It's that time of the year........

It's that time of the year, Bruce has had man flu, kindly given it to me, and we have Jake home from school with tonsillitis. I know the boy is poorly he's not eating!!! So I have him home to look after for a few days ;-))

Like me he's allergic to penicillin and the penicillin substitute, so it just has to take its natural course................... 

what better excuse to snuggle up on the sofa and watch DVD's in the afternoon ;-))

A sigh of relief, it's over

After lots of these...............................

were loaded into one of these

then unloaded

our new garden ;-))

we can now breathe a sigh of relief and we have all this...........................

Jez yearning to get into the sea

this is what he's trying to get to

my boys........ Andrew in red and Jake in grey

setting off to walk to Craster

This is how the Northumberland coast can look................... today we walked up to Dunstanburgh Castle in the driving rain waterproofs still not dry and the dog still ignoring us but, it was good to be outside and walking the coast.

Below is a picture of a group of very talented ladies but more about that later.

I am happier than I have been for a couple of years, I have no job, it's bucketing down outside, dark nights are on their way far too quickly, but I live near the sea, I am a volunteer gardener at Howick Hall, we are closer to Jake, it's still a 180 mile round trip, but we are closer!!

I think I am one of the luckiest people around.....................................................................

BOXES, BOXES and more boxes!!!

 How time flies when you're having fun...................................
We are at that stage of moving where EVERYTHING and EVERYWHERE looks messy, untidy and there is STUFF everywhere!!! aarrgghh
Later today it will be time to unplumb all that needs unplumbing, box up games consoles, tv etc ready for the packers on tuesday, we also have to pack clothes etc for our transit time between the two houses, put the roof box on my car, and many, many other things i am in denial about!! and believe me there is lots!!


Best of all Bruce is home safe and sound from sunny sandy places, and for that i thank God. 


So it's Northumberland here we come ;-)))))) ( over the next week ) This time next week we should be almost fully unpacked and we WILL be getting ready for our first visitors ( cos they're coming ready or not ) on Bank Holiday Monday.


So TTFN back when boxes are no more.

let the madness begin.....................

Jake and I have just come back from a few days away with some very special friends, we were invited over to stay for my birthday, and I was spoilt rotten, everything was done for me ;-)) from a cup of tea to dinner out in the evening.

Staying with J is always a treat as they have a housekeeper, the housekeeper sees us all as children to be looked after and she is the indulgent mother, we don't even have to make our own beds!!! she gets very upset if we do, so Jake and I have had a few days of nothing to do, playing tennis, badminton with J and her boys, reading books, geocaching.

now we are back home the madness begins;

26 days until the removal van arrives and the packers do their thing

15/16 days until Bruce comes home

The house is a total tip, there are things everywhere, NOTHING is where it should be or where i thought it was!!!

I will post photos when i find my camera.

wish me luck

This is my life..................... as a wife..................

She packs,

She moves,

She follows,

Why?

What for?

How come?

You may think she has lost her mind,

But actually, she's lost her heart.

It was stolen from her by a man who puts duty first,

who salutes the flag,

and whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Military Husband,

she will remain his Military Wife.

Not many people understand our life and why we live as we do, this was sent to me by someone who does, and, is living the life, at the moment like me without her husband ( both detached abroad at the moment ) and we are both moving house within the next 6 weeks, maybe with our husbands help, maybe not!!! 

We have many talents like;

 how to unplumb and replumb the washing machine and the dishwasher

pack the computer AND be able to put it back together and get on the internet

reassemble beds,

build the trampoline ( AGAIN!! )

These are some of the many things we do, and usually with good humour, it comes with the job, I will be thankful when we are back together again, and pray that we will not be separated again for a very long time. 


I hope if you read this you will understand how proud I and other wives are of our husbands and how much we love them.

Apart from packing prep I have been busy with..............

My knitting group at the library is doing a hanging for our library, it is The owl and the pussycat, the photographs are a bit muddled up so bear with me please.

Our group started off with just a few and it had grown to over 30 of us ranging in age from 7 to over 7's!! All with various talents, and even the odd leftie apart from me that is.

these are letters for another poem that has been written for South Glos libraries and when finished will go' on tour' quite exciting but why is it all in capital letters?????

This hat was a one ball challenge, we were allowed to use odd bits of wool to make any 'extras' .

it only took me an evening to make, a real no-brainer, i just made the pattern up as i went along. It is now worn by a beautiful little girl called Hettie and she looks sooooo cute.

