A Little Thank You

The other morning the office staff were unfortunate to be on the receiving end of a very rude and grumpy delivery man.

Being British I immediately complained about his behaviour towards staff and for being rude in front of children and parents.

A few days later I received a very nice e-mail from DPD saying how sorry they were that we had had to put up with the rudeness of one of their drivers.  They said that the driver would be spoken to and they hoped it wouldn't happen again.

Another 'few days later' the grumpy driver was back.  This time NOT grumpy or rude and handing over a small box with my name on it.

It was a lovely handwritten note from Louise saying sorry.........again.  I emailed her to thank her and tell her how it had made us smile.

Do you think they have to say sorry a lot?  I can't imagine they had one cookie made just for me.

The fact that the grumpy driver had to deliver my "sorry" cookie was definitely karma.

The Local Area Pt 2

There is a very nice coastal walk, near where we live, that overlooks the Irish sea. 

Hubby and I took a stroll along part of it on Sunday.  The sun was out and the sky was blue but the wind!!  It was relentless.  Most of the walk to Hoylake saw me walking behind hubby so he blocked out the cold.

The route back was much warmer as we came back through the sand dunes.  Wish we had gone that way too!!

Something a Little Different

I'm normally very conservative when it comes to my nail colour.  I tend to stick to the same three colours.  Dark blue, burgundy or purplely black (if purplely is a colour!).

As it's almost Spring Break and I'm meeting up with friends I thought I'd go for something a bit different.

I hope they look as good as this photo.

ETA:  Sadly they didn't have the colours :(  so I went for my old faithful of dark red with a hit of sparkle.

One from the Archive

I didn't have anything to blog about today so went with an archived post.  I still have these little chicks and they will be coming out again next weekend for my Easter display.

Wednesday, 20 March 2013

Easter Chicks

Next Friday (Good Friday) the High Street in the village is decorating windows for Easter.  I'm not really sure what I'm doing yet but saw these little chickies somewhere (I will try and remember where and post a link) and thought they'd be really good in a display.

Problem is I can't get their feet right.  I manage one but then once I've put the wire through the chick my mind goes to mush and I can't remember how I did the first one. As you can see he has one gammy foot and one normal one.

It's all trial and error at the moment but I still have the weekend to figure it out.

If you're wondering how big the chicks are here's one next to a £2.00 coin.

Nashville - The Final Season

Awesome.  

Nashville is back.  

Time to get my weekly country fix.

March's Crochet

After finishing my last blanket (which has been put to good use over the last few weeks with the drop in temperature) hubby decided he wanted one of his own!  He wanted a blue one.  Just blue.  But I thought it would just be too boring to make to I added a few different shades and it's looking OK so far.

I'm about a third of the way into it at the moment and have to admit that I'm not finding it as interesting to do due to the lack of colour.

That's why I have these beauties waiting in the wings for when I've finished.

When it's made up it's meant to resemble the heather strewn moorlands.  I like to think of it as more like the Scottish Highlands.

The Local Area Pt1

I've been saying to hubby for months that we should get out and explore the local area more, seeing as we know live here full time and aren't just visiting.

As kids we walked the Wirral Way. 


The Wirral Way is a path on the track of an old railway that goes from West Kirby to Hooton in mid-Wirral offering superb views over the Dee Estuary to Wales. Originally the railway formed a circuit of Wirral and this is the missing link.

It is situated within Wirral Country Park. Wirral Country Park is a place of contrasts. Birds nest in the dense hedges or feed on the berries in winter, and you may see up to ten kinds of butterfly in summer. From the boulder-clay cliffs look out over the Dee Estuary across its 31,500 acres to the Welsh shore, 5 miles away, and on a clear day you can see the familiar outline of Moel Famau in the Clwydian Hills. The estuary's ever-changing light, broad vistas and westerly sunsets reflected in the mudflats and the sea are a constant delight.

Normally we walked it as part of a sponsored walk, as not having a car made it difficult to get there. 

Now we have a car it's a ten minute trip and the views across to Wales are lovely (except on dreich, cold and windy days).

We took a stroll through the trees

and along the cliff top (you can just see Wales in the background)

and down the steps to the beach

Thankfully we walked down them and not up!

Where, as you can see, it was lovely and warm! 

And I managed to get one startled looking photo due to my hands nearly getting frost bite when I took my gloves off to take the picture :)

We've decide we'll go back in the warmer weather.

Homesick Blues

Have you ever looked at one photo/picture and immediately felt 'Homesick'?

This one did it for me a few weeks ago.

Sent to me by my lovely friend J, I immediately wanted to be back there.

I may have to invite myself to stay sometime!!

Glasses v Contacts

I recently had the chance to try contact lenses, for free, on a months trial. 

It didn't go well.  I spent ages trying to get them in and often had to get up half an hour early so I wouldn't be late for work!!

I asked for varifocal lenses and was told that wasn't a problem.  It seems it was as when I tried to drive in them I couldn't see further than the front of the car.

One thing I loved about them, when I did manage to get them in, was I could see to put my mascara on.

I think I'll stick to my glasses.  At least they hide the bags under my eyes.  Ha Ha!! :)

Big Little Lies

Based on the same-titled best-seller by Liane Moriarty, "Big Little Lies" weaves a darkly comedic tale of murder and mischief in the tranquil beachfront town of Monterey, Calif. Amidst doting moms, successful husbands, beautiful children, and stunning homes exists a community fuelled by rumours and divided into haves and have-nots, exposing fractured relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, and friends and neighbours. Told through the eyes of three mothers -- Madeline, Celeste and Jane -- the series' narrative explores society's myths regarding perfection and its romanticization of marriage, sex, parenting and friendship.

This is an awesome series.  One that show's you never really know what goes on behind closed doors.  Or just because someone is smiling, they are happy.

