ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 27TH OF 2024

 Morning all tis Friday time for

It is time to clock the silver linings and positive thoughts in relation to the last 7 days. 

Well last Thursday we had a 'doing' day, it wasn't technically planned but it was productive, we managed to defrost the smaller of the two freezers, the one that always ices up too much if I'm honest, we'd struggled with one of the drawers recently and knew it needed a sort, but had to run the freezer contents down sufficiently to be able to do the job, an hour with the hand steamer and it was done and I reclocked what we had in the freezer to aid meal planning, so a job that definitely needed doing. 

Friday wasn't great weather wise, but we decided to venture to Canon Hall it is some years since we last went, when our son was young it was a place we ventured to often either for the farm with all its animals, or the Maize Maze which we used to go to every year, which alas they don't do anymore and on one occasion for him to see Barney the Dinosaur, I remember him being very unimpressed. 

We however had gone because of a costume display that they had on, however I did have to stand and admire the pottery display including this 'monk' jug

there was also a display from the students at the local college 

before heading into the main rooms with pretty ceilings

and finding costumes from the film the Duchess worn by Keira Knightley

and this costume from Queen Charlotte worn by the young Lady Danbury

this dress from the film Dangerous Liaison

and a few others from TV and film, they were all beautiful with such attention to detail.

Saturday the weather wasn't great, so we pottered around the house, hubby had come down with some summer cough type bug which making him feel rubbish, so a slow day overall. 

Sunday and we headed out to YSP, the weather was forecast as potentially rainy, so we had sausage sandwiches at home 

We walked down to the lake

grabbed a selfie 

before heading to a new exhibition by Bharti Kher called Alchemies some of the artwork outside

were huge

before heading into the underground gallery to see the length of glass bangles

the growing artwork linked with potential predictions from 2010 to 2039 when the artist will reach the age of 70

the rest of the weekend flew by, we enjoyed the new Ghostbusters film, although it wasn't as good as Afterlife. 

I started the working week coming down with hubby's lurgy, which is still lingering albeit that we are now on Friday, the cough is nothing but frustrating and I've had a number of fairly sleepless nights if truth be told. 

Yesterday my first day off of the 4 day weekend that I now enjoy I had a thorough clean through the house, got top side of the washing and sorted a craft desk (or two). 

I wrote out the birthday cards for July albeit that some are going to be late (and some very early) and got those sent off. 

And I photographed some scrapbook layouts that I recently completed going back to autumn 2022.

these were from the Center Parcs visit for my 50th birthday

this one whilst cathartic to make also makes me sad, I miss my Mum so very much, that smile and passion for life, her enthusiasm and love for all her family shone through on a day to day basis. 

I've been thinking about my Mum a lot recently, I think it is part of the grieving process if I'm honest, little anecdotal tales from my childhood, little glimpses of the past, all quite vivid in my mind.  I've started to write up her memoirs albeit that she only reached the evening of the night before she married my Dad, to say I'm frustrated with this is an understatement! 

I remember when I was younger that she got hold of a library copy of a Beatrix Potter book from a friend of mine, it was a book designed to create the characters using materials such as felt and fur fabric that she had out on loan for ages and ages before someone eventually requested the book and she had to give it back, in the time she had the book she made several of the characters I can't remember whether it was Appley Dapply or Hunca Munca that she made, but she definitely made Pigling Bland and after some searching of the internet I found someone selling a second hand copy, it has arrived this week and I took great delight yesterday cutting out some felt in readiness for making Pigling Bland again as a homage to my Mum and her absolute love of all things Beatrix Potter.  Hopefully I will be able to share it with you once I've completed it. 

I hope you've all had a lovely week. 

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 26TH OF 2024

 Morning lovely people we are back at Friday once again, it really seems to come around some quickly 

Well last Friday we headed off on our annual jaunt down to our old stomping ground of Stafford, we had every intention of going to Trentham Gardens as we have done the last couple of years, alas the traffic was very much set against us and despite trying various alternative routes it simply was not meant to be, so we headed to the hotel albeit very early. 

