Joy in the Everyday Ordinary - July, 1-7

Hi there everyone 😃

Martin has been off this week and its been another glorious week weather wise. In fact there has been more than one occasion when it has been just a little too warm for me. Whilst I do love blue skies and sunshine and being able to spend time outside, I much prefer it just a little cooler and a bit of a welcome breeze is always nice too.

Saying that, the heat hasn’t stopped us getting out and about a fair bit this week, though the pace has been fairly slow at times, with plenty of stops for cold drinks and ice cream.

Looking through the pictures I've taken over the last week it’s surprising how many really lovely moments there were which were worth capturing and, on some days, I’ve been spoilt for choice as to which image to use, but I’ve stuck to my intention and chosen just one from each day which I think pretty much sums up our week ...

Day 1 - Having missed getting to visit both Newton Regis and Lullington Open Gardens, as we were out with the craft stall, we managed to get this year’s annual fix of garden visits from our first trip to the open gardens at Alrewas, another village fairly local to us. I will share more about our visit in a separate post but for now this picture just sums up how pretty a village Alrewas is.

Day 2 - After a busy weekend we spent Monday at home, gently pottering and finishing off a couple of projects we’ve been meaning to get around for a good while, including hanging a fabric sail above the pergola to give a bit of shade against the afternoon sun and building these pebble towers with pebbles collected from our travels.

Day 3 -  It seems to have been a week for finishing off bits and pieces. Today I finished the cross stitch flamingo pattern that I started a month or so ago. Next step is to turn it into a phone case.

Day 4 - After a morning doing some gentle tidying in the garden, including clearing the strawberry bed, I spent a while at the dining room table, dodging the heat of the afternoon sun, having a go at something new on the craft front.

Day 5 - We visited Coughton Court, NT with friends in the spring and were making a return visit, with mum and dad, to see how different the gardens looked at the height of summer. It was a scorching hot day and the highlight for me had to be paddling with mum In the ford just down the road.

Day 6 - As Martin was off for the week and we knew we had a week of sunshine on the cards we pretty much BBQ’d every day. We didn’t want to just have halloumi, burgers and chicken kebabs every day so we tried to keep it interesting by trying out some new recipes. This jerk chicken with pineapple salsa will definitely be making a return appearance 🍍

Day 7 - We had another big day out at the Statfold Barn Railway, this time for their Family Day with this little monkey and his mum. We had a lovely day and were home in time to see England win their quarter final World Cup game against Sweden. What a day 😃

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