ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 23RD OF 2022

Good morning lovely people tis Friday time for

Well last weekend was a busy one due to the Jubilee, we had a very very busy day at work, so decided to take it easy over the weekend, as it was my sister's birthday on Sunday hubby decided to make a cake. 

In the meantime I was completing a wedding gift that I'd been on with, I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed making mini books and as I was enjoying this one so much I managed to do two birthday books that I make every year for a friend's daughters. 

Hubby had fun and games icing the cake, and given its 6 layers had to skewer it to stop it moving, he decided to cut them down after putting them through the wet icing and cake, as you can imagine the icing went everywhere hence the laughter. 

Sunday and we went to my Mum's house for a catch up with my sister, Mum made some butties this was us telling her to stop as she seemed to be catering for the world. 

This is a photo of the inside, the top purple layer was strawberry (he'd forgotten to get red colouring), the yellow was lemon, the pink was raspberry, the orange was orange, the green was almond and the plain one was vanilla and very tasty it was too. 

I've had another ridiculously busy week at work but the week has disappeared in the blink of an eye.  Me and hubby grabbed another showing of Top Gun on Monday because we can, just as good as the first watch without the amount of tears.

Thursday night and we were off for pre-theatre dining and a show at the local theatre. 

This was my mackerel starter

and this was hubby's

my main I went fish again, cod on a risotto base made with pearl barley - it was lovely

hubby went for Roe Deer loin

dessert was strawberry bavarois

then off to the theatre, we were with my Mum and sister as well. 

The show was brilliant, Stepping Out was the play about a group of adults learning to tap dance, the story evolved around a very different mix of people who came from all different walks of life but had one hobby that was the same - tap dancing.  It really was a feel good play which we all enjoyed. 

That my lovely people is my week that was, I hope yours was awesome. 

Hugs

Rocking Your World Friday - 15th of 2019

Welcome it's Friday so time for 

So last Friday hubby managed to leave work a little bit early, I'd checked with him in the week if he was happy to miss seeing the Mausoleum of the Giants exhibition in person, however he said he would love to have seen it in person so we made plans.

I checked out the closing time on Friday which was 8 p.m. and said leave work early let's queue until you get to see it so that's exactly what we did.  He got home for about 2pm and then we went up on the tram to Sheffield my sister came along as well and we queued for just under 3 hours.  So I have officially stayed in that queue for longer than anybody else because I've seen it twice and had to queue twice to see it (unlike said 18 year old whose second visit was at a set time for college and so he went straight in!).

There was some pretty fab art pieces on the outside of the building of which this one was my favourite

It was something that captured the imagination of a lot of people and I think the locality really did misunderstand how many people would want to see the exhibition so after 2 hours and 40 minutes of queuing outside we were finally in the Courtyard we grabbed another coffee (my sister had already been and found some whilst we were stood in the queue).

We had 20 minutes in the exhibition which isn't a huge amount of time but most definitely worth going and seeing.  

So this is what we saw

The guardian of the giants

The first glimpse of the giants themselves (if you looks far left you can see people to give you some idea of perspective).

And the other giant sat under his canopy of light with me and my sister as perspective

In the side rooms were more of Phlegm's characters

Hubby managed to get a few photos of me next to the pieces

I was adamant this time around I'd find the eye and I did

Some more of the pieces

It really was magical to see

The exhibition led me to writing this poem


Sleeping giants

There was a word and then a whisper
That the giants had been found
They surface every now and then 
finding final places to rest

In old derelict factories 
Having lived for many thousands of years
Through changes the likes of which we won't see in our lifetime 
They are tired and weary

Eye witness works marks the spot where the giants sleep 
A first failed visit proved that word had got out
So we tried again on Friday to see if we could see them

The queue was long but everyone was in good spirits 
The chance to see them, too big an opportunity to waste
An hour or two did pass as the queue shuffled down 
And soon we were in the courtyard 
The smell of freshly brewed coffee from the little van did tempt us.

Lights strung from the roof drew our eye skyward
Large blackened chimneys protruding from the old factory
Ladies beckon us into a dark poorly lit corridor
The guardian of the giants stood poised midway along 
Glowing vibrantly in black and white his eyes peeping out from the patterned jumper that he wore.

Down into the belly of the factory 
We had our first glimpse
Laid curled up on the cold grey floor
Knees scrunched up 
Fingers Curled around the concrete step lay the giant
His weary eyes barely open 
We crept around not wishing to disturb him from his mighty slumber

Another sat, head tilted towards the pitched glass roof
Seeking warmth and sunshine on his face
His hands hugging his knees as we wandered below
Small rooms off from this open space filled with creatures from the giants' land

A sad forlorn giant body in our world whilst the rest languishes in his own 
holds out long arms holding a skull adorned with flowers
A giant of yesteryear with floral tribute no less

A long nosed bird like creature sulks below bird houses that he will never fit
The beautiful tiny stacked homes
A sad reminder of his enormity

We jump back as a horned creature with forked tongue and three eyes stares at us from the next 
Guarded by two guardians of the giants
We are warned not to venture too close

