Saturday, 5 March 2022

First Saturday in March

 Sad to hear of the death of the children's author Shirley Hughes this week, she was in her 90's and had been writing and illustrating right up to the end. Now that I have a new Grandson called Alfie I'd better be looking out for her Alfie and Annie Rose books for him when he gets a bit older.

I went for a walk round the village yesterday morning to post a letter and came across the Rural Coffee Caravan which has got going properly again after nearly two years break. One of the things they do is to provide lots of information leaflets to help people - bit like a very small scale, mobile Citizens Advice Bureau .

 

I went to look and stopped for a coffee. Apparently they weren't supposed to be here until April but as it had been advertised for March they came anyway. Not many people there - t'was a bit chilly for sitting out. It's called The Rural Coffee Caravan because that's how it started several years ago - then their caravan was stolen and they  were donated this motor-home. They go to lots of villages all over Suffolk.

 

Apart from the coffee caravan, WI Stitch group and shopping, my week has been very unadventurous, maybe I've listened to too much news coverage of the Ukraine situation but unadventurous seems the best way to be. Excitement might be the wrong thing to ask for. 

So I've been reading a lot and will write about the books next week and I found Welsh Open Snooker was on TV so that has accompanied the reading, also watching another Swedish crime drama from Walter Presents on the My 4 catch up channel - which has subtitles so has to be watched properly.

With all that's going on in the world I have many things to feel grateful for this week

  • A safe place to live
  • A quiet week
  • Middle Grandson happily starting Pre-School Group with his big sister after having to spend his first year and a bit not venturing far due to all the lockdowns

May be an image of 1 person, child, standing and outdoors

  •  Knowing that the Fantastic Mr Fox outfit that I picked up from a boot sale last summer has come in handy for Eldest Grandson for dressing up at his first World Book Day.

May be an image of person, child and standing

And talking about  car-boot sales........................Will I get to the first car-boot sale of the season this weekend? That is the question. It's all weather dependent I reckon. 

 Hope your weekend is adventurous or quiet - whichever you chose
I'll be back Monday
Sue

45 comments:

  1. Shirley Hughes was a great favourite of my family so I too was sad to hear of her death yesterday. The fantastic Mr Fox was a great find and your grandson looks splendid in it.

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    1. I was so pleased to see it was useful

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    2. I can still quote a number of Shirley Hughes books by heart, nearly 30 years after reading them over and over and over to our daughter! They are such lovely gentle story books and the illustrations so beautiful. I'm sorry to hear that she has dies, but thank her for the joy she brought to our house.

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  2. You're so right Sue, here in this country we've got so much to be thankful for. Hope your weather is good enough for the boot sale.

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    1. Very wet here this A.M so no boot sale - perhaps the other one tomorrow

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  3. I am going to a car boot sale on Sunday!

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  4. We have lots of Shirley Hughes books - the Alfie and Annie Rose ones are lovely as are all the illustrations in them, so we were sad o hear that she had died this week.
    That is an amazing costume you picked up for your Grandson

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    1. I shall have to check which we have between me and Eldest daughter and see what others I can find

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  5. Iove Shirley Hughes' books too. In our family, the children chose Where's Wally*, and George & the Dinosaurs! (*I found the outfit in a CS last year. We Grandmas can be so useful!)

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    1. Think it saved Eldest Daughter having to spend time looking for somthing - I shall keep my eyes open for something next size up

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  6. I was so sorry to read about Shirley Hughes too. A fantastic author who will be missed. xx

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    1. I enjoyed reading them to my 3 when they were small - especially the early reader rhyming ones

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  7. The rural coffee caravan call at my village too. It parks at the Victory Hall and we are lucky that we can have coffee and cake indoors!!Its lovely to see so many people there lots of Mums and children as well as us oldies. The information is helpful and shall go as often as I can. Val

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    1. handy being able to get in out of the weather. I see it's with you on the 21st

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  8. No car boot sales here yet. The one in Llandod starts in April I think - that's on the hotel car park so dry underfoot. The Madley one is in a field so probably doesn't start till April either. I will have to check.

    We may go to a small Antiques Fair this weekend. Depends how Keith is feeling, but it's indoors.

    Shirley Hughes was a good age and her books will never go out of fashion.

    Love the Fantastic Mr Fox look!

    Another one here so glad we live in a peaceful country here.

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    1. The boot sale nearest to me won't start for a while - it will need a lot of drying out first - Easter perhaps?

      Don't seem to have any big Antique fairs around, nearest would be Newmarket - quite a trek or Norwich - even further

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  9. Quiet lives are a great blessing at the moment. Sad about Shirley Hughes but she was a good age, I enjoyed reading her books so full of life..

