Weekend Round Up

 

Friday I was making food preparations for a friend's nephew who was coming to do some flat hunting ahead of a starting a new job locally as a dentist.

We learnt he was gluten and lactose intolerant, which pretty much threw all my tried and tested menus out of the window!!

A quick trip to Tesco proved to be very successful and I discovered a whole world I knew nothing about.

I must say, whilst it must be very hard having to make adjustments to your diet, on a daily basis, just to stay well, it would seem now has never been a better time to have food intolerances.

The wealth of choice in the supermarket way exceeded my expectations!

Gluten free flour was always going to be on my list, along with bread, but I was thrilled to see gluten and dairy free ginger biscuits, so our friend would be able to tuck in with a sweet treat along with us, and also a chocolate brownie mix, which would liven up the picnic I was planning for Saturday.

I also found it easy to buy  a suitable butter alternative and even cheese too!

 

 

The brownies turned out pretty good and had that delicious squidgy middle we all love in brownies.

There was a hint of the gluten free texture but not unpleasantly so.

 

 

I made another apple and blackberry flapjack, although learnt later than he has to have gluten free oats as well, I had thought oats were "safe" but not for all sufferers it would seem.

He did enjoy the dessert and I hope he doesn't suffer too much as a consequence!

 

 

Whilst I busied myself in the kitchen, Hubby tackled the bay tree...

 

 

...and Teen Two tackled some digging for me, in an attempt to level off the ground in this corner of the garden, where our water butt will now be housed.

 

 

I made a quick trip to Lidl's and was quite taken with this tin herb garden, it gives a little lift to the corner I think...I just need to find out what herbs they are, one I know is Rosemary, which I have wanted for a while.

 

 

...they also had these mini plants, which look like they are hardy enough for me to keep alive!

They actually come in sweet "vintage style" pots  but I had bought these tin ones in Ikea for 40p with the sole purpose of finding some plain green succulent type plants, so was pleased to find them so quickly.

 

 

Both boys needed a hair cut and with one or two chores still to do before heading out on a special treat, Hubby volunteered himself and Teen Two to do each other's hair!

Teen Two wasn't at all sure about the idea at, both having is dad do his hair and him doing his dad's hair!

However there is little that can go wrong and minimal scissor work, and I must say they did a pretty good job, although in daylight its obvious I will need to do a bit of a tidy up on Teen Two's hair, but for a first attempt it wasn't bad on both accounts!

 

 

In the evening we had planned a trip over to the Isle of Wight to see the Red Arrows and fireworks, to mark the end of Cowes week.

We hadn't made this trip before so were really looking forward to it.

 

 

I really really love the Red Arrows and this was the best view we have ever had, out in the open sea with nothing to mask our views

 

 

 

We then had a relaxing cruise round...

 

 

...which was very enjoyable indeed...

 

 

...the shore was starting to fill up with spectators ready for the firework display...

 

 

...and we were able to enjoy the sunset from our seats on the top deck...

 

 

...along with a hot chocolate from the bar and a caramel waffle each I had packed...next time I think I will take a flask of hot chocolate...many others were well organised having made the trip before and there were no restrictions on what you could take on board...alcohol aside.

 

 

The fireworks were amazing, and to have such an excellent vantage point was really the icing on the cake

 

 

 

I am not really a firework fan, but these were spectacular and we would definitely do this trip again.

We returned home cold, tired but filled with happy memories.

 

 

Saturday morning we were up early as the builder had promised to come between 8am-9am.

He finally arrived at 10.30am so we could have had a lie in rather than getting up at 7am, however I made the most of the time and busied myself getting the picnic ready.

 

 

 

 

With salad jars and fresh strawberry jelly jars, we were set for a  healthy treat!

 

 

Our visitor arrived in good time and we managed to dodge the thunder showers and take him on top of a local hill for our picnic and an impromptu game of cricket.

He is a cricket fan so was delighted with the idea and was very helpful in giving Teen Two some bowling tips.

Teen One and I took on the fielding which thankfully didn't involve too much exertion!

 

We then took a walk along the seafront and to some historical places of interest, before heading back to the chilli and rice I had waiting for us in the slow cooker.

 

We spent the evening playing games, which was thoroughly enjoyed by Teen Two inparticular, then after some chit chatting for far too long we eventually went to bed...only to be woken a few hours later by the local school alarm going off!

 

Today was a trial of gluten free Yorkshires and having asked our friend how his mum's usually turned out, I knew I didn't have to worry to much

"Aim for puck size" he said!

Puck size is what he got!

Sadly I forgot to take a photo but as he is most likely going to be with us for Sunday lunches from next month, you wont have to wait too long to laugh along with us at the sight!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank You Mr Bank Man

 

 

 

This morning started off with some much needed ironing, a bit of photo sorting  (should have got MORE frames though!) and then a walk round the shore, which is just 10mins or so walk from our house.

