24th November - Autumn Nostalgia Challenge week

Sorry Anne to ignore your challenge last week but apart from these challenges scrapping etc ...sadly I am not a person to challenge myself to other things in life that I think I cannot achieve :(

So to this week's challenge from Kathi. What are our memories of Autumn?

• School term from Sept to Christmas when you were a child
• The clocks changing an hour
• Bonfire nights and fireworks 
• Halloween night

I will really sound like a bar humbug answering this week's challenge!!

As a child my parents didn't buy fireworks or take me to any official bonfire nights either. As a teenager I wasn't allowed to go to  any town/village organised bonfire nights until at 18 I came home one Nov whilst at teacher training college when I went to Battle Bonfire night...I was so scared and spent all evening in the pub jumping every time a fire cracker went off!!  As a teacher we had bonfire nights but I always stayed indoors serving soup and hot dogs!  And of course as I had children they had money instead of fireworks...how miserable was that!! At some Aug proms there were fireworks but they were so difficult to photograph!

I hate the clock change as I am never up early and hate the long dark evenings, ok sunsets are beautiful!

I hate the leaves falling off the trees though fall can be beautiful.  Here are some photos from Sheffield Park taken a few years ago

I dislike the way we have copied the Americans with Halloween night and make a big commercial event of it in all the shops and we put a police notice in our door window saying "No trick or treaters thank you"

BUT

I can show you some photos of the Trick and Treaters when I stayed in Canada looking after Sue 2 years ago. She loved them calling and had the biggest bowl of packets of sweets I have ever seen!!

Her front porch!

Some of the visitors we had during the evening

I will finish with a field of blueberry bushes which change to a red colour in Autumn

and the berries on our holly bush this week

I am looking forward to December and the run up to Christmas!

Hope my quotation comes up for you all tomorrow morning!!

Here I am again settling back home but not up to any challenges!!

This week Anne challenged us to think about challenges we have done in our lives or people we admire who have managed a challenge! Sorry Anne I am ignoring you today as I have never really challenged myself to do anything more than I can do or other people either :(!!

This week I have finally unpacked and sorted out all my scrapping from last week's retreat, lots to finish in my own time

Really enjoyed spectacular sunsets this week. The days have been clear blue skies and sunshine and such wonderful sunsets

 Last night the sky over the English channel

We had a wonderful evening celebrating our oldest Grandson Tom's 18th birthday. Here we are with Tom at an Italian restaurant

 and with his girlfriend Hannah ( met for the first time!)

 We went back to their house and Peter tried on our grandson Matt's onsie!!!

Another few days away!

We have had 2 lovely days in Wiltshire with my friend Carol and her partner Dave. We celebrated his 70th birthday

Thursday we went to Lacock NT were there were wood sculptures around the ground 

On Friday Peter went west to stay with my friend and husband in Somerset and fish for 3 days whilst I went east to a scrapping retreat 20mins away from Carol.

Here we are last night scrapping

 Today Shirley taught us a mixed media canvas

 This was her's

Here I am doing mine

We watched Strictly and then later we played scrabble...all ready for bed! 

Tomorrow I leave them and go and join Peter for the evening and night at Chew Magna before coming home on Monday!

4th November - View week challenge

I have just picked up Jennie's week's challenge and there and then took 2 photos all before 5pm. How dark the evening have already become, I hate the winter months :(

I was just abought to bring the washing in, we had a lovely sunshine day and blue sly but alas no photo til now!!

 In this photo I have taken in he washing...all dry :) and a lovely Nov evening sunset is just beginning and as I type it is changing with a clear sky , so hopefully another sunny day tomorrow.

As you can see the storms we missed din't remove the autumnal leaves on the fence or the fruits on the tree

Hopefully will blog whilst we are away, depends on Wi fi but now with BT so should find hotspots :)

4th November - Viv's week catch up!!

Sadly I seem to have got out of the habit of regularly blogging these past few weeks! I think going on holiday from Tues to Tues messed up 2 weeks and we are away again for 6 days from this Wed. Wonderful retirement life!!

It is taking some organisation to go away again as Peter and I are together for 3 days from Wed to Fri at Carol and her partner's house in Wilts.  Then Fri - Sun I am at a scrapping retreat with my UKS group the Crumblies 10 mins from where Carol is living.  Peter is off to Chew Magna to fish Chew lake each day and  to stay with my college friend Pat and DH.  On Sun Pat is collecting me and I join Peter for Sunday afternoon and evening at Chew Magna with our friends before we return home next Mon!!

