Well I'm going to go back to the lovely long weekend that I had last weekend, as I'd worked very late the day before I went on leave my boss told me to make sure I recovered the time. So I took the Thursday off, giving me a lovely 4 day weekend.
On the Thursday, me and hubby tootled out to Aldi and Morrisons to try and get some bedding plants, Aldi was devoid, but I had great fun wandering their seasonal aisles and picking up a few bits we needed including a paint roller tray with rollers and paints, hubby got some screen wash for the car and I bought two lovely bunches of flowers. Then we headed to Morrisons and I picked up some bedding plants as the violas in the pots had gone to seed.
Then we popped to Ikea to pick up a frame I needed and then we wandered Meadowhall, because we were a little early for our trip to the cinema to watch Fast9 which was quite frankly a little too farfetched this time.
When we got out went to Tapas revolution for dinner before heading home and watching Mischief Movies.
Friday and we had dental appointments, the first since before the pandemic, once we'd done with them we popped to my Mum to catch up and hubby returned a ring that she'd given him to melt down, but it was such a pretty setting he decided to simply get a replacement stone and have a go at stone setting.
She was over the moon with it.
In the afternoon we popped to B&Q because I needed a tub of paint but then I spotted lots of plants that had been reduced so I picked some up to add to the ones we already had. When I got back I took out the old bedding plants and put the new in, which in retrospect was well thought through because the weather turned somewhat inclement over the weekend.
Saturday and the rain had set in, so we decided to paint the kitchen/dining room in a day, as it is we are going to have to give the ceiling a second coat (sad face) but the room looks better for being painted, I just need to sort all the other things in that room to get it to work, I've got my eye on a mirror in Ikea (just hoping it fits the car).
Sunday and we truly used it as a day of rest, I was sat at my scrapbook table scrapping at 10.30am and did five layouts before finding a comfy spot on the sofa to watch England versus USA in the Rugby Summer Series, I sat watercolour painting some Harry Potter cards whilst sat on the sofa, we also watched Tomorrow War on Amazon Prime which was really rather good.
We were back to Monday in the blink of an eye and as always I've had a mighty busy week, but it has tripped along at a merry old pace, the weather hasn't been particularly kind, but my final working day today and hubby has managed to get a few lines of washing out as it has been dry.
I hope you've all had a grand week, if you fancy joining in pop a post together come back and link up and we shall come and visit.
Well for those that wander along and have a read, you will be aware that last weeks post of fairly devoid as I'd prepared in advance of us heading out for a break for a week, so this is going to definitely be a major catch up of that week.
We were staying just outside of Durham in a pretty cottage called Sheep Pen on a working farm, the cottage was lovely but as is often the case the mattresses were of the overly firm variety which meant a rather hard week when it came to sleep, nevertheless it was an absolute joy to get away and have a break.
We drove up on the Saturday and said 20 year old headed up in his own car with his fiancée and so my first grateful is that on his first long trip driving (his fiancée has driven them to Cornwall and back twice already, but he has always been passenger) that we all arrived safe and sound.
We worked out some fun days out and a couple of days where we went our separate ways.
On Sunday we ventured to one of the nearest beaches at Seaham, we enjoyed finding Tommy the WW1 statue that is on the sea front, a poignant reminder of the young lives lost.
Then we headed down onto the front in search of sea glass which we had been informed was available in abundance. I had never found sea glass on a beach before (not big on sand if truth be told), but once I'd got an eye for it we had a merry old time finding a large supply for hubby to bring back and hopefully turn into so mighty fine jewellery.
Eventually a small driftwood bench became available and me and said 20 year old's fiancée sat and had a lovely natter whilst watching and listening to the sea and watching the other two like magpies in search of sea gems.
Back up onto the front, we had been recommended to try out Lickity Split, a 1950's style ice cream parlour, so we headed in and got our fill before heading to a beach front bench to enjoy. Hubby and I both had rum and raisin and Turkish delight and said 20 year old had chocolate and bubblegum his fiancée had some churros as the selection of lacto free products on the ice cream front had proved limited.
