ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 45TH OF 2024

 Morning all tis Friday time to clock those silver linings and positive moments on 

I realised I hadn't shared the Halloween pictures with you last week we put the silhouettes on the windows late afternoon and had a gentle trickle of trick-or-treat visitors through the evening the last ones being uber cute with heavily laden buckets of sweets.  

I also tweaked my door wreath with a few Halloween elements, me and hubby reminisced that it wasn't a thing when we were younger, it was 'penny for a guy'.  I remember my cousin commandeering an oversized scarecrow that my Grandma had bought and put on her landing and using it as a guy, she was sat outside my Grandma's pub when we headed down and I joined her.  Some of the regulars complained it was just the scarecrow off the landing, but they were still generous with their money, we made about £20 which back in the mid-eighties was a lot of money and my cousin was kind enough to split it with me, such fond memories. 

So last Friday I headed off to see my cousin who is recovering from an operation, it was lovely to see her as it hasn't been easy since her operation and she's been in and out of hospital.  Her lovely hubby made us a cuppa and we wiled away a couple of hours putting the world to rights.  I also bought her some pretty flowers as a gift.  It was just what I needed if truth be told. 

Then I headed into work for a meeting which was shorter than expected so that was a win win in my book.

Hubby treated me to a new book 'the Christmas Tree Farm' from the Dream Harbour series. 

Saturday was a busy day around the house, we managed to get both cars washed and cleaned, I also caught up on the washing which was beginning to pile up and put in the room with the dehumidifier which is an absolute blessing at this time of the year in aiding getting the washing dry and keeping the atmosphere dry with wet washing about. 

Sunday was our kick back day, we had a leisurely start, enjoyed a walk around the locality, early afternoon shower followed by a 'hygge' afternoon, which means we lit the fire, got comfortable on the sofa and read, I finished the Ultra Processed People book which is something of an eye opener, I'm also enjoying reading a Hygge home book and finished the Cinnamon bun Bookstore and started the Christmas Tree Farm book. 

Monday and back into work mode, Tuesday hubby was back volunteering on the boats and Wednesday he was driving for my workplace as a volunteer so he had a busy week.  I was desperately hoping that would be my working week done, but on recollection at home on Wednesday evening, with meetings booked pretty wall to wall in the next couple of weeks I knew that I needed to cut some additional hours out.  Hubby suggested Thursday so that's what I did for 6 hours on Thursday whilst he was busy sorting the doors in the house that have swollen and started to stick, another grateful now that he has sorted them is that they all open and close with ease. 

Thursday evening and we had pre-theatre dining booked with my sister and then went to the theatre to watch Nativity the musical, which was excellent, a local theatre group - but done on a grand scale, incredibly impressed and a great start to the festive season (I know it's early but let's be honest Christmas creep starts in August these days, so November at least feels like we are heading into the festive season). 

I took photos of our food because it was delicious, this was a smoked salmon 'cheesecake' on an oat biscuit with raddichio and beurre blanc

Hubby and sister had the carpaccio beef in a raspberry vinaigrette dressing crisp capers and a rocket salad

we all had the same main, pan roasted pork chop, apple fondant, rosemary hassle back potatoes, sautéed kohlrabi (I wasn't a major fan) and cider and sage jus

Dessert me and my sister went for the chocolate fondant (yes hot pudding with melting middle) and homemade raspberry ripple ice cream

hubby had an apple tart with clotted cream ice cream

Some beautiful food and we were mighty full by the end of the meal.  

I'm also grateful to our son, who sent a text message to his Aunty this week, she is struggling and felt so happy that he'd taken time out of his busy week to check in on her and then my niece for also checking in with her Mum, it is lovely to see the younger generation being so thoughtful.  Not forgetting my daughter-in-law who when I explained that my diary for work (paper diary, I'm old school that way) had more crossings out and I was too late to source an academic diary to tide me through, offered me her second Twinkl diary that she wasn't using and said 24 year old dropped it off for me on Wednesday - like I said awesome young people being incredibly thoughtful, it means a lot. 

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

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 44TH OF 2024

 Morning all tis Friday time for 

I hope you've all had a good week, I'm getting back into the flow of work again.  Last Friday I had a blood test taken as I've been suffering with anaemia the results are showing the additional iron tablets are helping, so that is definitely a positive for the week. 

Hubby enjoyed baking on Friday. 

