CHEESE

CHEESE

The cupboards are intentionally bare- but luckily just enough cheese for a photograph. I love jacket potatoes with cheese. The Sweet Chilli Cheese spread is lovely aswell.

The clothes are ironed and packed for 3 of us- Amy hasn't done anything yet. My kindle is charged and ready.

Guy has had a better week than he feared at work. The problem has mainly been resolved- some parts had gone missing in transit which threatened to halt a production line. But they have managed to sort that. His boss leaves at lunchtime tomorrow- at which point everyone else will relax and go into holiday mode. He had to make 2 people redundant earlier this week- rather than the very last minute . His company used to make redundancies on Christmas Eve every year.

My neighbour wasn't a very popular man last night. He was still doing diy - including using an electric drill at midnight. If I could have been bothered to get out of bed and dressed I would have gone round and complained. He has 2 young kids- and not sure whether he waits until they've gone to sleep and they stay asleep. But he'd better not repeat it tonight. Or we'll be swapping bedrooms with Emma- and letting her wake them all up at 5am every day. My evil side thinks it might be a good idea to set my radio alarm for 4am whilst we are away!!!!!!! But their room is probably on the other side of the house anyway. One year when we had to be up at 3am to go on holiday- he was still scraping wallpaper at 2am.

The weather report suggests that summer is arriving on Saturday- and we're going to lassoo it and keep it captive in Cornwall!

So I probably won't be updating my blog for a couple of weeks. I hope to be able to find the theme for the day on my phone and might be able to update one or two to facebook.

Holly and I are both excited now! Holly is like a coiled spring. She knows that cases mean holidays - and she loves holidays! She normally packs a ball in the case. She gets a bit nervous when we pack the car to come home again- and usually lies on top of the pile of stuff waiting to go in the car. She's a rescue dog- and we always wonder whether she was abandoned when they went away. She definately shadows Guy on the last day- he's going nowhere without her..

Airborne

Normally this would be such an easy prompt here. We have more planes go past than buses. But we woke to a blanket of white sky and the planes were obviously flying above that. I heard a few rumble past- but couldn't see anything in the white sky. Then we had some delightfully seasonal torrential rain and I didn't want to take a camera out in that.

So I've had to wait until tonight before the sky looks pretty!

The birds have been going mad flying around tonight- maybe they had to sit and roost earlier and they are bored!!!!! But what a beautiful blue sky. Our neighbours son has just got back from Cornwall and said that the weather was quite nice- so fingers crossed that we'll see a few blue skies down there.!

These clouds were quite pretty- much prettier than when they are completely overpowering the sky.

BUSY

A couple of signs that we are getting ready for a holiday and busy, busy. We had to buy new roof bars - as the old ones don't fit the new car. We've had them months- but of course nothing like leaving them until the last minute to fit!!!!!! We have to take a roof box- because I became used to overpacking when the girls were little. My dad used to take pushchairs etc down in his car- when we holidayed together. He had a very bad car accident a few years back- and we went out to buy a roofbox- so that he didn't need to drive down to Cornwall anymore. They used to travel with my sister. The past few years she's been poorly- so half of us travel down on the train. We had an estate car last year and managed to take everyone's luggage. The new car won't hold as much- so we are trying to pack light. We normally look like we are going for a month when we go somewhere for a weekend- so it's a struggle!!!!!

The holiday ironing waiting to be packed!!!

Three of us have clothes ironed and ready to pack. Amy 'ordered' her new clothes TODAY!!!!!! She is sooooooooo like her dad- leave everything until hours/days past the last minute!!!! We are usually practically all sitting in the car ready to leave before Amy starts getting ready. Amy's clothes might not even come in time. I bought her a top in Asda last night- but she couldn't look then! She is even ordering some from Asda!!!!

Guy is just leaving to go and say bye to his mum and dad. They are flying off to a wonderful holiday in Sri Lanka on Friday and staying in a nice hotel in London tomorrow. They have a packed itineary and it sounds like a dream holiday.  They are seeing elephants.

Next door are really busy fitting a new bathroom- and I'm getting really jealous that their bathroom will be finished within a week- and mine is coming up 18 months. Our old neighbours hadn't replaced anything in their house since it was built- so the new neighbours (well they've been in about 3 years!!!!!!!) have had a lot of work to do.

Hero

 This is going to be a soppy post. I don't ever tell my hubby how special he is- how awful is that!!!! He's working so hard at the moment and is so stressed. He agreed to take a promotion on at work back in September. The payrise actually worked out to be miniscule- less than he expected. But the worse thing about it - is that they have been unable to recruit anyone to take over his old job. No one wants it- and no one can use the computer system that they use . So he's been carrying two jobs for nearly a year now. They have talked about him taking half of his old role on in addition to his new job permamently with a pay rise. But to be honest I think it is too much for him. He is dreading this week- because something has happened probably due to the stress they are all under- that needs to be sorted somehow before the factory goes into 'shutdown' summer break. He also has to make some people redundant at the end of the week. He is a genuinely nice man- and is stressing about that aswell. I wish I could make it all disappear- and wish that I had a better job so that he didn't feel it was all on him to shoulder. Emma is autistic- and whilst she is at school I might be able to find a job with more hours. But she has holidays and various appointments I need to attend- and childcare (although she's now adult) would be more than I earn, probably. So he feels the pressure because of that.

