ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 49TH OF 2025

 Good morning lovely people tis Friday time for

this is my moment to take stock and reflect on the last 7 days for the positive moments and silver linings that have happened. 

Last Friday we travelled to up to Sheffield for a walk around the Christmas markets.  Hubby and I travelled on the tram and when we got there is was torrential rain, my footwear turned out to be completely unsuitable but more to the point my waterproof rain jacket started to fail.  We headed to the millennium galleries as an area that was at least dry and I attempted to dry off my coat using a hand dryer which improved things a little.  We were meeting up with said 25 year old his lovely wife and our grandson, they were travelling by car and thankfully by the time they arrived the weather had backed off and we were able to browse the market without pouring rain. 

My d-in-law treated me to a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows, it was a lovely wintery treat even if it was very naughty. 

We walked all the way to the bottom of the Moor and then wandered back up, hubby treated us to our tea from the German sausage vendor which was lovely, we all enjoyed it and were mighty full afterwards.

I managed to grab this shot of the three of them, their first proper Christmas outing.  It was a joy to spend time with them and my grandson was as good as gold, they had timed the feeds well. 

On Saturday they came over again and despite the rain we walked around to the local church for the Christmas tree festival, I have never seen so many people make a bee-line for a baby before and my d-in-law had to explain his age and adjusted age when you consider that he is premature, it made my heart sing to see so many people making such a fuss of them all.  

Here is a lovely shot of the inside of the church, each of the real trees are decorated by local groups and they are sponsored by local businesses. 

This was our favourite tree this year, decorated by a local charity. 

We had a restful day on Sunday and then I was back into work on Monday.

I did however take a break at lunchtime for a physio appointment, which fingers crossed is going to help my poorly feet. 

On Tuesday I was in the office, I asked a couple of my colleagues if they could identify a few of the things in the kitchen that needed sorting, I only wanted their verbal input but they helped me give it a good fettle and between us we had it looking spic and span, I didn't take a before photo, but let's just say the after photo is a marked improvement.  

Wednesday evening after I'd finished work we headed to Sheffield for our first Christmas theatre trip.  This time to see A Christmas Carol, it was very good and definitely gave us a little of the Christmas spirit. 

Whilst we were walking around Sheffield we came across this light installation on Graves gallery, work by Pete McKee, it was fabulous to watch, I'm hoping to see the other two in Sheffield before they finish. 

Thursday and we had a tootling sorting things in the house day, I had a lengthy to do list, hubby painted a wall in the porch, I made some very specific cards for some events coming up, I caught up with my journal, me and hubby did a tag team in the kitchen making various meals for the next few days and my sister popped over for a catch up which was lovely, she is genuinely struggling at the moment so it was good to catch up.  

She came bearing gifts, a bunch of flowers and a colour co-ordinated book which I'm very much looking forward to reading, I was so surprised and very grateful to her for such a thoughtful gift at this time of year.  She is a star. 

And that my lovely people is my lot this week, I hope you've had a grand week too. 

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 48TH OF 2024

 Morning lovely people tis Friday time for

Well last Thursday we travelled down to Stratford upon Avon for our annual festive trip to the theatre.  It was technically bought by my husband for my birthday and we had booked a different hotel than normal.  We travelled down up hill and down dale the scene very wintry looking as you can see, but the roads were clear

The first play was the matinee performance of Othello, it was incredibly well done and very sad but I enjoyed it nonetheless

Then we checked into the hotel, a quick spruce up and we headed to Zizzis for tea followed by a return visit to the RSC

Part of the Red Shoe display in the RSC

and the opening set in readiness in the Swan theatre

It is based on the Hans Christian Andersen story and is very very dark and definitely not Christmassy but we enjoyed it nonetheless. 

On Friday we travelled back up and in the evening headed to Barnsley for their 'Bright Nights' technically their light switch on but lots of places to visit and things to see. 

There was a fabulous exhibition in the Town Hall Archives by a local illustrator called Brian Wildsmith, his body of work over his lifetime was amazing. 

