1) For the first time in a while I sat down to read some blogs. Most of them made me smile. Thank you!
2) In a return to routine, my friend and I headed out for a walk this afternoon. Our topic of conversation was not the happiest, but it was good to spend some time chatting, and being there for each other.
3) As I was out replenishing the bird feeder, I noticed that some bees were enjoying our garden…
Bees in the garden
1) The kids and I had a lovely relaxed start to the morning – holidays are good 🙂 .
2) I put a video (yes, you read that right – a video!) in the player and was impressed to find it just worked – the player hasn’t been used in a couple of years. M was particularly confused by this strange object, and I had to explain about how fast-forward and rewind used to work in the past! (We were watching Anne of Green Gables, in case you’re interested!)
3) To sit out on the deck and linger over dinner with a friend. When the evening light fades at last, we’re glad to head inside to the warmth.
1) To remember to grab my headphones before leaving the house. Once I’d taken the kids to school I set off, listening to music as I walked along. It was exactly the start to the day I needed.
2) To go outside and check out on the vegetable bed and see the rows of green shoots poking through the soil – so much has come through during the few days we were away.
3) a) To listen to the three children in the back seat of the car happily chatting away about various school happenings, on the way home from M’s Dancing Display.
b) On the way to bed, A mentioned something about this year’s school Prize Giving. I explained that, as invitations are only issued to prize winners and we hadn’t received any notification that he’d won a prize this year, we had made no plans to attend. He looked confused for a moment and then explained he had won a prize*, and went on to produce a somewhat crumpled letter from the bottom of his school bag…
I’m just glad he remembered tonight, given that the Prize Giving is tomorrow evening! Thankfully K is able to go – M and I will be at the second night of the Dancing Display.
* For those interested, we are not told what the prize is until during the event.
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!
1) After the P3 Open Afternoon, K and I descended the stairs and were once again struck by the stunning views from the school stairwell. We paused for a moment and enjoyed the view.
2) The kids and I did some gardening after school. A did an amazing job of clearing one of the raised vegetable beds of weeds, M carefully trimmed dead stalks off lots of plants, and I potted up a bunch of geraniums, pansies, violas, and a couple of hanging baskets 🙂 . The garden feels like it’s bursting with colour now.
3) We’d run out of runny honey, a fact I hadn’t realised before I’d started cooking dinner – poached chicken with a lemon sauce. I substituted maple syrup for the honey, and the result was a resounding success, with a depth of flavour that dish has never had before.
1) It actually feels warm as we walk to school this morning.
2) K’s parting shot as he left the house this evening was to ask if I was remembering that he has next Monday off. I wasn’t. His company has its main office down south, so they get English bank holidays. The kids will be in school, and we’ll have a day to ourselves 🙂 .
3) There’s a large patch of mossy grass in our back garden (the price we’re paying for letting the kids play on the snowy grass in winter!). Tonight, I took the rake to it, and raked up as much as I could. It looks muddy, and I’m sore, but at least the grass has room to grow!
1) It was the P3 school assembly this morning. M was happy and excited, and smiled for the entire performance!
2) It’s the time of year when our “Flaming Silver” Pieris comes into its own, with its brilliant red and lime green foliage.
3) a) The point during my zumba class when I realised that I, at last, know most of the steps.
b) My zumba instructor wore black combat trousers. However, the pockets had been overstitched with bright yellow thread, and each pocket had a different coloured button on it.
1) To potter around the garden centre, selecting plants and flowers to brighten up the garden.
2) I turn the engine off and sit in the driveway for a moment or two, enjoying the momentary silence, which is quickly broken by birdsong so loud I can hear it through the closed doors.
3) K and I walk around the garden, figuring out how to resolve the damage from the winter, what needs to be done next, and planning a few changes.
1) I discovered two new paths on my walk this morning. I’m saving them up though, to explore with K and the kids.
2) Gardens are beginning to burst with colour – even the daffodils at the bottom of our garden, always the last of the daffodils to come through, are nearly unfurled. As I drove into town, there were great golden banks of daffodils everywhere I looked.
3) Sitting knitting quietly in a corner of the changing room while M was in her ballet class, I listened as the conversation ebbed and flowed around me. A little girl’s birthday party was being planned. A one-year old had just celebrated his first birthday. Photos were shared. Presents described. Discussion about the forthcoming dancing display. A game of I-spy, and Simon Says, played with a soon-to-be five year old.
1) Tea and toast (and fruit juice). One of the best starts to the day 🙂 .
2) Both the kids wrapped up warm and went out to help K begin to shift the one cubic metre of play bark (delivered on Monday) from the front to the back garden. I made the dinner (and washed the dirty clothes afterwards!).
3) After weeks of not finding a time we were both available, my friend and I were both free the same week, and I gave in to persuasion and went to Zumba for the first time ever… Twenty minutes in, I remember asking her how long the class lasted. The answer was one hour. Hmm. The next time I looked at the clock however, it was thirty minutes later, and we were just about to start the cooling-off phase. I found the class itself a lot of fun, and was pleasantly surprised by my aerobic fitness. I have a feeling I’ll have a few achey muscles over the next couple of days though…