January Review.

. The year started just as I like it, in Cornwall.We had a great new year stay, the weather was kind so I got to spend lots of time walking by the sea. Bliss

Back home to reality, a new year ahead. I amazed myself by joining a gym class, spur of the moment thing, I bought trainers! What the heck is happening to me?

Hugh's cookery book came out from its shelf, I bought a new lunch box, grand plans afoot for this year.

This new way of living didn't end there, I signed up for a muddy 5k race for life event! heaven help me.

I managed to read 3 books, almost finished my sea stripes blanket and completed 1 half of my sea breeze scarf, go me.

Hound walking took a knock, silly boy collided with a metal bench and caused a serious cut to his front knuckle, lead walks and sofa rest did not make for a happy hound, 

I really missed our long walks.

We finally chose the destination for our annual May holiday

I am so excited.

It been a long month, the short days have made us into hermits, log fires and indoor activities seem to have been the nature of January. But I made it through, I came out the other side.

Bye Bye January. x

I made it..

I actually made it through till Friday.

[spark people]

Its been a weak of ups and downs and trying to fit everything in.

But the weekend is here and I have plans to get it reclaimed..

Dreaming of the sea.

Fed up with the blurghs, last night was all about getting some calm. I missed the gym, [late and needing to breathe[]I came home to some gorgeous beef stew in the slow cooker, yum, what a lovely hubby I have. One less job for me to do.

I gave the SIL a ring to check on BIL, luckily the surgery to remove 4 of his toes was successful and the ulcer has been removed.[ diabetes] They have managed to save his big toe, and although its a life changing event he is so lucky he didn't lose more. Hes currently being treated for septicaemia but were hoping he will be home by the weekend. phew....

Feeling more settled I really needed to knit and what better way than to knit my sea breeze. Easy peasy knitting, a never ending scarf, soothing shades of the sea, I knit and dreamed [of the sea] and breathed.

I cast off at the end of the blue and recast on for the green length, the idea being I can wear one or the other or both at the same time. There was a sense of satisfaction that one has been completed, something finished. The end is in site.

Hubs and I discussed our simple life plan this week, events made us really think about our life, we both work full time, it rules our life, we contemplated downsizing now, but we would have to stay in our city for the boys, this would mean our Cornish dream would be even more difficult to achieve.We have 4 years left, we will move forward , continue with our plan, and keep that Cornish sea in mind. We count our blessings that we all have our health.

For those that caught my deleted post, we are still waiting news on our friend.

Blurghhs.

Yep I'm down in the blurghhs. This week has thrown us a couple of unexpected curve balls, the dark nights are getting to me, I wish the darn hounds leg would heal, I'm desperate for a long walk. I even walked no 1 sons walking dog tonight! not that she wanted a long walk, and after walking a hound a little terrier just doesn't cut it !

Well enough is enough, this weekend I plan to get out! Hound or no hound! A long tromp to blow out the cobwebs is needed. I shall take my camera and just have fun. I'm planning a girly Saturday night with one of my friends, a lot of chit chat , a nice meal and a few glasses of vino, with possibly a little crafting thrown in.

All I have to do now is make it to Friday....

Planning for Edinburgh.

If we are headed off for a city break  we always like to have a rough itinerary.This means that we can use our time well and budget for entrance fees etc.

Our Holiday starts on the Saturday, hubs has decided to drive up, so has booked a mystery night half way up! I have no idea where, quite exciting..

No doubt we will stop for Sunday lunch somewhere ,and aim to get to the hotel in the late afternoon. Generally we just mooch about the area when we get there and then have a late evening meal and early to bed.

So planning starts from Monday. First thing I do is download a tourist map, then purchase one from Amazon.

Triptomatic

This gives me a rough idea of where everything is, on a city break we try to do 2 things per day, given its Scotland and the weather may not be too good, the days will get swapped about to suit, but if we have a plan we have none of that what shall we do today, and wont be surprised by entrance fees.

Plans so far: 

Monday: Edinburgh Castle £57.60 for entrance. & 3d loch ness experience £16.50 

Tuesday: the Scottish whiskey experience £35. & Drive out to the country, find an authentic Scottish pub, get the boys to try haggis!, or just mooch about Edinburgh.

Wednesday: Camera Obscura £51.80 & the real Mary kings close £ 46.

Thursday: Edinburgh Zoo £ 63.50 & shopping

Friday: travel home.

Total cost needing to be saved for activities is £270.40

I think this will keep the boys amused and hopefully they will enjoy it, they didn't want to do The Scottish dungeon, but think they will like Mary kings. I am getting quite excited about this trip.