Monday and we headed to Durham a beautiful city with is relatively compact if you head to the older part. We parked up and made our way up the hill to the Cathedral, we headed in and enjoyed a fabulous light based art installation in the Galilee gallery, then out into the cloisters where they filled some of the first Harry Potter films, then back into the church. We visited St Bede's tomb and St Cuthbert's tomb and enjoyed the beautiful stained glass in the building.
Back outside we made our way down the hillside and popped into the university bookshop, where said 20 year old's fiancée found a book on the subject of her third year dissertation that she has recently submitted a proposal for, so it was definitely a worthwhile visit.
Tuesday arrived and we headed to the Bowes Museum, a fabulous French style building built intentionally as a public gallery space. We've been previously, but similar to Yorkshire Sculpture Park they do have a gallery with a changing exhibition and this time it was the North Country Quilts exhibition.
Anyone that knows me knows I have a slight weakness for all things fabric particularly of the craft/art variety so me and said 20 year old's fiancée (who shares my passion) were in our element. The exhibition documented a style of quilt that was popular in the northern counties, including Durham, Northumberland and surprisingly to me Yorkshire. Originally a whole quilt design that was produced by hand, sometimes as a community effort and often as a key gift to a couple for their wedding. The quilts changed with the invention of the sewing machine and became strippy quilts which could be made similarly but in strips so they could be easily constructed on the sewing machine. I bought a book providing the history of the quilts and later in the week returned, to buy the other book and a cushion pattern created in the style of the northern county quilts.
Wednesday and me and hubby ventured out on our own, said 20 year and fiancée headed back to Seaham and then Durham but we headed to the Oriental museum in Durham, which is part of the university. It was a fascinating exhibition with a wealth of artefacts dating back from thousands of years to current and contemporary.
We were in there hours and then we headed to the Botanic Gardens which was a stones throw away to find some of their sculptures and enjoy some outside space.
Finally we popped to Spennymoor art gallery and got to see some of the fantastic social history artwork of Norman Cornish including his studio set up that has been transferred there.
As an accomplished artist but also a miner for 30 years he has captured a part of the local history in a way that reminds you of the history of the area. There were also lots of other paintings in the gallery done by other artists which we admired immensely, our next favourite are two young artists (twins) who had a full exhibition on the second floor that the curator allowed us to have a sneak peak of.
Thursday and only booked activity when we came away was Beamish, despite social restrictions still affecting the UK significantly we managed admirably around the site, although it was a shame the trams weren't running and there was in fact a bus replacement service (genuinely sometimes you couldn't make it up).
The day was incredibly warm and sunny (too warm for wandering a large site if truth be told), we enjoyed a portion of fish and chips from Davy's coal fired fish and chip shop and had a wonderful day.
Friday was our last full day of holiday and it was almost like it knew as we woke to continual rain, we'd booked for a walk around Raby castle which we've visited before, just me and hubby and whilst the castle was lovely and the guides were great the inclement weather meant that a walk around the gardens was simply impractical. We therefore grabbed a coffee and a bite to eat before heading off on our final part of the holiday which was to see Susie, Susie and I have been friends for an absolute age, well above 10 years, she was one of the original Rockettes joining in with my regular posts, we almost met a few years ago when we were visiting Stratford but alas it was not to be, but given we were literally 20 minutes from her I arranged to pop and have a coffee. To finally meet someone you've known for years in person can obviously be a little nerve wracking because I suppose personas can be different in person, but for me and Susie it was genuinely like we just had seen each other in a while we had a fabulous few hours, Susie providing a lovely cuppa, we got to meet Princess Peanut and all of Susie's beautiful cats as well as see her in her new home and I got to ooh and aah over her fantastic craft room, it really was the very best way to finish a holiday.
So that my lovely people was my week and it was utterly joyous. I won't bore you with the weekend washing catch up or the working week as it is nice to leave it on the holiday high.
If you fancy joining in pop a post together come back and link up so we can come and visit.
