Another week of getting stuff done!

Finally!!!! Jeff's study is presentable.

He hates sorting stuff but....

....is now pleased with the results!

He has a neat and tidy desk area....

.....a reading corner.....

...and still has a sofa to take his Sunday afternoon snooze on!

The only new piece of furniture in there is the shoe store from IKEA. 

Everything else was in there already, or has been repurposed from the rest of the house!

Sophie and I did go to Ikea though on Wednesday. 

I needed another footstool as Jeff wasn't great at sharing the new one!!! 

And of course we bought a few more bits!

Who doesn't go to Ikea and come out with a trolley load of stuff they didn't need!?!

So we now have a footstool each!

I also bought some curtains to hang in the sitting room. 

Made use of Sophie's GCSE Textiles and got her to hem them up before she headed back to Cardiff. 

They look okay! They'll be permanently closed, as the old sofa was badly sun damaged. We only go into the sitting room about 8pm to watch the TV, otherwise it's empty but the sun rises at the back of the house and is in that room until midday. These curtains are thin enough to keep the room light  during the day, but will stop the sun fading the sofa (fingers crossed!)

On Friday Jeff and I had to go up to school to do some safeguarding training and I popped over to the Gallery to say hello, pick up some flyers to hand out and have a sneaky peek at some of the art work which has been delivered. I'm looking forward to this exhibition. I'll be there for the 5 weeks, hosting the Exhibition, from Weds to Sat, 9.30 - 5.00pm. It's completely free, you just need to sign in at the Gatehouse (safeguarding) and come and say hello!!

As Sophie left and headed back to Cardiff, Sam arrived!! 

He hasn't been given many hours this holiday at work, so decided to do a Car Boot Sale. So he and Jeff are currently over in Cheddar at the Car Boot. It's the biggest in the area and does get a lot of people buying and selling, so worth the 5am alarm.

He has all his old Thomas the Tank Engine stuff and lots of Lego, which we re-acquired when Granny passed away. It had been stored up in her loft, and has been shoved up into our loft or stored in a corner of Sams bedroom ever since!! So no better motivation than needing some ££££ 

So I've had the house to myself this morning!

I've done two loads of washing, it's perfect drying weather, windy!!

Too cold to sit out, so I've been pottering around inside. Jeff goes back to work on Tuesday! He has meetings and then INSET on Friday, before the boarders return on Sunday 1st and school term starts on Monday the 2nd! I then don't start in the Gallery until the 11th, so have a bit of 'me' time to see friends for coffee, go for a few walks, etc. Last year Sophie and I were getting ready to go to Amsterdam!! Sadly no trips together this autumn, but we do have another theatre trip in the diary to look forward to!! It's been lovely seeing the pair of them this holiday. It's nice that they like to spend time at home and come and see us but are also independently living their own lives!! 

It's funny.....as Sam has been sorting through his old train stuff 

(He was always a Thomas the Tank Engine fan)

 

 and Sophie getting out her old first sewing machine... you remember fondly those earlier years but realise how grown up they've become. Time passes by so quickly. This summer has come and gone. I don't feel ready for it to be September and the start of a new school year. Sophie has had her promotion at work and is enjoying her new role. Sam will be going into his final year at Uni, although term doesn't officially start for him until October!! The years are whizzing by so quickly. I think that's why I take so many photo's, I like to remember all the happy days that have past. The big events, holidays, get togethers but also the incidental moments, when they just pop home, sew up a curtain for me, do a car boot!! I feel very lucky to have our little family unit xx

A busy but productive week!!

Wow a very busy, but also productive week. 

Have to pin Jeff down to get stuff done before term starts, otherwise everything just shifts over to the next school holiday, or in more recent times, in the next year....or two!! 

Got off to a relaxed start with friends popping in for coffee, to discuss Greek Island Hopping and ferries and rucksacks..... They have a fab trip booked for September/October now they're retired, lucky things! We're still a good five years off that yet, at least!

Once they'd gone, we started sorting!! 

