This July...

Unlike last month, it’s been a relatively quiet and ‘normal’ month. No jet setting off anywhere, though I have been thinking about where we can go towards the end of the summer. In fact the closest we’ve got to exploring anywhere was the ‘Pour Le France’ wine tasting at our local Majestic store, and that was only very loosely themed. I actually thought their marketing people could have made more of this, and had some fun but that’s by the by, the wine was still good. And we had to go back the next day to collect what we’d bought, always the sign of a successful evening!

We’re wine tasting again tonight at our local independent wine shop and will no doubt be heading back in the next few days to collect our South African purchases.

That seems a great way to celebrate two years since we moved here. It’s the same old adage though - it seems like we’ve been here forever, but also for no time at all at the same time. We don’t regret moving out of London one single bit, which is good news, hey?!

A new sofa and two holes

We went shopping in Nottingham for a new sofa, this time actually making it to the shop we intended. The last time we tried we were distracted and bought some rather large artwork for our stairwell, this time was much more successful and not only did we agree on a sofa style and colour and not flinch too much at the price. After checking the colour and measurements at home, we even ordered it. But would you believe, this is the only photo I took during the whole sofa shopping trip!

WE’RE NOT HAVING GREEN THOUGH!

It’s booked to arrive in the middle of next month, and it’ll be good to replace the garden sofa we’re currently using in the kitchen. That garden sofa, will for the first time in its history finally move into the garden - we’ve had it since 2016, so it’s lived a pretty sheltered life so far.

We’ve ended the month with a hole in the wall too, well two holes in the wall. We had the electrician in to move some high level sockets (intended for a wall mounted TV) down to counter level. We don’t intend having a TV in the kitchen, so it makes sense to stop looking at the sockets. Now we just have to do the final repairs.

I’ll be covering the two holes temporarily with a high tech solution - a folded sheet of A4 paper. But even so it’s already looking better already, and the plant has lived there since our ‘get to know the neighbours’ party coming up for two years ago now.

I’d emptied the bookcases in case they needed to be moved, as it turned out they didn’t but it was no bad thing really as I managed to evict plenty of spider webs and random insects at the same time. And let’s face it, it’ll be a while before they get pulled out again.

While the electrician was here he added some more power sockets for our garage gym and an additional light switch so that we can have lights whichever way we go into the garage - all the mod cons us! It’s taken us a while, but we are finally making headway in sorting out the garage. We’re having a bit of a moving box amnesty with various batches heading off to people living locally who need boxes, as well as some put aside for the youngest niece. So much so that we can almost see the floor in the garage now - and yes, it’s dusty!

I’ve worked out the optimum racking solution for the garage and while sorting it out may still be a bit like one of those puzzles where you move things around for a while before they find their proper home, it is starting to come together.

Mostly sunny BBQs and rainy Saturdays

We’ve celebrated birthdays this month with barbecues starting with MOH’s at the start of the month, closely followed by a trip to Sunny Hunny (which wasn’t so sunny) to celebrate my dad’s 91st birthday, albeit a bit earlier than usual. Last year for dad’s 90th birthday I made him some bunting, this year it got an upgrade so look out for the post on that.

We arrived with everything needed for an impromptu family get together. That is apart from the jug for the Pimms, but we improvised, and improvised well…

It even had a lid!

There’s been a rainy Saturday or two as well this month, but that’s not been so bad as there’s been plenty of sport to keep us entertained; the British & Irish Lions, the Tour de France, the darts and so much more, that we haven’t really minded the wet -but still humid - weekends. And it won’t be long before the football season starts again though we’re currently unsure where, or if, we’ll be able to watch the Community Shield between each of our teams as that’s another fixture that’s fallen to TNT Sports.

A new craft

You’ll have seen that I’ve picked up a new hobby this month, and one that I think may actually lead MOH to despair. I already had a fair bit of what I’ll call ‘a waste stash’ by which I mean those bits you keep because they could be handy one day, and now I’m looking at everything with fresh eyes. As the days go by I’m finding more and more things in my craft room that could come in useful for this new ‘need’ - I just need to work out how to fit it in alongside everything else, and how not to make over-extensive plans. The usual really!

I’ve also been getting to know my new ‘take to’ sewing machine, which was a purchase at the start of the month. I’d planned to take my old Toyota sewing machine to my sewing group, instead of the hand sewing that I usually take, and thankfully had the idea to try it before I went. Sadly that didn’t go so well as the machine goes up and down, but not forward. It also sounds like a train - and not one of those quiet ones, so I took myself off to the sewing machine shop for a new one. Look out for a post in the coming weeks about my ‘take to’ workshops and sewing group machine, and my first makes using it.

And I’ll leave you with the current state of my ‘Essex Kisses’ quilt which featured in my June quilty update.

