Yay... Mr BT engineer fixed it....!

In fact Mr BT Engineer was lovely.... mind you I am very nosey and chatted away about everything and anything while he worked.... we got a new junction box and a completely new line to the telegraph pole... which will hopefully make our phone and Internet not cut out when it either rains or gets windy...! ;D

Perhaps not blowing a fuse when Jamie announced that the football boots and shin pads we had just bought and she promptly left in the trolley outside Matalan never to be seen again was paid back to me by karma sending me a soon to be retiring BT engineer that is really fed up with the way BT are treating their staff! I am annoyed that they are forcing them to change their contracts to something that suits the company and has little regard for the staff (seems to be a common trend in all large companies) but yay for him being super efficient and doing a fantastic job...

Mini swap
Anyhoo.... I have been chatting to Lisa Ridgeon online and she kinda asked and I sorta offered to make her a gecko or two and it ended up being a swap... for 2 of her fabulous felt treats... I told her my plan to sew the Jammie dodger onto a bulldog clip so that I can keep all of Jamie's school notes and letters in one place so that I might find information when I need it.... and she thought it was a fab idea and in return for her using the idea she kindly sent me the felt goodies already attached to the clips... and I have to say she has done a much more professional job of it than I ever could...

her hand stitching is remarkable...

Lisa kindly sent this Jaffa cake for Danny's Pre-school notes...

And to finish it off at the back a lovely button....
Thank you Lisa, I think I came off the better here in this little swap...

by the way the real Jammie dodgers are a perfect size for popping in your mouth! even Danny has had a few... mind you he first wanted to eat the Jaffa cake... took me ages to get him to believe me that it wasn't real... ;D

Beach Hut round up....

On asking "Danny, are you cold? do you want your jacket?" this was the response...

This is the response when you turn a camera on a maturing 11 year old
.... go on Jamie suck it in... pose a little.... that's my girl! ;D
I think if we lived right on the coast she would really suit being a beach bum tom boy!
We had a lovely week... we didn't pop down as much as I had hoped as the road down from Yeovil to Lyme Regis was really quite tiring... and parking once there was horrendous... I booked the hut for 2 weeks but this last week I was hoping that Danny and I could pop down in the afternoons but unfortunately Jamie didn't get a seat on the school bus and as its not her catchment school they apparently don't have to provide one...
My week days are now:
8:20 everyone in the car
8:50 drop Jamie at school
9:30 drop Danny at pre-school
10:00 home
12:10 leave to pick up Danny
12:30 Pick up Danny
1:00 home
3:00 leave to pick up Jamie
3:30 pick up Jamie
4:00 get home cook tea....
needless to say a crochet project almost permanently lives in my car with me... thank goodness its so portable.. ;D

Giveaway time...

On the 1st of September all the names were written on paper and placed into the jug I found in mums cupboard... I really love the old enamel wares...
Jamie delved in and pulled out

Pink Fairy Gran

then Danny said "hey what about me!?"

so he delved his little hand into the jug and pulled out

Lisa Ridgeon

I managed to contact both people via email... before it got too windy and wet and Internet was lost... So I apologise for keeping you in suspense and big hugs to all that didn't have the luck of the draw... this time!

Well I am starting to get back into a routine and I am being hounded to give local tuition to ladies eager to learn to crochet... if the parish councillor who nabbed me in the village shop yesterday organises the mornings at the village hall I will gladly attend and give anyone who asks as much help as I can... but I really can't take on organising the venue, refreshments and money...

I am desperately trying to take a back seat but the people in front of me keep moving their chairs behind mine...

Well I had better get on with the washing up and make some mid morning snacks...
I have apples to pick, a crumble to make.. and a friends lawn to mow and some pruning and garden tidying to do... A PTA fun day to organise (even though I no longer have a child at the school...) but I will be standing down in October at the AGM... and a graffiti wall to organise for a youth event in October... I am so glad I am slowing down and taking it easy! lol ;D
Its starting to feel very Autumnal, my thoughts are turning to pumpkins and all the new recipes I have found for warming you up on a chilly evening...

