I stuck to zero alcohol beer last night so no hangover, though I do have a rather achy hip from last nights dancing. It sounds like you had a lovely time @piglet. We turned last night not sure if anyone we'd knew would be there to find three friends already there and then someone turned up who is new to my husband's Quaker meeting and joined our table. It made for a fun sociable evening.
I've just hung the washing out. One app says it will rain, one says it won't. Hopefully if it does rain it'll be after we're back from our respective churches so we can dash out to take it in. I need to come home from Mass via the supermarket as I've promised to make mushroom orzotto for tea and we don't have any mushrooms.
Ooh - that sounds lovely (assuming you acquire some mushrooms).
Tired but otherwise unharmed this morning, and I got lots of nice comments about my rendition of Genesis chapter one!
A restorative BACON ROLL has been had for brunch, and laundry and snoozage will ensue forthwith.
Happy French Mothers' Day. I had my breakfast made for me this morning, and was presented with a card and a little dish for putting things in that Captain Pyjamas made at school. Husband en rouge had helped him to buy some nice tea as well. At church they had a bag of small gifts the kids could choose for their Mum, and he picked a little bracelet.
The weather has finally cooled down, so this afternoon I shall continue with some sewing. Pulled pork for lunch.
It sounds like a very nice French Mother's Day @la vie en rouge . Did you get a nice dinner as well?
We went to an Open Garden's event in minster town to the north of here this afternoon. The most interesting thing was the stroll between the different gardens as the gardens themselves weren't as amazing as the one we went to last weekend.
The orzotto went down well. We were watching Masterchef last week and Anna Hough said that lovage went well with mushrooms. We have lovage in our herb bed so I thought I'd give it a try. It works really well, but I guess it depends on whether you like lovage or not, which we do.
Last night’s concert went very well and meant a late bedtime but I was awake far too early this morning.
Church was duly attended at 11am, though I almost wished I hadn’t, then a friend and I went out for lunch. Good food, reasonably priced and excellent customer service especially from the owner. No wonder the place is fully booked.
We spent our time making plans for next weekend away- a fairly sudden decision on my part to go away and then to invite her. I realised I have no commitments for four consecutive days, so couldn’t waste the opportunity, and also I felt the need to undertake a longer drive than any I have done for about a year, and it will be nice to have company for it. The journey will take about 2 and a bit hours, but my usual distances are no more than 45 minutes. I’m building in some stops at places of interest en route as my back will not let me drive for too long without a break.
That sounds really nice @puzzler, I like spontaneous decisions like that.
My lovely neighbour S is making me a Regency frock for an Eve of Waterloo ball in a couple of weeks. I thought when I got the pattern it would be very straightforward, it isn't. Her husband came round with a toile(sp?) of the top to check it fitted this evening. I think it will look good in the end, but I feel slightly guilty about giving her so much work.
While I was writing this, I looked out and saw my neighbour opposite pruning her grapevine so popped over the road to say hello. I saw her briefly at Mass this morning, but haven't had a chat for a while. Her grapevine grows through her front wall and later in the year people stop to try out the grapes as they pass.
I really love living here.
It's the time of year when I wake at 5am, so I made a reluctant start to the day by hanging out a line of tea towels I had put in the machine before I went to bed, watered Mr RoS's recently planted chard, french beans, and butternut squash and then my tomato plants.
The planned service for this morning was postponed as our pastor's mother died on Friday, just a few weeks before her 102nd birthday, so our usual stand-in speaker took the pulpit and preached a quickly prepared sermon.
Mr RoS & I have been married for 53 years today, which was listed in the notices. Not sure he'd known before he heard his name mentioned.
After the service we took ourselves off to the garden centre to buy two more tomato plants and a pack of lettuce seedlings as we seemed to have some spaces to fill in the garden.
Surprisingly it was not very busy so, with no queue in the restaurant, we decided to have lunch there - then home, where we each had a long nap.
We had a very lovely afternoon out yesterday at an open gardens event in Another Pretty Nearby Village: Pimms, Cake, and some beautiful gardens which gave me lots of ideas about what I could do in my own. Over the weekend we also acquired a new (to us) TV unit for our lounge which Mr Nen has assembled and which looks very good.
All this excitement - plus a reasonable amount of wine with our meal because Sunday Evening And No Work Tomorrow - meant that I was tired yesterday evening and the kitchen needed Much Sorting and Clearing this morning. I've also done some Baking and been on a Zoom call .
I'm glad someone else enjoys going to visit gardens in the Open gardens scheme @Nenya. We nicked someone's idea from a garden we visited last year for growing runner beans this season.
