ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 43RD OF 2023

 Good Morning lovely people tis Friday time for 

Well it has been a mighty tough week, I cannot say that it has been any easier than the last couple.  We came back on Friday and had a busy weekend catching up on washing and family.  I leant heavily on family over the weekend, a lengthy chat with my Mum, catching up with said 23 year old and his beautiful wife and then my sister on Sunday afternoon the chats were needed even though we didn't actually make any progress. 

Monday arrived and I returned to work, I wasn't mentally in the best of places but felt that progress was made by the end of the day.  Unfortunately that progress didn't continue into Tuesday and I found myself with a sleepless night on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, unusually for me I decided that for the sake of my sanity chip the only sane thing to do was to go to call in poorly and take a day to try and catch up a little bit and not stress my brain out too much.  I managed 3 hours which helped but didn't resolve. 

We had theatre tickets for the evening and hubby felt that I really needed a distraction so encouraged us to go, it was called 'what's your poison' and strangely was about a Victorian Doctor who lived in Rugeley and was tried and eventually hanged in Stafford prison which was funny given the fact that we used to live in Stafford.  It was really interesting and proved a good distraction so hubby was correct. 

Thursday and I managed a day in work, we've returned home, grabbed some tea, had a tidy around and then we are heading for showers.  I'm going to down tools and look after my mental health over the weekend.  

Said daughter in law is at the hospital on Sunday, so thoughts and prayers as always would be much appreciated. 

So sorry that this isn't the most fun posts but in amongst the difficult week, I'm still eternally grateful for my lovely family and all their support this week. 

Sending hugs to you all. 

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 42ND OF 2023

 Morning all this one is technically only a day late, but after the pretty hard journey home yesterday I couldn't face writing the post. 

So what was Rocking my World yesterday?

Well last Friday despite the fact I really didn't want another break away we'd booked a cottage in Wales and hubby insisted given the dreadful week that I'd had that I really needed to take some time away from home.  We hacked our way across the country and arrived a little after 4pm, the reduced speed limits down to 20 mph proved an interesting experiment in Wales, to be honest, not sure when we will return Google maps that we rely on for satnav seemed to have every speed limit programmed except the correct one, it has made for an entertaining week. 

We also learnt later in the week that the Welsh government are changing the 70 days of letting period for people who own holiday homes to 6 months of letting, this means that the property has to be let for a 6 month period in any 12 months otherwise they will have to (currently) pay double the council tax, they have the ability to increase this to 4 times the council tax amount which for many holiday let owners will make this an untenable business option.  I appreciate that this is to free up some much needed housing to allow people to get on the property ladder, but this carte blanche approach does appear a little short-sighted.  Furthermore we also learnt whilst away that Wales is considering charging a per night fee for staying in Wales (similar to some of the countries on the continent), I'll be honest I genuinely don't feel that this bodes well for the travel industry to Wales.  But I digress away from the positives for the week.

The cottage was on a working farm on the edge of the Snowdonia National Park in a little village called Rowen.  The cottage itself was small and quaint, very clean and fit the bill for the week.  The only real issue was the split levels there were two steps down to the kitchen and out of the only bedroom 2 steps down to the bathroom which wasn't great in the night when you needed to visit the bathroom.  However, we managed which is good. 

The week's forecast was definitely changeable but we carried on regardless if I'm honest.  We had a list of places to visit if we fancied and set too ticking these off.  We headed to the National Trust held castle at Pendryn, this is a stunning Victorian Gothic castle but the locals fell out with them 120 years ago and haven't let their grudge go if I'm honest due to the 3 year slate mine strike, but more importantly the money it is built on links back to the slave trade and despite having been here before I hadn't appreciated by how much.  The owner having the largest number of plantations.  Nevertheless it is good to see the history around and to acknowledge what some landowners did.

The second day was dry and sunny so we headed to Bodnant Gardens which were a riot of colour and the walk was very much needed.  We enjoyed wandering the grounds and finding the different areas from the formal garden down to the huge redwoods growing in the ravine. 

Monday and the weather seemed to be changing so we headed to Portmeirion one of our favourite places to visit, we had a wonderful day wandering the beautifully coloured houses, enjoying the fresh air and just spending time together.  An utter joy if I'm honest. 

Tuesday we headed to Conwy which was only a 10 minute drive, we wandered around the castle and then the walled town, it really is a sight to behold.  We found a wonderful bakery and bought the softest tastiest Welsh griddle cakes, freshly baked that day and enjoyed a cuppa in a 17th century building. 

