Along the coast

 The shoreline in Southsea, Portsmouth

 is being rebuilt, the long section from Clarence pier has been done, it looks fantastic, here looking back towards the pier. They reused the historic shelters mixed with loads of modern seating areas.

We saw a Navy ship (I'm female so I don't know what type), the Isle of Wright ferry and a private 'boat' (ditto), the hovercraft also passes through here as well.

The wide walkways and all the huge rocks are much nicer.

One of the three towers in the Solent, built to protect Portsmouth harbour.

From the main pier, 

Our lunchtime view.

We sat by the shore to eat, fish and chips, 

perfect location on a bright warm day.

The section of beach by the main pier is closed off, they are very close to finishing the huge upgrade, it is a walk we have done often, so we can't wait until it's open. Having a sunny day will always help, there were many people walking but it did not feel busy, we enjoyed watching young children on scooters and bikes all playing safely. 

Our visitor is in London for a short visit, and then back home to Spain, we are home alone until next month, when hubby's sister and husband come to stay. Having dry weather helped so much, we were able to pop out and visit places, we have many tourist spots, we try and avoid the busy places. 

Locally

We popped on the hill above Portsmouth just on the edge of our village, on Thursday, lovely views over the city and coast with an interesting cloudy sky.

Zooming in towards Portchester castle and the Spinnaker Tower. 

Down by the shore, now part of King Charles 111 coastal path.

I adore Portchester castle. 

Outside.

Inside.

St Mary's church. 

It's only when we see our local views through the eyes of a visitor, in this case from Spain, do you realise the beauty of where we live.

Thursday we stayed local, it helps it was a dry sunny day. Portchester castle is always a great spot to visit, beside the waters edge, across from Portsmouth docks. We stopped in our local pub, we don't go there often enough. Today we are going to the historic part of Portsmouth. 

Noisy break

 Daughter booked a get away in the same holiday park as last year, under an hours drive from home, so I'm half way through a 4 day break, hubby elected to stay home with Lilly. The children loved the hot tub, with cool water, they are having more fun than at the big pool. Mummy and I have our dip later.

The evenings are cooler, thank goodness, this lovely sky on Friday evening, we are not expecting any rain, once again it will miss us.

The park is peaceful, we have an enclosed deck for George's safety, we are not using the main pools they preferred the hot tub, we spend time in arcade and it's a rest for daughter as well. Again we saw so many people show so much kindness towards George and his siblings. We went out for a cool drink and football was on the big screen, George loves football and was stood beside 3 men, after checking with us they got him a chair to sit on, on when they got their drinks they got George a juice and crisps, strangers showing so much care, 

This break is much needed, the relentless heat has kept me inside, I have little desire to go out, plus the kerfuffle with next doors lies against such a lovely man, who, keeping to all the rules to do a job of trimming back all the overgrown stuff, most of her plants are now taller than our bungalow.  I'm feeling so much better, plus it's much cooler and better for sleeping.  

Summer holidays.

 We are having regular visits from our small people now the summer school break is here, they are happy to play inside or out. I sorted a huge pile of A4 card for Molly, coloured, shiny and glitter, she was very happy to take them home, after their colouring at the table, they played with chalks outside, they both love the squares on the patio. Will and Molly played noughts and crosses, it's great to see them interact together. 

We met up for a walk in the woods, with enough shade to keep us cooler, there were old buildings (forts), no longer used and very overgrown, Will loved finding them, the outer path follows a ring, which brings us back to the car, it was busy there.

Plenty of benches to sit and rest. 

These two are always so happy here, Molly is having 2 nights with Grandma, George is here for 2 nights, mummy and Will are having some time together.

We took George to town on the bus, he loved the journey, it was his first time on a bus, at our bus station the supervisor was waiting as we exited the bus, George was so happy, he said hello to him, he asked George if he would like to sit in the drivers seat, one very happy little boy. 

We had a dull day on Tuesday and drizzle rain, in my rain measure just 1mm, so not enough to celebrate, it was good to see, so the end of a 54 day dry spell. The garden still needs watering to keep the veg alive. Nothing due in the coming week. We keep seeing dark clouds, still no decent amount of rain, I have never known such a dry period.

