Crafting

 I was extremely pleased to see an email from the publisher I use with a great discount, so I checked 2024 blog for the last time, uploaded it and paid for it to be made into the book, the saving was over £40, so waiting for the right discount is always worth while. November is always a good discount month, Black Friday is best, I am doing well with 2025 and will send it for printing then, which I have said would be my last printed blog book. I am happy with 2024, so far I can't find any mistakes, there are normally one or two, which is OK, I'm not perfect.

I decided to stitch the whole of the top line to enable me to gage the size of my work, the line should be straight, but the frame has pulled it wonky, I am enjoying this part, it's an easy design to stitch, this is called counted cross stitch, the linen is blank, I have a printed pattern to follow, I have to count the stitches to ensure they are placed in the correct position, sewing one stitch in the wrong place can cause huge issues, with a smaller repeat pattern it so simple. 

This is the first of three stars in the middle, they will tumble down, it helps ensure there is no clash in the designs, often when putting patterns together they can cause issues where there are not enough space for the whole design, so if I pop a 'star' in the way it hides any issues. 

Look what I found in B&M, at £5 each these smaller plastic pots were not such great value and slightly a different shade, still perfect for my tulip display next spring, I will order from Farmer Gracy, I got bulbs from them last time and they all grew, I will NOT purchase anymore pots. I need to cut holes in the bottom for drainage.

I did get my sewing machine out, I had a bit of mending to do, I prefer to do it and not let it mount up, plus Molly unicorn rucksack's strap required mending, she does love it, so I wanted to get it back to her. Most evenings now I have a video call from George and then sometimes another from Molly, Friday night she wanted to tell me she made a giraffe for the man's 100 birthday, I said oh Sir David Attenborough,  bless her she said 'do you know him'.

We are staying in an apartment with hubby's younger sister and her husband, his older sister is on a trip with her daughter, staying in a local hotel, older sister is 80 this week, so we decided to join in the fun and ensure she has a good birthday. We have visited Llandudno a few times, it's a lovely town and beach, we have been to the top of the Great Orm, sharing a space with his younger sister is very different, she does love to read, and shop. Plus we get time away from the work in the garage, which is coming along nicely. 

Our local councils have not changed much, most people know when something is working its best not to change, the area is a mixture of Tory and Lib dems, most of them had less votes this time, hopefully we should not see many changes. The cities of Portsmouth and Southampton have had the biggest changes.

Growing up

My pyracanths is spreading along the fence, this plant should grow to the end, it soon will have blossom which the bee's love and in the winter months red berries for the birds. I have two Jasmines, one is my winter jasmine, we see tiny yellow flowers when everywhere else is bare, the other which is still tiny I can't remember it's name.

 My honeysuckle is as always top heavy, I do get flowers, I took a cutting which rooted and I planted, so hopefully I should have another plant further along. 

I potted up my mock orange, for now it is placed here, I was thinking of moving further down the fence to fill out the bare section, this gives lovely white flowers, it's better in a pot as it can get huge. 

 This back fence is slowly filling out, the white rose in the corner has loads of stems, I am trying to fan them out, in hope I can block out the garden behind, with a bonus of being able to have cut roses in the garden.

I am not a fan of plants growing up fences, I know garden designers will always suggest to grow things up to blur your boundaries, I do love to see a tidy fence, we painted ours grey so they become a feature. Along this back section our fence is low, years ago we added the wire top to stop the neighbours cats getting into our garden and fighting with our cats. Now my mission is to have a wall of greenery, with flowers when I can, I can only see a small part from the house, but I am often working in this area, so it pleases me to have the extra good looking space. Our neighbours have a huge shed and do not use their back section.

Our soil level is higher than the garden behind, and they have 3 trees close to our boundary, so it is necessary to have most things in pots, along with a couple potato bags and my leaf mulch bins, it's a full area, wide enough for my water but and compost bins on the other side, my centre path is not huge but it works for me.

Hubby is still working in the garage, he does not require my help, which is OK, I can always find things to do in the garden, I have cut back the daffodil leaves, they were turning yellow, I have also cut back the bluebells, they had gone over, I can see what's growing in my side bed, I am hopeful things will return. My peony is not doing well, plenty of leaves, just two buds, one has opened, the other is distorted and won't grow. I have loads of buds on my climbing rose, the three bushes are still just leaves.

