Green Day Friday 11

Linking with Green Day Friday 11 at Raindrops and Daisies, here is a candle on my mantle shelf 

All change (part one)

Now that we've been here in our new home for a few months, and have got used to it, we've decided to make one or two changes to make it "ours". And yesterday the first of these changes was put into action.

While the kitchen is a lovely size, and having it opening directly into the dining room was very convenient, two things weren't quite to our liking. Firstly there simply wasn't enough cupboard and worktop space for all our needs in the kitchen, and secondly the dining room looked out onto the road at the front of the house. We decided that the snug, which opens out into the conservatory and then the garden, would be a much better room to use as a dining room, and if we closed off the kitchen there would be lots of space for more floor and wall units and even a breakfast bar.

So here is our newly built wall. Watch this space for further developments, the first being the fitting of the kitchen, the second the decorating of the snug to make a dining room, and the third (probably not to be undertaken until next year) to turn the old dining room into a sitting room.

Problem solved

Problem 1. Little plant needing protection

Problem 2. Plant pot with cracked base

Solution

Uncovering the path

This is what our garden path looked like when we arrived here. Looking at the aerial photo we could see that it was once a straight edged path, so Oli got stuck in to find the edges,

then I cleaned up the weeds, and hey presto!

Linking up with Green Day Friday 10 at Raindrops and Daisies

Shear Water

We are very lucky to live quite close to Longleat Forest, which most of you may be familiar with, either by visiting Longleat House or staying at Centre Parcs. But there is more to it than that, and one of the nicest parts is Shear Water. It's a man-made lake, with a dam at one end of the valley, and is now a very popular venue for angling, which you can read about here

While Mum was staying with us I took her there for a walk and a spot of bird watching, which is her favourite activity. The car park cost us 50p (there is an honesty box, so if you were really mean you could park for free!) but the lake itself has free entry. It's possible to walk all the way round, but Mum is 88 now, so it was a bit too far for us to consider. There were several anglers, some horse riders, several walkers and even a few families just enjoying the peace and quiet.

A very enjoyable couple of hours.

Rogues Gallery/Hall of Fame Annual shot

We have a small family tradition that has been going for about 5 years now, and that's a picture of my four sons and their partners, each sitting in the same position as before. We had been hoping that this year we would be able to Include Alex's girlfriend Ellie, but she was unable to make it due to work commitments. So here is this years offering with, from left to right : Eddie, Alex, Tom, Junko, Oli, and Catherine. This is not the actual picture that will be hung in the Hall of Fame, but the next shot on the roll.

10 on the 10th

Linking up with 10 on the 10th at  A bit of sunshine.

8.00 Today is my daughter-in-law's birthday, I sent her a text this morning early, and here is her reply.

9.00 My son, DIL and granddaughter are coming down for the weekend, and on Sunday we have a full family get-together, so some shopping was needed.

10.00 Time to ice and decorate the birthday cake

11.00 Preparing the guest room

12.00 Out for a lunchtime beer with Rog and Oli

13.00 Alfresco lunch on the decking, pastrami and salad pitta for me

14.00 Time to tackle the ironing

15.00 Ironing all finished

16.00 A warm and sticky day, so time for a shower

17.00 Chicken curry cooking for our tea

Please Mr. Postman look and see. . .

. . . if there's a letter in your bag for me.

Mostly these days, there's not. With communication via the internet so easy, how many of us actually write any more? I do write occasionally to a couple of elderly relatives who don't have internet, but that's about it, and its only really my birthday and Christmas when I get anything from anyone else through the post, so when I came across Postcrossing on someone else's blog (I think it was either Kat Sighs or In my Playroom) I had a look into it and decided to join.

Basically you register, send off up to five postcards, each with its own identification number, to the addresses you're given, and then when each one arrives and is registered, your name is given to the next person who asks for an address. I sent off my first five cards in mid-July, and so far I have received three back, one each from U.S.A., Germany and The Netherlands. Also as your cards arrive you can ask for another address, so at any one time you can have up to five cards in transit.

Each card sent abroad costs 87p to post, so its not going to be a cheap hobby, but I think I'll settle down to maybe one or two a month, which wont be too bad, and its so nice to receive colourful cards and friendly messages from all parts of the globe.

These are the ones I've received so far

and I hope to receive a couple more pretty soon, so Mr. Postman, what have you got in your bag for me today?

Drawing . . .

. . . is not something I'm particularly good at, but I do enjoy it and would like to improve, so I have joined in with Gabs Buckingham and her "draw a picture a day" challenge during August. These are my attempts for the first week.

If you go here I think you'll be able to see the other entries, but unless you are a member of the group you wont be able to comment.

So far I'm enjoying this challenge, its something different for me to focus on.

Studying for a degree in Photography

No, not me, but my friend Eileen, who has registered with The Open College of the Arts  to work towards a BA Honours degree in photography. She has also started a blog to record her progress, which you can read and follow here.

I am very flattered that her latest blog post features two of my own recent photos, particularly since she is a much more accomplished photographer than I am, thank you Eileen

Green Day 7

Linking up with Raindrops and Daisies, Green Day Friday no. 7.

Pop over and have a look at the other entries.

Proof-reading . . .

. . . is really important, especially if you have a professional website from which you are hoping and expecting to sell to the general public. You would be amazed if you knew that a single spelling mistake on your website would put people off of buying from you - I know it's true because I've done it myself.

These days spelling and grammar don't seem to be as important as they were years ago, but if you have a website you really, really ought to get a disinterested third party to read it through for you, website builders are not infallible, and if you do your own proof-reading you are likely to miss mistakes, as, more often than not, you read what you think is there rather than what really is.

My biggest "hate" is the unnecessary apostrophe, and my second is the I/me conundrum, so if you suffer from these afflictions then I'm here to help you.

You might guess from this post that I am a proof-reader, and I am also touting for business, but . . . and this is a big BUT . . . where websites are concerned I don't do it for money, I do it for love firstly, and secondly for "things", i.e. I swap my time for something, it may be something that the website in question sells or the return of a service, whatever - I would just far rather your website looked really professional than cringe when I read it.

I'm not for one moment suggesting that all websites are rubbish, far from it, there are some really great and very professionally produced ones out there (and what you write in your own personal blog is entirely your business and not mine), but if you think you could do with some help please get in touch by commenting on this blog post, or if you know me personally you can email or PM through Facebook.

Let's get spelling and grammar back where it belongs.

A drawing a day for August, Day 1

One of my friends, the lovely Gabriella Buckingham, is a successful illustrator, she has had several of her images used by Phoenix Trading, and also has her own range of cards, gifts etc. available for sale. You can visit her website here for details.

She has set a challenge for herself and anyone else who wants to join in, to post a drawing a day for the month of August. I've always enjoyed drawing, but have never pretended to be any good at it, so I decided to join the challenge, and hope to see a noticeable improvement over the course of the month.

This is my first offering: