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 82 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. 

Read, new, done

 This is a brilliant book, english couple living in USA, difficult to say much about the plot, it could have made a great slap stick film in places, I really could not put this book down, I do like this author. Book 80 read this year.

I ordered a silk cyclamen, it was a toss up between red or white, I settled for white as it will blend in with my other Christmas silk plants, and still look good against our green walls. It won't arrive until after the holidays, my real plants are full of tiny flies which is driving us mad.

I got my pottery back, I'm so pleased with this plant pot, I tried to blend the leaves and add a colour wash blend on the main body. It will live on my kitchen window sill. 

Daughters plate is stunning, loads of lovely colours,

 should bring loads of pleasure in years to come.

I have been to town 3 times this week, Monday for our normal wander, Wednesday to get the camera lens cover replaced on my phone, today to get our pottery, each time I took the bus, we are extremely lucky to have a great service, which runs from Portsmouth to Southampton, and calling in at our small village and on to town, the buses are new electric models as both cities have emission charges.

Thursday was dire, heavy rain for most of the day, it did not stop, so I cleaned the house, making sure both bathrooms are shining, hubby was bored enough to help. We both were tired by early evening, happy to have it all done. We did pop to Lidl for a few bits, just the fresh veg to get next week.

Thank you for your understanding of my comments regarding my brother, he has changed he does not go many places and stays home alone. He does not see the need to interact with other people, he is lonely, but won't admit it, I worry for him, its the same path as our older brother, who is now in secure home unable to care for himself. I try speak to him a few times each week on a video call, we text most days, getting older is no fun. I don't want to inflict our lifestyle on him, that's not my role, but I do wish more for him.

I am feeling a bit better, these past few grey dull days have not helped, today is blue skies, sunny and mild. Daughter and the little ones are busy in their last few days at school, her cousin from Somerset on her dad's side is visiting her, so we won't see much of them, I am sleeping over on Monday, no reason, just time together.

In a dip

 As part of my Christmas gift daughter got me a plant, I chose this white hellebore, daughter told me to plant it now, so its here under the acer in the slate, I think it will stand out more here and be in shade in summer.

The spring pots have loads of shoots, its always the same at this time of year, I'm not worried, they will die back and reappear next year in the correct season.

I've started reading this book it is truly funny, just loads of his stories, he is a clever comedian, he takes what we know and expands on it, life growing up in the slum's of Glasgow created this fine mind, even today he can hold a audience, pure genius.

I have loads to read, I've not read much this month, my last book I abandoned, just too boring, I also have a couple on my Kindle including Rob Rinders 3rd novel, so plenty of relaxing ahead.  

My brother is safely back at his home, its almost a 3 hour journey, he did say its probably his last visit here, he is two years older than me, apparently its up to us to visit him and wider family from now on, my sister is unable to travel, she hardly ever leaves her home, hubby is 76 and oldest driver. I adore my brother and having him stay, sadly his attitude has slipped so much, he often says he just doesn't care.

I'm feeling flat, the spare room is clean and ready for our next visitor, probably Will on a sleepover before going back school. I expect after a few days with hubby I will bounce back, the children are very excited, which cheers me up. We have very little to do, just last minute perishable foods for the fridge, just the two of us from Boxing day, so not huge amounts.

Thank you for your recent comments, Will is tall, almost as tall as me, he has shot up this summer, he is very caring towards George, sadly he and Molly are often arguing, nothing huge, they just are not good at sharing the same space, Molly is still too young to understand her older brothers needs, so the photo is special.