We voted yesterday,  local elections are important, our council has done well, not full of debt, now we wait the results.

Grow, listen and read

 I have my tiny net bags ready for the coming weeks, my strawberry tower is bursting into life, I kept a few more babies which are now good plants in more pots. These are the first two berries forming, the plants have loads of flowers, I find it very peaceful placing these bags over the tiny green fruits, they stay on until harvest, it worked very well last year, I had hardly any nibbled, I will leave some uncovered for the bugs and mice.

I have put my cucumber plant into a bigger pot using my own compost, which is not so dry as the commercial ones. Two of my tomato plants have flowers forming, the other two are still quite small, my lettuce are coming along. I am about to start my runner beans and peas, much later than previous years, I am hoping the later start will help against the slugs and snails. 

I think we may have issues with mice (wishful thinking) or rats (we had them before), Lilly has taken to this spot under the Acer, I have pots underneath which has been dug in, she sits here and watches for ages, I will check along the back for holes where they could be entering. Not the greatest of photo's, I took it from inside.

We had a perfect evening out on Tuesday, locally at Fareham Live, we sat for just over two hours listening to Adam Frost garden designer and TV presenter, I have a couple of his books and followed lots of his tips. Hubby was unsure but came with me, he enjoyed the show, it was Adam's last show of the tour, he is very easy to listen to and very knowledgeable, in the most friendly of ways.

I finished this book on Wednesday so it was added to last months reading list, another good plot read on my Kindle. Your new bride ask if her parents can move in for a couple of weeks on their return from living in France, they are strange from the start, but that's families for you. They don't want to leave, your wife is scared of them, what have they done. The plot builds to a brilliant ending, just a few chapters before the end of the book, what next, you will have to read to find out. Book 33 read this year.

Wednesday I met daughter in town, we had an early lunch together, it was a nice peaceful time, later I did more sorting in the garage, my bits are less than a third of the space and I've only been in there a couple of years, so not too much to sort, I ordered a storage unit from IKEA which should arrive on Saturday, my bits will be finished on Sunday. Hubby moved his bench and our fridge/freezer, everything has been sorted, loads of stuff has gone.

Thursday we had a couple of quotes to change the garage, one we accepted, the guy was lovely, local and well recomended, so we have until the end of the month to do our bit, we are both excited to make the change. We are able to make changes because we no longer store our garden furniture inside over the winter months, our new set stores quiet small and is great under a cover outside, so we are redefining some of the inside space.

Another couple of days at home sunny warm with that biting cold wind, I really hope the wind dies back and is not a feature for the summer. We are still very dry, one water butt is empty and the other two larges ones are going down quickly, we need rain, there is rain due in the coming days, but its not promised in our area. We have just realised it's a long weekend here, May bank holiday on Monday, makes no difference to us, other than we will stay at home on the Monday, local roads will be busy, we did a shop at Lidl and have everything we need for the coming days. 

Lazy days

 We had an us day on Thursday, firstly in our local town we did some pottery painting, both deciding to decorate a mug, hubby had no idea what to do and looked in their corner of aids to decorate. I do like his, he is very pleased.

I knew how I was going to decorate mine, I took loads of Q-tips to make dots, mine does look busy, will have to wait and see how it turns out, I forgot they had the fineline colours, which would have made it better. 

We also popped into Waterstones, I still had a gift card from Christmas, the gardening year is a book to add notes throughout the year, it has space for 5 years of notes, each month has 5 pages allowing a weekly entry, I will start it on 1st of April, the wildflower book was very pretty and a complete indulgence for me, I only had to pay £3 for both books.

Another new author, I enjoyed this clever book, another story where the outcome is hiding in plain sight, after a horrendous marriage and the death of the husband, she starts to engage with village life, making new friends, but at home in her cottage strange things happen. Book 25 read this year.

