The Three Horseshoes

Mick had taken a week off work before my mum died, I wrote about the things we got up to in my Holiday Week post and I mentioned that we'd had lunch out on the Tuesday of that week and that I'd tell you all about it in a separate post.

Each month, the houses in our area receive a free booklet which contains advertisements from various tradesmen and businesses as well as regular features. There's also regular competitions and I'm pleased to say that I've finally one won of these, namely, a two course meal for two with a bottle of wine at a local pub and restaurant, The Three Horseshoes.

We've often passed this establishment and oohed and aahed at the dozens of hanging baskets outside, it really is a sight to behold during summer. It's been recognised with many Britain in Bloom, Leeds in Bloom and Pubs in Bloom awards. We've never actually been inside though, until the Tuesday when Mick was on holiday when we went to cash in our prize.

It's a traditional pub with good old fashioned hospitality and there's an extensive menu. It was quite challenging to come up with a final choice but in the end we both opted for steak and ale pie with chips, Yorkshire pudding and vegetables. Mick's plate is in the foreground, he's not a lover of veg and usually leaves them whenever we eat out, though he's not quite so bad at home.

The portion sizes are huge, I couldn't manage all my meal and when it came to dessert we decided to share chocolate fudge cake and ice cream. You'd be forgiven for thinking this was a double portion, there's two slices of fudge cake and three scoops of ice cream, but this was actually for one. I'm so pleased we'd decided to share.

It was lunch time so we didn't indulge in the wine, instead we were given a sealed bottle to take home with us.

Although we didn't pay on this occasion, I did glance at the prices and they're very reasonable. We enjoyed it so much that we'll definitely return.

What I'm Watching - April 2019

TV and film that I've been enjoying this month.

The Bay has been running for six weeks, finishing on Wednesday just gone. When teenage twins go missing in the seaside town of Morecambe, Detective Sergeant Lisa Armstrong is drafted in to act as Family Liason Officer. Cringingly, she discovers that the man she had sex with in an alley outside a pub on the night the twins went missing is their married stepfather. She has two teenage children herself who become mixed up in the case and several suspects are put forward when one of the missing children are found dead. The finale produced mixed reviews with many viewers claiming the ending was an anticlimax, but I enjoyed it, even though Mick guessed the ending long before it came.

I'm pleased to see that a new series of Ambulance is back on our screens. The latest series of this award winning show follows the crews of the North West Ambulance Service and last week's episode showed what happened when paramedic Jon was called to a hotel where a panicked caller had asked for help for her friend who had just given birth despite being unaware she was pregnant. I'm full of admiration for the men and women who take on these roles, I know it's something I couldn't do, I'd be no good in an emergency.

I watched Ricky Gervais in his new series After Life on Netflix before my mum died. Goodness me, how I can relate to his character, Tony, now, well the grief aspect anyway. After Tony's wife dies he decides that life isn't worth living, the only thing keeping him from taking his own life is his dog. He decides that he's going to live his life by saying and doing exactly what he wants and to hell with the consequences. He doesn't care how his actions or words hurt other people as he's so wrapped up in his own grief. There's lots of bad language so I wouldn't recommend it if you're offended by that, but for anyone else, it's definitely worth watching, lots of funny scenes as you'd expect from Ricky Gervais, and some very poignant moments at the end of the series.

Mick took Daniel and Jasmine back to Essex on Easter Sunday after having more than a week with us. It took him about seven hours to get there and back so it was nice to spend some girly time with Eleanor before she went back to uni. That was the day that Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again premiered on Sky so we took this opportunity to watch it. We found it cringeworthy and cheesy in places, as was the first Mamma Mia, but we still enjoyed it. I thought that Lily James took a good part and I really enjoyed her singing, which can't be said for Amanda Seyfried, her warbling and excessive vibrato really got on my nerves in the first film and it was even more annoying this time round. I was pleased to see the original cast all making appearances, some had bigger parts than others this time but what of the over-hyped casting of Cher? Well, I don't think I'd have missed her if she wasn't there. I enjoyed the storyline and the music, of course. It's not the best thing I've ever seen but it passed an afternoon.

