First Food Shop of July

 This shopping-photos-to-fill-a-blog-post is getting to be a regular thing - I'm just not having enough adventures and with the weather forecast telling us we are in for another week of very high temperatures I doubt I'll be going far this week either.

At least last weeks trip to town was a few degrees cooler than the week before. I went to Aldi first on my way into town and then into town centre for a couple of things including the library, then frozen stuff from Asda that I didn't want to get at Aldi as it would have been in the cold box (even with ice-packs) for a bit too long..

Some things are rather hidden in the photo but this is the complete list...roughly left to right......... Aldi's calabrese still looked yellowing like the last couple of times I've been in, so I got a savoy cabbage instead for the weeks 'greens' 79p; 6 apples £1.39 ; 4 wholemeal baps 69p; pack 2 little gem lettuce 49p; cooking chocolate £1.59; chocolate chips £1.19; cheap choc chip cookies 65p; 3 peanuts @ 59p =£1.77; Soy sauce 55p; tin plum tomatoes 43p; 4 pints semi-skimmed milk  £1.65; Strong white bread flour £1.09; Packet jaffa cakes £1.00; Extra Mature Cheddar cheese 400g £2.49; Soft cheese 89p; 2 packets Colmans cheese sauce mix @£1.00 each = £2; Brown Sugar £1.64; 1Kg Nectarines £2.39; Frozen Fish in batter pack of 4 £2.49; Ice cream £1.62.

Total Spend £26.80

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Two really good games at Wimbledon on Saturday - there were probably more but these were the two I properly watched. First Arthur Fery battled his way to a win, coming back from being down so many times and finally winning in 5 sets. I think they said the first British Wild Card to get through to the 4th round  in many a long year (or maybe ever- they had too many stats to remember!) Then the Dimitrov/Berrittini match was equally good, I didn't really mind who won.

On Sunday Djokovic won again of course and then Jannick Sinner got through - again not easily. Today Arthur Fery plays Grigor Dimitrov who is getting back to playing after a year of injuries. It could be one-sided as Dimitrov is so experienced or Arthur - who is 12 years younger might be able to play really well again.  

I didn't stay up for the England/Mexico match - I'm not silly! But was amazed to wake up this morning with the radio telling me England had somehow managed to win. That was a nice surprise, I didn't think they stood a chance as Mexico had never lost a game playing in their National stadium.

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I saw my 9 year old EGD yesterday, a month ago we were practising her times tables ready for a test and she did well - getting all right. She wanted me to write some for her to do again but she got the answers quicker than I could write the numbers! I'm glad they learn times tables to be able to get the answer straight away, as we did back in the 60s."Off by heart" we called it. It went out of fashion when my lot were at school. It's quite a useful thing to be able to do at any age, unlike some of the things we did in Maths which were never used again!

The End of the Week

 Eldest Daughter and the two Grandsons in Surrey were due on Tuesday for a three night stay. We were planning to get all the cousins together for a couple of trips out, to the seaside and RSPB Minsmere maybe.

She rang me Easter Sunday to say both boys had picked up tummy bugs. Oh Dear. The nearly 10 year old recovered in a day but the 4 year old wasn't so lucky. No chance of them travelling up on Tuesday after all.

Luckily YGS recovered and so they were able to come on Wednesday. We soon got the two Surrey boys  meeting up with their three Suffolk cousins in my bungalow = chaos.

 

Just one trip out, meeting up at Aldeburgh for a picnic, sailing boats on the boating pond, loading the beach stones into toy dumper trucks for the two youngest while the three eldest zoomed up and down a slope on two - much too small balance bikes - belonging to the two youngest - weird, but it kept them amused for ages.

Ice creams for all!  By chance they are sitting here in age order, Eldest Granddaughter is still taller than Eldest Grandson, but he's catching up.

After much too short a time they were off back to Surrey.

Now it will be a quiet weekend, car boot sales of course - weather permitting. Plus I must get the electric propagator onto the windowsill in the spare room and get some seeds started. 

And reading..............

Several people said they'd enjoyed reading 'The Eights' by Joanna Miller when it was in my library book photo and I did too. I'd  found details of it on a blog and a vlog and it had good reports.