We had planned lunch out on Thursday, but we were not that hungry after having a mid morning coffee and cake, so we came home and had an early evening meal. I spent time outside in garden, not doing much, just enjoying the sunshine. Friday we did some other end of town shopping and popped to daughters house, Molly had her swimming lesson after school, George had ran around the last couple of times creating havoc, so we sat with the boys whilst mummy watched Molly swim. 

Saturday more time outside, I planted a new grass in Kurt's head, the last plant died, hubby has drilled a couple more drainage holes, the wind is still cool. Sunday was another day of rest, more laundry was done, I sat at watched wildlife, there are loads of butterflies and huge bee's this spring, The small birds are nesting, Magpies hover hoping to get to their nest, I always make a noise when I see them to move them on. Having very little to do in the garden is very new to me, I'm not good at sitting still. It's gotten much cooler this afternoon and cloudy, shame, it was nice whilst it lasted. 

We both needed a few of rest days, each suffering with back ache due to the tasks completed on Wednesday, we have had a couple of early nights, we are now both awake at 6am, a bit too early for me to get up. I'm feeling rested as is hubby, sometimes you have to avoid everything and look after yourself. Luckily George is behaving a bit better, daughter took them to the park for 3 hours to play with their friends, so a great weekend all round. 

Mothering Sunday

Saturday late morning I walked to our village monthly craft market, there are so many different stalls, a couple have become our favourite, with buskers and our local rock choir, the butcher did a BBQ, it was busy which is good. Recently our sell everything shop shut down, the landlords put the rent up too much for the business to survive, shame it was a useful shop, the village still has decent shops open, keeping it alive.

 Normally hubby gets me a plant as my gift, we choose one together for the garden, this year I asked him for these rings, he got me six, they are a perfect size for my veg bags, he cut down six supports which they fit on. A perfect solution to keep Lilly from using my bags as her toilet, shown here in my potato bags, also a good plant support.

I do love to receive cards, the one from hubby has been used for the past 4 years, I was beyond pleased to see inside the card from the children, I have always said I love big writing made by small hands, and for the first time ever George has tried to write his name instead of a scribble. 

We were able to have some time outside, Molly checked loads of bags and pots, she found my first early potatoes were sprouting and will need topping up soon, my peanuts are sprouting as seen in photo below, and lots of spring bulbs. The bikes, scooters and balls all came out to play, they had great fun running around for an hour.  

Hubby was out on Saturday until mid afternoon, so I had the laziest of starts, followed by a do nothing day, just what I needed, I did not do any gardening, I walked to village and later to our local park, beautiful cold sunny day. Much later we walked to the village to get everything for Sunday lunch, our evening we had pizza for tea with a glass of red wine I did a bit of knitting on my scrappy blanket. 

Sunday was another sunny blue sky, still cold, daughter and children visited, we got small gifts for each child to give her and a card, lunch was KFC style chicken in rolls, except for Molly who had breaded chicken, followed by fresh fruit (not grown by me, too early) and ice cream, a dairy free one for Molly and George. They went home early afternoon, which now gives us time to relax, I am going to get my knitting needles out, it's gone cloudy and we were promised the tail end of the storm floating across the UK. 

I hope if you are celebrating today, you are having a good day as well, it's been a great weekend. 

In between

Christmas day, daughter did her table, normally my role, but this year I spent my time with the children, who had far too many gifts and loads of money, the meal was perfect and traditional, Molly and Will did not have vegetables, George ate everything including red cabbage. Children were happy all day, plenty to keep them entertained. 

This image taken off Facebook, they are on schedule for the work on M27 motorway, the carriage way was removed and a huge hole made ready and the box moved in place, this photo on 27th. Now they have to replace the soil around the box, build the sides and relay the surface, the tunnel will be a road for the new huge housing estate, which will link it to Fareham. They also have to sort the roundabouts out and make the road links into Fareham on the nearside. loads of people are walking to a good viewing spot to watch, the drive to daughters was good, not as bad as we feared, but the roads are very busy.

Another new author to me, not really a thriller, I almost gave up reading at one point, a young couple move into their first dream flat together, neighbours to get along with, what happens when things go wrong. I hoped for a twist, which was weak when it came. Book 82 read this year.

