Joy in the Everyday Ordinary - April 11-21

Hi there everyone 😀

It's the Tuesday morning after the Easter weekend and what a weekend it's been. Four whole days full of blue skies, sunshine and record temperatures. It's not very often we get that combination in this country and it was a real treat.

We managed to fit in lots of our favourite things, making the most of the sunshine. I really felt for Martin having to get up for work this morning, but at least it's just for the four days.

To be fair, it's not just the Easter weekend that has been good from a weather point of view, the previous week saw plenty of dry weather, though it was a little cooler and we managed to make a few more strides in the garden as well as finding time for a bit of crafting ... and we've been to our first craft fair of the year ... so all in all it's been a fairly eventful 10 days ...

Day 11 - I was thrilled to finish a surprise computer project today, that has taken up a lot of my time this week. I did manage to get out into the garden in the afternoon sunshine and scarify the grass. This friend wasn't too impressed at being disturbed from basking in the sun.

Day 12 - After what seems like weeks I finally got my sewing machine back today. I though I'd best test it to check all was ok and ended up managing to finish this gift project for a baby girl due very soon.

Day 13 - We had a lovely day today just pottering out and about. We started at Dobbies, a local garden centre, where we had brunch and picked up some bargain hanging basket plants with a gift voucher I'd had from a friend for Christmas. On the way back we called into a local fabric shop where I picked up a pattern and some fabric for my next sewing project ... my first garment since I was at school studying 'O' Level Needlework 😀. We finished our day with a home cooked curry night with our good friends Jackie and Phil, who literally live just around the corner.

Day 14 - We had a nice slow day today, but of course there was time for a mooch around the garden, which is starting to look really lush and green now. This tree peony always brings a smile once it flowers as it was salvaged from Beryl's garden and it always makes me think of her when I see it bloom 😀

Day 15 - We put abruzzi lamb in the slow cooker and had a day out back in the garden. We managed to finally get the last fence panel in, which was a fab result and then moved on to potting on the bargain hanging basket plants we'd bought at the weekend.

Day 16 - These were delivered today. There are so pretty ... but that's not why I've bought them. I thought I'd give them a try as you are able to buy refills for them, rather than having to constantly buy new bottles, so I thought it might help with our journey to less waste. I'll let you know how I get on with them.

Day 17 - We actually forced ourselves to do a bit of housework today ... but not so much that there wasn't time for a bit more hooky 😀

Day 18 - The camassia is in flower. This was a clump that was dug up for us by a kind cottage owner when we were away for our wedding anniversary in Pickering. I love the fact that it has taken well to our garden and it's always reminder of a lovely time spent in Yorkshire.

Day 19 - It was Good Friday and we had the loveliest of days. We spent the best part of the day with David, Alison & Bobby, starting off in the garden where Bobby was helping ... well he was to start with! We then had a wander round the castle grounds in the sunshine, fed the ducks, had some lunch and had a wander round the fair. The little man was on top form and we had the best time.

Day 20 - Today was sooooooo hot. We put in a bit of a token effort in the garden and managed to get all the pot saucers matched up with pots and watered everything, but we had plenty of breaks and I finally managed to finish my book.

Day 21 - Easter Sunday and today found us out for the first time with the craft stall. It was a fairly slow day but we did ok and just had a nice day sitting, chatting, eating, doing the crossword ... what's not to like?

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So there we go for another 10 days of the things that have made me smile.

I've lots more to share with you about our Easter weekend, but I'll save that for another post, so look out for that if you want to find out more about what the little man got up to and how we got on at the craft fair .... oh, and we found another garden centre with the loveliest cafe for a sunny day.

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