I can't wait for series 2.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day here was an understated affair.  I did the washing and ironing as normal.  Hubby and I went for a walk and the YM did what he does.

There were't any flowers or chocolates (all very overpriced in my opinion) but I did get the best surprise.

The YM met me at the bottom of the stairs and said "look in the garden".

Imagine my surprise when I saw these three staring back at me.

These will definitely last longer than either flowers or chocolate!

Birkenhead Town Hall

I must have walked past this Town Hall a dozen times and never once thought much about it.

One day last week I had to go to a Council Finance meeting and it was held in this building and I was bowled over by how gorgeous it is.

This is the main staircase to the conference/lecture rooms.

The windows on the stairs.

The top landing.

And the ceiling in the room where we had our meeting.

I'm still in awe of the place.  What a great way to start your day.

Snow!!

2 degrees and rain!!

I don't think the Met Office got the memo. 

Updating the Garden

Our back garden is a little on the boring side.  There isn't a lot in it.

Anyone who knows about gardens will tell you, that getting it to a state where it looks "lived in" takes a lot of money.  In an attempt to keep the cost down but still having a space that looks nice we visited our local garden centre to look for inspiration.

We came up with the idea of decking outside the patio doors where we can put colourful pots and plants.

I also liked the idea of using the space along one side as a veggie patch and hubby tells me he can make some wooden shelves where I can put plants and maybe a candle or two.

I liked this idea and apparently they are easy and cheap to make.

I also love the idea of a Doocot but I'm not sure if I'll get one.

Watch this space.  Once the weather gets warmer I'll be shoving hubby in his man shed to start building.

Spicy Carrot Soup

This is such an easy recipe to make and tastes delicious.

Spicy Carrot Soup

Serves 6 

Ingredients

1.  6-8 medium carrots, peeled and sliced

2.  1 medium onion, chopped

3.  2-2 1/2 Pints of Veg Stock

4.  1 tsp ground coriander

5.  1 tsp ground cumin

6.  1 tsp of chilli powder

7.  1 tbsp of vegetable oil

8.  Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1.  Peel and slice carrots, peel and finely chop onion 

2.  Heat oil, and add the carrot and onion, cook until slightly            softened-about 5 minutes

3.  Add spices and stir until carrot and onion are covered with spices

4.  Add vegetable stock, bring to boil and then simmer for about 15/20 minutes until the carrots are soft

5.  Leave to cool, once cool, blend until smooth

6.  Add more stock if the soup is a bit thick, adding seasoning and more chilli, if you require more of a chilli kick.

At the weekend

This weekend we had one last flurry of snow on Saturday followed by rain on Sunday.

As it hasn't been walking weather we had to think of other things to do so on Saturday we went out and bought another car.

Why wouldn't you?  It's just a little, new to me, run around for me to get to work and back. 

I don't mind getting the bus but I do dislike the 15 minute walk from the bus stop to work, especially when it's raining or, like last week, below freezing.

I've been very lazy in the driving department over the last 18 months as hubby tends to drive everywhere when we go out.  I'm hoping this will get me back in the driving groove and get me out and about more.

Sunday was a wet and miserable day so I planned and made lunches for me to take to work next week.  I made hams and egg muffins and spicy carrot soup.

I also got in a bit of hooky time on my new blanket.  All in all a productive weekend.

A New Read

Do you ever get fed up of receiving e-mails from companies you've used and HAD to give them your e-mail address, only to be bombarded by junk e-mail for forever and a day?

Amazon is like that.  Constant e-mails.  I normally delete them without even opening them but one on Tuesday caught my eye and I ended up ordering a book. 

It's the first "Real" book I've bought in a long time.  I moved over to the dark side when I got my iPad.  Sorry!

The title seemed to jump out of the e-mail and grab my attention (which I guess is the whole point) and the cover of the book is, of course, very "London".

It's the story of Maya and a note she hands to a stranger on her train.

The note changed everything...

One very ordinary day, Maya Flowers sees a new commuter board her train to London, and suddenly the day isn't ordinary at all. Maya knows immediately and irrevocably, that he is The One.

But the beautiful man on the train always has his head in a book and never seems to notice Maya sitting just down the carriage from him every day. Eventually, though, inspired by a very wise friend, Maya plucks up the courage to give the stranger a note asking him out for a drink. After all, what's the worst that can happen?

And so begins a story of sliding doors, missed opportunities and finding happiness where you least expect it.

Based on the author's true story, The Note is an uplifting, life-affirming reminder that taking a chance can change everything..

In true Amazon tradition the book arrived the next day and I'm just about to start reading it. 

Lets hope it's worth the hype.

Woodland Blanket Ta Dah!

I can't believe it only took four weeks to make.  That's the quickest I've ever completed a blanket.
It's probably due to the fact that I was doing stripes instead of granny squares.  Whilst the squares are easy enough to do, the constant changing of colours and sewing in ends adds precious time to your blanket.

Anyway, without further a do...........

Ta Dah!!

I may, or my not, have gone slightly wrong on some rows by having one or two too many stitches but a little creative fudgery got me back on track.  I'm still not keen on the brown rows but you can't unpick crochet from the bottom, like you can with knitting so it had to stay.  I just added anther row at the other end.
The blanket that Lucy at Attic 24 was making had the brown stripe mixed in a random stripe pattern so fitted perfectly.  I went for the rainbow effect and brown? not so much.

Still we live and learn and as the Amish say.... Only God makes things perfect.

It's big enough to fit across our king size bed and hang down slightly but both hubby and the YM say it's not big enough. It seem fine to me.

It's big enough to keep both hubby and me warm once the heating has gone off at night.

I've already started the next blanket.  Blues and green this time and have an idea about making a few more!!

Guess I'll be busy this year.