ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 4TH OF 2023

Good morning lovely people tis Friday time for

Well last Friday I was a the dentist first thing, a strange thing to sound grateful for, but before Christmas I realised that I'd either broken a tooth or lost a filling, so I was grateful that I'd not suffered with tooth ache and that the dentist was able to resolve it for me quickly, new filling (it was element of lost filling and broken tooth) and hopefully now good as new. 

We then headed to Ikea to have a lovely catch up with my sister and my Mum and we managed to buy a few things whilst we were there as well as putting the world to rights over a cuppa. 

Saturday after doing more deep cleaning on the TV room (the bookcases were very untidy so we had a proper sort), we set off to Wentworth Woodhouse in the afternoon, we paid to wander around the gardens, it was very cold but it was nice to blow the cobwebs off, the sun was shining and the sky was blue so definitely a win win.  

We could see that the pond below as frozen

and the beehives were quiet

first signs of spring in the form of snowdrops, this was the most developed clump whereas the remainder were still springing up and very green still

we took a selfie in front of the house, the garden was almost empty

we enjoyed a cream tea in the cafe after our walk and then headed home to the woodburning stove, book reading and a little crafting.  I finally completed my Christmas journal, normal I keep the special Christmas cards that I receive with messages but to be honest it just wasn't practical as the book was burst open, so I took photos of the messages, printed and incorporated those which seemed to work. 

Sunday saw us head off to Yorkshire Sculpture Park, we enjoyed a sausage sandwich and a cuppa before heading out on our walk 

We saw some great sculptures

took a selfie

found that the lake was frozen

it was definitely wintry looking and despite the clouds remained dry

I loved the colours of the sky and landscape on this one. 

They have an exhibition on a stairwell of an Irish artist, I loved the atmospheric way he'd captured rain

We then headed home to the woodburner and book reading again. 

We've enjoyed putting the slow cooker through its paces recently since we got the recipe book, 'Bored of Lunch' so tea on both Saturday and Sunday was stew and mighty fine it was too. 

Monday arrived and I worked from home getting through some online training I needed to do. 

The rest of the week has been busy (as always) and I find myself at Friday again. 

I hope you've had an excellent week. 

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 3RD OF 2023

 Good morning lovely people tis Friday time for

Well the UK continues to be mighty cold, last weekend we'd had a large amount of rain in the previous week so whilst we could have ventured out we didn't actually fancy the mud. 

So it was a quiet weekend overall, we finished off deep cleaning the kitchen and we enjoyed reading some of our new books from Christmas, I also managed to make 6 Christmas cards albeit that they aren't brilliant if I'm honest.  I also managed to catch up with my sister and my Mum as well so that was definitely a positive. 

On Monday we decided to try a new recipe, butternut squash risotto, it really was very tasty. 

The working week has been busy, but we had a lovely morning the other day

which my sister also photographed from her house

hubby was out on the boat and whilst it looks lovely however, it was incredibly cold

I'm finding January hard work if I'm honest but I put that down to the fact the weather has been pretty awful.

I'm hoping to get some plans for this weekend, fingers crossed. 

I hope your week has been a positive one. 

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 2ND OF 2023

 Evening all, I'm late - apologies but time for 

last Friday I was waiting in for my new washing machine which arrived, whilst waiting in we deep cleaned our bedroom, emptying and refilling every drawer in the room, clearing out under the bed and generally having a good fettle, changing the bedding etc, it has felt sooooooooo much better since we did that and the drawers are much neater for it too. 

Saturday my sister came over for a catch up which was lovely, we put the world to rights and had a good old natter and she stopped for tea, which was even better. 

Sunday we were due to go to YSP but we'd hit a pothole on Thursday night and the knocking noise was still evident on Friday morning, so hubby had had to take the car to the garage, so no visit to YSP, but we did have sausage sandwiches at home which was nice and before we knew it the weekend was over. 

