Tea Perhaps?

I've had some very good luck recently.  While working through our laundry pile I found some old unused, long forgotten vouchers for our favourite hotel in Aberdeen.

We went there for Valentines weekend last year and had so much fun.

We hung out in the drawing room reading papers and drinking tea.  We walked around the grounds, came back again and sat down to drink yet more tea.

We sat in the lounge and spoke to the First Minister (only for a short while mind).

We spent so much time just chatting to each other.

We ate nice meals and rested...away from any stress...

and when we came home we felt better and planned for our next trip, we told everyone how much fun we had and that Christmas we got some vouchers to go back....that is until they got lost in the move...

UNTIL NOW....!

Some tea and cake perhaps?

Little Friends

The sun is extraordinarily sunny. The breeze is deliciously warm and sweet and I am so looking forward to the weekend. We’ve had seven weeks of sunshine and it’s just so wonderful to wake up to a clear blue sky. The garden has never been so used and I have been spending plenty of time laying on the grass reading my books.

The Husband loves the bigger garden for all of the ‘man jobs’ he can do out there and is in the process of making a garden bench from an old bed. Daisy Dog has also been spending her time luxuriously propped on an old duvet that we’ve dragged onto the patio where the sun spends most of the day. She intermittently wonders back into the house to cool off, but it’s so sweet to see another little soul doing what I wish I could do.

On a wee bit of a sadder note we are having our friends little girl to stay for the weekend as her parents are separating and need to get on with some of the stuff that just needs to get done. It is very lovely that we can take care of her for a little while or give her some TLC when she is down, but we know that there is an awful lot that must be going on in her head. We know that we can’t make the world a better place all at once, but we can make the little part of the world we inhabit better by trying to make lots of tiny little changes.

So, although I can’t give her what she wants the most, I can give her a bit of a break from thinking about what’s been pulling her down.

A little of what you need

Saturday was one of those perfect days.  Not because it is actually perfect, but because you feel it is perfect deep, deep down inside.  It was one of those days that the sun was shining, we actually got out of the house and everything seemed to be going well-I needed a day like that.  You couldn’t ever put your finger on it, you knew that it wasn’t just because there was a farmers market in town.  I knew I didn’t feel that way because I got to go on a big walk with Daisy Dog. It wasn’t just because we made a fuss and had a yummy tea.  It wasn’t just down to the fact we added to the wood pile.  It was exactly what we needed, and that alone had the power to heal.

I hope you had a great weekend, we're in the middle of the week now, not long to go until the next one!

All work and no play.....

Its grey, dark and gloomy outside, but I’m off again tomorrow so it can’t bother me. TH is very ill with the flu (its not even pretend this time!) so I have been getting lifts into work, which has been a godsend. Unfortunately (or possibly luckily) this means I get into work at 6.30 and don’t arrive home for another 12 hours. I have quickly ‘banked’ enough hours for a day off, and I think I’d really rather take it while TH is poorly and needs a bit of looking after, rather than saving it for later.


It means I can catch up on a Mothers Day make and get the house nice and tidy as it’s obviously really slipped with poor TH being in bed all night and day. I hate it when the house doesn’t look welcoming or cosy. I would never ever want to be the sort of person that couldn’t have people round because the house isn’t nice. It has to be either tidy ‘enough’ with good friends and too much tea and cake so they don’t notice or just pile it all in another room if the only options are mess or friends. I am house proud to the extent that things are clean, but I don’t spend all day scrubbing. I would rather spend my time re-arranging some flowers or organising a book shelf. Sometimes I can spend ages organising guest soaps in a room and utterly overlook bed linen needing to be put back on a stripped bed. So tomorrow I will take care of The Husband, I will have time to make the cookies for my Mum and decorate the little lavender sachets for Mothers Day, I will get the house back into order and I will do this all in my own time. Never has a prospect been more exciting.

Snowy Weekends and Kitchen Plans

The radio this morning told me that more snow was coming, well actually, that “blizzards are to batter the North East.” We were also told to phone in when we saw the first flakes, and were reminded that the other end of the country has a red warning. I wanted to reply that yes snow can be disruptive, it can be dangerous, and it can be a pest, but we are not children that need to be told to wear our mittens, and not go out at play time. Surely this is not the way it has always been? Surely people actually kept calm and carried on instead of screeching it at the top of their voices from their car as they over take you on a bend in a snow storm? “Oh dear, the roads are bad, I must rush home as fast as I can to be safe!!”
This weekend I intend to be inside, safe and warm. I will toast crumpets and keep toasty. I will read specific chapters of books that contain any reference to snow. I have already started to re-read The Wind in the Willows, one of my favourite books, even if it is aimed at little ones.


