crazy week...

My attempts at taking a daily photo have been severely hampered this week by silly long hours at work, plus all the stuff that goes with moving.  I think my hair is several shades greyer and if I have to listen to another lousy rendition of a classic tune down the phone, between being told that 'we are experiencing a high volume of calls' its just possible I might spontaneously combust! 

However, my intention was to try to capture moments of my day to day life as a pictorial record, warts and all, so to speak... So, forgive the lousy photography, the best I could manage was phone snaps that I think will serve as a memory prompt for me.

Tuesday was the longest day at work - this is the time of year when sickness seems to hit the hardest and I have a pretty small team, with a limited amount of flexibility in terms of being able to shift days so sometimes my plans for the working day have to go on hold. I have had to try to catch up on paperwork and management stuff at the end of the day which meant Tuesday I got in about 7.30am and finally remembered about taking a photo at 11.45pm. I felt like I had spent pretty much all day looking at this...

and wondering where on earth the day was running away to! I did attempt a bit of late night crochet to try to switch my head off - bad idea, can you spot the mistake?

These are meant to be rows of little 'V's and I didn't notice this naughty singleton until I got right to the end of the row. Much muttering and 'bothering' ensued...

Wednesday saw us descending into an even greater degree of chaos. The packing has had to begin. This lot is just some of my books! I don't quite know what I'm going to do with everything in the new house but I expect I'll find a place for it all eventually.

The other minor irritation is that I have some stuff here and some in storage, and some duplicates from my previous house so rather than move everything, I am having to get rid of some things first. Which means we now have no table and chairs. Hence the deck chair. Thanks heavens for Freecycle and Gumtree but blimey, I will be glad to get back to some kind of normality!

Which was why I was so glad to open this letter on Thursday...

No going back now. I've signed on the dotted line and committed myself to another 19 years of mortgage... Gulp, looks like I'll be wearing that watch for a good bit longer yet! But I will have my place, my bricks and mortar (or in my case brick, flint and timber!) and my bolt hole.

Friday saw another long day and my unwinding routine this time was a cuppa and a book, less room for error here! And I am enjoying this novel - not too taxing and enough pace to keep me interested. 

My kindle is lurking at the back of the bedside table. I do love the portability of it - great for the train and holidays, but I love a proper paper book more if I'm honest. I love the feel and smell of a book (if that doesn't sound too weird!) - somehow I feel a bit more immersed in the whole experience.  I've been debating about Audible - audio books; I have friends who swear by them and I can see the attraction of having someone tell me a story while I drive or knit or crochet... But whether I would truly feel like I'm reading? It would have to be unabridged versions I think - I don't want someone else to choose what bits I skim over!

Today, has been mostly packing and trying to sort changes of address, utilities, insurance... all that kind of essential but mundane stuff. Hence the several hours in the call queues! So by late afternoon I was going a bit crazy with all the muddle and needed to get out. We took a wander across the city, via the charity shop (how can I still have stuff to get rid of?!!), took a sneaky peek past our new home and then back via a lovely cosy little bar. This place used to be a bicycle shop (I was bought a bike from here for my 16th birthday! Many moons ago...) and is a bit quirky and I love it. It is mainly lit by candles, has a fab mix of old crockery and brass candlesticks, mismatched chairs and a lovely friendly feel. 

We were only going in for a quick coffee, but then this was rather calling my name...

I figured I'd earned it this week. Though a large glass may have been a little unwise on an empty stomach!

We were sitting under the very large plant that occupies the front of the cafe and makes it feel a bit as though you are under a tree. I couldn't help a sneaky snap of the funky lighting. The bicycle wheel spokes throw great shadows...

Under the tables are games, should you want them. Who can resist scrabble? 

Though a Spanish set of letters gave us some challenges! You might spot we were a little creative in our interpretation of the pieces, not sure my Spanish is up to word games!!

Final push this week, this time next week we will almost be moved in!

Sx 

winter walk...

The sun actually shone for a bit first thing this morning...

but by the time I'd had a lazy cup of tea in bed and got all the Christmas decorations packed up and put away, I'd missed my moment to get outside whilst there was still a bit of sun.

It always takes longer than you think to take all the deccies off the tree and hoover up the mountain of pine needles! This was the last bauble on the tree, sparkling in the sunlight...

...or at least that's what I thought until I was trying to wrestle the tree out of its pot, when I realised there were another three lurking round the back (after I had packed all the boxes away of course...).

I was determined to get out for a walk today, sunshine or not and I set off across the park towards the university. When I first moved here I used to walk across here a lot, as much as anything for a reason not to be sitting at home on my own! I've posted pictures of this walk before but I do always feel as though there are different things to see each time.

Although the park looks deserted in these photos, actually there were quite a few people out - families, kids on bikes, couples hand-in-hand, dog walkers etc

There was still just a hint of blue sky in the distance...

On up to the University Broad where there was barely a breeze and the trees were clearly reflected in the water...

At the other end of the lake there was just a little wind rippling the surface of the water and putting kinks in the reflections... 

but still enough to make clear mirror images beside the little jetty I was standing on...

It is pretty monochrome out there at the moment until you come across patches of stunning dogwood or the occasional remaining berry or rosehip...

