A Treat Indeed & A Missed Opportunity

The weather has been absolutely foul yet again with rain, rain and more rain.  During a brief dry spell we made the mad decision to have a day away somewhere on Thursday and decided on Broadway in the Cotswolds as it's just an hour's drive away.  The railway has just been re-opened and we found out it's Wartime in the Cotswolds weekend.  I wish we had known beforehand because we might have stayed a bit longer.

The station plaque showing that it closed down in the 1960's and was re-opened this year (click to enlarge the photo)...

Everything has been rebuilt.  It looks a bit deserted at the moment but trains are definitely running as we glimpsed (and heard) steam trains passing through. It's all new brick too...

A new signal box....

And two trains running on Thursday. It would have been possible to travel to Cheltenham if we had only known.  I LOVE steam trains and I guess Broadway as well as the station itself will be heaving with visitors this weekend...

 

 

The shop owners have made a real effort with their window displays , they're full of 1940's memorabilia.  There is still time to visit on Sunday if you can make it.  Dress up if you can!

 

 

We fancied a special treat for tea and found The Swan pub on the High Street.  You could have 2 courses for £12.50 if you ate before 6pm. No problem! :) I chose grilled halloumi with twice cooked chips and minted mushy peas....

followed by Belgian chocs with coffee (it counted as one choice)...
 

 

 

OH chose gammon with 2 fried eggs, chips and pineapple, followed by a mini lemon cheesecake and coffee (also one choice)  The meals were hardly healthy, low fat ones but were absolutely delicious;  cooked to order and piping hot.  Yummy!

 

We drove home in pouring rain but having thoroughly enjoyed the day anyway. 

 

 

Have a lovely weekend everyone and stay safe x

Computer Blues and Crafty News

Oh gawd, what a day today.  Yesterday was a gorgeous day.  The sun shone, the lawn got mowed and the borders tidied.  I did the food shop whilst OH tackled the chores, we ate a lovely tea and then just as we settled down to a bit of internet surfing....boom...our computer threw a wobbly.  We lost all our files, precious photos, important documents, the lot.  The backup wouldn't work either.  The PC has been an absolute pain ever since the intervention of the "improved" (how I hate that word) Windows 10.  Poor OH has spent all of today trying everything he can think of to restore normal function.  We have certain things back but the email account has had to be changed and all my saved files are gone. If it had been down to me to fix it, it would have gone out the window first thing this morning.  Bless him, he has worked wonders.  We have a tablet but it's just too small to work on and the predictive text makes sure I send some weird messages :?

I'm writing this post while I can, but can't be sure when I can write my next one because the PC needs to be tackled again soon.  We have security sorted but I don't quite trust it all yet.  How are you getting on with Windows 10 updates??

I have a quick update to my Stash To Cash total.  My neighbour popped in for coffee this morning and purchased some cards, so £5 has been added to the total.

Stay safe everyone and thanks so much for popping in.  Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible! lol...xx



Stash To Cash £39.90

Stash To Cash Update And Lovely Weather

Thank you to everyone who took the time and trouble to comment on my last post.  I really appreciate it :)

Yesterday was a beautiful day weatherwise.  The sun shone and I threw open all the windows in the house when I got back after the craft fair.  I think the beautiful weather must have tempted people to go off for the day because attendance at the fair was, sadly, abysmal.  After deducting the cost of the table I was just £5.40 in pocket :(  Despite the poor attendance I enjoyed the morning very much.  The other crafters are lovely and happy to share ideas as well as discussing other possible venues in the locality.  A bit of good news is that I am to be featured in the village magazine!  They do a monthly 'Featured Artist' article and I am to be in the May issue.  Woohoo! My 5 minutes of fame at last!