TH is making a loaf and we will gorge on soup and warm bread this weekend. I would love to get into the kitchen and start the baking I always promise myself I will make time for. I would like to pull all of the things I need to make marmalade together and use the kitchen I fell in love with when we first saw the property. The garden needs work, but it will be hidden in a whirl of flakes, and I don’t believe you can be cross with a warm tummy full of good things.

The Snow, The Snow

Thick luscious flakes slowly float down onto the car, the garden and the trees in the field. The hills just beyond the garden fence have disappeared behind a screen of snow.

The journey to work is slow and cautious. The country roads are kind to us and we manoeuvre our way through them.

Once I’m in work I find that the big road into work has tail backs with people waiting over two hours to move less than a mile up a treacherous hill. That’s the way we need to go home…

At work I am constantly distracted by fakes falling on the Georgian sash window panes. I look onto a building made with solid granite, sturdy and strong, with rock that never changes. Its turrets are now softened by the dusting. I can see down the hill at work to the other side of town, everything is soft and beautiful. Brighter and more serine, it is impossible to rush in the snow.

I stare out of the window and speak consistently of the snowfall until I am told that I must head home. Worries have been voiced since the break of dawn that we will all be trapped in cars on the roadside-it has never come to this and doubt it will, but the thoughts of everyone are already at their fireside.

The Husband comes to collect me and we trundle through town, down the carriage-way and onto the country paths which lead us home. As soon as our boots hit the drive we are home.

We are home and can put the kettle on, we are home and light a fire, we set the table, we eat our tea and we talk. We are home, and this is ours and we had better make the best of it. It is cold outside and I know how lucky we are to be here.

November is…

November is for hot pots and slow cookers, it is for roasts after long walks and good warm filling soups. November is for looking out of the window and seeing harsh frost and rain.

November is for Remembrance Day, Guy Fawkes Night, and when I will stir up the Christmas cake. For me it is also when the girls in the family are heading to Edinburgh for some Christmas shopping.

November is for wearing two coats and scarves, big hats and boots for stomping around the countryside to tire the dog and stay warm. It is for jumpers. Jumpers of cable knit and snug soft materials. It is for finding sparkle for parties. Glittering and sequined garments which will shimmer and dazzle in the fairy lights.

November is for being surrounded by books, cushions and mugs of hot cocoa.

 It is for visits to the library and books bags overflowing with recently requested items full of ideas for Christmas bakes and makes.

November is for throws and eiderdowns, porridge for breakfast and travel mugs for the long journey to work. 

November is for long nights spent watching period dramas, for playing scrabble and finding Christmas movies at the weekend with warm fresh popcorn.  November is for squirreling away presents and hiding them in a new location each and every weekend.

My October

October is wonderful and if put into list form in my head (which I invariably do) you’d find it above March, which is The Husbands Birthday month and May, which is my own. You’d find it above all months and it would reign supreme, even above February which has Valentines Day, because October is the loveliest of months being the anniversary of our wedding day.

In October 2008 we wed on a particularly windy day. Bells were rung and toasts made and four years down the line we still love the look and feel of Autumn and are very glad that we made our wedding day right in the middle of it.

This October is different from the last as 2011 was full of trips away for TH, searches for a new job and a bit of uncertainty. The whole family has made similar comments at differing times after contemplation and we have all mentioned how last year we weren’t very festive. We didn’t do anything for Halloween, Bonfire Night, St Andrews Day or much in the run up to Christmas. This year is and will be very different and we have truly been blessed so far. Even with renewed energy to overcome anything in the future if things get hectic again.

This October we all feel like we are seeing things for the first time. We are having a small Halloween get together with some friends, and a joint Bonfire and Birthday Party at the beginning of next month. I have looked out the half finished Christmas projects of last year and I’m planning to use these to get ahead with some pretty home made decorations. (Although we may be moving we can still tinsel up the boxes!)

This October is wonderful because we have already been taking full advantage of the weather staying so calm for so long with very little exception. The nights get dark but TH and I are keen to head out directly after work to kick leaves and collect conkers not nibbled by squirrels.

The dark nights make me want to root around to the back of the cupboard for the slow cooker, I want roasts, I want crumble, I want s’mores!

