ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 49TH OF 2023

 Morning lovely people tis Friday time for

Well last Friday we were due to go to see a Christmas Carol inside Sheffield Cathedral with my sister, but being a nurse she often picks up bugs at this time of year, so alas she couldn't make it.  Me and hubby went anyway and enjoyed a wander around the Sheffield Christmas market albeit that most of it was stalls to either eat or drink, we also wandered a couple of shops on our way around.  We had a naughty tea in McDonalds and then headed to the Cathedral.  The show was done by the Chapterhouse theatre group and was fantastic, the only down side were church pews for two and a half hours, my back isn't what it was. 

We had woken to a bright blue skies day, but Jack Frost had been painting on the windows

We had a wander around to the Church in the afternoon for the Christmas tree festival and enjoyed taking photos of the frost 

The festival was brilliant as always, I love the handmade items for the trees, they do make me smile from one-eyed donkeys

to knitted polar bears

and tiny mangers

The trees really did look beautiful 

and I enjoyed a moment of pre-Christmas solace alone in God's house

Sunday was a different story we woke to a good couple of inches of snow. 

and whilst it might look festive it really isn't very convenient these days.  Thankfully we'd already planned a stay at home and chill day if I'm honest.  

I've also started my Lego advent calendar, which really is now a bit of a tradition, although there are some days when I still have to google what the items are, thankfully Harry on the 1st was easy. 

The rest of the week has been manic busy at work, including today when my primary role was peeling potatoes for chips for our volunteer get together, I've had to come home and have a shower and all my clothes are going in the wash due to the smell of chip fat.  Hey ho the things you do, lol.

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 48TH OF 2023

 Morning all tis Friday time for

Well we've had a busy busy week because we've been off from work last Friday we had tickets to go to Chatsworth to enjoy the Christmas market, the house and garden and then the light trail around the garden.  I have to say it was a brilliant day albeit long, we set off at 9.30am and didn't arrive back until 7.30pm with 17,000 steps on our Fitbits to prove the busy day we'd had. 

The inside of the house was beautiful as always

we particularly admired the handiwork of these hand cut paper pieces

my favourite display were the snowmen along one of the corridors

The evil face of the glitterball snowman whose stolen the carrot really is quite intense!

Outside the blue skies meant only one thing, it was absolutely freezing!

The maze all prepared for the light trail with the globe lights

and the theme this year 24 days of advent and they turned the south face into an advent calendar with 24 doors that opened in sequence to music, it really was spectacular!

With different scenes played out. 

Saturday arrived and we had a busy day tootling around the house before heading to Barnsley in the evening for their second Bright Nights evening, said 23 year old and his wife came as well. 

First up the town hall that had a Middle Earth exhibition showing 

then on to the civic for unfurled clouds, an interactive light installations, affected by movement underneath it created a thunder storm with sound effects included and had written word from the Tempest play

Then another exhibition in the Civic which was spectacular, a really powerful piece of work it has to be said, daughter in law, me and said 23 year posed underneath, daughter in law commented that it looked like we were posing for our 'next album cover' which had us in hysterics

hence the next picture 

and a light installation in the main museum at the Cooper gallery

it was overall a wonderful evening. 

Sunday and we had a busy day and then in the evening we went to see the Luke Jerram piece Museum of the Moon at the Minster in town, it was lovely to see it in the church setting but it was definitely a tight squeeze

Monday was a dismal day so we tootled around the house but on Tuesday we ventured to Hardwick Hall to see their Christmas display.  It was somewhat sparse when compared to previous years, but they did put it on in an Elizabethan theme, I loved this staircase piece, we've done something similar at home but on the edges so we can still walk up and down. 

We got given a lantern to mooch around the house which made it very atmospheric. 

There were a few writing stations based around the house encouraged by posts by the Lord of Misrule and I must admit to taking the time to sit and write and enjoy the prompt. 

Outside and we found a kissing bough in one of the garden rooms, the room smelt beautiful with orange pomanders dotted with cloves and cinnamon hanging from the garland. 

Wednesday was a busy day getting jobs done, I don't know whether I'm more behind this year or whether I'm going to end up very in front if that makes sense.  But we did venture out at night to watch a one man show of A Christmas Carol which was excellent. 

Thursday and I encouraged hubby to have a day doing things that he wanted to do, rather than following my lead, he blitzed several episodes of 'The Continental' which he really enjoyed whilst I wrapped gifts, sorted out Christmas cookie jars and generally did crafty type bits with Harry Potter playing in the background, a lovely day doing what I fancied which is nice but I'm feeling very tired tonight. 

I hope you've had a good week.

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 47TH OF 2023

 Good morning lovely people tis Friday time for 

Well last Friday me and hubby travelled down to Stratford Upon Avon we went our scenic route and after parking up headed to Cox's Yard for a pint, hubby enjoyed Aspall's cider whilst I opted for the pretty standard for me these days Beck's Blue

We had an evening meal booked at Zizzi's hubby looks like he's ordered a giant pasty but it is in fact a calzone. 

I opted for sea bass and it came with some vegetables in a light dressing and way very tasty. 

Then we headed over to the RSC to what The Box of Delights, I've read the book recently and even though it was only written in 1935 it feels much older than that.  