Other good news is that OH's tooth socket is much more comfortable now and we can, at last, eat some proper food :)  The family came for tea today (at short notice) but I managed to rustle up a sausage casserole using the last 4 sausages from the freezer, a couple of onions, a green pepper and a couple of carrots.  All slapped into the slow cooker this morning with a packet spice mix and left to it's own devices.  There were also 2 portions of veg chilli in the freezer for us girls.  I made a quick rocky road type cake bar too.  I happened to have a bottle of white wine chilling in the fridge as well as 2 cans of cider (50p each YS'd) and 2 small Scottish Lager (YS'd to 30p) It all went down very well :)  The fridge and freezer are now pretty empty so it will be a 'big' shop tomorrow.  I think we need some fish and perhaps some chicken for OH.  Veg will feature quite heavily too and maybe some Quorn.

That's all for now as I want to watch The Durrells and the Good Karma Hospital on TV.
Stay safe everyone and thanks so much for popping in x

Total of Stash to Cash updated below...

Stash To Cash £34.90

PS It's started raining again....boo....

More Mash And Crafting

I woke twice in the middle of the night, both times to hear rain falling gently on the roof.  This morning it was still falling so everywhere is soaking wet...again... There's no chance of cutting the grass and it's looking really untidy.  We need some SUN! On the plus side, the strawberry pots are showing tiny growing shoots and the leeks are gradually attempting to thicken up. Yesterday we purchased two lovely rose bushes to grow in pots.  I'll show you once they are potted up properly and in place in the garden.  I can't wait for some warmth once more ,the sort that warms your face and lifts the spirits.

Food this week is still pretty mashed and soft but OH did manage to eat some baked salmon (with mashed potato of course...lol) Puddings have been yogurt, rice pudding or mashed banana with custard.  For lunch today we have baked potatoes with cheese.  Never mind , we are a few days closer to 'proper grown up' food ;) . It's like having a toddler to feed once more. OH is starting to feel much better despite the stitches pulling a bit.  His follow up appointment has come in the post today for 8th May.  He is hoping that the dissolvable stitches will actually dissolve before then. Fingers crossed for that...

The monthly craft fair is looming for this Saturday so I have been trying to fit in a bit more crafting in preparation.  I'm hoping to turn a bit more Stash Into Cash to add to my total.  There was a fairly good turnout for the one last month.  I hope it's even better this month. I'll post a new total on Sunday if I can.

Take care everyone.  Stay safe and thanks everso for popping in x

On Teeth And CS Finds....

Thank you so much to all who posted good luck messages on my last post.  I dropped OH off at hospital at 7.30am on Friday and got the call to collect him at 12.45pm.  He was woozy but ok and very happy that the op was over and done with.  Apparently, the wisdom tooth was very large and was beginning to grow into his tongue so it was lucky that he had it removed before it could do any damage to nerves.  The problem over the weekend has been finding things he can eat!  His jaw is very sore and a tiny bit swollen and he can't chew, obviously. Oh, and he has stitches.  I have been mashing everything so it's been mashed potato with cheese, mashed potato with gravy, mashed potato with mashed carrot and mashed sprouts...do you see a picture forming?  lol....he can eat rice pudding, custard, pureed apple and so on.  As it takes ages to do I've been eating the same food as well.  What I wouldn't give for a lovely veg chilli or fish and chips from the chippie!  Never mind, he's on antibiotics and painkillers so should, hopefully, be on the mend very soon.  He has a follow up appointment in 4 weeks time.

On a lighter note, when we were away in February I told you about my CS shopping.  I found these....

 

I couldn't resist them :)

and these....

 

The mug is Denby and the blue tit beautifully painted. 

I was looking for some pretty plates to make into cake plates but couldn't find any at a reasonable price.  I'll keep looking....

Have a lovely day everyone.  Stay safe and thanks everso for popping in xx

Toothy Troubles...A Solution At Last?

Firstly a warm welcome to my new follower Lynne K...hello!

This short post is just to say that OH is having his wisdom tooth removed tomorrow under a general anaesthetic so I will be dropping him off at the hospital at 8am then waiting nervously for the call to collect him afterwards.  I think I'm even more nervous than he is :/   He will need TLC afterwards so I will post again once he is on the mend, so to speak.

I hope everyone had a super Easter break and that you are now enjoying a bit of sunshine ( we have some here...at least, there's a strange yellow object in the sky and I went out without my thick padded coat this morning!!)  Hooray!

Stay safe everyone and thanks for popping in x