ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 35TH OF 2025

 Good morning lovely people tis Friday time for 

So first up was a blood test last Friday to check on my iron levels, I got the results on Tuesday and all is good. 

We had a lovely catch up with my sister on Friday, we had a thorough catch up which was much needed and put the world to rights.  I miss my Mum when we do these catch ups as I know how much she used to enjoy a good chin-wag.  We popped to Ikea in the evening and I smiled when I saw this little set of spooky side plates for autumn

Saturday we were up and out bright and early to go to our son and daughter-in-laws home, they are getting things ready for the arrival of their baby in the autumn and there is still lots of things to do.  Said 24 year old was in the kitchen and hubby was helping, he completed the cooker hood and put some little shelves up and our son managed to get a panel prepared which he finished off the following day. 

In the meantime me and my d-i-law worked on the office, which is going to have a dual role moving forward of office space for son who works from home as well as baby's bedroom.  They had originally thought about building a wall but have chosen something less permanent in the form of a Kallax unit.  This was the room that everything that didn't have a home got put when they moved in, so it wasn't just a tidy it was a mass throw out session too and throw out they did.  They both did awesome at getting rid of unwanted items much of which went to help the local charity shop.  Hubby helped me reposition a unit inside a cupboard to maximise space and by the end of the day whilst there was still a fair amount of sorting to do the room was looking more like a bedroom.

Sunday we genuinely collapsed in a heap and had a book reading/chilled day making the most of the late summer's sunshine.  Hubby spotted this spider's web on the arbour and loved how it was refracting the light, apologies for the poor photo quality. 

Monday was a bank holiday, the last main one before Christmas, we had a tootle around the house and then popped to my niece's home for a cuppa and a catch up before finishing the day sat back outside enjoying the sunshine before coming through and having what I call a warmed through tea.  We had identified some cooked meat in the freezer that needed using up that I thought would make a fab burrito so we got some bits sorted and laid out this banquet and before you ask no we didn't finish it as it was so filling. 

Tuesday and Wednesday were very busy days work wise, I worked from home Tuesday and worked 13 hours, but I was on with the audit and wanted to make some headway on some other key tasks. 

Thursday our first day off of the week and we've spent it deep cleaning the drying room and it looks sooooo much better.  We've also had a fettle in the office as the aftermath of helping said 24 year old last week was a huge amount of shredding that needed doing, unfortunately our shredder has been on its last legs and we are going to need to replace it, but the pile of shredding has nearly disappeared now so it isn't a major hassle. 

And that my lovely people was the week that was.  

I hope yours has been awesome too. 

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 34TH OF 2025

 Good Afternoon lovely people tis Friday time for

Well last Thursday we travelled down to Stratford upon Avon, we had early check in at the hotel, so unusually for us we travelled by motorway and got there for about 11.30am, checked into our hotel and then went for a wander. 

We had three plays to watch over the two days that we were there, the second of which was in the theatre known as 'The Other Place' which we'd never been to or seen so that was our first port of call. 

Apparently this reopened in 2016 although it was the first time we'd heard of it. 

We then had a wander through the park and the art installation to do with the Two Gentlemen of Verona

Inside the RST near the Swan theatre was this inflated art installation which I loved

Then we had a wander and picked up some snacks from Marks and Spencers (non UPF sausage rolls) as we try and avoid any ultra processed/formulated foods these days and some olive oil cooked crisps. 

We also had a wander to the Shakespeare statue and the characters around them, 

and the faces around the base, all with different plants that had a significant meaning according to their respective statues. 

We headed back to the hotel and had a shower and then headed to Zizzis for tea which always has the nicest of desserts, this is a blueberry and lemon baked cheesecake and yes it probably was UPF but genuinely I tried not to think about that as I ate it. 

Pre-show selfie. 

Our first play was 'A Winter's Tale' at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.  It is a play we have seen before on numerous occasions, however, the play of two halves was very different to previous versions that we've seen.  The first half sombre and angry the second sentimental and heartfelt. 

The leader actor is the guy from the TV series Dalgleish, Bertie Carvel which we've both really enjoyed who was amazing in the play. 

This was the view from our seats, with the hanging moon on the stage, it changed during the show, sometimes clouds drifting over it, sometimes taking on a feel of Mars the planet and sometimes looking like the globe.  There was also water around the stage and we had to giggle at the first row being given waterproofs before the play started. 

The play was utterly amazing and we headed back to the hotel to dissect the same. 

