Watched kettle and all that......

It's always been a big disappointment to me that every time I've bought an orchid in a pot it had looked beautiful for a while then lost its flowers then rarely flowered again. I've two healthy plants kept upstairs as just leaves didn't warrent public display, one flowered in January after quite a few dormant years but the other didn't, I may even have blogged about it as I was quite excited.

When sisterS bought me a new orchid just before our holiday in August I did warn her that I'd do my very best, however....
Well as you can see not only is it still in beautiful bloom but it is producing more buds all the time :-)

AND maybe it had brought me orchid luck as both of the original plants have produced three new stalks each all covered in buds. I've checked on them every day (sometimes twice) for what seems like weeks now, waiting for the first flower.

We go on holiday Sunday so I guess it will all happen while we are away!
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Four-day sleepover......

Daughter and E had their last trip for this year to Kentwell Hall as Tudor players and as always R comes here instead. This time we are having O here as well because there are no other players so Daughter would find it impossible to organise the school groups and keep an eye on O too.
Pinched this photo from Facebook

Friday - So bags packed they came Friday afternoon and O was so excited "my first time ever having a four-day sleepover!"
Quick cup of tea and Daughter and E were off as E has county music wind band rehearsals first.
Usual sort of evening with no screens for O after dinner so a little tv and books reading in bed.
First night of the Rugby World Cup, so R and I stayed on our own screens while Hubby was watching the England v Fiji game.

Saturday - R had drama so after Hubby went off for a whole day fundraising for the Bloodrunners, O and I tried pancakes for breakfast which were a bit of a disaster but don't know why (obviously got the proportions wrong as I never measure) then got R out of bed with just enough time then out. While she is there we wait in the comfy seating area where they also run a tuck shop, keeping my six year old very happy and while buying his sweets I was presented with a specially made cup of tea that Daughter had ordered the night before, bless her :-)
Back home and late lunch and both children spent most of the afternoon on screens. I fed the fish

We'll be out lots tomorrow so I'm not too bothered.

Sunday - using the same pancake mix that I'd kept in the fridge, today's breakfast was much more successful, cooking on a lower heat for longer. O said the first one was good, second was delicious, third was legendary, forth was epic and he even managed two more so six in all (quite a small pan), leaving just enough mix for me to have two.
R had brought leathers and boots with as she planned to spend the day fundraising with Granddad which means travelling there and back on the blood-motorbike, but last night she said she couldn't face getting up in time to leave by 8am, so I said I'd take her whenever she's ready.
She didn't get up till 11:30am and O had been grisly saying he was desperate for MarioMaker that he couldn't bring with, although promising me that wasn't the reason because he really really was a bit homesick, so a quick text to his dad and yes he was home all day so O went home for a few hours. I then took R here to meet Hubby

As I had a free pass to get in and a little while to kill I had a wander round before heading home. The show ground was full of all sorts of stalls and exhibits and demonstrations and the sun was out so the people were out too. I did take a couple of photos of the SERV stand with R wearing her bloodrunners hi-vis jacket but you know what it's like when the sun is on your phone......got home and the photos hadn't actually taken :-(

Home in time to put on a roast dinner and make some rock cakes

Retrieved O and he remembered to bring his own toothpaste as he doesn't like my minty one he likes his fennel flavour!  Hubby and R arrived back soon after so dinner followed by his favourite game at the moment

Then bed with two more Beatrice Potter stories. Hubby had gone bowling so R and I settled down with X Factor Bootcamp.

Monday - so much time is spent like this

Have to admit I'm finding it a struggle to get them to do much else, thankfully the computer O uses does get hot underneath so I'm making him turn off at regular intervals for it to "cool down".

R slept in all morning again. I did a little gardening but couldn't get either of them to help though they did play some crazy game together. 

O enjoyed a really long bubble bath

He is cute isn't he :-)

I had every intension of making trifle for dessert but as Hubby went shopping quite late I thought I should make the jelly separately or it wouldn't have time to set then O and I spent ages in the bathroom. Making dinner and dessert all at once I found that not only had Hubby forgotten to buy the Swissroll but he'd opened the freezer and thrown in a bag of veg RIGHT ON TOP OF THE OPEN DISH OF JELLY! Actually the children thought my not-quite-trifle of peaches covered in spooned jelly under custard and letting them put squirty cream on top themselves was a success! 

Tuesday - followed the same sort of pattern as it poured with rain all day. O played for a while with Hubby on our home gym so he got plenty of exercise and I did get R to learn some more of her lines for drama. And I got two loads of washing done which had to go upstairs on the clothes horse. 

Daughter managed to leave kentwell a lot earlier than expected so came here in time for dinner then she took them home. .....and all was just a bit too quiet! 