This is my latest project, a cricket sweater for no 1 son, when he was little i used to knit him an aran cardigan and sweater to wear through the summer, it was before fleece came the in thing to wear, and now at 28 he wants his mummy to knit him another aran to wear through the summer ;-)). 

This is being posted from my iPhone
I can't put photographs on yet, I'm sue there must be a way.......
I love technology ;-))

Reality

Now I am over the initial 'excitement' of moving reality has hit home!! I have made my many trips to the charity shops and the tip, had 3 weeks of visitors and a week of half term with Jake I am exhausted and want Bruce to come home. He should have a weeks R&R at the end of the month, but, that may or may not happen, only when he had landed in the UK will he be home, so keep your fingers crossed.




No sewing, but, lots of knitting has been going on here, Oh and a bit of crochet as well, and when i get round to photographing i will post. We had a one ball challenge at my knitting group, I made a hat for my neighbours little girl Hettie. I have also made myself a simple v-neck sweater, very easy pattern a real no-brainer!!
This week I have the removals assessor coming to underestimate the number of boxes we need, and, I hope give me some reassurance we won't have the problems we had last time their company moved us!!!! (we don't get to choose who moves us)
The last move was a nightmare, the crew didn't turn up until 2pm, they were supposed to arrive at7.30AM and when they did 2 of them were hungover and you could smell the alcohol uurrgghh!! they were replaced the next day.


If Bruce gets R&R this time next week I will be at Brize Norton waiting for his plane to land, I am really looking forward to him coming home,  even if it is only for a week..............


Other things to look forward to..... 
Jake finishes for the summer hols on 3rd July ;-))
hopefully going to see Jools Holland at Alnwick Castle
spending a week or so with No1 son
walks with Jake
sunny days
BBQ's 




The background on this blog is quite apt as I'm sure we have more books than this.............................. I get very attached to books, I find it hard to let them go, they are friends and you don't put your friends to the charity shop do you??????????

WE ARE MOVING ;-)))

Well, we are on the move again, we are going up to Northumberland, and i am a very happy bunny. We move in August when Bruce returns from sunny, sandy places. I have been sorting through cupboards, boxes, and have even ventured into the 4th dimension ( or should i say spare, spare room? ) I have sent 8 bags to the charity shop, and even more to the tip!! Though i am keeping all the books to take to Barter Books in Alnwick, a wonderful place with very very nice coffee and cookies, my idea of heaven. (well,  one of them!!)


I have found allsorts including a box of letters and 'blueys' that have been sent to and received from Bruce during tours abroad, including a very large bundle from when he was in Iraq. reading them has been a real trip down memory lane, and reading letters written by other people to him. One was from his dad saying how proud he was of ME for dealing with life on my own, it was lovely to know he thought i was doing a good job. 


I think now with email there is a lack of letter writing, so far i have only had 1 bluey from Bruce though i have written twice a week and sent parcels!!


I look forward to the summer when Jake finishes school (3rd July ) knowing i only have to make one more journey up north and that is to move up YEAH!!!! Though we/i have a lot to do before then, organise removals, change of address letters to and  for everything and everyone hand this house back, then unpack at the other end before Jake goes back to school and Bruce begins work,( that's the easy bit!!!) 


well that's it for now, I must go and start the MG ( can't drive it feet don't reach the pedals, i have to sit on the very edge of the seat to start it) what a good wife i am ;-)))))))  

Easter and the Lake District

We travelled up to Keswick on Easter Saturday, up at 6am and away at 7am, I love Keswick and if i ever win the lottery will live there.( note to self remember to buy lottery tickets!!!) The drive up was ok until just before Lancaster where there was an accident on the M6 and with that came miles long tailback, so, along with half the country was came off at Lancaster, it took nearly as long to the 50 or so miles as it did to get from Bristol!!!!!!!! but arrive we did safe and sound. 
We met the outlaws for lunch in the Skiddaw Hotel, arranged to meet for dinner, then on to our cottage-Primrose Cottage, just off the high street. It was ok, we always have the dog with us so we have a limited choice.................................
It was sufficient for our needs.                                                                                                                                               Though it did have a piece of glass above the door to the stairs

It looks like it was once a door panel or a light above the door(not sure what they are called) , what do you think? When the sun was shining through it was beautiful.  