It’s so close to being almost there, that I’m hoping that once I’ve got my June charity quilt and Block of the month finished, I’ll be able to crack on with this. I’ve now got the perfect backing fabric for this, and have ideas about how I want to quilt it - but I’ll save that for the update when it’s done.

All I need is not to get too distracted by my visit to the Festival of Quilts this weekend - wish me luck!

If you want to read my previous monthly updates in my ‘This is’ series you’re very welcome.

This June...

At the end May we were away flying to Chicago from Heathrow just after the Bank holiday, and my plan was to stay off socials pretty much, which with the time difference was a good call. It meant that in the run up to our break I was busy getting ahead of myself and scheduling blog posts for the duration of our trip. Staying off socials meant that I didn’t want to include details of the trip in my May update, but I’m happy to do that now.

USA baby

We flew to Chicago spending four nights there exploring both the city and the nature it offered. My highlights here were the boardwalks by the Lincoln Park Zoo, trying (and being beaten) by a Chicago Deep Dish pizza in the city of its name, and a fabulous birthday meal at Gibson’s Chicago Steakhouse. Next we took an Amtrak train across to Seattle, this epic adventure took 2 days and 2 nights, and while it wasn’t exactly luxury it was a great experience.

We spent four nights in Seattle - my best moment was our visit to the Dale Chihuly exhibition and gardens in the grounds of the Space Needle, truly, truly amazing. I’ve so many more pictures to share from this, and the whole trip, but here’s a teaser:

And Canada too

Then we were back on the Amtrak, this time taking a much shorter journey across the border to Vancouver for another four nights. Here we met up with MOH’s cousin and her family; we haven’t seen them for far too many years and it was great to spend time with them. There was lunch, brunch and another lunch out and a seaplane trip for some, and a good old natter and catch up for others.

We stayed in English Bay, a very chill part of Vancouver which was even busier than usual as a lot of Canadians seemed to be staying home rather than heading over the border this year, and the high unexpected temperatures. Luckily we’d packed for all eventualities, but we were close to running out of our more summery clothes - which is far better than not having the opportunity to wear them at all.

We celebrated our eighteenth wedding anniversary while in Vancouver, and to mark the occasion we hired bikes and did a couple of laps around Stanley Park. A couple of laps was unintentional, but we hadn’t realised that the path was one way, so once we’d found the Totem Poles we decided to just go around again. That worked out well as we realised when we stopped just how warm it was - and don’t worry, I’d hired an e-bike so it really was fine by me.

Actually the e-bike worked out well - picture the Canadian equivalent of a Boris bike and you’re close to the model I had, and even that meant I enjoyed the ride much more than on a manual bike, so it’s something I’m seriously considering now we’re home.

Hot, hot, hot

It seems the unexpected heat came home with us as we walked back into a heatwave when we got off the plane at Heathrow, and there’s been another one this past weekend. It has been very warm, and uncomfortable - but strangely very windy too.

That first weekend we were back we headed off to Gardeners’ World Live in Birmingham (#Ad - I was invited to and provided with a pair of tickets for the show) visiting on the last day of the show for the first time. Given the scarcity of public transport options here on a Sunday morning I drove there in my new car - my first long drive, and that was great as it really gave me the opportunity to get used to it. Which seems a strange thing to say as although it’s the same make and model as my previous car, this one’s a hybrid - and I must say, I’m loving the petrol consumption and efficiency.

Wildly blissful

I’ve also spent the last week on the month at home alone, and it’s been bliss. I’ve had things planned in most days and I’ve kept myself busy, even starting my Essex Linen kisses quilt - more on that tomorrow. MOH has spent the week in Ireland cycling parts of the Wild Atlantic Way with some of his cycling buddies, and while the timing has been a bit of ‘everything all at once’, to be honest I’m surprised they managed to make it happen at all.

The weather there was more in keeping with what you’d imagine from a route with wild in its name, with temperatures a good ten degrees below those here. He told me that everything he took was damp, and needs drying out, so you can imagine how much I was looking forward to that when he got home!

In more mundane news, I’ve got the right sized olive tree for my large pot - but I don’t think I have enough soil to fill the pot, and so far nothing has come of my post in the local Facebook groups, so it’s likely that we’ll be off to the garden centre again soon.

Post-holiday food shopping really is dull, though the offer on a favourite Rose wine sweetened the trip a little. The heat pump was serviced, and a small leak was eliminated. MOH’s been to see a chiropractor, which seems to be doing the trick, I’ve had my annual health check - and passed (I think!), and treated myself to a luxurious 90 minute massage, and I’ve been along to a new-to-me DanceFit class, as sadly while I was away my regular Zumba class ended. I’m very sad about that.

