Almost...

Almost there, just 3 more working days then as of Thursday I will be on my summer break

Whoopeee

18 days of RnR and making memories, Cant wait to get down to the coast and just relax

This weekend is all about getting ready, English camping breaks mean you have to prepare for all weathers, after last years disastrous trip,  planning for rain is essential. Hopefully the sun will shine but hey, I like to plan. Over the last few weeks I have been picking up an odd magazine here, a book there, [I like to read] ready to take away, I rarely buy magazines these days, but there's just something about camping that makes me want 'real books and mags' , [gadget freedom], I get quite excited about it

so far the collection is:

Mine !

No 2 sons

My chosen 3 books

Picked these up in Aldi's, junior loves a game and its a nice way to while away the evening watching the sunset.Should keep us occupied if the weather is too bad to venture onto the coastal paths..

Treated us to a new camping wash bag, trying as many ways as possible to reduce what we have to pack into the van, trial and error is helping us get the van as we want it, and to be honest a great big wash bag doesn't have a place in the van..

bought the mini toiletries, just need to pack toothbrushes now and its ready to pack.It fits perfectly into one of my new storage baskets.

I bought  6 of those under shelf baskets, hubs has put a shelf across the back of the van, and these slip on so we have extra storage underneath the shelf too! genius.. probably get 4 under the shelf and then I was hoping to add 2 onto the inside lip when the roof goes up, for keys etc, always lose those damn things camping!

Now I just need to work out clothes storage, we took a suitcase last year, being away for a week, no laundry facilities and unpredictable weather meant a back pack/ holdall  was too small. But it just didn't fit anywhere when we were all set up, during the horrendous weather the damn thing was on the floor of the awning so it got flooded too. I am thinking maybe underseat storage boxes for me.hubs and a small holdall for junior to have up in the roof space with him? Any other ideas out there?

I am soooooooo excited.......

To walk or not to walk, that is Max's question.

One of the joys of having a dog is having a companion to walk with. That is unless you have a rescue dog that is scared of his own shadow.

Max's anxieties change, there is always daily anxiety but specific responses can change.

Since probably spring, when the farmers started using bird scarers across the river at the back of us, he just wont walk from the house. we go out the front look left look right, then he will decide if today is a good day to walk to the field, if its a no not today, we will go out of the back gate, look left look right and decide. If its still a no, we have a problem..

For the past 2 weeks hubs has been off his feet due to a complete tackle from Max which knocked him to the floor, resulting in a badly sprained ankle, as I don't drive Barry Bongo, I had no option other than try to squeeze  him into the back of my car.I have to say he was a brilliant passenger and just lies on his blanky.

Trouble is, where ever we go, if there's a loud bang, he just wont walk there again,

I am running out of local places to take him.

Worn out.

Opened the Blog back up, closed it because I really wasn't feeling any love for it.

My life just seems too....uninteresting to blog about.

But I do like blogging, I like to write and record my life.

Is it strange that I don't mind 'strangers' reading it, but feel quite uncomfortable with people that know me reading it? People have been finding me on various social media sites, I am careful what I post, carefull who I accept as 'friends' I rarely post on facebook, never the daily 'I am having my breakfast' type posts that others feel necessary to let the whole world know about, rather I choose to post pictures, captured moments with my family, occasionally  posting pics of the boys, but really not sure I want to do this now. I found out the other day that a couple of my colleagues had been internet stalked by people that they have dealt with during the course of their working day. scary. 

But I will blog  a little longer, see how it goes, see what I am comfortable posting.

So here is my back to blogging moan

lets get it out of the way then I can maybe find something nice to blog about!

I am absolutely worn out with life.

The job is doing my blooming head in, but i'm stuck with it for now.

I upsized back to this job due to the flexible working hours and no shift work, good salary with pension and perks. Looking around the job vacancies there is really nothing else that matches it, I will just have to grit my teeth, keep my mouth shut, it did run away with itself a week ago at work, boiling point was reached, rare for me to 'lose' it, a sign of being over worked and stressed out..But I have only 8 working days till I get my summer break and boy do i need it. Barry bongo is taking us off south.. cant wait.. 

6 nights of bliss with a sea view.

Hubs has now started shift work which includes weekend working.. not liking that and it buggers up our little camping expeditions.

The boys really are too grown up to want to do much with mum!

So I find my first weekend with hubs working a little weird..

No 1 son was working yesterday, but no 2 son agreed to come for a little walk

it was quite pleasant and nice to do something with him.

We did the elephant trail, part of the Elephant parade, over at Noahs Ark, 

Please don't jump to conclusion about the real elephants above, this is only a small part of  a really huge elephant inclosure, Elephant Eden, 20 acres for them to roam. they were inside as the keepers were doing a massive poop scoop in their enclosure and setting up their evening feeds.

