All packed .......

....and ready to go!

We're off on our hols for a week - leaving this glorious weather behind but hoping it will be just as sunny, if not sunnier when we get there.

The dots and spots shop is open for browsing but we can't take orders until our return on Friday the 8th of August - sorry for any inconvenience. 

The garden should fair better this time as Mum and Dad are house sitting for us whilst we're away - gives them a mini break too. So just a 2.30am alarm to look forward to, then Majorca here we come!

Have a good week!

Time for.....

.....the chop!

Sophie has decided it's time for a change.

A good 12 inches off later!

I think it looks fabulous.

The boy got his done a month or so ago- great improvement.

Much more practical in this heat and super stylish too.

A few days.......

.....away in Cornwall.

On Wednesday we headed off to Cornwall to stay with Mum and Dad for a few days.

We got down at midday and with the sun shining, we headed straight for the beach and in minutes the boys were in,

whilst the girls watched!!

We were so lucky with the weather - Thursday was spent down at St Ives on Porthgwidden beach. Jeff and Sam spent all day in the water and if it hadn't been for the rising tide, we would have spent the whole day there rooted to the spot.

We had tea in our favourite spot The Hub - always delicious food with fab views across the harbour. We rounded off the evening with even more swimming and with the promise of a return visit the following evening.

I love this photo - Sophie was trying to get out of shot, whilst Sam meanders on behind tired, with red cheeks from a day of non stop swimming - good times.

Friday and with a third day of sunshine to wake up to, we headed over to Godrevy Beach - another of our favourites and for the first hour or so you nearly have the place to yourself.

All 3 of the tribe were braver than me and went in for a dip - well someone has to keep an eye on the bags! Apparently the sea was warmer than Los Angeles at 20.5 degrees , still not warm enough for me!

As promised we headed back over to St Ives in the evening. Having spent the previous evening watching people leap in to the water at high tide ......

....Sam wanted to have a go

 and of course the biggest kid of all - Jeff!!

We then had fish and chips, watching the seals bobbing around in the water - perfect.

Saturday was a bit grey so we headed over to Truro and had a quiet afternoon as everyone was knackered from all the swimming and leaping!

In the evening we went out to celebrate a very special Birthday - my Granny's 91st Birthday. 

So all in all a lovely few days away with the family.

Sadly the sunflowers didn't fair well in our absence and looked very sorry for themselves on our return.

The veg patch on the other hand has thrived - I'm hoping for a good bean crop and we have about 7 pumpkins to keep watch over, the sweet peas are a flowering wonder this year too.

So with the dead heading, weeding and watering done, I have an evening on the sofa booked before I tackle orders in the morning. A lovely few days away - thanks Mum and Dad for having us but it's always nice to be home.

It's raining.....

....it's pouring!

What a way to start the Summer Holidays with a massive storm.

Last night I was woken, well when I say 'woken', I jumped out of my skin by the biggest clap of thunder and Biblical torrential rains. The storms rumbled around for at least the 3 hours I was awake. So I had a lazy start to the holidays - a lie-in and chance to catch up on the missing hours of sleep.

I then had the delights of going through Sophie's wardrobe - her figure has changed so much in the last 6 months so with that in mind, she has an epic shopping trip planned for Monday! No doubt I'll have an empty purse and will be worn out by the end of it. I need to go through Sam's clothes too but can not face that today - one child is enough!

Before the storms arrived, we had been enjoying some gloriously hot, sunny weather.

I've continued with the swimming, signed up for a season ticket and can now comfortably do 32 lengths in just over 30 minutes. It's apparently half a mile so I'm quite happy with that for now.

The garden is beautiful and thankfully it's still looking okay this morning after last night's rain. A few of the grasses look a bit flat but my sweet peas and sunflowers are still standing tall.

I'm so glad the sunflowers are in full bloom before we go away on holiday - I would have been disappointed if I had missed them.

And my sweet peas are brilliant this year, so much so that I could give a friend a posy.

The car smelt divine all the way to our coffee date.

All our meals have been enjoyed down at the bottom of the garden - it feels like you are on holiday when you eat outside.

I have been giving some consideration to next years holiday plans. We're considering France but we're not sure how far South you have to go to get guaranteed sunshine without the soaring temperatures of say Greece. I've been to France with school as a child but am otherwise clueless. There's plenty of time to research - we want to probably ferry it and then drive, doesn't have to be coastal but would otherwise have to have a pool for the boy! Something to look forward to.

