This And That Plus A Trip Out.

Hi!

We have had a few bits out of the garden over the last couple of days which is fantastic. Spring onions were lovely, strawbs are coming regularly but not tonnes, I wish, plus a few VERY tasty new spuds - Charlottes and Arran Pilots. Won't be buying any more of these from now on I don't think but I also am leaving them in the ground for a little longer yet so they end up slightly bigger.

What we have had a bit of trouble with are the hens; for some reason we were daily only getting between three and six eggs for a few days but thankfully today they seem to be back to laying as we had eight.

I found this when I was looking at some photos and just wanted to include it because I just love it.

On Thursday I put these baby toms in the dehydrator; we'll see what result we get and over how long; bit of an experiment as not the same as an electric one.

Yesterday I had a really lovely time over at Being Self Sufficient In Wales visiting Dawn and Martin; we had a great chat as usual. We had a proper look round all of the poly tunnels and beds and I picked up a few hints and tips as I always do. I  petted lovely Tess and Sol and tried some goats milk - tastes just like cows milk, really. We had a lovely lunch of quiche with lettuce leaves and radishes picked fresh from the garden.

I came home in time for the boys being back from school, along with a pile of seed trays which will be very useful next year.

                                       

Thanks for a lovely time Dawn and I'll get the biscuit recipe to you soon. 

Back home I had a look round everything. My salad blues I was given by the lovely Tracy from Our Smallholding Adventure are flowering - so pretty a colour -  but I have taken these off so the energy goes to the spuds; as they are a maincrop variety they will be in the ground for a bit longer.

                                                      

I potted on the last of my peppers so that is everything in pots done; anything else will be direct sowing I think but who knows! I was looking around the Poly House when putting the pots to dry and it's funny to see the shelves full of pots again as these won't be used a lot for some time.

On Thursday Jon started work on the kindling and coal stores alongside the main wood store. With the coal this means it can be poured in the top and there will be a board on an angle inside so we can always shovel it out easily. We don't use lots of coal as wood is our main source of fuel for the Rayburn and the woodburner but sometimes it just helps. This project should be finished today.

The small gap to the left may be made into a store the straw for the chicken bedding which would be great as it really doesn't have a dry place to be kept at the moment.

Harry is going to Cardiff with school on Monday morning until tea time on Wednesday so we have decided to get out jobs done this morning and then spend some time in Aber this afternoon. We will miss him and I know Alfie will; even though they have their spats he always says he is bored when Harry isn't here. Bless.

Right, those chooks won't clean out themselves.

Look forward, as always, to seeing what you all get up to over the weekend whilst we are going to be having this wonderful weather. 

*********

I used to keep a Journal of Gratitude but have decided to incorporate it into my blog instead,
so here goes.

I'm grateful we are able to just go to the beach on the hoof. On Wednesday I made bacon butties and we left for Aber when Jon got home from work. He and the boys ate them with chips and a fizzy drink in the sunshine; the boys went in the water and Jon and I just chatted - bliss and just then  I could not have thought of a better place to be.

Grateful Beyond Words - Mindfull Of What We Have.

Last year, after I'm not sure how many weeks of tests, worry and uncertainty, we received Jon's diagnosis for his lung condition. We were house hunting at the time when we did not know what the situation was with Jon's health. It made things difficult beyond belief; to be positive about really wanting to move, not telling the boys anything until we were sure and getting on with life in general.

After chest x-rays and CT scans we were told he was suffering from one of three things; single cell lunch cancer, lymphoma or Sarcoidosis; we needed a broncoscopy to determine for sure. 

On May 20 2015 we were finally told it was Sarcoidosis. We had never heard of this disease which is benign but can be quite serious. It is described as a snowflake condition because it can present in so many different ways, including cancers, as well as being diagnosed in the eye, brain and other parts of the body. Jon's symptoms had included red insect-bite like marks on his legs, major flu symptoms in the beginning, fatigue, a persistent dry cough and the scans showed a huge swelling of the lymph glands in his chest.

He has continued taking steroids for it since then and luckily there have been no side effects, no weight gain etc. We have an appointment on June 1 to hopefully find out if the lymph glands have reduced in size. I have to say he is soooo healthy right now - you can see by all the work being done at the house - but we have found anxiety is a huge factor as he can at times be unsure of whether he is relapsing, if he will always be here for me and the boys when they are young and so much more.

So we live with all of this daily - I am by no means alone in all of this I know -  this is just our experience of things. I think, in a way, we have been lucky to have the work and renovations on the house to do as it helped us to get through the after effects of the diagnosis, even though at times Jon has felt he might be doing everything for me and the boys as he may not always be here for us.