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Theatre: Sweet Charity......

I was quite excited as we were going to the theatre tonight and it has been ages!

The Musical Comedy Story Of A Girl Who Just Wants To Be Loved! Meet Charity Hope Valentine. A woman who always gives her heart and dreams…to the wrong man! Despite her dead-end job as a dance club hostess in the dubious Fandango Night Club she still manages to remain an incurable optimist. One day she meets sweet, unassuming Oscar and believes her luck has changed. But has she found true love and will all her dreams come true?

The New Wolsey Theatre proudly presents a new actor-musician production of this classic swingin' 60s, award-winning Broadway comedy with a mammoth cast of 17 talented performers. With brassy, toe tapping hits including Big Spender, If My Friends Could See Me Now, The Rhythm of Life and I'm A Brass Band, you won't want to miss this musical comedy story of a girl who just wants to be loved!
I love a good musical and this was brilliantly cast with great singers, dancers and musicians. I really enjoyed it.
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Jewish New Year.......

Shana Tova, a happy new year, to all my family, friends and anyone celebrating. Wishing you all love and peace xx

Beautiful roots.....

I've discovered a craft new-to-me when friendHW gave me a necklace and earrings bought in Idaho, US. She told me the large beads are made from potato! Of course as a crazy crafter I had to find out more. Google, YouTube and Pintrest showed me a few different methods so I decided to try out the easiest method first.

I chopped a raw potato into shapes, threaded them onto wire so they would dry with a hole in and hung them up to air dry. They felt dry and hard after a week but I thought two weeks would make sure.

I then painted them, (any sharp edges can be smoothed with an emery board) this time with acrylic paint, as I had some lovely metallic colours.

These were the two necklaces I created and planned to keep them for a year to test their wearability and durability.

However, when I took them to show friendHW and BfriendM they both fell in love with them and they each matched their outfits that night so perfectly that I had to hand them one each, which they both immediately put on. I suggested they let me know if there were any new shoots sprouting lol.

And now I'm drying more potato and carrot shapes too and will definitely try other food stuffs (although the slice of fig didn't dry well so that may need oven drying).

#SaveSyriasChildren.....

I'm feeling very sad and helpless watching the tragic news reports about the mass migration of refugees.

If you feel the same then we can help by making a donation. Whatever you can give will help provide something for those with nothing.

Mine went to savethechildren.org.uk
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High Summer hahaha........

Daughter, E and O are back at Kentwell for the Tudor high summer week so R has moved in with us. Not much like summer today (Monday) though as it's raining and the forecast is wet and stormy for much of the week ahead. Poor Tudors most of which are camping on a muddy field.

Sunday 23rd - Hubby did the long round trip to collect R from her dad and they got home about 8:30pm.

Monday 24th - I had a little help with some housework and while I was sorting out the drying laundry upstairs R made a start at painting some new bead project I'm trying out....dried potato shapes!

Hopefully by the end of the week they'll be painted, varnished and strung. I'm hoping to monitor these for sometime to judge wearability and durability as I've never made beads from potato before.

Tuesday 25th - and another wet and gloomy day. R spent nearly all of it on her laptop and I tried to use our sudden large crop of figs 

Open freezing seemed to work well, just need to test how they thaw. 

Almond cake and fig works really well, big and individual. The big one should have looked like flowers but reminds me more of stargazy pie lol.

The bread was my attempt at a filled couronne (crown) with figs, ginger and honey but that didn't work quite so well, think it needs a much sweeter richer dough. Took the photo from the wrong side too as that side had gone right over the tin and broke off! 

Wednesday 26th - still wet here and I came down this morning to three text on my silent phone from Daughter saying that both O and E are fed up with being soggy Tudors and may want to come home, today is awkward for her and me so they may be here early tomorrow if they haven't had fun today and changed their minds. R still hasn't left her laptop for more than meals. Apart from some housework I've made a few more beads using the neck of this green bottle and they are now drying out on a bamboo cane for about two weeks. 

Thursday 27th - and yes O arrived with Daughter about 8am, she stopped for tea and toast and left behind some wet muddy clothes to wash and then headed back to Kentwell. So we put on a wash while R went back on her laptop and O tried to use Hubby's old laptop for minecraft which really upset it......Hubby then spent hours rebuilding the poor sick laptop. So O decided it was a good time to play in the bath

The rest of the day was pretty much children on screens because when Hubby went to do some shopping he called into their house and M gave him the ipad, unfortunately that caused an O meltdown as he really needed the macbook-pro so Skyped his dad to ask if he could, so back I went with him to collect that and promised to return it later as M needs it for work in the morning. 