Yesterday was such a dreary day I really felt like we needed to get out and blow the cobwebs away...and blow it certainly did!

 

 

We stopped off at Swan Lake to see if there were any cygnets, but they were all in hiding...

 

 

 

...so we went in search for as many wildflowers as we could find...

 

 

...with the intentions of looking them up in one of our many books, and making ourselves a little more intelligent, although remembering them is another matter altogether!

 

 

 

The more I try and capture the beauty we see on our daily outings...

 

 

...the more I appreciate how amazing other people's photography is!

 

 

I used to think "oh what a pretty picture of a flower"

But now I appreciate the art of actually showing the flower in all its glory...for example you could hardly tell these columbines ( I think I have the name right!) are pink and white stripes, but you would never know from my poor shot.

 

 

I guess its all in the angle of the light, the aperture, the camera etc.

So I apologise for the poor quality pictures, but hope they give you a little insight into our day.

 

 

As we got closer to our destination, the path had a few houses, which had amazing views and I was very tempted to sneak into this garden and collect the fallers!

 

However we had seen several apple trees on the common so we will return in a few weeks to fill the freezer.

 

 

Our walk is very popular with dog walkers and we thought this was a friendly gesture outside someone's gate, leaving water for the passing pooches.

 

 

 

 

We finally made it to the family restaurant, where two meals cost just £8.99, of course with three of us we can't maximise on the discount, but never mind.

We played our usual game of Uno whilst waiting for our order, which was a lovely way to pass the time, whilst overlooking the sea.

Sadly my camera ran out of charge on this photo so you will have to imagine the scene we were blessed with!

 

On our way home I decided on a "short cut" which like most short cuts wasn't as short as I had expected...however it was shorter than the walk out.

But it was one of those "meant to be" times as when were appeared out of the blackberry bushes to the main road that runs near our house, a car tooted...I didn't take any notice, but then saw a car pull in by the bus stop...it was a family friend who we haven't seen in a while.

We couldn't have timed it better had we tried!

So we had a quick catch up on her daughter's wedding in Verona and promised to meet up very soon to see the photos.

 

In these days of Bank's coming in for a lot of criticism for one reason or another, I felt I ought to fly the flag for Banks today, after ours called me  whilst we were out on the walk.

Last week Hubby had been sent a cheque for our church as a small gift bequeathed to our church.

The sender obviously wasn't sure who to make it payable to, so made it payable to Hubby.

We therefore, banked the cheque and wrote one out for the same amount which we gave to our treasurer.

He then banked it and today it was presented to our bank.

The reason for the phone call was, they wanted to be sure I was happy with the signatory....which was Hubby!

It would appear its been so many years since he signed a cheque the bank wanted to be sure it was bonafide!

Funny thing is, because he hadn't written out a cheque for so long, he got me to double check he had done it correctly!

I must say, I was surprised the Bank took so much trouble to check a signature, I would never have thought they would bother!

I was very grateful for the efforts they made to contact me too and felt in these days of one scam or another, our Bank was out there looking after our financial interests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back Home With A Heavy Heart

 

This morning the Teens and I went over to Southampton for breakfast at Ikea.

Their £1.50 "one of each" brekkies are ideal and such good value.

A friend had mentioned they offer free fruit/pureed fruit for children for every adult meal bought, and could I pick some up when I was next there.

Needless to say I love a freebie and getting a useful freebie for someone else is even better!

The main reason for going to Ikea was to buy some photo frames.

I have decided I want a gallery wall in the conservatory, and dug out a pile of old framed photos/embroideries that I thought might be suitable, but didn't like the mishmash of frame styles, so have bought a pile of cheap ones, different sizes but all the same simple style, and am hoping it will "come together" as they say!!

 

 

 

We then walked into the city centre and mooched round the shops.....I always look at Auntie Anne's pretzels with fond memories of a very long drive to Niagra Falls a few years ago.

We stopped off at a service station and smelt these pretzels being cooked, so bought some...their basic cinnamon ones are sooooo scrummy!!

I was a good girl however and just had a whiff of that lovely aroma and a glance at the sign to bring back those warm happy memories.

 

 

 

Teen One was after a pair of new shoes for an up and coming family wedding, so we left Teen Two tinkling the ivories and went in search of some pretty shoes,  but was disappointed in the limited styles currently available everywhere...

 

 

 

...they are either extremely high with pointy toes...which she hates...

 

..or very chunky heels and toes...almost glam rock, which she likes even less!

So its looking like wearing the pair she wore to the last family wedding...well she may as well get her money's worth aye!!

 

On the way home we took a detour to Hubby's cousin, who was in remission from brain cancer.

Sadly he had a seizure in the shower yesterday and  was rushed to hospital.

There is bleeding from the tumour and he is very poorly.