Wednesday and we had a day trip to Llandudno, as we arrived an air ambulance helicopter landed on the beach which isn't something you see very often, we headed around the incident which seemed to relate to the RNLI, we wandered the pier and realised just how blustery it was as we got to the end of the pier.  We had a wander around the town, hubby found a new book (he'd not taken enough variety) and we had tea and cakes at the Mostyn Gallery, unfortunately they were between exhibitions which was a shame. 

Thursday our final full day and somewhat inclement weather we headed to the copper mine on the Great Orme near Llandudno, only rediscovered back in the 1990's they initially thought it a Victorian mine, but discovered tools dating back thousands of years back to the Bronze age and over years have identified that there are over 5 miles of mined tunnels below where they extracted the malachite crystal to grind down to extract the copper.  The walls are still full with the crystal malachite, which for those of you who know me is incredibly close to my heart.  

We then headed back to Conwy to a little Turkish tea shop where hubby tried Turkish coffee probably for the first and only time and I had a cuppa.  Then we did the wall walk around Conwy. 

 We had a little jaunt to Conwy Water gardens which aren't at their best but enjoyed a Dutch apple cake and Lemon Dream cake at the Pancake house there so not a complete waste. 

Friday was our return day and with Storm Babet battering the UK, it made for a stressful journey home.  We passed 3 or 4 sections of road that were flooding but managed to pass thankfully, the roads were full of water and spray and so it made for a very very long journey home.  

We landed back I got on with some washing and then we put things away before collapsing on the sofa.  

I hope you've had a wonderful week too, I'm behind on reading so will be catching up.  

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 41ST OF 2023

 Morning all 

I hope you are well, I'm going to apologise that this is over a week late I just didn't have the space mentally to process the positives in life last week as we are going through the mill a little bit, but I'm determined not to break my streak of posts, I've been doing this post for many years and I've always managed to raise a post even if the grateful moments and silver linings seem very slim on the ground. 

So on reflection last week, my wonderful husband for all his support as always, when things were tough and I didn't know which way to turn he was rock solid as always and for that I am eternally grateful.

My Mum always there to listen when I need her and receiving the fantastic news that things are currently stable following her recent scan and they'll rescan in 12 weeks.  Mum's reply (as only my Mum can), "good that means I can plan Christmas".

My sister and niece for their sage words of advice when needed and just for being there to support me when things got tough.  I never ever take my family for granted and know how very blessed I am. 

Said 23 year old and his wife the absolute joy of the two of them despite the fact that life is throwing a few curve balls.  Said daughter in law has a hospital appointment coming up so prayers thoughts and good vibes would be much appreciated, but it is said 23 year old who also needs some thoughts at the moment, he is at a bit of a crossroads in life on the career front, so I'm hopeful he can find his way through. 

Other positives include a theatre trip and pre-theatre dining with my Mum, the play was great and my Mum really enjoyed it as did we.  So that definitely provides a silver lining in the week. 

Right off to write this weeks post despite the fact it is a day late.  

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 40TH OF 2023

 Morning all determined to actually post on a Friday this week, we will see. 

So after the busy week away last week we arrived home safe and sound on Friday, put everything away, did a weekend shop and set the washer going to catch up on washing. 

We were both really tired on Friday and sat and watched the England versus Chile match from last weekend which we'd missed a 71-0 score line not to be sniffed at. 

Saturday morning and I was awake early as my back was giving me grief, so I got up for a plod around, still washing, but main plan to head to the craft room however son and d-i-law came over and we had a few hours catch up so we didn't get any crafting done.  We made tea and then headed out in the evening to the local theatre to see the War of the Worlds on a Budget

The play was excellent and gave me chance to have a catch up with my sister as she came too which was lovely. 

Sunday and we went to see my Mum for a couple of hours for a catch up before heading home and finally getting to the craft room.  I had a lovely few hours working on my Mum's Christmas journal and cutting papers in readiness for mine. 

And before we knew it the weekend was gone. 

Monday and my first day back in and 120 emails to deal with, unfortunately all very relevant so they took me over a day to complete. 

Monday night and we had our usual family chat, I had to laugh, my sister picked up her phone and inadvertently converted herself first as a dog and then as a llama and it took her quite some time to resolve, she had me in stitches

Tuesday and Wednesday were both busy days and then Thursday I found myself with a day off, not that I'd remembered booking it if truth be told but my boss assured me and because she was primed for me to be off she was more than happy for me to take back some time owed.

Thursday was spent having first a lie in and then spending the day on the front of the house, pruning the shrubs on the front, weeding the pavement and the drive and the tiered part of the garden.  Hubby then weeded the side of the house, it was mighty tiring but well worth the effort as it looks soooooooooooooooo much better if I'm honest. 

And I find myself back to Friday, I hope you've had a good week too.

Hugs