Friday 28th - took quite a while for us all to be up and ready to go out but by mid morning we did. A lovely warm and sunny day yaay! First a bit of QD shopping for some plants and Hubby looking for a new bench which they didn't have, then a lovely riverside walk and a bit of playing on the park. 

M finished work 2:30pm so we collected up their stuff from all around the house and took them home at 4pm. Missing them already! 

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Lincolnshire holiday, August 2015.......

We stayed right by Burton Water near Lincoln,  me and Hubby, sisterS and bilK.

And to help with getting around here's the map.

Friday 14th - They arrived at our house lunch time as they are sleeping over and we'll all holiday in one car. The plan was to keep meals simple causing least effort, mess and washing up and to use up what's in the fridge. So lunch was pizza out of the freezer, into the oven and onto the table and dinner was baked salmon filets with jacket potatoes and lots of salad. The remaining eggs last of the fruit and almost a whole loaf of bread got packed to come with.

Saturday 15th - not too early a start, I think we finally left home about 9:30am after what looked like a stressful manipulation of men with luggage to get it all to fit (I know I could have made it all fit better but decided to stay out of the way lol). Our first stop was Suffolk Water Park for the full English breakfast, with a lovely view

A very easy drive of just under three hours and we had arrived and met by the owner to show us around and let us know how it all works etc. On first impressions we were all very pleased with our choice of location and property.

This is the view from our balcony (look right past the men and the beer and it's beautiful)

We had a good wander round to get the lie of the land, had tea in the deli, drinks in a pub and eventually dinner in one of the Italian restaurants all within walking distance. Back in our lounge and a couple of silly games and a bit of tv then into a really comfy bed. S&K's double bedroom is along the corridor with the ensuite shower and we are in the upper floor double with the jacuzzi bath (we're all happy to share especially as I only shower and everyone wants to try the jacuzzi). It's a bit of a mezzanine floor with the bedroom open plan over the lounge so I'd better watch where I stand to get dressed and undressed or I'll put everyone off their breakfast hahaha.

Sunday 16th - bilK did what pleases him most and cooked us all breakfast. Longish drive then longish walks on both Skegness beach and Sutton on Sea beach (lots of beach huts)

And tonight dinner was yummy Chinese in another of the marina restaurants. We are so lucky having lovely places on the doorstep.

Monday 17th - Today was Hubby's choice of looking at aircraft. First stop RAF Coningsby where we all enjoyed a really interesting guided talk. Second stop was RAF East Kirkby and we just let the men and their cameras pay another entrance fee and wander around.

This C47 plane had taken part in the VJ memorial flight on Saturday and had actually flown right over us on our way here! Tonight's dinner was in a highly recommended gastro pub which is walking distance but about 20 mins along the canal towpath, we'd done a fair bit of walking earlier and I was a bit concerned about coming back along the unlit towpath so we took the car on the slightly longer route and I drove home so Hubby could drink. He's spoilt eh?

Tuesday 18th - we woke to very heavy rain so we decided to do all Lincoln City centre has to show us. Unfortunately in the car swap at home bilK had left his rain coat in his car boot so today he used sisterS's little umbrella for a while but soon decided that being wet and walking faster was a more macho look altho we kept looking for a shop to buy a coat we never found one. Cathedral first, stunning, beautiful, interesting and very photogenic

From there it was back out into the rain to the castle and prison, to the pub for a well earned sit down and we left bilK there while we ventured on to a museum and down Steep Hill to find the Jews House, which used to be a home and synagogue but now a cafe and book shop, and of course the very steep hill back up again to collect bilK and head to Brown's the famous pie shop but just too late for lunch and too early for them reopening the restaurant for dinner so we bought takeaway pies then on the way home we bought potatoes and peas and ate at home followed by watching The Imagination Game, the film all about Alan Turing which was excellent.

Wednesday 19th - what a change, we woke to beautiful sunshine. As we'd done a lot yesterday we'd agreed on a lazy day. We eventually ventured out about 11am-ish and went for a walk (about 45 mins) along the canal which conveniently terminated for us at a pub!

A couple of pints later and we were ready to stroll back which surprisingly terminated for us at another pub! Two pints later and us girls left the men there and went home to sit on our balcony with mugs of tea. ....we know what's important eh? Dinner tonight was actually back to this last pub as they do 2for1 deal so all very well fed and watered for under £40!

Thursday 20th - when we arrived here and was greeted by our landlady she said she lived in Nottingham which we hadn't realised was less than an hour away, so we contacted our cousin who lives in Nottingham and she invited us for lunch :-)

It really isn't the best photo but it is a record of us all being together on this day. It was of course a lovely family catchup time and we got to meet one of their sons and a grandson briefly plus we had a really yummy lunch, so much that we decided not to eat out in the evening just have a light snack of what we already had. We watched another film on Netflix, it was "In The Name Of The Father" all about the IRA bombings in 1974 London and the wrong conviction of what was called "The Guildford Four". Very moving!