Down to a 4 day week!

It seems to me that this fitness lark comes at a price. 3 evenings out of my week has basically cut me down to a 4 day week. 

Don't get me wrong , so far I am loving it and can feel a difference to my body. I don't possess weighing scales so will have to wait till month end to see what the difference is. I am not anticipating a big loss as haven't been dieting.But there definitely seems to feel a difference and my clothes are fitting better.

The problem is that evenings are when I get stuff done, so as I am out Monday and Tuesday evenings nothing gets done until Wednesday, Friday nights don't count as I rarely do any housework then as it all gets done the next day.Its not just the housework that is suffering, blogging and crafting are also taking a hit. 

I may have to look at rejigging the sessions about, but its a great bunch of people, so I will ponder that one. The longer days are slowly arriving so that may do the trick, less inclined to sofa surf after the gym! I also need to look at how I am planning my work week, trouble is my job is not predictable and I could get asked to go anywhere during working hours. At least I am not stuck at a desk all day !

I have been good though and not set myself unrealistic goals, am trying to be more of a go with the flow girl, I'm fitting in the boys activities alongside having a social life, other than the gym, so things are definitely on the up.

Trouble is I do like to have me time, I can be reclusive, I enjoy my own company, so needs must and this needs to be fitted in when the boys are out at Rugby, this Friday night for example it will be just me and the hound, and a roaring log fire hopefully, there is a book with my name on just waiting to be read.

amazon uk

Goodbye 2014 and Decembers review.

A belated December round up.

December was a month with no list of goals, a month to try to kick back and relax a little, I have control freak tendencies that I'm trying to let go of. The month started with a sour note, office politics kicked off and for one I voiced my opinion. Some tense day's followed but it was soon sorted. 

Junior and I did some baking of snacks and hubs got all the Christmas pickles done, Christmas cake was made, which has only just been eaten, and Christmas was all sorted on budget with days to spare.

My new eye wear arrived, bolder styles for me, quite liking them and have a urge to get some more in different colours/styles

Some winter cleaning was done and another huge amount sent to the charity store, I am really enjoying downsizing our crap!

We had a visit from our Cornish friend who came bearing gifts, a lovely evening was had.

The dog behaviourist came to see Max and get us a plan going, seems to be working well, need to get going with the vet training though, he really does hate the vet, all snarling lips and petrified shaking.

Christmas came around and last minute changes meant we had Christmas day to ourselves, just the 4 of us, first time in 15 years. It was really strange, we walked the dog, stopped in the pub, visited a friend and had friends round in the evening, it was weird, the boys really missed having their grandmother with them and thoughts obviously drifted, It seems this is the time that our life is starting to change, older boys, no excitement about Santa coming, quite sad really. Next year will be grown up Christmas, not quite sure how I feel about that, I will need to plan some Christmas treats.

The anniversary of my mothers death was spent trying out my new camera whilst walking the hound, a lovely but cold day, just the thing to blow the cobwebs away. 

And then we ended the year heading off to Cornwall, Goodbye 2014.

2014 

January, a month of winter walks
February, I hit 50
March, A walk to Glastonbury Tor
April, no 1 son turns 16
May, Decorating bgeins
June, No 1 sons prom
July, A trip to london
August, Summer in Cornwall
September, no 2 sons Birthday treat
October, A new care for me,
November, Autumn walks a plenty
December, a new style of Christmas.

Planning.

The trusty old Filofax came out last night. Next weeks planner was the target.

The starting point was laying out my non negotiables. Things I have to do or take boys to, life has to fit around that. Work is not counted, I have a separate work diary for that, but general office hours are 9-5. I note what shift pattern hubs is on, so I make sure any work appointments I make are not too early or late, given I have to drive to them and city traffic is a night mare, so I can do the required lift shares for school runs.

I choose this style planner as it has the note page to the side. This is for things that I would like to do, and things I need to buy for me, not the house, again I have a seperate list for that in the kitchen.

This week I have tried not to place to many expectations on myself, 3 nights at the gym would be a result, last week I only managed 2 and this week looks like it will only be 2. But I did jump in and sign up before I thought too hard and didn't do it, which means things that had already been planned still needed to happen.

The spending column is for me to keep track of how much petrol I am buying, and to think about those buys that I dont think about, magazines, cold drinks, meal deals etc.This is my own personal allowance, not the house allowance, seperate account book for that. I'm interested to see how much I spend versus how much mileage I get paid.

