Who did that?

(image from youtube.com)

What a change in the weather today!  We had a gorgeous day here yesterday with blue skies and sunshine, and I line dried two loads of washing - it looked lovely blowing in the slight breeze.

This morning: raindrops lashing at the window and a howling wind again.....more like autumn, and rather chilly.

I'll be content to stay indoors today now, and will probably even light the fire later on.

Stay warm!

In praise of daughters

The EFG has been sitting at the dining table tonight, doing a two week menu plan and doing an online order from Sainsbury's to be delivered on the morning after she returns to Aberdeen next week - forward thinking or what!  She does work the opposite way from me, in that she plans what she wants to eat and then shops, whereas I look at what I have in and add bits and pieces to pad out what we have and make meals from that, but she is eating really good vegetarian food and building up a repertoire of interesting recipes.  Whilst I do think that she could make more economic choices sometimes [halloumi, watercress and butternut squash are not the cheapest of ingredients] she is saving some dosh by not eating meat, so I suppose it balances out in the long run.  Jack Monroe's books will have to come out when she is home at the summer break for a longer period to give her some more inspiration.  She's even taking some of the Approved Foods cup a soups from my stash back with her.....

They have both been shopping today - on the train to Peterborough - and the YFG has bought herself a pair of nude-coloured heels to wear at the prom, and a little clutch bag.  She had me in hysterics earlier in the week when she, quite out of the blue, asked, "Where do you think I could buy a clutch?" and I immediately wondered why she wanted to buy part of a car.....She's done well today and bought reasonable quality items at decent prices - the shoes were about £17.99 I think - and they made use of the EFG's student discounts in some of the shops too.  She is unlikely to get much wear out of the shoes so she was sensible not to spend too much on them - although I dare say some people could have sourced shoes for less.

And me?  Well, I have been working again today, doing the laundry, catching up on some phone calls and letter-writing [forgot that the FH had some shares till a letter came this morning about them and so I have had to write a letter about that, not that they are worth much!] and then had a break and sat knitting in the sun.  The YFG went to school for a revision session and I picked her and her friend up at 2pm, so I was out for a short while on taxi duty.  We seem to have done quite a lot today...no wonder I am getting weary.

The weekend is here again and so I am hoping to get out into the garden again tomorrow, but I also have a service to prepare for Sunday so that must be the top priority tomorrow.  I know I shall look longingly out of the window so the earlier I get started and finished, the better.  Hope you all have a great weekend x

Back to work today

Back to the phones today...

(image from dailymail.co.uk)

Somehow only having two days to do before I get the weekend again is uplifting.

Plans abound at this end of the week. The EFG is off to Cambridge with a friend from school here, and they will be mooching around, spending time together more than anything else as I don't think that there is actually much on her shopping list.

The YFG will be busy revising again today - she will be in school tomorrow for a science revision day. She has a friend in the village who is also going so we are sharing lifts.  I think I am on afternoon pick-up duty.

The garden is looking smarter and better cared for after the last few days.  The woodwork has been treated, there are seeds sown and veg beds weeded.  The sunshine has really got us in the mood for the gardening season.

There has been near-hourly mutterings along the lines of "when are we going shopping?!" and "there's nothing to eat" to which I have firmly replied that we are shopping at the weekend and there is plenty to eat in the cupboards, even if most of it is not instant, out of the packet kind of stuff.  There was a bit of a mutiny yesterday in that they decided to walk down to the village shop and bought bourbon biscuits from their own funds, and since the YFG had to send a parcel, that was two jobs done in one and some exercise to boot!

My purse has been firmly closed since we returned from Bletchley on Saturday [apart from my Sunday offering, of course] and will remain so until I go shopping, again on Saturday.  Money-saving at it's most basic!

Out and about

Too busy being a busy bee in the garden!

Back soon x

Bletchley Park

Saturday's trip to Milton Keynes included a visit to Bletchley Park, the famous home of the Codebreakers, and "spiritual home" to one of my neighbours who used to work in intelligence somewhere in a past life!!

It was busy - very busy.  We should probably have expected that on the first Bank Holiday weekend of the year, when everyone thought they would have a day out on the Saturday.  We snaffled one of the last dozen parking spaces before they started to turn cars away from the main gate.  But the weather wasn't that great and it was definitely chilly as we wandered around the site.

The highlight for the YFG was the special exhibition associated with the film about Alan Turing, The Imitation Game.  The bombe [the name for the machine] below is the one they used in the film.

There was far too much to look at than I could manage in one visit.  There are hours and hours worth of exhibits to look at, display boards to read and artefacts to wonder over.  It is all incredibly interesting.  Those people contributed so much to the war effort and yet so little was really known about them.  

We did get 20% off my ticket, and the £23 odd I paid for the YFG and I to go in actually bought season tickets so we can go back for free within a year as many times as we like.  That sort of arrangement I like!  I support national heritage as much as I can, and this is definitely a site where there is still more work to be done on preserving the buildings [some of the huts are derelict] and there are more opportunities to share the history - I would love to see a bit of a living history workshop going on there with people re-enacting the period for example.  

I am certainly hoping that we will make it back to have another look before the year is out.

Easter Sunday

He is risen! 

He is risen indeed; Alleluia!

Happy Easter, friends x

Bye Bye Beryl

This is our Beryl.  One gorgeous chook, and a very brave one today too!

I let them all out at 7.30am including her, so that she could have a drink and something to eat.  At 9.30am, I picked her up and we had a last hold before I put her in a big box with some straw and corn, and we put her in the boot of the car.

Several hours later, after being taken down the A1 at 65mph and round and round the roundabouts of Milton Keynes and then over multiple speed bumps, I have to say that I was a little apprehensive about having a look in the box when we drew up at the lady's house in Bletchley.

I needn't have worried!  Within minutes, Beryl was happily pecking around in the run which the lady had prepared for her, and was looking quite interested in the other chooks living in the house next door.  The new owner is a very nice chicken-keeper, and her hens look to be in excellent health, so I am sure that Beryl will be in good hands.  She will be gradually integrated into the group which is very small, and they are all "special" in one way or another.  I have the lady's mobile number so I think we'll keep in touch!