I managed to get to my Pilates class for the first time in over a month this morning. Our instructor did a bit of a different routine, and I really enjoyed it. The walk to and from the class was nice as my husband came with me to go and use the gym so it didn't feel as long as usual as we were chatting. We both went prepared to be rained on, but so far we've had very little precipitation.
I may or may not have an on-line book group this evening. One member's internet is playing up and another is stuck in A&E with a relative.
You've made me search for our Open Gardens - on 14th and 21st of this month. I enjoy them very much although Mr W hasn’t made it in the past due to rampant hay fever.
Here in the Wilds of Wiltshire we have some steady and most welcome rain. I keep looking out of the window and telling it to "Keep going, keep going."
After a very productive morning it's been a funny sort of afternoon as I was expecting someone to drop by for a cup of tea and they didn't; no reason given. Can't get hold of them. So it's been a bit of hanging round slightly aimlessly wondering what's going on.
This evening I need to read a couple of chapters of a book the local house group are reading; we're going to the meeting tomorrow, only the second since we've been here for a number of double-booked-type reasons.
Usual Monday morning of emails and admin, though most of my students have now finished their modules. This afternoon I marked some sample exam essays ready for a meeting later in the week (we all mark the same sample and compare scores so we can standardise our marking).
I also had a talk with a colleague about OU/BBC productions in death and dying, and was reminded of an amazing series on AIDS using first person stories https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0018t19/aids-the-unheard-tapes-series-1-1-ignorance I worked in HIV in the mid-90s and found it an emotional watch. I’m going to watch it again now.
Mr Heavenly has clients visiting so he is out for the evening. I am having spicy green chicken in a creamy spinach sauce, followed by a strawberry and rhubarb smoothie.
A day minding our youngest grandson, who slept a fair bit and was happy when he was awake (except when he was being changed). Not nice outside so no Pimms, almost Hot Toddy weather.
Congratulations from me as well @Roseofsharon . Just to make you feel old, you've been married over a month longer than I've been alive 😁
It was grey all day here, but the rain didn't show up till early evening as we drove back from the Parental Knotweeds abode. We'd dropped over when I finished work to deliver a spare pot of clotted cream left from preparing a cricket tea yesterday, and spent some time chatting. Now hoping it keeps raining for a while!
Congratulations @Roseofsharon for yesterday.
A disappointing amount of rain so far and also the disappointing no-show of something that EVRI claim is out for delivery today. To be fair I wasn't expecting it this soon, but I hope it turns up by Wednesday as its a frock to wear for an event that evening.
Congratulations to the Roses of Sharon from up here too!
There was intermittent rain here, mostly seemingly falling while I was out in it.
Moderately busy for a Monday, not helped by my printer deciding it didn't like the paper we use for printing deeds, and manifesting its dislike by peppering them with ink "shadows" on the reverse sides.
It's never done that in the three years I've been using it, and a colleague thinks it's because they've sent us "remanufactured"* cartridges. Complaints have been lodged with the supplier.
“Remanufactured” is basically a used cartridge, cleaned, reconditioned and refilled. They are a bit cheaper and have the advantage of using the original manufacturer’s cartridges, instead of an aftermarket one.
Congratulations from me as well @Roseofsharon . Just to make you feel old, you've been married over a month longer than I've been alive 😁
In my teens & twenties I was always the youngest in any group I mixed with. Nowadays I find that I am usually the oldest (not counting our Pastor's mother), so I'm already feeling old - but the congratulations are very welcome CK, and thanks go to others for theirs.
More work in the garden done today. Mr RoS mowed the front and back 'lawns' of their NoMowMay growth, and I planted the last of the veg & herb plants I had bought on our last two outings. Both of us anticipating the rain that is supposed to fall tonight.
No sign of it yet, 'though
Yesterday at the garden centre I bought a new dress and also a trellis for a clematis, which I am hoping my son will deal with today, if it is not raining when he gets here later. The trellis, not the dress.
I also took the car to be washed and was about to buy petrol at an exorbitant price when I remembered I needed to collect something from my daughter. En route I passed another petrol station which was a whole 5p cheaper! Glad I waited- but why such a discrepancy?
After all that activity I achieved less for the rest of the day which was spent planning for my weekend away. I like to know what I’m doing when, and my research showed me useful information eg one place we wanted to visit on our last day won’t be open that day, and on Sunday will be packed out for a special event, so that is now earmarked for our outward journey. My friend isn’t a great planner, preferring to go with the flow, but she appreciates my efforts.
Tidying, sorting finances and filing needed today.
