So much to do! So little time :)

I've got a busy day ahead. I have a bunch of errands to run, shopping and cleaning to do.

Errands is a funny word. Hang on...

List:

• Meal plan
• Grocery shopping
• Pick up my prescriptions.
• Change bedding.
• Plan Christmas presents (yep, I still haven't even looked at presents yet 🙀)
• Buy Christmas cards
• Get decorations out of the shed
• Clean hall and stairs

I'm sure there was something else...it'll come to me.

The woman customer on the left reminds me of my mum in the 70s. Look at her writing a cheque and chatting with the cashier, those days are almost gone - I wonder if supermarkets still accept cheques?? Now you're lucky if you find someone on a till, instead I get stuck with an automated till shouting UNEXPECTED ITEM IN THE BAGGING AREA and some poor shop worker trying to keep up with 20 different tills at the same time. Urgh. Give me a human who is managing just one till! UK stores are being taken over by automated tills, do you have those in your neck of the woods? They are so annoying.

Yesterday I was reasonably productive. I did a few jobs first thing but then came over so sick, dizzy and almost panicky feeling. I put it down to post-flu fatigue and had a lie down. I slept for about an hour. After that I felt quite a bit better and managed to give the living room a really good clean.

Have a lovely day

Sarah x

My plans are threefold

 My plan today is threefold. 

1. Hang out washing.

2. Continue with project garden tidy-up

3. Meet up with L* and her boyfriend this evening (with G* and B* too of course) for pizza this evening. 

[G - husband, B - eldest daughter, L - youngest daughter]

I'm looking forward to seeing L. The last time I saw her B and I had travelled over to her university to help proof read her dissertation. She was a bit stressed, we spent all day in a cafe with me buying coffees and lemonades and lunch to keep us going. So it'll be nice to see her and just have a catch up. She's heading off down south with her boyfriend for various events. He lives down south with his mum and dad having finished university last year. So we probably aren't going to see much of her until graduation in July and I really miss her!

The garden is looking much better, although I managed to flatten our tiger lilies as I was trying to get to some nettles and ivy that had sprung up at the back near the fence. Honestly, you only have to look at a tiger lily and it collapses. I also noticed Coco had flattened some other tiger lilies to make herself a little bed in there 😂

They are very squished.

Because I have been so diligent with the weeding, there is no long grass anywhere, so I saved some for Coco. She loves to eat that grass and apparently it is good for her. Here is her little pot of grass haha.

Anyway, I must go hang that washing out.

Have a lovely day.

Sarah x

Happy Days and Happy Homemaker Monday - 19th May 2025

Look at that sky! Beautiful

Good morning! It's been a while. Things have been busy. The weather has been beautiful and I have been feverishly working in the garden. Clearing weeds and planting some flowers. Living as we do in the shadow of the Pennines where the rain likes to settle you have to make the best of the dry weather. It has been GLORIOUS. In fact, it's been so sunny for so long that I can't believe that I am praying for a bit of rain. My front lawn is turning brown! It's cloudier today and there is a slight chance of rain, so you never know.

We've also been on a few lovely walks locally, and places where it is usually so muddy has been bone dry, even dusty.

Don't you think this tree looks a bit like it's shouting into the wind with the branches like its hair blowing behind? 

I've also made it to the final week 9 of the Couch to 5K programme. I am so proud of myself. I think I will stick to running twice a week (the programme has you running 3 times a week but I'm not a huge fan of running). My plan is to maybe supplement the runs with some swimming and going to the gym with my husband because I can go once a week with him as a guest on his subscription plan. At nearly 52 it was so hard to get into the running and I am still very slow but I feel much better and have lost a little belly fat too, which is good.

L, my youngest, has finally submitted all her assignments for her degree course at university. So it's just waiting for marking to be completed and then graduation in July!! She's bored already haha! But her boyfriend is visiting and then she's off down south to go to a football event (he's on a Sunday team) so that will keep her occupied for a while. B is off to Rome in Italy soon. A friend from the USA is visiting there so she will meet them there for a couple of nights. They are going to visit the Vatican as part of the trip.

Oh our oven decided to blow the electric this weekend. We got the electric back on but the oven is broken. We've had it for 11 years(ish) now so we've got a new one coming next weekend. Praise God for air fryers!! I could cook my salmon in there yesterday, and it came out nicely.

This afternoon B and I are going to the cinema to watch Thunderbolts which is a Marvel film. Should be fun.

Anyway, let's get onto Happy Homemaker Monday, hosted by Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

The weather in my neck of the woods:

I bet I'll be complaining about the rain by Sunday! 😂

As I look outside my window:

It's actually cloudy. A few breaks in the clouds. I can hear birdsong, which is such a summery sound. Today I've heard robins, wrens, willow warblers, blackcaps, blackbirds, chaffinches and chiff chaffs. Such lovely sounds.