It is the first book by this author and on a blog someone commented they hoped there was a sequel and it certainly sets itself up for more of the story.

Oxford, 1920. For the first time in its 1,000 year history, the world's most famous university has admitted female students.

This is the story of four women, all very different, who find themselves in adjoining rooms in their first weeks at university. It follows them through their first year, their secrets, fears and hopes for the future - just two years after the war which still casts a long shadow. 

 

Have a good weekend folks, I'll be back Monday 

 

Pantomime

Last Saturday I went to Suffolk's  oldest surviving, purpose built cinema. It's in Leiston, near the Suffolk coast and has been going since 1914. 

The dance group, where 9 year old EGD has been learning ballet since she was 3, were doing a little bit of dancing in Leiston's pantomime. The guy who is Leiston's  Mr Entertainment wrote the panto - a version of Mother Goose - and starred as The Dame. He's been managing the cinema since 1994 and also does magic shows and organises all sorts of other events. He also works on a small local radio station and YD said he's just started being the Crossing Control 'Lollipop' Man at the  primary school road crossing. They've just reinstated someone there where the road is now crazy busy due to the building of Sizewell C Power Station.

Leiston would be lost without him!

 

It's been a long time since I'd been to a Panto - I'd rather go to a local one like this than the big city ones with some celebrity. Actually Wayne is a celebrity - for Leiston!

Back Tomorrow

A Sofa Load of Mischief

 I don't share photos of the grandchildren very often. It doesn't seem like a good idea in the scary world we live in nowadays. 

Just once or twice a year when they are all together. This is Christmas Eve when  all three families descended on me to sort out what was happening on Christmas Day and who needed to take what to the holiday cottage where the Surrey family are staying.

Getting five to sit still, look at the camera and smile all at the same time is impossible!

What a lucky Nanna I am.

Thank you to everyone for Happy Christmas wishes yesterday.

Notes From The First Week of September.

• September started with having the YGD and the MGS here for Monday and Tuesday as DiL had PD days at school - I can't even remember what PD stands for - perhaps it's Professional Development? The school has had some classroom refurbs over the summer hols and teachers coming and going so that's interesting for the Grandchildren's return.

• Has anyone else come across a Channel 5 crime thing - a short series of 3 -  with Phyllis Logan as The Puzzle Lady - 'Murder most Puzzling'. It's weird - cosy crime with swearing! American stories (we don't have Mayors who can tell the police how to do their job!) moved to the UK. So very wrong!
• At odd times over the last several weeks I watched my way through all 5 seasons of an Australian series on the free Pluto channel. It was called Sea Patrol and all about  HMAS Hammersley and the crew and their patrols around the Australian coast off Cairns. It was made from 2007 - 2011 so probably a bit dated now. It had a sad ending - which was disappointing. 

• Because I hadn't heard much about this years Strictly Come Dancing I Looked to see when it starts and who was in it. The first pre-recorded introduction show is on the 20th and I hadn't a clue who half the celebs are although I see they've a drag queen and the Australian Stefan Dennis who I remember from Neighbours way way back.

• Yesterday I got the red tomato, onion and pepper chutney made - 8 jars in total. I'm glad that job's done, chopping everything small is a fiddly job. I used my homegrown red peppers after all so only bought red onions, red chilli peppers and red wine vinegar.

• There's a  government emergency alarm thing on mobile phones tomorrow at 3pm - last time I didn't notice it - either it didn't happen on my phone or the phone was indoors and I wasn't.

• The weird page view numbers are still happening, I thought they'd stopped but this week page views are over 2,000 a day again, when the norm was around 700.

• There is  warm and dry weather forecast for the weekend which is good news, there were several rainy hours during this last week and I discovered my garden shed is leaking again. The water had dripped onto the battery mower. Luckily charging up the battery and standing the mower in the sun yesterday dried everything out and it's working fine again......phew!

Hope you have a good weekend, I'll be back Monday.

