only 3 days to go.......

until youngest flies off to the other side of the world........on the outside I'm excited and cool, inside I'm jelly and the darkest thoughts invade my sleep and wake me up........then keep me that way until the lights creeps in..... of course she will have a wonderful time and an amazing experience...........never thought i would feel like this about it though.

France was FAB as always.....

This was our home for the week, a very nice pigeonnaire, part of a much larger beautiful farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. Literally five miles down a windy road from the nearest village, a 10 mile trip for your morning croissants!

The silence was deafening you could hear the leaves falling from the trees and the beasts snorting in the woods.....something I've always craved but as a former city girl latterly a small town girl. it could be a wee bit scary if I was on my own (Herb having undertaken the 10 mile trip for the you know what) ...still,I would have  a go at getting used to it!

The pool was huge and gorgeous and we had it all to ourselves, we kept saying how the girls would have loved it.......

We stayed in the Tarn region not too far from Albi which did not disappoint, it has the biggest brick built cathedral in the world!.....loved it

wonderful villages,and it being September there were no hoards of brit's, no crowds, no 'hunt the parking space',we had these amazing places almost to ourselves....my,we are getting old and grumpy.

and finally this melamine plate in the gite inspired this piece of crochet so I was not completely idle.

and had a dabble at cross stitch too.....

All in all a great week, we survived our first holiday a deux....we missed the girls terribly, but on the positive side we could  suit ourselves more than normal and hey its something I will have to get used to.

The house was extremely tidy when we got back......smelt quite badly of a heavy use of oven chips and I suspect our house became the place to stay for the week, but that's OK all safe and well.

Work has been full on and quite stressful since I got back, its the time of year when its always that way, year end, new budgets and of course the coming of 'compulsaries'.....not great.

and finally thanks for the comments re my last post and the big falling out I had with an old friend. I had an extremely frank discussion with her, probably 30 years overdue on my part which felt very liberating. We have spoken since the holiday but have yet to meet up, its cost me some sleepless nights but hopefully our friendship will now be on a better footing.......

the things we do for love......

Up at three this morning to take youngest and her pal to the airport for their 2 week trip to Zante. There are six girls going as last year. They were so so excited. She has sent a text to say they got there OK......sea's blue and its very hot.

They have had all the lectures about staying together come what may. Fingers crossed.

Eldest came back from Spain, had a wonderful time in Nerja, loved it.......and did I say, we are going nowhere, have I mentioned that before? To make matters worse, for the first time ever at work they are operating a 2 week shutdown in August, at a time when for once I don't need to have my holiday in school break time.

Apart from last year when we went to my sisters house in Cyprus we have always gone to France.

We both love it there and even the girls, who moaned like hell the past few years have been waxing lyrical over our traditional french hols. You know the routine......up and out, head straight for a village or small town ....with a church or chateau (has to have one or t'other), a river an added bonus then lunch out then back to the pool , books out and just do nothing but relax

.......oh yea then I make a 'french' type meal or we go out.....Herb and I sit outside the gite and drink Jameson's and put the world to rights....we have done this for years all over France and then this year I just did nothing about it.....maybe in September.

18 today....and a rare stroke of genius

...on the part of yours truly.


Youngest child's 18th has been fast approaching , no party was required, she was planning a full day out with friends, beach during the day, clubbing at night. All that was required of me was some drinks and nibbles in between.
Then last Thursday all her friends dropped out of the day trip, all good reasons, she was so disappointed but putting on a brave face.......I suggested a family lunch during the day but was hoping to find something better........then a little play on the net and ting the light went on....a day spa....and as luck would have it there is a lovely place 30 minutes away. Even better it was doing a pamper day two for 1, so she and eldest were driven there yesterday early. She was very surprised and looked a bit nervous but at 6pm when she came back she had had a brilliant time. It was a raving success! Meanwhile I had made a cake, food, decorated and mixed cocktails.
Her friends arrived laden with gifts, beautiful flowers and champagne to get ready. Fed and watered off they trotted in those belts they call skirts and 6 inch heels. Herbs face was a treat.

We then settled outside with the remains of the food and cocktails, pina colada for me, sex on the beach for him ha ha and ruminated on where the last 18 years had gone.....a very successful day(until about 3.45 this morning when they tumbled out of the cabs and up the stairs, that was me fully awake and no sleep since-still managed to finish another cushion front)

Eldest came back from uni last week.....with a years worth of clothes that needed to washed, I kid you not....it wasn't that they were all dirty but they smelt of the halls, and it was not pleasant. Before we left we visited the house she will share with 7 others in October. Granted her room is twice the size of halls and lighter but that's it really, not marvellous. Still they are all really thrilled and consider themselves lucky to have found such a great place. Who are we to argue.