Oversized chimneys atop tiny roofs
Bedecked with talking heads 
Gathered in a semi circle 
To tell the tales of the giants

The thumbprint bird sings quietly 
A song of changing mountains and moving rivers
Surrounded by totem heads representing the relatives of those who've gone before

At the base of one giant 
A creature with long limbs and neck stands forlornly by his crooked legs
A familiar no less, saddened at his master's demise

We stand and soak up the atmosphere straining ears to hear their heavy laboured breath
A gift they chose our town to say a fond farewell

The ladies beckon us 
It's time to leave
With a glance back over our shoulders we say a sad farewell

Leaving them in their mausoleum awaiting the final few people to come and stand in awe of these mighty creatures 
Destined for only a little while longer 
We once more go in search for gateways 
To see these mighty giants

Back outside we discovered the new Phlegm piece on the side of the building (this is the one he was creating when said 18 year old came across him working on the same).

Next grateful if the planned canopy actually works, I bought waterproof fabric and basically created pockets for the wooden slats to fit through.  Hubby attached hooks and carabiner clips and some high tensile wire and it was soon up.  We've also got some short chain to clip it back when its really windy, but overall it does the trick and is actually really nice to sit under. 

Next up spending time sitting and reading, for those of you who know my blog you'll know we normally fill our lives wall to wall with things to do, but sometimes I lose sight of some of the other delights, such as sitting and reading curled up on the sofa with a spring fire as the evening draws in. 

I've had this book for a few years, hubby bought it when it first came out, I have never read a script book before and tried and failed at my first attempt (not helped by said 18 year old borrowing it whilst I was midway through and it not seeing the light of day for some time).  

Anyway the book was a brilliant, quick read and now I desperately want to go and see the play, but the ticket prices are astronomical, so we are going to have to put our thinking caps on for this one.

Last Friday also marked said 18 year old's girlfriend's 18th.  She had lots of plans for the day, so said 18 year old headed over in the morning for present unwrapping and he came back with a mountain of beautiful cake, all different colours, this was only half of the cake he brought back and it was delicious!

 The rest of the week has been busy with work (year end and all that), business planning etc which I won't bore you with.  I hope you've had a fabulous week, if you fancy joining in pop a post together, pop back and link up and we can come and visit.

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 42ND OF 2105

Morning all, tis Friday so can only mean one thing

Apologies for this arriving a little late today, the week has been something of a blur.  So without further ado.  Well last weekend was relatively calm and quiet.  Said 15 year old was gearing up for his expedition to Lesotho so there were final purchases and checks to make, so we decided to take it easy for a change.  No dashing out anywhere, no venturing far and wide.

We did however have a lovely meal out on Saturday to say Bon Voyage to said 15 year old, we had a lovely couple of hours chatting and eating and talking about his trip.  Sunday we popped to visit my Mum who was trying to integrate two cats as her ex-next door neighbour needed to rehome a kitten that she was allergic to.  Said 15 year old was most intrigued by this ball of fun, who being a kitten was literally into everything.

You'll be pleased to know that the resident cat has tolerated the new kitten enough for him to become a new member of the family and he's been renamed from the mouse like name of Jerry to Murphy which is a lot more apt.

Then we were on countdown (literally) to the send off.  Tuesday arrived all too soon for me and we were soon swapping bags, loading them on the coach and waving them off.  Gulp.  Surreal doesn't come close.

I'd also like to thank the WW girls for their support this week and for my another friend who I used to work with, checking on me and making sure I'm OK - you've all been stars!

As parents we then spent an inordinate amount of time watching the flight through an app.  By the time we woke on Wednesday morning, they had landed in Dubai and reboarded and then by the end of the afternoon on Wednesday the flight had landed in Cape Town.  I hadn't realised just how stressed I was, so it was an utter delight to relax knowing that they had arrived safely, well their flight had.  We then got a text from school confirming the same - phew!

Last night we got a further text, saying they had a great day at the Cape of Good Hope paddling with the penguins, today they will start to make the trek up towards Lesotho.  There will be almost a further 26 hours of travelling done before they end up back at the airport in a few weeks, but thankfully the journey has been broken up into easily manageable chunks as it were!

And finally last night, we went to see Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch, streamed live by NTLive to the local cinema.  It was quite honest amazing, I would have loved to have seen it live just for the stage set alone if I'm honest.  The energy and the honesty in the play was impressive.  Mr Cumberbatch stood out and showed why we love him so dearly as an actor!  The actress who took on the part of Ophelia (who I've often thought from previous Hamlets we have seen, doesn't stand out in the play), was head and shoulders above all other versions of Hamlet that I've seen.  She literally made me cry.  If you get to see it live all I can say is - you lucky things.  If you got to see it streamed - wasn't it amazing and if you didn't get to see it then I can highly recommend an encore performance as it was breathtaking!

I apologise for the utter lack of photographs this week blame it on the travel nerves, I promise normal service shall resume soon.  As a result of the lack of photos I'll share a couple of crafting layouts - hope you don't mind

First up a layout documenting the different chairs in the 'Take a Seat' exhibition at Chatsworth this year.

Then another layout documenting the final planet cake picture we took on completion of the science homework.