On the face of it it doesn't look too bad, housework will get picked up as and when, I will try and do a bit here and there to insure that I don't spend all weekend doing it. Hubs has been out today and stocked up the food/household supplies, so should only be a small shop next week, hopefully I can manage that en-route home one night, unless hubs kindly does it again. Saturday afternoon archery is being done next week by his friends dad, we turn take, I'm on rota for this Saturday.

The poor hound is still on leg rest for at least another 2 weeks, which means only short lead walks, no need to factor that in,hubs will be on earlies so will help with hound walking. Did I tell you the vet recommended a collar of shame, interesting, he certainly doesn't know max well, the examination should have given him an inkling that this dog is non complaint! alongside the fact we had just got him to sign the claim form for the behaviourist who's working with him, that he recommended last time he had to visit the vet!

On non gym nights mum/taxi driver/cook/ agony aunt will switch off and go sit down and relax at 8pm, that gives me 2 hours of me time, before I start the pre bed tidy up, my hound is messier than a 2 year old! I think I need to declutter his toy box..

This will be a suck it and see plan, I may well end up just chucking it out of the window, I have control freak tendencies which can be the ruin of me, 

Now all I need to do is work on my work diary, that unfortunately I cant share with you, data protection and all that!

Prioritising...

Blimey, I think I'm too old for all these extra curricular activities..

This week saw me go to Bracknell for work on Monday, home to sort boys & hound, head off to gym, then ended up report writing until 10pm, Tuesday I was in the office at 7am and didn't get home till gone 6, what with motorway closures and having to pick up no 1 son from work placement, was so tired couldn't face the gym, did laundry instead !

Today I just had to stop, dropped no 2 son at school, no stressing about trying to get in early, got stuck in more traffic, roadworks this time, spent the day calmly, catching up with bits and bobs and more report writing, you'd never think I was a nurse! left work at 3 to go get no 2 son from school, spent the rest of my working day at home, reading and making notes for next report I have to write, cooked tea, did budgets, did shopping list, more laundry, and that's stopping !

Seems to me there's something amiss here, is everyone's life like this? or is it just because I'm over the hill at 50? I am 51 next month! 

 I'm going to have to start setting myself an alarm so that I just go and sit down and read/knit/crochet for at least an hour every night, and spend some time doing something with the boys! Reclaiming the weekend has taken a back seat  think I scared it off!

I shall take my trusty Filofax and start another list ! prioritise what I need to do, when to do it with a dash of fun thrown in for measure.

PS: And I'm really grumpy that we didn't have any snow here!

Holiday booked.

Hubs and I co-ordinated  and booked our annual leave this week, our next full week off together is in May. Annual leave is still dictated by school terms unfortunately, and the May break is when we normally head off for our first 'holiday'

In the past this has been the week when we go 'abroad', but with ever growing teenage boys trying to find something everyone likes within our budget is increasingly difficult, especially when the boys have completely different likes and interests. added to the extortionate fees charged by the holiday company's its actually near impossible. 

We have a small but reasonable budget, it certainly doesn't stretch to a week on a beach based package deal  not that the boys would like that anyway.Last year we gave up the idea of a foreign holiday and stayed in the UK, London and Cornwall were last years destinations. We have done France to death, and don't fancy ferrying to Santander.Where else to go? Having been to London twice we didn't want to go again, we spent new year in Cornwall and will no doubt  visit again at Easter. 

No 1 sons only choice was America, I don't think so ! No 2 son likes a bit of culture, he named a few places, generally city breaks, but hubs isn't really a city break man.. Me?  Id just like to have a holiday where everyone is semi happy, and if there's a glimpse of the sea, well, you have me hooked.

So yesterday I spent a good few hours looking at what was in our price bracket, the Internet is a wonderful thing. No 1 son was adamant he wasn't coming whilst no 2 son quite enjoyed looking at holiday destinations. To be honest I was getting a bit discouraged by it all, there was no way I could find anything in our price range that would suit everyone.

Would you believe it hubs came home,he listened to my suggestions then just said what about Scotland? Scotland? what? really?

Yep, Scotland. He had visited before, liked it and thought it would fit the bill. He even knew which hotel, OK..

A quick search on the net, Edinburgh, leith to be exact. Nothing fancy, a premier inn, suits us and the boys can eat as much as they like for free for breakfast..I know the way to a teenage boys heart !

Bus stop right outside to get to the city centre, the castle, the zoo, the museum, lots of things to see and do, and of course the sea! The premier inn actually backs straight onto the waterfront. 

