One of those roundup posts.

First in this week's round-up is this little chappy.

My littlest grandson, Charlie, turned four years old last Sunday!  Here he is excitedly holding Woody which was our birthday gift to him.  Boy, was he ever excited to get this toy!  Woody has been on his wishlist for some time now and finally he got him.

Caroline rang midweek to see if I'd like to go for an evening walk with her and Harley round Watergrove Reservoir.  It was a lovely warm evening perfect for a walk. 

This corner of the res in particular was full of bluebells.  This picture does not do them justice.  There really was tons of them!  Beautiful!  I have happy childhood memories of the woods I played in with my cousin, brother and sisters being full of bluebells.

Looking down into the fields from the final stretch of our walk sits this rather grand home.  I believe it's an ex Water Board premises. 

Thursday and Friday of this week I attended Grandparent's Day at school for Nicholas and Charlie.  Nicholas is holding the scarecrow we made together.  Charlie made this bookmark for his mummy.  It was fun on both afternoons.  Charlie's little nursery class have been learning the National Anthem in preparation for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.  The class gave us a demonstration. Sitting at their teacher's feet, waving their little Union Flags with bags of enthusiasm - it was sooo sweet!

Assorted Instagram pics from the last week or so.

1. My sweet cousin, Sylvia, and I met up in Manchester once again last week. This patriotic display was in Selfridges.
2. In fact patriotic things are hard to ignore, what with the Olympics and the Queen's Jubilee, the red, white and blue is everywhere.
3. I couldn't resist this patriotic top and will wear it on Diamond Jubilee Day.  We'll be in Devon so I'm looking forward to that.
4. Bluebells...
5. Tulips...
6. ...and Cherry Blossom all putting on a fine show in the local park.  This local park of ours is a little gem, the gardeners work so hard keeping the flowerbeds full of blooms.  It's a pleasure to be in.
7. Cakes on sale in the library.  Baked by staff and library users to help raise funds for a little boy who needs surgery on his legs which isn't available in the UK so he has to travel to the USA for it.
8. An evening visit to Starbucks and the Trafford Centre with Caroline.  It was the night of Charlie's first sleepover at Auntie Vicki's house.
9. The evening of Charlie's birthday we enjoyed a meal at a local Indian restaurant with Caroline, Trev and Charlie.
10. haircut for me.  I've gone quite short again and I like it.
11. This beautiful weather is allowing lots of outdoor reading time...
12. ... and is perfect drying weather!  After all these years of married life I still find hanging washing on the line a pleasure not a chore.  Does that make me a bit peculiar?

These are the temperatures we've been having.  To me, these are just perfect! 

Kathleen.

It's Just us Again!

After nine weeks with a house bursting at the seams, my daughter and her family have moved out and into their own house and now our house feels empty.

But, let's just rewind the clock a bit.  I want to post some photos taken over the last couple of months.  Photos I didn't get chance to blog about at the time and I don't want for them to just lie idle and waste away in the depths of my hard drive.  I feel this is going to be a long post but it has to be done.  For posterity, you know.  Naturally the pics are mainly of the boys.

First up.  A reminder of a little walk the boys and I took one afternoon when their parents were busy working away on their house.

The boys ran ahead and sat themselves on this wall waiting for me to catch up with the dogs.  I remember thinking what a nice picture that would make.

I shouted "boys, this way" and this was what I got.  A close up of the faces shows it didn't turn out quite how I saw it in my mind's eye!

Further along.  Pretty scenery.  I love the cobbled lane.  Just stand together a minute boys.  This was what happened.  A wrestling match.  Not quite what I was going for.  Never mind, I'll keep on snapping.  One day I'll get that perfect picture of two brothers looking my way with a sweet smile on both their faces.  Ever the optimist, that's me.

We pass this old house at the top of that cobbled lane.  It was built around 1280.  I'd love a look inside wouldn't you?

Charlie and I went for a little walk one afternoon and came across John and Lesley.  John showed Charlie all the frog spawn in the pond.  Charlie was thrilled.  He loves John, all three of our little boys do.