Yesterday at the garden centre I bought a new dress ...
As one does! (To be more serious, our garden centre - Blue Diamond - sells a lot of clothes, many of them its own brand).
We have a couple of these “Garden Centres”. They have a modicum mof horticultural stuff, plus non-horticultural goods but we are sure their cafe and food department make most of the money: they should, with their prices.
Fortunately, we have some independent cafes that deserve our trade to keep them in business.
Our local garden centre is an independent one that started as a nursery but has sections of gifts, pet products and tropical fish, alongside the huge selection of plants. They have recently updated the cafe so it no longer looks like a canteen and they’ve done a great job of it; the food was really good on our last outing. They also do charitable work, such as providing land and funding to build a cancer support centre in their grounds.
A slow day here, with just checking on emails and student progress. I’m hoping the drizzle will stop soon so I can go for a walk.
We once visited one of those sorts of garden centres, only to find, that though we could buy scented candles and cake, they didn't have any garden forks which is what we wanted. The one we go to now is at the back of a farm shop. The two businesses complement each other really well and we can usually get what we want in the garden centre and pick up some veg or a tea towel as well.
Very sensible to plan ahead @puzzler. We went to Saltaire last year only to find it is closed on a Monday which was annoying.
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I've just hung the washing out. One app says it will rain, one says it won't. Hopefully if it does rain it'll be after we're back from our respective churches so we can dash out to take it in. I need to come home from Mass via the supermarket as I've promised to make mushroom orzotto for tea and we don't have any mushrooms.
Tired but otherwise unharmed this morning, and I got lots of nice comments about my rendition of Genesis chapter one!
A restorative BACON ROLL has been had for brunch, and laundry and snoozage will ensue forthwith.
The weather has finally cooled down, so this afternoon I shall continue with some sewing. Pulled pork for lunch.
In between snoozage, I have accomplished Wash Ing, Iron Ing, Putt Ing Away, and even a spot of Mend Ing. How domesticated is that?
Supper will be fishcakes which I'll have with rocket leaves and a few tomatoes because (a) use-by date; and (b) absence of other veggies.
I think I'll have to take the Trusty Trolley to work tomorrow and have a forage round Tessie's at lunchtime.
We went to an Open Garden's event in minster town to the north of here this afternoon. The most interesting thing was the stroll between the different gardens as the gardens themselves weren't as amazing as the one we went to last weekend.
The orzotto went down well. We were watching Masterchef last week and Anna Hough said that lovage went well with mushrooms. We have lovage in our herb bed so I thought I'd give it a try. It works really well, but I guess it depends on whether you like lovage or not, which we do.
This is considered a very long drive by most Brits.
Indeed - I doubt if I could manage to cope with 55 miles, let alone ten times that!
Church was duly attended at 11am, though I almost wished I hadn’t, then a friend and I went out for lunch. Good food, reasonably priced and excellent customer service especially from the owner. No wonder the place is fully booked.
We spent our time making plans for next weekend away- a fairly sudden decision on my part to go away and then to invite her. I realised I have no commitments for four consecutive days, so couldn’t waste the opportunity, and also I felt the need to undertake a longer drive than any I have done for about a year, and it will be nice to have company for it. The journey will take about 2 and a bit hours, but my usual distances are no more than 45 minutes. I’m building in some stops at places of interest en route as my back will not let me drive for too long without a break.
My lovely neighbour S is making me a Regency frock for an Eve of Waterloo ball in a couple of weeks. I thought when I got the pattern it would be very straightforward, it isn't. Her husband came round with a toile(sp?) of the top to check it fitted this evening. I think it will look good in the end, but I feel slightly guilty about giving her so much work.
While I was writing this, I looked out and saw my neighbour opposite pruning her grapevine so popped over the road to say hello. I saw her briefly at Mass this morning, but haven't had a chat for a while. Her grapevine grows through her front wall and later in the year people stop to try out the grapes as they pass.
I really love living here.
The planned service for this morning was postponed as our pastor's mother died on Friday, just a few weeks before her 102nd birthday, so our usual stand-in speaker took the pulpit and preached a quickly prepared sermon.
Mr RoS & I have been married for 53 years today, which was listed in the notices. Not sure he'd known before he heard his name mentioned.
After the service we took ourselves off to the garden centre to buy two more tomato plants and a pack of lettuce seedlings as we seemed to have some spaces to fill in the garden.
Surprisingly it was not very busy so, with no queue in the restaurant, we decided to have lunch there - then home, where we each had a long nap.
Tomatoes & lettuces have been planted.
