Weekend

 This is 4 short stories which link together, the link was very tenuous, but the stories were good, more from missing person investigator David Raker, this being the last title in the set so far which I have read, my hope is he will write another story. Book 12 read this year.

George came home with star of the week on Friday, he loves school and is working well, he does have a 1to1 help, there are 3 disabled children in his class, so the ladies rotate between the children, which has given George so much confidence. We know this support is not available to every disabled child, many schools struggle to get funding and the right staff, the school has a great reputation and gets great results. George is very chatty and is now very good at pronouncing his words, he is thriving.

Everything is doing well in my greenhouse, I've never heated it, our weather is rarely too cold and we miss most of the snow, my sweet peas are shooting, I do struggle with these, but I won't give up trying. My flower beds need a tidy, but I'm resisting for a few weeks, I do need to trim the fleabane daisies in my newer flower bed so I can see all the spring bulbs as they grow. My greenhouse window opened for the first time this year, it was warm inside.

I've stopped taking my pain relief pills, doing pilates a couple times a week is helping my shoulder, I saw a doctor on Instagram saying they were not the best to be on long term, they sort the nerve damage, but they keep you drowsy. I went on NHS site, which said the same, I've been taking them for a few years, this week I have felt so good, awake and alert, as they are prescribed to take 'when needed' I felt safe to stop them. I am not sleeping so well, I will have to re access in a couple of weeks if my sleep patterns don't return, I'm feeling so much fitter, I've noticed the house needs a good clean.

We had another family roast dinner on Sunday, neither Will or Molly eat many vegetables at home, they leave all of them each meal, here Molly will eat vegetables. It also means daughter does not have to cook a meal, which one or more complains about and won't eat. George loves vegetables but won't eat much meat, Will only loves meals with chips. Typical children, we have all been through their picky stage of eating.

January round-up

 No spending on craft, nothing needed, I have been reading, I did get one pack of seeds for my garden, £10 spent on clothes and got a new pair of slippers. 

I have read 11 books this month, average 2 per week, I'm missing my garden. 

I finished off a great set of bargains this month, back in November I saw my favourite perfume at a good price at Superdrug, plus a offer of 4 points for every pound spent, I got the perfume and £20 in points on my card (hubby gave me the perfume as my Christmas gift), then my second favourite perfume was half price £30, so I got a bottle, used my points and paid only £10. Both bottles will last me all year. 

We have used £12.50 of Tesco vouchers, most of hubby's £50 Co-op gift card, and his blue light card 10% off the cost of our slippers, the customer in front of us used his card, so we did the same.

We got two radiator fans for the house, we are now much warmer even turned the temperature down one degree, we have changed our broadband and now have a saving each month with better download speeds. I have also changed my mobile phone provider, again making a saving. Our new phones were expensive, not the latest models, but over the next 24 months we will be making savings, plus we had a good price for our old phones, we are both loving the improved cameras. 

We have been nibbling through our Christmas foods, no waste, we did finish our Christmas cake, we both love rich fruit cake. We are eating out of our freezers, both were full, now we can see some space.

My weight recorded at the start of the month was higher than I wanted, but not as high as it has been in previous years, I was 7 pounds heavier in 2020 and 2018. I have since 2014 made a note of my weight on Jan 1st each year, 2016 and 2021 were my lightest starts to the year. My aim is to get rid of the extra pounds before the spring arrives, in truth I will be happy not to put on any more weight.  

Spring blooms

 I love to see tiny spring bulbs in pots, I have a few pots I bring on to this metal table each year, to be able to see new blooms at this time of year is pure bliss. There are crocus in another pot and my winter cyclamen most of which are still blooming. 

The first snowdrops have arrived, these by my huge herb pot in the side bed, I have small clumps around the garden and some more in a pot. There are signs of other bulbs starting to grow everywhere in the garden, I have some around my wildlife pond as well.

Loads of things doing well in the greenhouse, I have put the top layer of my strawberry tower in here, in hope I can get some early berries. My lime tree has put on loads of new growth, I renewed the compost last summer.

I adore this plant, I had one for years until the frost got to it, I forgot to cover it, so this one will stay in a pot, it has tiny orange flowers, its a fast growing plant. 

Monday was a cold, windy and wet day, with thunder and lightning followed by huge hail stones. We did pop Lilly to the vets, she is doing well, her weight is good, she was the smallest of the litter, her second jab is booked for 3 weeks, we will then book her to be spayed and chipped at about 20 weeks, she stays inside until all done. I had picked up a tummy bug, a couple day feeling yuck, I'm better now.  

