Photo Scavenger Hunt - April 2013

Good morning

Hurrah - am handing my homework in on time this month!!

 Six - cannons on the clifftop at Southwold

 Big - the size of big sons converse now compared to those he wore as a baby.

 City - the hedge in the back garden - like a city of wildlife - so many birds nesting in there now along with other wildlife at the bottom - awaiting the first sighting of a grass snake this year.

 Collection - my printers tray holds a collection of little things.

 Curl - my friends sons hair - just wonderful.

 Dinner - a family favourite - chicken pasties, roast potatoes and veggies smothered in gravy.

 Nightlight - my bunny light on my bedside table.

 Pink - something flowering in the garden - no idea what it is though!!

 Plastic - my Fisher Price school house - a birthday pressie when I was 6 and something I loved so much I've never been able to part with it.

 Sport - just part of the household collection of badminton racquet's - there's another pair somewhere - probably hiding in the boys rooms!

 Takeoff - a Ladybird book of aircraft.

Texture - the wood on the summerhouse.

As ever linking up with Greenthumb's blog.

Off to check out the list for May!

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

16 of 52 weeks of happy

Good morning

Hurrah the sun is shining again - a good start to the week.

The sun mostly shone this weekend too - it was especially important for yesterday. Another Sunday afternoon dance out with the Morris side in a pub! The pub had a Celebration of all thing English - silly sports and Morris Dancing featured heavily. Most of this weeks happy pictures come from there - one taken by me and the others borrowed from a friend behind the camera;

1- A relay race with a difference - Pass the Pint - our heat Girls v Boys from our dance side - of course us girls won! Sadly we were pipped to the post in the final by the pub team.

2 - Space Hopper Jousting - lances tipped with custard so strikes could be seen. Here's our Squire and his wife (my friend) in the final - it was so fun to watch and Mrs beat Mr :)

3 - A bit of dancing - such fun and for once perhaps due to the cider I wasn't nervous - here's hoping this continues for a weekend away dancing this coming weekend!

4 - The freedom of no socks always makes me happy - there was a bit of a blip but I happily sock less again today.

Right plans for today - boring housework, a cycle into town, more crochet and trying to get the rest of the Scavenger Hunt photos taken!

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

A Ta-dah for Friday!

Good afternoon

I promised yesterday that I would show you my latest make once it had been handed over - well here it is. A blanket for a sister for her 40th birthday yesterday. I'd met her in the morning and handed over what she though were her pressies! I then spent a couple of hours yesterday afternoon frantically finishing her main pressie - a blanket. I started in plenty of time in the autumn but what with 'other' stuff it was debatable whether it would get finished on time - however there's nothing like a last minute panic to spur you on!!

The edges do lay flat when persuaded!!

My sister loved it :) However I've started something - the next sister hits 40 in 18 months time and apparently she needs one too! AND the other 3 will want them when it eventually gets to be their turn!!

This morning there was some good news - a mortgage has been sorted for the new house and I've been paid for lots of shop shifts. Therefore it meant only one thing - time to think about my next project - a blanket for my superking sized bed! I stood in the shop for ages trying to find a colour combination I liked - I knew I wanted just 3 colours this time and the plan is for a giant granny square in wide 4 or 5 round stripes.

The yarn I choose comes in huge 400g balls and its an aran with 20% wool so should be lovely and snuggly when its eventually finished. I knew straight away that the green had to be part of the colour palette and once I'd settled on the pink it was just a matter of the 3rd colour - thank goodness for lovely customers in the shop and my friend too - we settled on a tweedy petrol blue. Can't wait to see how this all looks once I get started. In fact I might just do that now!

Have a good weekend all - I'm off out on Sunday - lunch with friends and then dancing at a pub :) The boys are off to spend time with P and eat him out of house and home for a change!!

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Springing to life :)

Good afternoon

Oh yes day 5 of spring here in Suffolk - no socks, washing drying on the line, windows open and sunlight streaming through the windows - blissful. Am ignoring the fact that tomorrow might be different instead I am enjoying now.

First thing this morning the garden was damp from overnight rain but I could see more signs of spring so went for a wander;

Oh yes no socks - just wonderful another few degrees warmer and I might have hunted down my sandals. Least I've been able to wear some long forgotten favourite skirts this week.

 Ladybirds are coming out of hibernation - I keep finding them on the washing when I bring it indoors - they always get put back outside, usually on one of the huge hebes in the front garden.

 Our cherry tree is always late to blossom - today the buds look so close to bursting - I am sure it won't be long :)

 The pear tree is slightly ahead - I noticed the first blossom flowers this morning.