Wednesday we were out most of the day, George's disability is visual, how he acts often is different, he loves to say hello to ladies and if they answer him he often cuddles them, so many people are so kind to him, it does give me hope for his future, tomorrow I will take him home, and have an early night, he has been a very good little boy.

Crafting

 I was extremely pleased to see an email from the publisher I use with a great discount, so I checked 2024 blog for the last time, uploaded it and paid for it to be made into the book, the saving was over £40, so waiting for the right discount is always worth while. November is always a good discount month, Black Friday is best, I am doing well with 2025 and will send it for printing then, which I have said would be my last printed blog book. I am happy with 2024, so far I can't find any mistakes, there are normally one or two, which is OK, I'm not perfect.

I decided to stitch the whole of the top line to enable me to gage the size of my work, the line should be straight, but the frame has pulled it wonky, I am enjoying this part, it's an easy design to stitch, this is called counted cross stitch, the linen is blank, I have a printed pattern to follow, I have to count the stitches to ensure they are placed in the correct position, sewing one stitch in the wrong place can cause huge issues, with a smaller repeat pattern it so simple. 

This is the first of three stars in the middle, they will tumble down, it helps ensure there is no clash in the designs, often when putting patterns together they can cause issues where there are not enough space for the whole design, so if I pop a 'star' in the way it hides any issues. 

Look what I found in B&M, at £5 each these smaller plastic pots were not such great value and slightly a different shade, still perfect for my tulip display next spring, I will order from Farmer Gracy, I got bulbs from them last time and they all grew, I will NOT purchase anymore pots. I need to cut holes in the bottom for drainage.

I did get my sewing machine out, I had a bit of mending to do, I prefer to do it and not let it mount up, plus Molly unicorn rucksack's strap required mending, she does love it, so I wanted to get it back to her. Most evenings now I have a video call from George and then sometimes another from Molly, Friday night she wanted to tell me she made a giraffe for the man's 100 birthday, I said oh Sir David Attenborough,  bless her she said 'do you know him'.

We are staying in an apartment with hubby's younger sister and her husband, his older sister is on a trip with her daughter, staying in a local hotel, older sister is 80 this week, so we decided to join in the fun and ensure she has a good birthday. We have visited Llandudno a few times, it's a lovely town and beach, we have been to the top of the Great Orm, sharing a space with his younger sister is very different, she does love to read, and shop. Plus we get time away from the work in the garage, which is coming along nicely. 

Our local councils have not changed much, most people know when something is working its best not to change, the area is a mixture of Tory and Lib dems, most of them had less votes this time, hopefully we should not see many changes. The cities of Portsmouth and Southampton have had the biggest changes.

Growing up

My pyracanths is spreading along the fence, this plant should grow to the end, it soon will have blossom which the bee's love and in the winter months red berries for the birds. I have two Jasmines, one is my winter jasmine, we see tiny yellow flowers when everywhere else is bare, the other which is still tiny I can't remember it's name.

 My honeysuckle is as always top heavy, I do get flowers, I took a cutting which rooted and I planted, so hopefully I should have another plant further along. 

I potted up my mock orange, for now it is placed here, I was thinking of moving further down the fence to fill out the bare section, this gives lovely white flowers, it's better in a pot as it can get huge. 

 This back fence is slowly filling out, the white rose in the corner has loads of stems, I am trying to fan them out, in hope I can block out the garden behind, with a bonus of being able to have cut roses in the garden.

I am not a fan of plants growing up fences, I know garden designers will always suggest to grow things up to blur your boundaries, I do love to see a tidy fence, we painted ours grey so they become a feature. Along this back section our fence is low, years ago we added the wire top to stop the neighbours cats getting into our garden and fighting with our cats. Now my mission is to have a wall of greenery, with flowers when I can, I can only see a small part from the house, but I am often working in this area, so it pleases me to have the extra good looking space. Our neighbours have a huge shed and do not use their back section.

Our soil level is higher than the garden behind, and they have 3 trees close to our boundary, so it is necessary to have most things in pots, along with a couple potato bags and my leaf mulch bins, it's a full area, wide enough for my water but and compost bins on the other side, my centre path is not huge but it works for me.