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    1. The details in her illustrations are so good. I wonder how many books she wrote in total - will have a look

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  10. Your grandson looks good in his outfit. The children in our village have been decorating on the windows with book titles I hope to walk round the village to see they are all on Facebook.
    Enjoy the weekend everyone it looks like rain here.
    Hazel
    🌈🌈

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    1. That sounds like a lovely idea for people to see.
      Enjoy your walk - hope it stops raining

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  11. I used to love reading Shirley Hughes' books to my boys at bedtime, the only thing was I loved the illustrations so much the boys would be begging me to turn over and stop poring over every detail. I was quite sad when we progressed to Roald Dahl and the little sketch like illustrations.

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    1. I can't remember reading any Roald Dahl to my 3 - i must have been a bad mother and made them read them themselves!

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  12. When my youngest son was little, "Fantastic Mr. Fox" was his favorite book. Your photo of your grandson brought back that happy memory to me. Hope you have a nice weekend and the weather gets sunny!

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    1. How lovely that my blog brought back a good memory.

      Weather so far this weekend has been horrible!

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  13. The Rural Coffee Caravan sounds like a wonderful way to get together with neighbors as well as getting helpful pamphlets. That is such a cute picture of your Middle Grandson heading off to preschool! Your eldest makes a perfect Mr. Fox. How wonderful that you found the costume for him! Enjoy your weekend Sue!

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    1. The costume was a useful find last year.

      All grandchildren seem to be growing up so quickly

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  14. You find such useful items at boot sales. Your grandson looks great in his fox costume. Illustrations are often as important as the words in books for children. Bedtime stories were always loved by my son and I, as we read each night together.

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    1. It was lovely to find the photos of both grandsons on my phone this week - growing up so quickly

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  15. LOVE the idea of a Rural Coffee Caravan! I'll have to look into that author, and your grandchildren (as always) are adorable.

    We're sorting and packing to move to another state at the end of the month, having just gotten back from there, so our spring will hold adventures. Our house may not be ready in time, but we can stay with our youngest son, who has bought a cozy home nearby. When we do finally move into our own place, the neighbors have a mule, a horse, several goats and a flock of chickens... the latter came by to introduce their feathered selves to us last week.
    --Elise

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    1. What an exciting time you have ahead this year. Hope the move goes well

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  16. Thank you, Sue. BIG changes are ahead for us. While we've lived in small town/rural areas for years, we'll be retiring to a place full of ranches, hobby farms, and just miles of wide open spaces, far removed from anywhere else. There IS a big hospital there that serves a several hundred mile radius, including the nearby Apache Nation. But I just saw deer and Bobcat tracks on our land last week, so while I'm excited, I'm a little nervous about how much "adventure" awaits. LOL! --Elise

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    1. I think your new area sounds very good as wide open spaces are something we are lacking in most of England - sadly. New housing estates popping up everywhere on the edge of villages

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  17. What is the name of the Swedish crime drama that you are watching? I recently watched the Danish/Swedish series The Bridge and the Danish series The Killing, both with subtitles and unavailable in America until recently. I understand that both of those series aired years ago in the UK and were popular.

    What a cute costume for your grandson! He looks great and is getting very tall.

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    1. The Swedish Drama was a more recent one called Stockholm Requiem.

      I texted daughter and said the same about Grandson and she said he's had a growth spurt over the last couple of weeks and all his trousers are suddenly too short!

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    2. Thank you, Sue. We have a new pay-channel here called Topic that is showing a lot of international programs. I’ll keep an eye out for Stockholm Requiem. Of course I only subscribe when they have offers for .99 per month.

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  18. I kind of like quiet weeks, though it seems like mine have been that way except for last weekend and the beginning of the week when we went to visit Kris in his new house and I quickly made him easy pocket curtains.

    Cute costume.

    God bless.

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    1. I like a week when I don't need to go far so I can choose what I do and nothing too adventurous!

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  19. Look at that little boy, hustling off to school. Determined.

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  20. We all have a lot to be thankful for this week.

    The Coffee Caravan is a great use for a small motorhome, and probably easier to park & manoeuvre than a towed caravan 😊

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    1. The Coffee Caravan calls in on so many villages all round Suffolk - but it's the first time I've lived in the right place to visit it

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  21. The coffee van looks like a great idea and that costume is amazing and perfectly timed.

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  22. What a brilliant idea the coffee caravan is. Wish we had one here.
    It's lovely to see the children out in the fresh air again isn't it.

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  23. It's good that the caravan is out and about.

    I must admit that there looks to be some good shows with subtitles, but usually when the telly is on I'm doing other things as well. Foreign tv shows/films take concentration lol

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