked this way.

He looked that way.  Did he look my way?  No way, did he heck!

But he did when we were in the garden centre...

... and here's the proof.  Bless his little cotton socks!

Kathleen.

Bookmarks

My daughter, Caroline, asked me recently to make her a new bookmark. 

She knows I like to play about in Adobe Photoshop and so I was happy to oblige.  This is what I came up with.  It didn't take me very long.  I made two, one for each of my girls.  I think they like them.

I love silhouettes and I found this particular one of a girl blowing bubbles on a fascinating creative blog called  Scherenschnitte.   It's all about the intricate art of papercutting.  I don't think I have a steady enough hand to be any good at this craft but I do like to see Cindy Ferguson's (owner of Scherenschnitte) creations.  Not only is Cindy very talented but very generous too, this silhouette is a free download on her blog and is really a template for papercutters.

So, two simple pleasures this week -  playing around in Photoshop and browsing through Scherenschnitte.

As usual I'm joining Dayle over at A Collection of This and That.

Kathleen.

Another Birthday

Last Friday Charlie turned three!

I know it's a very over-used phrase but, where does the time go?  It doesn't seem two minutes ago since Charlie was born and now look at him!

Friday morning I was invited to go along with Caroline and Trev when they took Charlie to an Open Farm as a birthday treat.  The weather wasn't just the best but we made the best of it.  There were donkey rides to go on, tractors to ride and all manner of animals to see and lots of other stuff besides for Charlie to do.

Yep, including these sweet little creatures.  I'm sure there was another couple of piglets underneath these.  All I can say is I'm glad I'm not a pig!

I thought this picture was cute with Charlie peeping in the background.

After the farm we stopped at a McDonald's on the way home for a bite to eat.  Those places all seem to have undergone a much needed refurbishment of late, they don't feel quite so samey anymore.  Anyway, I have to say I rather like a McDonald's latte now and then and I'm not opposed to one of their burgers either.  I'm not a food connoisseur, it just has to be edible for me.   Suffice it to say, it wasn't only Charlie who enjoyed his lunch. 

Later on in the afternoon there was a party for the birthday boy, he was excited about that.  So that's it for birthdays now until July when we'll be singing the Happy Birthday song to my first born, Victoria, and I really will be saying "where did the time go" then!

Kathleen.

A Good Book

There's nothing quite like a good book is there? 

I think reading is a simple pleasure that many of us share and it was definitely one of mine this week.

I noticed this book on my younger daughter's bookshelf last week.  I'd heard of Francine Rivers but had never read any of her novels.  I brought Redeeming Love home with me that night and am glad I did.  The story is emotionally hard going (Caroline had warned me of this) but well worth sticking with to the end as I'm sure many of Dayle's readers will know.

The book I actually read is a newer edition than this one but when looking through eBay for a picture I came across this edition and I think the cover is a far better illustration of the story than the newer edition cover.

I'll be looking out for more Francine Rivers novels from now on but meanwhile I'm joining Dayle for this week's Simple Pleasures link up.

Kathleen.

Quality Time.

Today I spent a fun unplanned afternoon with my older daughter, Victoria.

We drove up Blackstone Edge, over the tops and into Hebden Bridge. I love that drive.  We enjoyed a leisurely lunch then browsed in and out of a few shops, the prettiest one being this florist's shop.

The Willow Garden is full of lovely decorative things, not to mention the most beautiful blooms both real and artificial.  If you want flowers for a special occasion this is the place to go.

Victoria made a purchase, a pretty decorative heart.  I was a good girl and resisted temptation.

So, Victoria and I spent some out of the ordinary "quality time" together.  Quality as in being able to talk to each other without interruption.  Out of the ordinary because it's not often that Victoria is to be found without her two boys or if she hasn't got them is unable to go far because of watching the clock for school times etc.  Today was different though, the boys were both at school but their daddy was home and therefore able to go and collect them at 3.30 p.m. 

I'm hoping we get to do it again sometime soon.  Now, wouldn't that be nice?

TTFN,

Kathleen.

 

A Coffee Shop and a Toffee Shop.

Last night before I went to bed I made myself a To Do List.  There was probably eight or nine things on it.  Mainly housework, stuff  that I either needed or wanted to do.  Coffee shopping wasn't on the list but Caroline rang this morning and asked if I'd like to go to Uppermill with her, Trev and Charlie.

Caroline had heard about a little cupcake/coffee shop in Uppermill that was supposed to be very nice and wanted to try it.  So, naturally, I put my To Do List away and tagged along.

I'm glad I did,  A Spoonfull of Sugar (yes, they spell it with an extra l for some reason) is a lovely little coffee shop.  They use lots of vintage mismatched china to serve the goodies on.  A little detail I liked was the bowl of sugar cubes complete with little sugar tongues on every table.  The cakes were delicious too.

Right next door to the coffee shop is a toffee shop, Sweet Memories of Saddleworth.

This little shop is a proper toffee shop.  Just like toffee shops used to be with rows of jars filled with all kinds of sugary goodness.  Apparently there are 250 jars and over 40 different types of lollies to choose from.  All the well known brands of yesteryear too, none of your poor imitation stuff in this shop.

