It's been a while

I've become one of those annoying intermittent bloggers - you know the kind.  Updates and blog posts on a regular basis then suddenly tumbleweeds rolling around through blogland for weeks.  I'd like to say it was because I was taking part in exciting things and travelling the world but I'm not one to lie.  

There's been a lot of counting of blessings in amongst the day to day business.  Feeling thankful that I am here to do the things that become part of the average day.  Enjoying crisp frosty mornings

Long leisurely walks with the dog

Spending Wednesdays looking after this little rascal

And saving lots of money on Black Friday by not buying anything from the dozens of emails that I had from websites advertising huge discounts.  (To be truthful, we are thinking of buying a small chest freezer to put in the utility room for extra food storage and I've been monitoring prices over the last week of so and guess what?  The price on Friday was no different to that at the beginning of the week, except on Friday it had a big sash across the photo saying it was a Black Friday discount price.  I did not buy it on principle!)

I've felt quite subdued on learning that a lady whose two daughters are the same age as my 'children' had died.  I'd last seen her at the beginning of the year; her younger daughter is getting married next spring and as I was at that time involved in all the planning of our family weddings we had a good chat about wedding dress shopping, the problems in choosing a venue, and mother of the bride outfits.  How sad that she is not going to be there for her daughter's big day.  I did not know at the time - although she did - that she had pancreatic cancer.  So her excitement at making plans must have been tinged with knowing that although she could be involved in the planning of the event she probably would not be there to see the actual day.  It is so sad that sometimes it takes hearing such news to give you a shake and tell you to appreciate all the little things you take for granted.

This weekend we had all 7 of us around the table for Sunday lunch, daughter, son in law, grandson, son and daughter in law, all chatting and laughing and it was so lovely to have that lovely family feeling.

It's hard work getting a full on traditional English Sunday roast on the table, thank goodness I had help with the carving of the joint

An almost, sort of, kind of scrapbooking

I've made no secret of the fact that my scrapbooking days are (I think) behind me but there's a little piece of scrapbooking love that remains with me.  It's regenerated in the form of making photobooks.  It's taken me a while but I have finally finished the photobooks for both Rachel and Jon's weddings.  I spent so much time on these and am really pleased with the way they turned out.

I used Photobox for them and am, as always, really impressed with the quality of the finished product. I won't bore you with a full reveal but here's a few to give a flavour of what a wonderful summer we had.

A beautiful day, in a beautiful location and (I may be a bit biased here) a beautiful bride.  We were so lucky that we were able to have the ceremony under a pergola beside a lake in the grounds of a fab Manor House.

In the evening we had a 'Magic Mirror' with props instead of a Photo Booth, it was a fun idea and loads of people used it so they have some great fun memories of people being very silly!

Wedding two

Jon's legal ceremony took place in London, just down the road from where he lives.  And with the formalities over we then spent the next week preparing the next venue for the celebration with all family and friends.  That involved erecting a large marquee, decorating it and keeping our fingers firmly crossed for another day of nice weather.

Totally unconventional - just like the bride and groom - we were sitting on straw bales which were covered with patchwork quilts made by Sophie's grandmother, with Sophie's brother conducting the ceremony, bride and groom both writing their own vows and Rachel doing a reading from Sophie's favourite series of books, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.

And I mean, who doesn't have a mariachi band performing at their wedding reception?

Accidentally walking in a winter wonderland

We went shopping for spring flowering bulbs this morning.  Ended up in a Christmas grotto at the garden centre and bought a couple of new tree decorations.  So much for 'not buying anything towards Christmas until at least November.'

 But that's it for now - not one card or roll of wrapping will find itself in my shopping basket for at least a couple of days 😉

🎄🎄🎄

At the weekend our paper included this supplement

Do you listen to podcasts?  My son introduced them to me a while ago when 'Serial' was top of the charts.  I like a true crime story, especially one that isn't straightforward.  I was hooked.  Then last year I listened to 'S-Town' which certainly took some odd twists and turns.  I kind of forgot to download any after that, until I had a phase of having trouble getting off to sleep at nights.  I didn't want to disturb P by having a light on to read so I thought I would try listening to something through headphones instead.  

I discovered that some radio programmes do a podcast version and I've got hooked. It's nothing heavy - in fact a couple of them ensure that it is not a reading light that keeps P awake, but me chuckling to myself - he of course can't hear what is making me laugh as I've got headphones on and apparently it can be quite annoying to wonder what on earth I'm laughing about.  But I have to say it is a great way to fall asleep (I quite often have to listen to the same podcast a couple of times as I am so relaxed I fall asleep before the end of it and have to rewind to hear the second half!)

My podcast lists are a real mix of genres 

Since reading the Sunday supplement I've downloaded 'Dirty John' and I think it's going to be a good one!  Anyone else out there a podcast fan?  I'd welcome any good suggestions!

Sorting out your drawers ...

... or

how wearing your lucky knickers can put a spring in your step.

We had a training day at work yesterday.  I was not looking forward to it as experience has shown that Inset Day speakers have a tendency to focus on teaching related topics which have zero interest to the secretarial staff from the office.  There were two talks that were compulsory for everyone to attend.  Then we were free to escape back to the office and get on with our normal work.  We reluctantly took our seats.

The first talk was entitled 'The Art of Being Brilliant'.  And despite being very dubious about it, the talk actually was brilliant.  The guy who took the course was funny, engaging and had some excellent fun ideas on positive psychology. 

He assured us that we would feel much more brilliant if we could walk into work like this clip  from YouTube from the film 500 days of summer.   Walking into work with a smile and positive attitude is contagious and if we all gave it a go, you just might all find the day went a little better.