The shed needs a proper good clear out, tidy up and re-organisation, but he made a start and is beginning to embrace my thoughts on just getting rid of stuff. Not keeping things 'just in case'!! 

His study was worse.

Jeff will admit to being a bit of a hoarder, keeps things 'just in case', "It's a good bit of cardboard"!! But even he admits his room was looking like a bomb had been dropped on it! And to be fair, when we moved in 9 years ago!!!!! some stuff was kept in there, as we didn't know what to do with it. Basically, he just needed to start clearing stuff out, sorting stuff, re-organising what was being kept and then re- arranging the whole space to make it work better!!

I left him to it and popped over to the Newt to have a catch up with my sister.

It got off to a mizzly start, whilst we had breakfast but...

...it dried up as the morning went on.

Thursday, and Sophie was coming home, en route to London for the weekend! So Sam got a lift back with her. And I then fed him, in exchange for removal help!! The old sofa in Jeff's study, a holdover from our Shepton days, was being re-homed and up for collection on Saturday, so that took up temporary residence in the kitchen. Meanwhile the old wardrobe from Jeff's study, was moving up to Sophie's room, which will eventually become the guest room, when she buys her own house and moves out completely.

We then moved the old sitting room 'snuggler' chair up there too......

....whilst she was in London with a friend, enjoying Taylor Swift....

....at Wembley!

We then moved the sofa from the sitting room into Jeff's study, 

before Sam headed back to Cardiff, clearing the way for...

...an Ikea delivery on Saturday morning! 

Love it when a plan comes together. 

I've been wanting to do this for ages, just needing to get the ball rolling!

Jeff got the chairs put together before he headed out to referee...

....and then we put the sofa together once he got home!

I have been wanting to do this for over a year now. 
My ongoing back issue has prompted the new furniture. My back pain isn't going away and as a result, I need to sit more upright. Our old sofa and chair were super comfy but also very deep. We had to squeeze in a different chair into the sitting room, so that I could sit more upright. The joys of getting older!! I was fed up of the room feeling make do and cluttered. Jeff's study had become the 'room with the door closed'...out of sight, out of mind! So it was a case of just starting and once we did, it all came together.

And we can now relax! 

Job done!!

There are still some bits to do, a shoe store to build and then just a bit more sorting, mirror to go up etc. But all achievable in the time we have left. Sam wants to do a car boot at the weekend. Try and make some money out of his old Thomas the Tank Engine stuff and Lego sets up in the loft, as he's not been given many hours at work this summer. So we still have piles of stuff to get rid of but hopefully by next weekend it will either be sold, taken to the charity shop or have gone to the tip!! All perfectly timed for Jeff going back to school in September.!!

So there is still plenty to do next week! Sophie is here for a few days, her car MOT is on Tuesday, catching up with friends, maybe a day out together. Sam is then coming back the end of the week, to get stuff sorted for the car boot sale! So a busy week, a few coffee date catch-ups with friends in the mix and family time, before the end of summer holiday feels kick in. 

Crumble season always marks the transition from late summer to early autumn for me. A friend gifted me the apples and I've been picking blackberries from the garden, ever since we got back from Greece. Plus my daily picking of figs from my tree. 

It won't be long before everyone goes back home, Jeff returns to work, and we all settle back into normal routines and that'll mean another summer will have come and gone. The weather hasn't been fantastic but we had our month in Greece to make up for that, and it's meant we've cracked on with lots of jobs!! I just need to get painting!! 

We've been in this house 9 years and there is still things to paint for the first time!! A new carpet to lay in the hall/stairway, new doors to swap over on all the rooms, a new porch..... the list is never ending. 

Birthday boy - 22!!!

I'm a day late posting my normal weekly round up! I was distracted by the Olympic Closing Ceremony. I went into the sitting room to see what time it was on and sat down!!! Big mistake, that was the next 3 hours gone! Wasn't anything wonderful, in fact the best bit was probably Tom Cruise and the bit connecting this Olympics, to the next in LA, at the very end! We missed the Opening Ceremony, which by all accounts was even less spectacular! I enjoyed the odd bits of the games, but only watched the highlights in the evening to be fair.

