Week 13/52 85-91/365

I can best describe this past week as having been "interesting" on the domestic front, more on this subject will follow in a later blog, in the mean time here are my photos for the week.

85/365 A random shot of the buddlleia



86/365 Now kids, you must make sure you wash behind your ears



87/365 Paid a visit here, OUCH



88/365 My previous blog is all about this gorgeous chap, who came home for a bit of TLC



89/365 We received an offer on our house, which was increased enough for us to accept, we viewed this house and made an offer, which was accepted after a slight increase, so now we are in a sale chain - these few words can, in no way, convey the fraughtness of the day, but the outcome was the right one.



90/365 Finished this baby blanket, and its about to go on sale in my Folksy shop



91/365 A random shot of a cosmos in my garden

Polar Bear

One of my sons (and I'm not going to name him, I've already caused enough embarrassment to him, one way and another) made this gorgeous polar bear in Fabric Technology during year 7 or 8 (I forget which, it was a long time ago) at high school. He has recently come home for a good wash and a bit of TLC (polar, not son), so I took out the growler, gave him a really good wash and brush-up, replaced growler and stitched up where necessary, et voila, one polar bear, good as new - isn't he just so cute?

Crafty People

Having made quite a few baby blankets over recent months, I thought it was about time to tackle a larger one, and this time I am making it for ME.
I started using up yarn from stock, 36 centres, using pastel shades, white and beige.



Time, then, for some new yarn to finish them off. I bought this from the lovely Carol, at Crafty People, you can visit her eBay shop here, read her blog here and "like" her facebook page here




I've been following Carol for a couple of years now, when I first discovered her she was working full time and blogging about her dream of owning and running a successful business, and at the same time knitting the most amazing baby clothing I have ever seen. Since then she was made redundant and has followed her dream, she now sells yarn and her fabulous knitted items, and her business is growing from strength to strength. Her prices are very competetive, and her customer service is second to none.

12/52 78-84/365

Mostly its been wet this week, so not much chance to get out and about with the camera.

78) Rog bought a box of wine earlier this year, we still have a few bottles left - unusually!



79) Rain, on the bedroom window




80) Waiting in the car in Morrisons carpark, thinking how dull the scenery was, when I noticed that even in this boring scenario, the variety of colours and textures is quite surprising.




81) Cherhill monument, from a moving car, in the rain.



82) An unusually dry day. Thankfully we haven't had many wasps so far this year, but this one was sat on the top of the fence, munching away at the wood.



83) Made some sausage rolls, using home made flaky pastry for the first time in many years (its so time consuming that I usually just make short crust, but Rog specifically requested flaky this time). The filling was pork and red onion sausage meat specially mixed for me by the lovely Gerry, of the Butchers Dog. I think I made about 50, and they were so delicious they have already all gone, and there are only 3 of us at home at the moment!



84) On the way home from a quick trip to Salisbury, we stopped at the Royal Oak, in Easterton for a quick refresher, and sat at this lovely table.

Vauxhall recalled my car . . .

. . . because, apparently, sometimes the horn doesn't work if the lights are switched on !! Well, who knew?
a) I very, very rarely, if ever, use my horn.
b) I very, very rarely, if ever, drive in the dark.
But, never-the-less, back to a Vauxhall dealer she had to go, and as the nearest one is in Marlborough we made a bit of an outing of it despite the day being grey, gloomy and very wet.
First though we stopped in town to pick up a prescription, and while I waited in the car I just couldn't help noticing the assortment of colours and textures right in front of me.



The road out of Devizes passes the Cherhill Monument



Joining the A4 we very soon pass Silbury Hill



Roadworks just outside Marlborough, and I spotted these two guys having a roll-up in the rain



We had an hour to kill while waiting for the fix. Normally Marlborough is quite photogenic, but today I just wanted to stay dry, so we headed straight for the pub and had a couple of drinks (mine were orange juice, just in case you were worried about my drunk driving!) and a bowl of salt and black pepper chunky wedges.



