ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 35TH OF 2026

 Good morning lovely people tis Friday time to clock the silver linings and positive moments from the last seven days. 

On Friday I dropped hubby off for two boat trips he was covering and ventured to Ikea to meet my sister for a catch up which was overdue and much needed.  Sometimes you need to be able to be really honest about things and we were and whilst it made for a hard discussion we were both sensible enough to listen to each other and thankfully came full circle by the end so back on an even keel as they say. 

I then headed home for a short while before picking hubby up from his destination.

Saturday was a quiet day where we spent some time plotting and planning for the autumn, booked some tickets and then enjoyed sitting outside enjoying the fine weather (particularly given the fact we had rain forecast for the following weekend)

We noted last week that we had done little off the 'to visit' list for the summer but I'll be honest this doesn't differ from previous summers.  I think because it is always much busier with the children being off and because the summer has been hellishly warm that we really didn't want to venture particularly far. 

However, one of the things to do was a day trip to York.  There is always so much to do in York, places to visit, shops and streets to wander, but our main reason for the visit was to find 'The Watchers of York' based on the gargoyles/grotesques on York Minster this was a small trail of 12 around the city which is more than doable in a day.  In addition to this we wanted to see the wave exhibition at York art gallery which we had only recently learnt about but was due to leave at the end of August. 

So last Sunday we set off for York less than an hour of motorway and we had arrived at the park and ride and headed into the city.

We got off at the train station and immediately found our first watcher, and then proceeded to find the next one in the Milner Hotel next. 

We worked our way across the city, surprisingly finding some new places that we hadn't come across before and had great views of the river. 

At almost 11.30am we walked past the minster down High Petersgate and into the art gallery which was really busy if I'm honest.

Three huge rooms showed the history of Japanese woodblock, how it had been at a time of isolation from the outside world, how the prints had to be given a seal of approval (and what happened if they weren't). 

We saw prints of courtesans that were revered, prints of plays and famous actors, prints at night to include bright moons and dark skies and finally we also saw one of the original wave prints, whilst tens of thousands were created only 111 remain and this was one of those.  It was surprisingly smaller than I had anticipated.  

At the end we had the opportunity to make our own wave print which was good fun and then we ventured upstairs for their normal art exhibitis.  There was a glorious one with new artwork which I enjoyed and then two huge rooms full of pottery including a ceramic armchair and some rather disturbing pots by Grayson Perry, the vases were ornate enough but the imagery was very challenging. 

Back out into the sunshine and we completed the trail 

Before hopping on a bus back to the car and heading home. 

Monday through to Wednesday I had busy workdays due to the financial audit we had at work, I was glad when I was finished on Wednesday if truth be told as it had been mentally quite taxing.

Thursday and we decided to deep clean the TV room, we knew an Aragog (giant spider's name in our house) had come into the room earlier in the week, we just had no idea where he was, so a deep clean was very much needed and so we spent a solid few hours sorting, hoovering, dusting, wiping, cleaning and sorting. 

I swapped the cushions on the sofa for orange and purple as I lean into my autumn mode and in the evening we popped to Ikea, I bought two replacement rugs, a little basket for bookmarks and some Kallax boxes to house my wool (with a further promise to hubby that it won't exceed the 4 boxes (fingers crossed I can keep to it). It was a joy to sit in the room on Thursday evening as the room felt so much positive. 

On Thursday afternoon (post TV room clean, pre-Ikea trip) my sister popped and we sat and chatted for several hours catching up on our week and enjoying a coffee, it was a really lovely catch up. 

I hope you've had a good week too. 

Hugs 

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 6TH OF 2025

 Morning all tis Friday time to spot the positive moments, silver linings and the things that made us smile in the last 7 days, time for 

So last Friday, I had a lovely catch up with my friend that I hadn't seen in an absolute age it was good to touch base with her. 

Enjoyed book reading and with the six nations being on this meant I could do a little more scrapbooking. Layouts completed recently going back to early 2023. 

This one was a hard one to do, just before my Mum had her hair shaved off due to her second lot of chemo and her hair was coming out by the handful, but she was determined to be around for her grandson's wedding and so despite saying she wouldn't do chemo against she endured. 

What my Mum loved the most, family around her kitchen table

Mum when she got a new hair do

Family celebrations for birthdays. 

On Saturday we headed to York for their annual ice trail, me, hubby and my sister, we had a lovely day running around the city looking for the sculptures. 

Here are just a few of the 30 sculptures this year

I loved the bell with a bell on top

We stopped to look at the sculptures next to the Minster that are being made and had to giggle at the 'hidden' face on this one, my sister spotted it first and literally laughed out loud. 

This was my favourite, they always make a stunning job of this jeweller's shop

Photo in front of the neon sign

This one was fun

and a photo of me and my sister on the Paddington bench

We stopped twice for refreshments, the first time we had a pistachio mousse and chocolate cake which was lovely. 

and we had a second stop for a cuppa which was very much needed. 

We managed to find 29 of the 30 sculptures, one we think had been moved from its intended place.  We also enjoyed a wander around some of the shops.  A fun family trip out and 17000 steps on my Fitbit

Sunday was as you can imagine a day of rest, we enjoyed watching Maverick and I started to catch up on the Great Pottery throw down, I've loved all of the challenges up to now. 

Monday and back to work, but I was grateful I was working from home as it meant that I got a fair amount done.  I caught up with some of my family online in the evening and I booked a wreath class for me and my sister.  

Tuesday is the day I really struggle it is in effect my Wednesday but after a long working day on a Monday due to compressed hours, by the time I get home on a Tuesday there isn't a lot left, so I was grateful for a quick tasty tea.  We also managed to pop out and pick a few bits up from Ikea and stopped for a cuppa and a muffin.  

Wednesday was my last work day of the week, a very busy day and lots of deadlines, but achieved them all just in the nick of time so we will take that as a win. 

Thursday, slow start as no alarm clocks, caught up on the washing and the sun was shining, I know it is cold out but seeing a bit of sunshine in my books is good for the soul. 

I hope you've all had a lovely week. 

Hugs