He made these beautiful hazelnut and cranberry biscotti

He made a fresh batch of mince pies with his homemade mincemeat which were stunning 

Saturday and we met my sister to go to Ikea as she was wanting to pick up a new table but wasn't sure it would fit in her car, this is hubby 62 year's young still being mischievous with the trolley that he used more like a scooter 

Saturday, me and hubby went to see the play 'Art' at the Lyceum in Sheffield, it is a strange play and whilst some explain it is a laugh out loud raucous comedy, it didn't quite hit the mark for us, it was only on researching it afterwards that we realised that it is a play translated from French, maybe it is funnier in its original language, nevertheless despite its overall strangeness we both thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Sunday and we headed to the local garden centre, to meet my long time friend Jude's daughter, who I have never met before, it is so strange meeting someone you know through social media, but have never met in person.  It was so lovely to meet her, we went and drank tea and put the world to rights before having a wander around the garden centre, hubby, my sister, son and daughter in law joined us so it was a full family jaunt out.  We also enjoyed all the stunning homeware and the beautiful Christmas decorations, the only negative from the afternoon was the fact that we forgot to get a photograph, honestly I don't know how I do it sometimes! 

Monday and back into work, Tuesday was a crazy long day, as I came home and carried on as I had some work to do on the audit. 

Wednesday night and me and hubby went to see a local youth theatre group perform 'Rock of Ages' it was a strange choice, given the drug references, not to mention the sex references and the strip club and whilst we enjoyed it some of the youngsters didn't quite hit all the notes if that makes sense, I actually wouldn't mind seeing it again as a professional production to see what that's like. 

Thursday we went to help my sister, she had some DIY tasks that needed doing and as usual my hubby got volunteered to do them. 

I hope you've had a grand week. 

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 43RD OF 2024

 Morning all tis Friday time for 

I mentioned last week that my Friday was spent working wall to wall, it was an incredibly tiring day but I did at least make some progress. 

Saturday we headed to my sisters as hubby was installing some new skirting board for her, she has decided to redo her kitchen, I think similar to myself she has struggled with the post-holiday side of things and thought a work around would be to throw herself into a house project.  So as hubby was busy helping her with one task, I set too with a paintbrush and by the time we had finished around 3pm she was making good headway and the kitchen was looking really good and she was plotting and planning what else she wanted to do to revamp it. 

Sunday and the first official lie in bed of the week which was very much needed.  I'd invited my sister over for breakfast before she started on her painting task and we sat and chatted for some time, which was good, we've both struggled recently with managing our grief and we find time together certainly helps. 

Monday all too soon and a very busy work week, albeit that mine normally ends on a Wednesday.  Thankfully this week, despite having a huge amount still to do I've decided that my four day normal break is needed so not touching work again until Monday morning. 

Hubby sent me photos of things he was busy with at home 

First up - his bread baking antics, the first two loaves, a mix of wholemeal and plain flour and the second two were wholemeal and spelt flour, which are a lot denser but still very tasty. 

Then homemade mincemeat.  We've both been reading/read Ultra Processed People, all about (obviously) ultra processed food and to be honest it has us looking at food in a whole different way, it is quite an eye opener and when you start looking at shop bought items and realise that many of the ingredients well aren't really ingredients and certainly not something you would have in your kitchen cupboards you start realising if you want to enjoy it moving forward, that you are going to have to fathom out how to make it yourself.  So this is pre-planned mince pies. 

Then on wednesday night when I got home we headed to Sheffield for 

which when I booked it, I genuinely wasn't sure what it was, but the answer to that is, it was a book launch.  Julian Clary was fantastic to listen to a good mix of book related discussion and general life the universe and everything and afterwards there was a book signing.  I knew I wouldn't be up to queuing as it had been a long day, but I did get a signed copy of the book that he'd signed prior to the show and it has to be said that it was great to do something that I've never done before. 

Thursday and we've had a busy day, first off I had a much needed lie in, not having to wake with an alarm was an absolute blessing today.  Then we had breakfast got dressed and headed to the local garden centre.  We wandered outside, I spotted some violas (which I didn't think they would have).  Then we headed inside for all things Christmas bauble before heading back outside and picking up the aforementioned violas, which I'm planning on planting out on Saturday. 

Then we went home, had an hour sat drinking coffee up on the deck and I got some washing out. 

In the afternoon we headed to Ikea to meet up with my sister, we had a few drinks of tea and then had a wander.  She's been struggling somewhat recently so I wanted to check in on her and then tonight, we've come home and had a go at making a tea we had at Zizzis last year, it is a warm salad with potatoes, green beans, bottled artichokes, sundried tomatoes, black olives, roasted peppers and courgettes all served with some smoked haddock and I have to say it was better than the original. 

I hope you've had a grand week too.

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 42ND OF 2024

 Forgive me for my tardiness, work has been a little fraught this week and so Friday disappeared into a day of working from home and before I know it I'm on Sunday already, but I've been doing this post a very very long time, so despite it being very late I'm still clocking what is 

So last Sunday we had a belated birthday tea for my little brother, his birthday is at the end of September, but we were away so arranged for a meet up at ours last Sunday.  Given the autumn feel to the day, we decided warm food of the almost bonfire night type would be sufficient.  We made a chilli which we had in the slow cooker.  Cooked jacket potatoes in the oven like my Mum used to make them (directly on the rack and just cooked, no oil, no foil, no salt, just a jacket spud).  We had hot dogs and hot dog rolls, grated cheese and fried onions and it was very much a 'help yourself' spread if I'm honest. 

