A very special TGIF on a Monday

Headline news:

I think I could fit all four categories around the news that our newest grandchild arrived on Thursday!  One week overdue and weighing in at 9lb - what a whopper!  Baby Max chose the hottest day ever on record in the UK to enter this world - thank goodness for air conditioned delivery suites in hospitals.

So without further ado

That our son and daughter in law will soon put a photo of their son on social media so that I can share a picture too - I don't feel I can put his photo on Instagram or Facebook until they have.  #hurryupJonandSophie 

for the expert care and attention from all the staff at The Rosie Maternity Unit in Cambridge.  Baby Max had a few complications when he arrived (he had swallowed meconium) and he was swiftly taken into the Neo natal intensive care unit where he was immediately looked after.  He was moved into the normal post natal ward on Saturday so is now next to his mummy, which is where all little baby boys should be!

Now we know we have a new baby boy to love - I can finally start thinking about knitting that blanket.

Thank goodness I was organised in advance for our Italian evening, as we had to squeeze in a visit to Cambridge and an hour's visiting into the afternoon before everyone arrived so I lost 3 hours out of my day!  A good excuse to raise a glass to celebrate Max's arrival and after a glass of prosecco I was able to relax and enjoy the evening.  

Forgot to take a photo before everyone got here so this is me, the morning after, feeling a little jaded!

It was a lot of fun, and I guess everyone had a good time as no one went home until 1.20 am which is WAY past my bedtime!  

TGIF on a Monday

Carrying on with TGIF on a Monday - not the 'thank goodness it's Friday'  but  Brene Brown's  new weekly gratitude practice, TGIF.  Yes, I know it should be done on a Friday but I've always enjoyed being different! 

First things first ...

Thanks to Snapchat for the lovely floral hair accessories.

... that the boiler company will be able to come out in the next few days to find out why we suddenly have no hot water.  Luckily we also have an immersion heater but I'm dreadful at remembering to turn it on half an hour before we want hot water.

... for the forecast of nice weather this week, I'm fed up with this humid, thundery feeling in the air - let's get some 'proper' summer weather!

... to visit the botanical gardens in Cambridge soon.  Why is it that we often forget to go to places close to home?  I think it's time to be a tourist for the day.

On Friday evening we have six friends coming over for an Italian themed dinner; I'm hoping that once the stress of cooking the meal is over I will relax and enjoy the evening!  In theory I'm organised and everything will go to plan, the only thing that may hijack the evening will be if the baby (who is now almost a week overdue!) suddenly arrives during the day and I have to fit some hospital visiting into the equation!

Just when you least expect it

I've mentioned a few times that I'm taking part in the Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt that Mary Lou has organised and on looking at the list I felt pretty sure I was going to struggle with Number 19, A funny or meaningful bumper sticker.  You see, bumper stickers are few and far between nowadays in the UK and I had already decided to use Alternative A - a bird house.  When having lunch at a local deli which is near a vintage odds and ends shop I noticed this dove cote

Which, if you use your imagination, looks like it's had a surprise!

I digress.  This morning, while shopping in town, I came out of the local book store and was almost run down by someone in a motorised wheelchair.  Full of apologies, I stepped back to let her pass and noticed that the driver was a nun.  Which is an unusual thing in our town; there used to be a convent many, many years ago attached to the local Catholic Church but they moved away and I can't remember the last time I saw a nun.  Let alone a speeding nun in a motorised wheelchair!  As she passed me I noticed that she actually had a sign on her bumper which made me think "I've found number 19 after all!".  I didn't manage to get a brilliant photo of it because to be honest it felt a bit weird chasing a nun in the middle of the high street but if you click on the photo to expand it I hope you can just about make out the wording of the sign

It says 'Flying Nun' (pretty sure that was the name of a tv programme back in the 70s?)
and because of the speed at which she was travelling really made me chuckle.  

Another one ticked off the list!

TGIF on a Monday

That the baby may appear on it's due date this week.  I was so convinced it was going to come early, but there's only three days to go now so the chance of it being on time or late is becoming increasingly possible #impatientgrandmother

That our family all live nearby.  I met up with some old school friends last night and my friend Julia's daughter fell in love with an Australian guy while on a gap year in Australia.  That gap year has now lasted 10 years and she has 7 year old twins.  I know Julia finds it hard to be a long distance grandmother.  It's so expensive to get out to Oz from the UK; thank goodness for FaceTime.

To book another short break away with Coco.  Will be trawling the Airbnb website for inspiration.

On Friday I met up with my friend Sally.  We met at ante natal classes 33 years ago when we were both expecting our first babies.  We were really close friends and our husbands got on well together too which was great.  Once the children got to school age they moved away from where we lived and inevitably we didn't see as much of them as we did when they were just 5 minutes down the road.  But we've kept in contact, been to our children's weddings and have both now become grandparents.  So it was great fun for me and Leo to meet up with Sally and her granddaughter on Friday, not so much going full circle as becoming a continuing ever expanding spiral as we reach second generation socialising!

One photo - twenty words

TGIF on a Monday

That the weather forecasts are right and we may be able to fit in a trip to Frinton on Wednesday so Coco can get the sand between her paws again before her trip to the groomers on Thursday.

For friendships that span so many years.  Time and tides wash them into and out of our lives now and again and you may not see them every month or even every year, but put together you pick up that friendship from exactly where it left off.  Looking forward to meeting up with my friend Sally for a play date with our grandchildren on Friday.  Sally and I met at ante natal classes with our first children 33 years ago - my goodness the life experiences we have shared!

To try a new recipe for Sunday lunch yesterday - slow roasted belly of pork, cooked in cider with roasted peaches.  Recipe is in this month's Delicious magazine and that kind of sums up how it tasted!