But 'most' of the time he's a really positive person - and he'll help anyone. He helped the old chair of the swimming club with his new swimming club at a gala on Saturday and he'd also agreed to pick me up after the theatre and take my friend home so that we could have a bottle of wine with our meal. He can totally miss things because they go over his head- so can really drive me mad at times. BUT I know that if I ever need him - he will be there. He doesn't always know the right words to say- he's not the best with flowery words. But if someone needs help - although I don't like to take him for granted I know he'll be there.

So he deserves to have hero status today!!!!!! He's the one on the floor in the photo with my cousin and uncle at a recent wedding.

I toyed with including two other people today- but I don't have photos of either.

My hubby's grandpa was a 'hero' in the true sense of the word. He was a doctor and during the war he advanced into 'dangerous' territory to treat and save some soldiers and was mentioned in dispatches. He was a lovely, unassuming man and wish I had a photo to show. But Guy's grandma never allowed anyone to spend time with him alone for some reason. So I never got to know him very well.

My friend also had some heroes of her own yesterday- but I wasn't there with my camera. Her oven exploded and caught fire and she had smoke everywhere. She had 2 fire engines attend - so lots of heroes there. Luckily no one was hurt and the insurance company are sending a cleaning company round and an assessor to see what needs replacing.

Literature

Literature

I've always loved reading and this is the latest crop of library books. One of these should have gone back to the library yesterday- so I will have to pay a fine!!! I was at work all day and then straight onto the theatre- so had hoped someone else might take it back for me!!!!

Motion Blur

Afraid this is a cheat- as I didn't take this photo. I would have done but unfortunately wasn't allowed to!!! I went to see Dirty Dancing with my best friend last night and it was an absolutely fantastic show. It's one of my favourite films and judging by the audience- most of theirs aswell. People were singing along, joining in the dialogue and dancing away the whole way through. The atmosphere was absolutely electric. Groups of girls really dressed up dancing in their seats. The 2 girls infront of us danced along the whole way through- the gentleman next to them was really bemused. He offered to fan one girl in the interval to cool her down!!! I've never been to a show where the atmosphere was so charged. The dancing was absolutely amazing and the music is wonderful anyway. At the end - the lead male character strode through centre aisle past the audience and onto the stage for THAT final scene. When 'Baby' was in 'that' lift- the audience erupted. Not sure if it ever doesn't work- but the actress looked thrilled to have completed it!

I managed to find these photos from the show online. If anyone loves Dirty Dancing and gets the chance to catch this show touring- you won't be disappointed.

 The photos don't actually do the show justice- the lighting created beautiful backdrops and visually created the 'water' scenes which were spectacular. The staging was also great- rotating stage and the dancing platform became the bridge 'Baby' dances across.

We also went for a meal beforehand and bottle of wine- which was my birthday pressie to her. Her wonderful daughter organised it all and bought her ticket. She asked me if I'd go with her- and although I was a bit shocked at the ticket price I am soooo glad I went with the extravagence. It was paid for in February anyway- so well in the past!!!!!!!

Flowers

These are the fuschia's busy flowering away in the garden at the moment. When we bought the house a lot of aunts and my mum's friends gave us cuttings or plants- and this is one of them.

The big hanging basket is still flowering away- the fuschias are in their prime at the  moment.

They are so pretty- and I know I've included this fuschia before- but it's still going strong.

I send my best wishes to Anne's dad. HE sounds a lot like my dad. He's only been in hospital once- but once he'd been there a day or two he just wanted to be home. He was all for pulling his drip out and marching out in his pj's.

Cold

Cold

Since we had our new fridge/freezer I've started drinking drinks with ice in. The ice cube tray has shaped ice that dissolves easily. I didn't used to add ice to anything!

Not a great photo for shiny- it looked better on the thumbnail. These are the 'temporary' birds that live in the bird house. They are Christmas tree decorations and were place in the bird house until I could find the ones I wanted. I'm still searching for the 'right' birds- so the temporary birds have a more permanent home for the moment at least.

My first thought when I saw the word of the day was to take a photo of some shiny coins. Jo took a lovely photo of some pennies- so I had another think.

It conjured up images of my dad shining coins to help Santa out filling the Christmas stocking. We ALWAYS had some shiny coins in the toe of our stocking and I still love to think of my dad looking for new coins and polishing them up every December. He's not a sentimental sort of person- but this was one of his Christmas jobs!!!!

Delicate

Delicate

I was so lucky to win a prize for commenting on A Trip Down Memory Lane on the recent bloghop on UKS. I was amazed to see my name as one of the winners! It arrived this morning and it's full of beautiful papers from BoBunny and Websters, plus ribbons and stickers. The papers have lovely delicate designs.