We had another drink in the bar area, this would have been the originally entry into the theatre, but after the revamp where the made the theatre not only more accessible but also smaller this has become a bar area. 

The stage set was awesome, set out initially like a dusty attic

We grabbed at selfie in front of the pretty tree during the interval

and this is the aforementioned tree, it was so pretty

The second half and the stage set had changed somewhat, the wardrobes moved in and out of the set and at one point one was tipped onto its side and became a boat - genius set design for an amazing play. 

We travelled back up on Saturday and the journey was fairly stress free, once home I tucked into typical weekend jobs, washing etc as well as putting our case away, then we spent some time in the craft room.  Unfortunately I found that I'd not made nearly enough Christmas cards this year so had an afternoon of painting.

Before converting them with a little bit of scrapbook paper into cards. 

Hubby in the meantime was building little houses for a Christmas project we have going on at the moment. 

Sunday and hubby headed out to see said 23 year old and then they both popped back and we had a cuppa which was much needed. 

Soon into the working week, which is proving as exhausting as ever.  Said daughter-in-law graduated for the second time yesterday receiving her teacher training award, it looks like she had a wonderful day. 

And that my lovely people is your lot this week. 

I hope you've had a good week. 

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 46TH OF 2023

 Morning all tis Friday time for

Well it has been another hard work week if truth be told, but we are starting elements of festivities so I'm hopeful that that will raise my mental health back into a more normal zone (whatever that's supposed to be).

Last weekend, I had a lovely time crafting with hubby in our craft room, catching up with said 23 year old and his wife.  

Sunday I had a lovely few hours catching up with my Mum and my sister, my step Dad says its like a coven when we get together with there being 3 of us which always raises a smile. 

The working week commenced and despite promises to myself that I would do creative things in an evening when I get home I'll be honest in that there is very little left of my brain capacity to do much other than make tea, get into pj's and hit the sofa, I'm still midway through making a mini book. 

I christened my new gonk mug that said 23 year old and his wife bought me with hot chocolate this week. 

Hubby made his Christmas cake at the weekend, so the house smelt of Christmas. 

This is the creative book I'm on with at the moment, it is nearly there just not quite. 

My round robin newsletter arrived from the printers. 

and on Wednesday our festive season kicked off with a local production of 

It has to be said it was an excellent production of the play, the costumes were lovely, the singing included some of my favourite carols and it was incredibly well acted.  

I hope you've had a lovely week. 

xxx

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 45TH OF 2023

 Morning lovely people tis Friday time for 

Well it has been another strange week of it, it has to be said.  I'm going to try to find the silver linings again this week, as always and as I've said before sometimes this can prove easier than at other times. 

We enjoyed Fika time at Ikea when we went for a wander around, me and hubby had a dessert and then were very naughty and shared their new tiramisu dessert which was quite pleasant. 

Over the weekend, I enjoyed having some crafting time and made some birthday cards to replenish stocks.  I'd bought some papers that all matched so no need to have to engage my brain on the design (if that makes sense), hubby in the meantime was having a play with some Christmas decorations. 

We also enjoyed our first fire of the year as well, it was lovely to cuddle up on the sofa. 

Now the tougher parts of the week, my cousin who is only 42 had a heart attack at the weekend, which as you can imagine has come as an enormous shock, he is currently in intensive care and we genuinely don't know what will happen moving forward, so can you keep him in your thoughts this week it has really hit home to all the cousins and was so very unexpected. 

Then on Tuesday hubby started with chest pains, my grateful on this was a work colleague who got him to the hospital quickly, said 23 year old for rescuing me from work when I genuinely broke down so upset, the hospital seeing him so quickly and the result being no heart attack, however, they have identified a bloody pressure issue, so he is now on a diet to reduce weight to try and bring it down without tablets.  We will see how quickly he can move it. 

My other grateful moments have been my lovely Mum, her love and care this last few weeks have been so important to me.  My sister for talking sense to me and said 23 year old for just being him even though he too is having a bit of a tough time at the moment. 

I hope you've had a lovely week and hopefully next week I will have some better news. 

Much love

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 44ND OF 2023

 Evening apologies, I had a busy morning, tis Friday time for 

Well its been another tough week but with the support of family I'm still managing to tread water at the moment, so let's look back at the last 7 days. 

Saturday and we had a lovely afternoon catching up with some family, we drank tea and put the world to rights which was lovely. 

Hubby managed to have some quality time with said 23 year old on Sunday which was definitely overdue and I had a lovely catch up with my Mum and my sister. 

Monday came around and the week has tripped along as always, Wednesday I wasn't 100% again so ended up with a day off, I caught up on some much needed sleep if I'm honest and just had a slow day not doing anything special if that makes sense. 

Thursday and back to work, we went to see Sister Act at the theatre in the evening and had pre-theatre dining with my Mum which was lovely, the restaurant is attached to the college, so it is the students learning that we get served up.  I had the mussels in a white wine and cream sauce and duck for main with a chocolate brownie dessert, all beautifully served and lovely company too. 

The play was good, a musical and done by a local young theatre group, they gave it their all and it was lovely to see so much support for their work. 

And that my lovely people is about it for this week, I apologise it is short and sweet, but life is still proving a little hard work, so I'm just accepting the small blessings, the main ones of which always centre around family. 

I hope you've had a beautiful and blessed week. 

Hugs