As it is I won't be back early enough to post on this as we are grabbing a little time off together, so I'm going to guess at what this week has hopefully had to offer
I'm praying we can dodge the rain drops
I'm hoping for some down time
Some family time
Some general chill time
To finding some new places
and enjoying some old.
I hope you've had a grand week, if you fancy joining in pop a post together come back and link up and we shall come and visit, I promise a full update next week.
Well it has been a busy old week overall last Friday we decided to head to YSP as a new exhibit had opened up
We went down through the formal garden past the snowman on the pond
Past the igloo, I loved how the sun was shining through
Towards the new exhibit, built around existing trees, the intention is that it will eventually disintegrate and go back to the ground leaving only a ring where it once was.
Inside the heather roof and timber frame was clear to see, we smiled at the grass growing underneath
The boughs of the trees puncturing through the framework
and the centre provides a beautiful open space to sit and contemplate in silence (although not everyone got the memo so there were a couple having a flask of coffee and a good natter when we got in there).
I loved the latted wood against the heather roof
and we grabbed a selfie in there whilst we were absorbing up the atmosphere.
We ventured on down to the Weston and had a wander around the Miro gallery, I've shared this artwork before but it always makes me giggle.
And the Skyspace was open and we go it to ourselves and the sky was forming pretty pictures with the clouds.
Saturday and Sunday were quiet days just tootling, we picked up some growbags for my Mum and loaned her some books I've just read. We sat out in the garden with a cuppa which was lovely.
Monday soon arrived and the week has been wall to wall work, but Tuesday night we got the fabulous news that said 20 year old had proposed to his girlfriend. I've shared the video on Facebook for those that wanted to actually see the proposal, I got really teary (in a happy way) when I saw it as it was just so romantic and there has been a genuine outpouring of love for them as a couple, it was their 3.5 year anniversary and as said 20 year old said it was time for their next chapter.
And that my lovely people is the week that was, short and sweet this week I'm afraid.
I hope you've had a beautiful and blessed week, if you fancy joining in pop a post together come back and link up so we can come and visit.
Well last Friday we were out on a boat trip linked with work, hubby and said 20 year old were crewing. We had a lovely day albeit that it was a little overcast, the absolute delight on the trip was this family joining us in the lock
A family of swans, Mum and Dad and 7 cygnets who were mighty happy to get in the lock much to our surprise but the sides provided lots of opportunities for the babies to feed and they were just as happy to move to the other side as we moved through.
Friday night was a quiet night in, as it was the eve of my sisters birthday she had organised for said 20 year and GF and my niece and her BF to go to Ninja Warrior for a couple of hours, this is the photos they sent, apparently it was great fun and utterly exhausting but they all loved it.
Saturday was actually my sister's birthday and hubby saw that as a lovely excuse to bake cake, not one cake but one cake made up of six cakes (the photo will make more sense), the bottom layer was chocolate and cherry, the second layer was lemon, the third was apparently cake flavoured but we actually worked out that with vanilla essence it was technically a vanilla layer, the fourth was orange, the fifth was plain chocolate and the sixth was raspberry using a raspberry essence. The outer coating was made of mascarpone and icing sugar and well needless to say it was delicious.
She popped over to enjoy a slice and we put up some banners to celebrate and she enjoyed a glass of zero percent rose wine which for the first time ever wasn't awful (0% wines are notoriously vile). As you can tell she was having a lovely day having spent time having her hair done (after a 3.5 mile run in the morning, not my idea of a fun birthday but hey it wasn't mine)
We lit the candles and sang her happy birthday, she enjoyed taking this snap as the letters were all mixed up.
Sunday we went out for a Sunday dinner which was lovely, hubby had Yorkshire pudding and onion gravy starter and I had a prawn cocktail, main we both had a beef roast dinner with Yorkshire puddings (more in the case of hubby) and then for dessert hubby had Eton mess and I had apple crumble and custard, we were definitely full at the end of the meal, but it was lovely.