Hubby is still working in the garage, he does not require my help, which is OK, I can always find things to do in the garden, I have cut back the daffodil leaves, they were turning yellow, I have also cut back the bluebells, they had gone over, I can see what's growing in my side bed, I am hopeful things will return. My peony is not doing well, plenty of leaves, just two buds, one has opened, the other is distorted and won't grow. I have loads of buds on my climbing rose, the three bushes are still just leaves.

We voted yesterday,  local elections are important, our council has done well, not full of debt, now we wait the results.

Grow, listen and read

 I have my tiny net bags ready for the coming weeks, my strawberry tower is bursting into life, I kept a few more babies which are now good plants in more pots. These are the first two berries forming, the plants have loads of flowers, I find it very peaceful placing these bags over the tiny green fruits, they stay on until harvest, it worked very well last year, I had hardly any nibbled, I will leave some uncovered for the bugs and mice.

I have put my cucumber plant into a bigger pot using my own compost, which is not so dry as the commercial ones. Two of my tomato plants have flowers forming, the other two are still quite small, my lettuce are coming along. I am about to start my runner beans and peas, much later than previous years, I am hoping the later start will help against the slugs and snails. 

I think we may have issues with mice (wishful thinking) or rats (we had them before), Lilly has taken to this spot under the Acer, I have pots underneath which has been dug in, she sits here and watches for ages, I will check along the back for holes where they could be entering. Not the greatest of photo's, I took it from inside.

We had a perfect evening out on Tuesday, locally at Fareham Live, we sat for just over two hours listening to Adam Frost garden designer and TV presenter, I have a couple of his books and followed lots of his tips. Hubby was unsure but came with me, he enjoyed the show, it was Adam's last show of the tour, he is very easy to listen to and very knowledgeable, in the most friendly of ways.

I finished this book on Wednesday so it was added to last months reading list, another good plot read on my Kindle. Your new bride ask if her parents can move in for a couple of weeks on their return from living in France, they are strange from the start, but that's families for you. They don't want to leave, your wife is scared of them, what have they done. The plot builds to a brilliant ending, just a few chapters before the end of the book, what next, you will have to read to find out. Book 33 read this year.

Wednesday I met daughter in town, we had an early lunch together, it was a nice peaceful time, later I did more sorting in the garage, my bits are less than a third of the space and I've only been in there a couple of years, so not too much to sort, I ordered a storage unit from IKEA which should arrive on Saturday, my bits will be finished on Sunday. Hubby moved his bench and our fridge/freezer, everything has been sorted, loads of stuff has gone.

Thursday we had a couple of quotes to change the garage, one we accepted, the guy was lovely, local and well recomended, so we have until the end of the month to do our bit, we are both excited to make the change. We are able to make changes because we no longer store our garden furniture inside over the winter months, our new set stores quiet small and is great under a cover outside, so we are redefining some of the inside space.

Another couple of days at home sunny warm with that biting cold wind, I really hope the wind dies back and is not a feature for the summer. We are still very dry, one water butt is empty and the other two larges ones are going down quickly, we need rain, there is rain due in the coming days, but its not promised in our area. We have just realised it's a long weekend here, May bank holiday on Monday, makes no difference to us, other than we will stay at home on the Monday, local roads will be busy, we did a shop at Lidl and have everything we need for the coming days. 

Lazy days

 We had an us day on Thursday, firstly in our local town we did some pottery painting, both deciding to decorate a mug, hubby had no idea what to do and looked in their corner of aids to decorate. I do like his, he is very pleased.

I knew how I was going to decorate mine, I took loads of Q-tips to make dots, mine does look busy, will have to wait and see how it turns out, I forgot they had the fineline colours, which would have made it better. 

We also popped into Waterstones, I still had a gift card from Christmas, the gardening year is a book to add notes throughout the year, it has space for 5 years of notes, each month has 5 pages allowing a weekly entry, I will start it on 1st of April, the wildflower book was very pretty and a complete indulgence for me, I only had to pay £3 for both books.

Another new author, I enjoyed this clever book, another story where the outcome is hiding in plain sight, after a horrendous marriage and the death of the husband, she starts to engage with village life, making new friends, but at home in her cottage strange things happen. Book 25 read this year.