We were soon unpacked, shopping list made and then off to Booths, the one supermarket i can get Bruce to go to of his own free will (apart from Waitrose). 

Even in the rain Keswick is wonderful, the high street and the market  are bustling, the people don't mind the rain and if they do they do a good job of hiding it!!!!!

Even when the weather is not as good as it could be Keswick is still a wonderful place.

There were a few days of rain, but we still walked, there were only low level walks until wednesday then the sun shone and up Skiddaw we went ;-)) Thursday canoe's on Derwentwater, it was while we were on the water that Bruce got the call about his flights and then the fact that he was going away hit home big style, i paddled away with tears in my eyes, Jake stayed with Bruce waiting for the call to finish. (the time of the flight was as ever at stupid o clock on the sunday night /monday morning. He would be picked up from our house at 1am monday morning.)
They caught up with me, and then we 'raced' round the island and then time to go ashore for the promised bacon roll and cup of tea (Jake's life is food orientated, and with hollow legs is never full!!!!). Then back to the cottage, shower and Jake stayed to veg out whilst Bruce and I went for a wander round the shops.

Every year we pop into George Fisher's for coffee and a date slice ( one to share).

If you are in Keswick and would like a very, very scrumptious raspberry bakewell and a cup of tea go to Temporary Measure the shop is an eclectic mix of art and wool.

Will post this now it's only taken me 2 weeks!!!  Must try harder to get my act together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, what a start to the New Year!!!!!!

Well, it was quite a hard start to the New Year, my mum was rushed into hospital with pneumonia and was not expected to last the night!! As ever Bruce was away and I had to wait for him to come home before i could go north (he had my car, i can't see over the bonnet in his) It was quite surreal driving up, it was like i was on the outside watching events happen, and there was all that snow!!! We arrived at the hospital in Halifax at midnight and parked by the main doors only to find that they were closed for the night and we had to go in via A&E a long walk round (couldn't drive a we couldn't get in to validate the parking ticket!!)

It was quite a shock to see mum in intensive care, there were so many lines going in and she was being ventilated!!! It wasn't mum, she was so thin and tiny and translucent. Being the eldest I had to make some decisions, not easy but knowing mum the best ones. Then on to Hebden Bridge, my sister was waiting for us with tea and toast, we spent a few days there and then we had to go home. For a few months we have been on a piece of elastic between Bristol, Hebden Bridge and Barnard Castle!!! Exhausting!! Worth it, mum is on the road to recovery, and is getting back to 'attilla' mode (one day i might explain!!!)

In the meantime, we have heard that Bruce is posted ( means another house move!! )

to Boulmer, a small village just outside Alnwick in Northumberland, (only 2 hours from school for Jake) this will be our 3rd time there so we know where all the essentials are. The downside is Bruce is going away for 4-5 months to sunny,sandy places, we have this coming week in the Lake District, Keswick is the only place to spend Easter, fantastic walks and the pencil museum what more can you ask for?!!

It is literally our last week together until september :-(( so i will be on my own down here :-(( with all the driving to do (though i usually do do all the driving, but i have no choice whilst Bruce is away)

There is also a chance that we could be allocated a quarter during this time and i could be moving house!!!!!!!!!!! But more likely we will move when Bruce comes home. I might actually get Jake's quilt made you never know miracles do happen;-))

Craft wise i have been knitting socks, socks and more socks, they are very portable.

I have been able to keep up on reading blogs with my iphone, and thank everyone for the escape they have given me, thank you esp to Jackie at Dog-Daisy Chains' puss for the latest post, and Helen at A Time to Dance for wonderful photos of Yorkshire.

Now must go and print off service duty for Church, not sure how i got that job....................

New Year

Well i hope you had a good Christmas and wish you a happy new year.

Christmas went well, all enjoyed the socks etc i made, extra appreciation due to the weather!!!!!

New Year was quiet, thankfully.

Jake was concerned about getting back to school, there was heavy snow here and we made the decision NOT to travel on the 6th jan as we should to get our boy back to school, as it happened it was a short delay and he was back in school for the 9th. Relief from all parties concerned!!!

Sadly my mum has been taken into hospital and is in intensive care with pneumonia, there are lots of tubes and machines and is very hard to deal with, she is not expected to survive, though there is still a bit of hope, and i will cling to that.