TGIF on a Monday

So, using the alternative version of TGIF to start the week again, I am ..

... That Rosie will behave herself when I babysit for her this afternoon while her mum has an appointment in London.  She's gradually having more food as part of the weaning process, wish me luck for tea time!

... That we have some beautiful areas of natural beauty on the outskirts of our town - no need to drive for miles to get into the countryside.  Our very own nature enthusiast and epic wood lice catcher, Leo, and his dad went on a Bug Hunt in a local wooded area on Saturday.

... To try reading books I may not otherwise have tried thanks to joining in with Leslie's online book club.  This month's choice is Daisy Jones and The Six which I had already been tempted by after seeing that Ruth had read and enjoyed it.  

... we had a lot of fun at Sophie's baby shower yesterday

Not long to wait now until this grand baby arrives.  Baby is breech and the consultant is going to try and turn it on Wednesday, if he/she refuses to budge they will book a date for C section so there may be more news sooner than expected!  

A paw-fect trip to Norfolk

Following on from our success with a dog friendly Airbnb property last year we decided to book a short break to Norfolk to show Coco a bit more of the Eastern coastline. The weather last week was horrendous and I was anxiously watching the forecasts in the hope that we would be able to get a few beachy dog walks in during our stay.  We were so lucky, the weather was dry all the time we were there except for one rainy spell overnight which we all slept through!

Needless to say, Coco was the one who took the most luggage and after watching us pack our bags with a suspicious look in her eye she could hardly believe her luck when we loaded up the car and then put her car harness on. So this is our trip to Norfolk - as seen through a dog's eye.

After a two hour trip, the humans fancied stopping off at Wells Next The Sea for some early lunch.  They had bacon baps sitting on the sea wall, while I had to be content with watching them and hoping for crumbs.  We went for a walk along the front where I almost got my paws on a crab!  Seems that little humans enjoy fishing for crabs along the water's edge here and apparently they may get upset if an innocent dog accidentally knocks over the bucket they are holding them in.

We stayed at Burnham Overy Staithe in a little Victorian cottage that was built in 1867.  I soon made myself at home in a lovely oversized armchair.  I had brought my own quilt to lay on so it was very comfortable.

In the afternoon, I decided that it was time to take the humans out for a bit of a walk.  It was about one and a half miles from our cottage to the beach but oh boy did I have fun once we reached the sand dunes

I had been sensible and taken my own food with me for our stay but it seems that my humans forgot to do the same and so I had to take them to the pub in the evening 

The next day we got in the car and went to Holkham Hall, which was a lovely 18th Century house set in amazing grounds.  Honestly I have never seen so many ducks in one place.  Not to mention a whole load of geese which didn't seem ever so happy to see a dog running towards them.  I was only being friendly!  I wasn't allowed in the hall so we walked around the grounds, past the lake and into the walled garden.  Then I decided it was time we went for another beach walk.

I tell you, if you are as fond of squirrels as I am, this really is the place to go, that woodland was full of them, I've never been so excited in my life before.

I was exhausted after all my wildlife adventures so I had a little nap in the car when we left Holkham and when I woke up we were in Burnham Market.  Apparently we only parked up and went for a walk so that I could 'stretch my legs' but I think my humans were really thinking about lunch.  We found a dog friendly Italian deli where they enjoyed a sharing lunch

and I enjoyed laying beside the table while all the customers came over and told me how gorgeous and well behaved I was.  

The next day we had another walk around the harbour area near our cottage, I had a little paddle in the sea and then we packed our bags.  Needless to say, the humans wanted to stop off on the way home - allegedly for me to stretch my legs again (they're perfectly long enough as they are thank you, stop using me as an excuse to go to the pub) and then to have a lie down while they had lunch.

All in all, I had a lovely holiday, and I honestly don't know why they don't take me away with them more often.  The pubs and cafes all welcomed me warmly, there were bowls of water in all the places we went and they all had tins of dog treats to tuck into while your humans are having their dinner.  I wonder where I'm going next?

TGIF on a Monday

Trying to mix things up a bit this Monday and am posting TGIF thoughts instead of the usual Me on Monday.  You can learn more about this particular TGIF idea here.  Trusting, Grateful, Inspired and Fun.  A great set of sentiments to start off the week!

This week I am

That the weather reports for the next few days may be true and that a couple of days of drier weather is on the cards.  We are off to Norfolk for a short break with Coco and my vision of lovely dog walks along the North Norfolk coast does not include blustery wind, torrential rain, umbrellas, raincoats, wellies and very wet dogs.