Stitching

 Brownie-Guide badges are all different colours. I sowed 14 onto her Brownie sash for EGD this week - probably a years worth! I try to use cottons the same colour as the edges of the badges. There were two different yellows, three different blues as well as pink edged and red. 

Once upon a time I had a huge collection of different colours cottons but at some time I didn't have room for them all in my sewing box and  must have got rid. So had to use the best match I could find.

Anyway, they are all on ready for the new term in September. 

Back Soon

Just Two Cards but I Need Another List

 Last Saturday the car boot sale was GIAGANTIC. Even at 5 past 7 the car park was filling fast and there were no more spaces for people selling. 

I scanned the tables and boxes for interesting things but just came home with these two cards and some butternut squash and sweetcorn plants.

In my box of birthday cards there are several with various ages waiting for the 5 grandchildren, two great nephews and one great niece's birthdays but of course when I'm at a boot sale I've no clue what's in that box at home.

Need a list. Always a list!

Back Soon

This Weeks Happenings

 Not so warm this week, and Thursday was positively chilly, although still fine and dry all week except for a few minutes rain but it might be all change - just in time for the Spring Bank Holiday weekend and school  half term week- Typical!

(That shower of rain was full of sand or dust, either from the Sahara or the nearby fields and my car looks like it's been on a beach!)

After sowing twice and no sign of growth I gave up and bought some French Climbing Bean plants from last weekend's car boot = 12 modules, about 16 plants for £4. My bean seeds germinated OK last year but I also had no growth with cucumber and courgette seeds this year - might be the difference in temps in the greenhouse between day - unusually warm - and night - down to 4 or 5 degrees C some nights? Don't usually have this many fails in a season. I was talking to the man, from a local nursery that isn't open to the public, who was selling them and saying how nasty some compost is now and apparently trade can still buy compost with peat - no longer available to home growers to try and retain the important peat bog habitats. He said compost without peat either doesn't hold water which runs straight through leaching out goodness or holds water too well so that seeds stay too wet.

I've decided there is something wrong with me (actually everyone who knows me has known that for a long time!) but this time my reason is that I just can't watch some you-tube videos without shouting "just get on with it". especially when vloggers just sit there thinking what to say! aaaagh  - I have to turn off and why are some people so 'glass half empty?' Must be depressing to find something miserable to say everyday.

Five year old grandson - the dinosaur expert- has now turned into a bird watcher and history buff! I had him and his sister here last Sunday and he spotted and recognised two Goldfinches on the sunflower heart feeder and told me all about The Wright Brothers and their plane. He's taking after his Daddy who has always been interested in all sort of different things. 

Now here's an odd thing. On Monday afternoon, just out of view somewhere to the west, there was a fast plane circling quite low and loud. After hearing it for several minutes I decided to look on the Globe Airplanes live website - and although it was tracked as circling - dozens of times-  at 9,000ft, the details of it were..........Nothing. No registration or description - very strange, as usually there is info as to what the plane is and what country it's registered in - so no information is very mysterious. Spies?! Although if so they were a bit too obvious! 

The same noise on Wednesday so another look at Globe and this time it did have a name - A McDonnell Douglas F15E Strike Eagle from USAF Lakenheath. Nice to get the 'just out of sight mystery' solved. The people living near Lakenheath and Mildenhall get this all the time, but not  for much longer - The US is withdrawing them from here back to there. - I thought they were having a Golden Dome for protection!....there's more to this story I'm sure.

 

That just about sums up the week -  nothing much happened. I didn't even go to Keep Moving group as I woke up with no energy, I've discovered that a couple of bad nights and busy days then take another three days to recover! Oh the joys of getting older but thank goodness it's easy to have a quiet week nowadays....plenty to read.....always.

Have  a good weekend - lots of Bank Holiday things on everywhere although Mid Suffolk car-boot sales might be rained off - whatever- I shall be back Monday.

Oh, one thing to add............ look at this - I'm on Wiki  (3) .Thank you to Hadassah for the comment on the getting away from it all book post.

Easter Weekend All Over for Another Year

 The extra Easter bits were added to the seasonal display on the bookshelves, just for the weekend. Nothing 'new' this year and there wouldn't be, because I'd only ever buy from a charity shop etc anyway!

