Rocking Your World Friday - 21st of 2019

Good Afternoon lovely people, it's time to find out what has rocked the last seven days in a positive way as it is time for my 

So first up the positive in that we adapted to the new vari-focals really quickly after picking them up and they both seem to have the centres right on the glasses and same for hubby too - so we are back to seeing and they are not scratched (I've always been meticulous with my glasses because of my poor eyesight, but my last set ended up with scratches, the likes of which I've never seen before it was mad).  So I'm very grateful for being able to see again. 

Saturday was a day of helping said 18 year old sorting some final items for his project, printing some of his work off and cutting it so he could stick it in, nothing major but as they say every little helps.  We had a grand day with a few old favourite films playing in the background, so it was a positive, albeit very very long. 

Sunday and said 18 year old was working, me and hubby decided to walk to the pub again via the muddy bridlepath.  You can imagine our surprise when we got there in hiking boots to find it mud free.  It's the driest we've ever seen! 

The views on the way up are lovely and the sun was shining in between the white clouds. 

I spotted this aquilegia on our walk, there were two very distinct different varieties in full bloom.  It always reminds me of when I was younger as it was a favourite of my Dads. 

There was a very happy herd of cows in the field on our way up, the farmer had obviously cut the grass the day before but he'd left a huge border all the way around that he hadn't cut, so they were all clinging to the sides of the field to get their fill, it made me smile! 

I also spotted this in the verge, I remember as a child enjoying picking them and counting the clock, or making wishes with it, these days I sigh a little as dandelions are so invasive and difficult to get rid of once they've got hold, I still think they are beautiful in this form though. 

We also passed the flowering hawthorn, this time a scent from my childhood, as the second home we lived in had a hawthorn hedge.

The rest of the week was a bit busy and blurry as usual, even more so at the moment as I'm multi-tasking.  Hubby did a volunteering day on Thursday they needed people to play passengers whilst emergency services practiced for a car/train collision, unfortunately he didn't mention the word 'practice' on our family group chat and a lot of my extended family weren't in the know.  My brother said "I thought he was a bit chipper, although it did make me wonder if it was a head injury" - I literally fell about laughing when I saw this.   This is the photo he took whilst on the train. 

And this is the one he took when he got off the train once he'd been 'rescued'!

He managed to send me this photo in the week, which made me smile

I had a fabulous catch up with an old school friend, we are currently plotting a get together/catch up in the near future, so that is something to look forward to.

I booked impromptu tickets for the theatre this weekend, so we've got that to look forward to.

Said 18 year old is away with his girlfriend and they've got there safe, so a win win on that front. 

So that my lovelies is my lot this week, I hope you've had a grand week, if you fancy joining in, pop a post together pop back and link up so we can come and visit. 

Rocking Your World Friday - 20th of 2019

Good morning tis Friday time for 

So first up is this little thing, I absolutely ignore this cactus for the majority of the year as I'm not great with house plant,  but it has provided this fabulous display which made me very happy 

And I don't know whether this is catching but the one next to it also seems to have some flower buds on it, so fingers and toes crossed I might get some more beautiful flowers. 

It was a funny old weekend last weekend, me and hubby find that we really do have to plan our weekends ahead, otherwise we end up frustrated and irritated in equal measure 

So Saturday night, despite the cloud cover, we decided to go for a walk to the pub, 

We meandered, up hill and down dale, the fields looked lush and the blue skies and sunshine were very very welcome. 

However, we were heading in this direction, which didn't seem quite so sunny

But we got to the pub without a drop of rain, hubby grabbed a pint and I had a hot chocolate, unfortunately he spilled some of his old peculier beer into my hot chocolate, so he headed back in for a replacement.  It was lovely to get some fresh air if I'm honest, after we'd had our drink we headed back, along the paths down the country lanes, the sun seemed to want to shine for us.

We wandered past the brook at the bottom, the wild garlic is still in full bloom

Back home we curled up on the sofa and watched a film which was lovely. 

Sunday soon arrived and we decided to make the most of our Chatsworth membership tickets for the international horse trials, as we had two 'free' adult tickets as part of our membership. 

We always go past my favourite view on our way there, I always feel like I'm on top of the world

The horse trials were fun, we aren't 'horsey' people per se, but it is always lovely to have a wander, see the riders and enjoy the stalls. 

The horse jumps are always decorated

It was another blue skies day 

Although we know it hadn't been on Friday or Saturday as this sign was testament to (as was the mud). 

I spotted this sculpture on our travels, which I loved 

and we always make our way down to the water jump 

We were only there a few hours, but we thoroughly enjoyed it.  

Back up on top of the hill, we could see the damage from moorland fires that have occurred recently.  