Outside we saw the steel nativity 

And the lights around the Town Hall

I loved the living dress in the church, it was so atmospheric, a nod to Barnsley's textile industry

The college had lots of family activities on including a silent disco and the Cooper gallery had further work by Brian Wildsmith

As well as holographic art in the garden, you put your hand in and the holographic butterfly landed on your hand, it was weird because I could 'feel' the butterfly even though it was technically not there. 

Glassworks had an animated display, a nod to a rediscovered Christmas carol called 'Christmas Eve' which was sung live by a local choir. 

And a giant slinky outside the shopping centre.

Saturday and we had a lazy start to the day, before heading to Nostell Priory to watch A Christmas Carol in the afternoon, it was incredibly well done and we really enjoyed this festive delight. 

Sunday and said 24 year old and his lovely wife popped over, it happened to be Stir it Up Sunday, so wishes were dutifully added to the mix before it was cooked

We also got the decorations sorted, I know they are early but given that I had a week off it seemed sensible to sort to leave us free time at weekends. 

I enjoyed reading in front of the fire earlier in the week

Thursday we had a return visit to Chatsworth, I'd booked these in advance and it seemed silly not to use the time. 

This is one of my favourite views

Chatsworth was looking wintry and the deer could easily be seen in the distance.

We stopped and had a cuppa in the stables

We spotted mice that we hadn't seen previously 

I got a few different quirky shots, which I think are lovely

We got the stair shot for a change which is usually full of people

We found this musical mouse

hubby posed in front of one of the trees

And we enjoyed a wander around the garden. 

A fun filled week which I've really enjoyed as hopefully you can see, I hope your week has been grand too. 

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 46TH OF 2024

 Morning all 'tis Friday time to clock those silver linings, positive moments et al as it is 

So last Friday slow start to the day if I'm honest as I'd done work for the previous 4 days, my lovely future nephew-in-law offered up some free ice hockey match tickets which was so lovely of him and he said he would see what he could get. 

We had a tootle out to the shops, looking for frames if I'm honest, I did manage to find some, just need the time to now turn them into a Christmas gift. 

We had a quiet night in on Friday and chilled in front of the fire, doing my favourite past time of book reading. 

Saturday and we had a ballet booked at the Lyceum in Sheffield. It was myself, hubby and my sister. 

I've been to one before but my hubby never has, so the motivation was the fact it was a first.  This is the view from our seats, there was a screen in front of the stage at the beginning with digital snow falling - incredibly atmospheric. 

I bought a programme

and a selfie of the three of us

It was 30 minutes then a 20 minute interval 30 minutes and another 20 minute interval and then 30 minutes.  I was once again mesmerised by the sheer strength of the dancers and the costumes and the way the story was portrayed was fantastic, but hubby said "I like words" which means this may be his one and only ballet.  But I enjoyed it nevertheless and fun to see another interpretation of a Christmas Carol.

We came home genuinely not fancying cooking, we'd took out a chilli we had frozen a few weeks ago, we both toyed with take away and 'easy tea' from the supermarket, but to be honest we just came home.  We warmed the chilli, put it into flour tortillas, covered with the remaining sauce, sprinkled cheese and put it in the air fryer.  In the meantime I did some little tiny jacket pots and we had a sprinkle of cheese on them, one of the tastiest teas we've had in some time and we very nearly didn't have it! 

Sunday morning and we headed out with my sister to a local Christmas craft fair.  This is normally held inside but they are currently renovating the building so the stalls were outside, thankfully it was dry albeit cold.  We enjoyed the wander around the stalls and my sister treated herself to a crumble from the crumble stall, the only other place she has seen one is York and on the few occasions she has been they haven't been open.  She opted for the cherry filling, then liberal amounts of crumble topping, hot custard and a crushed biscoff biscuit on top and as you can see she thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Then in the afternoon I had decided that I wanted some down time on my own which meant I sent hubby, son, daughter in law and sister to the ice hockey, whilst I enjoyed some quiet time at home on my own, it might seem strange but it doesn't happen often and I felt I needed to try and reconnect with myself mentally. 

The tickets were up in one of the director's boxes, this is the photo hubby sent to me 

and this was their view.

Monday appeared as if by magic, I had some online training and then blink and Monday through to Wednesday turned into some very busy and some very long days. 

And then I find myself at Thursday again. 

I hope you have had a good week too. 

Sending hugs