We went to see the film 'Yesterday' on Friday.  If you're looking for a light hearted film that makes you smile and has you singing in your seat, this is the one for you!  Imagine if you were the only person in the world that remembered the Beatles?  And you're a struggling musician.  No one else will realise that these amazing songs you are writing were actually written by someone else - will they?

Smalls for all

This is a post unlike any other that I have written - it's not about sewing, or knitting or anything to do with day to day mid-life.  It's about bras.  No, it isn't a fashion post either! 

What do you do with your old bras?  Charity shops don't like used underwear donations and you can't recycle them in your household bins.  But there are ladies out there whose life would literally change for the want of a bra.

The school I used to work at sponsored a school in Uganda so I guess I'm a little more aware of the difference between life for girls in Africa compared to the UK.  Things we take for granted are either not available there or beyond the financial reach of the average family.  We may moan about the price of feminine hygiene products here and campaign for them to be tax free, but at least they are available and we all manage to find the money to buy them.  Things are not the same in Africa.

Can you imagine underwear being seen as a luxury?  Something you could only hope for but not ever assume that you may own?  So those old bras of ours, hanging around in the corners of your 'knicker drawer', don't quite fit any more, straps have gone a bit loose, don't really like the style now - we're not going to wear them, but to a young girl in a village in Malawi or Ethiopia it would make so much difference.  Quite apart from being more comfortable, it gives her respect and pride in how she feels.

I've just gone through my drawer and found three that I don't wear anymore.  Nothing really wrong with them, 1 didn't fit that well in the first place, 1 had stretched a bit and the other one was very similar to another that I owned.  So I've packaged them up and sent them to Smalls for All which is a small charity specialising in sending undies to underprivileged places.  I'm sure there are others, but please consider doing the same next time you are having a clear out.  One lady's unwanted bra is another lady's luxury item.

Sentence a Day in June

June - the month that sees us officially half way through the year, and I am still remembering to document each day with just one sentence.  

Day 1 Over to Jon's to watch Spurs v Liverpool; delicious barbecue but let's not mention the football result 😢

Day 2 Sunday lunch where all talk of football was banned (son in law supports Liverpool)

Day 3 Yoga in the morning and then looked after baby Rosie while her mum had an appointment in London 😀

Day 4 Bit of a lazy day, catching up on housework and ironing while watching Netflix

Day 5 Trying to plan an Italian themed dinner and spent far too long on the internet looking for reasonably priced Venetian masquerade masks to give to everyone 

Day 6 Zumba!  Experimenting with a lentil based bolognese for dinner as one of our guests at the Italian evening is vegetarian so I need a alternative to lasagne.

Day 7 Visited Henry Moore exhibition during the day and had friends over for drinks in the evening 

Day 8 Invited to friends for dinner in the evening - Greek food - so delicious

Day 9 Our local Country Park has just installed some new play equipment so we just had to take Leo there after lunch to try everything out

Day 10 Dentist - practically skipped out of the surgery after being told there was nothing to be done apart from a hygienist appointment in a couple of weeks

Day 11 Looked after Rosie while Rachel took Leo to the hospital so he could be discharged from the allergy clinic - bye bye egg allergy

Day 12 Knitted a hat in an evening

Day 13 Zumba morning, hair cut afternoon

Day 14 Miserable weather - this whole week has been so wet and horrible.

Day 15 Practice another vegetarian recipe for our Italian themed dinner party  - I don't have many veggie friendly dinner party recipes but I think this one is a winner! 

Day 16 Packing our bags ready for a few days away with Coco in Norfolk

Day 17 Lovely long walk ending at the sand dunes in Burnham Overy Staithe

Day 18 Visited Holkham Hall - what an impressive house in a fabulous location

Day 19 Coco is getting quite used to having dinner at the pub

Day 20 Zumba! 

Day 21 Had a gel manicure - hands feel very pretty again - First official day of summer too 🌞

Day 22 Jet fighters flying at supersonic speed intercepted a flight at Stansted airport which caused a sonic bang over the town where I live - what a shock!

Day 23 Baby shower for Sophie - a lovely afternoon tea and fun games - Mum-to-be is glowing

Day 24 Looked after Rosie in the afternoon while Rachel went into London for an appointment - she was a very well behaved guest.

Day 25 Dentist day - thought I was only going for a hygienist appointment but ended up having a filling in my wisdom tooth - "do you want to make an appointment to come back and have it done another day or shall we do it now?" May as well get it over and done with!

Day 26 Day to myself while Paul went to Buckingham Palace to see an exhibition of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci - kept myself busy by baking

Day 27 Zumba! Rachel, Leo and Rosie came for dinner as James had to go to Manchester for work and wasn't going to be home until very late.

Day 28 Tried a new tapas restaurant that has opened in town with our friends Mandy and Richard - it was delicious.

Day 29 On the hottest day of the year, we had friends over in the evening for an Indian takeaway - after we'd eaten our meal we managed to sit out in the garden until almost midnight!

Day 30 Phew it's another hot one - family over for Sunday lunch, better fill up that paddling pool


I've also been taking a photo every day to upload to the 1 Second Everyday app - here's video evidence of my month

Are you going to join in too?  One sentence a day - that sounds doable doesn't it?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

TGIF on a Monday

Carrying on the alternative version of TGIF - this Monday I am ...

That Sophie's baby will have stayed in the 'right' position after having been turned from breech at the hospital last week.

That the weather has been so lovely over the last few days.  We had friends over on Friday night and were able to sit out in the garden until almost midnight.

To find something a bit different for decorations when we have people over for an Italian themed evening in a few weeks.  I already have Venetian masks for everyone, but they need a bit of 'tweaking' with feathers and embellishments.

Tried a new app to record one second every day - called (would you believe it, 1 second everyday)