Christmas eve we walked to the village, just some fresh veg needed, it was market day, there were extra stalls, we just got what was on our list, our local bistro was packed so we did not stop. Daughter stayed at home with little ones, daddy promised to spend the day with them, instead of arriving at late morning as promised he arrived at 6pm, apparently unfit to drive before, after a night out, George put himself to bed, Molly would not go to bed as she wanted her dad, Christmas morning Daughter asked us to come earlier, they had not argued, but he was not helping with the children, all their presents had been opened, he left once we arrived. 

Hubby twisted his back and was in some pain, I have another cold, so we came home rather than sleeping over, we had a late start on Boxing day, just the two of us, resting and reading we did not go for a walk. Sadly no leftovers here, we had steak and chips for tea, watching some TV. Daughter spent the day with her older sister, walking along the beach, cousins together. Molly has a chest infection and is taking antibiotics, so no plans to see them in the next few days.

I have wonderful memories of Christmas as a child, full of families, cousins, laughter, never picture perfect, mum loving having everyone together. Things change, as does families, it just seams sad that our mixed family, our children are all from previous partners, whilst never argued are all drifting away. We don't mind being together, we are both happy with our daily lives, I just wish hubby's children would show just a bit more love and care for him. Maybe I'm just a bit cranky this year wishing for an era long gone.

Exciting times

 I have had a sleepover at daughters house on Monday no reason other than to spend time together, loads of laughter, for all their excitement, they are not too manic. Molly was awake by 6.50am, which is later than in previous stays, so a more normal time, I had forgot the joys of waking up with a tiny person stood at the bottom of your bed, we had an enjoyable time together before her brothers woke up. AI at its best she loves this image.

I'm back reading, this book was different a new author to me, I read it on my Kindle apt, how quickly life can change, it starts with a murder? in a quiet family area, the police think they have it all sorted. Book 81 read this year. I am reading the Billy Connolly a bit at a time, savouring his words.

Sunday was a dull day spent at home, we were invited to a neighbour for coffee and homemade shortbread, I took a cauliflower stalk with me, for her chickens, later we caught up on missed TV.

Monday I was at daughters by 9am, so plenty of play time, the children are keeping their bedrooms and toy room tidy, so it was a day of playing, they had McDonald's for a treat for lunch.

Tuesday morning  we drove to ours to give little ones a different place to play, they both have colds again, Will spent the day at his best mates house, hubby made a marmalade cake which we shared, later I relaxed, hubby was out in early evening so I caught up with a couple programs I like to watch.

Today we will walk to the village, if there is room we will stop for coffee and cake, if not home for hubby's homemade treats, all my homemade mincemeat is gone, we did enjoy it. Spending time with the children has made me feel very festive, chasing away the blues.

At home

 If you drive along M27 near junction 10, you will see this huge concrete box, they have been building it for months, the plan is to turn the limited junction into a full working junction to support the huge housing development planned.

Everywhere there are warning notices, from 8pm on Christmas eve until 4th January the motorway will be closed, from J9 to J11, where a huge hole will be dug across the lanes the box will be moved into place and the motorway restored around it.

It's going to impact on us, if we travel to town or daughters house we have to join traffic from J9, daughters house is near J11. Even the bus route will be effected, as it has to negotiate a huge roundabout near J9, the traffic lights will be reconfigured to help the increase in traffic along the A27. We are planning a stay at home throughout, if we should want to go out, we could head towards Portsmouth, which will not be impacted.

My final gift arrived on Friday, everything is wrapped, the gifts we have here will be taken on Christmas morning, everything is going to plan.

I worked in my greenhouse on Friday afternoon, I put the plastic cover on my tiny greenhouse, which sits in the centre of my glass house, in here are tender plants, I checked my various flowering plants, all are doing well, just a bit of a tidy around and dead head some summer plants. The garden is looking after itself, hellebores are in bud, my dark red almost black bloom has no sign of life, I will be sad if it has died, I did look for another the same colour, without finding any.

Saturday was a busy day, we walked to village, my sister sent me money to get gifts for daughter and her family, I really did not want to go to town, so we got a bottle of wine for daughter and small gifts for George and Molly and money to Will. Later we watched the Strickly final with a neighbour, glass of wine and party food, it was fun, a much later night than intended, felt very festive. 