Nothing else to tell you, got more supplies for Lilly, we are happy to find a brand of wet food she likes. Met daughter and Molly in our local town on Wednesday, then later walked to the library in our village.

With the horrendous weather we are doing nothing, I won't say too much about our weather, compared to most places in the UK, we get off very lightly, with only Norfolk and Suffolk areas being drier than us. I'm a soft southerner, I don't like cold and wet, together they bring your mood down and keep us inside.

  

Family time

 This is a photo gives me so much joy, daughter and Molly had time together last Friday, when asked 'where do you want to go', Molly's reply was the library, they stayed for ages reading books. Later George was sent home from school again, daughter sent the school a video of him once he was home, hopefully the school will understand he is tricking them.

I love this author, her books normally have a medical theme, this one is promised to be the first in a new series. It started good and kept going, where do spies retire to and can they ever walk away. The story line was good, it did not go too far into the unbelievable, again a clever twist with a nice ending. I consider this the best book read this year, book 10 read this year.

Another brilliant book, I have read most of the David Raker books written by this author all set in UK, this is a completely different tale set in USA, it's an huge book, a woman and her brother go missing, why, how, a police officer is looking into another missing woman's case, are they linked, what is being missed. I loved the whole plot, it's a survival story in more ways than one. Book 11 read this year.

I often stay in bed later on a Sunday morning, hubby left the door open so I had company, something that our other cats were not allowed, she is spoilt. Daughter told me to use the portrait setting on my phone camera, you can't zoom and the background goes a bit blurry, but much better photo's.

I got all my sweet-peas planted, I used all my deep root planters, these I hope to plant in the ground when they are ready, I had loads left over so they went into two pots, probably a bit too crowded, I will wait to see what comes up. I have nothing else to do outside, I still have not swept my paths around my veg beds. We had no problems after the storm, it's path was much further north, and the strong winds were of a level we often have here along the south coast. 

Saturday arrived with blue skies and much warmer, I did walk around my tiny garden, which is enough to keep me happy, loads of bulbs starting to grow, veg beds looking good, a quiet start to a busy day. Daughter came with her three little ones, they all took turns to play with Lilly, who enjoyed every moment and crashed out once they had gone. A lot of our conversation with daughter was about Traitors final, I am fascinated on how they swapped and changed their loyalties, I disliked Charlotte in the final.

Sunday was wet as expected, another named storm, less ferocious than the last, we were directly in it's path, so much rain again, we stayed inside reading we are both bookworms, listening to music, this month has rushed by when normally January is a long slow month, we have just finished the darkest 10 weeks of the year, a fact to cheer us all up.

Sheltering from Óewyn

 My sweet peas have shoots, not all of them, I will leave these for a couple more days before planting in long root pots. The clear plastic takeaway container with damp kitchen roll has worked as a good propagator. 

I do love this author, another great plot, once he starts looking for the missing members of the family, another case is offered to him, with help he works both cases. As with most of his plots, information is gained through the story, until a really good ending. Book 7 read this year.

Another new author for me, this is a brilliant book on so many levels, it twist as more of the story is told, very clever, hard to put down, told in a simple but effective way. Book 8 read this year.

This is the last catch up book in the series, it fills in any gaps for me, it still was a great book to read, each book is a stand alone story, another twisting book, it is such a good plot, and I can forgive when he has 'lucky' finds which the police miss, another missing person who leads him to more crimes. Book 9 read this month.

We are warm and snug inside, ready to sit out whatever Óewyn dishes out, we are under a yellow wind warning, the eye of the storm is in the north, once again we should miss out on the worse of the weather. It's very windy here, our little space is OK, no damage, just hope everyone else is as lucky. We popped to our local Lidl yesterday and got what few things we needed to last until Monday, we have no plans for the weekend, I did get another amaryllis bulb, reduced, it's already potted up.

We are both enjoying Traitors, we don't normally watch reality TV, no details or spoilers, just in case anyone is behind, we are both looking forward to the final tonight. We missed series 1, so I think I will watch it on catch-up. 

When we last visited hubbies younger sister, she had fans on her radiators, which helped warm her cold house, we have had issues in our spare bedroom, black mould has started to form, it's a cold room on the corner of the house where the weather hits, we have been using a radiator fan and it's making the room much warmer and has kept the mould away. We got a second fan for the radiator in the dining end of our room, the room now is much warmer where we need the heat, we have high ceilings which has never helped, the fans do make a noise, but it not too loud, they run on electricity so there is a small cost. We won't get anymore, we both like a cold bedroom, our office is very warm, why are so many radiators under windows, where the heat rises and hits the cooler glass. 