However we have had to fork out £900 rent for the summer when of course the house will stand empty.....if anyone has some spare cash, with interest rates so low, you could do worse than buy a house to rent to students in a uni town. The landlord is getting about £30k a year for not a lot of effort. Not bad eh?

University blanket came back in one piece and just needed a good airing.....

redundancy announcements probably this week.....joy of joys x

have you seen the film marathon man?.........

Friends I kid you not, it was the most traumatic 1 hour and 45 mins of my life! and I'm not talking about the football.


I am not generally given to dramatic prose, I promise you. Anyone that knows me would tell you that I am generally a woman of few words and known to play down every stressful situation. But this was third world stuff and I am still recovering. (with the help of elderly parent's strong painkillers)


Did I really give thanks on Wednesday to the footie fan who had given up their appointment!


So with a teeny hint of melodrama, I can promise I will never watch poor Dustin Hoffman in that film ever again(for those too young or too sensible it includes a terrible scene involving a dentist played by Lawrence Olivier- say no more)....as it is I have hardly slept since.......without a doubt giving birth felt easier and safer.



So on to far happier things. EXAMS are finished.....not for me of course but youngest, though it has felt a lot like we were under the same pressure at times. Every teeny weeny thing we asked her to do was met with the retort 'exams remember'. Well no more ha ha.
Housework duties start Monday........you can imagine the response that got.

Look what came in the post today. ooh I do love little parcel deliveries and this did not fail to delight.
Also as we are short of a wool shop in the small town (and I could not be bothered to go into Cambridge for John Lewis this morning), I also bought these in the charity shop. £1.50 for 100g. Granted of course it is acrylic but its nice acrylic, quite soft and very easy to work with. I will get some merino dk when I get to JL cos that's my fave.

So...... youngest is at work, Herb is watching football and I shall adjourn to the garden for some hooking and a glass of rose.

lovely weekend everyone.

beautiful bath and other bits of the west country

Did I tell you we have friends who have moved to Bath to open a B& B? Last weekend we visited and from the minute we got there, literally, we were on the move. We had a whirlwind tour of that part of the west country in 4 days! our favourites were Bradford on Avon and Wells with numerous little villages thrown in for good measure. Tetbury was very pretty but the rain was unrelenting so no snaps, oh but there was champagne in a lovely hotel the Hare and Hounds nearby. Will go back next time to visit all the antique shops. Oh and Laycock where Cranford was filmed........ was just like a, well.....like a film set really. Except a coach load of American's had just arrived so it was impossible to get a great picture. Fantastic short break with some very generous people. they will make excellent hosts.

Back at chez nous we are in the grip of exam angst here in the small town......life in general for youngest is not going too well so I am doing lots of positive speak, cooking up a storm of comfort food(Jamie's steak and cheese pie was a massive hit, try it if you haven't yet).

Good news was all my tests came back good and apart from the recurring 'lose weight and exercise more' , the Dr's mantra, all good. Just need to sort the teen out.......oh if it were only that easy.

how will she manage down under.........

Saturday night we went to London to stay with good friends. A veritable feast was laid on by L as always and we had a very lovely evening, consuming lots of delicious wine and cheese (always my favourite part-don't tell the doctor) until we wore ourselves out chatting and retired to bed.

My mobile starts its merry tune waking me from my alcoholic slumber......its youngest child, near hysterical . There's been a power cut, street lights and all and she can't see a thing. What should she do? As I am 40 miles away and not in a fit state to drive I cannot rush to her aid, as is my first instinct. Instead I direct her to a candle then on to the matches under the sink..all the time praying that whoever used them last actually put them back. Her panic is rising now, I think it's worse now she has a little bit of light. (not helped I think by the fact she was watching something unpleasant when the lights went.)

I stay on the phone while she gets to her bedroom and gets in bed. I try and calm her, whilst Herb is muttering about how she is 17 etc etc!

She is in bed and I reluctantly say goodnight......I settle down with my phone in my hand just in case.

Next day she is quite traumatised and got a friend to stay on the phone for over an hour providing company in the darkness.

What, I want to know is, how will she manage when she's on the other side of the world ?.......

what next......

Having failed to get onto any degree course for fine art, youngest has a new plan. Can you guess? something that maybe would cause a shiver in the heart of any parents of a 17 year old...........yes you guessed....she wants to go travelling to Australia!

This is a girl who when she was about to miss the train returning from York recently, kept texting in a frenzy for a solution to getting home because she couldn't think of one herself!..she is the most adorable, loving, fun kid.....but maybe not particularly street wise (or is that just a mother talking?)......AUSTRALIA!

I managed a weak smile, Herb never looked up from the paper. ''yes of course I've always wanted you to do the travelling I didn't....lets talk about it later''...I said as I hurried to the computer and dashed off several emails for foundation courses in art.