So let this years Summer holidays commence - 6 1/2 weeks of no real routine - heaven. We're off to Cornwall for a few days soon to see Mum and Dad and celebrate my Granny's 91st Birthday! Then we have our week in Majorca to enjoy and Sam's 12th Birthday. Then it's home and the odd day trip out and about. I intend to enjoy every minute, September will come around far too quickly.

Have a great Summer - Cheers!

A simple Sunflower

I was given 4 sunflowers by a friend at the end of May - we potted them on, put them in a sunny spot and hoped for the best.

Well they grew - taller than me (which is not difficult to do!)

And over the past four days the first one flowered.

If you are a regular follower of this blog you know we had sunflowers at our wedding, so a favourite here. The seeds I planted straight into the soil did absolutely nothing, so next year I must remember to pot some up inside first if I can hope to match this year's success.

He's back!

The wanderer returned!

Sam came home from Camp on Thursday absolutely shattered, so much so he dented his 100% Attendance record and had Friday off school to recover. He had a great time - 4 days outside in the fresh air! I think the school has it sussed - basically walk them miles every day, knacker them out completely, then they're all too tired to mess around. 

We've had lovely weather whilst he's been away - I even went swimming! Shepton is very lucky to have it's own Lido - a hidden gem. My legs have suffered badly from shin splints whilst running, so bad that I've had to stop, so I thought I might give swimming a go. I was quite proud of my 24 lengths as the last time I swam was on holiday last year. Admittedly Jeff swam 40 in the same time but he does go every day and I have to start somewhere.

Breakfast have been alfresco - such a treat.

I took the day off yesterday and went to Bath with a friend - it was so lovely to mooch, chat, have coffee, chat, have lunch, chat..... you get the picture! I treated myself to this fab spotty cosmetic bag for holiday and I couldn't resist the 'Fault in our Stars' Soundtrack.

The garden is flourishing in this gorgeous sunshine and for the first time in 4 years I have flowering sweet peas which smell divine.

Our Summer SALE is still on - ends on Friday so go treat yourself to a bargain whilst you can.

Happy Shopping 

and 

Have a lovely weekend.

Weekend round up

I'm not a huge reader - I need time to be able to read as once I start, I don't want to put the book down and I'm just too tired to do that on a normal day. Reading a book is now relegated to the holidays or the Summer when I can completely commit! I recently read 'Fault in our Stars' - a Sophie recommendation. At the time I had no idea it was be made into a film, I just enjoyed the book - a beautiful, sad, love story. So when Sophie wanted to go with her friends to see the film, I tagged along too.

The last time I went to the cinema was 2 years ago to see One Day (where does the time go?) - I then had read the book first so knew what to expect. I knew Fault in our Stars was going to be sad but ...... If you do go to see it take a box of tissues with you. It is sad but it is also a love story and very true to the book. 

Saturday was a pottering at home kinda day - then on Sunday I went and had a mooch around the Frome Independent Market.

 It's a great market - always busy, great stalls, delicious food and a fabulous atmosphere. It's on the first Sunday of every month and well worth a visit if you are local.

I love the Flea the best - I'm always tempted by something and this week was no exception.

The afternoon was spent in the garden making the most of the sunshine. Sam helped pick some peas for tea. He has a limited palette due to a condition 'Heightened Senses'. He has always struggled with tastes and textures and when younger was often sick, so became reluctant/unable to eat a variety of different foods. I'm hoping if he grows various vegetables, he might feel a little more willing/able to try!?!

Peas are one of the three vegetables he does eat already, although it took nearly 5 years of 'trying' to get there. He wasn't so keen on the raw peas as the flavour was too strong but did eat them cooked. We're going to try beans next, if we get any! 

I'm going to miss Sam - as this morning he's off to camp for the week. The school have been very good about his eating - we've had a chat and he's gone off with some emergency supplies in case he needs some extra energy. We've gone through the menu and tried some of the foods he'll be having, like butterscotch Angel Delight in an attempt to help him fit in like everyone else. He'll be fine, it will be me who sits at home worrying and if he ends up living off bread for 4 days, so be it. 

Have a good week - although it will seem a rather long one for me x