Have you been watching any of these? What else have you been watching this month?

Casting Off And A Giveaway

I read a post on Julie's Stitchyknitter Journal blog about Casting Off by P I Paris. I enjoy reading reviews on blogs, my 'books to read' list gets ever longer when I read a good write up. I've had this book on my list for a while and when I mentioned this in the comment I left, Julie very kindly said that she'd send me her copy. I'm pleased to say that it surpassed my expectations.

The story about three elderly women first began as a stage play. The seventy minute play toured in 2015 and was so popular that a novel based on the same storyline and featuring innocent Dorothy, prim Miss Ross and worldly-wise Joan was written.

Set in a Highland care home, the three women have to devise a way to raise money when new owners increase the residential fees.

Casting Off is primarily a comedy but it also examines some serious issues such as loneliness, friendship and sacrifice, and it shows how reaching out to strangers can change our lives.

There's some wonderful characters in the book who I fell in love with, some poignant moments and lots of laughs along the way. I can wholeheartedly recommend it.

Thank you, Julie, for passing the book on to me. In the same spirit, I'd like to pass the book along to someone else who fancies reading it. Just leave a comment on this post and I'll choose a winner at random in a week or so.

In The Making - April 2019

A roundup of the things I'm working on at the moment.

To be honest, I haven't done much knitting at all since my mum died. My time has been limited because of everything we've had to do as well as spending much more time with my dad, and also the desire to do anything has just dropped. I've picked my needles up a few times but they've been put back down again before I've really got much done.

I started a new pair of socks before my mum died. I'd seen a couple of people using this Bergere de France Goomy 50 in the Imprim Jaune colourway and really liked it so I treated myself to some. I've gone with a plain sock this time as I think there's enough pattern in the colour. I'm dressing them up a bit with a twisted rib cuff and an eye of partridge heel which I'll show you once they're a bit further on.

I managed to start one of the sleeves on the cardigan before my mum died but haven't done much more since. Sleeves aren't my favourite things to knit so I definitely haven't been reaching for this project in the last few weeks.

I'm sure my knitting mojo will slowly return as I come to terms with the loss of my mum. I think I need to begin a new project to get me on my way. Watch this space.

Up Days And Down Days

I've been having some up days and some down days since my mum died, which I suppose is only natural. The first week or so was very hard with the organisation of the funeral, and everything that has to be done when someone dies, left mainly to Mick and myself. My dad isn't in the best of health and with the added grief on top it's been very difficult for him, so we've been spending as much time as we can with him on top of everything else.

Mum as a little girl. This is the earliest photo I have of her.

I was so pleased to see Eleanor when she arrived home from university for the Easter holidays. She had been home for a week before Daniel and Jasmine arrived for a further week, a trip which was organised before my mum died but actually worked out well as we had the funeral on the Monday of that week. Getting everyone home for the funeral was one less thing to worry about as everyone was already here. It was nice to have a full house for nearly a week after the funeral, it gave me less time to sit and brood, though this is the time when the grief really hit home.

Mum (on the left) in her teens with her friend.

The funeral itself went as well as these things can. I've always known that my mum was such a special person but it's been so moving to hear from other people how she touched their lives with her kindness and caring nature, a sentiment which I've heard over and over again these past few weeks. She went out of her way to help others, especially through hard times in their lives and also at times when my mum was having a difficult time herself. We will shortly be scattering her ashes with my sister who died twenty years ago this coming July, they would have wanted to be together.

Mum and Dad shortly after they'd met.

I'd like to thank everyone for their kind and touching comments on my last post, and especially for the many wonderful cards and emails I've received from many of you, they're so very much appreciated. To know that you're being thought about at times like these helps in a way I can't explain, it's like the grief is being shared in a way. Each message I've received has been very special to me and I can't thank you enough.

Mum with Daniel twenty four years ago.

My mum was knocked out with a cocktail of drugs before she died but not long before she passed away she did come round sufficiently to tell us all that she loved us and we were able to tell her that we loved her too, I'm very grateful for that. Life now will never be the same again, she will be missed so much until the day I die, she's left a hole that will never be filled. Mums are very special people and mine was the best, it's so hard knowing that I'll never see her again, I think that's the hardest thing to come to terms with.

Mum loved her holidays abroad with us.

Daniel and Jasmine left on Sunday and Eleanor's gone back to university today. Mick's taken quite a bit of time off work since my mum died, his company have been brilliant allowing him to spend time with me, sometimes working from home but more often than not doing things which needed to be done and being on comforting duty, but he's also back to the old routine again now so this is where my life really starts without my mum. I know it's going to be very hard but I've got to try and get on with it in the best way I can, besides, I know that's what my mum would want.

The Best Mum In The World

My mum died on Thursday, she was the best mum in the world.

Thank you for all your comments on my last post wishing my mum well. Unfortunately, she took a turn for the worse, they discovered she had pneumonia and possible sepsis and the antibiotics weren't working. She slipped away on Thursday morning. I usually answer all your comments but I won't be answering those on my last post, I hope you understand.

I won't be around for a while. I've got the love and support of Mick at home and we're helping my dad with things as much as we can. They'd been married for sixty three years, it'll be quite a wrench for him not having her there with him now. We all loved her so much and she's going to be missed very much by us all.

Holiday Week

We had a lovely time whilst Mick was off work last week. I'm really pleased that he had some holiday left to use up before the end of the month, it was like a little staycation.

On Monday we decided to head over to Nottingham to see Eleanor. She's at university there and will be home for Easter in a couple of weeks but it was nice to see her mid-term. We took Eleanor and her boyfriend out to a lovely pub restaurant for lunch and then dropped them off at university as Eleanor needed to pop in to do some lab work. It didn't take long and then we all spent the rest of the afternoon at Wollaton Park.

We walked down to the lake...

...and made friends with the residents.

We wanted to get some jobs done in the house and garden whilst Mick was off so we had lunch out on Tuesday, which I'll tell you about in another post, and then the afternoon was spent cutting the hedge and digging over the borders.

Wednesday was a beautiful day so we decided to head off to the Yorkshire coast. On our way we stopped off in Beverley, an historic market town in East Yorkshire, for a wander round the shops.

There were a couple of market stalls but the full market is now only held weekly on a Saturday.

Afterwards we continued on our journey to Bridlington but unfortunately, the tide was in and we couldn't set foot on the beach so we shared a bag of chips and got back in the car.

We headed further up the coast to Scarborough. The tide was just on its way out here so Archie managed to get his seaside fix.

My dad had hospital and doctors appointments on Thursday so that took up a lot of the day, but Mick managed to get another couple of jobs crossed off his list and afterwards, we had a little trip out closer to home. We often visit Temple Newsam but on Thursday we decided to approach a different way than we usually do and walk through the woods.

Archie was highly delighted with our idea, he loves walks in the woods.

I'm not sure what scent he'd picked up but he enjoyed rolling about in ecstasy. Funny dog.

Archie was ready for a rest afterwards so we dropped him off at home and went to Wetherspoons for something to eat.

We'd enjoyed some lovely weather throughout the week but it cooled down a lot on Friday, it was really rather chilly and it was time to put our coats back on. We decided we'd have day out in Skipton.

It's nice to wander round the shops and down by the canal. We had intended walking in the woods behind the castle but when it came to it we decided that we'd both had enough so we got back in the car and had a run through the Yorkshire Dales before heading back home.

We managed to fit plenty into Mick's week off. We had some lovely days out and managed to get some jobs done in the house too, we couldn't ask for more really.

We're back to hospital visiting again now. My mum had another fall in the early hours of yesterday morning. My dad found her on her bedroom floor, though he doesn't know how long she'd been there. It turns out that she's broken her humerus bone, near the very top of her arm. They put her on an observation ward but decided to keep her in last night as her blood pressure was very low and she was dehydrated. We're hoping that they might let her out today, we'll see.

What I'm Watching - March 2019

TV and film that I've been enjoying this month.

I usually enjoy a good mini series. Cheat was broadcast over four nights, I like it when they don't make you wait a full week for the next episode. I had high hopes for this but although I did watch all four episodes, it was quite disappointing. The story is centred around university professor, Leah, and one of her students, Rose. When Leah accuses Rose of cheating on a paper, things take a turn for the worse. Unfortunately, I found the plot quite far fetched and bordering on the ridiculous in parts, and I'd foreseen what was supposed to be a big twist a long time before it came. I'm sad to say that I'm giving this a thumbs down, however, it was better than MotherFatherSon and Baptiste, other dramas which are being shown at the moment. I managed to watch one or two episodes of these before I totally lost interest.

I've been enjoying Netflix so I've extended my trial. I'm happy to pay whilst there's things I want to watch, but with no lock in contract and no cancellation fees, I can cancel at any time. One thing I knew I wanted to watch on Netflix, even before I got it, was The Crown. I've heard so much about this series and it hasn't disappointed. One surprise was how much I enjoyed watching Matt Smith as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. I didn't like him at all in the role of Dr Who and stopped watching it but I think he makes a brilliant Prince Philip and Claire Foy has done a wonderful job portraying the Queen. I've finished both seasons but season 3 is due out sometime this year with Olivia Colman taking on the role of Queen Elizabeth and Tobias Menzies playing Prince Philip. I'm looking forward to seeing if they can make the roles their own.

Another Netflix series which I watched this month is The Staircase. Filming for this series began soon after American author Michael Peterson was arrested on suspicion of bludgeoning his wife to death back in 2001. Peterson maintained that she died due to falling down a staircase. The film takes us through the twists and turns of the trial which concluded in 2003. Since then, there have been appeals and Peterson was released from jail pending a retrial. Additional episodes have been added to the original series. If you enjoy true crime or watching legal proceedings then this is the series for you. I found it fascinating.

I wasn't sure I'd enjoy The Greatest Showman, I'm not sure why as I love a good musical. As it happens I did enjoy it, it's entertaining and there's some catchy tunes in there but it's not a gripping story line, the film skirts over and sugar coats P.T.Barnum's life. I don't dislike it for this, it's a family musical after all and includes a great message to accept those who are different and celebrate diversity.

Have you been watching any of these? What else have you been watching this month?

Amaryllis

It took a while but it finally got there. I bought my mum an amaryllis for Christmas and shortly afterwards, I bought one for myself. Admittedly, my mum's was started off a little while before mine was but hers bloomed ages ago. I'm sure you'll agree that mine was worth the wait though.

I don't think I've ever grown one in the past which had as much foliage at the time of blooming as this one does, they're usually just flower spikes and the leaves tend to come later.

If you look around the back you can see that a second flower spike has started to grow so there's more beautiful blooms to come.

As for the amaryllis bulb I kept from last year, well, it hasn't done much I'm afraid. Just three tall leaves and no sign of any blooms, though I think you're supposed to feed them after flowering and I never did that. Never mind, they're cheap enough to buy new each year.

In The Making - March 2019

A roundup of the things I'm working on at the moment.

I've finished two things since last month, the Autumn Leaves baby cardigan and the Blue Lagoon socks.

The Blue Lagoon socks were knit out of two different colourways so once I'd finished them, I added a couple more squares to my commercial yarn scrappy blanket. It's growing slowly but surely.

I've also been working on my scrappy blanket which is made out of hand dyed yarn. I love how these scrappy blankets look so different because of the different colourways being added to each.

At long last I've picked my cardigan back up and have started working on it again. I've now completed the rib at the bottom of the garment and shall be picking the stitches back up for the sleeves.

It seems a long time since I've cast on anything new and as the cardigan is now too big to take out and about with me you might see some new projects on the needles next month.

Lunch Date

As I've mentioned before, Mick's got quite a bit of holiday to take from work before the end of the month, so he took another day off on Monday and we had a lovely walk with Archie at Roundhay Park, one of the biggest city parks in Europe. It was a bright day but very blustery and the wind was bitter. There were a few people out walking their dogs but apart from them, the park was empty, in fact, I've never seen it so quiet.

We had our wedding reception at The Mansion in Roundhay Park back in 1990 and looking down from there you can see the small lake.

The wind was blowing the water which was being spurted out of the fountain and it was creating a rainbow to the side. I think you can just see it in this photo.

Quite a few big bands and artists have played at Roundhay Park, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, U2, Robbie Williams, and I went to see Michael Jackson there in 1988. Later this year Eleanor is going to see Ed Sheeran there, it will be the third time she's seen him in concert.

Archie had a good time, as usual. He played with a few dogs. His coat is so thick at the moment, he's ready for a good cut but it's got quite cold again just lately, I'm trying to hold off for a while.

The trees are still bare but I think it's only a matter of time until they spring into growth. The daffodils planted around this tree looked so pretty. I was surprised to see them still standing though in the gusty wind.

There's lots of interest in this park even during the winter months.

We headed down to the larger of the two lakes, this is Waterloo Lake . It's area covers 33 acres and it's 60 foot deep. It's a former quarry which was sunk and filled by soldiers returning from the Napoleonic Wars, hence its name.

There's always swans, ducks and geese on the lake but there were a couple of cormorants there too on Monday.

The Lakeside Cafe sits on the edge of the lake. During the day it offers breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea and by night it can be hired out for private functions. It's in a great spot with beautiful scenery.

We didn't patronise the cafe, instead we headed up the road to The White House, an Edwardian pub/restaurant. This used to be the home of entrepreneur James Holroyd Junior who owned the Burmantofts Pottery Company. We had our lunch here, and very nice it was too. Archie was a good boy, sitting really nicely underneath the table whilst we ate, in fact, the staff even commented on him being as 'quiet as a mouse'. It's very dog friendly so we often stop off here after a walk in Roundhay Park, they even have a bowl of gravy bones on the bar for dogs.

It's lovely having Mick at home during the week and going off and doing something we usually only do on a weekend. He's off the whole week next week so I'm hoping the weather improves and the wind drops so that we can have some more days out, though he's now been able to carry the remaining holiday over into April so he'll be having another week off just before Easter when Daniel and Jasmine are coming to stay and Eleanor will be home from university, I'm really looking forward to that.

Three Things About Elsie

I'd seen Three Things About Elsie here and there, I thought it looked interesting, so when it became available on a Kindle daily deal I downloaded it.

"84-year-old Florence has fallen in her flat at Cherry Tree Home for the Elderly. As she waits to be rescued, she considers the charming new resident who looks exactly like a man she once knew - a man who died sixty years ago. His arrival has stirred distant memories she and Elsie thought they'd laid to rest. Lying prone in the front room, Florence wonders if a terrible secret from her past is about to come to light..."

I did enjoy this book but I found it written in a similar vein as Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey which I read back in 2016. A long forgotten mystery runs alongside a dementia storyline, but to be honest, I actually preferred Elizabeth is Missing.

I love a good twist in a story and there was one in Three Things About Elsie which I didn't see coming, so I thought that was good, and I really enjoyed seeing how the character of Simon the Handyman developed throughout the book, he was a likeable individual.

In my opinion, Three Things About Elsie is worth a read, but I enjoyed Elizabeth is Missing more.