There are 5 working days in the week, all exactly the same.  Why do Mondays feel worse than Fridays?  If you spend Monday feeling 'blurgh' it just makes the day seem longer and the weekend further away.  And if one person in the office is feeling 'burgh' it's almost guaranteed to affect the way everyone else feels.  We also spend too much time waiting for the thing that is going to make us happier.  Saving things for that moment when everything falls into place and we think that life will suddenly become brilliant.  Just suppose that this is your brilliant time.  Suppose we can make this actual point in life a little bit more brilliant than we think it is.  If we can recreate that Friday feeling on a Monday, the whole week will feel better.  So, with that in mind...

open your knicker drawer.

We all have different kinds of knickers.  Don't we?  Average kind of day to day knickers, those we save for best - to wear under our favourite going out clothes, and those ones which have seen better days, nothing stylish at all just comfortable and do the job they're meant to do. Pick up those knickers.  And throw them away.  They don't make you feel good, and you may even be a little bit ashamed of them.  When Monday comes, open your knicker drawer. Pick out a pair of your posh pants.  Those ones which make you feel a bit special, they're newer than the old ones, probably a nicer colour or fabric, possibly trimmed with lace or ribbon.  Now get dressed and ready for work.  Do you have a little instant 'feel better' factor going on?  You walk with a bit of a swagger, you know you look good underneath those ordinary work clothes.  If you went to the loo and accidentally walked out the door with the hem of your skirt tucked in your knickers, you wouldn't be quite so ashamed.  What's the point of keeping a pair of lucky knickers just for best, why not make today a little more special and wear them now.  

We're on half term holiday this week, but I just know that when we are all back in the office the following week, we're all going to be looking at each other and wondering if we've all done as he suggested!

End of the hunt

It's time for the big reveal!  The final photos for the Scavenger Hunt organised by Mary-Lou are ready to be shown.  I've already shared quite a few on the list, you can see them  here and here.  So what was left to capture?

No 2 - Bubbles



No 6
A Pipe - actually a whole shop full of pipes.  A lucky find last week when we were in Rome.



No 7
Inside - The Colosseum 



No 12 - I know I've already done this one but we have had 3 wedding celebrations this summer so I can't use one and not the others!



The legal ceremony and then a week later, the big celebration for friends and family.

No 13 - a replacement for the one I already used - how could I not use this one taken in the Vatican City?



No 16 - OK I know he isn't officially a baby any more but he's our 'baby' of the family so I'm using artistic licence to claim this one!



And finally 
No 20 Something found underground.  I'm not that impressed by what I found for this one but I refused to be beaten so here are some radishes from the garden.



It's been fun joining in this hunt - and hope that Mary-Lou is already thinking of things to add to the list for next year!

Missing on Monday

I wasn't around to do my normal Monday post this week.  Do you want a hint as to where I was?

An early celebration for my husband's 'big' birthday this year.  It's rather inconvenient that he has a birthday in December when there is so much else going on so we decided to have a weekend away before the weather became a bit more unpredictable.  He's always wanted to go to Rome; I've been once before in the 70s when I wasn't really old enough to appreciate it!

He's spent a lot of time researching places of interest (there are so many that we had to narrow it down considerably to fit in with the 3 days we had) and every day I would come home from work to find him sitting with a coffee in the conservatory with a table full of maps and guide books in front of him.  While I joked about it, the research was well worth it as we really did pack in an awful lot.  That research had also included the best coffee shops or gelato shops so when we found our energy flagging, we were able to go and refresh ourselves in some fabulous places.  Not fancy pants tourist places but places off the beaten track that are used by the locals.  

We're not really ones for guided tours but several people had recommended that we do that because otherwise there would be so much that you would look at, but not really understand the history or significance.  So he booked us on two tours.  The Vatican City and the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine Hill.  Both were for three hours.  But oh how glad we were we had booked them as we learnt so much from both amazing guides who clearly loved their subject and loved their city.  The guide who showed us the Sistine Chapel was amazing and had we gone on our own, there is no way that we would have enjoyed the experience as much as we did.  And, as a huge plus - no queues at all!  That was a huge benefit of being part of a tour.  

Growth mindset quote of the week

“The ability to learn is not fixed, but is a skill that continues to grow.”

A good thing to have in mind especially in view of those big birthdays we both have coming up in the next 6 months.  You're never too old to learn something new!

The signs are there

It's coming.  The clues are all around us.  On entering our local Tesco at the weekend, we immediately saw a mountain of selection tins of chocolates - begging us to take them home.  What is it about selection tins that you don't think of at other times of year?  They are a sure sign that Christmas is (according the the shops) on its way. 

 Of course with 2 tins on offer for £7 we kindly liberated a couple of tins and have given them a good home.  Hidden away in the spare bedroom to keep us away from temptation.  Because I know that the minute that seal is opened, just one little chocolate covered fudge will never be enough and I'll be back in Tesco buying more.  Those damn marketing people know me so well ...

So what else has happened since we last met? Well, I  did get going on the binding on the quilt.  It's not quite finished because as soon as I pick it up to do the hand stitching in the evenings and lay it on my lap, Coco appears, jumps up and makes herself comfortable on it.


The growth mindset sentence of the week at work is

"Embrace challenge; persist in the face of setbacks.”

My greatest challenge this weekend?  It was the first Fitsteps exercise class of the new term after 6 weeks summer break.  Turns out going for long dog walks doesn't keep you quite as fit as a full on dance class.  Setbacks?  Could not remember any of the routines all the way through so ended up facing in the wrong direction more than once.  But persistence pays off and we all ended the class on a high note.

Have a good week!