So that’s our October, the very little plans that I have put here, but you know what? I'm so at peace. I believe that I have had time to rest, recuperate and start a fresh.

The Weekend Part 2

The last couple of weekends have been utterly perfect. The first few in January were full of trips and brekkers in the little town. We visited friends and were visited. Guests came and were entertained, big, family dishes were cooked and cakes baked. February started as more of the same and then this last weekend was utter perfection. The Valentines Escape with TH was so lovely, so magical and so different from anything we’ve done before it couldn’t help but be special.


This coming weekend is going to be different from all of those and very difficult. This year’s resolution was to DO THINGS. It’s easy when your loved ones are close to you, but The Husband is heading away this weekend, and whenever he goes I miss him more than words can say.

So this weekend I will be brave, I will stick to my resolution, and I will do things. I will keep happy and busy and not let it slip away just because I could end up disappointed with being a bit lonely. You never know I could end up enjoying myself a great deal-slathered in a face mask watching chick flicks!

Valentines Escape

What a busy and most exciting weekend!

Upon finishing work on Friday I was picked up by TH and taken away to a lovely five star luxury hotel. The Marcliffe at Pitfodels is such a real treat to go to, and I’ve never, ever been to anywhere like it. We had such a spacious suite and a beautiful view out over the hills, fields and river Dee. We had fizz on arrival, fruit and chocolates from The Highland Chocolatier.

I spent the first hour wondering around and sitting down every so often to try and take it in, knowing fine well the weekend would pass in a flash-as it has done.  Spying the First Minister, taking tea in the drawing room and looking at the art work and floral displays took up much more time than I ever thought it would!

We went out after unpacking (i was much too concerned for my new silk dress and its scrunched up arrival in my over night bag), and headed straight into town to get some nice food and catch a movie.  When we came back we lounged around for a while and then headed for bed as i was constantly going on about making the most of our time there!

The next day we got up and had brekkers in the conservatory, and then took tea in the drawing room before going out to one of our favourite antique shops on Royal Deeside.  We headed back again for High Tea and then i nipped upstairs for a little nap before we had supper in the big conservatory.

It was the loveliest trip i have ever been on.  I have never been to anywhere so fancy and loved every single minute of it.  Unfortunately the trade off was that TH took me there to celebrate Valentines day, but also to keep me reminded of our trip while he heads away for a little while with work.  It was, however, a wonderful weekend and will never, ever, ever be forgotten!

These weekends Part One

I've decided to try and be good. I want to get out more and do more. I don't want to waste my time doing mundane tasks and boring old jobs. I want to get out and walk, visit and have adventures.

 

Yes, great big exciting adventures would be great, but who really can expect to (have the energy to) have them every single weekend?  Ever since reading The Wonderful Weekend Book i have always meant to do something over the weekend, and not just use it as an extension of the working week. 

Since giving up working over the weekend, i really can do all of the lovely things i have been meaning to.

From walking around my local town, where all of these pictures were taken) to spending time in the garden, or at the Farmers Market in The Big Town.

 I want to be able to say i did something, no matter how small, i want to know that i have many, many useful and fun weekends to look forward to in a year...I'm bored with using them as chore days, I'm going out!

The Weekend

I blogged a wee while ago about a book I loved called The Wonderful Weekend Book. I still think its great and unlike fictional works, I read non-fiction more than once and keep their battered copies on the bookshelf. Over Christmas I read this one, starting and finishing in no particular place and going through the whole book.

Last year my resolution was to lose weight. I managed to lose four stone, but didn’t keep a track of it the way I wished I had. I guess when it comes to weight you either get to do a big post about how wonderful you’ve done… Or you end up having to do posts which feature beautiful descriptions of cakes, but you do have to add in that you haven’t lost what you hoped you would that week!

The up-side of my resolution last year was that its made me healthier. I was always one for long walks, but I ate so badly, now I have to admit that I'm quite proud of what I put into my body and I feel miles better because of it. There is still a little way to go, but the important thing is that I’ve got a good habit now.

That takes me nicely onto this years resolution. I haven’t blogged about it so far, but I have been doing it. This year I want to DO something in the weekend. Just like the Elspeth Thomson book I love so much. It should be easier for me to keep up blogging about it, and it makes me feel good when I achieve something, no matter how small, in the weekend. I need to catch up and start getting back into the bloggy swing, but I can’t wait to share our tiny little mini-advantures!