Suffolk Sunshine

Good morning

Another sunny morning here in Suffolk - weather seems to have got it right at the moment - sunny days and rainy nights :) We've been spending lots of time outside - we've rather mastered the art of cooking over fire and Big Son seems to have assumed the role of chief flipper of burgers and bbq food.

We had a day out en-masse last week, - me, S, Little Son, Big Son and his girlfriend. We headed over to Thorpeness first and hired boats on the Meare;

 Just a gorgeous day - sunny and breezy and despite the empty looking Meare in this photo it was in fact rather busy.

 We were in 2 boats - we left Big Son and his girlfriend in one and we headed off in another. They took a while to get the rowing mastered but eventually they were getting around rather well.

 There were many swans about and racing across the Meare to be fed. They are surprisingly tricky to photograph - turning their heads at the last moment - eventually I managed a picture!!

After a lunch of chips and ice-cream on the beach at Aldeburgh, we dropped the teenagers back home and S & I headed up the coast to Southwold. As big kids we spent time playing on the arcades and continuing our Air Hockey battles - I always seem to loose whatever dirty tricks I try!!

 Still one of my favourite views - Southwold seafront taken from the end of the Pier.

Lastly for today - a mosaic for July - very hard to limit it to just 6 pictures - its been a lovely and busy month;

Both boys proms, more dancing and plenty of festival fun.

August is shaping up to be busy too - we've a holiday with some Daleks, more festivals, a carnival and of course 2 lots of results days!

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

More sunshine - more dancing

Good morning

Where has the past week gone? In a blur of exams for the boys and just a very busy life here for all of us.

Another 10 days and its all over - no more exams for either boy and a long summer break for them both. Holidays have been booked for us all - one for the boys & I is very special - off to Cardiff to see the Doctor Who exhibition - not sure who is most excited!

Anyhow back to the past week. Firstly car boot bargains - lavender plants to make a hedge for the front garden - amazing the difference it makes - hopefully soon they've grow bigger and attract lots of wildlife;

 Even after just a week they seem bigger and starting to flower.

The picture at the top is big son and his 2 best mates taken a couple of years ago on a 6th form charity dress up day. When I found the 2 Thunderbird figures for sale I knew they'd go with the Brains from a birthday cake I made for him a few years ago and I'd be able to recreate this favourite photo!!

This past weekend I've been dancing again - this time in Aldeburgh on the seafront. It was a perfect day - sunshine, blue skies and a slight sea-breeze. We shared the spot with another side and a great time was had by all. Even little son came to watch me dance for the first time - though perhaps I need to rename him as you can see - he towers over me;

I as usual had loads of fun - twirling around and flashing my bloomers!!

As well as Little Son, a further 11 members of my family came along to watch - my baby sister took the photos of me;

As you can see - I'm having far too much fun!! and best bit - it happens again on Thursday night - we're off dancing in Southwold down at the Harbour Inn.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

52 weeks of Vicki - weeks 7 & 8 - oops

Morning

Whoops - forgot completely to blog last week and even worse I'm a week behind on my reading! It's been half term here and whilst the boys no longer need entertaining what little routine we have to our lives goes completely out of the window! Late nights, lie-ins, meals all over the place and we're never quite sure who is here for dinner/lunch etc.

So pics from the last 2 weeks - all snapped on something made by Apple - just so easy to snap away on my phone these days;

 Flowers for me - sent to cheer me up when I was having a particularly rough time the other weekend. Still typing up loose ends from my old life - almost there - just one big one to sort.

 Lovely sunny days mean I've dragged my bike out a few times - once on a much needed trip to the bottle bank!! Not all the empties are mine - those boys of mine love their cider and ginger beer too.

 A walk along the prom at Aldeburgh the other day - the sun was shining and reflecting off the sea - reminding me that spring is just round the corner.

 Crochet and rugby watching - a pretty good way to spend a Saturday afternoon - especially as England won :)

 Beer and catching up with the Folk Show on Iplayer - very happy Vicki

 A sunrise - always beautiful to see.

And lastly something that cheers me no end - washing drying outside in the sunshine - meaning for a few hours my house no longer resembles a laundry!!

Right that's all for this week - mostly quite simple things but all make me happy/smile for there own reasons. 

Back to school for the boys tomorrow - a last minute homework panic is happening as I type.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Almost the end

Good morning

Only just - I managed to sleep in till 10.30 this morning! We're due out at 12 and there's a mad panic going on for breakfast and showers - I'll leave the boys to go first and I'll have a hurried shower once they are finished - oh the joys of being a Mum!!

How was your Christmas? Ours was lovely - time spent with family and friends and the day itself spent happily as a 3 :)

All 3 of us in our Christmas jumpers - it was very hard to get all of in the same photo - it was a selfie style and even with big sons Mr Tickle arms it proved quite a challenge.

We'd been organised and prepared all the lunch the day before - all that needed doing on the day was getting it cooked and everything finished at the same time. Whilst it was cooking, little son took on the task of setting the table - we'd decided that we'd all have our favourite beers/ciders with our meal so he hunted down all the tankards too;

The dining room faces south so it was lovely seeing the sunshine whilst we ate our lunch :)

In the crackers were wind up reindeer's and Santa's - after we'd eaten we raced those for ages - those on my FB or IG feed will have seen the video clip.