Hand made

 The knitting ladies have been busy again, these bollards are at the top end of the prescient, they are the first thing we see when walking to our shops. They have made all the decorations for our village Christmas tree, with very mixed reactions, many people are complaining it looks cheap, I love it.

Talking of handmade decorations, Lilly was caught in the act of vandalism, my needlefelted santa bauble, its the first item she has taken from the tree. I can put it back smooth easily, we shall keep an eye on her.

At our local garden centre they had bulbs at 75% off so I got a couple packs for just £3.50, they are already in pots. I also planted a small hellebore in my large pot at back of garden, the previous one has not returned this year. 

I recently saw this Hawkstone cider from Jeremy Clarkson's brewery, I got a bottle to try, shared with hubby and brother, we all agreed it was lovely, a proper cider flavour, I will get it again. We have no desire to visit his farm or pub, but can understand why his brewery is flourishing. 

Will is unwell, he has the flu, he's really poorly with it, fortunately he can wrap up warm in mums car for the little ones school run, she is able to park inside the school gates to keep George safe, so Will is safe whilst she collects them. The bugs are really bad in the schools, over half of Will's class is off sick, attendance has dropped, I'm sure most teachers and parents are praying for the Christmas break to start. We are hoping to avoid the worse of the bugs and hope our flu jabs will protect us.

Hubby had his cardiology appointment,  reasonable results, better than we hoped but still a slight decline, they monitor his kidneys as well, we know how we can keep him well, luckily they have not changed any medication which always gives him issues, getting older is no fun.

I've not been reading much, I started a book again couple of weeks ago which was boring, I finally decided to give up on it, its been a busy few weeks, I have just started another book as most of my items on my list is ticked off.

Having my brother here stops us going out so much, he is not a fan of shopping, we did pop into Fareham a couple of times, I got my new phone cover and sorted a loose fitting pair of glasses. I still need I gift for daughter, and I have no idea, I don't think she knows what she would like, I would rather not give her money. I have already got 3 small gifts to her from the children, they helped me wrap them.

Busy week

 Christmas by candlelight concert, a perfect start to the month, we have seen this act a few times before singing Elton John and Queen, they do not copy the acts, just sing their tunes their way. Both hubby and I enjoyed the show a very festive start to the month, singing loads of the huge hits from the 50's which I love.

I planted the red amaryllis bulb this week, I will plant the white one in a couple of weeks, I love these blooms, something beautiful to look forward to seeing on these dull days

I did get a new plant from the village, I love cyclamen and had loads of shades of reds to choose from, I thought this red was very festive, this is a houseplant in a lovely pot.

These tiny cyclamen in front of my pond are beautiful, they can't be seen from the house, only visible when walking in my veg area, so really just for me to enjoy. 

Daughter has rebooked our pottery painting morning, George had an upset tummy after all the antibiotics and therefore not able to go to school earlier this week, it's booked for next Monday, we have taken George before, it is going to be busy and George is not good with too many people in a strange place to him. 

Wednesday hubby had his dental appointment, just a check up, he has now booked both our next check-ups for the same day, I had my first ever shingles vaccination, it was a dry day so I spent an hour in the garden, hopefully I collected the last lot if leaves from our Magnolia, and used the last of my home made mulch, I still have 2 packs of tulips to plant.

I got my new glasses on Thursday, I'm pleased with them, it's the first time for me to wear varifocals, I have also a simple pair for my computer work, we had a wander around the shops, just for something to do. Later I went for our Christmas meal with WI in a nice hotel, a really lovely meal, I opted for salmon rather than turkey.

I managed to wash all my wooden floors, on my knees rather than using the mop, corners and skirting boards were done, I feel much better knowing they are sorted, I try and do them this way once a month, but recently I've been lazy.

November colours

 We walked through our local park, the leaves are carpeting under the trees and looking good, these are at the end of the park by a main road, and make a perfect backdrop.