And now I can go out driving at night and honk my horn to my hearts content.

Week 11/52 71-77/365

71/365 Drinking out has become an expensive hobby in which we can no longer afford to indulge as often as we would like. Most of the pubs in town are Wadworths tenanted and are stuck with Wadworths prices, but there are a couple which are not. One of these is the Southgate, a Hopback Brewery pub, now run by the lovely Ian and Sarah. It opens every evening at 4pm, except for Friday, Saturday and Sunday when it opens at midday, which is our time of day, so we try to pop in there once a week. More often than not we have the place to ourselves, but at least the beer is cheaper and they seem to have a different selection each time we go in.



72/365 Rog and I love the occasional game of bridge. We aren't competitive, and aren't fond of playing contract, prefering instead to play with friends in an informal setting. If there are any bridge players of a similar disposition reading this, and who are close enough to Devizes to join us for a rubber or two, please comment below.



73/365 Our bedroom window faces to the west, so I dont often get to see the sunrise unless I'm downstairs early enough to catch it from the utility room window. This is not the most spectacular I've ever seen, but just about worth snapping.



74/365 Ironing today, not my favourite pastime, but made significantly more pleasant by listening to The Main Man and placing myself overlooking the garden.



75/365 A trip to Echilhampton Hill, where Mother Nature provided the floral display, and the Army presented a short helicopter flying display.



76/365 Spotted these very gaudy flowers on sale in Morrisons and wondered why anyone would want to buy them.



77/365 My blogger friend, Beverley, was looking for a new home for this book, so I volunteered to take it in to add to my collection. I'm looking forward to sitting down with it and having a read over the weekend.

Echilhampton Hill, again.

We often pop out to Echilhampton Hill for a quiet hour at lunch time, taking some sandwiches along to eat after climbing to the top of the hill. Being fairly close to Salisbury Plain, its not unusual to see military helicopters, and today this one appeared to be practising high and low level flying, one minute it was way above us, the next hovering just above ground level in the valley below.
Needless to say it wasn't quite as quiet as we were expecting!

Look what the postman has brought me

Its a book from the lovely Beverley of Elizabeth's Attic. Thanks, Beverley

F is for . . .

. . . favourite shrub, the buddleia, or butterfly bush



. . . first crocosmia (another favourite) almost ready to burst into flower (no its not a crooked shot, it really is coming out sideways at the moment)



. . . football. Oli's present from his bro's trip to Barcelona 3 years ago seems to have taken up residence in the hall, trying to disguise itself as a pair of shoes, possibly?

Isn't it funny . . .

. . . how, whenever I decide to write, my mind goes completely blank, forgetting all the great ideas I've been working on inside my head, yet when I decide to blog I can always think of something to say? I think a new approach might called for!

Tuesday morning

This morning I met up with Jean (Talking Beads) in the Bear Hotel, we had pots of tea (me) and coffee (Jean) and made them last for over an hour and a half(!) while we chatted about this and that. Thanks, Jean, I really enjoyed it, what a fun way to pass a dull (weatherwise) morning.



Wadworths, the local brewery, deliver all their beer by horse-drawn dray, at least to the pubs in town, this one was on its way back to the brewery.



On the way home I cycled up Quakers Walk. I always look at this bench, halfway up, and often wonder if anyone ever sits there apart from the few odd drunks I've seen now and again. No-one was about so I stopped to take a photo, and then had a bit of a play around with Elements 8, which I haven't done for a while. This has been very simply posterised - you can click on pictures to enlarge for a closer look.

Week 10/52 64-70/365

64/365 The men's (or as they are now called "gentlemen's") singles final at Wimbledon was won by Djokovic




65/365 Bang bang



66/365 Floral display outside Sainsburys and opposite Tescos



67/365 Floral display in The Brittox



68/365 Water play



69/365 A rainy day



70/365 Floral display in my garden