Monday and back to work, it has been a mighty busy week, my sister shared a photo of a sunrise which was stunning, this is the view from her front window, I'm always envious although she does have to live on a very steep hill for to have this view. 

The rest of the week has galloped along at a merry old pace, I managed to get a set of books I was after through an alternative online retailer, when my original order provided a single book (rather than the 15 books I'd ordered). 

My new dehumidifier is making a difference when it comes to drying washing which has been a godsend as the cost of the tumble dryer really is too much and hubby has been an absolute rock this week, keeping me focused on positives when he knows I've been struggling. 

I hope you've had a grand week too. 

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 1ST OF 2023

 Morning lovely people tis Friday time to clock the positive moments and silver linings this week

So we were still enjoying our Christmas and New Year break last Friday and as mentioned on my previous post we went and blew the cobwebs off at YSP on the thursday and because this week has been devoid of photos, I thought I'd share some from that day.  The air was mighty fresh so both me and hubby were wearing thick winter coats for a change and I opted for the hood up. 

We wandered along to the Weston gallery as they had a new exhibition, based around the 'ha-has' that you see on country estates, the exhibit questioned that this was at a time of landed gentry and where common land went into private ownership, thus impacting the majority of the population and one of the ways that people were and still are oppressed.  Quite a take on something I hadn't really considered if I'm honest. 

the giant hanging face mask also a nod to recent years, I found the noose like rope for the ear loops most definitely a little foreboding. 

The ha-ha wall was huge and I loved the bright colours

the same evening we had our 'free' return journey to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park who had informed us that not all the lights had been installed when we went the original time.  So here were some of the extras, there really weren't very many as I thought if I'm honest and it surprised us that we got free tickets due to such a small increase which were valued at £88.00 but it was the only dry night that week. 

Most of the originals were animal related, these were predominantly animal related but more mythical if that makes sense. 

The dragon

I loved the bats on the tree

The werewolf?

The tombstone definitely threw us, it felt more Halloween than Christmas illuminations if I'm honest. 

Managed to get a photo of these two

Back outside there was the giant gingerbread man model

and the ferris wheel was operating with the Christmas tree in front of it. 

Friday was a quiet day in as the weather wasn't up to much. 

Saturday we also had a quiet day, said 22 year old and fiancee went to spend New Year at my niece's home for he first time, so we had a very quiet night in watching random television. 

Just before midnight, hubby went outside with this tray of goodies, 

A coin to symbolise wealth 

A glass of wine to symbolise good cheer

A slice of bread to symbolise food in the house 

A lump of coal to symbolise warmth in the house

and salt to symbolise prosperity. 

The salt and wine were additions to our normal first footing tradition. 

Then after the New Year, we had family chat until gone 1am and then headed up to bed. 

Needless to say New Year's Day was mighty quiet. 

Monday was a bank holiday in the UK and we were back into 'normal' routine, so we did the food shop and started the task of taking down trees.  Given that there were a great number of decorations up it takes us several days to remove them without it being an onerous job.  

So the TV room was our first job and after the trees were removed and packed away I deep cleaned (pulled out the sofas etc).  In the meantime my hubby had gone to rescue my sister who had woke to a flooded kitchen due to her dishwasher and after being there around 5 hours, with lots of sorting, he managed to replace some of the pipes and as far as we know it is now fully operational, thus saving her a significant amount of money. 

Tuesday was our first day back in work, it was hectic and busy, but I made a concerted effort to have my lunch away from my desk, in fact I've managed that on two out of the three days. 

The evenings have been spent taking decorations down and finally last night they were returned to the loft, so the house is looking mighty bare and here I find myself back at Friday morning, waiting on my new washing machine, my old one has been making a racket for some time and then started to smell, hubby thought it was bearings and whilst we could potentially have had it repaired it isn't a particularly good rating for a machine and is very old, it doesn't do ultra low temperatures, half washes or short washes, so we were definitely ready for a new one. 

So there you are the first post of silver linings and positive moments of 2023. 

I hope your week has been grand too.