Waking up, sunset, and not really awake.

1) A lie-in – a lovely way to start the day.

2) In the evening, I sit looking out the window at the beautiful tree, gloriously robed with white blossom, and framed by an incredible sunset.

3) A child appears at the door, sleepily rubbing her eyes, and claiming she can’t sleep. Everything about her indicates she’s been deeply asleep. I put her back to bed and snuggle her back down. She’s asleep within moments.

Trains, playing, and home.

1) An early start followed by a relaxed train journey. I read and knitted and didn’t have to solve any problems or do anything else, for several hours 🙂 .

2) Excited children, reading stories, playing games, puppets, teaching knitting, cuddles, chatting, and lots of “Auntie Carolyn…” .

3) A conference call with K and the kids – their dear familiar voices, and hearing about their days.

Day off, old jeans, and going away.

1) K has a day off work, and the kids are at school. It’s great to finally get on with some stuff which has been piling up for a while.

2) To wear a pair of comfy old jeans.

3) To pack and get organised – I’m off on a wee jaunt on my own for a few days. I’ll be back on Thursday…

Evening out, Spring Fayre, and garden.

1) K and I went out for a lovely meal on Friday evening – finally using the vouchers given to us by my aunt and uncle as a Christmas present. We enjoyed a delicious meal, and then a lovely walk through the streets and alleyways of Edinburgh.

2) We went to the Spring Fayre at my parent’s church yesterday. A fun afternoon, with a barbeque, and fresh doughnuts, face painting, bouncy castle, books and plants, and delicious afternoon tea. Then we came home and gardened.

3) Another afternoon spent in the garden. We’ve weeded, and put in drainage, spread bark, and slug pellets, planted shrubs, and planted seeds. We’ve swept, and watered, and thought and planned. The garden looks a much happier place now!

Blossom, it’s okay, and growing up.

1) A friend took me on one of her favourite walks this morning: “… and you should see this avenue when the trees are in blossom…”, she enthused, as she led me by a blossom-tree-lined avenue, just before the trees burst into flower. I’m very tempted to drive back over in a few days time, just to see the trees.

2)  Being able to reassure my dad that, contrary to what he’d heard (having been out of the UK for the last four days), the weather forecast was not for it to be 4degC tomorrow, but a sunny 12degC instead!

3) My wee boy is growing up, becoming a young man before my very eyes, but he still occasionally says or does things which amuse. Tonight one such conversation occurred and, while part of me would love to tell you about it, I’m not going to – occasionally he reads what I write here, and I would hate for him to feel embarrassed!

So instead, I’ll tell you about something he did. If you read my post yesterday, you will know that he carefully weeded one of the two raised vegetable beds. As soon as he got home from school this afternoon, with no further prompting from me, he went straight out (before he’d even had afternoon tea) and completely cleared the other one too!!  Well, I say completely, but really one tiny silver beet plant had struggled through from last year, and he left that, carefully surrounded by spikes (to stop the cats sitting on it).

Cycling, home again, and wet feet.

1) The kids went out bike-riding yesterday morning. Just after they left, it started to pour with rain. They stayed out though, for a good while longer, getting wet, but having fun.

2) My parents came back from holiday last night. I picked them up from the airport, and then we cooked dinner for them at their place. It’s lovely to have them home again!

3) The little girl submitted to having her shoes tied on for her. Afterwards, she went into the hall and promptly took them off again. Before anyone else realised she ran off outside straight onto the wet grass, in her socks.

Caravan, thanks, and afternoon.

1) We had a lovely afternoon visiting friends at their caravan.  The kids had a fab time exploring all the nooks and crannies and cool features of the caravan – come to think of it, it was probably the first time they’ve been in one, so very exciting!

2) K and I gave the children’s talk at church this morning. When preparing, we’d done our best to keep it short and simple. So many people came up to us afterwards to express their appreciation of it :-).  At least we know the adults got the point… and we can relax for another year!

3) To spend a rainy Sunday afternoon, curled up on the sofa, drinking tea, knitting, and watching the BBC2 documentary Pride and Prejudice: Having a Ball – it was fascinating stuff!

Inspired, compliment, and calm.

1) I discovered this morning that the pattern they used to make an A-line skirt in the Great British Sewing Bee is the very one I have earmarked for making a couple of summer skirts. I found the material I’d bought for that very purpose, and went out and bought the zippers and thread I need, so now I’m all set…

2) While I was saying good night to the kids, A suddenly pipes up with “that red top really suits you Mummy!” 🙂 .

3) K and I sat down for dinner, just the two of us. It’s ages since we last had time to do this – I have a real sense of life calming down a little.  (Probably the calm before the storm of May/June, right enough, but I’m enjoying it while it lasts!)

Breakfast, present, and frogging.

1) As a treat, we decided to meet for breakfast, rather than coffee. Freshly scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast. Good friend, good food, good start to the day.

2) My Dad had requested a very specific present for his birthday. I went shopping today, and found precisely what I was looking for 🙂 . So nice to just walk in to the shop, find the ideal gift, and walk out again.

3) Last night, I frogged the cardi I’d started knitting for M. The edge just didn’t look right and I wasn’t at all happy with it. I spent some time on the internet figuring out how to get the edge right, practised it, and then pulled the whole thing off the needles, and rewound my yarn.

Today, I cast-on again and began to knit. This time the edge is looking lovely – I’m much happier now 🙂 .

Take-in, home, and bed.

1) Mum called and asked if I wanted to bring M over so that she could teach her how to make M’s favourite dinner – beef olives.  We did so, and came home bringing dinner with us 🙂 .

2) A day filled with busyness, meetings, and appointments. To arrive home from the last meeting, and sit down and relax.

3) My laptop had been hijacked while I was out at my evening meeting, so I couldn’t blog (or do any of the other distractions I would have done while the computer was on). I went to bed instead 🙂 .