Summer Holidays 2013

It didn't feel like summer for ages and I think it took me while to get the girls out the house. The lack of Olympics this year didn't help with that spring in the step.

 I remember doing this at my grandmother's house when we first moved to the UK. I think I used a polystyrene tray and a spoon and went back to check it's smell every fifteen minutes to see if I'd managed an amazing rose perfume.
This is in a fancy little glass bottle with a kind of wooden press. The novelty wore off immediately, after the task, they watched a movie and the bottle is still in the back of the fridge.
Maybe they are too young or even too advanced for girly science.

Years ago I bought bench ends and years later we had them sand blasted and treated.
This year, some years after G sprayed them white he made me a bench for the garden.
It's in fancy wood. I can't remember which type and he will roll his eyes when he reads this I am sure he talked about it a lot.

The bench is lovely. It's beautiful.
In fact he has gone cray for finishing off all our decorating and by Christmas I think the house downstairs will be unrecognisable.

 P and T to some extent over the holidays found that sleeping late is actually quite nice. Which after six years is a blessing.
I am not sure if P managed this in her bed every night but I feel that we are now slowly saying good bye to the 6am starts.
Not every morning though.
One can hope.

CM

Grandma's Birthday Lunch in June

We went to see my mum for lovely lunch and a spit in the sea.
Rather a grey day but much fun had.

Gots to put yer lipdick on says P.

Lots of silliness but an excellent lunch. The girls were amazingly catered for and do you know, I now know, that if you are a veg you see an awful lot of goats cheese and rocket.

This is family.

Do you think the daisy's just happened like that?
I took all my lavenderherb out last year and I am really missing the bees as a result. May be I need to plant a variety like the above that shoots up rather than out.

This little warren of cobbles is now shut to the public, I hope to re seed or similar and not for health and safety. I spent an early childhood running up and down here or just sitting at the top, wondering about stuff when I took the dog for a walk on the weekends.

It's a monument to brave little birds.

 A hole in the walk way!? at least they match the railings. A HOLE!

Happy Birthday Mum, I know it was a summer ago but I am just catching up.
Love you

CM

Which one are you?

Colin or Matthew?

Well I, along with a lot of other middle age ladies clearly didn't really give a stuff until the
pond & horse scene and then was firmly in the Colin camp.

Then many years later came the film and I'm Matthew all the way, except for in that most important of scenes where he tells Elizabeth that he loves her, I love you, most ardently, and it's just too painful to watch, but it is getting better over time.
Luckily to save one of my most mucked up scenes in history there is enough grey paint, wet wool and white linen along with the interior of Mr. Collins humble abode with all it's sparseness too melt my heart along with the scene, a letter to Elizabeth.


If you visit the Winchester Cathedral gift shop you will stand in front of floral display, a homage to Jane Austin and in particular to the BBC's lavish 1995 production of Pride and Prejudice. 
I remember watching it and I loved it.
But after all these years are they really still able to turn a buck off it?!

Clearly yes as G's mum bought these for me a belated birthday present as I was umming about the price and you couldn't have one without the other.

 Can you see the resemblance?

I love them so much I am going to put them on the tree at Christmas.

In case anyone wanted to know I prefer the film. The characters are much nicer to look at and that is saying something because we all know I am not keen on tie Me Up Tightly Keira Knightly and I think I listen to the sound track at least once a fortnight.

Off for tea and that really is the last Winchester post unless we move there.

CM

Winchester Cathedral

Last bit about Winchester.

St. Swithun is the Patron Saint of Winchester and as we were there on the day we took in a sung mass conducted with the Bishop and whats more all the choir boys in red and white were there too. We sat up in the posh seats and I don't mind telling you when those boys sing it brings tears to the eyes, it doesn't matter what you believe in, it's AMAZING.
But for all the big guns in embroidered gowns, there were only twenty or so punters in attendance and two of those had been at breakfast at The Old Vine, see prev post.
So if a Cathedral can't pull them in then I don't know how the rest of the churches in the country are coping, well I do actually because I work for one but it was an eye opener.

Anyway this is what it looked like.

Who doesn't love a cross stitch kneeler?

The girls on the whole were really well behaved.
Having a well equipped play park close by to keep them occupied in the evenings I am sure helped.

T cried when it was time to leave.
On further questioning it appears that she liked the simplicity of our break away and the accommodation was light bright and airy as opposed to the clutter and oppressive grey she has to live under at home.

We are decorating the hall way, the first time since I moved in some seventeen years ago.
It's brilliant white. I think T has a point, there were lessons to learn.
I am feeling -  there is only one life you don't get another one - do I really want to fill it with the things I never use or shall I just get out there and see some things.

CM

Winchester

G and I want to move to Winchester and here are a few reasons why.

We stayed at The Old Vine and it is right on the Cathedral Square. We stayed in the annex which came with a parking space that we just about fitted into.
It was lovely.

I don't think anything drove up this street the whole weekend.
I can't rate the service highly enough, clean, best breakfast, so friendly. They put a jug of milk in the fridge for the girls to have. Nothing seemed a problem not that we had any.
Ear plugs in the bed room. Why? it's so peaceful. Cathedral bells practice happens on a Monday morning for an hour!
And you see all those complimentary bits in the bath room, the girls used those slippers without hesitation.

With all the activities over the weekend we had a look round on the Monday.
Who loves a paperie!

No need to have a crappy paper cup ever again, but you might need a large wallet. I have two sheets of wrapping paper, ballet dancer cake decorations and a bird broach but I could have easily parted with £7 for cup cases but I'd need three different types and when do I make that many cup cakes.

This treasure shop is called  THE HAMBLEDON

So G and I looked on Right Move at house prices and if we get shafted with secondary school places for T then we will pick up and move to Winchester because it's lovely.

CM