It was lovely to get some fresh air, must do more of this again!

Sx

what to do on a rainy day...

Yesterday dawned cold, grey and, to be honest, a bit miserable again. I feel like the windows have looked like this for days now...

...and I have to really fight off the grey feeling that threatens to make me want to just hibernate away and do nothing much. But yesterday we had plans! Afternoon tea in the pretty Suffolk village of Lavenham! Its a bit of a drive but I had good company in the car and we met another friend there, first for a look at the beautiful church...

It has stunning stained glass windows and must look quite spectacular on a sunny day. Lavenham must have been a very wealthy town in its day - it apparently prospered from the wool trade and by the C15th & C16th was one of the richest in Britain. This is reflected in the church which was completed in 1525 and is huge for a village church, with the names of, what I presume were the merchant families of the village, on the windows on either side. There are some really beautiful and intricate carvings in the woodwork - I am always amazed at the sheer length of time these things have survived for so intact.

I've also got to confess to being just a bit excited that the little house I'm buying in Norwich dates from around the same time and I kept trying to imagine what East Anglia must have been like in the C15th century - I love the sense of history and previous life; who walked through those rooms, what were they wearing, what were their lives like... Always have had an overactive imagination! My house doesn't have the sense of grandeur of the Lavenham timber framed houses - it is a tiny city cottage - but it is a mixture of brick and flint, and half timbered and has a real feel of having housed 'other lives'.

Anyway, after the church we went on to the very grand and rather beautiful Swan Hotel for afternoon tea...

We ate way too much (when else do you ever eat 2 scones and 3 cakes in one sitting?!!), drank tea out of pretty china and generally had a lovely time. The company of friends made it of course, but such a treat to do these things now and again!

Right... can't put it off any longer, off to get the decorations down now...

Sx

PS Keep meaning to say, although I usually try to reply directly to commenters, sometimes people are 'no reply' bloggers and sometimes I just forget! So, for simplicity for me, I'm probably for the most part, going to just reply directly on here for now. I do read all the comments and really appreciate you taking the time to say something! :-) x

still life...

It's not easy, this daily photos malarkey... Got to work at 7.15 this am, got home at 8.30pm, no lunch, coffee on the hoof... Remembered the photo as I sat down for cheese on toast at gone 9pm...

So... hasty glance at what was remotely interesting or just around -  bowlful of fruit...

I'm trying to make a conscious effort to get my five a day in more regularly... (oh hang on, probably not much in my cheese on toast... oops).

A bowlful of leftover Christmas treats...

I love this cut glass bowl and somehow full of sweets, it makes me think of my Nannie, who was a funny old thing in lots of ways but took great delight in allowing us kids to have a pick into her tin of sweets, to my Mum's irritation! I think I might be a naughty Granny one day... This looks like treasure to me, will probably be there some time as neither Tom or I are big sweet eaters.

And some things need few words - tea and cake, pretty china...

What more to say?!

Going to attempt daylight pics tomorrow!

Sx

something to smile at...

Today already had me scrabbling about for a photo! Trouble is, its dark when I go into work and dark when I come home and it has been so busy there is rarely time to draw breath during the day, never mind go looking for photo opportunities. I did take one of the grey clouds that made the beginning of sunrise look rather moody first thing this morning but I think I must have had a bit of a wobble on as it was hideously blurry!

As is this one...!

But it's made it in because it was pretty! And it will remind me of a very giggly night with a good friend. We have agreed to make each other do some fun stuff as well as work and we do always laugh a lot when we are out. Good for the soul! But giggles don't make for very crisp photos... and actually, the dessert was decidedly disappointing - more in the presentation than the baking I think!!

The other things that just made me laugh today were these in my email and facebook...

Anyone would think someone's trying to tell me something!! Or, slightly creepily, that there is so much information out there in the ether that they know exactly how to target ads!! Though if anyone is monitoring my electronic footprint they are so off the mark! Yes, might be on my own, but looking for a new man??? Nope. Absolutely not. Thankyou. ;-) 

S x

new beginnings...

Welcome 2014! Looking forward to getting  myself sorted this year and feel that there may be a lot to record for my memories, sooo... I'm going to try and take at least one photo each day. I may not manage it and I'm sure they won't all be momentous but I hope it'll give me a feel for how this year pans out. Thinking of it as a bit of an adventure!

Today I opened my new calendar...

This is the first year in ages I haven't had one as a present so I had to do an emergency dash after Christmas (can't possible start the year without transferring all the birthdays and important events...!) and thought this one was quite pretty.

Last night I saw out the old year with two of my boys and the eldest's girlfriend - we made tapas-y food and ate and drank more than was necessary but good company and and lots of laughter and then a slightly slow start to the New Year this morning! 

Today was a proper blustery, grey and wet wintery day so my intention to go out for a bracing walk went out of the window and I headed over to spend the afternoon with my mum.

The trees were silhouetted against the sky...

...which was an almost uniform shade of grey...

So, Mum and I stayed within cosy distance of her woodburner, tackled the obligatory New Years jigsaw and took advantage of a bit of crochet time...

Not a bad start to the year!

Hope yours was relaxing, and that this year brings good things for us all.

Sxx