School holidays

 The schools are off for a couple of weeks, so visits from little people are most welcome, the garden once again is full of squeals, laughter and football. Note Molly's outfit, she was a shimmer in pink all day, her frilly dress suited her happy mood.

Molly checked her peanuts, three had white roots, they had been on wet kitchen towel on my sunny window-sill, so we decided to pot them up, she did most of the work, she is very good at following instructions, the pot is in my greenhouse for now. 

Both George and Molly checked the wildlife pond, I am loving they are interested in nature and what lives in the water, which is still very clear, so we can see things including 3 huge water snails and newts swimming. Will came and checked it as well, sadly we could not see if the frog was still in residence. 

We collected our painted mugs, these will be used for our breakfast drinks, mine is all bit busy, which is OK, I'm no artist as you can see. I do need to realise less is better, my flowers are huge, I do like my colourwash for the sky.

Tuesday was a very unexpected warm sunny day, we spent ages outside, children playing, us chatting to daughter, I am so pleased how well our garden works on family days, plenty of room for toys, football and scooters. Both George and Molly helped sort my second early potatoes, they popped three in each bag and then sprinkled compost on top. They checked my first early bags and was happy to see the green leaves. They saw seedlings in two flower bags and a single shallot top in another bag, both wanted to do more, but accepted not yet, with a promise they can help next visit.

Wednesday was a day at home, dull and cold again, Thursday we took the bus to town collected our mugs, had a look in the few shops left in town, Will is collecting Fifa world cup football cards, so we got him the album, and another for George, Molly got a Bluey album, nothing else required, hubby got a new pair of trousers. We had lunch in town, later I mouched around the garden and did a bit of knitting.

Friday morning arrived with overnight rain, a good soak for a change and breezy, nothing like storm Dave in the north, I hope everyone is secure, warm and dry, terrible start to the Easter weekend, another quiet day planned here.

April arrives

 Season almost over

New bulbs this year 

Still holding on

New season

And blueberries 

The garden is looking good, shame about the weather, no rain just cold and dull, my pots need watering. 

March round up

 Still no craft spending, I am enjoying knitting my scrappy blanket, garden spend was good. I did purchase two new pairs of shorts.

8 Books read in March.

Lilly had her visit to the vets, almost £100, its not cheap having pets, we had budgeted for it, no issues, she is a good weight.

I dug out 2 bags of compost from one composter this month, there were a few woody bits in there, I'm really pleased with the quality, I always need compost.

We did purchase a new steam floor cleaner and a separate handheld, I had steam mops before, this time we chose a floor cleaner, slightly sturdier, I struggle cleaning our wooden floors, my knees and back are complaining. Nothing else required, we managed to save a bit extra this month.

We are the same with food waste, we have popped the council small bin close by, for all the bits we don't compost, I had to remind hubby to still use my compost tub, he was putting bits in the council bin, I am again saving coffee grounds, I only save them in warmer months to use in our garden. 

I'm still struggling with my weight, I have put on 8 pounds over the winter months, gone up a size in trousers, I have not changed much, maybe not as active as before. 

As March fades

Easter has arrived here, I don't have too much, just enough to keep George and Molly happy, we have everything for their egg hunt, all hidden away for now, just hoping for good weather.

I had a long overdue sort out of my ceramic pots, these are for houseplants, I have no idea how I have so many pots, these have been cleaned and I have listed them on local Facebook marketplace, I don't think they will sell, so I will probably pop them to a charity shop. I still have a few left, which I like and will keep.

George has settled into calling me each evening at bedtime, they are allowed to stay up later in school holidays, we chat for 5 minutes as he settles, we chat about his day, he tells me his type of jokes, then he says goodnight and ends the video call, I look forward to a call everyday. Often all I can see is the top of his head.

Since Christmas Molly has been making me bracelets and now a necklace, she adores beads and making things, I visited a new shop in our area All over the world, which I loved, so many nice bits, we were very happy we could get her a few more tubs of beads.

Another new shop to our location is Hotel Chocolat, we both love their choice of flavours, it would be rude to visit the store and not bring anything home, these will last us ages, plus the store has a small bistro, making it a nice place to stop for refreshments.

Friday we popped to our local out of town shopping at Whitley, J9, M27, hubby needed a visit to M&S, and a stroll, it's an outside space which we do like, hubby got his new socks, I did pop into Flying Tiger but preferred the new store All over the world. Later 17 of us went for a Chinese meal, it's an all you can eat place, if you chose well you can get a decent meal, they are very popular and now have added more tables and chairs, we were at the back of the huge dining room, and it was a maze to get to the serving area. Having said that the conversation was fun, but on the whole it was very loud. 

Saturday we had a day at home, I pottered outside and in the greenhouse, I have planted 5 foxgloves and 4 aquilegia in their final places, and taken more plants out of the greenhouse to harden off. I had a coffee with our neighbour, I took a couple bolted cabbages to her chickens, later I did some knitting, we tested our brains with the 1% club on TV and remembered (well hubby did) to change the few clocks not linked to the internet. 

Sunday was dull and cloudy, shame we can't get two sunny days in a row, I still did my very quick (it's a small area) walk around the garden, with Lilly she is often beside me when outside. We did go for a small walk, the wind again was really cold.

Today I have very little planned, it's again dull with a few storms due, so a day inside, I have been a bit lazy and have loads of ends to sew in on my blanket.

It's been a boring restful weekend, daughter stayed at home with the children, she sorted Will's bedroom (it was a mess) and did some gardening, mowed the lawn, George and Molly happily played outside, they were both very tired last week at school and needed a gentler pace, we hope to see them this week.