Five on Friday - garden

Hello

Well my 'Five on Friday' hosted by Amy at Love Made My Home follows a similar theme

 to Amy's, it's all about my garden but somehow mine doesn't feel quite so calm and

 ordered. In fact I originally considered titling this post "Five surprising things in my garden" 

but managed to find some 'neater' photos in the end to balance out this post.

 So here goes. 

One: Balls, all 58!!

Two children love sports, especially football, and our garden is always littered with balls. 

Every so often I have a round-up. I did this last weekend and managed to fill 2 old dustbins 

with 58 balls including table tennis, tennis, golf, soft, hockey, lacrosse and 

of course, footballs! We get through so many footballs we buy them in bulk!

"Doubtless I will find more balls once I get on with the weeding" 

(she says shyly, see photo 3)

Two: Bedding plants in flowerpots!!

"Bedding plants in flower pots? What's so special about that?" you might ask. 

Well, it is quite a few years since I have put flowers in pots, and the reason is because of 

photo 1 above. Yes, balls! With so many balls flying around the garden my bedding plants 

were frequently dead-headed whether they were ready to be dead-headed or not! 

In fact, dead-stalked would probably be a better description. I did point out to daughter 

that I'd planted flowers in pots this year and that I was hoping that as she is now 17 she 

should be a better shot and could thus avoid my pots! Only time will tell, and my 

flowers have the long summer holiday to survive yet when 2 more young people will 

be back home from University and playing ball games in the garden. 

"Take cover plants!"

Three: (weeds)

Yes, I mention that word quietly. 

Life has been pretty busy bringing up children and 

working so the garden has been neglected over the last few years. But both sons are now 

at University, and daughter passed her driving test a few weeks ago and has suddenly 

become very independent, in fact I feel she has grown a whole 12 months in just one day!

So, sadly, we do have more free time and I think I have 

probably done more gardening already this year than I have in the last 5! 

But this bit of garden at the bottom is one part that I have yet to tackle and I have 

decided that I want to start again with it. 

However, I did think the bluebells looked pretty against the ornamental grasses 

(for 'ornamental grasses' read 'weeds'). 

Four: More balls, ball games

Daughter is revising for AS-levels and so spends many hours sat at a desk. This is quite 

challenging when you are someone who likes being active. Every so often we take her

 outside and throw a few balls for her to catch, and as you can see she thoroughly enjoys

 this and literally throws herself into the activity!

Five: Matching the bluebells 

I have just started knitting my next pair of socks, and I think this might be my

 favourite colourway yet: Regia design line Kaffe Fasset "Frost". 

This was one that I was so tempted to buy some months ago and 

eventually gave into the urge and I am so pleased I did - it was definitely the 

right decision. In fact, I'm thinking of purchasing more yarn to knit gloves and a scarf, 

not that I am intending to wear them all at the same time. 

Please head over to Amy's blog. Thank you to Amy for hosting "Five on Friday"

Wishing you a good weekend - and where has the sun gone?? 

xXx

Birdsong....and Ginny's yarn along

Hello,

Once again joining in with Ginny's yarn along. 

So I am re-reading Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. 

I first read this book several years ago and thought it was quite good 

and decided to have another go at it. 

I think my current opinions on it are very similar to those when I read it the first time. 

"It's quite good" but not a top 10 favourite.

The descriptions of life in the first world war trenches is impressive. 

 Knitting continues to be "those" socks for younger son, but I am on the home run.

 One sock finished, and turned the heel on the second sock so the finishing line is in sight! Yippee!

And today's photo is rather special: I took it outside in warm sunshine, yes, warm sunshine. 

Thank goodness I was working at home today and could nip outside to appreciate even just a few  minutes some very welcome sunshine.

Do have a look at the gorgeous yarn Ginny is using, it reminds me of a green meadow full of summer flowers.  

I hope you have managed to enjoy a bit of sunlight today!

                                                                                  xXx

And P.S. (all non-football-fans look away now): 

well done Leicester City on winning the Premier League!!! 

Yarn along.. blue thread and stripey socks (still!)

Hello,

Once again joining in with Ginny's yarn along. 

Looking back at my yarnalong post of 2 weeks ago, I can hardly believe that I have yet

 to finish younger son's first sock! But boy, these men socks seem to take much more 

knitting than socks designed for my size 5 feet! 