Already I have different piles for each of us and surprise birthday cake and candles for Dave who will be 70 on Wed as well as making dessert Wed am for the evening party!! Wine and food for breakfasts have been bought. Prepping my scrapping is done and lamps and leads are in another bag, just clothes to think about tomorrow!

Today unexpectantly I have had Zac for the day and tomorrow both Zac and Xanthe as Zac's school has 2 inset days tagged onto half term!!

Anyway enough of excuses here I am!

Planning for the future.  At first I said I don't think about the future but of course I do as I am a planner! I like to think that really I am a 'here and now' person and really like the sentiments of this page from Bernice Hopper's November 'Gratitude' challenge which I am following but hoping to do in January.  There you are future planning!!!  :D

Here is day 3 page of her's which I really agree with! NEVER Have a bucket list as you don't know what the future holds, do what you can NOW if possible! All my dreams I can really say I have done, wonderful memories and hopefully more in the future but what, I do not know!!


So nothing planned for 2014 except the challenge and will think what we will do in that year next year!
Before then this is what we have planned before 31st Dec
DGS's 18th Birthday meal next week
DstepD's birthday in Dec with some of the family coming as we are away for Christmas
Peter going to see Steele Eye Span in Dec with D in L
Our crowd Christmas meal in December at a pub
Christmas - 4 days away for  a Saga theme few days Hollywood to Broadway specially for Peter :)

we have never been away for Christmas and left the family before!! Very strange!!

I will finish with this

except for me as a Christian my belief is that this life as enjoyable as it can be but....is a waiting expectation of a wonderful eternal life with my Father God. Amen x

1st November -Extra challenge week from Viv

I am missing my quote challenge out and doing Vivienne's challenge week now!

She has used a poem by Jenny Joseph called "Warning"   Click on this link to hear her read it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cACbzanitg

I remembered seeing a group of women on a cruise we went on several years ago all wearing purple and red hats and found the reason why in Wikapedia

The Red Hat Society is a social organization originally founded in 1998 in the United States for women age 50 and beyond, but now open to women of all ages. As of 2011, there were over 40,000 chapters in the United States and 30 other countries.

The founder of the Society is artist Sue Ellen Cooper, who lives in Fullerton, Orange County, California.

In 1997, Cooper gave a friend a 55th birthday gift consisting of a red bowler purchased at an antique store along with a copy of Jenny Joseph's poem "Warning”,  The opening lines of the poem read:

“When I am an old woman   I shall wear purple With a red hat that doesn't go and doesn't suit me.”

Cooper repeated the gift on request several times, and eventually several of the women bought purple outfits and held a tea party on April 25, 1998

Viv has asked us to think about what you would like to do or where you would like to be in the future.

What do you think?

It doesn’t have to be when you are old, just in your future, maybe even tomorrow or next week.

a dream holiday, a different house, new car, anything really.

She also suggests we could take photos this week of works in progress, Family, crafts, something in the home or at work. Whatever you think fits the bill.

Although we book holidays in advance I really don't normally think about the future especially next year.

So now I am off to think about what I can blog on this challenge with some photos :)  See you tomorrow x

1st November - Back from holiday in Italy

We arrived back from N Italy having been with Riveria Travel company on a tour staying in Stresa, L Maggiore. We had a tour each day for 6 out of the 7 days visiting Zermat in Switzerland where we took the train up to the Matterhorn, L Orta, L Como as well as L Maggiore, the islands on the lake and a long boat trip to Locarno at the top end of the lake and a train through the mountains and coach back to Stresa.

It was a very busy schedule and we have never had such a busy holiday before and never again BUT it was worth every penny we paid for the holiday! Here is a glimpse through some photos...rather a few I'm afraid

 Early morning view of lake from our balacony

 Peter outside our hotel

 Various lake views from different boats

Lunchtime eating out 

 and yet another pizza for Peter!!

I couldn't manage all this so cut all the crust off!!

 more photos of us out and about

We came back tired and having had 2 clock changes backwards in 3 days  I couldn't get going on Wednesday!  My cough is still with me and I have a very painful knee from sitting in planes, coaches and boats too much and stairs and steps everywhere didn't help!!  but we did enjoy it, the hotel was excellent, people on the tour where great and an excellent courier too.
Now I will go and blog this week's challenge from Vivienne.....