A fab night out :)

Good morning

I could be wandering around the house with a hoover but instead its time to have 5 minutes in front of the computer and blog! I have been good though - laundry all done, kitchen tidy and bank account checked and balance reconciled - one thing I have got really good at over the past 18 months - checking my balance and managing my spending accordingly.

Anyhow I left off last time saying I was off to a gig with friends. Ok so some of you know via Facebook and Instagram there is someone special again in my life and it was this person I was off out with. 

We were off to see some friends play a gig in Bury in aid of the local hospice - in fact out of the 10 musicians involved that night - 8 are friends of ours.

I didn't take any pics during the evening but this one was taken last year when I was in the same theatre having danced in public for the first time!

 Afterwards we headed back to our hotel - a rather lucky find. Cheaper than the chain budget hotels and much much nicer. A gorgeous country house in the middle of nowhere;

The breakfast was amazing - I took this pic to taunt Big Son!!

Sadly these days I can't clear a plateful like this - I tried blooming hard though!!

We headed home late morning but via John Lewis - time to treat myself to something I've wanted for ages - a DAB radio that I can take around the house and garden so I have music to work to - big dilemma time - what colour! I opted for a deep reddy/pink colour;

 Right back to work time - I have a mountain of paperwork that needs copying and I keep putting this task off!

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Rochester Sweeps Festival 2013 - 17 of 52 weeks of happy

Good evening

Wow what a weekend - it seems only best to combine two posts into one - a wonderful weekend providing the 17th post of 52 happy ones;

Rochester Sweeps Festival has been running in its current form for 33 years now - its become the largest May Day celebration of its kind in the country.

As well as music, workshops, stalls, a funfair and more street food than you could ever imagine - there are 60 Morris sides dancing in the street at various points over the 3 days.

We arrived on Friday evening after a uneventful drive down - traffic was light - it all seemed to be heading in the other direction! When we got to the campsite we soon found the others - a huge space had been saved and we were camping together as a group.  Once the tent was up - it was time for dinner. Fish & chips (well just chips for me) were bought and soon consumed along with the first of many pints of cider!

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny and once breakfasts of bacon rolls were consumed, costumes put on and for the men, faces blacked - we headed down the hill and into town.

I am not sure who took this picture of me - but I found it on our FB page today and decided I rather liked it - though slightly windswept and not smiling then, I can assure you I loved every minute of Saturday;

More photos - just one more of me though I expect more to appear once people return home and get time to upload them;

 Lots of fun was had, dances performed and just 2 sticks got broken that day!! Oh and we even managed to time our lunch break so we could go and watch our friends the Bounty Hounds perform in the castle grounds;

We had a group barbecue in the evening and then some of us headed over to the school hall to a ceilidh which was rather fun. I didn't have a very late night - my body was shattered and was rather keen to climb into my sleeping bag for a good few hours sleep.

We headed back into town on Sunday morning for our final dance slots - finishing up near the castle and dancing under the most gorgeous cherry trees in full blossom;

 Here's the view upwards;

 Just gorgeous - a very happy view indeed.

I had a wonderful weekend - good company, good beer/cider, good food and good fun - roll on 2014!

Oh and in case you wondered, those boys of mine had fun too. They spent a lads weekend with their Dad and part of it was spent Segway racing in Norfolk;

Apparently it was great fun - even though many crashes were had and bottoms landed on!

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

14 of 52 weeks of happy

Good morning

The sun is shining and the sky is blue - just waiting for a load of washing to finish before I hang it out to dry - I love this - such a simple pleasure.

Its the last day of the boys holidays today - tomorrow is back to school and in just a few weeks time the GCSE/AS level exams start - there is a 6 week period where both are doing exams - sometimes on the same day - really not looking forward to it - especially as we will have the same thing again next summer!

However - happy stuff - lots this week - even if many happy moments haven't got caught on camera. I wish we'd caught the time last night when we were cooking dinner the 3 of us - utter hysterics at my slightly 'merry' antics and a small incident with an open kitchen cupboard! Or the many moments with my mad biggest boy and his gangly dancing and general silliness.

Here's this weeks 4 happy pictures;

1 - Newly filled bird feeders have been very popular this week. Hard to get pictures unless I take them at max zoom from big sons bedroom window. Lovely to see all the birds visiting and to hear them when I wake in the morning. We've heard the owls in the neighbours oak tree and are hoping that we may see one more clutch of baby owls before we move.

2 - A new cd - bought at the gig last Saturday night and played over and over this week. Listening to it makes me smile and remember a fab night out and the promise of more to come.

3 - Blue skies - after months of grey, cold and dull days seeing blue skies and fluffy clouds instantly lifts the spirits.

4 - Another day, another dance out - this time yesterday afternoon at a pub in Ipswich. Not me in this pic but I am sure some will appear soon. Great fun and fab company - off out again in a couple of Sundays time - can't wait :)

See you soon - off out in a while to deliver a birthday card and I must remember my camera as I've spotted some lovely hints of spring I'd like to photograph.

xxx Vicki xxx

A fab night out with Morris :)

Good morning

How are we all? The sun is shining here and I am still buzzing from an amazing night out.

Last night was my first dance out with my Morris side and we'd been invited to dance whilst guests were arriving for a gig by a local group. I'd seen the gig mentioned ages ago and wanted to go but thought it was unlikely. Even when I first started dancing 3 weeks ago we'd not been asked along. I'd been told my first dance out wasn't till the end of April - however once the invite had been accepted it seemed that after 3 practises I was going to dance out in front of people! 

Lets just say I was jolly nervous yesterday but determined it would be ok.

Now whilst I can multi-task usually, one thing I've yet to master is to take pics of myself AND dance at the same time so all these pics were taken by my friend Viv and she's kindly said I can use them :)

As you can see - I managed to dance AND smile and I didn't go wrong. Was brilliant and I can't wait to do it again.

I loved the gig too - the band Bounty Hounds are really brilliant - they play the sort of music I love and even better its great for dancing too. Now bear in mind my last dancing experience - well this one was different. I danced loads and just had a great time. My knees are a tad achy this morning but the rest of me survived.

 Actually taken by me from my initial viewing spot between the stage and the bar!!

Right time to go off out into the sunshine.

Have a good day all - see you soon with a happy post - this week I've so many photos its been hard to find just 4 to share!!

xxx Vicki xxx