5 nights booked, which gives us 4 full days to explore the area, and an overnight en route there and back if we decide to drive up.

No 1 son was not amused, in fact he was pretty non plus, not his idea of a holiday destination in any way shape or form, though I am sure when he gets there he will have a great time. This is probably the last year he will come with us, unless we win the lottery and can take them to America! 

So the holiday page is set up in my Filofax, budget crunching is underway, lists of places to go, entrance fees, and costings for food. Between now and then I will search for the best deals, watch groupon like a hawk, and plan the best Scottish holiday I can with the budget. I quite like a challenge !

Yuk !

What a miserable start to the weekend, blowing a gale and hammering down, not a day to be venturing out me thinks. Actually after a busy week I am quite looking forward to pottering about.

I have 3 things on my agenda for today:

1:

peruse this book for idea's for next weeks food , hubs will be on lates and I just know I will eat crap.

2.

carrying on reading, started this book in bed this morning with a cup of tea, could quite easily have stayed there, but I really do need to do a bit of housework!

3.

crack on with my sea stripes blanket, could do with another snuggly blanket in this weather, 

Should be able to manage that !

Not another night out?

Yep, I am afraid to say, this week I have a social life!

Alongside the gym I actually managed to drag my rear off the sofa and go and visit a friend last night! all alone, no hubs, no kids just me.

Had a great night catching up with S, haven't seen her for quite some time, shes my car-booting,  fabric addict friend, and she makes wonderful pretties..

these were wreaths for the table, when done she put a storm lantern in the centre.

Its always a joy to go and see her.

She cooked us dinner and we chatted for hours, bliss.

The downside is I'm blooming knackered, just 1 evening in this week, the house looks like a bomb site, I haven't done anything.Oh well at least its the weekend tomorrow!

Blimey !

What a week to decide to embark on an exercise regime. First week back after the break, work is hectic!

Its a case of go to work, come hone, change, go out, exercise, go home, shower, eat, bed. up and repeat

I really need to start planning my work diary better, luckily hubs is on earlies this week so has accommodated my new lifestyle.

Tonight is a night off, the gym, not back till Friday night now, Strangely after 2 nights of exercise I'm feeling pretty good, all bar the non existent stomach muscles who are rebelling, ouch..

I have done absolutely nothing on the home front, crafting? zilch..Reading, zilch, housework, zilch..

managed a load of washing last night but that's it, its starting to pile up, hey ho, its hump day so only 2 more days till the weekend.

Tonight I did manage to get my new diary pages into my Filofax, its my every day brain, non work stuff diary, have a separate diary for work stuff!

Without this I would never keep up with my life, daily spending from my little personal monthly cash amount gets recorded here, things I have done, hopefully blog post planning will occur here too, I'm very aware my blog is a bit rambling, no substance, just my daily crap.

More importantly my leave planning happens here too, I check out when the bank holidays are and tag  leave to that week, I get a whole week off but only have to take 4 days leave, which means more free time! Fabulous..

Other news so far this week? 

On Sunday I managed to grab a Z bed  from a  selling page on Facebook for £30 its in fabulous condition and is exactly what I have been after for the small guest room, the one I took over for crafting..

Crappy picture sorry, these normally go for about £100 so well pleased with that little purchase, guests can now come and stay without having to gate crash one of the boys rooms!

Last night the hound decided to tackle a wrought iron bench, full pelt in the dark, chasing a ball in the filed alongside the river, hes now looking very sorry for himself, a few cuts and scrapes but doesn't seem to be anything serious, silly boy!

No 1 son chucked his first sicky from his work experience placement yesterday, I chose not to battle, thinking he needs to learn what real life is all about, made him deal with it, I'm not lying for him, I hope his tutors gave him a talking too. All he seems to do at the moment is stay up late and sleep all day.....Arghhhhh

Now I am off to find something to knit, I don't fancy any of the projects on the needles, want something new to play with, only something small and easy, a TV knit..

Sorting Saturday.

Busy? phew that's an understatement, Yesterday was 1 busy day.I am so glad I came back on Friday and had the weekend to spend sorting!

First up was the obligatory photo blog post from my little mini break, I hope you all enjoyed your walk in Cornwall with me! 

Then it was up and out to do a food shop. First up checked what was in the freezer for main meals, quite a good haul, found a lamb joint for today, chicken breasts, pork steaks and mince meat, hubs will sort out what to cook with them he's on earlies, a quick scout round and had the shopping list ready, off to Aldi to grab the goods.