The Surrey family didn't arrive until Saturday due to SiL's late flight back from the US on Friday. But were in plenty of time for getting to the big family meal - for my 70th birthday - at a local (to Son and family) Indian restaurant. 16 of us all together.

It was a very delicious meal, lots of choice with something for everyone to enjoy and DiL made me a gorgeous cake.

"Happy Birthday" was sung to me twice because the 7 sparkler 'candle' lit OK but the 0 wouldn't, so when Son eventually got it going they had to sing all over again!!

Sunday there was an Easter Egg hunt for all 5 Grandchildren in the small garden here and then they hid eggs for us grown ups to find which they thought was great fun so could become a family tradition when we are altogether again at a future Easter.

In the afternoon we had a good walk around a local country park - Thornham Estate - last time we all went was 2019 and there were only 3 grandchildren.

3 small Grandchildren in 2019

                                                        5 bigger Grandchildren in 2025

My children clubbed together to get me a pair of decent binoculars and I also had some other presents from everyone too.

A lovely Big birthday weekend. Thank you to all the family for making it so special.

Back Soon

£32.20p.................

 ......that's what I came home with on Sunday after getting rid of 3 boxes of stuff  at the Sunday boot-sale.

I did say I'd never sell at boot sale EVER again but there were things that I didn't need and the weather forecast was fine and it seemed a good idea to get stuff out of the way before the Surrey family come up to stay at Easter.

They are here for my Big birthday family meal. The first idea was a party but I said I didn't have enough friends to invite! then someone suggested renting a large holiday house but it happened to be Easter weekend and it would have cost many, many £s! So I said let's just go out for a meal, so that's what we're doing with my sister and husband, Colin's sister and husband and BiL of course plus the 11 of us  and DiL is making a cake, hopefully without 70 candles - that could set the place on fire!

And while the Surrey boys are here I must remember to measure and actually record their heights this time, we completely forgot  to do the latter when they were here in January.

The pirate ship height measuring thing came from garage sales when we were living in Ipswich in 2016

 - when EGS was only a few weeks old. It moved house with me  and  now it's covered with labels - names, dates and height for all 5 grandchildren.

They all  look at it when they visit to see if they are taller/shorter than their cousins were at the same age and to see how much they've grown  - which is just what I hoped when we bought it.

Back Soon

Moving Through April

Last weekend I went to see the 8 year old EGD in the Dance Show. Chloe Kinkaide - or Miss Chloe as she is known to all her girls - and a few boys - runs ballet, tap and modern dance classes in several places over by the coast. EGD started when she was little and then stopped for a while but has been going again for a few years. Every other year they put on a show and it gets packed out with Mums, Dads, Nans and Grandads as well as brothers, sisters and many other relatives! There were almost 250 children taking part.

I sneaked in a quick photo at the end when nearly everyone was on stage for the final bow. The teeny- tinies are so cute in their tutus. 

One of the books I had from the library van with a-new-to-me-author was a good read, which is handy as he has 17 other books in three different series to look for. The book was The Great Darkness by Jim Kelly details here

I never thought I'd say that I'd given up on an Elly Griffiths book but her new series of a time travelling detective starting with The Frozen People was too odd to bother with. It's science fiction pretending to be modern/ historical crime fiction. I watch Doctor Who but don't read Sci Fi. Maybe I'll come back to it sometime but I've plenty of other reading.

 Boat Race Day on Sunday which traditionally is a must watch for me like the Grand National and The Eurovision Song Contest!  This years UK entry is 'What The Hell Just Happened' by a three girl group called Remember Monday, who I've only just heard of though apparently they've been around a while.

  

 Hope you have a good weekend.

Back Soon

First Week of February and I'm Still Puzzling and Puzzled

 I think the weather has been better this week, at least in parts, I remember putting towels out on the whirly on Tuesday and getting them half dry, apart from that I've forgotten! although I've done some bits of garden clearing so it must have been mostly dry. The garden waste bin is full of Buddleia again and the wheelbarrow the same - waiting for the bin to be emptied on Monday.

