I hope you've all had a good week, I'm getting back into the flow of work again. Last Friday I had a blood test taken as I've been suffering with anaemia the results are showing the additional iron tablets are helping, so that is definitely a positive for the week.
Hubby enjoyed baking on Friday.
He made these beautiful hazelnut and cranberry biscotti
He made a fresh batch of mince pies with his homemade mincemeat which were stunning
Saturday and we met my sister to go to Ikea as she was wanting to pick up a new table but wasn't sure it would fit in her car, this is hubby 62 year's young still being mischievous with the trolley that he used more like a scooter
Saturday, me and hubby went to see the play 'Art' at the Lyceum in Sheffield, it is a strange play and whilst some explain it is a laugh out loud raucous comedy, it didn't quite hit the mark for us, it was only on researching it afterwards that we realised that it is a play translated from French, maybe it is funnier in its original language, nevertheless despite its overall strangeness we both thoroughly enjoyed it.
Sunday and we headed to the local garden centre, to meet my long time friend Jude's daughter, who I have never met before, it is so strange meeting someone you know through social media, but have never met in person. It was so lovely to meet her, we went and drank tea and put the world to rights before having a wander around the garden centre, hubby, my sister, son and daughter in law joined us so it was a full family jaunt out. We also enjoyed all the stunning homeware and the beautiful Christmas decorations, the only negative from the afternoon was the fact that we forgot to get a photograph, honestly I don't know how I do it sometimes!
Monday and back into work, Tuesday was a crazy long day, as I came home and carried on as I had some work to do on the audit.
Wednesday night and me and hubby went to see a local youth theatre group perform 'Rock of Ages' it was a strange choice, given the drug references, not to mention the sex references and the strip club and whilst we enjoyed it some of the youngsters didn't quite hit all the notes if that makes sense, I actually wouldn't mind seeing it again as a professional production to see what that's like.
Thursday we went to help my sister, she had some DIY tasks that needed doing and as usual my hubby got volunteered to do them.
tis Friday so time to take stock and look back on the last 14 days (as I was absent last week) and count the positive grateful moments in those days as it is time for
So first up the weather that we had, it was such a joy to actually not have to spend the week dodging raindrops so that is definitely right up there on the list of gratefuls, I captured this shot on our first jaunt out in Herefordshire before we headed into Clearwell Caves
Next up Clearwell Caves, the first time we visited is when we honeymooned in Symonds Yat in a beautiful barn conversion back in 1998, hubby got excited as they asked if he fancied going pot-holing one night whilst we were there - the idea of confined spaces and water and dark deep underground caves is not my idea of fun, but hubby would have definitely done it, had we not been on honeymoon!
There was a display before we headed in and this one caught my eye, lots of clay sculptures, this one capturing Sunday tea - I love anything like this, the level of detail is brilliant!
The actual caves themselves are beautiful and relatively colourful as they still mine ochres in there, yellow, red, brown and purple
Said 20 year old (yep it was his birthday whilst we were away so he has moved up a bracket) and his GF were with us for a few days before they carried on down to Cornwall to catch up with his GF's family who were holidaying down there. Here he is with is light changing face mask!
There was a digital art display on the walls and water near the end which was mesmering showing the creatures that would have been there millions of years ago when it was still an ocean on the equator
So this was a brilliant first jaunt out, we then headed a whole three minutes down the road to Puzzlewood.
Puzzlewood is other worldly it has been used for films and TV shows over the years and definitely has a middle-earth feel to it. Originally a set of cave systems, the ice age (if memory serves me right) literally took the top off and well Mother nature took back what was hers
Making memories with these three, is one of my favourite things to do
All the green detail is simply amazing and they'd managed a one way system around the site.
It is unlike anywhere else I've ever been
Just so very peaceful and very very beautiful
So it was great fun to visit again
On our second day we headed to Eastnor Castle, it was the first time we had visited and had a lovely trip out, wander around the castle and then lakeside walks admiring the view and it was my birthday so I had a lovely family day.
The inside of the castle was stunning, I don't think there is anything finer than a bit of Victorian Gothic
And blue skies outside - always a happy grateful moment
Me and hubby grabbed a selfie
And I adored the view of the Castle from across the water.
The following day was said 20 year old's birthday and the last full day they were with us.