Right now I am:

Sitting on the bed typing this up. It's 11:42 am here. So far today I've taken B to her volunteer role at a local animal shelter, had breakfast, done a bit of Bible study and read my book, then walked to meet her its a lovely walk through the country footpaths.

Something fun to share:

This post about gardening and friendship by Ryanne Molinari. It's so true, when you're pulling up weeds and working with living growing things it makes you ponder deep things. Like as I was pulling up some weeds some of my plants were being pulled out with them and it made me think of the Parable of the Tares (Weeds) in Matthew 13:24-43. Good friendship helps us pull out the weeds in our lives and their support network helps us not get pulled out too. Click on the image below for the link.

Also YouTube videos by Peter Santenello. He travels round the USA and makes videos as he chats to various people. I've watched one about Deep Appalachia and another at the US/Mexico Border with Arizona Sheriff. It's really interesting seeing other people's lives and perspectives. Really talking to people and not just hearing opinions in the news or on social media.

Thinking and pondering:

How hungry I am! I've been really hungry the past few days, like ravenous. I have phases like that. No doubt it's some kind of hormonal fluctuation like everything seems to be at my age haha!

I'm also pondering the things I need to do today. I need to do a post weekend house reset - tidy and quick clean round. I've washed my bedding and will hang it out after finishing this post. Then it will be past 12 noon, which I feel is an acceptable time to think about lunch 😂😂

On my bedside table:

Eyedrops, a pile of books, my diary, lavendar essential oil and coconut body cream.

On my TV:

Rewatching The Office (USA version). IT Crowd (British comedy from the 1990s) - just finished it. Season 1 of NCIS. Good American Family.

Listening to:

Birds chirping outside. Coco (our cat) washing herself - she licks so loudly! haha

On the menu for this week:

Monday: Lentil curry

Tuesday: Tuna pasta.

Wednesday: Chicken burgers.

Thursday: not sure, we are at a church event so it'll be something quick and easy.

Friday: Pizza, if I can get the top oven working, not sure if that one is broken too.

Saturday: don't know

Sunday: don't know

On my to do list:

Hang out bedding.

Go to cinema.

Tidy and clean house.

Maybe gardening if I have time - but at least water pots and hanging basket.

On my reading pile:

Tangled Web by LM Montgomery.

Currently in Job in my Bible reading plan.

Letters of CS Lewis.

My simple pleasure:

The smell of washed clothes/bedding after it's been hung outside to dry. It smells so much better than if it's dried indoors or in a dryer.

Looking around the house:

I need to paint the new doors G has hung. But the weather has been too nice for indoor work!

From the camera:

We went to see How to Train Your Dragon with a Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra playing the music. It was AMAZING. Absolutely wonderful. If you see a similar thing being done in your neck of the woods, go! You won't regret it.

Bible verse, devotional:

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:36-40

I was thinking about this in church yesterday. We had a visiting preacher and he was talking about grace. He gave an example, what would you say to a man who was drunk every day of the week and was unkind to his wife, but who said to you that it was OK because God forgave him because of grace?

There are many things you could say to this man, but it set me off thinking about the Matthew verse above. God is our father, a good father loves us. He doesn't want us drunk because alcohol in excess is so damaging to our health and behaviour. Any good parent wants the best for their children and it really hurts us when our children engage in self-destructive behaviour. Therefore to drink to excess is not loving towards God. And the way he was treating his wife was not loving towards her - he was mistreating someone who was nearer than a neighbour. So he was breaking the two commandments on which everything else hangs. Love God. Love people. We don't have grace from God so we can extra-sin, we have grace from God because of Jesus, because he loves us, wants the best for us, and hopefully that love which God has given in abundance would overflow from us so that our lives would be one of loving God and loving others. That should be our prayer...not 'how much can I get away with because of grace'.

I guess that might be a bit garbled, but that's where my mind went.

Have a lovely week.

Sarah xx

Catch up

Well it's been a while! I had all good intentions for posting regularly, but we've had a bunch of family illness and then issues at work, so my mind has been elsewhere for a while.

I left my job in December (they were making redundancies and had cut my hours down to 12 a week - it was a complicated situation) and since then have been helping care for mum and supporting dad.

So other than those jolly happenings, looking back on what I've been up to: 

G and I took a visit to Cardiff in Wales last week, he needed to go for work so I went along for the ride. We had a lovely time, the weather was gorgeous. We met up with a couple of friends while we were there, which was good for me as, at the moment, it can be a little isolating during the day.

Look at those skies! It was bloomin freezing though!

Marina in Cardiff

Coco is settling more and more 💖 the 29th February will mark 1 year since we adopted her from the Blue Cross. She is such a fluffy cute girl.

I've been trying to walk more and generally exercise more, oh and eat healthier. We're lucky to live near beautiful countryside.