Once there and parked up we had a drink in the bar and then went for a mooch around the town, one of our visits includes a visit to the Picture House where we took my brother and sister when they were little to see Jurassic Park, it is now a Wetherspoons pub, but still has a feel of the old cinema.

The ceiling really is still very beautiful and it is probably in better condition than when it was used as a cinema if truth be told. 

We got into our room at 3pm, we had requested our favourite room which we learnt wasn't available so we got a free upgrade to a 4 poster suite, which was lovely. 

The view was great, we were overlooking St Chad's church

We had an evening meal in the restaurant where hubby took me on our very first date 34 years ago, genuinely where does the time fly. 

Afterwards we had a mooch around the town, the square looked pretty.

Saturday and after breakfast we had a walk up to the castle it is only a couple of mile out of the town albeit most of it is on an incline, thankfully that means it is pretty much all down hill on the way back. 

When we got there we had a look around the exhibits and hubby had great fun trying on some of the armour. 

Outside we had broken cloud and blue skies, we attempted to follow the trail around the castle but got scuppered near a particularly muddy/nettle ridden part, so we hacked our way from the other side and picked the trail up. 

After we had completed the same we walked back into town, had a pint at the Picture House, mine being an alcohol free cider and then headed for a shower and then out for tea at Zizzis which was lovely.

We finished our meal and headed around the corner to the Gatehouse theatre the venue for the 'castle Shakespeare' play for the second year running.  This year it was Twelfth Night with Seann Walsh starring as Malvolio, the whole production was simply fantastic and I definitely think Seann missed his calling in life!

Sunday and after breakfast we headed off to Chatsworth, we arrived just in time for our visit to the house.

Whilst we had seen the Childhood memories display before, there was a new display showcasing a fashion designer who had used the former Dowager as inspiration for their collection, the items were rather lovely. 

I loved how they got the motif on the jacket to match the skirt. 

This was very pretty although the sewn shells in the dress not so practical from a washing point of view. 

The painted hall was surprisingly empty of people (first time ever)

We sat outside on the sky space seat in the courtyard

And had a wander around the garden before heading home. 

The rest of the week has as always galloped along at a merry old pace mainly in relation to work but it has also been fairly unbearably hot with a heatwave affecting the UK.  Hubby returned to his volunteering role recently and looks like he may trial it again to see if it is still suitable. 

The hospital have written to say that his thyroid and calcium levels are stable so that is another thing ticked off the list and the other test I had recently has come back normal, so we are making progress. 

I hope you've had a grand week.

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 25TH OF 2024

 Good morning lovely people tis Friday time for 

So first up was last Friday I was in work as I was doing a favour for a colleague whilst she was on annual leave by writing the minutes to a meeting, I got home around 1pm so not too bad overall and the meeting was rewarding as I learnt lots of things about my new workplace and have a better understanding so definitely a win win. 

Friday tea time said 23 year old and d-in-law came for tea, we had a lovely evening having a proper catch up.  My daughter in law has been allocated her class for next year, which at first she really wasn't happy with, but we have a feeling it will allow her to open other doors moving forwards so I think she felt a little more content when she left than when she arrived.  Said 23 year old is embracing his new job and really seems to be enjoying it, which is an absolute joy for us as parents, he hasn't had an easy time of it in the last 12 months if truth be told so to see him excelling and enjoying what he is doing is amazing and he seems to also have a plan 'b' which differs to the original plan 'b' if things move in a particular direction, you've got to love a young person with a properly formulated plan 'b'.

Saturday was a tootling day which I enjoyed and it was nice to slow things down.  Sunday and we headed to YSP as normal, we enjoyed a cuppa and a sausage sandwich and then had a good walk, blowing the cobwebs off and chatting which was lovely. 

The green tree canopy is a summery joy to sit underneath

The sun was mighty bright 

The blue skies finally have arrived albeit that they don't seem to want to stay

The view was beautiful 

Sunday night I treated myself to a binge watch of Bridgerton getting to the end of the season, I really really enjoyed the season, I was disappointed to think it will be another 2 years before we are treated to the next season but I completely soaked up series 3. 

