I thought I would start up the holiblog series again, for this summer.
Here is how I have spent the later part of July, since the summer holidays began.
It’s been a fun start.
H a pp y โข H o li da ys โข
Saturday 17th July 2021
Out for a sunny walk, near our flat. We discovered a new part of the park.
Sunday 18th July 2021
Big Kids
๐
Moooooo
Fun at Alton Water enjoying the sunshine, mini golf, walking and ice cream.
Monday 19th July 2021
Breakfast with my friend Gemma & her boys.
Tues 20th July 2021
๐
Snacks!
The cinema really started to fill up
The boys first visit to our flat in over a year and a half ๐
Wed 21st July 2021
Summer Reading Challenge
Sharing stories
Reading
๐
The start of my Summer Reading Challenge Volunteering. Signing up these guys and meeting for lunch at the bakery.
Hot Dog Party ๐๐ญ
Sat 25th July 2021
Coffee and a book
Sushi ๐
A chilled out Saturday. A bit of me time.
Mon 26th July 2021
Walking on the Heath
Lunch ๐ฝ
Meeting up with Dan, a long walk followed by lunch.
Tues 27th July 2021
Wolves Wood
Walkinga
I made a friend ๐ธ
A walk in the woods together, followed by Arts & Crafts with Evie and lunch at Sainsburys with Charlotte.Painting at Pennikity Pots with my friend Steph and her boys.
Wed 28th July 2021
Summer Reading challenge week 2
The Waterfront
Dinner at the Bistro with Louise, Kerry & Rach.
Sat 31st July 2021
The boys first sleepover in over a year and a half . Dinner and lots of games.
What have you been up to so far, this summer? โ๏ธ
I thought I would do a halfway through the year, book update!
Every year I have done a reading challenge of sorts, and this year, instead of monthly or quarterly updates I thought I would do two Six month updates.
So, here is my first reading update of 2021, January – June.
[Disclaimer: I’m not that fast a reader sometimes, it comes in fits and spurts, and I’ve had lots of revision to do, so its not as long a list as I’d like]
January – June 2021
The Winter GardenBy Heidi Swain
The Land of Stories: A Grimm Warning By Chris Colfer
Because of YouBy Dawn French
The LidoBy Libby Page
Pushby Ashley Audrain
The Holidayby T.M Logan
A Taste of Homeby Heidi Swain
Only Time Will TellBy Jeffrey Archer
The Sins of the FatherBy Jeffrey Archer
Until Next WeekendBy Rachel Marks
The Dead Fathers ClubBy Matt Haig
Saving the Day By Katie Fforde
The MotiveBy Khurrum Rahman
Best Kept SecretBy Jeffrey Archer
My favourites so far are, of course the Heidi Swain novels ‘The Winter Garden’ & ‘A Taste of Home’ as well as ‘Until Next Weekend’ ‘Push’ & ‘The Holiday’ which I could not put down. I love that feeling.
The suprise was the Harry Clifton series by Jeffrey Archer, the perfect example of not judging a book by its cover.
I thought I would do a little post to comemorate our anniversay.
I usually post a little something each year because, after all, our wedding is the reason I started this blog. I wanted to document the planning and experience of our wedding.
I can’t believe its been 5 years. It was a wonderful day.
Hubby โก
Mum
Bridesmaids
Dad
The ceremony
The best man
The in laws
Auntie, Uncle & Nephew
1st dance
NEVER FORGET
Confetti
Our Cake
‘I do’
The date is the same as our original anniversary as I really wanted to get married on our anniversary.
So, today also marks 10 years together and that is absolutely mad. How time flies.
Especially when you are having fun ๐
To my husband…
I wish I could put into words how wonderful you are, but my words would never do you justice.
From our 2011 trips to the Heathlands, Nights out, Uni Visits & Cinema dates to now, 2021 … having just come out of a year of doing none of those things because we are in the midst of a Pandemic (who’d have thought it aye)
Thanks for always making me laugh, for always taking care of me and for always dancing like a fool around the lounge with me.
Marrying you is one of the best choices I’ve ever made. You are my bestfriend. 10 years later and I still find myself thinking, Wow, soulmates really do exist.
I used to share snap shots of my life on her, things we had done to celebrate different occasions, fun days out, holidays, however, obviously this last year has been quite an unpresidented one.
I feel like I haven’t really shared much of what I have been doing because really we’ve all been doing the same haven’t we! Staying home, Locked down, on and off since Summer, working and just trying to stay safe.