Love this tree - it's an oak tree. I must admit I say hello, and occasionally a hug, as I walk past.

We had some lovely snow in January and me, B & L threw a few snowballs, made snow angels and generally had fun.

Christmas was fun and relaxing. Just us and close family.

We had a holiday in the Lake District in September. The cottage we stayed in had beautiful views with just a tiny glimpse of Windermere.

We had some lovely walks around the area and a trip on one of the the Windermere cruises.

Anyway, I could ramble on forever!

Have a lovely day!

Sarah x

Catch up

 Wow, where did the week go?? I had all good intentions of posting at least twice this week.

It's been busy though.

I'm reading a couple of books at the moment.

This is a sweet story.

Wanted to read this for a while... it's a bit bleak haha

Sunday

We picked L up from her university - again (she was re-visiting) and picked up the last of her stuff from her uni house. She's living in a different house from September so we checked everything was clean and tidy before posting the key through the letterbox.

Monday

We had a late night on Monday, after work I travelled over to G's work where a friend of ours has been running Dungeons and Dragons games as a fundraiser. The game this week was a pirate themed game. It's hilarious and lots of fun. The idea was that we visited this fortified village near the coast and then we needed to find a ship's captain and steal a ship. We totally missed all our cues, ended up in prison, escaped and then commandeered a barge and ended up on an island. However, despite our ineptitude we did find a bit of treasure. It was a late night though, we finished the game at around 10.00 pm.

Tuesday

Tuesday was spent recovering from my late night. I yawned my way through the workday! We started to watch a film in the evening (Red with Bruce Willis) but didn't finish.

Wednesday

My birthday! One of my colleagues at work got me a cake, which was very kind (and very delicious). I left work earlier than normal and G picked me up. When I got home I had some lovely presents awaiting me. I realise that these presents wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea but they were just what I wanted.

Vintage Sega Mega Drive

I have mentioned a few times I'd like a Sega Mega Drive (I think it was called Sega Genesis in the US). I remember this console from the 90s and playing Sonic and Street Fighter at university on a friend's console.

A notebook and pretty earrings

The girls got me a lovely pair of earrings and a notebook as well (I love notebooks). B ordered the notebook online and we laughed so much. You see, it is very pretty but on the front is a sleeve with the following text:

SAMPLE TEXT

WIND FLOWERS

SAMPLE TEXT

Born as the bright summer flowers

I believe I am

Born as the bright summer flowers

Do not withered undefeated fiery demon rule

-----------.-----------

I believe I am

Died as the quiet beauty of autumn leaves

Sheng is not chaos, smoke gesture

MGGAO

It is all very strange - something somewhere has been lost in translation I think! Then on the back is the first few verses of Genesis, which is nice.

 

Silent Hill a vintage Playstation game (I have an old Playstation 2)

I also got a copy of Silent Hill, a spooky vintage Playstation game that is quite rare and not cheap. 

A cake the girls made - it was DELICIOUS

The girls made me some cake, they said apologised was a bit messy but I think it's just a bit beautifully rustic and DELICIOUS.

Mum and dad came round to wish me a happy birthday, which was lovely. Then we went out for a meal.

Up on the moors

We went up to my favourite pub/restaurant up on the moors. There are amazing views up there. I had goats cheese and beetroot salad starter and then rag pudding, chips, veg and gravy for my main.

We came home, finished off the rest of the film Red and then fell into bed. A lovely day.

Thursday

Not much happened other than back to work and watched the film Lift in the evening.

Friday

My day off work. I cleaned the bathroom and did some washing - I was going to hang it outside and then the clouds came in threatening rain.

B and I have been cataloguing our DVDs, this sounds very boring I know but I love to organise things, and B loves a good spreadsheet!

For lunch we went out with my mum and dad, which was lovely, especially as L is home at the moment. We went to a local garden centre cafe, it was really busy, a 45 minute wait for food, but it was good to spend time with mum and dad. I was exhausted when I got home and went for a lie down, when I got up B had completely cleaned the house and hung the washing out! What a treasure she is.

So that's been my week. How are you?

Sarah x

Sofas and walks

 The new sofa arrived ::fireworks of joy:::

Coco on the other sofa inspecting the box - what is it with cats and cardboard boxes?

The weather is grey, grey, grey. I'm hoping to get out for a walk today, if the rain holds off. We are blessed to live near some beautiful countryside and often pop out for a bit of a ramble. Here are some photos from walks over the last few months:

Hello cows! One of these young cows licked my jumper, how rude.

Ah, the beauty of a rainy cold July day!

Just love taking pictures of cows haha

I am endlessly fascinated by lichen

A sunny day! Hurrah and huzzah! And curious cows.

Buttercups and blue skies

My favourite local tree visited in the early spring - I must go visit now that he will be in full leaf!

Well, we are now off to the tip with the old sofa and then to the library.

Sarah x