We had planned lunch out on Thursday, but we were not that hungry after having a mid morning coffee and cake, so we came home and had an early evening meal. I spent time outside in garden, not doing much, just enjoying the sunshine. Friday we did some other end of town shopping and popped to daughters house, Molly had her swimming lesson after school, George had ran around the last couple of times creating havoc, so we sat with the boys whilst mummy watched Molly swim. 

Saturday more time outside, I planted a new grass in Kurt's head, the last plant died, hubby has drilled a couple more drainage holes, the wind is still cool. Sunday was another day of rest, more laundry was done, I sat at watched wildlife, there are loads of butterflies and huge bee's this spring, The small birds are nesting, Magpies hover hoping to get to their nest, I always make a noise when I see them to move them on. Having very little to do in the garden is very new to me, I'm not good at sitting still. It's gotten much cooler this afternoon and cloudy, shame, it was nice whilst it lasted. 

We both needed a few of rest days, each suffering with back ache due to the tasks completed on Wednesday, we have had a couple of early nights, we are now both awake at 6am, a bit too early for me to get up. I'm feeling rested as is hubby, sometimes you have to avoid everything and look after yourself. Luckily George is behaving a bit better, daughter took them to the park for 3 hours to play with their friends, so a great weekend all round. 

Mothering Sunday

Saturday late morning I walked to our village monthly craft market, there are so many different stalls, a couple have become our favourite, with buskers and our local rock choir, the butcher did a BBQ, it was busy which is good. Recently our sell everything shop shut down, the landlords put the rent up too much for the business to survive, shame it was a useful shop, the village still has decent shops open, keeping it alive.

 Normally hubby gets me a plant as my gift, we choose one together for the garden, this year I asked him for these rings, he got me six, they are a perfect size for my veg bags, he cut down six supports which they fit on. A perfect solution to keep Lilly from using my bags as her toilet, shown here in my potato bags, also a good plant support.

I do love to receive cards, the one from hubby has been used for the past 4 years, I was beyond pleased to see inside the card from the children, I have always said I love big writing made by small hands, and for the first time ever George has tried to write his name instead of a scribble. 

We were able to have some time outside, Molly checked loads of bags and pots, she found my first early potatoes were sprouting and will need topping up soon, my peanuts are sprouting as seen in photo below, and lots of spring bulbs. The bikes, scooters and balls all came out to play, they had great fun running around for an hour.  

Hubby was out on Saturday until mid afternoon, so I had the laziest of starts, followed by a do nothing day, just what I needed, I did not do any gardening, I walked to village and later to our local park, beautiful cold sunny day. Much later we walked to the village to get everything for Sunday lunch, our evening we had pizza for tea with a glass of red wine I did a bit of knitting on my scrappy blanket. 

Sunday was another sunny blue sky, still cold, daughter and children visited, we got small gifts for each child to give her and a card, lunch was KFC style chicken in rolls, except for Molly who had breaded chicken, followed by fresh fruit (not grown by me, too early) and ice cream, a dairy free one for Molly and George. They went home early afternoon, which now gives us time to relax, I am going to get my knitting needles out, it's gone cloudy and we were promised the tail end of the storm floating across the UK. 

I hope if you are celebrating today, you are having a good day as well, it's been a great weekend. 

In between

Christmas day, daughter did her table, normally my role, but this year I spent my time with the children, who had far too many gifts and loads of money, the meal was perfect and traditional, Molly and Will did not have vegetables, George ate everything including red cabbage. Children were happy all day, plenty to keep them entertained. 

This image taken off Facebook, they are on schedule for the work on M27 motorway, the carriage way was removed and a huge hole made ready and the box moved in place, this photo on 27th. Now they have to replace the soil around the box, build the sides and relay the surface, the tunnel will be a road for the new huge housing estate, which will link it to Fareham. They also have to sort the roundabouts out and make the road links into Fareham on the nearside. loads of people are walking to a good viewing spot to watch, the drive to daughters was good, not as bad as we feared, but the roads are very busy.

Another new author to me, not really a thriller, I almost gave up reading at one point, a young couple move into their first dream flat together, neighbours to get along with, what happens when things go wrong. I hoped for a twist, which was weak when it came. Book 82 read this year.