I must get the chimney swept too and fill up the coal bunker.... and ...... I mustn't forget to..........


x
Alex

Its my birthday....
as a rule my birthdays are flat and a little boring.... that's nothing to do with Mr P and the children its just that I haven't found a nice way that I would like to spend it....

until this year!

I ordered a cake from Emily at the cake house, she has just started doing cakes to order and she made and decorated a beautiful cake for my mum and dads golden wedding, as her mum runs a little cake stall at the village cafe my mum paid for thecake on Thursday as part of my birthday present, thank you mum!

I asked for a daisy cake and its a vanilla cake with jam and butter cream icing...
it will be cut later when Mr P's mum and dad get here for afternoon tea...

On Friday I received a parcel in the post from Denise (a bun can dance) we have become good friends since the Seaside swap and have a chat every now and again...
I decided (after a lot of humming and haring) to take my surprise parcel to the beach hut today....
so you can see its contents later in this post....

Welcome to our beach hut holiday, this is the hut I have rented for 2 weeks, unfortunately I don't think I will be able to use it very much after the bank holiday as Jamie didn't get a place on the school bus and I will have to drive her to and from school from Wednesday 2nd September onwards... there was only 1 place available on the bus and the other lady in the village works and would have really struggled to get her daughter the 11 miles to school so I asked the County council to give the place to her... maybe one will become available eventually...

anyway back to birthday fun...
We took the cake down to the beach hut this morning, thinking that we would have a slice with a cuppa, but as we had to be home in time to let the dog out and be here for the in laws we ended up settling in having some dinner and coming home again...

This is the view towards the Cobb.... apparently as its quite a rocky beach not many people come down this end.... which is absolutely perfect as far as I am concerned... very peaceful

This is the view from inside the hut...

My darling (long term) fiancee bought me a fantastic card and Jamie chose two matching cards from her and Daniel....

and Denise's fantastic gift was this beautiful bag.... isn't it amazing.... I have filled it with my Cotton yarn all ready for making more Regis dogs...

Sat next to the bag is a "Boofle" bear, he's a little knitted bear that is the same character as on the cards... I am so chuffed as its really connected to my love of yarn and its the first cuddly anything that Mr P has ever bought me....
Jamie gave me a necklace with a Peridot heart pendant, and Daniel gave me a pair of matching earings.... I love the green of Peridot... One day I will commission a ring with all our birthstones.. perhaps it will be my wedding ring ;D

Denise's fab bag!

Jamie and Danny watching the sea go out...

Looking to the right from the beach hut deck...

All next weeks projects ready to go...

We had to pack up and come home at 1pm, it takes about 55 minutes to get there tomorrow we are taking the dog down as its a fairly quiet beach and Smudge will love watching the world go by from the deck.... and we aim to go rock pooling as well...

When I got home there was a note from the postman saying there was a parcel in the shed... ooohhh how exciting another gift!

It was from Nicola (smilernpb) I got to know Nicola when I did the freestyle swap, and I had already received a lovely birthday text message while I was at the beach... we often chat via email too.... I am so amazed that you can really make such good friends via the Internet...

Look at this selection of lovelies... back along I saw her lovely owls on her blog and I secretly wished she'd make me one and she has... and a fab badge to match it... I think I will pop the badge onto my lovely bag from Denise... the owl is so cute I think he will live with Boofle to remind me of my best birthday in longer than I can remember...
Nicola made me a beautiful card, and sent a notebook, yummy chocolates and a cross stitch bookmark...

Her lovely children sent me their own birthday wishes too...

Thank you so much...

Its 4pm and Mum and Dad P will be here soon.... Mr P is clearing up the yard so that we can sit outside, and I had better get the tea things ready....

I am having a fabulous day....
and we will have a full day at the beach tomorrow!

It is indeed a Happy Birthday!

take care
Alex
x