A new image

 The last couple of times I have been to the hairdressers I have tentatively mentioned that I wondered if it is time to embrace the natural colour in my hair.  All last remaining auburn tones have long gone and I have to admit that my colour is now … predominantly grey. I haven't had an all over colour in my hair for many a year now and tend to have some coloured lowlights put through it.  So we decided to make the lowlights fairer and I've been having less of them and as I looked in the mirror of the salon and we had the 'what are we doing today? conversation, I thought 'now's the time'. So as a transition plan I had my hair cut quite a bit shorter and had blonde highlights run through it followed by a toner treatment.  I wasn't sure about it at first but I don't think I've ever had so many compliments about my hair!  I'm pleased I went for it and will be even more pleased when I get to the point of not having any dye/beach put though it and effectively halve the cost of the appointment when I only need a cut rather than a cut and colour!

Have you watched the BBC drama Mother of All Cons? It's a true story that had us both engrossed.  Oh my goodness.  I won't spoil it by divulging the outcome but what the mother did was unbelievable.  Of course our normal tv schedules are  being affected by the football World Cup but thankfully a lot of the games are on quite late at night due to the time difference so we are still getting to see most of our normal viewing.  I've also started watching Love Story - John F Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette.  I don't know too much about the storyline but I've enjoyed the first episode and hope that it will be good.

Last weekend we went into town and walked around the main town park, Castle Gardens.  Way back in history, pre 1066, there was a castle here called Waytemore Castle and there are still some remains in the park.  But in the 45 years I have lived here, I have never climbed the steps to the top to see the view over the town so we ventured up there and enjoyed the views over the whole of the town. 

I am close to finishing my crochet top that I have been making for far too long!  I am determined to get it finished now otherwise the summer will be over and it won't be warm enough to wear!  Here's an update and whilst it looks wearable I can assure you that there are hundreds of ends on the inside that need weaving in before I can wear it out in public!

You can see a couple of ends have escaped and found their way into the photo! I am determined to get this finished soon, but then comes the question - what next?

Farewell to May

 Well, May certainly went out on a high!  High temperatures that is.  We have officially had a heatwave this last week.  Temperatures hit the 30s and whilst we love to see the sun, we also desperately seek the shade once the temperature goes up too high!  You can imagine that our newly installed solar panels have been very useful - I don't think we've used any electricity from the grid since they were installed and have even exported power each day when our battery was full.  

We tried out to a new Indian restaurant on Friday evening and went back to our friends' house afterwards for coffee and it was so lovely to be sitting out in the garden until it became dark.

Our knit and natter group had met earlier in the day and we also sat outside from 11 - 3 although I did nab a seat in the shade.  Somewhere between these two outdoor events I managed to become a target to some kind of biting insect and have spent the weekend trying (unsuccessfully) not to scratch a nasty bite on my ankle. 

Yesterday my zumba instructor organised a walk and picnic in Hatfield Forest.  It is about 20 minutes drive from where we live and is a beautiful place to spend a sunny day.  It's now owned by the National Trust but was originally owned by King Harold. Some of the trees are over 1000 years old.  It became a royal hunting forest around 1100 and has over 3500 species of wildlife.  Some of the huge rare breed cows that roam around are a bit intimidating but I found this little family particularly cute!

After a walk around the lake we got out our picnic chairs and had lunch together under a large tree in the shade.  Adri had arranged for a guitarist to come and play for us and it really was a lovely, relaxing way to spend the afternoon.

So, June has begun in a similar heat although it isn't forecast to last much longer. Schools are back after their May half term week off and normal routines will now resume.  I have had a message to say that the balance is due on our flights to Portugal which much mean it is just over six weeks until we go 😎

Do you have holiday plans for the summer?