I can happily zip along knitting socks for me as I know the size perfectly and a quick

 count of rows every so often, and then I'm off again. Whereas with this unfamiliar sock 

size I have to keep stopping, finding my tape measure, deciding how much I should stretch 

the socks while measuring them and cogitating whether I have reached the desired size 

yet, while also having a slight concern in a corner of my mind as to whether I'll have 

enough wool for a second sock. 

In comparison to the relatively slow progress in my sock, and despite an initial inability to concentrate on Ian McEwan's 'Atonement', I eventually got 'into it' and loved it! I think it 

might even become one of my top 10 favourite reads! McEwan gives very detailed 

descriptions of everyday happenings and objects, but it all helps to build the tension. I

 couldn't understand the purpose of the postscript at first but on reflection I can see now 

how it explains much of the story - I shan't say more in case you wish to read it.  

Now onto my next book 'A spool of blue thread' by Anne Tyler which has been 

recommended by several people - I'm looking forward to it!

And finally, thank you to everyone for your kind comments on my last yarnalong post. 

The family/child-related problem was eventually sorted last night, just over 2 weeks after

 it first raised its ugly head. Two weeks of stress, albeit it in peaks and troughs, and now

 time for some calm again in the family.....

Wishing you a peaceful week

xXx

Yarn along... stripy socks and Atonement

Hello

Here I am joining in with Ginny's Wednesday yarn along. 

I recently finished a pair of socks for me 

(I hope this link to the photo on my instagram account works!) 

Younger son seemed particularly taken with them and asked for a pair of very bright 

hand knitted socks. And of course if someone actually asks us to knit something for them, 

we get very excited, and so I rushed off to scour the internet for suitable wool and came
up with the above. Yes, son approved, wool was ordered, arrived 2 days later
and off we went, socks cast on - weeeee........ 

But I am having to knit a larger size than normal and making a few other adjustments. 

I tried them on his feet yesterday and he was wiggling and giggling like

 a toddler - he's nearly 20!! But I am enjoying knitting these - those bright colours

 can hardly fail to lift the spirits can they?

As for my book, well I have read a couple of Ian McEwan's books and really

 enjoyed them. We are reading his 'Atonement' for our book club. Sadly, I haven't read 

far into the book yet as my mind has been distracted by family events, you know those

 sort of 'children-related' events that occur every so often and that stress the heck out of

 you. Anyway, given time, as with all of life's little ups and downs I'm sure our 

present bumps will soon be smoothed...

I hope you are enjoying your current read!

xXx

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

Five on Friday

Hello,

I'm delighted to be joining in with Amy's Five on Friday. 

I'm keeping this simple. Five photos and a few words.

The sun broke through the early thick fog to reveal a beautiful day. It was just too lovely 

to stay indoors so husband and I ventured out for a walk, heading for the wood at the 

back of our house. 

After trudging along the very mud path which mostly follows the perimeter of the wood we 

headed out towards the university playing fields. The groundsmen were out aerating the 

football pitches. The pitches are always immaculate.

After coffee in the cafe at the business park, we headed home, taking yet another

 photo of these gorgeous daffodils....

 past the water....

and back into the wood, almost home. 

Hope you enjoyed that walk. 

Thank you Amy at love made my home for hosting Five on Friday. 

Please head over to Amy's blog and see more Five on Friday's.  

Best wishes

xXx

Yarn along!

Hello

Joining in with Ginny's yarn along this week. 

So I'm reading 'The Nazis: A Warning From History'. I wonder how many of you remember 

this as a BBC TV series back in the late 1990s. I have read this before but as part of my 

mission to de-clutter I decided this was one book I would read once again and then pass
on. I am making slow progress though as I get distracted by facts and find myself
continually stopping to look up lots of extra details on Wikipedia. Still, it is quite nice
to be distracted in such a way. 

In the introduction there is a quote from Karl Jaspers, a German-born philosopher

"That which has happened is a warning. To forget it is guilt. It must be continually 

remembered. It was possible for this to happen, and it remains possible for it to happen 

again at any minute. Only in knowledge can it be prevented."

I'd like to think that was true but sadly I am not wholly convinced. 

As for these socks, oh boy they are taking me an age to knit. I've been suffering with that 

awful cold/cough bug that is going round and I haven't even had the energy to knit. 

Instead I have sat and read.... not a bad substitute.

Happy reading/knitting!

xXx