ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 35TH OF 2024

Good morning lovely people tis Friday time for

Well last weekend was a bank holiday weekend so an extra day, I always feel sad on the August bank holiday because the next one we get is then Christmas when we've hunkered down for winter. 

Thursday had been a busy day on the garden, still digging, lifting and shifting.  So Friday we kicked back a bit and went to see Twisters at the cinema.  It was a very good film and both me and hubby enjoyed the film immensely.  

We picked a few items up for hubby whilst we were at the shopping centre as well, always good to tick things off the list, although the centre was busy as parents gear up for the return to school. 

Saturday we had a lovely chilled day in the garden, reading and chatting and we had a meal in just the two of us on Saturday which we both really enjoyed. 

We went to Doddington Hall to see their sculpture trail on Sunday.  We had never been to Doddington before, it is a beautiful hall created by the same builder as Hardwick (which was obvious from the design).  

The house is still lived in so it is only open a couple of days per week and the gardens had extensive sculptures for sale (over 300) which was brilliant, we had a long day there before heading home. 

This was one of my favourite sculptures and it wasn't very big (hubby's photo is deceiving), called the rescuer. 

I also liked the clay mole

The gardens were extensive as you can see. 

Hubby thought this was a fun shot

And we liked the Icarus sculpture inside the gallery

I also liked the large glass sculptures and the glove which inverted them

and this was mighty cute too

Monday was quiet, we enjoyed the dry weather, I got some washing sorted, I also started to ail for some sort of late summer cold, which wasn't great and ended up feeling fairly rough at work on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Thursday we had another busy garden day and definitely turned the corner if I'm honest and I can now see the end in sight for getting the garden where we need it to be before the autumn/winter properly set in. 

And that my lovely people is it for this week, I hope you've had a grand week too. 

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 34TH OF 2024

 Morning all tis Friday time for

the point in the week where I find the silver linings and the positive things that have occurred in the week. 

You may recall I mentioned an epic holiday clothes shopping trip with my sister on last week's post, I didn't strangely enough share the photo, so I thought I would as you can see the absolute joy in my sister's face helping me get sorted and before you ask, yes I did buy everything in the basket. 

So last Friday me and hubby were back working on the garden, to be honest when we did most of the hard landscaping about 8 years ago, I was not anticipating doing anything major moving forward, alas that was not to be and we find ourselves having a fairly major overhaul if I'm honest. 

That said the weather was kind to us, which allowed us to get on with jobs, mine was a little boring and mundane as I was emptying pots and sorting a few bedding plants out, hubby however was on with sorting the arbour roof.  When we first did the arbour some years ago, we put corrugated plastic sheeting on it which lasted a while but not long enough, one winter storm and we were back to square one and I attempted a material based arbour shade which moved back and forward, but the material doesn't last if I'm honest over winter.  So we were back to the drawing board, namely back to a plastic solution, but a better plastic and more rigid support, we ordered the wood and the plastic and hubby worked solidly over the weekend to reinstate the roof and we had a leisurely few hours sat out reading and drinking coffee on Sunday so we are definitely seeing improvements. 

This is an 'action' shot taken in the midst of all the work, you can also see the additional woodstore at the back now filled to the rafters in readiness for winter. 

The area to the left where you can see the trellis is our next area to resolve but progress is being made which is the key thing. 

Sunday was definitely a day of rest, sausage sandwich breakfast, sat out reading for a good proportion of the day and then prepping for the working week. 

This week has been a little stressful as it is the start of the audit, but things seem to be going OK at the moment which I'm pleased with and those on high seem to be happy with the work that I've done so that is definitely a win win. 

I've enjoyed reading books this week, I usually have a number on the go at any one point and then I can go from fiction, to factual, self help to magazine and back again, the current main read is one called 'The Power' technically a manifestation book but from a more practical medical application backed by research it has proved an interesting read and has definitely created a few interesting conversations with the hubby. 

I hope you've had a good week too.  

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 33RD OF 2024

 Good Afternoon, I'm a tad late but time to clock the positives and the silver linings of the last 7 days

Well last Friday me and hubby headed to Sheffield to enjoy the Bricktropolis trail, this is a trail set up to keep the kids happy during the school holidays finding Lego sculptures across the city, however, I don't see why this should be limited to children so me and hubby headed up on the tram and had a fun day mooching around the city and finding all the sculptures, this years theme was Safari from the Meercats in the Millennium gallery

to the crocodile in the uni buildings

 

We had great fun

and got to see all the sculptures including some that were a good size

We also came across a few pieces of artwork that were stunning

and the Covid memorial piece was also very poignant

We also enjoyed the artwork in the Millennium gallery around metal work, these drawings were stunning

they were even brave enough to have a couple of sculptures outside

and the kids were enjoying playing on this one, so we had to dive in to get the photo in between visitors. 

and a selfie with the lion, you can see how sunny the day was

Sunday and our usual visit to YSP another blue skies day

the geese were having a morning bath when we got there

and I enjoyed a bit of the old forest bathing. 