Monday and back to work, the working week has certainly tripped along at a merry old pace and then Thursday me and hubby met up with my sister for a cuppa at Ikea which was lovely. 

I hope your week has been fabulous too. 

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 24TH OF 2024

 Good morning lovely people tis Friday time for 

So this is the point where I clock the silver linings and moments that I'm grateful for, it reminds me of the important things in life and that my most precious thing in the world is time. 

So as it was my Sister's birthday recently and I knew it would be a hard one as she would normally have spent time with my Mum had she still been with us, as well as taking her out for a meal on her actual birthday, we planned get togethers over the weekend. 

The first of which was that she wanted to make a ghostie, she has recently done her bedroom at home in a very very dark green and gone all things gothic and she wanted a little ghost (or two) to add to the room.  So she came over, we got out the powertex, hubby gave her a master class in the same and then we set too drying them with craft driers before spending time decorating them, here she is showing off the two she made

We had had a sample run the day before and created these two which are much smaller but quite fun I'm sure you will agree. 

and these are my sister's one up close

Then we packed a very quick picnic (we ran out of time playing with ghosts so much) and headed to Wentworth Woodhouse for the Shakespeare play Comedy of Errors performed by the Three Inch Fools.  It was a night of madness, 4 actors trying to perform that play which has an awful lot of characters, I think each one ended up playing every single part at some point in the play, no mean feat, there was also a degree of audience participation near the end which had us giggling, but it was mayhem and chaos and had us smiling a lot so that was definitely a win, the weather was cool but the rain held off so definitely a win. 

Don't let those blue skies deceive once that sun dropped below the tree line we could definitely feel the difference, thankfully I'd taken copious amounts of blankets, coats, fleeces etc.

and here we are before the play started

Then on Sunday we got up, made fresh scones and put together an afternoon tea for 9 of us, no mean feat when everyone wanted their sandwiches slightly different. 

Hubby had made the plate stands and we had cooked the cakes on the Saturday, we had a great afternoon catching up and chatting, it really was lovely and my Mum was so very missed from the gang it has to be said, we all know she would have loved the get together. 

After the youngsters headed off to get people to train stations etc, me, my sister and brother, hubby and my brother's fiancee stood chatting about Mum and all things grief, it was time we genuinely didn't know we needed together and was good for our soul.  We laughed and cried and genuinely felt closer a wonderful end to a crazy weekend. 

I'm also enjoying these beauties bought for me by my daughter-in-law

The rest of the week has tripped along at a merry old pace it has to be said.  My working day has now started to 'speed' up which pleases me no end as I like a fairly fast paced day it has to be said.  Hubby has kept himself busy tootling around at home and now it is Thursday and the first day of my four day weekend.  

I hope you have had a great week too. 

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 23RD OF 2024

 Morning lovely people tis Friday time for

We had a lovely trip out on Saturday, we went to Wentworth Castle, we only have access to the garden as the original house is still used as a college, but we did enjoy a walk around.  Included in the gardens is the now renovated conservatory

The birds of paradise plant was in all its fully glory

The Lime Tree walk looking particularly pretty

We grabbed a selfie on our meander

The original Stainborough Castle built as a play castle for the kids (I kid you not)

and eventually the blue skies arrived

Sunday and another fine day so we ventured to YSP we enjoyed breakfast and then had a good walk

We came home and as it is volunteers week this week I did some baking with hubby which were very well received, raspberry and white chocolate muffins, cinnamon cake and a lemon drizzle cake.

The working week tripped along at a merry pace, my hubby had a hospital appointment following his recent surgery.  The removed thyroid nodule and half thyroid were found to be just an overgrown nodule and nothing else, which was fantastic to hear.  They did find a micro cancer but apparently these are so tiny and don't do anything, so they are going to discuss it again at MTD, but provided they are happy they will just check his thyroid levels and then if all is good he will be discharged.

Wednesday was my sister's birthday so as a celebration for the good news at the hospital and for her birthday we took her out for a meal, it was a lovely evening which I really enjoyed.  

Lots of positives this week lovely people, I hope yours has been grand too.