Sunshine and rain

August 20, 2020

There’s been a fair bit of both recently here. Yesterday, full on rain. Today, full on sunshine. We had a day off today and so we made use of the sun beds, which when it was 35 degrees last week we didn’t get a chance to use, well there were plenty of chances, but we both would have melted.

The weather the past few days reminded me of our visit to Hyde Hall back in June (though I’m not sure how it was so far away as June!). That day we had all the weather the same day. I drove through, and as it turned out, ahead of torrential rain, experienced it when it caught us up followed by the most glorious sunshine.

But that also brought the opportunity for some raindrop pictures, and while the weather is forecast for extreme wind tomorrow (thanks Ellen), let’s first enjoy the raindrops on petals.

They’re exquisite. Nature is exquisite. I’m just glad that my iPhone was ready and able to capture them

Reflecting on my week #137

August 18, 2020

This past week has felt the most normal for a while, with normal things happening including having family over, going out, twice, and a house move in the family - we’ve yet to visit, but have an open invite so hope to pop up soon. Work has been as busy as usual, but that’s the reality right now. It felt normal to have family over, for them to stay overnight, but was less normal is the amount of cleaning we needed to do beforehand. Being in the house pretty much full time since the middle of March has seemed to attract more dust and insects than it normally would. Don’t get me wrong, we have cleaned in all that time, but when you have people staying, family or otherwise, you find time to give everything a bit more of going over.

This week though that time was straight after a night out. Not a big night out, but a soft opening for one of the local bars. Of course after a week of nice weather and threatened storms, the rain arrived to coincide with our booking for an outdoor table. We left home almost dressed for winter, though the new waterproof I bought during lockdown came in handy. By the time we got even part-way there we were wetter than we wanted to be, so waited for a bus. Another first.

Actually some habits don’t change, we only waited as the board said it was only 2 minutes away. When it did arrive, with masks on, we got on tentatively. There was plenty of space, and with a capacity of 11 people for a single decker bus, it’s hard to see how this will work when more people are back at work. Luckily our outdoor reservation was moved inside, and we really tested the system, by arriving later than we should have done.

After a gin and tonic or several it was time for food, so as it’s been a while we headed over to Franco Manca. The virtual queue was also the track and trace requirement and worked really smoothly, there were less tables in the restaurant and we sat in a completely different part of the restaurant than before. In fact I’d never even noticed the tiles before, and now that I have, i can’t imagine why ever not.

We’ve had another visit from the dragonfly, though this time it came no further than the conservatory. MOH spent time on and off trying to shoo it out, which was most entertaining for me, less so for the dragonfly. Both it and MOH needed to rest at times, due to the heat I’m sure. While it was nice to have lunch, breakfast and dinner outside, it has been a tad on the warm side, so the cooler temperatures and rain were are almost welcome, just for a bit.

Then on Sunday it was nice to pick up my crochet again, it’s been a while. And of course, now I’m out of the mini skeins, so I’m waiting for the next delivery, which should arrive soon.

The colours this month have been blues and lilacs, which are colours I wouldn’t naturally go for, but they’ve grown on me. Yet again I’m curious to find out where the colour-way is taking me next.

I’m also wondering if I’ve been over-brave in going for a multi-coloured wearable… Only time will tell.

Post Comment Love 14-16 August

August 14, 2020

Welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo - a friendly linky which I co-host with Suzanne, where you can link any post published in the last week. We know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked and share some of that love.

The expected rain hasn’t arrived just yet, so it’s all quite disappointing. Though as I type I think the thunder is starting to rumble. It’s been cooler though, thankfully. Yesterday it was only 28. Who’d have thought that would have been a sentence I’d write, it was at one point 34 which is quite warm. Though being at home was much better than being in the office, as that was never a cool place to be.

There’s been very few photos this week, so I’ve dipped into my photo albums to share a photo that caught my eye. It was taken back in February, when we managed to escape for a few days in Lyon. Now that seems so far away, and a really good call to book an early-in-the-year weekend away. It’s taken from our hotel looking over the roof of what, on the ground floor, was the restaurant. We ate one of our best meals there, and it was just as well we didn’t have too far to roll back ‘home’.

All of the angles appeal, as well as the memories of a good few days, including the ones where we almost missed the flight home! Seriously.