The flower beds still have colours, this central bed always looks good, I do love the crown structure in the middle, perfect for plants to grow up. The bed in the bottom corner of the photo has roses blooming again, there is another identical bed, other than the roses are a different shade. 

I have always adored our tiny bandstand, the twin rose beds have a third shade of blooms, often you find young children on bikes or scooters going around on the path, there is a bench where I am standing, so adults can sit and watch them.

Back in our garden the acer is stunning, with the Virginia creeper over the fence this corner is very colourful, we are enjoying it as soon it will be bare.

Not as bright but still lovely is my olive tree, this is an evergreen. 

Finally our neighbours pyracantha, this is in the corner of their garden behind our garage, beautiful orange berry's, the top is almost bare, the pigeons have been feasting, along the fence is my red berry plant, much smaller, I hope eventually it will cover the whole back fence.

I have very little to do outside, both veg beds are full and growing strong, I don't cut back the flower beds until spring, I do have tulip bulbs to plant, all the other spring bulbs are in pots already. The flower plants in my greenhouse are doing well, I have seeds growing, some plants which I potted up as they were seedlings in the wrong place and a couple of huge plants I have split, some could be outside, but our clay soil in winter months gets water logged and things rot. I am collecting leaves for making mulch and both composters are full.

I am reading, I started two books by new authors, which I discarded, but as yet no crafting, I really want to knit, I have loads of 4ply wool (yarn), a pack of cotton yarn for toys, and some double knitting wool (yarn), plenty of patterns,  just no inspiration. I have been looking at cross stitch I have two unfinished designs. Will loves our red cushions, I have promised him I will make one for him, he chose the cushion with the badges, hubby ordered the one badge, I will make the stripes myself. 

Half term

 Mummy made Molly's bed longer, no longer a toddler bed, she had to change the furniture around, it's still a girly room. On Tuesday we all went to Dunelm and Molly chose a new quilt cover with unicorns on, she was very happy. Since September and starting school she has changed so much.

We had Will on a sleepover Tuesday night, he's not wanted to come for a while, we got him a new set of books, we gave him book one and two, he does love to read. We had fish and chips for tea, all treat for Will, and hot chocolate later, he stayed up to watch bake off with us, a later bedtime, its half term.

Mummy came with Molly and George on Wednesday, we stayed inside most of the day, after a late lunch hubby, mummy and Will went to Fort Nelson to see the Walking with Giants, now on show, these were created for the D Day landing celebrations. Will wore his combats, he loves everything military, and loved wondering around them at the lower levels. We had planned for all of us to go, it had rained all day, we knew there would be loads of puddles, so I elected to stay home with Molly and George, in hope we can book a spot before the end of the year, it is very popular.

Hubby made a red velvet cake, which is Will's favourite cake, he uses vegan cream cheese so Molly and George can eat some, this time he left just two layers, normally he makes four, this was better as too much of the filling becomes a bit sickly. The children had two slices each, his cakes never last too long. 

Molly had a sleepover on Wednesday, she was good as always, if slightly confused for her bedtime as the evening became dark much earlier, she sleeps in our room on a small bed, she snuffles whilst asleep, Lilly spent the night on her bed, Will now sleeps downstairs in our spare room again with Lilly for company. I took Molly home at lunchtime. I was back with the children just after teatime so mummy could have a meal with some school mums, so I did the bedtime routines, we have not had George this time, as mummy wants him to settle and be calm going back to school next week. 

We have seen loads of the children and daughter, sadly on one visit daughter came across a car on it's roof, the occupants were out and safe, but Molly saw it and has been asking loads of questions, daughter was shook up, it was just around the corner from where we live. I did drive Molly past the spot and we decided they got back into the car and drove home, because the daddy could fix the car, hopefully that will bring closure to Molly. 

The Traitors has been brilliant TV this series, I was worried because we knew so many people, normally we have no idea who anyone is, the end of the semi final has thrown up a good line of thought, Joe is on to them, and then I wonder about Nick, he said he would align himself with who he thought was traitors and he is very chummy with Joe, is there going to be a twist in the final. Alan has played a  brilliant game, only Joe noticed his behaviour at the last round table, his red face shone out. Also the final of Bake-off is next week, we don't watch much TV, but these two have both been entertaining. 