The day after I took George to see all the frog spawn.  There was masses of the stuff.  We forgot to go back though and see the tadpoles, shame about that.  Not sorry about not seeing the frogs though.

This is Nicholas playing the Tallulah Game.   The sweet and gentle side of Nicholas showed through in this game.  He was a big brother in it and looked after Tallulah, his little sister, so well.

One rainy afternoon I thought a bit of quiet time was needed.  A DVD and popcorn I thought would be a good idea.

It was for a little while.  Then the Rough and Tumble started. 

There's lots of Rough and Tumble around here.  Charlie is usually the instigator, he loves it.  Sometimes it ends well, other times it ends in tears.  One thing's for certain - it's always noisy.

Nicholas turned 5 along the way.  This was him first thing on the birthday morning. Little sleepy head.  I think it was barely 6 0'clock.

I love their chin dimples.  They get them from their daddy.

We had a little Happy Birthday party for him.  I think he enjoyed being top dog for the day. 

He weighed 10lb 5ozs at birth. Ouch!

Bless him!

So, yes, they've gone.  Nine weeks seemed a long time while we were going through them but now they've gone it's hard to believe they ever happened.  All's well that ends well.

Kathleen.

May Bank Holiday Weekend in Devon

Just over a week ago on Friday the 4th, Caroline, Trev, Charlie and I travelled down the motorway once again to spend the long Bank Holiday weekend in Devon.  Poor William had to stay at home, he couldn't get the time off work.

Friday 4th May also happened to be Caroline's birthday. I had gone prepared with a birthday cake for her and candles too.  Mid afternoon once we were all settled in the caravan the candles were lit and the three of us sang Happy Birthday to the birthday girl.  Caroline and a very enthusiastic Charlie blew the candles out.  It was a sweet start to the trip.

Our first outing of the weekend was to Beer for fish and chips.  However, disappointment was ahead of us - well, me anyway.  We were too early, the chippy wasn't yet open!  We made do with pasties from Woozies Deli - not a bad substitute really.  They sell the best pasties I've ever tasted.

An afternoon in West Bay.  How would you fancy walking up that hill?  It is seriously steep!  We didn't bother this time, or have any other time for that matter.  Probably we don't intend to bother at anytime in the future either.  There again, never say never!

Me and my baby.  Where does the time go? 

It doesn't seem that long ago since she and her sister were as little as Charlie is now.  Time and tide and all that jazz I suppose.

Throwing stones in the sea.  It's mandatory.

Crabbing.  Not something that we have done a lot of.  Charlie was more interested in a couple of little boys who were crabbing just a few feet away from us than his own line and bait.  Their bucket was full of crabs.  His wasn't.

Harley, Caroline's dog.  He's a really sweet natured dog, big and energetic, but very sweet! 

Caroline is a lot like me and loves taking photos.

We both took tons of pics of Charlie.  We had a mad half hour or more being giddy, running around and enjoying the fresh, i.e. windy and chilly, sea air and views up on Beer Head..

This is Dawlish (above).  That's Caroline and Trev up there.  On their left side is the South West Coastal Railway.  It runs literally just the other side of that railing.  It's got to be one of the most scenic railway routes in Britain.  On their right is approximately a 10ft drop down to the sand and no railing.  A bit scary to walk along with little people.

Dawlish is somewhere we hadn't been before.   It was an okay kind of place but I don't think we are in any rush to go there again.

This is Sidmouth beach.

Now, we love Sidmouth. 

This day had started off wet and dull.  I had almost convinced myself to stay home on the ranch, read and relax.  However, I'm so glad I didn't.

The rain soon faded away and the sun put his hat on and came out to play.

The tide was out and we all had a really fun time on the beach.  Charlie was having the time of his life. 

There were rock pools to clamber over and puddles to navigate around.  With the sun on our faces and the wind whipping around our legs, it was heavenly.  Actually, I think heaven must be a lot like this!

Kathleen.