Monday was a bank holiday. Mark made us a lovely breakfast and it was looking to be a beautiful day weather wise.
We parked down a very nice cul-de-sac with an old chap staring furiously at us that we dare park in his quiet and lovely street. Fortunately, we were almost immediately away from those stresses as we cut straight onto the Frome valley way.
The path goes under the ring road and the M4. I have only ever joined the path after the M4 and crossed over the roads by bridge. Here the footpath goes under the roads. As beautiful as the Frome Valley Way is, passing under the bridges was some great graffiti and a fun point for taking photos.
We took a small detour up to the site of an ancient hill fort. Only some lumps in the ground now. It was such a peaceful meadow. Indeed as we came out into the open we saw a deer off to the right in the field.
We had a snack here before carrying on.
The end point we were aiming for was a quarry. It took a little while but we found a nice shady spot for lunch.
I do love the company of my TeamChallis 💕
I took some lovely pictures of Woo giggling away on the ground but she didn't want me to post them on here. It is a shame as I think they are beautiful and remind me of such a lovely moment. But she has said no, so I have to respect that.
We then started walking back, stopping for poo-sticks at every suitable point.
On such a hot day, it was nice that so much of the walk was shaded and cool.
We got home and I went straight for a shower and got to reading. I was nearly finished with my latest Ursula K Le Guin book: the Orsina book (Malafrena) and short stories and while I had enjoyed them, I had found them much more hard going than her Sci Fi and was itching to get onto something else.
Bunnykins got set up for camping, including bringing out all her guys!
I had the Tuesday off as my birthday leave from Anthesis. It was set to be another beautiful day and my plan had been that I would take the girls and go for a bike ride down to Bitton station for lunch.
I let her have the Little Moon out there with her, I'm not sure if when I took this (about 11pm) if she was asleep or still reading, but the Little Moon kept going with her.
However, Woo woke up with something irritating her eye. I couldn't see anything and we gave it a good bathe but it was still hurting her. We popped down to the pharmacy to get their opinion on whether some eye drops would help. Her eye was feeling better by then, but she didn't fancy being out on her bike.
Instead we had a crafting day with Woo doing some embroidery and then Bunnykins and I working to make a prosthetic leg for the amputee flower fairy.
We found a cocktail stirrer which was a perfect candidate for the shaft of the leg (once the flamingo had been removed).
We sat under the pergola for the whole afternoon. It was a comfy and cool place to be.
Bunnykins was having a go at bubble blowing.
This picture below reminds me of one taken years ago when she was little, it was at Granny and Grandpa's for Easter.
We got the leg finished off, much to the fairy's delight.
Woo just kept on with her embroidery, her concentration at it has really improved.
She very kindly said that I could have it for my study when it was complete.
With the hot sunny weather, the garden had burst into life. The peonies under the pergola had opened with huge crimson flowers the size of soup bowls.
I worked on Wednesday morning and had the afternoon off. With not walking Bunnykins to school I decided to just enjoy my breakfast a little longer, as I knew I needed to get started with work early. I had a 9am meeting scheduled and it would be no good to go straight into that after a long weekend. The sun was just above the utility room roof and streaming into the pergola area. The birds were singing, it was a good start to the morning.
I finished work at lunch time. The weather had turned a bit rainy. I needed to send a couple of e-mails, but then came out to the pergola to find Bunnykins there making board games for her Lottie dolls.
Mark had grabbed the tent in under the pergola, so it was a little tight for space under there.
But we still spent a lovely afternoon together. Bunnykins was full of chat about different board games.
She used hamma beads for the boards for Cluedo and Trivial Pursuit.
Then she started making the Cluedo weapons from polymer clay.
While she, I and Fraser were already getting on with playing Cluedo...
I started making dice and dominos from polymer clay and then helped out with the weapons.
My next task was to make Jenga from match sticks.
While Bunnykins decorated the dominos.
The dominos are a fully playable set. I was having a go at Jenga, but got a bit frustrated when I knocked it over...
Woo joined us with her embroidery.
I was getting a bit crafted out, which was a good juncture for Mark to bring us out some drinks and crips!
During the day we had had our fire pit delivered. Mark put it in place. This is it shown without the fire bowl. It has a resin/stone surround with a metal bowl. I think this is the spot it will live.
Thursday morning was hectic work wise. I started at 7:30am and was just frantic and non-stop to get everything thing done. I had the afternoon off again, but this time it was definitely a hard stop as I needed to take Bunnykins for a hearing test at the hospital in town. I did manage to finish in time, but it was 5 hours of GO-GO-GO!!!
She's a bit bigger now, but still loves her bubbles.