That our daughter in law's test results show that she probably hasn't inherited the heart condition that her mother and aunt have.  She will still be closely monitored when she goes into labour but thankfully everyone in the maternity unit will be aware of any possible complications.

To do some more knitting.  If only we knew whether we had a new grandson or new granddaughter on the way I could start knitting an appropriately coloured blanket!  Not long to wait now though.

Looking forward to Sophie's baby shower this weekend - she knows nothing about it so it will be a lovely surprise for her!

Are you feeling TGIF on a Monday?  

Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt link up

Are you joining in with Mary-Lou's photographic scavenger hunt?  If you aren't, there's still plenty of time to join in, so what are you waiting for?  

I really love photo scavenger hunts, they make me keep an eye out for photo opportunities that I may otherwise have missed.  I'm sharing my first finds of the scavenger hunt, although it's possible that I'll be changing the final pick if I find something I prefer during the summer.

1 An outdoor clock

 3 Repetition

 5 The word Summer

6 An umbrella, open or closed

I have never seen a half umbrella before but what a clever idea to make shade outside of a pavement cafe.

 7 A curving path

 8 Shells

 9 A bridge

10 Something made of stone

 11 Fish (can't decide between a mosaic design or the real thing! Can't go to Portugal and not take a photograph of a sardine)

🐟

14 A handwritten sign

 17 A sail

 18 Something that should be found in pairs
(not something that should be found in Paris as I originally thought 😂)

I was fortunate to be able to tick this first batch off when we went to Portugal in May. We are off for a few days to Norfolk next week and will be taking the list with me to see what I can find there.  Maybe I'll end up with another choice for 'fish' - anyone fancy some fish and chips while sitting on a North Norfolk beach?  Can't get more British than that eh?!

Winter hats in June

Talk about flaming June!  What has happened to the English weather?  I put my central heating back on for an hour yesterday (don't tell my husband, he is firmly in the 'just put a thicker jumper on' camp)

It seems a bit weird to be thinking about knitting winter clothes in June but I fancied a little project.  There may be some of my blog readers who remember Sian and her blog From High in the Sky who was the inspiration for many a blog meme back in the day.  Well Sian was a very talented crafter and has now gone on to help run a wool shop in Ireland; you can find them under the Instagram name Jolly Yarn Company.  I can't think of a better person to run a wool shop, and I know that if they had opened up close to me I would be spending all my spare money in there being encouraged to try something new that I'd seen Sian knitting.  

A little while ago I saw on Instagram that Sian had knitted a hat in a day and bearing in mind I have a little granddaughter who will be needing a winter hat I thought I'd get knitting.  It wasn't long before this ...

 became this ...

Started knitting after dinner last night and had it finished before News at Ten!  I just have a pom pom to make now and I can hand it over for her mummy to keep safe until the winter.  Although if it doesn't stop raining soon, she may need it much sooner!

Me on Monday/One photo twenty words

It's no secret I dread the dentist.  Even when it's just a bi-annual checkup.
Wish me luck at 12.10 today.

Visiting Henry Moore's exhibition

Henry Moore was possibly one of Britain's most famous sculptors - he lived most of his life in a village about 15 minutes drive from where I live.  So why has it taken me almost 40 years of living 'just down the road' to actually go and see where he lived and view exhibitions of his work?  Isn't it often the way that we make a big effort to see things far from home and ignore more local landmarks?  

Anyway, today we made the trip to the Henry Moore Foundation.   The weather forecast wasn't great so we made sure we walked around the grounds as soon as we got there and saved the indoor exhibits for when it started raining!

Moore was renowned for his sculptures of reclining figures and family groups and many of them are on display in the spacious grounds.

The rain started and we moved to the various buildings housing his studios.  By a very strange coincidence, the guide employed in the first studio was someone who used to be a neighbour of my sister's so we had a very personalised talk about how Moore's ideas came to life.  These huge sculptures were often inspired by the shape of a piece of flint that he came across, that he added another stone to, and then perhaps a chicken bone.  The basis of the overall structure was born and made into a maquette and he enlarged on that very basic skeleton of a shape.  

There was also an exhibition of his drawings 'The Art of Seeing' showing his work from his 20s right through to his death in 1986 at the age of 88.  The drawings he did in the war of shelter drawings were his first real successes and he really captures the spirit of Londoners sheltering in tube stations.  

The exhibits which surprised me the most were the tapestries which were made from some of his drawings - my favourite was this one which depicts one of the shelter drawings of women sleeping with their children.

I'm so pleased we finally got to visit, it really shouldn't have taken us so long to decide to go!