Remember those colourful threads in a few posts ago? Well that project has now been finished - its needed for tonight and I finally finished just an hour ago! Once its been handed over I can show you it in its colourful gorgeousness - IG friends will already have had a sneak preview!!

Now you know I like to swim against the tide - well when it was cooler the other week we were having salad for dinner - tonight its warm so we're having a homemade curry - oh the smell - just wonderful!!

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Its that time again!

Good evening

Well actually its tomorrow but heyho for once I'm early!! Yep tomorrow is St George's Day here in England - he's our patron saint but sadly unlike our Welsh, Scottish and Irish cousins we don't seem to celebrate him as much as they do their saints. Perhaps its because things have got muddled and celebrating St George's Day is muddled with the less savoury characters who have adopted the flag for their own means?

Anyhow - the little town next to us celebrated yesterday - they played a parade and invited the band along. As it was sunny and the service outdoors, I went along to support little son.

 Waiting to march - oops we forgot to book a haircut so he wasn't looking his smartest - never mind!

 The band with St George behind them - also hidden there was the 'dragon'. During the service we were treated to a rather weird version of the story, over acted (badly) by members of the church. Entertainment was short on the ground until a heckler joined in - a cross between Monty Python and Punch & Judy was their style and to be honest the heckling improved things rather a lot!!

When he started marching several years ago, Little Son was somewhat smaller than his counterpart - this photo doesn't show it well but he now towers above him!!

It felt strange not having a Morris dance out this weekend - the weather was perfect for it. Never mind I thought we'd have a drink with the band after the engagement was over - it didn't happen, it seems Saxmundham doesn't have any proper pubs anymore - despite a growing population they all seem to have closed :(

Good news - there's a dance out for me next Sunday - in a pub. So expect more pictures of dancers and pints :)

See you soon

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

A bit of a tangle

Good morning

You might have noticed or maybe not but this little blog disappeared for a few days. I nearly pulled it completely but opted instead for a few days of it offline while I thought about things.

Sadly in this world there are people who are not nice - they take great pleasure in others sadness and like to take things and twist things to make things even more unpleasant. Well it seems some of these people have infected my life and have tried hard to make things trickier for the boys & I when things are pretty tricky sometimes any way.

However I am a stubborn little person and someone trying to make things hard for my boys means I won't roll over and die instead I'll come back fighting. I like blogging, I've been doing it for many years now and 99.9% of the time the people are lovely and friendly and I don't want to give up something I like for a tiny little minority.

So I am back and blogging - if you don't like what you read or you feel that because of the changes in my life this year I shouldn't be happy and having fun please feel free to 'whatever'.

I will be back soon with a proper post and some more happy pictures too. I might even by able to show you where all that tangle of ends come from - am really hoping I get that finished very soon.

 

x x x Vicki x x x

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

13 of 52 weeks of happy

Good afternoon

Like I said in my last post - this week has had plenty of happy moments - two of the bests one deserved their own posts - the arrival of my newest nephew and my dancing debut. However there have been other moments too and here they are;

1 - A new frock - bought with birthday vouchers from Joules. It was love at first sight and even better I've been shrinking this year and its a size smaller too - 2 happy moments in 1!

2 - Mini daffs finally flowering - these poor things have spent lots of time under snowy blankets and it was lovely to see them finally flower on a sunny day.

3 - Another bonus of the sunny and windy weather - washing drying outside - it means my kitchen looks less like a laundry.

4 - Trying on all my Morris gear together for the first time (10 minutes before we were due to leave on Sat!!) - a skirt made by me (with help from a lovely friend), a 50's net underskirt which I adore, a tailcoat on a long-term loan from a sister and a brilliant lacy mask - oh and of course new boots and a stick!

See you soon - a happy moment due anytime now - a cuppa and catch up with my oldest friend :)

xxx Vicki xxx

 

PS - Oh yes I will be dancing at Folk East this summer - can't wait :)

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

A rather special new man :)

Good evening

Just a quick post. Thanks for the lovely comments / emails regarding my little hospital visit - I've been ok this week - very careful with what I eat & drink and so far no pain. Plus its been a tad less stressful this week too - plans slowly coming together.

Whilst I was in one part of the hospital last weekend, my baby sister was in another giving birth!!

Today I got to meet my new nephew for the first time and it was love at first sight;

 New baby F is so cute - I could have just smuggled him home ;) Rather lovely now - I've two nieces and two nephews.

