Croquet

Hurrah for the Easter holidays! E has had so much going on at school recently that the end of term was more than welcome. Friday lunchtime found us whizzing up to Oxford for a sleepover! E stayed with L in her room and R and I had booked the college guest room for the night. Even though we only live 25 minutes away anyway, it was a lovely treat. 

Here are a few snaps of our room:

 We didn't make use of the little study, other than to make tea, but the en-suite off to the right was very handy.

 I loved the old windows:

Waking up to the chapel bells ringing, this was the view that greeted us.

I found myself laughing out loud at the thought that my baby gets to wake up to this every day; it's quite unbelievable.

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. When E and I arrived we collected L, bought a mozzarella flat-bread and a veggie samosa and went to a Chinese tea room. My jasmine green tea with tapioca pearls was lovely. The tea room was small but very cute. Shoes had to be removed and a fine time taking selfies was had by all.

 Walking back to the college, we came across Kes, the kestrel:

 ..... and Toby, the tawny owl.

 Apparently, they are invited along to a local pub every so often for educational purposes. They were both stunning and seemed very relaxed, despite all the attention they were getting.
We had arranged to meet L's boyfriend, J, who, being on a croquet team, had volunteered to teach us the basics. L had played before but E and I were complete novices. It was such FUN! A bit like a cross between snooker and crazy golf and very tactical. J was amazing and EXTREMELY patient with those of us  who hadn't a clue and who insisted on referring to bats and goals!

 A couple of views from the croquet lawn: 

 We played for hours, just finishing the game as it began to get dark. R joined us after work and we walked to 'The Opium Den' for a delicious Chinese meal before returning to the college for the night.
Next morning, we had breakfast in Hall and I couldn't resist taking a photo of this beautiful door - one of the oldest parts of the college:

Then, L had booked a table here:

 A 'meeple', for those who have never heard of them (including me!), is an object used to represent a player in a board game (I've always referred to them as counters!). There were over 2,300 games, all divided into various categories - word, fantasy, children's etc. We chose light strategy and the chap working there made a few recommendations. His knowledge was incredible - when we had chosen a game, he sat down and explained the rules, testing us to make sure we had been paying attention (fortunately, L had!) and then kept popping back to see how we were getting on.

Our game, 'Ticket to Ride', and my maple latte!

 After our game, we had a quick look round Gloucester Green market before going back to college for lunch and then packing L's stuff and bringing her home. We were only in Oxford for just over 24 hours but I felt as if I had been on holiday for a week. It was so lovely and I'm really glad we did it.

Other happies this week:

Making L a 'Don't Panic!' lavender bag to help with revision for her finals: 

 Finally, a visit to the local antiques fair at the racecourse:

 I bought this little sewing basket:

 The following items were still inside:

Even though I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with them, I love them for their sense of history. The smaller thimble will come in very handy - my hands are quite small and I find most thimbles a bit on the large side but this one is perfect. I also have no idea what the pink plastic item, top right, is - answers on a postcard please!

Anyhow, that's all for now. Wishing you all a lovely, restful Easter weekend.
Toodle Pip. x

Salisbury

Hello! Sunday found me beetling off to Salisbury to meet up with my oldest (as in 'known the longest'!) friend. We first met in school aged about 7, grew up together, shared a flat at uni and now meet up in the school holidays whenever we can. I arrived a little early having found a much quicker route than the one I usually take, so had time for a coffee and a little read.

 

We had arranged to meet here for brunch:

 It was just like the name suggests, a sort of gentlemen's club type affair with comfy chairs, sofas and stuffed animal heads (although frankly, I could have lived without those!).

 The food was yummy and I opted for a selection of veggie tapas:

Much catching up later, we went for a wander around the city. A little shopping was done - I was very restrained, opting for just a pair of boots for E which were in a sale (her old ones now having a sole which flaps about and makes her look a bit like a street urchin) - fortunately, they fit! We then headed for the cathedral to have a pot of tea (OK and a slice of Bakewell tart!) in the refectory, before listening to evensong. We also saw their exhibition of the Magna Carta - the cathedral has the best preserved of the original 4 which was lovely to see as this year is the 800th anniversary of its signing.

 The cathedral is stunning. Built in the 13th century, it boasts Britain's tallest church spire (123m/404 ft).

We sat in the choir for evensong which was just magical; the choristers singing was heavenly.We then had to power walk back towards the station so S could catch her train. I had a wonderful day and even the drive home was lovely, with the sun setting slowly behind me.

Other happies this week include:

Finishing my primitive stitching Spring embroidery. I'm not sure whether to hang it as it is or tuck the extra fabric behind, so the frame forms the outer edge - what do you think? I may just store it for a while anyway - it would be nice to complete one for each season and then hang them together. 

This week's library books. I am loving 'H is for Hawk' - it's so beautifully written. 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is this month's book club choice. It happens to be my favourite book, so it will be no hardship to reread it. I'm not sure whether or not I'm looking forward to her new one though - it would be so sad if it turned out to be disappointing.

 E sat her Grade 8 piano exam on Monday, so here's a photo of 'Joanna' - it makes me happy because I no longer have to listen to interminable scales!

 The hyacinths are blooming in the garden - this is one of the ones by the front door and its scent makes me very happy when I come home:

It's still cold enough for cups of butternut squash soup though!

 Finally, loaf of the week: Focaccia Pugliese with tomatoes and garlic. I made it this morning and am desperately trying to resist trying a slice as I have a Parent's Evening to go to later and I don't want to breathe garlic fumes over E's teachers!

