Making...

 Wednesday morning was wet, afternoon was showers, one very heavy, later the sun came out, I enjoyed a much cooler day. As promised I'm going to bore you with my new rain measuring cup, we had 8mm, throughout the day.

Molly has been at ours on a double sleepover, she has been doing crafts, which she loves, I got some plastic shapes, which you insert bits, we used some pressed flowers I had previously made, we then collected more fresh flowers from the garden and put them in my flower press.

Pepper Pig money box, painted by Molly, I promise you there were other paint colours, not just black.

Having fun with a dolly bobbin.

Pom-poms and a friendship bracelet. 

Thursday evening  hubby was out so we had a girly evening, watching a couple of films, munching marshmallows, Molly is such good fun. Most of the yarn crafting was beyond Mollys little hands, she does love the finished items, it's enough for her to know there are many things we can make together.

I am really loving the cooler days, two days of showers has done so much for the whole garden, just steady rain, not too heavy. I got a couple blue lavender plants from our local market trader, and whilst in town I got 3 packs of small spring blooms, I resisted the tulips I have enough on order, just £15 spent, I'm having a very cheap month.

Random bits

 Hubby make a delightful cakes each week, here he made brownies, a special treat we don't have too often, after watching bake-off he decided to make a treacle tart. I am so lucky to have a hubby who loves to bake, he does most of the cooking. He got this domed glass cake stand, replacing the plastic container, it does look much nicer.

Another great book, mother and daughter, loads of history, what would you do for your child even if they are not the same as other children, a very different tale, I switched from liking the mother and then the daughter a few times as more of the back story was revealed, I did not want it to end. Book 71 read this year.

I had loads of fun on Sunday, Molly and George being creative, this is for George's class project, Molly joined in as well, they both love crafting, felt tip pens and glue anything shiny. Molly made a plate into Goldilocks and George a bear, George is much better at wearing his glasses whilst sitting and working. They both now are happy to sit and create.

I adore my duffle coat, it's warm and very comfortable, but I have always hated the string and wooden toggles, so finally I have replaced them with nicer ones, sadly the new toggle is plastic, but they do look much better. The coat was too thick to use my sewing machine, I have hand sewn them, there is a zip closure, so these are mainly for show and do not need strength to hold the sides together.

I was using my desktop a couple days ago and the monitor turned off, after checking leads and plugs we agreed the monitor had died, easy task to get another one, but my goodness the wire mess below my desk, firstly dust (hanging my head in shame) and 3 extension leads, I now have just one with a circuit breaker which is attached to Alexa, so I can turn everything off without crawling under the desk. Most of the cables have gone, these days one lead is all that's needed.

We are not doing much at this time, the dry sunny days are just so peaceful, having Sunday at daughters house was fun, it's nice to have someone else cook a meal, I did clear the table and pack the dishwasher, both Molly and George help, it was a quick chore. The afternoon relaxing watching George play with cars, Molly dancing to her favourite tunes, a perfect few hours.

We have not put the heating on as yet, it still warm enough in the day and we have lap blankets for when it cools down, it's promised to get cooler this coming week, so turn on will be soon. We have changed our midweek alarm to 7.30am, I see no point getting up too early, when we are staying at home. We have listened to radio 2 for decades, neither of us are enjoying Scott Mills breakfast show, we have tried other stations, but nothing suits, I do like to wake up to music, so we hope we have picked times where Scott is less silly, Goodness I sound Old. We do like to have a midweek alarm it helps us have an idea what day it might be, and we both get up together, Saturday and Sunday I get a later start.

Fired

 I always have difficulty choosing what to paint and then how to decorate it, I am not a artist in any form, I decided to make this mushroom into a home with flowers growing up, all very simplistic. I streaked the underside of the roof (top), the top should have been red with some glitter, I still like it.

Molly decorated this coaster for me.

Molly wanted to paint a cat this time I love the way she has blended colours, it looked a mess on the day, now it's very pretty.

Daughter painted this jar, its blue with the star openings black and glitter, it looks lovely, she loves simple designs. 

I do like things to be useful, I can't stand clutter any more, this is placed in a dark corner and looks good all lit up, I've used battery operated lights.

 

I do love these painting cafés, its a fun space for everyone, messy play at its best, we have taken all 3 little ones at different times, hubby even came and enjoyed one session.  It's not cheap, and each time you get a nice hand painted item, it's took a bit longer for me to collect these, I did not receive my text stating they were ready for collection. We painted these in early September, most of the choice of items were for Halloween, which I did not want. I probably won't go again, unless it's with the children, my painting is not that great. I have found sets for each of the children for home, I got them for Christmas, but we will gift them in half term, something nice for them to do. 

We have had a quiet few days together, both hubby and I are feeling better, I'm mainly tired all the time, we have only been out once, we popped to Sainsbury's, got a few bits for the weekend. I have found a puzzle game I like, and I've  been reading. 

We had our first homemade tomato soup, using homegrown tomatoes, we are warm and dry, no heating on as yet, watching the garden, little birds on the feeders, the storm centre was in northern UK, but we still had loads of wind and rain, our garden was OK. Daughter wanted to come and check on us, but we wanted her to stay at home with children, we have all we need and plenty of facetime, keeps us chatting with them.