12 weeks

Lilly is 12 weeks old, so first visit to the vets for her in a few days, I've lost the bottom shelf here on my craft trolley, she loves to tuck herself down there, so I moved my bits, popped in some dense foam, covered with a towel and the felt scraps she loves. She rest here when we are sat at our computers, which is most mornings.

We have random boxes around the house, this one is in our office, which again she loves.

Not a great photo, once it was the grandchildren's toys, now it's cats toys, plus a box and a deflated balloon. No point in packing them away, she loves our wooden floors as she can slide along them.

This was my lovely healthy spider plant, it had wonderful babies on a long stalk, all in past tense, Lilly has been playing, the babies are now in water in hope they root, and the plant has been moved into the kitchen. 

My back is much better, I have started morning stretches on my journey to fitness, I hope to start my Pilates routine next week, I have notes on the first classes I went to and will follow them for now, I have also found some short video's from the NHS. The hope is to walk each day and make the walks longer as I get fitter. 

We are still doing very little here, our bedroom needs decorating soon, but we will wait until the weather is a bit warmer and we can work with the windows open, we have a half stud wall to build then it's just normal painting and a new carpet. The bedroom is the final room in the house, so other than our wooden floors (needs to be done in hot summer months) which needs sanding and re-varnished, the house is sorted, so a much easier year for us. 

We popped to town on Tuesday, nothing much we needed, more a chance to get out and about, we did stop for a coffee, it was dry and less grey. Today the weather is the same, rain is due and then on Friday storm Eowyn, again we should be on the outer edges of the storm and miss the worse it will bring, no plans for the rest of the week.

Outside

 The garden is looking tidy, which is the best I can expect at this time of year. I have moved my spring pots onto the table, so we can see them from the house, just to add some colour, I have a pot of snowdrops by the other corner of the lawn.

I did not expect these daisies to stay green all through the cooler months, I will give them a chop soon as I have loads of smaller spring bulbs which should come back this year. 

Veg beds are productive, I still have a few leeks to pull, the onions look good as does the broad beans. I already have plans for the summer growing produce.  

I have pots everywhere with signs of bulbs growing, this cider pot is my favourite, it has mixed spring bulbs and a daisy, should look good most of the year. 

Hubby said I butchered this olive back in the summer, but look at it now, it's a great size for the pot and so dense, I've not covered it as our night time temperatures do not get that low, I do have a cover should I ever need it. 

The hellebores are very pretty this year, I have two other plants still in bud, these are always the first new growth and colour in my garden.

I was outside for just a while, checking the greenhouse, everything inside is doing well, I moved all my spring pots from behind the garage, where they rest when not in bloom. The garden needs a sweep around to collect leaves, for now I have decided to let them lie, it might help all the bugs.

Daughter slept over Saturday night, we watched a film together, shared a curry and a couple bottles of red wine, as much as we love our grandchildren, having her to ourselves is brilliant. Her ex slept over with the children, Sunday we had the day together, she did go for a long walk along the shore, she is walking as part of her fitness program. Tonight we are having a lazy evening together, watching Pottery throwdown. We are also enjoying the third series of Traitor's, neither can decide who we would like to win, I'm leaning towards Alexander. 

Growing

Amaryllis time here again, this is the second bulb to bloom this season, I have a 3rd bulb already growing. 

I've started my sweet peas, I've not used the whole pack, just over half, the rest of the seeds can be used next spring. These soaked for one day, I then popped them on damp kitchen paper, they are on a sunny spot with the lid on to aid growth, once they start to shoot I will pop them in my long root growing containers.

 A very different tale, we all dream of winning the big one, how would you spend the money, would it change you, who you really are. A clever tale, a bit far fetched, but that's why we read non fiction, book 5 read this year.

I do like UK based police stories, it twisted and turned it's way to a conclusion, so many people who could be guilty. All through I had a slight feeling I had read this before, normally I remember quickly, it was the last chapter when I was sure, I checked and found it on my reading list for 2021, book 6 read this year.

I've twisted my back again, so I am am not doing much, it seams it takes less to bring back pain, which this time is taking longer to shift, Lilly is a lovely distraction, but I'm feeling a bit down, hopefully I can bring myself back up. I've not done any crafting, at some point I will get my yarn out and make something, I have plans to use my sewing machine, it will have to wait until my back is stronger. I am walking when I can and reading loads, we popped into the library, so I have plenty to read. 

We have tiny mice near our magnolia tree, they scurry under the bird feeders, we are both enjoying watch them run around, hubby scattered some seeds for them when feeding the birds, I love to see the mice, luckily we haven't seen any rats for ages, we have found a couple of small tunnels coming under our fence. I've not done anything in the garden for a couple of weeks, which is normal for me at this time of year, everywhere is looking tidy, I have things growing which do not require any input from me. 