We now have 7 new people at the Keep Moving group and most have been for the last 3 weeks, some other regulars returned so we had 16 there this week which is very good news. It's only half an hour working through a sequence of exercises but I'm sure it does us good physically and then socially when we have coffee afterwards. Three of the new folk are people I knew from way, way back, when we lived in the area through the 1980s. They've not moved, while I've been halfway round Suffolk and back.

Middle Grandson had his 5th birthday this week, I went round for Pizza and Cake - his request for tea after school on his birthday - I'm not going on Saturday when he has 4 friends round to play! 

Thank you to everyone for comments this week - I'm glad I'm not the only person who doesn't like strong scents, random book gifts and only doing jigsaw puzzles I like the look of. The comments were split on finding the edges already separated of the February jigsaw, some people agreed that it was good to find while others said they would miss searching for them. It wasn't a new puzzle so would have been repackaged like that by the person who did it last. I'm very strongly in the first camp - it was a treat!

Here's how I'm getting on with it..........slowly.

My Bad Blogger post a couple of weeks back wasn't meant to be taken entirely seriously but since then  I've been ever so good and have checked the comments spam section everyday (well almost everyday!). Nothing in it most days which is good news, perhaps blogger is behaving itself, although I won't bank on it.

But I'm still puzzling over one comment that was left on the Bad Blogger post

Lizzy D21 January 2025 at 15:14

I comment often on your blog and rarely are they posted by you. I have become discouraged. I never know if the were removed for moderation bec you didn't like my [innocuous] comments or if they're lost in spam and you never look there. I found it ironic a week or so ago that you asked people to comment, please....Maybe they like me are lost in Blogger ether.

PS I see above my position is unpopular--to clarify, I don't mind if you don't answer! But if my comments are never posted, I will stop commenting, not just your blog but in general.

I don't have comment moderation switched on  and never have (except for the odd day, like after Colin died, or to get addresses for giveaways) so all comments should pop up straight away , so I looked back pre January and can't find any other comments by Lizzy D. I wonder if there is another place comments can go to that none of us know about!

However,  there are 66,000+ comments that Have been published - blimey no wonder I've not answered all of them!

Back Next Week

Sue

The Week

 Thanks for the messages on Monday. Nothing was wrong but nothing much was happening this week apart from lots of tidying up and reading and I knew I wouldn't be able to conjure up ideas for blog posts.

 I had a few days under the weather last week with no energy, but struggled on as the Surrey family were here for the weekend. They were away in Thailand for Christmas so hadn't had Christmas presents from every one.

 I made Quorn korma curry plus Indian bits for 11 on Saturday evening. The Suffolk families were here too so cousins could spend as much time as possible together, and then we went out for a big family meal at a local pub on Sunday lunchtime before they headed off home.

 I've never complained about a meal out before but as we were booking a table for 12 (BiL came too) son did  a pre-order. Unfortunately they had forgotten we had pre-ordered and we ended up waiting well over an hour for our meal - you can imagine how 'hangry' the 5 grandchildren got! I wasn't impressed at all so negotiated a discount off our bill. The food wasn't the best anyway - cold plates make cold vegetables. We won't go there again! It's BiL's local and he said they never seem to have enough staff even on a normal evening.

So since Sunday I've been resting up and reading between stripping beds, cleaning the bathroom, doing washing, sorting toys back onto the shelves in the small bedroom and generally tidying up after having 4 extra people in the house. Nothing interesting. Nothing to blog about - Oh I see I just have!

Also this week I'm sure I aged as my 70+ driving licence renewal form came through the post, ready for April - it was easy to fill in so that's been done, and then, just to make me remember I'm almost 70 my knees started hurting even when not getting up from a chair!

All Jolly Good Fun!

Back Soon

Sue

Snow? and Twelfth Night?

There was a little snow here overnight Saturday/Sunday but it turned to rain by daylight and was soon washed away. It carried on raining nearly all day Sunday - very depressing. Not really cold either - but there's still time for proper winter to arrive. 