The rest of the day was spent doing what we wanted - reading, playing new games, listening to new music or just sitting together watching the Christmas Doctor Who - we are all going to miss Matt Smith - not sure if I will take to this new Doctor.

Boxing Day morning, I was lying in bed thinking about getting up when a text came through from my Mum - did I want to go to Aldeburgh? Yep - so quickly, up and showered and off we went. Firstly to watch the crazy people taking part in a sponsored Boxing Day swim in the north sea;

and afterwards a quick walk around the town a visit to a couple of shops to their sales - it means I can part with a few more bits that no longer fit me to the charity shop - see everyone wins ;)

Right I'd best be off - another day - another get together - today's challenge - getting 6 cousins ranging from Big Son who is almost 18 and Little Nephew who is 9 months old  into the same photo and looking at the camera!!

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Holiday at home week

Good evening

Think I'd best post whilst I've the time. Just one more day of our holiday at home left - off to the cinema to watch Monsters University with my boys - sometimes you just have to see films with the same people you saw the original with - another 3D experience for me!!

Holiday at home week started on Monday;

 We headed to Aldeburgh - lounging on the beach and eating chips - blissful

Can't beat chips out of the paper - especially sitting on the beach with my two fab boys.

Tuesday morning it was warm when we woke so we decided to cook breakfast camp-style in the garden.

That evening as part of the campaign to empty the cupboards before the move, we had to have Pimms!!

 Today I've been to Thorpeness with Dawn - we ate ice-creams by the Meare and watched the swans;

And then we headed down to the beach for a paddle;

All rather lovely - we've spent time as a 3, time with friends and time with family too. When you live somewhere as lovely as we do and with this great weather, holidaying at home is rather great fun. All happy and contented before next weeks big adventure!!! 

See you on the other side - the internet gets connected next Friday 9th so I am sure I'll be back blogging soon after if my computer doesn't sulk too much about moving!!

xxx Vicki xxx

15 of 52 weeks of happy

Good morning

The sun is shining - the birds are tweeting happily to each other - they woke me briefly at 5am but I managed to snuggle back to sleep for a few more hours.

Those lovely boys of mine are dead to the world and I shall leave them for as long as they like as there are no plans involving them this morning. 

Here's this weeks happy post and picture;

1 - My gorgeous new nephew. I spent the morning with him and my little sister on Friday. I had plenty of cuddles with him and I really could have just smuggled him home with me.

2 - After I left my sisters I walked into Aldeburgh and treated myself. Firstly to a new gilet from Joules (well there was 25% off this weekend) and secondly to chips from the very popular chip shop. Chips I know - very naughty especially with a dicky gallbladder - these caused no problems at all and were very, very scrummy indeed - must be 6 months since I've had some from there!

3 - Knitted blue bunny - knitted by my Grandma many years ago and I started to finish him 2 years ago along with a pink one. I never quite finished and wanted to wait until a new baby came along to do so. He was given to baby F on Friday along with several other bits the boys & I chose on a recent shopping trip.

4 - The weather warming up meant I've been able to wear my CK bicycle dress and converse - very happy.

Right time to finish my coffee, hang some washing out and then head to the gym.

Thank you for the comments/emails on yesterdays post - I have now drawn a line under it and consider it closed :)

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

The Last Post

Good evening

Almost a rush to get the last post for 2012 sorted - a small matter of playing with my new camera and getting the photos off it and sorted and turned into a mosaic!

Oh yes a new camera - Father Christmas was very kind and noted my wish list - more on that another day.

As its the end of the month it must be time for a mosaic - not possible in the normal 9 pics - here's a bigger one for December;

 

Lots of candles, Christmas food, decorations, a bit of snow and a Little Son's festive jumper - what a month!

Even though I've got this new toy, I've not taken too many photos - still getting to grips with things and trying to read the online manual (I hate this - give me a little booklet one every time!). Here's mosaic of the past few days;

Christmas Lunch, a long walk along the river & seawalls at Aldeburgh, another walk at Southwold, MrVV & I braving the elements, mad surfers in the sea and some serious waves - we almost got a soaking!!

I've been sorting pictures for one of those review of the year posts - just trying to narrow it down to my favourite and the best bits!

I suppose all it leaves me to do is to wish you all a very Happy New Year - however you are celebrating tonight, enjoy. I plan to see the new year in with MrVV and a bottle of something bubbly.

Here's to 2013 - I've been adding dates to my new diary and there's some good stuff to look forward to - might just have booked tickets today to go and see our favourite band again very soon! Plus there's MrVV's first festive camping experience to happen in August - can't wait for that!!

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Olympic Torch Relay arrives in Suffolk

Good evening

Day 48 of the Olympic Torch Relay saw it finally coming to my part of the world - friends in Cornwall, Cheshire & Newcastle have already seen it and I was beginning to wonder if it would ever get here!