On my way home, I got a call from my cousin to say one of my aunties was very poorly in hospital.  It was a shock, as she has not been a well lady for years but you kind of think they will always recover.  Unfortunately the news was not good and on Tuesday I received the news that she'd passed away, I was, like the rest of the family absolutely devastated so it has been a hard week.  So why does it find itself on my grateful list you may ask, I'm grateful that despite her poor health that we were able to chat on posts and messenger on facebook from time to time.  I'm grateful for all the memories I have of her when she was in better health, I'm grateful for her fabulous sense of humour and I'm grateful that she played such an important role in my life.

So what else, hubby kept mentioning the Ceonathus near his workplace, I really couldn't believe the size of it when he sent the photo.  It's obviously several plants but doesn't it look stunning.  Hubby said it is always 'alive' with bees. 

Grateful that said 18 year old has got his head down and been getting on.  His final piece is due in on Thursday next week and he has had a stressful one this week.  But despite this he is cracking on, I love his work ethic.  

This is one of the trialled pieces, he wanted to put the like symbol and emojis on this, as he is doing about social media and the impact it is having. 

And finally this photo that made me smile this week, as part of his art work he is doing some spray can art, this photo was on his snapchat feed and just made me smile! 

And that my lovely people is my week, if you fancy joining in pop a post together and come back and link up so we can come and visit. 

Rocking Your World Friday - 19th of 2019

Afternoon lovely people, tis Friday and I'm once again late to the party that is 

So unlike last week I actually do have  a few photos to share this week with my post

So first up was smiling about the fact I left the remnants of my anniversary flowers for the next people in the cottage we'd stayed in as they were in full bloom.  I hope they managed to enjoy them for a few more days 

Last Friday night's tea was an eclectic delight of tapas type food, I envy my fellow Rockettes living in the land of tapas if I'm honest so when we have tea like this it's always fun, apologies for the blurriness of the photo but you get the drift! 

Saturday was a craft day with my fantastic Mum, as you can tell she was most happy 

We had a brilliant day, I had a naughty lunch of a cappuccino and a blueberry and lemon tart

And we made this industrial binder with Monika Maksym 

We managed to finish the wood store as I mentioned previously, here is a photo of the finished and well stocked wood store.  Lisca you mentioned green wood, we buy kiln dried wood for our wood burner because it always burns well and we don't have to wait to season etc.  So it is already ready to burn. 

I got some new flowers for home, I loved the colour combination, they made me very happy 

Monday we decided to head out for a few hours and this is the closest English Heritage venue to us, so despite having been umpteen times before we decided some fresh air and a walk would be brilliant. 

As you can see the bank holiday forecast was typical for the UK

However, it did brighten a little and we did get some lovely shots of the very beautiful garden

The spring bulbs with a riot of colour

And the sunken garden was stunning as always

Hubby enjoyed taking some photos on the main camera

The garden is really beautifully luscious and pretty at this time of year

The water feature in the sunken garden wasn't running

The rose arch looks fabulous and will look even better when its in full flower

I loved these two tone tulips

I loved how green this is! 

The tree ferns seems to be quite happy in their home

We grabbed a cheeky selfie

The laburnum arch isn't flowering yet

The formal gardens are stunning

Bluebells looked lovely

The church next to Brodsworth always looks pretty

Parts of the path, reminded me of scenes out of Harry Potter with the towering conifers either side of the path (thinking Goblet of Fire). 

Tuesday I took a day off (TOIL) and met up with my sister for a much needed catchup.  We had lunch, talked for several hours before enjoying Fika time (apparently she couldn't make her mind up when it came to cake choices, so she had carrot cake and I had key lime pie  and then split the gooey chocolate cake). 

Said 18 year old is now on the final hurdle when it comes to college and added to that holding a part time job with unsociable hours, he is literally burning the candle at both ends at the moment, so we need a bit of time turning to allow him to finish the project and hope and pray that his tutors stop saying they don't get it and start encouraging him as we've had tears this week! 

The boss brought her older dog in this week, we haven't seen him for ages, so it was lovely to come through the door and have him standing wagging his tail at everyone that came in.  However, he then spent most of the day curled up fast asleep.

I tried this drink this week, as a tee-totaller I often look out for something a bit different, it was OK but I think it would have benefited from alcohol, so maybe not a repeat (plus it wasn't cheap!). 

And back to this morning, because despite not working Fridays, I ended up working today as we had a business planning day.  It was fruitful though so I'm grateful to be working with a brilliant team! 

And that my lovely people is my list of happy gratefuls this week I hope you've had a fabulous week, if you fancy joining in pop a post together, pop back link up and we can come and visit.