The third thing that I've broken recently by getting it accidently knocked into the Butler sink was yesterday and  the bottom half of my lovely two-piece ceramic soap dish - I was so cross with myself as I've had it for about 20 years at least. I found a small bowl to sit the top draining bit on but I'm still cross! Perhaps now three things have been broken in the last few months that will be it. If I ever have a new kitchen here or anywhere else it Won't have a butler sink for sure.

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My new Folklore diary says last night was Twelfth Night, because way back in history days were counted as beginning in the evening. 

 I've never been absolutely sure about Twelfth Night and Christmas Decorations coming down, should they be down by the end of the 5th or is sometime today OK?

 Down with the rosemary and so,

Down with the bays and mistletoe,

Down with the holly, ivy and all,

Wherewith ye dressed the Christmas hall.

That so the superstitious find,

Not one least branch there left behind,

For look, how many leaves there be

Neglected there, maids trust to me,

So many goblins you shall see!

My Christmas things are down and packed away anyway, I did them in bits starting last Thursday. Thought I'd get them out of the way as I've got two grandchildren here today....... it's a PD day for DiL, so she is at school and they aren't.

We 'did' Twelfth Night for O Level English Literature which completely ruined it. Examining a play line by line doesn't really help the understanding. We 'did' Jane Eyre too and some poems from 'The Book of Narrative Verse'. I read quickly even back then and reading things 'around the room' and line by line doesn't make for any sort of understanding. How did it take two years to prepare for an exam? Did we study other things too? ............. BTW I failed English Lit! 

Thankfully that didn't stop me getting the job as a library assistant and I was only put off Shakespeare and Classic Literature, so it didn't kill my love of reading everything else.

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And going back to the subject of snow, I hope everyone in the affected States in the US gets through this coming storm without harm. I heard that a state of emergency has been declared in several areas.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Family BBQ

Son organised a Family BBQ (and did all the slaving over the hot stove) for when the Surrey family were in Suffolk . Lovely to get everyone together. My 3 Children, SiL and DiL, the 5 cousins,  BiL, Colin's sister and husband and their children and partners and their soon to arrive first Grandchild.

DiL knew how to set my camera to timer and son did the rushing from pressing the button to standing in the group and I've transferred the photos to a memory stick so I can print off several to send to everyone.

The weather cooperated, everyone brought some food and son had catered for about 50 so there was plenty to eat!

A good time was had by all and the grandchildren managed several hours playing together without  disagreements.

Family occasions like this are always bitter sweet for me now - with someone missing.

Back Soon

Sue

First Saturday in April

 The vegetable seedlings are out in the greenhouse now with fleece to cover them every night. The only benefit of cloudy days is the overnight temperatures are well above freezing. I looked at the weather forecast last Sunday and every single day this week had rain spots under the cloud symbol at some time during the day or night. And they were correct, including a torrential downpour for several minutes on Thursday morning. Luckily Friday was very windy and by late afternoon the grass was just about dry enough to do a quick run around with the mower.

I spent a while  searching the shed and behind it for a couple of clay flower pots that I thought I had but no luck, then I remembered one is upside down in the sink-pond to make a step in and out for frogs (no sign of any yet) and the others must have got broken when the plant stand fell over 2 years ago. There are always plenty at boot sales. I just need two for the two new plants picked up from boot sales this year. I'll take a photo after I've found suitable pots.

"Nanna will do it!"

Badges to sew on for Rainbows for the YGD and for Brownies for EGD. No hurry - it's the Easter break and Nanna has plenty of time!

Didn't realise I'd be doing this job 35 years on from my own children!

This week I am grateful for..............

• Having plenty of different coloured cottons in my sewing box to match the badges.
• The knowledge gained over 68 years that there WILL be sunshine and warmth at sometime this spring and summer however hopeless it looks.
• Vegetable seedlings looking healthy. Fingers crossed.
• Finding things to write about for the blog everyday .
• Some good crime fiction to read this month.
• Phone call from my cousin to tell me his Mum- my one remaining Aunt - is now in a care home - she'll be 100 this year-  pretty amazing - all her five siblings - including my Mum died well before old age.