A Sentence A Day in May

Another month bites the dust - let's see how the days unfolded ...

Day 1 lovely sunshine to greet the new month, in anticipation of sitting out in the garden in the evenings this summer I have bought some extra solar lights to hang from the trees.

Day 2 Voting day for our local town council - the hall where I go for Zumba is being used for a polling station so no class today, instead I went to Majestic and bought wine.

Day 3 Took my little partner in crime to his Wiggle Wiggle class this morning, highlight of the session was strutting our stuff whilst wearing sequinned cowboy hats (fortunately no photographic evidence for this one)

Day 4 We have a poorly pup who has suffered a squirrel related injury - she landed awkwardly after chasing her mortal enemy up a fence panel.

Day 5 Coco is running around like a sprightly puppy again - maybe she trapped a nerve yesterday but one thing I do know is that it won't stop her trying to chase squirrels again!

Day 6 Bank Holiday Monday - unexpected visit by our son and daughter in law; they'd been looking at baby equipment in preparation for the new arrival in July.

Day 7 During yesterday's impromptu visit our son also left me with a suit that he had bought that needed altering so I spent the afternoon with scissors, sewing machine, pins and needles.

Day 8 Today it poured with rain, proper thunderstorm weather - which pleased my husband as he'd spent yesterday treating the lawn with spring feed which needed watering in within 24 hours.

Day 9 Zumba class - I love the music we use for the cool down exercises SO much, Jack Savoretti's 'Candlelight', but now I cannot get it out of my mind which means I am also driving my husband mad singing the chorus over.  and over. and over.

Day 10 Yoga this morning as I won't be able to make it to the Monday class next week, just as I thought I knew what I was doing, she introduced different poses!

Day 11 Bit of a lazy day with rain most of the day - watched a couple more episodes of Dead to Me on Netflix - anyone else watching it?  So good.

Day 12 Last football matches of the season (Husband is a big Tottenham Hotspur fan and it's been an exciting week for them)

Day 13 Picked up the keys to my sister's holiday home - the countdown begins

Day 14 Pre holiday manicure done

Day 15 Suitcases out of the loft, Dog looking suspicious but she will enjoy her week away staying with a friend who lives just round the corner.

Day 16 Flew out to Portugal with Rachel and her family - Leo's first trip on an aeroplane and he was SO excited.

Day 17 Early morning walk - I will never tire of this view

Day 18 Although we have been to Praia da Luz many, many times we still enjoy finding new places to walk 

Day 19 Husband somehow did something to hurt his hip, not much walking today, in fact he could have done with a rest on this 'husband' chair

The sign says  'Reserved for husbands whose wives are shopping.'

Day 20 Husband more mobile, trip into the nearest large town - Lagos 

Day 21 Early morning is perfect for a bit of exercise, it's very hilly in Luz but the views are so pretty

Day 22 Last full day in Portugal - making the most of being at the beach and by the pool

Day 23 Flew home

Day 24 Catching up with washing but a nice meal with friends at the local Thai restaurant to look forward to in the evening.

Day 25 A phone call in the morning to ask if we'd fancy going round to friend's in the evening for drinks in the garden followed by a home made paella - didn't take long to decide!


Day 26 Family Sunday lunch with everyone here - lovely to have the whole family here for the day.

Day 27 Bank Holiday Monday

Day 28 New hairdo day for the furriest member of the family

Day 29 Stayed overnight at my daughter's as her husband was away on business - always good to have an extra pair of hands when you have a 6 month old and an almost 3 year old

Day 30 Zumba!  

Day 31 Finished making a baby blanket out of cuddlesoft plush fabric for the new grand-baby due in July

And so ends another month!  Half way through the year already - wow!  How do you fancy joining in documenting your month, one sentence at a time?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Me on Monday

Don't mention the football.

Not a word.

Because it isn't any good saying 'you did really well to get to the final' or 'that penalty in the first few minutes was so unfair' - what it all comes down to is that these smiling Tottenham supporters tending to lamb kebabs on the barbecue ...

(please note optimistic dog in bottom right corner, hoping that there'll be leftovers for her - there weren't)

... were feeling fed up and down in the mouth like this

90 minutes later.

Hey ho.  

So what does today hold for me?  A few hours looking after the ravishing Miss Rosie while her mum has an appointment in London.  It's not often we see her on her own and this will only be the second time we've babysat for her in six months.  Big bro will be at pre-school for some of the time so she can have our undivided attention.  Are we looking forward to it?  You bet!  

Tune in again tomorrow when I'll be sharing my sentence a day for May!