Packed lunch containers I hear you ask, yep... they were pretty colours so I just had to buy them ! seriously though, these were just the trick for taking packed lunches to work, I admit I often pop out to buy a meal deal or sneak to M&S for lunch if I'm in the office, not good for my weight or bank balance.

1 for me and 1 for hubs, just the thing for salads etc, the size is just perfect for me as I can squeeze it into my laptop bag or work bag dependent where I am that day, its meant to keep it at temp for 3 hours and the casing insures that no spillages on my work gear..these were £5.99 each, pretty reasonable as a basic meal deal in Tesco is £3.00, 2 days and I have covered the cost.Even though I got hubs a blue I think he thinks its still a bit girly!

They also had these soup mugs, I already have 1, its a bit old now, but they are fab, fill up with home made soup and take to the office and zap in the microwave, tasty,especially on these cold wintery days.The pack of 2 cost £ 6.99 I have seen singles for sale at Asda for £3.99 so a slight saving.I did make sure I got a pack with a blue one in for hubby, as you can see I am a pink girl ! Whilst I spent almost £19 on these it will mean I can organise my lunches ,be healthy and save some money, ditto for hubs.

There was a lot of food cupboard stocking up to do and no doubt the fridge will be empty by tomorrow but we have food for the week, and given we have 10 days till payday there's still cash in the bank!

I popped into pick up my prescription, dropped by my dads to give him his Cornish pasties and filled up with fuel, ready for work tomorrow.

Morning now gone, hubs had picked up hound and visited his dad, all that was left was to pack Christmas away, I love to get my house back in January. After removing all signs of Christmas we had a debate on whether to bring the dresser back in, 

The decision was no, its beautiful but big, as we are currently saving to buy some new to us sofa's, the hound is not yet ready for brand new sofa's, and there's just not enough space, so it was left in the office where it had been dumped. Unfortunately the office needed jigging about to accommodate it, that room is even smaller, but only has 2 book cases and a wall to wall desk housing the 2 PC's. which led to a major bookcase cleaning frenzy, the idea was to take all none books off the shelves and house in dresser, only managed 1 bookcase yesterday, 1 more to go to day.did find 3 yellow pages and 2 Thomson local directories and a screw fix catologue which have been binned, could only bear to part with 3 books so far,they are ready for charity shop, am hoping I can find some more from bookcase number 2.

4pm and I was blooming knackered, enough, hubs made a massive pot of veg soup, loads of old veggies needed using up, and made onion crisps for a soup topper yummy, just the thing after the rich foods of the festive season, the evening was then spent knitting and watching movies.

All in all a productive day.Wonder what today will bring?

A Cornish new year.

We headed down south on the 30th and came back last night, a really great mini break and a lovely way to see out the old year and welcome in the new.

Nothing was planned we took each day as it came, the weather was kind if a bit blowy,so we were able to get out and about everyday. 

New years eve we decided to visit Mevagissey, the boys are not great walkers !

we poddled around , watched the fishermen come in, and ate a lovely lunch on the quayside. I much prefer Cornwall at this time of the year so quiet!

We drove back along the coast and stopped at Port Pendennis, it was blowing a gale and everyone bar me decided to stay in the car!

New years eve, we visited the local village pub and came back and ate a fabulous curry! bliss

Up and out the next day, New Years day. hubs and the boys decided they wanted a sofa day, so Jules and I headed out to the lizzard, we picked another friend up along the way and had a girly walk out.

It was blowing a gale, very difficult to stay upright! and freezing cold but just the thing to blow out the old year, I loved it. We sat at the end of the point and grabbed a coffee in the cafe and just watched the sea, it was wild, I could have sat there for hours just watching it move, there was a lone seal bobbing about he looked to be having great fun.

Back home to a shared meal with friends. Another fabulous day.

Yesterday was  our day to depart, Jules had to work from lunch time so we headed home late morning deciding to take the north coast route back.

First stop was Portreath, another place I love, quite barren but the sea is amazing, its one of the places that's on our possible move to list!

we grabbed some pasties, admired the view and dreamed. one day.

Back in the car, stopping at various scenic spots then decided to drive down to Boscastle, hubs has never been there!

bitterly cold but quite busy with tourists, the boys had had enough by then and didn't want to walk around the point, hubs and I have decided to make another visit as we didn't get to see much at all, moaning teenagers are not fun when they are cold, bored and hungry!

And that was it, our time was up, over too soon as always, but we will be back!

Happy New Year..

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