When it was raining I watched the three programmes in the first series of Signora Volpe. It's on the free UKTV Play now after first being on Acorn - a pay to view channel. Starring Emilia Fox as an exMI6 agent it is set in the beautiful countryside of  Italy. It's well written and very understated. According to news online a season two was commissioned but doesn't seem to have appeared yet.

So it's the weekend again and the Saturday boot-sale if I can get up early enough. The Sunday one was all set to start this week but heavy rain will have turned it back into a quagmire again so I doubt it will.

Hope rain doesn't spoil your weekend plans, I shall be back Monday.

Sue

December 23rd - The Best Laid Plans

Thomas Hardy managed to make this short poem rhyme and shows feeding the birds isn't a new thing.

Birds at Winter Nightfall

Around the house the flakes fly faster,

And all the berries now are gone

From holly and cotone-aster

Around the house. The flakes fly! - faster

Shutting indoors that crumb-outcaster

We used to see upon the lawn

Around the house. The flakes fly faster'

And all the berries now are gone.

Thomas Hardy 

The week has Not gone as planned. Due to the hours and hours of pouring rain from late Monday onwards I took Eldest Granddaughter home much earlier than planned on Tuesday - Luckily her Mummy was working from home. It took me over 4 hours to do the round trip that would normally take less than two to do . I had to go by main roads which is miles further (84 total instead of 54) rather than cross country but it was the only way to avoid serious flooding and even on the main A roads there were many places where the water was across the road. The extra traffic and roadworks didn't help. I got back just in time, as the flood water down the road from the bungalow had gone from a large puddle to nearly 6 inches deep in the time I'd been gone. 

(And yes you have read those times/miles correctly - it regularly takes 55 minutes to do 27 miles on our "wonderful", damaged, pot-holed, 30 mph limit, twisting, cross country roads between me and Leiston!)

I thought it was just lack of sleep - (don't usually mention health issues but the RLS prickly-ness has been much worse than usual) and having an energetic 7 year old here that had made me extra tired but after the 4 hour drive I was shattered and feeling very achy and worried about eldest daughter and the two grandsons coming up Wednesday evening as planned - wasn't sure how much flooding would be left and how I would be feeling. 

However H was determined to visit for a present swap so on Wednesday I dosed myself with my cold cure tomato and chili soup and Strepsils for the sore throat and lots of paracetamol, got the house back together and beds sorted and rested in between times to give me time to feel better.

They then came up early Thursday in daylight. Lovely to see my Surrey boys again, last time they were here was the summer holidays when everyone ended up sick. Since then the 7 year old has had hospital visits for some keyhole surgery and 2 year old  is now more of a little boy than a baby. Eldest daughter was full of cold - don't think she should have come up at all really and I wasn't 100% but luckily we all had a good nights sleep.

She headed away early Friday afternoon to meet up with her sister, sister in law and the other three children  before the horrible journey home to Surrey in the dark (worries me every time!)................ and I collapsed in a heap! .................before doing the tidying all over again while drinking hot lemon and honey and taking more paracetamol.

Between all the grandchildren stuff, house tidying, present sorting, cooking and list making for later, I managed to collect some greenery for the Solstice. From various places I 'stole' variegated Holly, ordinary Holly and Rosemary and from home Bay, Yew and Olive. I discovered the little spray of red toadstools in the Christmas decoration box but don't remember getting it. It was still labelled so I know it came from Smiths Packaging shop and cost me £1.59 presumably last year or the year before? They add a touch of colour as almost  all berries on the Hollies everywhere have gone this year.

 

I guess I'm not the only person still with things to do before more visitors, and other deliveries to make. I'm definitely hibernating in January.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

December 5th and Help With The Tree?

Apologies for not replying to comments yesterday - I had 3 year old middle grandson for the day. I got the Christmas tree out of the garage and fitted together and put the lights on right ready and the theory was that he would help me put all the bits on - but he preferred the dinosaurs, after getting the car box out as usual!

Which for some reason had to played with on the TV cupboard

He was fascinated by the nesting 'Russian Doll' Santa which he'd long forgotten from last year.

So I had to put the bits and bobs on all by myself. It's the older things this year as I don't remember when they were last out of their bag.