Monday came around quickly and work has been mighty busy this week but I got plenty done and feel almost ready for the audit to commence on Monday. 

Thursday and my sister decided that we needed to go shopping for holiday clothes, we have a break booked which is a way off but I hate buying clothes (and she knows this) so she dragged me along to the sales and found lots of things for me to try on and before I knew it I had an ample amount of new clothes to go away with, I'm eternally grateful for her because I'll be honest I don't think I would have had the patience to search as she did.

And that my lovely people is my week, I hope yours has been good.

ROCKING YOUR WORLD - 32ND OF 2024

 Morning all tis Friday time for

Well last Thursday we headed off to Stratford as we had booked two nights, and were staying three days to see four plays (I kid you not). 

We travelled down, up hill and down dale (not a fan of motorways) on the Thursday, we arrived early, parked up safely and headed to Cox's bar for a drink, hubby enjoying a pint or two of cider and me enjoying non-alcoholic beer.  Then we headed down towards the RSC theatre through a market enjoying the wares on offer and chatting to some of the stallholders. 

We had a wander around the RSC shop and then wandered back to the car, collected bags and headed to the Premier Inn and were soon in our room (we had a few issues but we will skip those as this is my silver linings post). 

First play was The School for Scandal, a play written back in the 1700s and we had no idea what to expect. 

The set and costumes were in a very vibrant pink, so the theatre was lit inside as a way to set the play if that makes sense. 

like I said pink

we even grabbed a selfie before other people arrived

The play was fabulous and we really enjoyed it, we headed outside in the interval to enjoy some fresh air, although the theatre was fairly cool anyway. 

and another selfie

it was a beautiful summer's evening

a new art installation inside caught out eye

We headed back to the hotel afterwards and we were soon asleep.

Friday we had breakfast and then given the very hot weather forecast we decided to head out, I definitely needed a hat, we needed some suntan cream and some water as the next play was being played outdoors. 

We also enjoyed finding some items in a local charity shop and also wandering an art gallery so definitely a good start to the day. 

We headed over to watch an abridged version (1 hour 20 minutes long no interval) at the back of the RSC, the Holloway outdoor theatre, to an amazing play which we thoroughly enjoyed. 

Back to the hotel we had a brief time to shower and changed and headed out for tea 

at Zizzi's restaurant which was lovely, this was the naughty desserts which we both really enjoyed

hubby had me giggling away again, love this man so much, as we headed into the weekend and marked 34 years since we first met. 

The third play of the weekend was The Merry Wives of Windsor back in the RSC (yes same theatre as last night's play - School for Scandal).  The turn around from last night to tonight was huge as you can see a completely different set. 

Another selfie before this epic play, it was the one hubby really wanted to see and they really did a fantastic job, Falstaff was incredibly funny and we loved every moment of the play, the characters, the actors and set. 

The close of the play and as you can see the houses have disappeared and a huge tree had appeared, honestly an amazing set. 

The final day, we had breakfast, packed up and took the things back to the car.  We then had an hour or so to have a wander, we found the Falstaff statue near the canal and had to take a photo. 

Then the final play was Pericles at the Swan theatre, this was the one I really wanted to see and it really didn't disappoint.  

Final selfie at the theatres

and then the play, which was as awesome as I hoped and genuinely brought a tear to my eye.  Absolutely fantastic. 

We then had a jaunt home which took a while but we had plenty to chat about. 

Saturday evening we enjoyed chilling out on the sofa, eating cheese and biscuits and hubby enjoyed another bottle of wine. 

Sunday and our anniversary and we had slow day as we had had a busy few days.  Our son and d-i-law visited which was lovely and we had a few hours catching up with them.

Monday dawned and I had a few busy days at work as is normal.  Hubby is volunteering on the boats again, not sure if this is a long term volunteering opportunity for him as things have moved on a fair amount but for now it will do. 

Wednesday saw him very busy with a woodstore order we ordered a half tipper load

which filled this and some of the other old woodstore, so we should all be set for winter. 

And that my lovely people is my week, I hope yours has been grand, I'm late on catching up with being away last weekend so promise to have a catch up in the next few days. 

Hugs