Now my boys can't really remember when the others were born but they've been rather excited about this new arrival. Big Son was lucky that he got a cuddle today and the look on his face was priceless (just wish I'd managed to get a photo).

Can't believe that once Big Son was that size - he's a giant now well over 6 foot tall and built like a gangly giraffe!

Have a good weekend all - the sun is supposed to shine and I am off on my first Morris dance-out tomorrow night!! One dance gets me free entry to an excellent gig that I was itching to go too - just hoping I can remember all the steps and I don't hit anything I shouldn't with my stick!!

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Photo Scavenger Hunt 2013 - March

Good afternoon

I know two posts in one day! Well to be honest I am too tired to even think about what I should be doing (hoovering) so instead I've opted for a cuppa and computer session! Hoovering can wait till tomorrow.

Here are my efforts for the Photo Scavenger Hunt for March - bear in mind non-UK visitors - the weather has been utter pants here and the light dismal. Not as many outside shots as I'd like.

 Bridge - taken from inside our town museum on a very snowy day - the foot bridge which links the park to some nearby houses.

 Three - easy one - me & my boys.

 Dessert - pudding at a birthday meal at the beginning of the month.

 Bubbles - snapped from the TV at the end of Sunday's Boat Race - this year it was the dark blues of Oxford who were victorious.

 Empty - a rare sight - the dirty laundry bin completely empty!! Doesn't happen often!

 Gate - at the side of my house.

 Eggs - decorating the top of my birthday cake.

 Toys - the pre-move sort out continues - these wooden vehicles belonged to the boys when they were much smaller.

 Shoes - well boots actually - my new ones for Morris Dancing in - they get their debut dance out this coming weekend!!

 Person in uniform - Little Son at the first brass engagement of the year.

 Water - coming from a running tap - something we all take for granted in the developed world.

Green - the grass when it began to reappear from under its snowy blanket. Its recovered nicely and now is awaiting its first cut of the season!

Quite glad to finally hand these in! The new list for April is;

Pink 

6

Your town/city

Sport

Night light

Collection

Big

Dinner

Texture

Curl

Take off

Plastic

Linking as ever to Greenthumb's blog.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

 

12 of 52 weeks of happy

Good morning

Well its been another week where I think that perhaps my life is being used as a test place for a dodgy soap opera script - there have been lows and a few highs too.

There are a couple of highs that are actually wonderful but I can't share them with you all properly yet - one will have to wait a few more months until its signed and sealed and the other a few days until I've had my first cuddle! All I can say is I am an Auntie again and I've seen a photo and he's gorgeous :)

The weekend started well - the weather had perked up and we'd spent time as a family looking at new homes for the boys and I. OMG have some people never watched a How to sell your home programme on tv! Utterly shocking that they think they'd ever sell their house when it was filthy, smelly and just disgusting. I can see beyond a general layer of grott but I can also spot easily a house which needs totally gutting as the fixtures are all broken/beyond repair and needs more TLC than I can ever hope to manage! Luckily one house appears to tick all the boxes so lots of finger crossing will be happening for a while.

Saturday I went out with Dawn to Woodbridge - a mix of shopping and browsing in the town and at the Vintage Market. We had our lunch in the churchyard initially in a sunbeam but just as we'd finished it started snowing again!

Sunday - here's the happy moments I managed to capture;

Me & my boys all scrubbed up and off to my parents for lunch.

Lindt bunnies wondering how long they had to live - not long!!

Sunday evening I'd settled down to watch The Village on tv. My tummy was aching and it seemed my gallbladder was grumbling - not sure why as I'd been careful with what I'd eaten.

I went to bed armed with painkillers and a wheat bag. However by 11.30 I was in total agony and on the phone to NHS direct :( By 12.30 I was in A&E waiting to be seen having got hold of P and him coming over to do a mercy dash the 25 miles to hospital.

He left me at about 3am once it was decided I was going to be admitted and came back to my house so he could speak to the boys in the morning (big son knew I'd gone as he'd been awake when I was calling for help).

To cut a long story short - I spent 18 hours in hospital - 12 of them Nil by mouth and with much prodding, pricking, poking, drugging and general uncomfort. In the end I was finally allowed home at 7pm last night.

I slept like a log last night - managing nearly 10 hours sleep in 2 long bursts - morphine hangovers are wonderful!!

Anyhow - that's the low in my sometimes happy week. I will try harder this week to capture moments with my camera. I must also finish the Photo Scavenger Hunt - just 2 more to do - I know what I am taking its just doing it. I also hope to be able to have my first cuddle with an extremely happy moment.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx