A walk around the lovely Glasgow Green

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My colleague and I took a walk around Glasgow Green yesterday and what a fantastic day it was. The sun was shining, there was a warm breeze and the park was lovely. What a difference today! It’s pouring outside.

Above is a picture of the inside of this little water fountain which is near the park…

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Here are a few more images from yesterday…

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I am watching The White Queen as I write this and I’m not sure about it. It’s the second of the series and I suppose I’m still trying to catch up. I’ll reserve judgement. What the series does show is how badly women were treated in those days…they were just pawns to be married off to the most suitable man.

What else? Well, this week I have been continuing to edit Ham and should finish it soon. Hopefully I’ll also be able to launch Dusting Down Alcudia within the next week or so.

I’ve also finished reading Outlander and again it was fab. I need to buy the others in the series to find out what happens to Claire and Jamie. It’s such a good book!!!!

There’s not much else been going on save for domestic things, so I’ll say adieu just now.
Til next time!

Dawn xxxxx

Flamin’ hay fever is making my life a misery

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Am on for a moan. I have hay fever, I’ve had it forever and this year it’s making my life a mysery…again!! My eyes are itchy and puffy and red – I look like an old woman – and I’m sneezing for Scotland. I have taken anti hystamine tablets and now feel like I want to remove my eyeballs and dump them in a glass of cold water. Damn you pollen!

Ham cover

Right moan over. What have I been up to this week? Well, it’s been rather busy. Just been putting the final touches on to my novel Dusting Down Alcudia. I’m awaiting ISBN numbers and once I have them will be uploading them for sale on Kobo, Kindle, Ipad and Nook. If anyone knows of any other ereaders out there, let me know and I’ll upload them on to that too. Will upload a PDF of the first couple of chapters up to this blog so you can have a taster of it. Have also been continuing to edit my second novel for adults, called (at the moment) Ham. It’s about a a woman called Susan who leaves her domineering husband and joins a Wham tribute act. There’s a fair bit of swearing in it, mainly because I wanted it to be real, but I think it’s quite good and hope you do too. I will be uploading that in the next few weeks. I’ll let you know.

This week was also the school’s church service. I’m not at all religious, but it was a nice service and the kids were cute when they were singing about a butterfly (the boy and his class) and I’m Planting My Feet in The Footsteps (my girl and her class). It was nice. Our local Church is lovely. I like churches as buildings, so was quite happy to sit in it and take in the lovely architecture and stained glass windows.

Last night, the girl and her Brownie troupe put on a show about Pirates who go looking for treasure. It was written by a local mum who is one of the Brownie leaders and was really really good. My hubby, the boy and my parents were there and we all really enjoyed it. The girl came off stage all hyper and it was nice to see her so happy and enjoying herself. It was a nice night.

Today, it’s rainy outside, so bang goes my idea of weeding the front garden. So, I’ve decided to get on with Ham and am also going to sew the girl’s dress and the boy’s shirt and jeans. I’ve overlocked them, so am hoping they’ll turn out okay.

Right, am away. Til next time!

Dawn x

It’s a terrible thing when you can’t think of anything to write

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There comes a time in the life of a blog when you run out of interesting things to say. I am at that time. I don’t lead a really interesting life…it’s a run-of-the-mill working mother’s life which is taken up with washing and cooking and ironing and cleaning. So this week I don’t have much to tell.

Okay, so I have one thing to tell. Last week we all went to the village’s Gala Day. This is the second year it’s happened and it was really good. My parents came with us, the weather was fantastic and the gala was packed. It was really nice to see a big part of the village turning up to support it. What I love about living in this area is that because we are near Faslane (our local naval base) and many people living here are in the emergency services, we always have interesting people turning up with interesting vehicles. This year was no different: we had the Fire Service again (my boy loves Fireman Sam so he was in the cab of the appliance (that’s Fire Service speak for Fire Engine) and chatting away to the Firefighters) and the Bomb Squad turned up too. When we first heard they were coming, hubby and I couldn’t help but laugh in that ‘what do you mean the bomb squad are coming to the gala day?’ kind of way. It seemed absurd, but the guys turned up with a big truck and four by four plus one of those robots you see in movies like the Hurt Locker…the robots that they send in to defuse bombs. It was (in the words of my daughter) ‘awesome’. They chatted to us about what the different equipment did. They had helmets and breathing apparatus for underwater work and all sorts of other stuff. It was great. My dad, who was in the Royal Naval Reserves, was in his element chatting to the guys. There was a climbing wall and stalls and all sorts of other things and of course I forgot to take photos!! It was a good day. Mum and dad came back to ours afterwards to sit in the shade and drink tea and chat and have a laugh. It was great.

Talking of the good weather, I’ve been putting the guinea pigs out in their pen outside and they are loving it. It’s a wee bit windy tonight, but they are still out there cropping the grass and running around and generally having a nice guinea piggy life. It’s nice to see them doing it.

What else has been happening? Well I was gasping for a cup of tea earlier, but had to go and get the kids from school, so I put some tea into a travel mug and took it into the car. I put it in the cup holder, but the cup was slightly too big. I thought it would be fine, but I’d just reversed out of the driveway when the cup took a dive and ended up under my feet, boiling hot tea splashing all over the car floor. Several curse words later and a screech to a stop (not literally, I wasn’t going fast, but it sounds more dramatic) and I surveyed the damage. There was not one jot of tea left in the mug and my carpet was steaming. Sigh. I was busy muttering to myself when I was suddenly aware that I was not alone. I looked up to see my two neighbours looking at me as if I’d gone mad. I didn’t know if they thought I had lost my mind, but they gave me such quizzical looks that I felt an explanation was in order – there was also the fact that I’d said some expletives rather loudly and my drivers’ side window was open at the time. Anyway, I rolled down the passengers’ side window and explained what had happened. They just laughed. I thought nothing more about it until I returned home later this afternoon to find a travel mug stuffed into the metal bits of our gate. I knew immediately who had left it there!! I went over to thank them and they just laughed. They said they felt I should have a new mug seeing as how the other one was so tricky!! It made me smile.

It’s past nine o’clock just now – Wee Willie Winkie time in Scotland – so I will end this blog here. I need to go and retrieve the pigs out of the garden anyway and stuff their cage with hay. They love munching on hay. So until next time.

Dawn xxx

PS a wee word on Game of Thrones…sigh!! I can’t believe I’m going to have to wait another year to see the next series. It cannot come quickly enough. The last one of the series was good because it tied up a few ends regarding what had happened to other characters. My fave moment of the episode was when the Lannisters were gathered and Joffrey was spoken to like he was a small child. I think Joffrey will try and get his grandfather and Tyrion back for that – he’s that nasty – but he’s not clever enough. Anyway, I need to wait til next year to find out what happens OR I could read all the books. Dilemma, dilemma. Ach, I think the books it is!!

PPS have just rushed outside to rescue the guinea pigs. All of a sudden the heavens opened and the rain came down really hard. They sheltered in the cardboard box I’d left in there for them, but they still got a little wet when I scooped them up and ran back inside. Have you ever seen a disgruntled slightly wet guinea pig? They are hysterical. They have expressive wee faces and the faces they showed just then was ‘we are seriously pi**ed off’!! Hee hee.

In defence of food and the lessons I’ve learned from Philanthropists

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Sorry I’ve not been around these past two weeks, been busy enjoying the nice weather and doing stuff outside. It’s difficult when you live in a normally wet and overcast country like Scotland to stay indoors and do the stuff you are supposed to do (such as write a blog) when the weather is nice outside. We’re not used to it you see, so when the sun shines and it’s warm, our heads are turned and we find ourselves drawn outside. Must-sit-in-sunshine! It’s been fabulous weather the last week or so and we’ve all been really enjoying it.

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Not a lot’s been happening lately. Just been working away as usual. Still not got my book up in e-book form yet as am waiting for my cover which my lovely illustrator friend Mandy is doing for me and I have yet to purchase an ISBN number for it. However, my other book for adults, Ham, is coming along and I hope to also launch that soon.

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Been reading In Defence of Food by Michael Pollan book which is about how bad processed food is for you and how we should all be eating home-made food as much as possible. I totally agree with what he says in the book. I too believe that man-made food such as sweeteners and processed foods like sugar are extremely damaging for the body. Although I have an extremely sweet tooth and love things with sugar in them. This book is an excellent read, it really brings home just how mixed up our food industry has become and how, despite their best efforts to state the contrary, foods made to be ‘healthy’ are often not healthy (eg margarine) and that we should all return to cooking from scratch. However – and there is a big however -while people are having to work and work long hours, while mums (who, let’s face it, a lot of whom are desperate to be at home) are having to work, it’s going to be difficult for people to do this. I struggle to cook home-made dinners every single night and I only work three days a week. I find that by the end of those three days I am so exhausted by the madness of those days (by madness I mean: getting the kids up, fed and ready; listened to them argue and fight; dropped them at breakfast club; driven the hour through horrible traffic to get to work and back; spent my three days essentially doing full-time hours; bought food; organised packed lunches; organised the kids’ clothes; got a washing on; ironed something for myself; etc) I often don’t feel like cooking…especially on the last day (we had fish n chips from a local chippy this week – guilt!). I would love to have more time to cook things from scratch, but…hey ho! I do my best. If you are at all interested in what you are eating, read the book, it’s really good.

Am still reading Robert Tressell’s The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. I must admit I sometimes find it hard going to read about how poor and malnourished they are. It’s horrible to think that people in this country – our families – struggled like that a hundred years ago. One of my grandfathers grew up in the Govan area of Glasgow, one of eleven (I think) children and he always used to talk about having to walk about barefoot in the summertime because he didn’t have shoes. In the winter, they had really old boots with holes in the soles that they stuffed with newspaper. As kids we used to think he was having us on, but I’m not so sure that he was. I can’t imagine living like that and I know that there are still people in this world that are that poor. Anyway, I am determined to finish the book, it’s just a tad slow for me although I do kind of like it. It certainly makes me appreciate my life more.

God, I’m on a rant today aren’t I? Anyway, I am off to make my own orange barely water. I used to love this as a kid, but can no longer drink it as the brand I used to love now contains sweeteners. I reckon home-made will be so much better anyway.

Til next time!

Dawn xxx

Read the first three chapters of my new book

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Hiya.
Exciting news. I’ve uploaded the first three chapters of my new book Dusting Down Alcudia on Authonomy (look under the title of the book). I’d be keen to hear your views on it via Authonomy or get in touch: d-a-nelson@tiscali.co.uk That’s not how the new cover will look and I’ll share that and when you can buy the complete e-book as soon as I can.

So, how’s your week been? Mine has been sunny – the weather has been sunny and some days have been hot, so it’s been a nice week to get out and about.

Last weekend, we bought the kids a trampoline and they’ve barely been off it. It’s great. Hubby finished putting it up on Sunday and we hardly saw our offspring all day, although we heard them. They only came off it to get fed. The wee fella was so tired on Sunday night that he could barely climb the stairs to bed. He went to bed and was still in the exact same position the next morning when I went to get him up. He was so cute.

Here’s a mad story for you. My workmate told us the tale yesterday of a moment of daftness in her life: she had gone to a local shop for some groceries. She wandered around the aisles, filled her basket with things for dinner that night and then made for the cash desk. She said she didn’t think anything of the weird look the cashier gave her until the woman said: “Um, do you know you have two pairs of glasses and a pair of sunglasses on your head?” My friend’s had flew to her head and sure enough, all three pairs of glasses were there. She was mortified, but it was a funny story to tell. What a woman!! That’s the kind of thing I would do!! Hee hee.

Right, on that note, am aff to do something else.

Til next time!

Dawn xxx

PS Watched Monday’s Game of Thrones this morning. It was fab as usual. That Joffrey needs to be brought down, he’s an evil wee git. Was glad to see Tyrion was being a gentleman where Sansa was concerned, Shay certainly seemed to like it too. And dear old Dany seems to have a new beau. He was quite handsome. But, oh what an ending, I really am rooting for Samwell and his lady friend (I forget her name) and the little nameless baby. I hope they get beyond the wall and survive to live a happy and long life. Can’t wait til next week.

Do all boys have an allergy to soap and water?

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What is it with boys and showering?? Are they all the same? Yesterday I had an argument with the boy about going for a shower. He refused to have one and before I knew it, he had gone and gotten himself dressed for school. This is from the boy who takes ages to get dressed (normally) and can never get the buttons done on his shirt because “I can’t do it!”. Well I know now what I always knew and that is: he can do it and he can do it quickly. He had a shower this morning – I forced him into it for two reasons: 1) I don’t want him thinking he can get away without washing and 2) he soaked our bed last night – he sleeps really deeply and often doesn’t feel himself peeing. Last night, around 3.45am I suddenly woke up, realised he was in beside me and his dad and then…well…you know how you just know something isn’t right? I tentatively put out a hand and patted around about the boy. The bed seemed dry. I patted his legs and bingo! He was wet. So, I got him up, cleaned and changed and put him back in his own bed. Then I had to wake hubby – who was working today – and strip our bed. No wonder we are both tired today!!!

Yesterday, spent a happy day in Glasgow with my friend Tracy looking at fabric and notions in Mandor’s store near Sauchiehall Street. It was raining on and off yesterday, but that didn’t stop us oohing and ahhing at all the lovely things the store had. Then we walked down Sauchiehall St in search of some lunch. We headed down the bottom end of the street and dropped into Dino’s restaurant for a fry up. Dino’s doesn’t look at all fancy from the outside, but is a traditional Italian restaurant that does great pizzas and pasta. I love it because the food’s good and decor doesn’t look like it’s changed since the 70s. The staff are really nice too. We had a full breakfast with tea and it was lovely. We’d been too early for pizza, but the food was good anyway.

After Dino’s, Lakeland called. Based within Buchanan Galleries, the store is one of my favourites. I know there are folk out there who won’t understand why, but if you love cooking and home-making, Lakeland’s the place for you. Picked up some rennet to give cheesemaking a go. We’ll see what happens with that!! They also have a nice range of kitchen utensils, which neither I nor Tracy could resist coohing over. It’s great having a friend who loves all that stuff too!!

On the writing front, I am about the point where I am going to publish my book for adults on Amazon as a Kindle book. I will also look at doing it in other formats too. The book is called Dusting Down Alcudia, it’s an adventure story about a female archeologist who goes treasure hunting on Mallorca. It’s inspired by a holiday hubby and I had many years ago before our two kids came along. Watch this space for more information – I am planning to put up the first chapter for you to read. While Dusting Down Alcudia is not 50 Shades, there is a bit of romance going on there…nuff said!

Right, am off to put another washing out on this lovely sunny day we are (unusually) having today and start on the housework I was supposed to do yesterday!

Until next time!

Dawn xxx

PS images are some shots I took of the garden this morning.

Need…sun…shine!

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beachWhat is this weather like? It’s peeing down outside and it’s barely stopped all day. Sigh. The wee fella was keen to go outside and weed the garden too! Don’t know what’s wrong with him! Maybe he was switched at birth. Weeding isn’t exactly my idea of a fun time, so am secretly pleased it’s too wet to do that!! Tee hee.

My little-est sister (in age, not height, cos she’s taller than me) has started a new blog.  It’s called VickyvvDomesticity. I wish her well with it.

My aunt celebrates a big birthday today. I’ll not say how old she is, cos a lady never tells, but she’s still looking fab! Happy birthday Donna! 25 again!!

What else has been happening? Not an awful lot. Visited my pal Mandy last week. Mandy’s a very talented illustrator and has just brought out a new book Scary Scottish Castles which is available via Historic Scotland at various Scottish castles, including I’m told, Edinburgh. Mandy’s excellent sense of humour shines through in her images, so if you’re visiting one of our lovely Scottish fortresses soon, mind and pick on up. The books are aimed at kids, but are full of interesting info that wee adults will enjoy too!! Anyway, she was recovering from a broken shoulder, so I took her over some cakes and we had a great wee blether over tea and munchies. Was good to catch up.

Am a bit short on the old words this week because although I’ve been busy, I’ve not been doing  a lot that’s been newsworthy. Been baking loaves and checking my seedlings in the wee greenhouse out the back. Meant to transplant them into bigger tubs today, but have been feeling a bit off colour, so am leaving it til later in the week. Am growing tomatoes, potatoes, spinach and a couple of things that will be a complete surprise because I totally forgot to put a label on them! hee hee!

Right am off to make the packed lunches for tomorrow. Until next time!

Dawn xx

A pram, a snazzy bag and a bow

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pram, bag and bow

I had to include this image as the inspiration of this post. I’ve not been blogging for the last two weeks for two reasons: I’ve been really really  busy and the main reason: I haven’t had a clue about what to write. So I was walking down the stairs about ten minutes ago and I came across the above ensemble. These do not, as you might think, belong to the girl. No, they are some of the boy’s most prized possessions and they make me smile. The pram he was given as a toddler along with a baby because my husband and I didn’t want him to feel left out when we bought our daughter a buggy and baby. He still plays with it although you are more likely to see Action Man or a toy car in there. The bow was given to him by his uncle. The snazzy evening bag was his gran’s. My mum lets the kids raid her jewellery box and dressing up bag. He came home with this about a year ago. He loves it. We just let him get on with it. We want him to have a happy childhood where he’s allowed to be himself so we just let him play with the stuff that makes him happy. He’s no less boyish and boisterous because he likes his evening bag. Also, this gives us great images to show his first girlfriend when he’s older or display at his 21st!!! Teee heeee…evil parent laugh!

Right, firstly I want to get something off my chest. To the person who sent me a message who said my blog was boring and that he could help make it more interesting…I thank you for being so blunt, but I don’t write my blog for you, I don’t want to be really clever with headlines and if I want to put film up on my blog I will. I suspect the message was from some company trying to get me to spend cash with them so that they can revamp my blog. I don’t need it. I like my blog the way it is. It may be boring to some, but I like it. I don’t live a pretentious, glamorous lifestyle. I’m a working mum who likes to craft and loves to write…that’s it.

Talking about crafting. Here are a couple of pics of the dresses I made my girl’s toys…firstly Elizabeth models a knitted dress I got from Ravelry. Thank you to the creator of this. This is the pink version. I also knitted a white one.

Elizabeth models a knitted dress in a lovely candy pink!

Elizabeth models a knitted dress in a lovely candy pink!

And Ruby…

Ruby, meanwhile, sports a lovely summer frock made from a free bag I got with a magazine. I like the material, but the bag was too wee to be really useful.

Ruby, meanwhile, sports a lovely summer frock made from a free bag I got with a magazine. I like the material, but the bag was too wee to be really useful.

Okay, apart from sewing and knitting, I’ve recently finished my fourth module of my Mindfulness course. It was great, I loved it. Mindfulness is great for just slowing you down, putting stuff into perspective and making you really appreciate life as it is. Am definitely going to keep my formal practise (meditation) and informal practise (being more mindful generally) up because I really feel the benefits: I am less stressed, happier, I sleep better and I appreciate things more. Totally win/win.

I’ve also been doing a lot of driving the kids around to parties. They had three parties this weekend alone! I dropped both off at a local soft play area on Friday morning (they were off school due to an in service day) and scarpered to my friend’s house for tea, cake and putting the world to rights! We like a lot of the same things so we spent a lot of time talking sewing, meditation and general life. The kids meanwhile had a great time at the party.

Yesterday, party number two, was my neice’s tenth birthday party. The whole family were there at my sister’s lovely 1930s bungalow. Her husband did the barbeque, the table was groaning with food and we had a great laugh catching up and playing with a £2.99 sheet that reminded me of the seaside boards where you put your head through the hole and have your picture taken. Much merriment was to be had.

Party number three was today at a local community centre. I took the boy, he was there five minutes and then refused to stay. It was the quickest kids party I had even been at. Normally I would have made him stay, but I couldn’t be bothered with the whining. We went to ASDA instead to buy milk. I’ve stopped shopping there as much because I find it quite expensive compared to Lidl and Aldi, but I sometimes drop in for the odd wee thing. As usual on a Sunday, it was packed. We left as soon as we could.

I’ve also been writing my books for adult. The first is now complete and with a couple of friends for comment. The second I’m still working on. They were both written several years ago, but I’ve gone back to revamp them with a view to selling them as e-books. We shall see if they are successful or not.

Right, I am away to sew up another dress for a dolly and three pairs of dolly knickers. I also have to cut a few patterns out for the boy’s doll Tom, including pants. I’m of a mind to make mini y-fronts for a laugh!

Until next time.

Dawn xxxx

PS Game of Thrones – Ouch…that was painful to watch Jaime Lannister lose a hand a couple of weeks ago, but what a wheeze when Cersei was told she would have to marry Loris last week. That certainly wiped the smile of her face. Saw the actress who plays Cersei – Lena Headey – as Mama in the new Judge Dredd pic. Wasn’t a bad movie and even with a huge scar running down her sneering face, Lena managed to look stunning.

PPS Currently reading: The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell. It’s excellent, especially for anyone with socialist tendancies.

What a difference a day maaaaaakes!

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Twenty-four little hours. What a difference a day maaaaaakes. And the difference is you!

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Sorry. Am feeling a little frivolous just now. Two close friends – who I don’t see that often, but I still love them to bits –  have announced that after many years together they are going to get married. Am so pleased for them. Congrats G and R!!

Also, it’s sunny outside. That always puts me in a good mood. Maybe this weekend I can get on with gardening. I started last weekend putting in the spuds, but was waylaid on Sunday by torrential rain that continued until yesterday. Jeezo, everything’s been really soggy this week.

Anyway, so how are you all? Hope you are all well. I’m good. Went back to work last week after having a week off for Easter. Hubby was off looking after the kids while I was at work. I thought to myself – this is great, it’s Easter, the traffic is bound to be a lot less and I’ll juke in and out of the city in jig time. How wrong was I? Despite it being the second week of the Easter hols, the traffic was horrendous. I hate it. Anyway, work was quieter and I got a lot done.

At the tail-end of last week, hubby rode off into the sunrise (it was early morning when he left) to go on a weekend away to Bangor with his scooter club. The girl went to stay with my sister. She and her cousin are best buds and were having a sleepover, which is lovely. So it was just me and the boy. We cuddled up on the sofa, we watched telly in bed, he slept on his dad’s side of the bed and it was a really quiet time…until the morning when he wanted to wrestle. Normally it’s the job of hubby to play wrestle with him. But, with no hubby there, and with a cry of “Right, you’re getting it!” the boy launched himself at me. I was not amused. He’s really strong and it was with difficulty that I got him to understand that I didn’t want to wrestle. He said he’d wait til his dad returned and get him instead.

I picked the girl up later that Saturday and all hell broke loose in the car. They’d only been in the car about a minute when the fighting started. So I did what every parent does, I screeched at them to behave and they settled down…for about five minutes. The sad thing is is that they both really miss each other when one of them is not there. Siblings!!

On Sunday, we all had a lie in…in my bed again cos the girl was also in it this time. They both wanted to sleep there on the Sunday night too, but their dad was due back and I had to ban them. I didn’t want the poor soul coming all the way over from Ireland to not have his bed to go to.

As it happens, hubby was really late coming home. The club had originally booked the catamaran that runs to Troon, but because of the high winds and foul weather P&O quite rightly had to cancel the sailing. So hubby and the rest drove to Larne for the ferry boat to Cairnryan – which is near Stranraer and even further from home. The poor man didn’t arrive til after 11pm after a harrowing journey across the sea and then coming by Vespa from Stranraer to our home near Helensburgh. He said the wind was so bad he was nearly blown off the Erskine Bridge. I could believe it, the wind had been howling all day. I waited up for him…I was worried. He got home safely though and that’s the main thing.

So what else has been happening here? Not much. I’ve been doing a bit of knitting and have bought some material to make the girl a dress and the boy a shirt and trousers. I keep going to start them then remember I haven’t measured the two of them yet. They are both tall and skinny, so I really need to measure to make sure I get the right size. Am also knitting the boy a cardie and the girl a poncho. They look nice so far.

great british sewing bee

Talking of sewing. Have you been watching The Great British Sewing Bee? It’s great. I am loving it. It’s my Tuesday night staple. Was sorry to see Stuart go out last week as he’s a bit of a character, but his last piece was a bit dodgy. My money’s on Ann to win because, although her creations are very safe, they are also extremely well done. I can only dream of being that good a sewing. We shall see.

Tyrion Lannister

Talking of telly. Game of Thrones – oh my goodness! Didn’t see that coming! Poor old Jaime Lannister. How’s he going to wield a sword with one hand? Do you think he and Brianna will become friends or more than friends? The scene with Tyrion (pictured above, my fave character), his father, sister and the Council was a classic! And what did Pod do to make those ladies so pleased? I was beginning to think that the series was going to be boring, but that last episode was excellent. Role on Monday!!

Jaime Lannister

Anyway, I shall leave you there with this brooding image of a handsome, if dirty, Jaime Lannister who actually made me feel sorry for him the other day. Til next time.

Dawn xxxx

You know how you think that job will only take half an hour?

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Well it actually took an hour-and-a-half! I decided today to tackle the girl’s bookcase which was in a disgraceful state. I made myself a cup of tea, left it down and expected to go back to it within about 10-20mins. Uh-uh. I was fooling myself. Around 90 mins later I’d finished clearing and re-ordering the bookcase and remembered the tea. I’d been sitting on the floor so was stiff and sore when I rose. I scuttled into my bedroom where I’d left the tea, picked up the mug, put it to my lips and…yes it was stony cold. I don’t know why I thought it would still be hot but I did! Duh!

Talking of stones…the girl came back from her sleepover with coat pockets bulging with stones. What is it with kids and stones? She always goes for big ones and these were the smooth grey oval ones you get all over this area. She had been down at the shore at Cove when she picked them up. Anyway the coat was in desperate need of  a wash so I told her to empty the pockets and put the coat in the dirty washing pile. It was all going so well until I heard a clunking coming from our washing machine…our NEW machine. Yes you guessed it…she’d left one stone in a pocket! Sigh.

Finally a word about the boy who has been so good despite being covered in hives. We think he’s taken an allergic reaction to something (tomato soup is suspected) but our GP saidcit may also be viral. Anyway I’ve been covering the wee man in Calomine lotion. Wee soul!

Anyway, time to go. til next time.

Dawn xx