And then me and hubby at the Charity ball earlier in the year.  You'll be pleased to know that the group managed to raise more than £50K in the last two years of fundraising for said 15 year old expedition!

And there we have it lovely people, my linky is here if you fancy joining in.

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 12TH OF 2015

That's right lovely people we are 12 weeks of Fridays into 2015 and time to stop and take stock again!

OK it's been another one of 'those' weeks, things are becoming better overall with hubby which is really good although the progress is really slow and occasionally he forgets and does something stupid and gets yelled at by me and said 14 year old as he isn't allowed to lift anything for 4-6 weeks! But overall I'm glad he's now hopefully fingers and toes crossed on the road to recovery!

Friday was Red Nose day - we bought the works, the noses, the pin badges, the bangle thingies, even the umbrellas!  Said 14 year old partook in making a few buns too - do you think we were thoroughly joining in the essence of the day!

6 Nations Rugby - the Wales v Ireland match was by far the best of the weekend, a really great match and kept us highly entertained.  England winning their match added to this overall positive too - so that was all fab stuff!

A gorgeous hand made card on Mother's Day from said 14 year old bless him and a mini book class booked for the 29 March 2015 as a treat for me which definitely raised a smile!

Hairdressers on Tuesday was a godsend as was in desperate need of a trim was on the verge of 'lop it all off' before she convinced me I'd feel much better for it trimming and then decided - she was right!

Next up is sister and niece who came with me on Tuesday evening in search of a dress I could wear to a ball this evening - it was a crazy few hours dashing around the nearest shopping centre if I'm honest.  By the time I joined her she had already bought her long very sophisticated dress, I've ended up with a shorty but to be honest getting me into a dress is going to be a major, then we leapfrogged from shoe shop to shoe shop before we both managed to find something and then I headed for the underwear section of Debenhams as I really haven't purchased decent undies in quite some time and mine were looking decidedly tired and worn.  So it was a busy and eventful in equal measure!

Wednesday found us dashing to the music academy for guitar class before operation Planet Cake - came into play!  In science at the moment they are studying the earth, the inner bits and they'd been asked to bring in a foam ball - this failed on an epic scale (despite the £5 price tag to find one that fit the bill), so said 14 year old decided he wanted to make a spherical cake with the inner layers!  And yes before you ask we did rise to the challenge and a whole evening of different coloured madeira cakes were made using some rather expensive half-sphere cake tins that were purchased at great cost!

Thursday evening saw us complete the cake and said 14 year old has a completed project and a lift to school as a direct consequence, it was a bit stressful making it but overall we had fun and I have another photo ready for the scrapbooking pile!

I hope you've had a great week as well and that you've managed lots of positives and grateful moments, new Rockettes are always welcome so if you fancy joining in - pop a post together pop back and link up - it doesn't have to be war and peace like mine it could just be a bullet pointed list of positives - whatever suits!

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY

Good morning, afternoon, evening (delete as necessary), tis Friday - tis Rocking Your World so eyes down starter for ten no conferring!

Crikey where are we with the week, let's see!

First up is the warranty on the car covering the major seal problem we had - phew - gulp and phew again.

Next up is the great customer service we had with a well known computer business that helped us when we were struggling last week in deciding how to resolve current PC problem!

Jack and the Beanstalk at the Lyceum it has to be said that the Dame really is utterly utterly genius - we've seen him before but above and beyond this year - rolling in the aisles doesn't cover it!

Then we have to mention Christmas at Chatsworth - utterly utterly gorgeous - land of Narnia - not seen my sister that giddy in an awfully long time!

Here we were in the wardrobe - yes the wardrobe

 Look at that giddy gorgeous smile of my sister on the left!

 Then when we went into the land of Narnia - underneath the lamp-post!

 My sister enjoying tea with Mr Tumnus!

 The banners in the grand stair case

Aslan was amazing  he was 'breathing' and the mice chewing at the ropes and moving too - amazing stuff!

 Finally we sat with crowns and tiaras on - like I said fab day.

The manchester tart I had in the Courtyard was nom too - but don't mention it to Dawn my weight watcher leader LOL!

Next up said 13 year old deciding that his geography model needed to be a cake!!!!!

So here we are constructing the volcano cake!

  Look how chuffed he looked, this was before adding the malteser boulders!

 But here they are!

Having great fun adding all the additions from additional piped green grass at the base to the dribbling fissures out of the side! 

Getting it to school safely on Thursday - phew

Bringing it home on half eaten on Thursday - nom but worrying - not worked out the pointage LOL!

Interview this week, interesting, scary because it's 9 years since the last one but interesting nonetheless!

Hubby having a lovely Christmas meal out - always lovely.

Time with my sister and Mum at weight watchers tonight, it was completely mad as normal - but I love that - I loved the Christmas carols as well Dawn's version of Good King Wenceslas and Jingle Bells were fantastic!  

Lovely meeting 

Now home, tea cooked very late but completely shattered.

This will be the last post before Christmas, I hope yours is beautiful, blessed and absolutely surrounded with love.  

Quick layout post for everyone, this was my gorgeous niece and the world's smallest dessert!

I'll see you after the event next week - have a good one!