Its a lovely place to go visit, spacious and open, and a huge part is still a working farm, as you can see the views are amazing

and they have the cutest meerkats

Today its raining !, what? why?

Nothing planned, just poodling about the house..

Finishing off.

As you may have noticed I am pretty crap at finishing anything or seeing anything through. My default option if things get to too stressy or I don't like something is to opt out, hide it or ignore it.

But something strange is happening. I am wanting to finish things, I am actually  making myself finish things. It started with my colouring books, I completed the pictures that I liked, but didn't touch the ones I didn't, some I started but didn't finish. What a waste, these are not cheap old colouring books. So I made myself complete every one of the pictures in the book. When I completed the book I had such a sense of achievement, I carried on. I have 2 colouring books in process and 2 on my bookshelf to finish, am guaranteed to get one as a gift for Christmas.

Now I'm hitting the knitting projects, far too many of them. 

Here's what I found ;

.
Fox mittens, gift from no 1 son for mothers day just gone, definitely a project to finish will come in handy walking the hound in colder months.

socks, love them, this will be my camping project, get this one of the needles and then cast the other on ready to knit the rainy days away...

This has been on the needles for ages, I still like it, its a fireside camping cardi, a warm snug colourful hug for dismal days.I remember putting it down as I hit the sleeves and the rib that runs up the front and around the neck, I need to order some more grey yarn. A keeper,

Planned a s a sleeveless waterfall type waistcoat thingy.. knit in laceweight, so not a good idea, will take ages to get this done, am thinking as I was gifted 2 skeins for my 50th birthday.... may double it up and knit so its a bit thicker, still like the type of pattern, so this is lined up to be unpicked and recycled to something else.

This is a recent cast on. before I took the pic I was sure it was an unpick project, but actually I really like the colourway and think come Autumn this will be a nice little wrap/shawl.. this is one of the projects I chose to learn some new knitting skills, keeping the brain cells working.. short rows and a few rows of eyelets now and again.This is going to be a keeper.

Definitely a keeper, another crochet blanket, now I have pulled it out I may just do a few rows later!

And last but not least, I found my little case stuffed on the bookshelf, then I remembered what project the yarn was for, how could I forget this little beauty

My granny square blanket for the only girly room in the house, my little office, which doubles up as our Cornish friends room when she comes to stay. Most definitely a keeper

I will NOT cast on another project until I have finished the knit ones...
Hmmmmm

Real Books.

I have a Kindle and a Kindle app on my phone, but this past week I have been craving real books.My summer break is 3 weeks away now and I plan some serious reading. Especially if its raining when we go off in Barry Bongo.I have a stash on my Kindle but my hands itch to get themselves on real books. The kindle just doesn't do it for me at the moment, I think as I spend so much time on electronic gadgets for work, I really can't face another electronic device in the evenings.

So I gave into temptation and hit the local charity shops, sadly there was little to offer, I was quite sad to see books for sale greatly reduced in numbers,  there were plenty of cook books mind you.

Here's my little collection for summer break reading, [so far !] the top 2 I bought from Amazon, I love Celia Aherne and this is one I have not read yet, then I decided to get a lonely planet travel guide for Devon and Cornwall, we visit so often, generally going to the same places, I want to explore and go find new hidden gems, 

I have started on 1 of them, just couldn't resist getting my hands on a book.The pile may well shrink before I officially start my summer leave, so may just  have to take a little walk to the charity shop near work tomorrow to see what they have to offer.

Any suggestions out there for good holiday reads? nothing to deep or requiring brain cells, easy summer reading is what its all about!

Catching Up.

How come it's July?

where has the year gone, and for that matter where has the summer gone?

I have had Blog fog lately, just cant think of a damn thing worth writing about !

My life just ticks over, go to work, come home, wait... yup I'm still waiting...

One good thing, Barry Bongo passed his MOT, yipee...

hubs has been busy doing a little bit of converting..

excuse the mess the van tends to act as storage when we are not camping

we now have a couple of side seats which also have hidden storage, a thrifty make the only thing I had to buy was the fabric, plywood and memory foam from hubs stash of ' maybe useful one day' stuff !

I have enough fabric left to make some new curtains for the back of the van, all we need now is some sun!

Talking of camping, despite last years horrendous weather, I have booked 6 nights in Cornwall.

3 nights at Beautiful Bedruthan, loved it there last year, this was our evening view

and 3 at Tintagel, Headlands campsite, never camped there before but was recommended.

So looking forward to it, on the count down at work till my summer break, see waiting again.

that's it, nothing much else to report really. Lets see what the weekend brings.