I bought my self a quarter of Mint Imperials and a quarter of Licorice Tablets only now they're called Licorice Gums because the powers that be decided somewhere along the line that the word tablet can't be used to describe a sweet.  The shop owner also told me that the licorice pipes that were on sale for donkey's years are no longer made.  You can still buy the licorice but the pipe shape has gone.  Oh well, nothing stays the same forever does it?

All in all it was a lovely little outing and that To Do List?  Well, I suppose it'll get done tomorrow.

TTFN,

Kathleen.

Blooming Marvellous

This clematis has got to be the prettiest plant in our garden.

This year looks like it's going to be a good year for it too.

Whichever window I look out of at the back of the house I can see it.  I think it's just gorgeous and without doubt it is my simple pleasure this week.

I'm joining Dayle over at A Collection of This and That for this week's Simple Pleasures Party.

Until next time,

Kathleen.

Birthdays

A couple of birthdays I want to highlight before it's too late.

It was my grandson, Nicholas's, 4th birthday on 17th April.  That's him in the centre of the top picture.  The party was held in a local indoor play area and I snapped this picture when Nicholas and his friends were madly chasing bubbles.  Details for this scrapbook page can be found over on my other blog.

Then it was my younger daughter, Caroline's, birthday last Wednesday.

I made a little afternoon tea party for her for when she came home from work.  Charlie covered his ears when we started to sing Happy Birthday.  Think he was trying to tell us something?

The birthday girl blowing out the candles, with a little help, of course.

Time is flying by, I can't believe we're already into May!  I have to say I'm looking forward to June though.  That's when my sister and her husband will be home from America for a visit and we'll be taking them down to Devon for a week's holiday.  After that I'll be very happy for Time to slow down a bit, thank you.

TTFN,

Kathleen.

Frederick's Ice Cream

Ice cream is my favourite thing to eat.  I think I could live on it.  Well that's a slight exaggeration maybe, but it is definitely one of my all time favourite foods.

Just recently my daughter, Caroline, introduced me to a fantastic ice cream parlour called Frederick's.  Their ice cream is to die for!  They even have my favourite flavour, Turkish Delight, which I've only found before in the Lake District.  Inside that refrigerated glass display counter is goodness knows how many flavours of ice cream.  That's Caroline and Charlie sitting outside. There's also a seating area inside.

Charlie is like me, he loves ice cream too.

That cone is nearly as big as him! 

In fact all three of my little treasures love ice cream.  This is George and Nicholas last summer, that's Charlie in the background.

William doesn't like ice cream as much as I do, it gives him a headache, but on Sunday last we needed to go to the Trafford Centre and Frederick's is right on its doorstep at the Chill Factore.  Needless to say we made a visit.  I tried marshmallow flavour this time, it was good too.  Happily Frederick's does a good latte so we had one of those as well.

So my simple pleasure this week has been the discovery of Frederick's and it has pleased me no end.

Linking to Dayle at A collection of This and That to see what others have found pleasure in this week.

TTFN,

Kathleen.

More From Our Easter Break

Final post on our Easter holiday.

On Bank Holiday Monday we started the day with breakfast down at The Tea Caddy, Axmouth.  I blogged about The Tea Caddy last year here.  There's William looking at the menu deciding how big a Full English Breakfast he was going to have. 

Once again it was another beautiful day.  There was quite a bit of activity on the river and in and around the Sailing Club.  I can't tell you how good it was to eat breakfast in the fresh sea air watching the boats sail by.

After breakfast we headed for Rousdon Car Boot Sale.  We had been told about it by a very friendly couple on the campsite. 

On the Saturday evening we had a problem with the gas not coming through to the oven in the van.  William was outside trying to fix it and a friendly soul called Martin stopped to see if he could help.  Well, the problem wasn't fixed that night but we didn't go hungry.  Martin and his wife insisted that we cook our food in their oven and not only that but his wife then set their table for us, poured wine and made us more than welcome.  How was that for friendliness?  We stayed the whole evening chatting away and had a great time getting to know them.

Rousdon Car Boot Sale turned out to be a humongous affair.  In a huge field, very well organised and very popular.  I think it's on every Sunday throughout the summer and also on Bank Holidays.

William kept being drawn to this kind of stall.  Tools, hardware, batteries and that kind of stuff.  He's got a thing about batteries, I think he lives in dread of running out of them, therefore buys some everywhere he goes!  Funnily enough, he didn't buy any on this particular day.

I was drawn to this kind of stall selling old stuff, pottery, china, glass and all sorts of odd and ends like that.

A snack bar should you feel the need of a little refreshment.

Here he is again checking out that same stall.

I made a purchase at this stall.  A Colclough fine bone china tea service.  More on that another day.

We really enjoyed tootling around this car boot sale, I'm sure we'll go back again.  It's not a bad way to spend a couple of hours on a sunny Sunday afternoon. 

In fact we had a really good holiday overall and I still can't believe how good the weather was!  My daughter, Victoria, and her little family were over in Cornwall while we were in Devon and they had an excellent holiday too, spending nearly every day on the beach.  What a difference it makes when the sun shines, eh daughter?

TTFN,

Kathleen.