ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 47TH OF 2024

 Good Afternoon lovely people I'm later than normal, time to clock the silver linings, positive moments and those little things that make life a happier place to be time for 

So last Friday we set off mighty early for a very very long day at Chatsworth, so we could enjoy the market, the house, the garden and the light trail (11 hours we were gone). 

We had a wander around the market, got a scollen and Christmas scone from the scone man and had a Yorkshire tea and 'breakfast'. 

We wandered the stalls before heading into the house around noon.  This year the theme is based around a children's book written about an ancestor of the Duke's he was interested in science.  It's a lovely Christmas story and has a lion and mice in it which meant we were on spot the characters duty as we wandered around. 

These were the first mice we found on our way around, diving into a pile of sweets. 

Christmas selfie in front of the tree in the painted hall

One of the beautiful trees on our venture around

The story was played out with these little stages

Two of the mice, (I loved these two), diving into the copper kettles to steal the t-bags, but it was only on getting home and zooming in did I realise that the 'orange' on the one on the left are actually armbands!

Mice on the stairs stealing the oranges

One of the many stunning wreaths around the house, if you zoom in you can see Mice who have been stealing the macarons. 

Mice in the presents

Hubby in front of one of the stunning trees

And one of the mice sat reading the story book in the library

Another favourite, lumberjack mice and the two handed saw cutting through the cheese on the main table. 

At the end of the trail the two lions, one made more festive

and the other sleeping as always

The garden was still a riot of autumn colour, I loved the crazy reflection of the plants on the grotto garden and thought it looked like a fairy town from a distance

We enjoyed our other scone before heading off around the light trail

The giant star was a big attraction

The clacking lights in the quarry garden had me amused

And finally the light installation on the house was stunning and set to music. 

Then we headed for a last wander around the market

before setting off home, utterly shattered.  

We woke on Saturday and overall I had quite a tough day, when times are hard and things are tough we tend to lean on those closest and for me without my Mum it often ends up being my sister.  But as we traverse life without my Mum now I am reminded that everyone is fragile in the aftermath of such a loss and so when I leant a little on my sister last week as I was struggling, she leant back and I realised to a degree her need was greater.  So we headed over on Sunday morning to give her a hand, she had started the great kitchen paint a few weeks ago, but had got half way through before she started accessorising.  So me and hubby went over, he put up a shelf for her and I gave her a hand to finish the painting and before we knew it it was done.  

We headed back home for a few hours and then she came over for tea, we sat and had a meal and then enjoyed the evening together reminiscing, putting the world to rights and sitting in front of the woodburning stove. 

As a thank you for our help (and she really didn't need to), she bought hubby a couple of bottles of beer and for me she bought me some beautiful flowers. 

Monday night and we had a family chat with my son and daughter-in-law and my niece and it was just lovely, just what I needed to be honest.  Sometimes it is good to talk. 

Then later in the week hubby treated me to these

As always finding the positives in the week always lifts me and reminds me of how fortunate I am to have people who I love and who love me back and that together we can all make life a little easier on each other.  

I hope you've had a great week too. 

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 46TH OF 2024

 Morning all 'tis Friday time to clock those silver linings, positive moments et al as it is 

So last Friday slow start to the day if I'm honest as I'd done work for the previous 4 days, my lovely future nephew-in-law offered up some free ice hockey match tickets which was so lovely of him and he said he would see what he could get. 

We had a tootle out to the shops, looking for frames if I'm honest, I did manage to find some, just need the time to now turn them into a Christmas gift. 

We had a quiet night in on Friday and chilled in front of the fire, doing my favourite past time of book reading. 

Saturday and we had a ballet booked at the Lyceum in Sheffield. It was myself, hubby and my sister. 

I've been to one before but my hubby never has, so the motivation was the fact it was a first.  This is the view from our seats, there was a screen in front of the stage at the beginning with digital snow falling - incredibly atmospheric. 

I bought a programme

and a selfie of the three of us

It was 30 minutes then a 20 minute interval 30 minutes and another 20 minute interval and then 30 minutes.  I was once again mesmerised by the sheer strength of the dancers and the costumes and the way the story was portrayed was fantastic, but hubby said "I like words" which means this may be his one and only ballet.  But I enjoyed it nevertheless and fun to see another interpretation of a Christmas Carol.

We came home genuinely not fancying cooking, we'd took out a chilli we had frozen a few weeks ago, we both toyed with take away and 'easy tea' from the supermarket, but to be honest we just came home.  We warmed the chilli, put it into flour tortillas, covered with the remaining sauce, sprinkled cheese and put it in the air fryer.  In the meantime I did some little tiny jacket pots and we had a sprinkle of cheese on them, one of the tastiest teas we've had in some time and we very nearly didn't have it! 

Sunday morning and we headed out with my sister to a local Christmas craft fair.  This is normally held inside but they are currently renovating the building so the stalls were outside, thankfully it was dry albeit cold.  We enjoyed the wander around the stalls and my sister treated herself to a crumble from the crumble stall, the only other place she has seen one is York and on the few occasions she has been they haven't been open.  She opted for the cherry filling, then liberal amounts of crumble topping, hot custard and a crushed biscoff biscuit on top and as you can see she thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Then in the afternoon I had decided that I wanted some down time on my own which meant I sent hubby, son, daughter in law and sister to the ice hockey, whilst I enjoyed some quiet time at home on my own, it might seem strange but it doesn't happen often and I felt I needed to try and reconnect with myself mentally. 

The tickets were up in one of the director's boxes, this is the photo hubby sent to me 

and this was their view.

Monday appeared as if by magic, I had some online training and then blink and Monday through to Wednesday turned into some very busy and some very long days. 

And then I find myself at Thursday again. 

I hope you have had a good week too. 

Sending hugs

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.