We had a very lovely afternoon out yesterday at an open gardens event in Another Pretty Nearby Village: Pimms, Cake, and some beautiful gardens which gave me lots of ideas about what I could do in my own. Over the weekend we also acquired a new (to us) TV unit for our lounge which Mr Nen has assembled and which looks very good.
All this excitement - plus a reasonable amount of wine with our meal because Sunday Evening And No Work Tomorrow - meant that I was tired yesterday evening and the kitchen needed Much Sorting and Clearing this morning. I've also done some Baking and been on a Zoom call
Much cooler here today, which is lovely.
I managed to get to my Pilates class for the first time in over a month this morning. Our instructor did a bit of a different routine, and I really enjoyed it. The walk to and from the class was nice as my husband came with me to go and use the gym so it didn't feel as long as usual as we were chatting. We both went prepared to be rained on, but so far we've had very little precipitation.
I may or may not have an on-line book group this evening. One member's internet is playing up and another is stuck in A&E with a relative.
After a very productive morning it's been a funny sort of afternoon as I was expecting someone to drop by for a cup of tea and they didn't; no reason given. Can't get hold of them. So it's been a bit of hanging round slightly aimlessly wondering what's going on.
This evening I need to read a couple of chapters of a book the local house group are reading; we're going to the meeting tomorrow, only the second since we've been here for a number of double-booked-type reasons.
Easy pasta for tea.
Usual Monday morning of emails and admin, though most of my students have now finished their modules. This afternoon I marked some sample exam essays ready for a meeting later in the week (we all mark the same sample and compare scores so we can standardise our marking).
I also had a talk with a colleague about OU/BBC productions in death and dying, and was reminded of an amazing series on AIDS using first person stories https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0018t19/aids-the-unheard-tapes-series-1-1-ignorance I worked in HIV in the mid-90s and found it an emotional watch. I’m going to watch it again now.
Mr Heavenly has clients visiting so he is out for the evening. I am having spicy green chicken in a creamy spinach sauce, followed by a strawberry and rhubarb smoothie.
The rain has just started here, very welcome on my newly planted flowers.
Still on a high as the Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir conducted by our local choir leader Lizzie only went and won Britain’s Got Talent!
It was grey all day here, but the rain didn't show up till early evening as we drove back from the Parental Knotweeds abode. We'd dropped over when I finished work to deliver a spare pot of clotted cream left from preparing a cricket tea yesterday, and spent some time chatting. Now hoping it keeps raining for a while!
A disappointing amount of rain so far and also the disappointing no-show of something that EVRI claim is out for delivery today. To be fair I wasn't expecting it this soon, but I hope it turns up by Wednesday as its a frock to wear for an event that evening.
There was intermittent rain here, mostly seemingly falling while I was out in it.
Moderately busy for a Monday, not helped by my printer deciding it didn't like the paper we use for printing deeds, and manifesting its dislike by peppering them with ink "shadows" on the reverse sides.
It's never done that in the three years I've been using it, and a colleague thinks it's because they've sent us "remanufactured"* cartridges. Complaints have been lodged with the supplier.
* no - I don't know what it means either. 🤔
Risi e bisi for supper.
More work in the garden done today. Mr RoS mowed the front and back 'lawns' of their NoMowMay growth, and I planted the last of the veg & herb plants I had bought on our last two outings. Both of us anticipating the rain that is supposed to fall tonight.
No sign of it yet, 'though
I also took the car to be washed and was about to buy petrol at an exorbitant price when I remembered I needed to collect something from my daughter. En route I passed another petrol station which was a whole 5p cheaper! Glad I waited- but why such a discrepancy?
After all that activity I achieved less for the rest of the day which was spent planning for my weekend away. I like to know what I’m doing when, and my research showed me useful information eg one place we wanted to visit on our last day won’t be open that day, and on Sunday will be packed out for a special event, so that is now earmarked for our outward journey. My friend isn’t a great planner, preferring to go with the flow, but she appreciates my efforts.
Tidying, sorting finances and filing needed today.
As one does! (To be more serious, our garden centre - Blue Diamond - sells a lot of clothes, many of them its own brand).
We have a couple of these “Garden Centres”. They have a modicum mof horticultural stuff, plus non-horticultural goods but we are sure their cafe and food department make most of the money: they should, with their prices.
Fortunately, we have some independent cafes that deserve our trade to keep them in business.
A slow day here, with just checking on emails and student progress. I’m hoping the drizzle will stop soon so I can go for a walk.
Very sensible to plan ahead @puzzler. We went to Saltaire last year only to find it is closed on a Monday which was annoying.