It's Holiday Time

Daniel and Eleanor break up from school today for the summer holidays and we go away tomorrow for a fortnight to Cornwall, I can't wait. I've still got the packing to do, but that won't take long.

This is Archie enjoying his holiday last year. We were on Blackrock Beach situated at the south end of Widemouth Beach near Bude. It's great if you've got a dog as it's dog friendly all year round. Archie loves to go in the sea and the rock pools. I'm sure we'll be visiting this beach again over the next fortnight.

It sounds as though we may strike lucky with the weather if the forecasts are anything to go by, summer's supposed to be arriving. See you when we get back.

The Stash Keeps Growing

I've done it again, been and ordered more yarn from Kemps. I couldn't resist after hearing from Amanda at Eight by Six gardening blog that they were selling Patons Pompero at only 89p per 50g ball, the recommended retail price is £2.99 so a great saving. I bought six balls of the Ruby colourway.

The Patons Wool Blend Aran also caught my eye. This was £3.09 per 100g ball. The recommended retail price of this is £3.69 so not as good a bargain but I loved the Airforce colourway so I bought three balls.

There's enough yarn here to knit two of the lacy scarves which Amanda has pictured on her blog. I'm going to be warm and cosy this winter.

I don't have a photo of my finished item for June as it went on it's onward journey before I remembered I hadn't taken one. This is the pattern for it, a little v-neck cardigan from an old Sirdar Snuggly Knits pattern brochure I've had for years. I had bought 200g of Hayfield Baby Bonus Extra Value DK in a gorgeous lemon colour but I only used just under 100g so there's a ball left to knit another. I chose this yarn as it's machine washable and can be tumble dried, essential for baby knits as they never seem to be out of the wash.

I'll make sure that I remember to take a photo of my next finished item.

The Birthday Girl

It's Eleanor's 14th birthday today.

Happy birthday to my gorgeous girlie.

Legally Blonde

Eleanor and I had a trip to the theatre, Bradford Alhambra, on Wednesday evening to see Legally Blonde The Musical.

I had seen it advertised at the back end of last year, and as I know that Eleanor enjoyed the film, I decided to get some tickets to pop in her Christmas stocking.

It's seemed a long wait to see it, but it was worth it, we both really enjoyed it. The film isn't a musical so this made for something a little different to what she's seen before.

Amongst the cast were Ray Quinn of X Factor and Dancing On Ice fame, and Les Dennis. They were very good, however, Pringle, Breezer and Sharpy who played Bruiser and Rufus, the dogs, stole the show. They were so cute and had the audience oooing and arrring every time they came on stage.

A thoroughly entertaining evening.

A Walking Gadget

When I started on my healthy eating plan, I realised that I wouldn't lose weight through diet alone, I needed to exercise. It just so happens that I bought Mick an exercise bike for Christmas, so I thought I'd borrow it and do a few miles each day. It started off ok, I pedaled away and the on board computer told me how many calories I'd burnt up. After a few weeks I got fed up of it, it's quite boring sitting pedaling and getting nowhere.

My exercise of choice is walking. We have some lovely countryside walks near where we live, I'm very lucky. What exercise is more pleasant than a ramble down quiet country lanes, listening to birdsong and looking out for wild flowers? Of course, Archie comes too. He needs a good run every day so having him gives me the added incentive to get out and walk, even if I don't feel like it or if the weather isn't very good.

I've now got a pedometer. It was a freebie from Tesco Magazine, and although it isn't totally accurate, it does give me some idea of how many steps I've taken on my walk. It's recommended that you take 10000 steps each day, which is about five miles, to keep healthy and fit, and although I don't reach this figure every day, I do sometimes.

Meredith

We're going on holiday soon so I hope that I have more time to read, I usually get through a few books whilst I'm away.

Mick's auntie has lent me Meredith by John Kercher. Meredith Kercher was murdered in Perugia, Italy in 2007, and this is her father's story of losing his beloved daughter, the torment the family have suffered and their ongoing quest for justice. I'm sure it will be a tear jerker.

At the moment I'm reading Over Hill and Dale by Gervase Phinn, the second book in his Dales series and I'm enjoying it immensely.

Last month, as part of my read a book a month challenge which I've set myself, I read the second book in The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith.

These are real easy readers so I'll make sure that I pack number three in the series for my holiday.

Twenty Two Years

It's our twenty second wedding anniversary today. In some respects it doesn't seem two minutes since we were stood at the alter taking our marriage vows, and then on the other hand, it seems that we've been married much longer. I can't imagine living my life without Mick by my side.

We don't usually do anything to celebrate our anniversary, other than sending cards to each other. Today we've been in to Leeds shopping for clothes with Eleanor. It was a teacher training day at school yesterday so Eleanor and I were going to go then but the rain was so bad that we postponed the trip. I popped in to Cath Kidston as I noticed there was a sale on, and Mick treated me to a lovely bag.

It's unusual for me to buy clothes, bags or shoes for myself, I only own one handbag, so this is a real treat.

First They Ignored Us

Last night, we went to watch Eleanor in a play she was performing in with her drama class at school. It was being staged as part of the local Arts Festival which is held annually celebrating local, national and international arts activities. I knew that the class had written the play themselves, and Eleanor had told me that it was different from the usual school plays we're invited to watch, but beyond that I didn't know what to expect.

When we arrived, we were given a sheet of paper with some information about the idea of the play, or 'theatre spectacle'. It wasn't a play as such but a collection of scenes about the struggles which young people face.

The title of the play was inspired by a quote attributed to Gandhi "First they attack you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win". This quote had been introduced to the class in lessons, and the students had explored ideas about misuse of power, non-violent communication, expressing feelings verbally and asserting themselves without inflaming a situation.

All the lines in the play had been written by someone in the cast. When the play had finished, some of the teachers spoke about how the ideas had been developed. There was an opportunity for members of the audience to ask the students or teachers questions, and many people did which I think shows how thought provoking the play was.

Eleanor was right, it was certainly different from any school play I've seen before, but still very interesting.

Sweet Williams

I haven't had to buy many flowers in June, I've had some real bargains which have lasted such a long time.

At the moment, I'm enjoying these Sweet Williams. Would you believe that I got them from the reduced basket for just 23 pence a bunch?

I bought two bunches so that I had a good amount in one vase, yet there were still enough left over to fill a little jug for another part of the house.

Earlier in the month, I picked up some Carnations. These had been reduced to 50 pence a bunch, so again, I bought two bunches. Carnations are great value as they last for such a long time.

I wonder if I'll come across any more bargains this month.