Sunshine Award

Before I went on holiday, I was lucky enough to be awarded the Sunshine Award by Ruth from Dian's Timpanalley. Thank you very much, Ruth, I really appreciate it.

I now have to answer some questions, so here goes.

What is your favourite colour?
I don't really have a favourite colour. I suppose I tend to wear lots of blues, but I don't think that blue is a colour I particularly gravitate towards when I'm choosing yarn for knitting or crochet, so I suppose it depends on the circumstances.

What is your favourite animal?
I like most animals and couldn't say that I like one more than another. I do love dogs and cats, and because they live indoors they become one of the family.

What is your favourite non alcoholic drink?
I don't drink tea or coffee so the thing I drink more than anything else is water. I suppose I would have to say that's my favourite non alcoholic drink as it's the best thing to quench my thirst.

Do you prefer Twitter or Facebook?
I don't have an account with Twitter or Facebook so my answer would have to be neither. I hate all the time my kids spend on Facebook though, I'm glad it wasn't around when I was young.

What is your passion?
My family is my passion. All I wanted when I was growing up was to be a mum. I would have loved to have more children but couldn't after having chemotherapy, so I'm extra grateful for the two that I do have and make the most of them.

What is your favourite pattern?
I think stripes are my favourite, most of my t-shirts are stripey, but I love polka dots too.

Do you prefer giving or receiving?
Both. I love to find the perfect gift for someone knowing how much they'll apreciate it, but it's also nice to receive something which someone has put a lot of thought in to. I love surprises, whether I'm giving or receiving.

What is your favourite number?
I didn't realise I had one until I thought about it. I like 11 and 21. Strange.

What is your favourite day of the week?
Friday, specifically Friday evening when Daniel and Eleanor have finished school and Mick has finished work. I love the feeling that we've got the whole weekend ahead of us.

The rules don't say how many blogs I should pass the award on to so I've chosen four, though I could go on and on.

Mum's Simply Living Blog
Sofa Flying
Stand and Stare
MacQueBlogSpot

I hope you will accept the award, though I won't be offended if you'd rather not, I just wanted to let you know that I enjoy reading your blogs.

Bargain Flowers

I'm managing to source lots of my flowers from the bargain bin in the local supermarket. When we returned from holiday, Mick popped out to pick up a bit of shopping whilst I started the unpacking. He came home with this lovely mixed bunch which had been reduced from £5.00 to £1.05. Of course, I love the white rose which is included in the display, I'm a Yorkshire lass through and through. They might not last quite as long as they would if I'd bought them a couple of days earlier, but I don't mind for that price.

I didn't spend very much at all on flowers in July. The Sweet Williams I posted about earlier lasted for quite a while, then I bought these Chrysanthemums which were £2.50. These lasted right up to us going on holiday.

I'm eager to see how many more bargains I can pick up in August.

We're Home

We had a wonderful fortnight away in Cornwall, arriving home early yesterday evening. We were very lucky with the weather, the first week was beautiful, and although it rained for parts of the second week, it didn't stop us doing anything.

We stayed in the same lodge as we did last year, and it was every bit as good. There was an indoor swimming pool and games room on site, as well as a tennis court and four fishing lakes. I don't fish but Mick, Daniel and Eleanor do.

The lodge is in a village about five miles from Bude so we visited Bude quite a lot.

We visited some places which we've been to before. Boscastle is a lovely place for a stroll, and I love looking round all the little shops there.

I'd read about Hartland Quay on Helen's blog, Helen's Home. It wasn't far from where we were staying so we visited here on our first day, sat on the cliffs and ate a picnic.

I've heard such a lot about St. Ives but never visited so we rectified that. As we walked around the harbour we saw a seal playing in the water.

Mick and Daniel fished in the lakes where we were staying every day, and Eleanor joined them quite a few times too. This is a three and a half pound carp which Daniel caught.

Archie enjoyed his holiday again this year. He loves water but isn't so keen on the waves splashing over him in the sea, he much prefers wading in to rock pools.

As I've said, after the summer we've had this year and all the rain we were very lucky with the weather. It was a different story coming home though. As we got to Somerset the heavens opened and we had torrential rain as well as thunder and lightening.

It's back to work tomorrow for Mick, but he's only got to work for three weeks before his next holiday. He thought it would be nice to have another week off during the school holidays, and although we're not planning to go away anywhere, it will be nice to have him at home.

I'm hoping that I'll find time to catch up with everyone's blogs over the next few days. I'm looking forward to reading about all your news.

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.

Kool Kotton

You may remember a few posts back when we visited Haworth, I mentioned that we had called in to Coldspring Mill. I've been here a couple of times before, a really good place for picking up bargains of the yarny kind.

With my granny square blanket coming to an end, I've just got the border to do now, I was looking for a new project. I've decided that I'm going to make a cushion cover so I was looking for some cotton yarn to make it with.

I came across Kool Kotton by James C. Brett, it's a brand I've never used before. This yarn is 50% cotton and 50% acrylic and machine washable, a necessity with a cushion cover as they get so much use in this house, we do like our comfort. It's so soft and squishy that it should make a very pleasing cushion cover.

The colours I've gone for are KK11 tomato, KK 7 coral and KK 12 olive. Not a colour combination I would usually go with, but it will make for an interesting outcome, I hope!

I've got another crochet project in the pipeline too, but I'll save that for another time.

A Weekend At Uni

A large proportion of our weekend was spent at Leeds University. On Saturday, we attended an open day with Daniel, who is now looking for a university place for when he finishes his A levels next year. We were back again on Sunday with Eleanor who was performing there in a charity concert.

It was quite a hectic day on Saturday as we rushed from one talk and tour to the next. Daniel's still unsure which subject he wants to study at university so we visited different departments to hear what's on offer, and he managed to gather plenty of information.

I have to say that I was very impressed with the university and all it has to offer, though as it's the first one we've visited, I don't have anything to compare it with yet.

Eleanor took part in a charity concert for The Rotary Club of Headingley with her drama group in The Great Hall, a beautiful gothic style building which is used for graduation ceremonies. She sang a solo, I Don't Know How to Love Him, as well as taking lead in I Have A Dream, and singing in the chorus.

It was a busy weekend, but very enjoyable.

Food Diary

Ever since starting my healthy eating regime back in January, I've kept a food diary. It's actually just a notebook, nothing special. At the time, I didn't quite realise how important it would be to me to jot down everything I consume, but it has helped immensely.

When trying to lose weight, it's easy to fall in to the trap of unhealthy eating, missing out on five a day fruit and vegetables, or just not consuming the amount of calories that my body needs. I can keep a check on this with my diary.

I think a diary helps me to keep on the straight and narrow. I ensure that everything I eat is written down, and by doing this, it actually makes me think about what I'm putting in my mouth. Even if I munch on half a carrot whilst I'm preparing tea, it gets written in the diary.

It's important to be honest. I could easily pretend I haven't eaten some things which I have, but I'm only conning myself. Therefore, everything gets written down, but I don't berate myself for straying off the straight and narrow, a little of what you fancy does you good.

At the moment, I'm still eating much healthier than I used to, but I'm eating far more snacks than I would like, so a few pounds have crept back on. I really need to focus again as my holiday is only a month away and I'd like to lose a little more weight before I go.