Five on Friday....London

Hello

Once again I'm joining in with Amy's Five on Friday - please do visit her 

blog 'Love Made My Home' if you haven't yet, but I think lots of us know 

Amy and her blog already!  

So my Five on Friday is all about last Friday - the best day of the Easter weekend for us 

in terms of the weather forecast. Planning ahead I decided that Good Friday was the day 

for our planned day trip. It was a one-day break from revision for the young people from 

AS levels and University exams. 

At 7.44 am we boarded a deserted train to London. Once in London we headed for the 

Docklands Light Railway to make our way to Greenwich Park and more specifically to 

the Royal Observatory.

And here we are on the Meridian Line. Arriving at a relatively early hour it was still fairly 

quiet but there were still plenty of shadows. We then visited the Planetarium for a very

 interesting talk on identifying the more common stars and constellations. 

It was my first visit to Greenwich Park. The views from the Observatory over London and 

the Thames were stunning, especially in the spring sun. 

From Greenwich Park we walked to Greenwich village, home of the Cutty Sark.  

There was a great atmosphere in Greenwich, it felt almost like a carnival with the carousel, the food stalls, the pub and cafes around the Cutty Sark. And always that blue sky....

Back on the Docklands Light Railway we caught glimpses of restored docks and 

smart new apartments blocks built into old warehouses yet retaining the dockside old 

cranes for loading boats.  

A visit to London for me is hardly complete without a walk along the Thames.

And we finished the day with a meal at Pizza Express opposite St Paul's Cathedral.

 The sun accentuated the architectural details of the Cathedral. 

PS I'm finishing off with 2 sneaky extras photos:

my glorious pizza...

....and very welcome beer!

Sorry for cheating with 2 extra photos, but a great day with the family!

Have a great weekend

xXx

Enjoying, 17!

Hello, 

Enjoying, and with disbelief, that daughter celebrated her 17th birthday on Friday!

Daughter has a habit of never being at home for her birthday. 

Her birthday usually falls during the autumn half term and sometimes we have been

 away as a family but last year daughter was away on a school trip so we didn't 

see her at all on her 16th birthday. 

This year she was at a two-day football tournament in Cambridge. We eventually 

caught up with her late afternoon on her birthday.  

Next year she has vowed that she will spend all her 18th birthday with us, and 

has already requested that brothers must be present too.  

Enjoying Cambridge in all its autumnal glory. 

We used to live here...I miss it. 

Enjoying two football matches, daughter in action .... playing central 

defence for a change and outrunning the forward!

Enjoying mid air antics to clear the ball - number 6!

Enjoying her cake belatedly. I had promised to bake her favourite birthday cake but 

being away for two days scuppered these plans. 

Enjoying the reflections on my new candle holder.  

Enjoying more of those autumn views and late sun from the bedroom 

windows as I vacuumed and dusted.

Enjoying all those nostalgic moments invoked by dusting my dressing table - 

daughter has brought back these tins for me from her school trips, she knows my taste!

Enjoying the possibilities these little goodies promise - bought from 

John Lewis in Cambridge. Definitely a rosy, Christmas theme going on! 

Enjoy your weekend.

xXx

When it rains

Hello

Living in the Midlands has some drawbacks - a major one is that we are a minimum 

of a 2 hour drive from the coast. And every so often I have a yearning to 

see the sea, eat fish and chips and waste a few pounds (and a couple of hours) 

in the amusements. 

So Last Friday I booked a night for us all at Whitby Youth Hostel. 

We set off at 9.30 on Friday morning, a bit later than planned but it is 

the summer holidays and have you tried getting 3 teenagers/young 20 somethings 

up early when there is no pressing need?

 The weather forecast wasn't good but I live by the motto that 

"the weather is never as bad as they forecast". 

I think on Friday my motto let me down. 

As we headed north the skies brightened, 

my natural optimism grew but as we turned off the A1 and skirted the 

North Yorkshire Moors, visibility dropped to about 20 metres.

  The clouds were low and the rain was heavy. 

We headed for Staithes and sat in the car to ear our lunch. 

Once the rain eased, we headed down into Staithes, dodging the heavy rain showers 

in tea shops. 

It was flipping chilly too, I ended up wearing son's jumper to keep warm!

Fish and chips were eaten in Whitby. 

Entertainment for me in the Youth Hostel was browsing through some old copies of a

 magazine we used to read as children "Essex Countryside" - yes, at heart I am an

 Essex girl! The date on this one is 1969!

I loved the adverts - look at that Capri, 3 litre was pretty impressive!

And look at these adverts for TVs. In the advert above it promotes colour transmission

 as starting in November 1969! And the telephone numbers are so short.

Saturday dawned a much brighter prospect....ahhh! 

This is the Whitby that I had in mind when I booked our one night away!

Even at 10am the harbour was busy - 

everyone eager to escape outside after the wet and cool day before. 

The sun shone brightly - it can't fail to lift the spirits.  

After a walk round Whitby we headed south to Filey, one of my favourite seaside resorts, 

and a place we often stayed in for a week when the children were little. 

It has happy memories for us - how can we forget the time when our younger son

 aged just 3 months managed to roll out of bed and fall in the open suitcase 

by the bed - that was a bit of luck wasn't it!

Or the week when I very nearly came home early from holiday because same son, 

a couple of years older, would not sleep except from 10pm to 6am - 

not the most considerate times for parents, ready for a holiday and hoping for a relaxing week!

Said son is now 19 and sleeps 11pm to 11am (if we let him!)

Ahh... Filey Bay...

fluorescent ice creams...

and an incoming tide!

Then far too soon, it was time to say goodbye once more to the sea!

Until next time Filey!

xXx

Hope you all had a good weekend!

Day tripping.....

... to Matlock

... by train

... providing time for some more mindless circular knitting of socks 

(still LOVING that cute, diddy  needle!)

 ... disembarking at quiet stations

.. climbing through pretty woods

... seeing sheep and thinking "yarn!"

... enjoying the colours of spring

... taking in distant views

... contemplating the sky above Bilberry Knoll

... marvelling at the stone mullions of a house built in 1633!

... thinking how much the chimneys remind us of rooks on a chess board!

... admiring neat allotments

... gasping at statuesque chimneys

... appreciating beautiful architecture

... salivating at scrambled eggs on toast

... wishing there was a band playing to complete this picture of the bandstand

... not being envious of canoeists on the chilly river

... enjoying more bluebells

... astonished at the cheekiness of this robin

... waiting for our transport home

... finding time for a few more stitches and, from the photo I'd taken on our outbound journey, noticing the progress I'd made so far today! 

All in the very agreeable company of eldest son!

I needed this day out. 

I am essentially an outdoor girl who hates routine, but unfortunately, since November I 

have been working in a job which entails sitting in an office, shared with just

 one other person, 4 days a week from roughly 8am until 4pm. 

This drives me stir-crazy and in truth, I'm not sure how much longer I can do it, so this day

 out in the open spaces, no routine, with lots of walking and even more laughter was sorely 

needed and a great restorative. 

Enjoy your weekend  - and here's hoping for even more sunny days 

(we have been so lucky here in the UK lately!)

xXx