Christmas eve we walked to the village, just some fresh veg needed, it was market day, there were extra stalls, we just got what was on our list, our local bistro was packed so we did not stop. Daughter stayed at home with little ones, daddy promised to spend the day with them, instead of arriving at late morning as promised he arrived at 6pm, apparently unfit to drive before, after a night out, George put himself to bed, Molly would not go to bed as she wanted her dad, Christmas morning Daughter asked us to come earlier, they had not argued, but he was not helping with the children, all their presents had been opened, he left once we arrived. 

Hubby twisted his back and was in some pain, I have another cold, so we came home rather than sleeping over, we had a late start on Boxing day, just the two of us, resting and reading we did not go for a walk. Sadly no leftovers here, we had steak and chips for tea, watching some TV. Daughter spent the day with her older sister, walking along the beach, cousins together. Molly has a chest infection and is taking antibiotics, so no plans to see them in the next few days.

I have wonderful memories of Christmas as a child, full of families, cousins, laughter, never picture perfect, mum loving having everyone together. Things change, as does families, it just seams sad that our mixed family, our children are all from previous partners, whilst never argued are all drifting away. We don't mind being together, we are both happy with our daily lives, I just wish hubby's children would show just a bit more love and care for him. Maybe I'm just a bit cranky this year wishing for an era long gone.

Exciting times

 I have had a sleepover at daughters house on Monday no reason other than to spend time together, loads of laughter, for all their excitement, they are not too manic. Molly was awake by 6.50am, which is later than in previous stays, so a more normal time, I had forgot the joys of waking up with a tiny person stood at the bottom of your bed, we had an enjoyable time together before her brothers woke up. AI at its best she loves this image.

I'm back reading, this book was different a new author to me, I read it on my Kindle apt, how quickly life can change, it starts with a murder? in a quiet family area, the police think they have it all sorted. Book 81 read this year. I am reading the Billy Connolly a bit at a time, savouring his words.

Sunday was a dull day spent at home, we were invited to a neighbour for coffee and homemade shortbread, I took a cauliflower stalk with me, for her chickens, later we caught up on missed TV.

Monday I was at daughters by 9am, so plenty of play time, the children are keeping their bedrooms and toy room tidy, so it was a day of playing, they had McDonald's for a treat for lunch.

Tuesday morning  we drove to ours to give little ones a different place to play, they both have colds again, Will spent the day at his best mates house, hubby made a marmalade cake which we shared, later I relaxed, hubby was out in early evening so I caught up with a couple programs I like to watch.

Today we will walk to the village, if there is room we will stop for coffee and cake, if not home for hubby's homemade treats, all my homemade mincemeat is gone, we did enjoy it. Spending time with the children has made me feel very festive, chasing away the blues.

At home

 If you drive along M27 near junction 10, you will see this huge concrete box, they have been building it for months, the plan is to turn the limited junction into a full working junction to support the huge housing development planned.

Everywhere there are warning notices, from 8pm on Christmas eve until 4th January the motorway will be closed, from J9 to J11, where a huge hole will be dug across the lanes the box will be moved into place and the motorway restored around it.

It's going to impact on us, if we travel to town or daughters house we have to join traffic from J9, daughters house is near J11. Even the bus route will be effected, as it has to negotiate a huge roundabout near J9, the traffic lights will be reconfigured to help the increase in traffic along the A27. We are planning a stay at home throughout, if we should want to go out, we could head towards Portsmouth, which will not be impacted.

My final gift arrived on Friday, everything is wrapped, the gifts we have here will be taken on Christmas morning, everything is going to plan.

I worked in my greenhouse on Friday afternoon, I put the plastic cover on my tiny greenhouse, which sits in the centre of my glass house, in here are tender plants, I checked my various flowering plants, all are doing well, just a bit of a tidy around and dead head some summer plants. The garden is looking after itself, hellebores are in bud, my dark red almost black bloom has no sign of life, I will be sad if it has died, I did look for another the same colour, without finding any.

Saturday was a busy day, we walked to village, my sister sent me money to get gifts for daughter and her family, I really did not want to go to town, so we got a bottle of wine for daughter and small gifts for George and Molly and money to Will. Later we watched the Strickly final with a neighbour, glass of wine and party food, it was fun, a much later night than intended, felt very festive.