I remember taking Sophie and Sam to London when we hosted the 2012 Olympics, just to soak up a little of the atmosphere. He was just 10! Now he's 22!!! 

We popped up to Cardiff on Wednesday to celebrate his birthday. You would think having a birthday during the holidays and in the summer would be a good thing, but more often than not his friends are busy, away, on holiday, so we often get to celebrate it with him. And this year, with his girlfriend Poppy. Poor girl, having to meet the parents, hope we haven't scared her off!! 

Sophie came home the following day, as we had tickets booked to see Aladdin in Bristol. She decided to come and stay the weekend, as the weather was looking promising. Our garden is better than her balcony!! It was hot yesterday (Sunday) but it didn't burn through until after midday. It's the same today really, the weather has certainly not been anything to write home about, since we got back from Greece. 

Jeff has kept himself busy doing work on the 'fleet' of cars. Sophie needed a couple of things looking at on her car before her MOT next week. And Sam's car needed a whole new exhaust. So Jeff drove Sam's car back from Cardiff  when we went up for his birthday.......

.....and has been tinkering ever since!!

I'm still picking figs!! 

My little tree is  the gift that keeps on giving!

Thanks Dad!!

My old work colleagues are grateful recipients, every time I pop in to shop!!

Not much else to report. It's been a slow week. We've jobs around the house to get done. I'm trying to get rid of a sofa, so I can order the new one and Jeff's room is having a sort out, whether he likes it or not!! It has become a real dumping ground and just needs a really good sort out. It was always a temporary fix when we moved here, but has just stayed like it ever since! So we are tackling it bit by bit, before we run out of holiday time to do it. Once term starts, you can forget doing anything. And the next holiday is October half term, 10 weeks away and 10 weeks until we next adventure, to Spain. I love a countdown, always nice to have something to look forward to x

Back to normal routines!

Back home and back to normal routines. 

Considering we were away for a full month, I didn't really miss anything! 

Obviously the children, but we kept in touch with them throughout.

I was glad that my fig tree held on, only lost a couple of figs that were over ripe 

but now have a steady supply for my breakfast every morning.

Only problem with my fig tree getting bigger, is that I can't reach some of them to pick. 

They're far too good to waste!

They're huge this year. Really fleshy and jammy x

Deeeeeeeeeeeeelicious!

Came back and did a massive food shop. One of the biggest joys of going on holiday, is no meal planning, food shopping, cooking, clearing away! I hate having to think about what to cook all the time. I'm quite good at buying things on offer, stock piling, using coupons, points, special prices etc but it still adds up, particularly when you are trying to be healthy. But I do love my vegetables, so that always takes priority in the first food shop.

We came home to the garden looking very plentiful. We had set up a bit of a watering system but the rubbish weather whilst we were away, must of helped things along. Some self seeded sunflowers and the geraniums we did plant, are full of flower at the front of the house.

We also had a little visitor. 

Must have got used to having the garden to itself whilst we were away. 

Yesterday (Saturday) we celebrated our 28th Wedding Anniversary.

We didn't do anything, our holiday always seems like the best way to mark the occasion and the fact that we spent 24/7 with each other, for a full month, and didn't have a cross word, is a gift in it's self! 

Jeff did buy me a bunch of sunflowers, we always have sunflowers!! And I was impressed that he managed to secretly buy me a Greek card, on one of his morning coffee runs! We think we will try and do another big trip to celebrate our 30th Anniversary, add on a couple of days to be away for our actual anniversary. We did really enjoy the extra length of the trip, felt very chilled and relaxing. 

Have finally got round to putting everything away. All the washing is done and I've made a proper note of what to take and what not to take next long trip. If rucksacks are in play, real consideration for weight is key. I'm a good packer, so can squeeze in a lot of stuff but....that means it can be heavy!!