Friday 21st - grey start but has stayed dry all day with the occasional smile of sunshine. We've explored the north east coastline of Lincolnshire, taking in Grimsby and Cleethorpes a walk along the prom and a ride on the minature steam railway.

For our last evening here we booked into the posher of the local restaurants which is Italian. I have to say the food was nice but I don't think it actually deserved the inflated prices especially as they muddled all our steaks up and had to take them away and rearrange the plates without an actual apology! Anyway it was still a nice meal.

Saturday 22nd - all packed and vacated by about 9:30am and stopped at Boston which we'd kept till now as it's on the way home. The beautiful church has the local nickname of The Boston Stump but leaflets, locals and even Google hasn't provided a reason why it got that name lol. Credit to Hubby for this great photo!

The tourist information office is inside the old guildhall and it turned out to be a fantastic museum with little films to watch and interactive screens. It was the hottest day so far so we left the busy Boston town centre and stopped a little further out at a farm shop/garden centre/cafe and had a late lunch there. Lunch was lovely but the shop and plants did leave a lot of room for improvement! We arrived home just before 5pm and Hubby went straight out again to buy essentials and put fuel in my car  (he had a big money off voucher), meanwhile we unloaded our car and bilK loaded into his and the bloodrunners car turned up to unload stuff into the trailer and then had real trouble getting the car started again. ...I couldn't even offer him a cuppa as Hubby wasn't back with the milk! All sorted and a brief relax before we headed out again for dinner which sisterS and bilK paid for as a treat, thank you so much! 

Home and all to bed after lots of photo saving to flickr and sharing and swapping, and this morning as they needed to leave straight after breakfast we were all up quite early. Now they've gone and we've unpacked and on the third machine load of washing! 

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2015's birthday.......

Yep it comes around every year and I'm so pleased about that :-)

Last Thursday we went out for dinner with friendsL&K and I was given a little gift bag with my card and present that I've had to look at for five days, finally I unwrapped another little jug for my collection.

Monday night four of us ate out as our "girls night out birthday celebration", any excuse to eat out eh? Unfortunately my steak wasn't good, it was rare when I'd asked for medium and it was very chewy, so the very sweet waitress apologised and let us have desserts for free. My friends sent me home with more cards and gift bags full of presents.

Yesterday was my birthday and my lovely day started with opening all my presents and cards, I'm such a lucky girl (never too old to be a girl). Hubby cooked my breakfast and after that I had trouble getting off the sofa because of all the well wishers coming through on facebook, messenger, WhatsApp, email, text and phone calls.....I was feeling very special.

Daughter and family arrived soon after lunch, her partner arriving after work. We had nine sitting down for dinner (hubby and I cooked a roast together) and Son arrived for the evening (work and traffic delays) so I shared this birthday with my husband, both of our children, all of our grandchildren and even a couple of extras, it's been quite a few years since we've managed to all get together on the right day.

Daughter made my chocolate cheesecake dessert/birthday cake which was absolutely delicious

SYO concert at Snape Prom.....

Last night was the Suffolk Youth Orchestra end of summer tour finale concert.

They have played four concerts this year in the Czech and Slovak Republics. What a great opportunity for young musicians. E said it was brilliant and apart from the incredibly exhausting very long hours on a coach she loved it.

Daughter had bought me and herself seats for Snape a long time ago. Just before E came home from tour Daughter kidnapped E's best friend to come and stay and surprise her. E'sBF then wanted to come to the concert (she's never been to anything like it before) but unfortunately Daughter could only get a prom ticket which is sitting on the floor right in front of the stage.

We arrived in plenty of time, collected the tickets, found a bench for our picnic and enjoyed the view. Had time for a short wander and to admire the sculptures then went inside. I love the huge hall which isn't decorated at all, has vast walls of open brickwork and a massive ceiling of open beams, but I know has the most amazing acoustics so you feel pleasure just walking through the door.

When it came to it E'sBF was a little nervous sitting down there by herself so Daughter sent her to sit up with me and she sat on her cushion, could hear it all but see nothing. We could see E on percussion really clearly. Beside me was in fact an empty seat and my nearest neighbour said it was her ticket which wasn't going to be used and she was happy for Daughter to use it after the interval.

As luck would have it the piece they played which took up the whole of the second half needed only one timpany player so four percussionists just sat on stage doing nothing. They did, however, get a special mention from the conductor and all played in the encore piece.

A lovely evening and yet another proud grandma moment to treasure.
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