Good morning lovely people, time to celebrate the positive moments and silver linings in our week as it is time for
First up a lovely celebratory meal out with my Mum last Friday
We went to a place we haven't visited before and had a fantastic night out, really lovely company and really lovely food!
I managed to get a shot of the two birthday people
And one of me and my little sis
And one of my niece and her boyfriend
Said 18 year old and his girlfriend were there but next to me so I didn't manage a photo of them, must try harder!
Saturday saw us venturing out to catch up with lil bro and co
I took two dreadful pictures, but still managed to document the catch up - sort of nearly almost
Sunday we had an invite to a family Christening, it was such a lovely celebration and I'm really glad I went as I managed to catch up with cousins my Aunty and Uncle
The service was lovely and the do afterwards was in a really beautiful venue.
Monday saw me catching up with an old work colleague it must be a year since we saw one another, but it is always good to have a catch up and a proper natter and put the world to rights.
Tuesday I went to town with Mum to have another proper catch up, we sat drinking coffee at a lovely Italian on the High Street, then had a wander before ending back at the same place for a bite to eat for lunch. It was really good to catch up.
As I've been off this week (and hubby hasn't) I've also managed to find some crafting time, which is always good for the soul, mind you I was mighty rusty to begin with, but soon got into my stride.
This one documents these two working together one holiday, it made me smile as I used to have my niece frequently when she was little, so it was lovely to hear them chatting at the table, both working in their own artistic endeavours!
I like the layout so much I used the same 'sketch' to create this one, documenting said 18 year old's post GCSE exam present from 2017 (yes I am that behind).
And then finally this one from our first art journal weekend at the local craft shop with Kate Crane, said 18 year old did insist on going off at a tangent, whenever Kate suggested we don't do something he had to experiment to find out why - I don't know who he takes after!
Then Wednesday night we got cheap as chip tickets for an ice hockey match, it was a grand night out but pretty poor score board at the end of the night. We enjoyed it nonetheless.
And that lovely people brings me to today, which is Thursday, I'm preparing my post in advance as I have a lot to sort tomorrow and didn't want it being its usual late self, it's amazing what you can get done when you have time for yourself!
I hope you've had a fabulous week and that you've managed to find the silver linings, if you fancy joining in pop a post together, pop back link up and we can come and visit!
Kate and Lisca I hope you've both had a beautiful and blessed week.
Good afternoon lovely people, tis Friday time to settle back and consider the silver lining and positive moments from the last seven days for it is time for
First up has to be time to craft last week, I managed a gelli plate session and my first ever pallet knife painting with acrylics whilst waiting in for a delivery. My sister said it was instantly recognisable as the statue at Tintagel which pleased me no end as I thought I'd be spending all my time explaining it.
I really enjoyed it, the base was a canvas board, I think a standard stretched canvas may prove more challenging and I'd like to work larger if I'm honest, but for my first attempt I was rather happy with the finished item.
Next up our weekend walks to be the pub are proving much fun it has to be said. With bright blue skies, we are heading out with hiking boots on and walking along the bridle path up by the fields, its a lovely walk and we achieve in excess of 10K steps when we do it.
Next up 6 Nations rugby, we have never been a big sports watching family but rugby is the exception and a national match is always a delight and it was an awesome match.
On Wednesday night when the boys were at their silversmithing class I arranged a meet up with my sister as we would both have been home alone watching TV, plus we had gifts to buy and birthday cards to resolve.
We met up, sorted gifts and presents before heading for a meal at Tapas Revolution, that neither of us had been to before. We ordered a shared meal for two and drinks, this is the homemade lemonade that I ordered which was lovely.
We sat and put the world to rights for a couple of hours before venturing back into the shopping centre. We were about to part company when I said we hadn't managed to get a decent photo of the trip, so we grabbed a chair and after several selfies taken by my sister had a selection to go at, but my favourite by a long shot was this one, the filter literally made me laugh out loud
I got home to find hubby had bought me flowers in preparation of Valentine's Day
Which looked even better in the daylight yesterday morning
As it was also hubby's birthday yesterday we went out for breakfast to the local garden centre
and then in the afternoon we went for our walk up to the pub again (well it was such a beautiful day)
We sat out in the empty beer garden, I was really thirsty so ordered pop as well
We walked back and had a few hours with said 18 year old before he headed off out with his girlfriend and we settled down to a Valentine's meal courtesy of Morrisons dine in for two type deal, it was a lovely evening.