Including the reindeer made from pegs by oldest (or maybe youngest) daughter when she was in Brownies.

And a little cross stitch - that I made many years ago

That's the decorating done for 2023!

Back Tomorrow

Sue

My Week in Early July............

Weather here in Mid Suffolk has been what they call 'mixed'....... positively chilly on Monday.......on Tuesday evening I fetched my dressing gown for an extra layer and just before I got up on Wednesday morning I heard the heating click on ..............in July for goodness sake! the living room must have been really chilly. Thursday was just right and Friday hot.

Monday was the day I was looking after Middle Grandson aged 3½ and we went over the road and into the burial ground to see if we could see the big digger that's been digging out a level area for the building of 2 bungalows on land the other side. We could hear it but couldn't see it working because, as he said  "That's the biggest heap of mud I have ever seen! " Made me smile. 

They all make me smile a lot - even at 4.30 in the morning. That was the week before when Eldest Granddaughter who's now  6¾ was staying overnight and I heard a little voice say "Nanna, I can't get to sleep" I went into her room to find her standing in the middle of the room with the duvet on the floor and told her she'd been asleep for ages and helped her back into bed, put the duvet back over, gave her a kiss and by the time I'd gone back into my bed she was asleep again.....gorgeous girl! 

Friday I had 5¼ year old Youngest Granddaughter here at short notice, as her teacher was on strike but DiL still had to go to work as a teaching assistant in a different school and Middle Grandson's Pre-school still opened - life gets jolly complicated for working Mums nowadays. I'd booked swimming but as it was a public swimming session I took her with me and she came to look at the viewing for the Rural and Domestic Bygones sale too .........photos of the treasures and rusty junk next week.

During the week the bread maker made bread and pizza bases and I made chocolate cookies and Focaccia bread (practising for entering the Flower and Produce Show in August). Both very tasty. Can anyone tell me the difference in taste or look between rock salt and sea salt? The given recipe says to sprinkle rock salt on the Focaccia before cooking - but I have sea salt in the cupboard. (I'm going to steal some Rosemary from a large bush in the churchyard for trimming the bread for  Show day! - don't tell the vicar!).

Lots of gardening done too  (and raspberries every day) - garden update next week.

 Just 10 of us at the Keep Moving Group this week and I nipped to Stowmarket afterwards for shopping and almost everyday got to watch several hours of tennis from Wimbledon - despite the rain there. I always think they should move Wimbledon to Suffolk - it's often dry here all day when they are having showers. There have been some really good games and lots of new names again pity the British blokes are all out of the singles in the first week - Oh well - there's always next year.

 So far the idiot stop oil protesters have managed to hold up a couple of matches by buying a jigsaw puzzle at the Wimbledon shop and then chucking all the pieces on the court and then doing the same with lots of bits of torn paper - duh. Heavens knows how they think that is helping their cause. The cameras cut away straight away so nothing gets seen on TV

Reading hasn't gone well because I gave up on the second Rev. Richard Coles cosy crime book - it was just too silly and one of the Simon Brett books turned out to be from his series of "Decluttering Crimes" - also silly. Before those two I enjoyed "The Cargo From Neira" by Alys Clare and I've made myself a note, for after Wimbledon, to catch up with the  Joanna Lumley TV series - Spice Trail Adventure  -about the spice islands and nutmeg - which was the subject of the book.

Too silly to read

A very good story

And finally.............. Wordle solved in either 3, 4 or 5 lines all week - skill or luck? - the former - obviously!

Have a lovely weekend. I shall be back Monday

Sue

For the Grandchildren Again

 The oldest grandchildren are growing up and growing out of many of the toys gathered from boot-sales over the last 6 years. I'm starting to hunt out Lego going cheap and had had no luck for weeks until at last came across this unopened Lego City set.

Right ready to keep Eldest Grandson busy for at least.............5 minutes!

The sun catcher painting is for when Eldest Granddaughter stays in the summer holidays.

I like to have plenty of things for them to do when they visit.

And Happy 4th of July to all readers from the US - hope you have a good day

Back Tomorrow

Sue