Christmas Holidays #sundaysevens, week 2

 

After all the Christmas feasting we were desperate for some fresh air by Sunday, so we headed out to our local NT property: Dunham Massey, to blow the cobwebs away. On Monday my in laws came to stay and we headed off to The Lowry Theatre in Salford to watch a fun, family production of Jacqueline Wilson’s Hetty Feather (still on this week if you fancy it), with lots of acrobatics and circus skills to keep the monkeys entertained.

By Tuesday we were thoroughly fed up of the endless catering so took everyone to our new, local cafe for breakfast. It was more theatre on Wednesday, this time with just the kids to see a production of Roald Dahl’s The BFG at The Bolton Octagon. We took the girls from school to see this in the last week of term, and I couldn’t resist going back with my own children. They loved it! Can’t wait for the new film out later this year.

I managed a quick bit of gardening before friends arrived to celebrate NYE on Thursday with us. I often feel overwhelmed by our garden, but just refreshing the contents of these pots by our front door made me feel I was adding a bit of much needed colour. We headed over to a neighbour’s house on NYD, so starting my dry January as I mean to go on I took this…

And finally we headed over the Pennines to stay with friends in Ilkly on Saturday afternoon, taking careful note of the turning for Dewsbury on the way 🙂 I’m not sure the photo does it justice, but the Ilkly Christmas lights were very pretty, despite the rain and fog on the way over.

So that’s it: holidays over! I’ve spent the afternoon marking and preparing lessons for the week ahead, ugh! But it’s been a fun, incredibly busy break and I’m almost looking forward to a bit of normality, and a whole lot less cake this week! Well, almost… 😉

See you at half term!

Teresa

X.

Head over to Nat’s site Threads and Bobbins for more details of how to join in #sundaysevens.

 

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Christmas Holidays #sundaysevens

 

Happy Christmas holidays everyone! Hope everyone enjoyed a lovely festive couple of days, without too much of a mince pie or mulled wine- induced hangover…

Whilst I think I’d find it impossible to keep up with a weekly #sundaysevens, I always enjoy joining in every school holiday. Head over to Nat’s site at Threads and Bobbins to find out more about Sunday sevens, a weekly, photo diary celebrating the smaller things in life 🙂

On Sunday I enjoyed some Christmas crafting with the monkies. My daughter particularly enjoyed making this Santa from an old kit that came free with a magazine some time ago. Nice to see him finally come to life. On Monday I nipped out to the local supermarket for a few bits and pieces, and couldn’t resist these festive tights for her either.

Both monkies enjoyed a little more Christmas crafting on Tuesday, making one of these mobiles each (a bargain at just £1 each from Book Sale) as well as some paper garlands to decorate our kitchen. By Wednesday I was itching to get a bit of sewing done, so embarked on these simple, lavender bags to include in some family presents.

On Christmas Eve the monkies and I escaped the mayhem (leaving husband to wrap up the presents and to enjoy a rare bit of peace and quiet) to see a fantastic production of Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart at the relatively new theatre and arts centre Home in Manchester. A copy of said book might have found its way into my son’s stocking.

And no prizes for which present I might have reached for first from under the tree on Christmas morning … 😉 Will post about later in the week, but suffice to say it was worth the wait. Thank you #stitchingsanta!

Boxing Day left us desperate for some fresh air, so we headed off to a local park. Although we luckily escaped any flooding here in South Manchester, there were plenty of puddles for the monkies to jump over on the way. The factory where my husband works over Bolton-way hasn’t quite come off so luckily: it’s currently under two foot of water! My thoughts and best wishes go out to anyone else who’s in the painful process of clearing up, yet again.

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Holiday #sundaysevens, Week 7

The last week of the Summer holidays, sigh! It was about time I got some prep work done for school, so I forced myself to do a couple of hours reading/research/planning each morning after breakfast, getting up a bit earlier to prepare for the imminent return of normality… However this did still leave the afternoons free and I tried to make the most of the last, chilled week of the Summer with the monkeys  🙂

On Monday we took a stroll around our local neighbourhood on the way to a nearby park. We had fun noticing the first signs of Autumn fast approaching. No beautiful, autumnal, leaf displays yet Del, but they’re a-coming…

We had a lovely, surprise text from our neighbour while we were out and about on Tuesday, saying that she’d forgotten to cancel her ‘Hello Fresh‘ order having gone away for a few days (organic ingredients and recipes delivered to your doorstep for a number of pre-selected meals). It was on her doorstep if we wanted to claim it? Yes please! My husband was delighted to find me preparing beef and chorizo hamburgers when he arrived home (I’ve been cooking mostly vegan stuff the entire Summer), especially as it was his birthday. We hid the packaging for a while, but he found it eventually and the real reason for the treat became apparant… Still, got some brownie points: bottle of wine at the ready for my neighbour’s return 😉

On Wednesday we met up with some friends at Lyme Park, the NT property where Pride and Prejudice was filmed. No handsome men emerging from lakes unfortunately, but the monkeys had a great runaround and built a very impressive den.

On Thursday I forced myself to shorten not one, not two, but three pairs of trousers. One of which had patiently been waiting for well over a year… Better late than never I guess! Anyone else put boring sewing tasks like this off forever?

On Friday we met my parents at Chester Zoo. It’s really near my parents’ house so they buy the monkeys annual passes every Christmas. The photo is the original, founder’s house, as featured in the recent television series ‘Our Zoo‘ if you live in the UK.

Whilst shopping with my daughter on Saturday I happily discovered that not only had I completed my Waterstones stamp card, earning myself a free £10 off, my loyalty card also had £8 clocked up on it. It would have rude not to have stocked up on a few paperbacks. I can always justify spending on new books by virtue of being an English teacher… It’s vital I keep up-to-date! 😉

On Sunday I finally got round to planting up these pansies my Mum had given me to spruce up some pots. They’d been reduced to next to nothing as they were past their best, but Mum advised plenty of water and they’ll be as right as rain again. I’m not totally convinced, but they still look a lot better than the weeds that were previously occupying said pots…

We have a bank holiday here in the UK tomorrow, so the holidays not quite over yet 🙂 Hope everyone else has been making the most of the last few weeks of Summer,

Teresa

x.

#sundaysevens is a weekly round up of the smaller events of each week that wouldn’t otherwise merit a post of their own. Hop over to Nat’s site, here, for more details and how to join in yourself. I will one day get round to uploading the button…