The rest of the week has been mighty busy with work, however on Tuesday hubby took me to the local Tesco to source this book, I was hoping to get the other one as well but they had run out
So I bought this one instead as it was on a 2 for £9 deal
and then whilst I was at work the following day he popped out and bought me the other one.
I've spent a bit of time reading my Bridgerton books this week, but I'll be honest my iron levels must be at an all time low because I'm shattered and most evenings with the heat I've ended up fast asleep on the sofa.
I hope you've had an awesome week, if you fancy joining in pop a post together, come back and link up and we can come and visit.
Well last weekend I had a lovely long weekend as I took the Thursday off before the bank holiday weekend, so 5 whole days to enjoy and we were blessed with fine weather.
On the Thursday we ventured for the first time since last summer to have a look around Chatsworth house and it was so lovely to have a wander and take in the house as usual there were a few new pieces around the house, usually found in their vast archives, so that added a slightly new dimension for us but the real treat was at the end.
In the sculpture gallery the sculptures have been moved to make space for the temporary return of two of the four hunting tapestries. These tapestries originally belonged to the family, but due to death duties in the 1950's they were forced to pay their dues by donating these stunning works of art to the V&A museum in payment of taxes, despite the fact they had been owned by the family for over 500 years.
They were simply spectacular and the level of detail was amazing.
I had to smile at the horse
I also loved the colours and detail on the dresses
After we had wandered the house, I was most giddy to find some Chatsworth themed stickers and badges which I can see landing on a scrapbook layout at some point soon.
We then had a stroll around the garden, the new arcadia area of the gardens looks so well established, it is hard to think that the planting for this is only just over a year old, we also enjoyed seeing this finished piece of work
Thursday night we booked for a meal at Tapas Revolution, if we can't go to Spain, then a little bit of Spain can come to us.
I had to smile as the waiter complemented hubby on his pronunciation when he ordered the food, unfortunately despite fighting with Italian on Duolingo (a free app to learn languages), it really doesn't appreciate my rather broad Yorkshire accent.
Friday and we had managed to book for the cinema, I did think in hindsight that sitting in a face mask in a cinema for two and a half hours was slighty mad, but the film was brilliant and it really didn't seem that long. We went to see Cruella, now I am not and never have been a Disney fan per se, particularly in the singing animated variety, so I was a little apprehensive but as this was a live action film with real actors it was really rather good. 101 Dalmations is a book I read as a child and whilst the animated version is Disney there really isn't an awful lot of singing in it so it is one of my favourites. The film is something of a prequel explaining how Cruella got to be the way she was but is purely made up as there was never a written prequel.
We then popped over to see my Mum, sister and niece again, it was really lovely to have a catch up and put the world to rights for a couple of hours.
Saturday and we booked tickets for Wentworth Woodhouse, this time for the free flow around the house, whilst there is only a small portion of the house accessible, we really did enjoy it. We admired the artwork in the foyer
We also enjoyed the beautiful rooms
We stopped off at the coffee shop to enjoy a cuppa and shared a rosemary and honey shortbread.
Outside the cafe was the only photo I've ever seen of the devastating mining that occurred in the 1940's. At the time the owner of the house was not viewed favourably by the then government and they decided that the surface coal was needed and literally dug to the front door, the devastation is clear to see and it is a travesty because it decimated the gardens.
Today they have recovered albeit not to what they would have been like formally as they would have been in the houses heyday.
Sunday we headed to Yorkshire Sculpture Park with its new display in the long gallery, I loved this piece of art textile
This was one of my favourite pieces as well
Hubby made a delicious cake using up some plums and pears that needed eating, unfortunately the cake tin was simply not big enough, so it sort of grew when it was in the oven, which made us smile, but it was beautiful nonetheless.
Monday was a kick back day and we just chilled, read and I made a few cards, before I headed back to work on Tuesday. The rest of the week has tripped along at a merry old pace and I find myself at Thursday evening already.
I hope you've had an awesome week, if you fancy joining in pop a post together come back and link up so we can come and visit.