But the best thing about being back?

Finally, a decent cup of tea, how I missed a cuppa while I was away!

If you want to read my previous monthly updates in my ‘This is’ series you’re very welcome.

This May...

Oh dear, I ended last month’s post wondering if this would be the month we started to sort out the garage. In short, it wasn’t! I clearly had good intentions, but then completely forgot about it, so that’s another job that is still on the list for this month.

In other ways though it’s been a busy month. I was back down in London at the start of the month for the press preview of the new Unearthed exhibition at the British Library, and really enjoyed my mooch around the exhibition and the British Library, which I hadn’t visited before despite living in London for most of my life…

MOH joined me later in the day and we had a wander around the British Museum which was very busy, and then headed over to our hotel in Docklands ready for a day at Grand Designs Live the next day. Although we hadn’t really thought this through and booked a restaurant - the German Gymnasium in Kings Cross for dinner. Thankfully though the Elizabeth line made it super easy to get across town, and back again.

INSIDE THE GERMAN GYMNASIUM AT KINGS CROSS

The decor and history of the restaurant was amazing, and it was a popular place. The food was good, but it’s not somewhere I’d rush back to. The reviews online were mixed and I can see why, but it’s somewhere that I’ve wanted to go for a while, so it was good to experience it for myself. The toilets were pretty unusual too, so at some point I’m sure I’ll share some of their decor.

The building was an actual old gymnasium, and a German one at that. It was built by the German Gymnastics Society in 1865 and was home to London’s first indoor Olympic Games in 1866—and then again in 1908, there’s still some hooks used for the equipment in the Grade II listed building’s roof trusses.

We’ve been further afield too, heading to Devon for a few days to visit family and for a day out at the Devon County Show - our first ever any kind of county show. We had a good day there, again in brilliant sunshine, and it is always good to catch up with family. We stopped off at Croome National Trust on the way down and then on the way back again, so I expect I’ll share more of our visit there, as it’s a beautiful place.

Sport and sorts

There’s been cycling extravaganzas for MOH too; he ventured to Stevenage by train with his bike to meet up with friends for a day’s cycling, and then completed one of his mad 100 mile cycling challenges a few days later. The latter in brilliant sunshine and high temperatures, rather him than me.

For me yoga and zumba in the next village have been few and far between, what with bank holidays coinciding with yoga and in the case of zumba, the hall being used for the local elections as well as a clash with a night out in Newark wine tasting and our few days in Devon. But there has been plenty of home yoga and some home zumba sessions. Home yoga was more successful as I easily dipped back into Yoga with Adriene; for zumba I searched and tried several workouts on YouTube to find one where I didn’t stumble over my feet quite so much - the jury’s still out!

But the big sports news for this long-term Crystal Palace supporter is the FA Cup win. It was a nerve wracking match to watch, but they held onto their 1-0 lead and triumphed over Manchester City. For the occasion I’d opted for some of Brewdog’s Wingman to calm my nerves, mostly because the can was yellow with a blue eagle on!

So clearly I’m claiming some of the success for Palace’s first major trophy win. The beer I drank and for the lucky rub I gave my age-old supporter badge, which I have no idea how or when it arrived with me, clearly made all the difference!

Specs and spectators

My regular eye test and contact lens check was due this month, and while all is good the optician confirmed what I knew already, that my current glasses are now further away from my actual prescription and could do with an update. So I’ve chosen, and recently collected new glasses, which I’ll mostly wear about the house and which will come with me on trips in case of emergencies. And I’ll know that if they’re needed then they’re up-to-date enough to cope with the job!

We’ve been to the theatre in Nottingham again, this time to see Henning Wehn, the german comedian and in the smaller Theatre Royal. It was a good evening with plenty of chuckles along the way, which is always good. I still can’t quite get my head around being home usually within 30 minutes or so of stepping out of the theatre.

At the moment we’ve only got one further theatre trip booked, and that’s not until October when we see Divine Comedy - maybe I should do something about that and see what else is on.

My favourite month

May, I think is my favourite month, though I’m probably biased as it’s my birth month. Though it seems that all of a sudden everything has taken off, we’re much busier than we have been, the weather has generally been good, the garden is growing (and growing) and we’ve been out here, there and everywhere.

I’ve picked up my new car (it’s a newer version of the car I already had and it’s fabulous), the large pot we bought at Grand Designs has been delivered - so now I need to find the right sized and right priced olive tree to put in it - and we’ve got our travel bug back. So much so that I’ve been looking through our holiday photos from last year, and even plan to share some of those walks - you can’t rush things, clearly!

But it also seems crazy that with June around the corner we’re close to half way through the year, how did that happen?!

If you want to read my previous monthly updates in my ‘This is’ series you’re very welcome.