The following day we headed out, it was beautiful blue skies, we went to the birth place and took a photo of the statue outside. 

and a photo of the birthplace

We also found some art installations that were linked with sonnets. 

We enjoyed a wander into a few of the art galleries in Stratford, they have such an amazing mix, before we headed to play number 2 which was The Two Gentlemen of Verona at The Other Place.  They believe this was Shakespeare's first play and it has a difficult ending (which we didn't know until after we'd seen it), but their version was very good and omitted the part of the play which is so contentious. 

We sat and had a drink before the show (and yes there was a real dog in the play)

This was our view from our unallocated seats

Pre-show selfie

Stage at the end of the play

The play went straight through with no interval and we thoroughly enjoyed it, the actors, the set and the view from our seats. 

I captured this photo of the lighting in the foyer on the way out, so very pretty. 

and another part of the art installation

I also found these characters on the top of a lamp post near the Swan theatre. 

In the evening after a meal out, we went to the Swan theatre, we had a walk around the free exhibition upstairs, I got this photo of one of the costumes the RSC has made at some point

the level of work on it is quite sublime. 

The floating head outside is sensational

Then our final play, Fat Ham in the Swan theatre and the premier of the show.   

Pre-show selfie

This was the view from our seats

And this was the stage at the end. 

Genuinely the play was sensational.  Based on Hamlet, but now set in the deep south in America all the key characters were there, but rather than the vengeful death scene, this was when the youngsters decided not to follow the same path and push back.  It made us laugh, it made us jump, it was heartfelt and awesome and I loved every minute of it, the actors were superb. 

Afterwards we overheard someone chatting to two gentlemen at the back of the theatre, it turned out one was the chief choreographer of the show and the other the playwright James Ijames which really made us smile. 

As we bounced back out of the theatre on a theatre high, we spotted these costumes up on the landing and went to have a look, the pink one from The School for Scandal last year which we saw.  

We also photographed the head piece worn by Bottom in the Midsummer Night's Dream that we saw. 

We headed out into a warm summer's evening and stopped at the quarterdeck bar for a drink before heading back to the hotel. 

If I could see any of the plays again it would definitely be Fat Ham.

We drove home on the Saturday and riding the wave of Shakespeare sat and watched the DVD of Midsummer Night's Dream that we'd bought.

Sunday was a quiet day and then back into work on Monday through to Wednesday.  A busy week again but one where I got one of the long standing tasks sorted which was great. 

And that my lovely people was my week, I hope you've had a good week too. 

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 33RD OF 2025

 Good morning lovely people tis Friday time for

Well last Friday we had a garden day, hubby had managed to source some more fence paint, so we finally got the last of the panels painted and I even gave the shed a quick coat of paint and hubby did the tops of some of the wood stores, so we are all spruced up again. 

Saturday we had a day of rest, we'd had a busy couple of days and the weather was fine, so we had a lazy start to the day, we had a late brunch and then sat reading out on the deck, nothing finer. 

Sunday we headed out for a walk, we did a similar walk last year and realised how many blackberries there were along the bridle path that were just going to waste, so this year we went a foraging. 

We headed off up in the hill and stopped at the pub.

Hubby enjoyed a pint or two, I had a latte and then I had a hot chocolate, both of which were lovely.

Pub garden selfie

On our way back we double checked that this bush we had seen on the way up was in fact a sloe bush, hubby has grand plans for sloe gin if they are still available once they have started to ripen. 

And then on to the main task, here we are mid-forage

Hubby didn't mind getting further in as he had jeans on, I had gone with cropped trousers. 

When we got home, we give them a soak in bicarb and vinegar to get them clean and then rinsed them.  Then we made two apple and blackberry crumbles, enjoying a portion with some hot custard in the evening. 

I've frozen the other one to enjoy in a few weeks. 

Sunday evening we sat and watched 'The Gentleman' film which we haven't seen for an age and then our weekend was done. 

Monday and back to work, working from home and then Tuesday I went into the office, but no internet meant I returned home so I could work as everything I do is cloud based. 

Wednesday back in the office for a busy day as usual, not helped by the silly temperatures.  

We've been doing a daily walk which is helping my back (but not my feet) as my job entails a lot of sitting in front of a screen which is definitely not good for you and I'm enjoying my reading at the moment, well with all the books from Hay on Wye that I bought are you surprised. 

I hope you've had a wonderful week. 

Hugs