What's new

 Another new author to me, I really enjoyed this plot, it started with someone running away from a dead body, it then restarted from the beginning, a family moving to a newer posher area, lives adjusting to their new status, then the murder happens. Good plot with a great twist at the end. Book 3 read this year. 

I've read this author before, another good book, do we and those around us forget our previous sins or do they make who we now become, a family story, with a couple of twist. Book 4 read this year.

We got our painted china from the café, I'm pleased with mine it is much better than I expected. The two blobs were Will and George's finger prints, the brown streaks are George's addition to my work. Sadly I'm no artist, I work much better with fabric and wool, art is not my strength. I did decide at home to add some transfers, which I think helps it.

We have not done much, just too cold, Friday and Saturday were days at home, with just a walk to the village, Saturday afternoon we sat an watched a beautiful heron perched on our neighbours summerhouse roof, it sat there for ages in the sunshine, I don't know of any ponds in local gardens, we didn't think it was hunting.

We got our new phones this week, you link them together and they automatically transfer all my data, except (there is always but) when we came to the verification code, it was set up to send the code to our land line number (which we don't have anymore) and no way for us to change it, we could only contact the help desk once we were past this point. Daughter came to the rescue again, not everything came over so once I finished the process, I paired my new phone with my tablet and sorted everything. We had a huge Sunday roast as a thank you, the children loved it as did we, sitting around our table, both Molly and George had seconds, it felt good to know daughter had a day without cooking, Lilly had loads of playtime, all three children love playing with her. 

Monday morning we popped to town, we sold our old phones which we did a factory reset, got a nice sum for them, we always go to CEX, they have always given us the best prices. I've change providers on my phone which is another saving, we had a coffee out, I also got two nice summer tops in the sales. Our car was in the local garage having the windscreen cleaner sorted, the pump was OK, the pipes had caused the issue.

Tuesday we had an exciting morning, a very young looking police officer knocked our door and asked to view our CCTV, an expensive new car was stolen last Sunday night just around the corner and he wanted to check to see if the vehicle they arrived in went past our house for registration plates, it was a long shot as there are more direct ways to get to the car, nothing found, but a bit of excitement on a boring morning. Daughter took George back to our local walk in centre, his school called and said he was struggling, the doctors have said nothing is broken or fractured, George played happily whilst waiting to see doctors and at home after, daughter is going to speak to school, we think school is either being too careful or George has another reason to cry.

Garden evolution.

We had no real garden when we moved here in 2009, decking was along the back of the house from one fence to the other, the lawn was dead and no flower beds at all. This post is just for me to show what we have done over the years, and how our garden became what it is today.

How we use are outside space has completely changed in the past 15 years, the garage access is no longer for a motorbike, since retirement we spend loads more time outside, it's a safe space, all on one level, lots of room to move about. The flower beds are very little work, just filling in any gaps, growing some bedding plants from seed. The veg beds are brilliant, gives the gardening I want and need, with small harvest as a bonus, having to work the soil through the year is good for me. 

Other than 2015 where I was showing the view with less decking, with grounds work being done, all my photo's were just the view from the patio doors, often without the huge decking area, which I considered my garden area, now our garden feels huge as we use all the space nearest to the house.

I did a post back in 2020, whilst in lockdown, I was bored with very little to post about, if you want to see more about our early garden, pop here. One year on from our refit, we are both so very happy with our outside space, our grandchildren have played outside whenever they could, even after rain, it all drains so well. 

Quiet week

 I had my first visit to my favourite garden centre this year, went with daughter and Molly, after coffee and cakes, we had a wander, still loads of Christmas stuff at reduced prices, which I'm not interested in. I did get one packet of seeds, I did say I would not bother with sweet-peas, but seeing so many people starting their seeds, I gave in and this mixed pack was purchased.

I've finished my second book, I have set myself a target to try new authors, this book I have seen recommended by a couple of people, it's not a style I would normally read, a good plot set in a small US town, a few twists which kept it interesting. I will read another book written by this author.

This little lady is turning my hubby into her slave, each morning she waits outside our bedroom door, to be let in our room, hubby pops her on our bed, never has a cat been allowed in bedrooms before. He has got her 4 new food dishes, finally the last dish she is happily using, plus loads of toys, and we are getting her Sheba brand of food. She does sit on my lap most evenings, she has settled in well, next week I will get an appointment for her to meet our vet.