But I thought to myself, why not share the celebrations we are still having, as wierd as they may seem in comparison to how it used to be, because it’s all we’ve got at the moment and we should still be grateful for what we can do during such a mad time.
Today is Mothers day and I have shared on here, for several years, our tradition of our Mothers Day, homemade afternoon tea.
This year was a very 2020/21 affair, via Skype, but it still involved Afternoon Tea so no complaints here.
We ordered the individual Afternoon Teas from a small local business (All Covid safe) and enjoyed them at our own homes via Skype.
They were delicious and it was nice to be able to continue the tradition, even if it was a little different to usual.
Most of our ‘Usuals’ seem a distant memory right now don’t they ๐ฃ but, it’s also so important to embrace what we can do, communicate and spend time together however we can, whilst staying safe, because we can still stay in touch and stay connected, and we will all be back together properly one day.
It gets to everybody at some point, this wierd time we are a part of, but I’m so very conscious that there are people in such a worse situation than me, who have experienced some of the worst times during this pandemic.
If the worst part of this whole situation, for me is that I can only speak to people through a computer then I’ll be forever grateful. I know some people have it much worse.
It’s still ok to find it hard though and I hope you’ve had a little bit of light and joy come your way today!
So, this is my last post with the word Christmas in, honest!
Here is my book haul. I was very lucky to receive quite a few lovely books for Christmas this year, my ideal gift, so I thought I would share them with you.
It’s quite a mixed bag so let’s take a look…
Ant and Dec Once Upon a Tyne
I LOVE Ant & Dec, they are my absolute faves so I was super excited to receive this. This one I requested, so I hoped it was on it’s way. It’s really funny so far.
Finding Love at the Christmas Market by Jo Thomas
I had seen this one advertised and heard alot of great things (plus I love a cute, warm, festive story) so I was pleasantly suprised when my sister got me this. I’ve finished it and it was as lovely and heart warming as I’d have hoped. Perfect for Christmas & Blue January!
‘Still Friends’ 25 Years of the TV show that defined an era. By Saul Austerlitz
I can’t wait to start reading this. F.R.I.E.N.D.S is my ultimate fave TV show and my lovely friend bought me this for Christmas, knowing I love both books & friends. Definatly onto a winner with this one.
Collectors editions of: Peter Pan By J M Barrie, A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens & The Railway Children by E Nesbit
I discovered these in my local indie bookshop. They are absolutely beautiful. The covers are amazing ๐ I have wanted to add some classics to my collection for a while so I picked these out and my Mum and Dad gave them to me for Christmas.
I also got two illustrated Harry Potter books; ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ illustrated edition & ‘Quidditch through the ages’ illustrated edition
If you’ve followed me for a while you’ll know that I’m a MASSIVE!!! Harry Potter fan, so I was super excited to add these to my collection. I had asked for the illustrated ‘Goblet of Fire’ but I wasn’t expecting the ‘Quidditch through the ages’ illustrated version… IT LOOKS AMAZING.
Did you get some books for Christmas?? How are they??
So, here it is! The final instalment of my 2020 reading challenge, and the final quarter…
October, November, December
Let’s have a look at what I have read during this quarter…
Books I’ve read:
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.
Where the Crawdads sing by Delia Owen
The Kindness Club at Mapleberry Lane: A Summer Suprise by Helen Rolfe
The Kindness Club at Mapleberry Lane: An Autumn Promise by Helen Rolfe
Coming home to Glendale Hall by Victoria Walters
New beginnings at Glendale Hall by Victoria Walters
Hopeful hearts at Glendale Hall by Victoria Walters
The Christmas Killer by Alex Pine
The Midnight Library is one of my favourite books that I have read this year. Its fantastic and I have recommended it to so many people already.
It’s so thought provoking and interesting, but gripping too.
I can’t recommend it enough
Alot of these were a similar type of book this quarter, easy readers. These are some of my favourite types of books, cosy, romantic, lovely and easy to pick up and get through, so I was super pleased to discover the Glendale series in particular.
I didn’t get through as many of my festive reads as I would have liked but I have one more on the cards for January, I recieved it as a gift for Christmas, from my sister.
It’s called ‘Finding Love at the Christmas Market’ by Jo thomas.
I haven’t quite decided how my reading challenge will take shape this year yet… maybe I will continue with the quarterly updates or I may go back to a monthly update, either way, keep your eyes peeled for that!
Roseanne Byford 