Phew, what a post. Sorry if this is depressing in parts but life happens to us all, good or bad, and I know I am able to get stuff out of my head by writing it on here sometimes. 

(Another major entry for my Journal of Gratitude.)

The sun is trying to shine just now but whatever the weather, literally, I am grateful for every second I have Jon in my life, even though our time together will never be long enough. You learn that you must make the best of EVERYTHING, not waste a minute and be grateful for all you have, and what you nearly didn't.

Thank you.

Lou.xx

Ok, Since Monday.

Right, what have I been up to since Monday?

On Monday I had coffee with a friend and baked two loaves. I caught up with my Journal of Gratitude; I seemed to have got a bit behind with getting the boys ready for the weekend and being busy whilst they were away.

I have been busy in the greenhouse because of us getting the compost at the weekend and I also found time to plant seeds for  various thing - will do an up to date list after the weekend - and I also brought out this apron to use in the greenhouse which I made ages ago, before we moved, in the hope that the fabric of the garment would match the fabric of our life and hopefully it will soon! (In case you can't see it has hens on it.)

Jon arrived home from work today with these from the saw mill. Details to follow later.

Tuesday was work around the house, all the things from Urdd weekend away. Bathroom cleaned, two loads of washing and drying and some printing for my Household Notebook I had been meaning to do. I also pottered in the greenhouse planting a few more seeds and I got rid of some of the horrible big roots in the flower bed. Only managed about half an hour 
and didn't want to be aching too much the next day.


Yesterday this arrived.



Jon knew I would miss the radio whilst in the greenhouse so now I can sing along to my hearts content. Also yesterday I swept the conservatory, for the first time since we moved in I am ashamed to say, cleared the ironing bag, baked two loaves and a lemon drizzle cake. The cake was firstly for the boys snack where they came home from school and as it was a bit chilly I put it in the living room for them, nice and cosy.

However I should point out that by the evening there was just one slice left for Jon's lunch box today!

Last night I decided I needed to have a drier place for my seeds in the greenhouse. I utilised this box which was on the dresser and made some smaller dividers from a file in the office.Turned out ok I think.

So I think I am up to date. I'm writing this post after changing the boys beds and I'm about to put sausages in the oven to start a casserole for tea. I went across the road to the community centre for the monthly lunch at 12.30 but made sure I had watered the seeds, vacuumed and swept downstairs and lit the fire before I left, and I even managed to make a chocolate brownie to leave cooling for the tin! Nothing like a really productive day.

Tonight is the last in the series of Line Of Duty. It has been sooo good and Keely Hawes is fab in that as well as The Durrells.

Bye, Lou.xx

Stuff and Nonsense

The weather here today has been just glorious and I love the view from the top kitchen.

I have been baking and made bread, choc chip muffins and cherry oat tray bake- no photos as these are regular makes. I was also a little behind with my Journal of Gratitude so caught up with that.

I'm not in the habit of posting photos of my food but I made my courgette and tomato chutney the other day and it was yummy! in my opinion. I also managed to water bath process it, too, getting a great seal on it so these here are in the cupboard for the future plus one in the fridge. It was delicious with my boiled eggs, on home made bread!

I guess that is the stuff so the nonsense is that yesterday I embarrassed myself spectacularly live on Radio 2. I love listening to Popmaster and normally do really well, high teens or low twenties. However I scored 9 on the first person's questions, he got 6 and when it came to mine I scored a measily 3; horrifying. But on the up side my t-shirt arrived in the post today, however I deleted the photo but this is what it looks like - on the back it says "one year out". I did give a little mention to some of you but I wouldn't recommend making the effort to listen to it!




I shall wear it in the greenhouse; photos of that to follow soon.

My eldest had been chosen as a member of one of the school football teams and he is took part in a tournament in Aber today. He was SO excited! They didn't win the whole thing but one out of six games and he said, even so, he really enjoyed himself.

The youngest managed to leave his towel at swimming last week but thankfully he came home with two this afternoon.

Tomorrow I have the huge task of getting all of their things ready for their Urdd activity weekend at Llangrannog. It involves taking items such as no clothes at all which we would not want to get even slightly muddy, wellies, walking boots, old tracksuits, sleeping bags etc.
Alfie is a real homebird and we had quite a conversation when we paid the deposit about him going as he wouldn't be able to come home early of half way through. He had a bit of a wobble last night saying he would really miss me; I assured him he would be far too busy have a fantastic time to miss me, but that I wanted to hear about everything he and Harry did when they come home.Bless!

Right, better go as we bought the new Star Wars film this afternoon and we are having Movie Night with burgers and I need to get a few things ready.