Wet play

 Molly came for a sleepover on Tuesday, she is desperate to go to school each morning when George goes to his class, so we thought a night at ours would help, I had loads for her to do including this colouring page made from a photo taken when we last went to the beach, which she loved. We played outside, balls, scooters, bubbles all enjoyed, back inside she got all our puzzles out. 

Molly wanted to help in the garden, after picking and eating the raspberries, we found a pot for some spring bulbs, she is very good at following instructions, she helped decide which bulbs to use. Photo just for me so I can remember what is planted in here.

Wednesday morning Molly and I took the bus into town which she loved and met mummy, we spent a few hours at our local pottery café, each painting an item, we have done this a few times before, Molly choose a cat and loved it, I decided I needed another mushroom lamp, I'm not very good at decorating, and definitely not so good at the design, I do love crafting but struggle with art. They will be ready for collection in two weeks. Later we had lunch out together plus a visit to a few shops.

This plot leads you everywhere, so many suspects, what happened to Sam, where is she, why are the police not doing very much. A clever plot, twisting, adding to the tail. Book 65 read this year

Another new author to me, this book was very different, a young woman's final school project looking into a murder in her town five years previous. She includes one victims brother, not knowing if he is the right person to work with her. It leads her to suspect many of the people who live locally in the area, a nice ending. Book 66 read this year.

I did pop to our library and got 3 books, one I realised I had read before, it does feel good to hold a book again after reading so many on my tablet, this story is very different, set in an old converted house in Bath, the people who live there are brought together by a frail lady who they decide to help. Looking back at the ladies life as a top quality dress maker, discovering the famous person she dressed, not my normal read, another great book. Book 67 read this year.

I did start to read The Perfect Home, Natasha Boydell, I could not get into the plot and realised I was not interested in the story, just a bit too soft style of writing for me. I have a few inside project for the coming days, we are due to stay wet until after the weekend.

My time in the garden is dropping as the weather changes, I still walk around most mornings just checking everything and where Lilly is, Lilly has taken to sleeping on my net cover for my brassicas, it's not a strong contraption so it dips, and I curse her, she watches me but is not learning. The garden is still giving so I wait to plant out winter items, I am often ahead of myself, waiting for the space to appear, I never learn. 

Nothing much is happening here, which is OK, we both love quiet, hubby's medical results are mixed and as yet there are no changes to his medication, at this time there is nothing they can do, its a case of wait and watch, not bad news as he will never improve, but he is maintaining his level of fitness. 

Bank holiday weekend

 Another new author to me, and very enjoyable read, clever in the way it leads you through a cold case, the murderous exfriend is in prison. She is drawn back to UK after safely living in USA for years, things have started again, how, why, but why does she have doubts, book 61 read this year.

This was a great book another duel timeline, from the start she told us she had been on death row in USA, for 3 murders, but was released on review years later. With a changed name and living well away from anyone she knows, another murder takes place, this is her story revealing the truth of years before, whilst trying to sort what is happening to her, great read. Book 62 read this year.

Another new author to me, one woman's perception on how others treat her, the way the author allows information to flow is perfect, allowing the story to build, who is right, who is not, a clever believable plot where one person believes in their own power, great ending. Book 63 read this year.

Molly wanted to do some crafting, I had recently purchased a pack of simple sewing animals, both Will and George  joined in, Will made the fox on his own, I just started the stitching, Molly made the pink cat and George the yellow duck both with lots of help, all 3 were happy with their makes.

 I got a few packets of spring bulbs, not for in the ground, these I will put in small clay pots and use for my patio spring display. I will do an online order for a few packs of more unusual bulbs. Also I got a pack of six cyclamen plants, it was just a couple of pounds more than the single white plant I was going to purchase, I am hoping one of these six has white flowers, again these are for around the patio area.

Saturday and Sunday was just stay at home days, we never go far on public holiday days our roads are always busy, daughter slept over as children were with their dad, hubby did a roast beef lunch on Sunday, we sat and chatted most of the time. Monday was a hot sunny day, I had plans but decided to sit outside all afternoon, hubby was out, so I quietly enjoyed the sunshine. Tuesday daughter and children came for most of the day, daughter popped out for a hair cut, it was much cooler and threatened rain with huge dark clouds, but stayed dry, we are enjoying these last few days of the summer holidays.

The mornings are much cooler, most start cloudy, sadly no rain, so I am watering a few days per week. It's also getting dark earlier every evening, my solar lights hung on my metal fences shine out and we have a light on inside, sleeping is much easier, we have not used our tower fan this week. The season feels as if it's changing, which is so sad I adore summer, even tough ones like this year's, having said that the gardens could do with a good drenching, the tree leaves are turning much earlier, there is some rain due, but then again the chance it will miss us is always high.

I have a big birthday in November, ends in an 0, so I got my reminder to renew my driving licence, I popped on line to my page at DVLA, which is linked to my current passport, 10 minutes later all done, on Friday just 4 days after my new driving licence card arrived. I know a few friends who hate how much of our information is collected and stored online, but I feel at my level the benefits outweigh any issues. Only difference my hair is much shorter since photo, which is not a problem.