Yesterday was terrible for daughter, school called, George had hurt his foot, so she collected him and took him to a walk in centre for an x-ray, which found he has bruising. When trying to get out the carpark she knocked a bollard and damaged her car. I got Will from school with Molly in the worst snowy rain storm, we all got soaked, Molly had a melt down when we got home, which did not help. 

We have been looking for new phones, after looking at contracts, we again have purchased new phones with separate sim only contracts, it's a huge upfront cost, but with better savings over the coming 24 months. We hope to be able to sell our old phones. We have also changed our broadband, we had been with 'ee' for a few years, they renewed our contract 18 months ago when we had them in to sort an issue, they did not tell us before or after, we only found out last year when we went to change providers. So I have been sorting my phone, swapping photo's onto my desktop and removing lots of things I no longer use, ready for the swap out.

Nothing much doing here, most days this week have been cold and dry, except yesterday, we are staying at home in the warm, ensuring Lilly has company through the day. This coming weekend will be the same, again hopefully dry, I hope to soak and start my sweet-peas. 

Still blooming

Through the cooler months I do have some colour in my flowering section, a few summer blooms which should not be, and my winter chosen ones. Bulbs are starting to show, I think these are yellow crocus. 

Also in the greenhouse.

Inside my hyacinths, whilst not that tall are pretty blooms, they should be 2 bright pink and 2 white blooms, another Amaryllis bud is opening, this one is white, I have planted the red bulb. 

Friday we popped to Lidl for bread, milk and fresh bits, we had planned to go on Monday, but with the weather forecast so dire, we took advantage of the sunny dry morning. My eldest grandson popped in with his girlfriend in the afternoon, they enjoyed the cake hubby made, we chatted for hours, he is 19 and such a caring young man.

Saturday Lilly had visitors, Molly, George and Will played with her, we spent time chatting to mummy, we all enjoyed the cake, Will loves red velvet cake, we walked to the village, and got more food for Lilly, had the afternoon reading. Lilly crashed out, we are so pleased she has settled. The day was cold and dry, I had to again break ice on my wildlife pond and the drinking spots for the birds.

Sunday was a day at home together, we woke up to rain thankfully, it was a dull and much warmer day, daughter went out for a meal with friends and stayed over, ex was home with the children, she woke up late morning, something which is difficult to do when you have 3 young children. It's grey and very wet again here, I hope if you have snow you are all OK.

On a different note, I have not been able to comment on your post other than anonymous on my tablet, asked daughter why, she found I was not using Google as my browser, so my tablet did not recognise me, she set Google as my default browser and I can comment as poppypatchwork, most of you would know this, but I do get a few anonymous comments.

Here's Lilly

1st book read this year, I have had it for a while, not sure if I wanted to read it, but with no other choice I fancied, I picked it up, told as if talking to her therapist after her freedom, I found this book compelling, much easier reading her telling her story when 'free'. A super twist at the end, which I did not see coming.  

I had treated myself to a new book for New Years Day, I did not read the first few lines in the bookshop and therefore was not aware I had a copy which I had already read, very annoying mistake to make. I do like his style of writing, he writes what he knows.

Lilly is settling into our home, she is tiny but very brave, she loves this igloo bed, but prefers to sleep on top, she spent most of Wednesday (New Years Day) watching the rain outside, she is very interested in the garden. We have no intention of letting her out until after she has had all her jabs, is chipped and neutered, between 4 and 5 months old.

She loves this new toy, it bongs with every touch, so she plays here for ages, I have started sitting on the floor, she is already sitting on my legs, once she has jumped up onto my lap whilst I was reading. She is finding her way around the house, following us into our office space, we have opened all the ground floor doors now, giving her plenty of spaces to discover.

With these long dull days my thoughts are again with my blog books, which I have not touched for months, I plan to try and get most of 2023 into the book format by the end of January, I am up to July. Giving myself February to edit and spellcheck. I don't expect any massive discounts so I'm happy to wait before pressing the publish button, It would be nice to get 2024 done before November, which is when the best discounts are offered, if you want more details pop here. I have promised myself I am going to put my phone down and do more, it is so easy to have a quick look, which never is quick, the issue is on days we don't go out, I have time to spare, to waste. 

I'm full of bugs again, I had this before Christmas, and  felt better, but it did not go away, so I'm coughing with a sore throat, hubby now has it as well, not really ill just not well, we are staying in and keeping ourselves warm.

Thursday was bright sunshine, we needed to walk to the village to the pet shop, Lilly is not eating her kitten food, so I needed more mousse meals, daughter also wanted a toy like the one above as did hubby's sister, which we have now posted to Newcastle. It was too cold to be outside too long, all the housework is done, hubby made a red velvet cake for Friday.