Woo came into town with us and then went off to have coffee with her friend and then a wander around the Bristol Museum.
Bunnykins and I wandered across to a different café. It was in what had used to be a public toilet! A small but beautifully tiled and finished triangular building near the university. There was no one else in there. We sat in a corner and enjoyed spotting all the old features such as the cisterns on the wall and the marks from the loo pedestals on the floor! 😄
We shared a pot of fruit tea and got a fruit flapjack and a sticky toffee cake to share. It was all lovely.
Bunnykins was very chatty and really enjoying the cake. We played a little game about "how well do you know me?" so you have to ask questions like "what is my favourite colour" and such.
Bunnykins concluded that we should come back again to that café. We left to walk up to the hospital which was up a very steep hill.
The appointment was in a completely sound proofed room which must be very odd to work in. The doctor was happy that there wasn't a problem with Bunnykin's hearing on the face of it, but we talked about some of the issues she's been having and she told us what help might be available. It was what I expected to hear anyway, as I don't think that it is a straight hearing issue.
We were seen and out really quickly. Woo was still having a nice time with her chum so Bunnykins and I had a wander up into the Royal Fort Gardens up by the University. We were having fun messing about with gifs and emojis.
I was working the full day on Friday. It was a bit of a weird week work wise, with shortened hectic days. The morning was fairly relaxed with a meeting that had been a worry that turned out OK. In the afternoon, I was going to get some client work done to help a colleague and then had an emergency drop on my lap followed by endless client requests. I managed to log off at 5:30pm and quickly got ready. I had invited over Claire, Hannah and Ben for a belated birthday get-together.
We walked back to the car to meet Woo, then went to drop off Bunnykins for a birthday sleepover at her bestie's house.
I had ordered takeaway that was first to arrive at 6:15pm, shortly followed by Hannah - we sat ravenously looking at the food before tucking into the starters!
Ben arrived, having to explain why he had brought a bottle of Lambrini! 😜...
Apparently he had gone into a store where they only had either Lambrini or Moet champagne. He panicked and went for the Lambrini. Well it made me laugh even if I didn't want to drink it.
Hannah had given me some presents when I saw her the previous weekend, but she had also ordered me some gorgeous brooches that had only just arrived. They were lovely and I really should have taken a picture!
Claire arrived and we could all get stuck in.
We chatted and chatted, it was so lovely. Mark came out to join us about 8pm. He sat joining in the chat too, then started a rogue expedition down the garden, which turned into him lighting the fire pit.
Tbh this had thrown me off a bit, especially as the fire was no good for Claire's chest, so we ended up sitting half way between for a while!! I am not great with having my plans thrown off, but at least everyone there understands my tics and foibles.
Anyway, it was a beautiful evening and I love these guys so much. We talked about how Stella was missing and it would have been great to have her with us. My lovely peeps! 💗💗💗💗💗
Saturday morning, Mark and Woo took the car off for a service and had a nice breakfast in town and a bit of a wander.
I got going out in the front garden as I wanted to get as much done before it got too hot. I replaced the planting in the pots out front. There are still the old daffodil foliage in there as it is best to leave it as long as possible, but hopefully it will soon be overwhelmed with the Mexican Fleabane and Sweet William.
I then weeded the drive and swept up. The roses are wonderful right now. The scent of the multi petaled one is like fragrant sherbet - I can't get enough of it! 😄
I brought round the plants I had removed to the back: some of the daffodils and the heather. I re-homed those plants, then fed and watered all my pots and the tomatoes. Bunnykin's guys were getting on with sunbathing now. I went to wake up Bunnykins who still had some jetlag from the Thursday sleepover.
I then had a shower, did a bit of ironing and started to hang out the washing as Mark and Woo arrived home.
I took it relatively easy for the rest of the afternoon, but I had already finished my next Ursula K Le Guin book: Lavinia and was struggling to get into anything new. I'd really enjoyed Lavinia which took a minor character from Virgil's Aeneid and wove the rest of the story around her. I could just get lost in it which is what I need from a book right now.
I had a nice breakfast out in the sun with the guys rescued from the freezer (where they go to get decontaminated of dust mites).
In the afternoon a parcel arrived with some fun stuff I had been waiting for. I had a walk out to drop off a parcel at a UPS shop and deliver a present and then came back to my favourite spot under the pergola.
In the evening we watched Rocky, which was a surprising hit with the girls.
I came back and cooked us a lovely lunch....even if I do say so myself!! It was roast potatoes (which I'm getting pretty good at!), cauliflower cheese, sweetcorn and veggie sausages. It was appreciated by all.
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