I hope you've had a great week, if you fancy joining in pop a post together, pop back, link up and we can come and visit.
Good morning, good evening, good afternoon I hope I find you all well, tis Friday time for
So first up Friday flowers from last week, sometimes it is nice to treat ourselves and these were crying out to be taken home
Hubby was off on Friday and we were trying to sort things out regarding said 18 year old's new car which is proving incredibly problematic, so keep your fingers toes and everything else crossed that we manage to get things resolved very soon.
Next up we decided to head to York on Saturday as we'd seen an Ice Sculpture trail advertised on Facebook, happening throughout the city on Saturday. 50 ice sculptures to find whilst exploring this beautiful city. York is one of our favourite places and has a great park and ride system, so we headed out early and we were soon in the city exploring
We were dropped off quite close to Clifford's tower and found this sculpture (and a map of the trail) quite quickly
This was the second
Then into the square near the Jorvik centre we found three, the dragon hatchling
This monster
And this gorgeous bottle with a frozen bouquet inside.
I think the people in the coffee shop probably found everyone taking photos of this sculpture a little intimidating.
Then we went in search of the Cheshire cat, and found this, which is rather fortuitous as said 18 year old's brief at the moment is about specific space and he'd been talking about shipping containers, the place is called Spark and is made up of two storeys of shipping containers housing everything from a hair salon to a cocktail bar complete with swing seats.
Obviously, we found the Cheshire cat,
soon we were on our way again
Eventually finding the Sorting Hat at the end of the Shambles
which now houses not one, not two but three 'magical' shops, I loved the park your broom sign.
Onwards we found the Niffler from the Magical Beasts films
And then a piece they were still working on
There were a few that you could put your face into, but it was far too cold and there were far too many people for that nonsense if I'm honest.
The queue outside Betty's tea shop was something else but I also loved the teapot sculpture.
First buses had had one done too
This is Squirt, he was by far my favourite on the day
The Minster was stunning as always
There were a couple of interactive ones with chocolate buried inside and tools to chisel them out, we didn't partake but there were plenty of adults and children alike that loved it!
Overall an absolutely sensational day, resulting in not one but two separate poems, I'll include them at the end for anyone that wants a read.
I've managed some more layouts (determined to make a dent on the photo pile)
Even though some are really old, I've enjoyed doing them.
This one from Chatsworth country fayre two year's ago
Some Christmas ones (2017 again)
I had a stunning sky when I arrived at work the other morning
I've had a mighty busy week again at work, but that's nothing new. I've tried to clock the positive moments and the gratefuls as I go. Said 18 year old has been brilliant recently, helping make tea, emptying dishwasher, basic things but without been asked or prompted which is lovely.
Last night (Wednesday as I'm preparing this in advance), hubby and said 18 year old were out and I had a leisurely evening of a lavender bath, scrapbooking, journal writing and book reading. Overall it was a lovely evening.
I've also downloaded an app recently called Action for Happiness, they give you daily prompts, but also gave a February calendar to try and apply, I think its fabulous and have been trying to do something in line with the prompt each day.
The Ice Trail Poem
Ice
Trail
A
new February page has just arrived
Warm
coats, sturdy boots and a beautiful city
Our
bendy carriage was busy and uneventful
The
starting point close to the river
Fifty
sculptures the challenge
Along
streets and paths
Passing
history on our walk
The
Minster, the Shambles, a Roman column
The
icy paths mean the wall is shut
So,
we meander our way around this beautiful city
A
dragon sculpture the first to be ticked off
Around
the corner a huddle of people mark the second
A
bouquet encased in ice within the tiny square
A
monster and dragon hatchling
Near
the queues outside the Jorvik centre
Hubby
wanders in search of a pen
Out
of our way, the Cheshire Cat was worth the effort
Eclectic
eateries, bars and shops make up 'Spark'
Stacked
shipping containers, an architect’s dream
Scaffold
staircase and planks provide a bird’s eye view