Anyway, that's all for this week's happies. I hope you've found a little something to make you smile too this week.
Toodle Pip. x

Greenwich

Hello everyone. I hope you are having an enjoyable week - it's not quite so sunny here as it was but the daffodils and hyacinths are open in the garden, so who could fail to be cheered? 

I'm joining in with Planet Penny's Happy Friday once more and I think my happiest moment this week had to be my trip to Greenwich. E had her final seminar following her trip to Auschwitz last week, so off we trekked to Canary Wharf. 

There may have been a bit of 'use up the stash block knitting' on the train!

........ and perhaps a wee bit more when we arrived early and had to kill some time in a cafe!

When I'd dropped her off, I had 4 hours in which to amuse myself, so hopped onto the Docklands Light Railway and popped over to Greenwich.

My first stop was to see The Cutty Sark. Forgive me if you already know the history of the ship. For those who don't, she is a British Tea Clipper built in 1869. She spent a while on the tea trade before turning to the wool trade from Australia and then was used as a cadet training ship. She is now in permanent dry dock in Greenwich.

The ship was named after Cutty-sark, the nickname of the witch Nannie Dee in Robert Burn's poem 'Tam o' Shanter'. In the poem, she wears a linen sark (chemise) which she had from when she was a child - hence, it was too short or 'cutty'. A man, Tam, a little worse for wear after a night's drinking on market day, comes across some witches dancing. At first he watches quietly, but then gets carried away and calls out 'Weel done, cutty-sark!'. The witches give chase and Tam spurs his horse, Meg, towards the River Doon, as the witches can't cross a running stream. They come so close to catching him that they pull poor Meg's tail off - seen clutched by the figurehead.

She really is a beautiful ship and visitors can go on board. I didn't this time, deciding instead to visit again with the girls during the holidays.

I rather enjoyed the juxtaposition of the old and the new:

Nearby is Greenwich Market with some interesting stalls and adjacent shops.

I particularly liked the old bottles and tins on this one, but they were a tad pricey!

Looking at this photo - is that a 'No Photography' sign I see? How embarrassing, I honestly didn't notice it at the time!

Greenwich is a beautiful place - R and I have visited in the past, pre-children, to see the observatory, but it will definitely be worth doing a family return visit. All too soon, my 4 hours were up and it was time to collect E. She came out of her seminar rather hungry, so enjoyed a sort of pick and mix veggie sushi picnic on the train ride home.

Other happies this week include:

A bunch of cheery daffs on a rainy day:

Mother's Day treasures from my darling daughters - a much needed new manicure set and a set of tins which I intend to use for a 'patchwork out and about' kit:

Quilting L's graduation present - I just need to sew in a few threads and, rather annoyingly, sort out a few creases on the back. I used spray adhesive this time, rather than basting/pins but still had problems. Any hints from more experienced quilters as to how to avoid creases will be very gratefully received!

Finally, On Tuesday I attended a local 'Primitive Stitching' workshop. This is me grabbing a quiet five minutes to work on my March hare:

Now I just have to embroider the leaves and flowers before backing it and blanket stitching around the edge:

Apologies for the rather dark photos - it has been a rather gloomy week so far. 

Anyway, that's all for this week's happies. Wishing you all a fun and, I hope, sunny weekend. 

Toodle Pip for now. x

Spring?

Greetings everyone! Is it just me or is there a distinct smell of Spring in the air? Last Saturday was absolutely glorious round these parts and it felt so lovely to be out in the garden, enjoying the sun. Even pegging out the washing was fun, accompanied, as it was, by the sound of church bells, buzzy bees and birdsong. Rather bizarrely, I failed to take any photos at the time, although I did manage a few earlier in the week. It wasn't quite as sunny then but it was a special occasion of sorts ........

the first cup of tea in the garden this year! 

 I admired the bit of blue sky behind the eucalyptus tree:

 and the daffodils, which are almost ready to open:

 Hamish had his first outing of the year. I would have put him out in his run but Foxy Loxy has been lurking - in broad daylight too. The chickens got in a bit of a flap but I was just struck by how beautiful he was. Eventually, I got my act together and chased him off but, unfortunately, there was no time to grab the camera. Hamish, therefore, had to be content with an accompanied run in his harness. Sadly, the colour doesn't show up too well in the photo - it is actually bright pink but he thinks he is manly enough to get away with it!

 Apart from a whiff of Spring, there have been a few other happies this week:

R's carrot cake - it really was a bit of a triumph!

Joining together L's quilt. I've bought the backing and wadding, so just need to actually quilt it now:

 Making lemon curd. It was such a fantastic colour that I couldn't resist taking a photo - like sunshine in a jar:

 I used it to make a lemon and passion fruit pavlova - Michael Sheen made one for the Comic Relief Bake Off (see recipe here) and it was delicious. Please excuse the basket of laundry in the background - I really must learn to style my photos!

 A visit to the library revealed a 'Tales of the Unfinishable' display. People had donated their unfinished WIPs along with a bit of background info:

 I particularly liked the plant pot cover:

 A couple of the new books I picked up whilst I was there:

 And one final happy for this week - I won a giveaway! I was so thrilled to win this from Planet Penny (thank you again, Penny!). The book takes you on a road trip around the United States, with a craft/cooking memento for every state. There's an 'Extreme Grilled Cheese' from Wisconsin (America's Dairyland, producing more cheese per capita than any other state!) for lunch with my name on it!

Actually, I've been up since 2:15 am as I had to take E to Luton Airport for a trip to Poland with the 'Lessons from Auschwitz' Project. I was, in fact, awake from about 12:15 as I was so worried that the alarm would fail to go off! Anyway, it's starting to catch up with me a bit, so I think it may be time for a little nap..............

Enjoy the rest of the week. Toodle Pip for now. x