D is for Duck!

Blogging is a funny old thing - one with which I have a love/hate relationship, but this morning I found myself looking back on the photos and records of our motorbike adventures and realised what a fantastic resource I have compiled over the last 10 years and more here in a virtual little space on the internet.

Blogging has been an adventure - one where I have met new friends and met up with many - travelling to meet them on our motorbike. Back in 2002 we were visiting the Scottish Motorbike show and I bought a duck back pack. I fell in love with him and has since travelled evrywhere with Jon and I when we go out on our motorbike adventures.

One project I am proud to share is ABC Wednesady - a little idea I had many many years ago. Each week as we worked our way through the alphabet we would post a photograph and sometimes a few words. The project took off and spans the globe with  many contributions each week. It is currently in its last chapter under the team I am part of before entering a new level. When I read that Liz  had joined in it made me think again. Liz is a blogging friend of many many years - as are many of my other blogging friends. One day we will meet up with Liz and it will be on our motorbike - and yes the duck will meet up too - with Delilah!

For more ABC follow this link

Time

TIME IS PRECIOUS - midst our busy lives it is good to blow away the cobwebs and have TIME out when the TIDE is out. Due to the tide situation we ventured to Redcar yesterday and had a lovely time on the beach. Busy as usual but nice to take a few hours ot. Jon is busy at work - this week for me.....Soup for 30+ tomorrow......sponge pud & custard, fruit flan or trifle for desert!A couple of meetings regarding village life and a session on Saturday in our library for children to write their letters to Santa and for parents to buy tickets to see the man in red. We're having a visit to a recycling workshop to make christmas table decorations to sell at our Christmas Coffee Morning/Santa's vist - 26th November! Watch this space.

Pumpkin fun - all happening here!

This week is half term so we have been working hard to get together a whole week of fun activities for the children. Yesterday we had a "Monster" workshop at our local museum and today we have had a lovely session in the library - reading halloween stories and playing Pumpkin Bingo.

The week is an action packed adventure - photos following!
watch this space!

I is for Ivy.

On entering our house Ivy greets you!

She continues along the top of the wall....

Down the wall......

In the wall......

In fact all over the wall!

Whilst this ivy looks quite old and established......you don't have to look far to find new growth.

At the bottom of the garden, where I took you last week Ivy grows in abundance.

When I re-positioning two of the chimney pots guess what I chose to put in it?

Bev on the other hand was heading for the henhouse our INCREDIBLE hen!

A busy week - Easter Fun Day to organise!

Watch this space!
ABC Wednesday - the place to be.

F is for freezing.

It's cold enough for snow tonight!
The weather FORECASTS have been so inaccurate for our region - but I definitely think it may snow.

We are well stocked up - Jon chopped some logs so this lot should keep us going through the night.

I have a joint of pork in the top oven and it smells FANTASTIC!
Onion gravy and a vegetable bake for tonight. A FEAST indeed.

ABC Wednesday!

E is for ........enterprising.

The next room on our "to do" list is the third bedroom, the one Jon uses for his office and the one with access to the loft. Jon more or less leaves colours up to me and I know we have a decent quantity of both grey and white emulsion to hand so no prizes for guessing my thoughts.

I don't buy "Housy" magazines anymore - whilst they were often a source of inspiration and encouraged me to tidy up, inevitably I flicked through them once and found many the same. As we have worked our way through the house more often than not we will visit a showhouse for inspiration and to see what the  current trends are. Last weekend we did just that.

In one showhouse I spotted a desk. As I have been sorting out my various crafty stuff and the piles of paper etc for my card making I have used the big cupboard in the porch to store things away, ever realising the potential the room had to be mult-functional. Yes a porch is great but as we have such a lovely open view of the garden I felt it was a shame not to work in the porch, but not to have everything everywhere, so the desk gave me an idea.

To look at it (yes I bought one on-line) it's not imposing but it's the perfect size for my laptop/sewing machine. When I am working (as I was yesterday) the stool next to the desk is ideal for my printer - as the big cupboard is right next to the desk stuff can be put away when I have finished and the tesk doubles up as a console table.



The view from the desk is inspiring too - yesterday Puss was in her favourite spot for an afternoon nap!

I brought down a wicker chair which is comfortable when working at the desk - when not in use with the desk I just move it against the back wall.

Above the chair I have used picnic baskets for further storage. I am so pleased with these - only costing £5 each from  the charity shops - so much nicer than plastic containers.

Jon is busy at work so I am not sure when we will make a start on his room but in the meantime I am happy to have a place to potter in and keep warm

ABC Wednesday - E for enterprising!

D is for Dress.

I am a fan of Joe Brown's clothes - I saw this tunic/dress in the latest Spring Collection and fell in love with it straight away. It's actually classed as a tunic - if you look carefully you will see the shorter layers at the front and the long layer at the back. Depending on how much leg I want on DISPLAY I can either wear it just as a dress or with leggings or white trousers. Very rarely do I buy brand new clothes, being the charity shop fan that I am - but something about this made me think of Spring and Summer months - the special days we celebrate - we are going out for a meal on Valentine's Day - then there is our wedding anniversary and our birthdays - so plenty of opportunities to wear this.

Speaking of charity shops - I snapped up an absolute bargain this week :-  see here  I was in Stokesley on Saturday doing my rummaging - how much did I pay? £10! Granted it's not BRAND new but it's hardly been worn - if at all!

D is for Dress ...ABC Wednesday.

Cupboard, ceiling and curtains.

The porch is now fully painted - I am thrilled with the transformation of the cupboard from what it was.

The damaged ceiling before...

 

and now.

Coat hooks fitted

and now.

I really like the colour of the walls.

Argos sale - lights were £19.99 each.

Now it's just a case of carpet and curtains./blinds.

Curtains for the 5 foot window looking out onto the garden.

Roman blinds for the entrance door & windows.

When I was sorting through stuff I came across this Jane Churchill fabric.

I bought it on ebay for next to nothing a couple of years ago.

I had bought it for the landing curtains.

But then I came across these ready-made ones for £3.50 in the charity shop.
I bought 2 pairs - the other pair are for the final room to be re-vamped, the 3rd bedroom
which Jon uses as an office.
We have booked the final week of March with the decorator- so I have until then to clear the room and strip the old wallpaper.

Watch this space!

A dog, a porch and an icon.

B is for BEACH

We live very near to the beach and make a point of taking our dogs every day.

We like to go at 10 o'clock when we know our friends will be there but if the tide is in there's no beach for the dogs to run - which they love.

At the moment the tide is out around 4pm - I take endless photographs but yesterday I tried to capture the dogs in action. Sadie left and BING on the right.

Whilst this photograph is slightly BLURRED I feel it captured the essence of the moment.

B is for BASE coat. The decorating is moving on and what a difference a few days has made.

The BULBS will be replaced with a bit of BLING!

B is for BARGAIN.

Whilst the room is going to be a grey colour on the only larger wall I wanted a mirror.

Initially I wanted a full length one but as our local hardware shop is having a sale - this one at £12 was just the ticket.

B is for BOWIE.

 I was a fan of David Bowie. Like many people I was saddened last week at the news of his death.

At college between the ages of 16 and 18 a lot of my friends went to a local pub to the college. 

One of our neighbours was a barmaid and would have told my parents if I was drinking in there ie underage, so I didn't - choosing to save my pocket money for records - L.P's. 

The joy of listening to an entire album was always exciting AND I had something to show for my money. Hunky Dory was a particular favourite. My favourite track was "Life on Mars."

For more ABC fun see the link on my sidebar.

B is also for BACK to the Porch!