 

The other delicate thing around is the blue lobelia in all the hanging baskets. It is doing amazingly well this year due to all the rain!!! This is one of the red, white and blue baskets that didn't quite make it in time for the Jubilee!

The worst broken thing in our house is the kitchen ceiling. A portion had to be taken down to allow access to the damage done by the old bathroom suite. It's been like this for a lot longer than it should have been- but we've had more pressing emergencies including having to replace the car last year. The ceiling isn't one of those exciting jobs that you ooh and ahh over- so unfortunately it keeps finding itself moving the wrong way on the very long TBR list. It is now one of our 'urgent' items on the list. Only thing is once it's done - the kitchen makeover can't be ignored!

Past it's Prime- the hydrangea is definately past it's prime now- it was a blue one when we bought it. We used the wrong soil- so it's now a pink one!!!!!! Poor thing has had a complete transformation.

The Olympic tickets arrived this morning- thankfully. I was envisioning seeing us having to travel down from Cornwall in order to collect the tickets on the way to London! I don't think we are going to have time to go up the Orbit tower that I have tickets before - as it sounds as though the airport security is going to take quite a long time to go through and the venue is at least a 15 minute walk from the closest station.

Modern

It's absolutely pouring down with rain here- and we've been told to expect a months rainfall today. So I won't be venturing far today. Nothing in my house is particularly modern unfortunately- so I've included the thing that always springs to mind when I hear the word. Selfridges is an example of modern architecture and it sits alongside a gothic church- a very unusual pairing. Selfridge splits opinon- as it is so 'out there'. It's covered in thousands of metal discs that look like hub caps. From the other direction it can look like a whale (I think)- the windows look like eyes. I think it's quite iconic and although I rarely venture inside I would be tempted to have a coffee on their balcony on a sunny day. It's fairly empty in the photo as it was taken last Sunday at 6.20am!

The only modern thing I can think of in our house is my kindle. I have to say that it had an uphill struggle with me- I was positive I wouldn't like using it. But now that I have lots of new best sellers on it I actually find that I reach for it first and find it much more comfortable to read just before I go to sleep!

Empty

Empty- how did that happen?????? They were delicious- but I don't treat myself very often. I blame looking at the photos of Nickys Malteser cake!!!!!!

Dangerous- letting me loose in Birmingham with a credit card!!! I bought Emma's holiday clothes and underwear. I managed to get her 3 pairs of trousers for 5 pound each and a Hello Kitty t-shirt. I bought her a couple of pair of chinos. She can't get away with wearing anything more than once- so always needs new stuff before we go away.

Dirt- we hadn't planted a few of our bedding plants- so Guy put the Marigolds into the wall planter that we haven't used for a while! We're negotiating for a plant sitter- my mum's neighbour might water ours (if it's necessary!) whilst we are away.

OLYMPIC TORCH

Today was NOT a grumpy day- these two were having the time of their life- so their HAPPY faces had to be my photo for today!!! I'm using 'opposites'. We decided to go and see the Olympic torch leaving the city centre this morning at 6am. We were up at 4.30 to ensure that we got there ok!! It was a lovely atmosphere - even at that time of the morning. We watched the Torch leave Victoria Square and took a 'brisk' walk down New Street in the hope that we would catch it pass through the Bull Ring shopping centre. I saw 'Laura' waiting for the torch to arrive and placed myself RIGHT by her. The police cyclist with her was so lovely with her. People were calling her and asking to have their photo taken with her. She told her to turn and watch the flame coming towards her- it was HER TIME TO SHINE (the logo on the tour bus) and she should enjoy every moment. Her mum was stood opposite me - bursting with pride! I was sooo lucky to see them transfer the flame. Then as she was walking rather than running- was able to get ahead to take a few more photos. One woman by me- said it was like getting up for a holiday - without taking a case along! It was a holiday atmosphere.. One thing that occurs to me looking through my photos- is that all the poor people opposite will have my 'image' in the background of all their photos!!!!!!!

I am using this tenuously as 'silhouette'- it's a wicker silhouette of the athlete Usain Bolt. When we walked back to the car- an athlete from the previous day was standing here to allow anyone who wanted to, to hold the torch and have their photo taken. I had a go- but the photo isn't for public consumption unfortunately- but an amazing experience non the less!!!!!

This was the time that the torch LEFT the city centre- 6.10 am!!!! St Martins is a Gothic Church- so is starring for the Gothic theme. The bells were pealing and a band was playing - it really was a lovely thing to be a part of. Two athletes/gymnasts put on  a display. I have no idea what category they are- my sister reckons there is a mixed gymnast display.

We went home for a cooked breakfast and then off to see my niece perform in a Broadway show. They were singing songs from the musicals and Kimberley had a few 'shining' moments. My cousins daughter was also singing. They sang songs from Hairspray, Mama Mia, Little shop of horrors, Jeckyl and Hyde, Andrew Lloyd Webber , Cabaret and lots of others.