Lou.xx 

Wow! See My Stationery Swap.

On Easter Saturday, I received my Stationery Swap from the very lovely Tracey at 
Mad About Bags. You may remember I joined up for her swap and she was my partner.

When I opened my package to say I was gob-smacked is just the word. I was so very grateful for the effort Tracey put into her package that it made me feel my swap effort was a little poor; see here the goodies I received! Definitely one for my Journal of Gratitude!

A wonderful zipped purse bag which is suitable for just about anything, a lovely weekly planner complete with shopping list, beautiful magnetised clips, some beautiful post it notes, thank you notelets one of which I feel I should send back to Tracey to say thank you, again, a very pretty pen with which to write on these fab goodies and along with all this some chocolate, too!

I don't  have an Instagram account so my blog is the only place I can post my photos of this super stationery swap.

I am looking forward to taking part in another sort of swap and I know what to expect now!

Love Is All Around Me And Mine.

I saw a similar post to this the other day and thought it was interesting. A photograph of in front and of behind me and to my left and right. The world around me just now and all the things I see make me so very happy. 

Our home is something which we have dreamed of in lots of ways for so long. I never thought Jon, or the boys for that matter, would love the house as much as he does but he does! We all love it for different reasons and there are reasons why we both love certain things.

Always difficult to take a nice photo of a window!

My sister, bruv-in-law and niece came to visit this weekend and I was so pleased they said the same thing as others have done, which is that the house is just us. I don't think I could wish for a nicer thing for somebody to say because we have put things together in the rooms that I think have been in our minds for longer than we know. It has all come together so beautifully and for that I am so grateful we are so very happy here. I think that will be my entry in my Journal of Gratitude today.

Bye,Lou.xx

Notebooks, Stationery, Papery Peep.

 

I recently came accross some journals I have used in the past. I used to do a lot of papercrafting and I would create for people recipe keepers, baby books, memory keepers, wedding planning books you name it and at a price far too low for the time and effort it took to produce them. Here you can see some of my efforts on one of my Pinterest boards.

I LOVE note books, journals, chunky books and stationery in general. I am writing this post because a penpal and fellow stationery freak tweeted one of my posts this morning. (I am not on Twitter so it was very kind of Jocelyn at The Reading Residence.xx
 
I frequently buy notebooks with no intended purpose and always have a couple in stock! I love looking at pins of journals of any kind including Journals of Gratitude. I keep one of those and I find it can really help you focus on things when you jot down something you are grateful for each day, even on the darkest of days.

The decorating of the journals was great fun as I always used artists sketch books as the paper was thick for using ink on and the covers were hard so you could stick to them or even paint on them. Here are pages from a journal I am waiting to use as was not used for its original purpose so I have it to look forward using!

Apologies if you have read something similar on my previous blog.

Lou.xx








 

Happy New Year!

Hello

Yes felicitations for the new year, if a little bit late! Sorry.

I hope you had fun, we had a very quiet Eve day time but thoroughly enjoyed Jools Holland's Hooternanny which we watch every year. It was just wonderful with Tom Jones, Paul Weller (long time fan), Jess Glynn, who on some days I will take over Adele as she reminds me of 1990's dance music, plus a singer called Rhiannon Giddens, check HER out!

My niece has left us today after her stay and unfortunately her first train home was cancelled so she has a coach ride ahead of her. Luckily we popped into The Works today and she picked up a number of books that were on sale so she will have something to occupy her for the extended journey. I purchased a new notebook to be this year's Journal of Gratitude.

I have been taking down a few decorations but none of the major ones; I will start and tackle those on Monday. I think bringing in one storage box at a time from the shed and packing accordingly will be a lot easier than taking it all apart and then attmpeing to find the right box!

Due to the unfortunate incident with my financial scam we were eager to put the laptop back to factory settings ensuring everything was wiped. At the same time as this we put the photos from it onto a disk - or so we thought. At the moment it doesn't seem to have worked so we do not have the pictures of the house before the work was finished. We are going to have another try at retrieving them from my mobile phone....

I really have to make more of an effort at taking my phone places. We had that lovely walk on the beach on Boxing day and yesterday when we took my niece down to the field I could have taken some great photos, too!

I don't make resolutions; I think you set yourself up for failure and disappointment in yourself as soon as you have a minor slip.I prefer to set myself what I consider to be achieveable goals and IF you should have to slightly move the goal posts to reach your goal that's ok!

I love the beginning of a new year; such promise, possibilities and positivity.

I really look forward to seeing what we all get up to in the next few months.

With New Year Love, Louise. xx