Here he is laughing and joking over his giant birthday cookie
We headed into Hereford on his birthday as a lot of the tourist attractions shut on a Monday. We headed to the Cathedral which is stunning to enjoy the interior and then have a walk around the Mappa Mundi exhibtion and the chained libary.
This was my favourite stained glass window on the day
I loved the light reflection on the pillars inside
I also loved the tiny chapel, how beautiful is this?
The mappa mundi exhibition was really interesting and I loved this modern day version with the pyrograpy frame.
Outside the cathedral we had beautiful blue skies again
Before heading to Ledbury and having a wander around the independent shops, I love this building on stilts.
We had booked a table at a nearby pub to celebrate our two birthdays and had a lovely evening, however I forgot to take photos!
Tuesday saw said 20 year old and his GF head off and we had a trip out to Berkeley Castle, a little further afield from where we were staying, but one of those we've promised to visit for years.
We knew it was the place where the deposed Edward II was murdered, but we also learnt of its links with Shakespeare and you all know how much I love Shakespeare. In that the family had a wedding happening and asked Shakespeare to write them a play to be performed as part of the celebrations and rumour has it he wrote them A Midsummer Night's Dream, which as regular readers will know is one of my favourite Shakespearean play.
I also loved the wire sculptures to bring his historical story to life
The castle itself is rather impressive
Queen Elizabeth I
Gorgeous rooms and tapestries
Outside there was a stunning walk around the terraced gardens
We grabbed a selfie
It's amazing to think the same family has lived here for almost 900 years. Think of all that history tied into those walls
Wednesday was our penultimate full day
We headed to the ruinous castle called Raglan over the Welsh border, unusual for this country due to the shape which followed the French style
Again more blue skies, we had a lovely wander
And explored most of the grounds (the towers were closed for obvious reasons, but that meant we went a little further afield, which we might not have done had the towers been opened).
Then we headed off to Kilpeck Church, a firm favourite of ours in the area and absolutely stunning, the exterior decoration really is a beautiful and rather unusual
The doorway into the chapel
Up close you can see what I mean by the detail
At the top there is a dragon and a Basilisk
And the character in the middle of this is known as the Rainbow man, apparently he does appear quite regularly on these sorts of old churches but this is the first one I've seen, although very apt given the year we are having.
Now as my lovely followers will know we've been waiting on some results for my Mum, whilst she has lived over several years with breast cancer in her spine her most recent scan showed a concern on her lungs, so she had to have a ECG to check her heart and blood tests to check for blood traces that could be potential cancer in her lungs. Despite the Doctors saying they would contact within a day or so, they sent her a letter making her wait in excess of two weeks, it was a very long two weeks.
So you can imagine my joy when the call from the oncologist said that no new traces were found, only the breast cancer one which was to be expected. So thank you for all your thoughts, good vibes and prayers, they were and are very much appreciated!
We celebrated the good news, by heading to another local landmark Abbey Dore, which is the only Abbey in the land still used as a parish church and I spent time in quiet reflection and prayer being grateful for the news we'd just had.
Our final day and we headed off to the Forest of Dean and their sculpture trail, not quite on par with Yorkshire Sculpture Park and it was definitely more of a hike than a walk in places, but we had a lovely blue skies, fresh air day to finish our holiday surrounding by beautiful trees
It's a huge forest area and made me miss Center Parcs of all places
Some of the sculpture left something to be desired but others were OK
I loved the train track one, they carved into each sleeper with a different picture and it definitely felt like autumn was on its way with the leaf fall
Selfie time
My favourite art piece and the last one on the trail was the cathedral window - utterly breathtaking!
So that was our fabulous week away, the very first week this year and boy did we need it.
Grateful and positive moments this week, blue skies and breeze for drying the holiday washing.
Coming home to a tidy and clean house (I'd had a good fettle before we went away).
Family chat time on Facebook
Enjoying my job despite how hectic and mad it can get.
Having a family get together on sunday whilst still abiding by the rule of six meant that there were only a few of us at our birthday gathering - me, hubby, said 20 year old and his GF, my Mum and sister. My mum had baked a lemon drizzle cake, a coffee and walnut cake and a chocolate ganache cake which were all beautiful but obviously way too much for 6 of us, so people went home with lots of cake.
And that my lovely people are my silver linings positive moments for the last couple of weeks, I hope you have had a grand time and that you are all well.
I will pop Mr Linky below so you can pop a post together, come back link up and we can come and visit.
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