What next

 There was never any doubt to what was happening in this plot, a kidnapped girl and a boyfriend full of guilt and wanting more to be done to find her. It followed two different stories until they meet, where survival is key. Another great plot, a new author to me. Book 72 read this year.

Hubby got another badge for his cushions, I was not convinced it would add to the design, its a cap badge, I could not use the sewing machine, so this is hand stitched, both the material and badge are thick, it was a struggle to attach. Hubby is happy, I still think it doesn't need to be there.

I have 56 fat quarters in this container, all cotton, a couple of sets, one being Peter Rabbit, I fancy doing some hand sewing, not hexagons, I still have a pile after making my sewing machine cover. My problem is I can't just do patchwork without a final project, I do like to have a finished item in my mind as I am working, 

any suggestions. 

I'm bored, nothing much to do outside, I do sit and watch the birds around the feeder hanging in our Magnolia tree, and Lilly as she explores and prowls. I have done loads of mending, just little bits, once I get started I like to get everything done.

I have a cross stitch which is half done from years ago, I can't find the threads from the kit, I'm sure I will have them in my stash. Normally at this time of year I like to knit or crochet, again I have nothing I need, I still have a few pairs of unworn hand made socks.

I am over half way in my 2024 book, my new slightly larger monitor is making it easier for me, I'm not having to resize the pages all the time, just a few less clicks on each book page, it feels so much simpler. 

Thursday evening we went to our local venue and watched a tribute singer to Neil Diamond, I'm not a fan, hubby loves his music, the singer was Fisher Stevens, at the interval hubby said can we go home please, he did not enjoy the show. We have a couple more shows booked this year, ELO and Christmas by Candlelight. 

Books and boats

This is the latest and 8th book in the Strike, private detective series, a huge book, 897 pages, she writes a really good plot, they are tasked with finding if a murdered man is their clients boyfriend, its a cold case and its complicated, as there are a few people who it could be, they already know it's not who the police decided it was. These books have been made into BBC series, so I already know the two main private detectives, to keep it real they also have other cases ongoing. This was one of the best stories, I really enjoyed joyed it, book 69 read this year.

I love this author, I have read most of her titles, this popped up on my kindle, its a great plot, two stories with a fantastic twist near the end and another later in the plot, I loved it. She does plan and draws out a deception, once revealed you immediately realise it was there in plain sight. Book 70 read this year.

My autumn display is out in my kitchen, I do love this little jug with seasonal displays, the colours are typical for this time of year, I did get just one new branch, with the smaller acorns on. There are conkers hubby picked for me for this little dish, the two china pumpkins are years old, I never aluminate them, they will be packed away in November, but the foliage will stay until I pop in Christmas themed bits.

Tuesday we met daughter at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, it was another sunny bright day, she wanted to use her birthday money and used hubby's discount card to save a bit more. She helped us choose Will's Christmas gift from us, we got him new clothes, we had lunch together, a fresh baked Cornish pasty sat in a deck chair in the sunshine before we caught the bus home.

If you look past HMS Warrior, between the dockyard buildings you can see HMS Queen Elizabeth docked, its a huge aircraft carrier, the pale grey showing through. It's always fascinating being on The Hard, this is where the bus station is, so we often look out at Navy vessels along side historic and all the small private vessels. 

We are both loving these cold bright days, laundry has been dried outside, the garden task are being completed, housework has been done and time spent with our daughter, it's much easier to wrap up warm on dry days, our heating is not on yet, we have boosted a couple of times. 

Hubby has had his final results and they threw up a surprise for him, more hospital consultant appointments in the coming weeks, we will face them together, we have always had a united front on what life throws us, for now we are not saying much to our families, once the treatment is in place we will share it all.

We have both enjoyed getting out again, we never expected to get our first Christmas gift, but we did want to choose something special for Will. We did pop to the village yesterday, market day, I looked at plants and kept my purse in my bag, I really do have a full flower garden. Hubby wanted to pop to B&Q for some nice wire for the raspberries, I am banned from using chicken wire (which I already have), I'm going to wait until next spring in hope he forgets and I can use what I have.