August Scavenger Hunt

Before I start can I just say

Thank you to those who sent your best wishes to my daughter

she is very much better and recovering very quickly now the plate has been removed.

So now

It's that time of the month again.

Time to show you my photos for the scavenger hunt organised

by Greenthumb at Made with Love.

1. Petrol Station

I love the look of this old petrol pump.

2. boats

These lovely sailing  boats are built along the coast

from us.

3. Chopsticks

Saw these in a local charity shop.

4. 10 

One of our local restaurants.

5. Framed

Well it looks like it doesn't it.

This is one of the groins on Sheringham beach and I did think about 

using it for windows but my daughter thought it suited framed better.

I have got no idea what they are for or why they are there. 

6. Brown

Meet our  Border Terrier Mack

waiting for his Dad to get up.

7. Postcard

This rack of postcards is on Cromer Pier.

I don't think they were too risque. 

8. Playing

Our local surf life saving club having fun

on their paddle boards.

9. Windows

I love these old stained glass panels on 

a men's outfitters in Norwich.

10. Fantasy

I really struggled with this one and then

decided to go with the fantasy figure of the green man.

This one is in my garden. 

11. Sharp

One of my kitchen knives.

12. Transport

A lovely vintage sports car seen in a car park.

maybe I should have had this for Fantasy instead.

Bring on next months.

Gillx

Ups and Downs

The last 2 weeks has been all about family for me.

My eldest daughter came back home to Norfolk for a week from 

 Devon where she now lives and 

little ones best friend (borrowed daughter) also came home for the week from Kent

so we had a great time.

We all went out for the day and took our little friend "Bob" here

with us as his mum was packing to move.

So off to the beach we went and gave little Bob his first paddle

with his personal lifeguard. He loved it and was squealing with delight.

I love this photo.

I also became a Great Aunt again last weekend with 

little Elsa Mae ( love the name) or not so little as she was 9lb 1oz

with a full head of hair. Unfortunately she lives in Wiltshire

so I won't see her until I go down in September so I've sent strict instructions that

she isn't to grow too much before then.

Then the ups became the downs for a couple of days.

I thought I had told you of my little ones woes in February

but it appears that, although I showed you the sling i made I didn't

explain why she was wearing one.

It all started valentines day in France when she had a snowboarding accident

 and broke her collar bone. Getting a phone call from a tearful daughter

in another country isn't something I want to go through ever again but 

the insurance company kicked in and we got her home after a few days.

When we took her to the hospital fracture clinic a couple of days later 

we got a shock as they kept her in and operated that day 

as she had shattered it into 5 pieces and needed

to have it plated. The french clinic had told her it was fine 

and would heal in a few weeks.

Anyway we thought that was it and she was discharged by the hospital  6 weeks later.  

Then  she started having infections and the pain,

 which had never really gone away, got worse.

  She eventually got a doctor to believe her that something was wrong and 

was referred back to the hospital last Friday 

by which time the skin above the plate was very inflamed 

and once again she had an infection. The consultant said she was rejecting the plate 

and he would need to take it out next month after a cat scan.

Unfortunately her body had other ideas and Saturday her skin gave way 

and you could see the plate through a new wound that had opened up. 

Off she went to A&E with her sister ( we had been to a boozy BBQ) and

 again she was kept in and operated on straight away to take the plate out.

So the slings are out again and she has moved home again for a while.

The problem I have now is that she is that she is feeling so much better now the plate is out

 and has a lot less pain that she wants to keep doing things 

so I have to remind her that she still has 

a 6 inch wound in her shoulder and to take it slow.

So it's lots of time in the garden for lunches,

 sunbathing, spotting butterflies

 and weird looking caterpillars.

(Hawk eyed moth apparently.)

And plenty of trips out for coffee and cake.

We will both need to lose weight by the end of it.

New Hall

I have been meaning to show you these photos for a while as,

other than putting up a few black and white photos on the

stairs, my hallway is finished at last.

we started trying out colours and stripping wallpaper

in about November last year but due to family circumstances

things moved a lot slower than we hoped.

But

the new carpets are down and we have finished.

The fabric was a remnant I got for a song and I love it.

I fell in love with this wallpaper and decided that white was the

best colour to go for.

It looks so much lighter.

We had new carpet in our bedroom as well

With all the furniture out the room looks so big.

Only the lounge to do now but neither of us can face that at the moment.

Gillx

Bringing Back Memories

Isn't it strange how certain songs can bring back such vivid memories or stir such strong emotions.
Songs such as 'I'm not in Love'(10CC) and Beach Baby(First Class) always bring back hot summer days on Oddicombe beach in Devon where I used to live as a teenager. I can even feel the heat of the sun as a crowd of us used to sit at the far end of the beach away from the holiday makers. Very happy memories

Then there's ' In the living years' (Mike and the Mechanics)which tells the story of my relationship with my Father almost as though it was written for me including having a baby a short while after he died.
It always makes me remember him and usually brings a tear even after all these years.

Today it is 3 years since my lovely old Mum left me, 28 years after Dad, and when I eventually turned on the radio this morning the first song I heard was 'In the living years'.
Is that what they call Karma or Ironic ?

Anyway whatever it is 

This is to remember them.

Gillx

As a Postscript to this- just as I finished writing this Michael Ball played 'Beach Baby'. Totally weird.