Joy in the Everyday Ordinary - April, 22-30

Hi there everyone 😀

I really can't quite believe we are at the end of April already. It has simply whizzed by at an absolute rate of knots.

It's been a month full of sunshine, a long Easter weekend, crafting, watching the garden come back to life, with a few fun days out thrown into the mix.

May is looking to be another busy and exciting month, with the arrival of a new baby girl imminent, our 10th wedding anniversary to be celebrated, a week away in North Wales, where we will get to tick a few more of the 50 things I want to do before I'm 60 off the list, and a family day out at the Statfold Barn Railway.

And then it will be summer ... but for now ... here is the last of our April ...

Day 22 - It was Easter Monday and we spent another glorious day just gently pottering about. We called in at friends, ran a few errands and found a fab new place for lunch ... I'm sure it will become a regular haunt 😀

Day 23 - Martin was back at work today and it was a day of catching up with blogging and laundry for me ... but I so enjoyed my leftover sausage sarnie lunch. It was a real treat 😀

Day 24 - Today was an unexpectedly long and fairly stressful day. It was lovely to get home and find my anniversary photo book had been delivered and I absolutely love it 💜💜💜

Day 25 - I can't quite remember how many weeks it had been since I'd done any ironing but today was spent on a bit of an ironing marathon. I did get chance for the odd wander around the garden though and was pleased as punch to see all of these flower spikes on the camassia that we bought from the B&Q dead zone for next to nothing at the end of summer last year.

Day 26 - I am always pleased to see the return of this vibrant red rhody. It kind of signifies the garden starting to move into the next season ... away from the yellows and whites of early spring, into the less less subtle colours of summer ... not that it feels much like summer with the threat of storm Hannah on her way over from Ireland.

Day 27 - I made a start on cutting out the top I have bought the pattern and fabric for. After realising that I hadn't got enough fabric it was a quick dash back to the shop for another half a metre. Once back home I managed to get it all cut out and pattern markings transferred ... including tailors' tacks. I can't tell you how long it's been since I've had to do those, but my 'O' Level Needlework was useful for something.

Day 28 - Today was a bit of a sewing day for me. There were highs and lows as I was working on the first garment I have made in donkeys years. This really made me smile though ... a Bobby bean update, and it's growing ... I was well chuffed.

Day 29 - After a bit of a stressful, but rewarding, morning I was pleased to get back home and not do much at all. We did call into the garden centre to stock up on bags of compost for potting on sweet peas and our own French beans and for getting ready for hanging baskets in a couple of weeks. Anything garden related is always pretty much guaranteed to shift any other stress related thoughts from my mind. It's great therapy. 

Day 30 - Today was a full on gardening day. We planted out sweet peas and French beans and managed to pot up four pots of this erigeron ... which had just self seeded in an empty pot after being introduced to the garden last year. We had thought they were weeds but I'm so glad we left them just to make sure. I will definitely be leaving an empty pot in the same spot at the end of this year.

A sneaky extra - The weather on Monday this week couldn't have been more different from the previous Monday, when we had been basking in warm sunshine and enjoying clear blue skies. I must have spent an hour looking out of my bedroom window, from behind the curtain, watching this female blackbird collecting bits of moss and leaves from the gutters in the street and taking them in through the bottom of our conifers before appearing a moment later at the top, with an empty beak. We used to have blackbirds regularly nesting in ivy in our back garden, but we had to cut it all down and I am really glad that this family have found a new nesting place not too far away.

****************************************************************************