 Picture c/o Google Images

Apparently it left Norwich before I was up this morning and made its way out to the coast at Great Yarmouth and then into Suffolk via Lowestoft. Its stopped in one of my favourite places (Southwold) and then after a lunch break it headed our way.

Big Son had headed down to Aldeburgh with a mate, Little Son was watching it with the school in Saxmundham  - that left MrVV & I to go out together. We opted for Aldeburgh as we knew it was due to do a circular route so we'd definitely get a good view.

We left home just a few miles away in glorious sunshine as we got closer to Aldeburgh we noticed a rather thick sea-mist hanging about and just as we parked the heavens opened!! Luckily there were a couple of umbrellas in the car so we grabbed those and headed down to the sea front. It was starting to get busy - we could see all the local school children sitting on the sea wall waiting for their glimpse. We also spotted Big Son and his mate doing a rather canny impression of Laurel & Hardy;

 

Said dopey son had hoped to take photos today - however he'd managed only to pack his camera case and not his actual camera - doh!!

Luckily the rain soon stopped and the sun came out just at the right moment.

As we dried out and waited we could hear cheers and see the sponsors vehicles approaching;

Then just behind this lorry the first glimpse of one of the torch bearers.

Big cheers and loads of whistles blowing as she came onto the Moot Green for her torch handover.

This was accompanied by young musicians from all over the world who are playing together at the Proms both in London and Snape this summer.

After it headed along the Prom, we nipped through into the High Street so we could see another runner have his 5 minutes of fame;

Despite the initial weather a rather lovely afternoon enjoyed by us all :)

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Men in Uniform

Good evening

Why think of a snappy title when 'Men in Uniform' is bound to attract some extras via Google search ;) Amazing what brings people to this little blog sometimes!!

Anyhow - these men - 653 Squadron Army Air Corps - given the Freedom of the town of Aldeburgh on Saturday - lots of pomp and ceremony and helicopters - after all these guys (and girls) are responsible for the Apache helicopters and have seen rather alot of active service in the past few years. They've a good association with the town and this honour was well deserved;

 A parade through the town accompanied by the band of Parachute Regiment

 Playing on the seafront alongside the historic Moot Hall

 The Squadron mascot - an American Bald Eagle - he so wanted to be able to chase those pesky seagulls away - you could hear them taunting him - if only he could have escaped and taught them a lesson!!

 A flypast by 3 Apache helicopters 

 Our little band was asked to play at the nearby sports fields - whilst the soldiers and great & good enjoyed a drink or two and lots of free food.

One of the Apache landed and the crew spent ages talking to everyone about this wonderful piece of equipment. This is it just as it was preparing to take off - its just not possible to get pictures as it starts to hover - the force is amazing.

At any one time somewhere in blogland there is a giveaway - I've entered plenty and been lucky enough to win a few. Now two have appeared in my feed today and I'd been thrilled to win either of them - such lovely pressies on off - almost so nice I don't want to share the links with you but of course I couldn't do that.

The first one over a Kazzy's Country Rabbit blog;

and the other is over here at my fellow caravan fan Lavender Attic's blog;

Once I've added these to my sidebar, I shall be going over to visit both and put my name on the lists - fingers crossed hey ;)

It was a good day here today in the VV house - big son sat his final GCSE exam - all over now till the results at the end of August and then hopefully he can sign up for the courses he wants to do in the 6th form. I know others have Y11 aged children - I hope their exams have gone well and it almost all over for you too.

The next point of focus for him is the Prom next week - he's all kitted out and trust me, he scrubs up rather well - I promise to take lots of photos ;)

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Long to reign over us

Good morning :)

Wow what a busy weekend and its not over yet!!

We've had sunshine & showers, spitfires and fireworks and plenty of Pimms.

Also loads of fun - here's just a snapshot of my Jubilee weekend;

It started on Saturday in Southwold with their Street Fair;

Vintage Buskers singing wartime songs

Morris Dancers & their band

A Pipe & Drum band playing in the town too.

Sunday night MrVV & I headed to Aldeburgh for Proms by the Sea;

The weather wasn't too kind - a easterly wind straight off the North Sea and later on rain but we had such fun. There was an orchestra and whilst they played the Dambusters, we were treated to a flypast and display by a Spitfire and her female pilot;

(not my photo - I watched rather than tried to get pictures - photo c/o google)

At the end of the evening there were fireworks to accompany Pomp & Circumstance;

A wonderful if slightly damp evening :)

Monday - another day, another brass event. This time it was the turn of our little town to celebrate. A parade followed by a Picnic in the Park;

That band again ;)

The parade was of children dressed as Kings & Queens - a friend of mine entered her two littlest and they won 1st & 2nd prize;

It was a great afternoon and wonderful turn out - lots of people having a great time.

As you can see - the sun really shone at some points.

Today - there's another brass engagement, a concert for MrVV & I but first I ought to go and get sorted and visit another special 86 year old - my Grandma.

What a great weekend its been - I loved the river pageant and the concert last night - even if some of the singers couldn't quite hit the high notes anymore!!

See you soon - I must remember to draw the names out of the hat for my giveaway later!!

xxx Vicki xxx