The oncologist had "that" conversation about rescusitation, which must have been very hard.

So one can't help thinking this is the start of a sad journey for them both.

She sent a very sad message this morning and as we were so near I decided to pop in for a proper hug instead of the usual cyber ((hugs)) I send her.

She was just on her way to hospital with her two daughters so I am eager to hear what today's news is.

 

 

Back home ( and isn't it easy to walk away and be "back home" to normality, albeit with a heavy heart, which is so far from their doorstep) it was time to cook up the blackberries....

 

 

 

 

 

...sieve them into the pre cut apples ( hubby doesn't like the pips) to cook and let the apples absorb that delicious purple nectar...

 

 

..and turned it into a bramble flapjack...which is simply the bramble mixture in between two layers of flapjack, its always a hit and we have visitors for dinner tonight ( hence a dessert midweek!)

 

The rest of the day has been dodging the very heavy rain to get the washing in the tumble drier, which is still in the garage as of course there was no chance of getting any washing out today....I cant wait until we get a new tumble drier, but at the moment we are making do as we have been spending too much money of late, so its a case of only buy what we need ( and I figured we did NEED those photo frames!)

 

 

 

Bay Leaves At The Ready!

 

This morning was spent tidying up the attic, we had pulled out all the suitcases to find the swimming gear the other day (the suitcases are used for storage) and of course it was the bottom case that we actually needed!

I took the opportunity to reorganise the small storage space we have up there...but now wish I had taken time to label what is in each case as well!

Oh well...if we get too organised we will be bored....right? Wrong!

My late neighbour's son came to show me round his new house, and to share the news he had an offer of the asking price on his current house!

He is thrilled as it means he wont have to worry about claiming back the tax on having a second home in the timescale.

His new house is very nice, apart from the fact the previous owners had a passion for dark grey, every room is painted like it, so gloomy and oppressive.

However that is quickly sorted and my advice was sought on new colours...that's hard when we are generations apart and him being a male as well, so I did the easiest thing and agreed with all his suggestions, even though they weren't my cup of tea...I don't have to live there do I!

What is really great is he has a drive way for three cars...bliss in a busy city!

He hasn't managed to park anywhere near his current home for years and if he comes home late in the evening has to park half a mile away or more sometimes!

He is also in a few minutes walking distance of a Lidl and Coop so he can pop out for his paper and enjoy a short stroll each morning.

I am so pleased for him.

 

 

The Teens and I drove along the shore a bit, in search of a nice tea shop for lunch.

A friend of ours really rates the Witterings, so we set off to find her favourite tea shop.

Sadly we couldn't find it  (not helped by not knowing the name!) or anything that looked half way decent, so we headed off to the beach...

 

 

...and bought sausage and chips for the Teens...

 

 

...which they enjoyed, and I just pinched a few of their chips.

I can't say they were particularly good chips either...I think possibly frozen rather than the usual fresh ones we usually get at chippys.

 

 

The beach had the advantage over ours of being part shingle part sand, so Teen Two enjoyed some digging, whilst Teen One and I people watched.

The one good thing was there was plenty of space, we may go again, but take a picnic next time.

 

 

The walk to the seafront had some pretty cottages along the way, and we rather like this beach hut bunting

 

 

On the way home, to make up for the disappointment on not finding a nice tea shop we stopped off at McDonalds for one of their scrummy frappes each, my first this year!

 

 

Back home Teen Two cleaned out the gerbil cage.

He has been worried they haven't been eating as much as usual recently, so asked if we could buy some fresh food, which we did yesterday, although I couldn't think there was anything wrong with the food they had, it is dried after all so doesn't actually go off.

 

 

He had also mentioned he had seen a few bugs around the cage area, so I told him to show me one next time....

...well that astute lad was correct, there were indeed bugs around the cage and they were coming from the food!

We have been buying the food loose in The Range for a while...and it would seem they have an infestation of weevils!!!

It was a good job we cleared out the old food and also the cage today.

We went through the storage box where all the gerbil paraphernalia is kept and cleaned that out.

We think the area is now bug free and having checked online there is the thought that bay leafs may keep them away, but the main advice is to not buy in bulk, which we don't do personally, but I guess the shop does.

 I intend to take this bag back to The Range and show them, and suggest they clear out the containers.

Whether they will offer us any replacement remains to be seen, but I will want a pre packaged food bag this time not anything loose from their self service containers.

I think I may check the containers out first as well as see if there is any evidence of life there!

 

 

Teen One sat in the conservatory and amused herself with some sketching...

 

 

...whilst I kept myself busy washing the bedlinen in the attic, making the most of the dry windy afternoon to get the quilt out on the line.

I also managed to fit in cutting the grass, whilst the plumber came to service the boiler, which has an intermittent problem.

Fingers crossed it keeps working for when we have visitors in a couple of weeks!