We also had two plate stands of cakes, a layer of cinnamon cake, a layer of lemon drizzle cake and a layer of orange cake, all homemade of course.  This was the table before everyone descended. 

Once everyone had arrived we had a rowdy afternoon (we Yorkshire people do like to chat) filled with stories and chats, we reminisced about Mum and most of us ended up quite teary, almost turning into a group therapy session but not quite.  My little bro received belated gifts and cards where he hadn't received them previously and it was a wonderful afternoon.  Everyone went home with a doggy bag of either savoury or sweet as there was still ample left and then the house was quiet once more.  Time with family nothing finer!

After work at the beginning of the week we went to the local shopping centre starting to browse for potential Christmas gifts, which helped to start to formulate a few plans on that front to take the stress off. 

Thursday and despite the roads being busy with mid-week traffic, we decided to venture to York to have a wander on their ghost trail.  We had a hiccup with our SD card for the main camera which meant a dash into the centre of York to find a WH Smiths before we could really start the trail.  We also only really had a 3 hour window as didn't want to get snarled up in rush hour traffic and had theatre tickets and dining booked for the evening, we didn't manage the whole trail but a good proportion of it. 

But before the main trail we found the Paddington bench which has recently been installed to celebrate the new film that is coming out and hubby insisted I have a photo with him, unfortunately I didn't have my marmalade sandwich to hand. 

Then onto the trail, this one is the highwayman

the chimney sweep

the Roman soldier

The groom

The bride

and my absolute favourite, the knight

this shot is my favourite as you can see the detail but also see straight through him, some amazing artwork I'm sure you will agree. 

I also loved the detail on the bear. 

and the painter

We headed home, got showered and went out for tea at the local college, pre-theatre dining.  The food was beautiful and to say they have only been there since September they did fantastic!   

Then on to the theatre for 'The Good Life' which for anyone who remembers the sitcom is the story of a couple who bail on the rat race and become self sufficient, Tom and Barbara I aspire to your lifestyle.  The woman who played Barbara was definitely channelling her inner Felicity Kendal and the lady who played Margot was fantastic.  A fun evening was had by all.

I hope you've had a good week, I've been on mass blog catch up over the last day or so, apologies for my tardiness recently. 

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 41ST OF 2024

 Morning all I hope I find you all well time to clock the positives of the last (normally week but this time it will be clocking a few weeks). 

Well as you may have (or may not have) gathered we've had a decent length holiday, we went for 12 nights to Rhodes with my sister.  It is 7 years since our last foreign holiday so we were definitely ready for it and we had a lovely time.  

Beautiful hotel, great weather, good company.  We ate too much but then all inclusives are slightly dangerous for that.  I drank my body weight in coffee and water.  We had days out and days just soaking up some vitamin D and resting and reading.  It was quite literally everything that I needed. 

I've chosen a selection of photos 

First up me and my sister on the plane ready for our break 

and all three of us

This was the view from the sunbeds, the Aegean sea, with a lovely breeze to enjoy the late summer temperatures.

We enjoyed visits to Rhodes Old Town, which wasn't too far from us

A trip to Lindos which was stupidly hot on the day we went

The Acropolis at Lindos really doesn't provide much in the way of shade

A boat trip to Symi wandering the streets soaking up the sights. 

With it's pretty harbour and dainty painted houses

Whilst there was evening entertainment every night, we preferred a later meal time and just to relax either inside or out next to the pool before an early bedtime. 

This was one of the first nights

We also managed a few photos of all three of us, we got captured by photographers on the first night and used the same backdrop area for taking a photo of our evening attire. 

This was the last night when we both had a little more colour

This was the church at the Monastery at Symi that we visited, absolutely beautiful inside. 

Our morning view, with the hotel literally on the beach, this was a view I could quite happily brought home with me. 

I had no expectations of the holiday, me and hubby have been to Rhodes twice in the dim and distant past, so it was nice to return and see some of the original sights. 

Since arriving home early hours of last Saturday morning, we've worked our way through all the washing (and there was a fair amount).  I've returned to work and got to the bottom of the in box (not that all of it is sorted but I'm getting there). 

Been into work for an extra meeting, which was fine and reminisced over the lovely break we had. 

I must say that I'd happily jump back on a plane and head off again right now if I'm honest.  

I hope you've all had a good week.

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 40TH OF 2024

 Morning all time for 

I hope you've had a good week, I've been on annual leave and will actually be heading back today, so I've prepared this in advance to say that I will catch up with you all next week when I've had time to download photos. 

I hope you've had a good week.