I bought some shoes! I did gardening! And other life changing activities.

I think I'm gradually building up my strength after my nasty bout of pneumonia.

Today the girls went off to do a bit of clothes shopping leaving me and the hubs to ourselves.  I desperately need some new shoes.  I'm down to two pairs of casual shoes: a pair of doc martins and some plimsols (which are starting to come apart at the front).  So off we went.  And success!

Three pairs!  Three! It usually takes me a life time to pick one.

We had a post-shopping Lunch-date in a local cafe.  Lunch was delicious... steak sandwich with mushrooms and fried onions on ciabatta...mmmmm.

Then back home.  We watched a spooky film, Malevolent, which was ok. 

Boots enjoyed the sit down.  Look at her tiny fang and pink toebeans haha

Then I did a bit of gardening. The garden has got out of control since I became ill at the beginning of August.  Trimmed down a wild roses bush that had grown exponentially in the last few months and put down some bark just to tidy up the front garden.  Arms now covered in thorn scratches.

Hahaha

 This is me and hubs!

Working from home and cookies

Today I worked from home.  I'm on a phased return to working at the office, and it's working out great.  I would have definitely struggled to go straight back to work as I'm still sooo fatigued (it's a bit frustrating to be fair).

L was home today.  We were hungry and there was nothing in the house to eat, so she baked.  Lucky me!  Not much else to share. It's been a lovely quiet day.

So tasty!

L has been playing around on her new iPad.  It's Boots! 

Home safe!

B is finally home from France!

Photo by Patti Black on Unsplash

She had a bit of a 'traumatic' flight.  Lengthy delay, the flight didn't get in until 11.35pm yesterday.  Really bad turbulence. She also had bad shooting pains in her eyes, probably something do do with the air pressure.  My dad was tracking the plane on a flight tracker and the plane climbed so high at one point he thought it was going to fly off into space hahaha

But she's back safe and sound!  I really must stop worrying haha.

We picked B and her friends up from the airport, cost us a flipping fortune just to park for 30mins! £6! Ridiculous, grrrrr.  They've had a whale of a time though, and the extra two days were a bonus as they got to see a bit more of Paris.

I think B will sleep for a week though, she's exhausted haha

Flippin' strikes

Urgh.  Because the French air traffic controllers are striking on Friday, B and her friends can't get out of Paris until Sunday!  All the flights out Saturday were booked up so Sunday it is.  Their airbnb won't let them stay the extra nights, so they've had to book into a hotel for two nights.

I just want her home!! [initiate worrying mother mode] However, I think now that they've got their flights and hotel they're actually quite pleased with the extra nights and their travel insurance should cover the hotel fees and other associated costs.

Photo by Kurt Sunkel on Unsplash

They've been having a fabulous time at Disneyland Paris and they plan to do some sightseeing around Paris as well.  I'm so happy they're having so much fun 🥰 Ah to be young again lol

Twice Shy Book Review

3 stars

This was a strange romance story in many ways.

The main character, Maybell, was depicted at the beginning of the book as this shy person, unable to advocate for herself or her own needs/wants particularly to her (rather nasty) best friend and in her job. But as soon as she inherits the place she becomes this strong almost confident person, willing to stand her ground.

She then inherits her aunt's crumbling manor house. She immediately leaves her job (she can't even hand her notice in, she's *that* shy) and drives up to the house. She has fond memories of her aunt and staying for some time at the house in her childhood. However, when she gets there, there's a twist, Wesley (her aunt's groundskeeper/gardener) has also co-inherited the property. [an aside: surely it would be illegal for the executor of the will to pretend she is the only inheritor intially??]

The story continues where she and Wesley clash constantly and it's a battle of wills. However, a romance begins. I won't go into too much more.

The romance is sweet. I appreciate the fact that it is the male character who is depicted with a mental illness and the female character supports him through it. That's a bit of a breath of fresh air.

So I am conflicted about my rating. It's an easy read, it has some sweet romance and it's an interesting story. But on the other hand, some things just don't fit together or make sense logically speaking. And it's feels rushed in places.

So 3 stars... but maybe 2.5.

Another day another walk

Lovely walk with L today.  I'm gradually building up my strength.  Definitely less breathless and managed to walk a little further up the lane.

It was a beautiful day.  Took some pictures of the cows for B...she just loves them haha

Officially bankrupt

 ...haha well not quite, but feeling like it.

L is off to university soon and today we did a spot of shopping for, well, basically everything she might need.  This means kitchen-ware, hairdryer, laundry basket, etc., etc.  Cost an absolute fortune.  But thank God we are able to do this, I can't imagine what it is like for families that are really struggling to make ends meet already without extra expenses like this.

We got some good bargains.

Cute, no?

Then back home and collapse with Boots...it's been a busy day!

More of Boots's pawsies

 

loooook 😍

Boots

Boots is really starting to show her age.  I can't imagine life without her.  She's 19 now and definitely climbing the stairs much more slowly and sleeping a lot more.

Such a little treasure.  Look at that one little fang 😍

She's been my constant companion during my illness... although she really doesn't like the coughing!!  She's almost completely deaf, so it must be the complete body shaking haha