20 in 20 - Weekly Photo #37 - w/c 23/11/20

Look who's here!

Say hello to our granddaughter - Ella Susan, born on 17th November.

Finally we can buy pink!

Now there are 6!

2020 has been a difficult year but for us it's also been full of blessings.

Friday's Fave Five - 23/10/20

Thanks to our host Susanne for reminding us to be mindful each week and find five things to be thankful for. You can join in by clicking on the link below:

Living to the the Story  

1)  Refund from the gas supplier - we had overpaid on our old house and a cheque arrived in the post this week.  Hopefully this house will be cheaper to heat but time will tell.

2) A visit with Grandsons Rory & Vinny - we had them and their Mummy and Daddy here for Sunday lunch last week - they hadn't seen the house.  Rory loved running around the circuit of living room to dining room to kitchen to hall and....repeat!  We had to close some doors lol.

3) People who work with the homeless and those in need - there is a couple from our old area that collect unwanted clothing etc for a homeless project and help out with a food bank.  We had some stuff to get rid of and we thought it might be too far for him to come but he was collecting other stuff nearby so he came to us on Monday and took some clothes and some food.  The amount of people relying on charity and food banks is increasing all the time.

4) A visit with Grandson Nathan - his Mummies had a hospital appointment so we looked after him on Tuesday.  We played a lot of hide and seek and we also joined in with Cosmic Yoga for kids.  Well we tried.  I didn't think I was being particularly energetic, mainly using my arms and upper body and not jumping up and down but my Fitbit recorded it as a 15 minute aerobic session lol.  I'll take that!

He's getting so grown up looking!

5) A good use for social media - our dishwasher has developed a fault that requires expert intervention so I searched within our local Facebook groups and found several recommendations for the same repair guy.  He's coming on Monday. 

Today I'm also thankful that we managed to get the things from IKEA we've been waiting for which means tomorrow we can (hopefully) get the units etc assembled and make some progress on tackling the last boxes we have to unpack.

It's the little things.....

Speaking of which can't leave out Grandson Miles:

 

Or big brother Noah:

Have a good weekend all.

 

Friday's Fave Five - 16/10/20

Thanks to our host Susanne for reminding us to be mindful each week and find five things to be thankful for. You can join in here. 

Well Susanne mentioned in her introduction this week about the definition of habit being when something has been done so often that you don't even really have to think about doing something.  I haven't managed that yet with the Friday Faves - I don't even always get here every week and this post is probably going to tick over after midnight.  But I am here and here are my 5:

1)  Meeting Grandson #5 in person.  We went to Nottingham last Friday (hence no post last week) and stayed over until Saturday.  He is gorgeous!  And yes of course I'm biased.

Glad he likes my blanket!

2) A visit to Nathan & his Mummies in the week.  With another baby on the way they are being very careful about not mixing with others due to Covid so it's quite difficult for them, especially as Nathan is home all day and not at nursery.  Hubby and I both went which meant he could keep Nathan entertained while I did more practical stuff.  This week we tidied and organised the room that will be the new baby's room so that was a big tick on the to do list.

3)  More progress with our unpacking etc.  We're waiting on some IKEA furniture before we can sort all our books out but a lot of the boxes have now been unpacked.

4)  A step closer to getting my date of birth corrected on the Government's records. (I wrote about this here)  My daughter's friend who is a solicitor came by earlier today and certified the copies of my birth certificate and passport which I can now send in and, hopefully, get this mess sorted once and for all.

5)  An easy evening with Grandson Nathan.  Bit of a false alarm with his Mummy tonight (she's fine) but I had to go over and put Nathan to bed.  He was so good for me.  He made no fuss when his TV programme finished.  Let me take him up and clean his teeth.  We read 2 stories and then he settled down with no arguments and went to sleep.

So that's me done and now I'm off to bed!  I'll try and get around to reading your posts tomorrow.  Have a good weekend all.

Getting to know the area

Well I thought moving house was exhausting but it seems settling in isn't exactly restful either.

I can't believe we've been here 3 weeks already but of course the arrival of two new grandsons rather threw any ideas of routine out of the window.

We still have boxes to unpack and jobs to do but we're making progress all the time.  Just slowly!  We're learning how to work things, where to put things, where to find things etc etc.

And then we realise that actually some things work better when stored elsewhere and we have to learn all over again where they are.  

It's been very wet since we arrived but we did take advantage of a couple of dry spells to get out and explore.  We're on the edge of Epping Forest and a five minute walk or so from woodland and Highams Park and Lake.

The last pic was taken on Sunday, the others were taken last Tuesday.

We're looking forward to exploring more of the forest.

We've also managed to get our wifi working throughout the house - Nick's den as we refer to it is in the top part of the extension to the house and had poor reception due to the 9 inch thick wall but we've sorted that now.  We've also got reception out here:

This studio will be my hideaway when I want some peace and quiet lol.  The former owners used it as a home office.  I've got my bureau out there plus my sewing machine and I will have an exercise bike out there when we pick it up from my daughter.  She has bought herself an all singing and dancing exercise machine so no longer needs her more basic bike.  We also need to get an ordinary shed for our garden stuff - things like the lawnmower, tools, etc which for now are sitting in the studio. 

But of course all these things take time.  Just notifying everyone that we've moved is taking up a lot of my time.  Especially at the moment with many call centre/admin staff working from home.

Yes of course some of these things can be done on line and are easier than others.  It doesn't help when the main Government department (HMRC) have your date of birth incorrect on their records.  I spent ages online trying to set up a "Gateway" account to update our address only to be told repeatedly they did not recognise me.  When I eventually got through to a human being on the phone he spotted the problem but wouldn't actually tell me.  But my telling me I need to send in a certified copy of my birth certificate it became obvious what the problem was.

Just another little chore to add to the to do list.  Fortunately my best friend's daughter is a solicitor so she will be able to do the certifying for me.

We've also managed a trip to Nottingham at the end of last week to meet Grandson Miles and just in time.  Nottingham are now under tighter lock down restrictions due to Covid and we would be breaking the rules now by visiting them.  So glad we went!

 

Friday's Fave Five - 2/10/20

Thanks to our host Susanne for reminding us to be mindful each week and find five things to be thankful for, especially at times like these when things are so busy, unsettled and scary.  You can join in here. 

Well I've missed a couple of weeks, it's been a busy time, so here's a catch up.

1.  We're in our new house.  We've been here just over a week now and we're gradually getting through the 100+ boxes of things to be unpacked.

2.  Two new grandsons!

My youngest son Michael with Grandsons Rory and new arrival Vinny

Daughter-in-law Amy with Grandsons Noah and new arrival Miles.

They were both early arrivals, especially Vinny but are both home now and the big brothers are getting used to having a little one in the house.

We babysat Rory while Mummy & Daddy brought Vinny home so we got to have cuddles with him.  We're making the trip to Nottingham next weekend to meet Miles.  Can't wait!

3.  Flowers!  Two of Nick's sisters came the day after we moved in and brought sunflowers

These were delivered courtesy of my daughter and her wife.

 

Fortunately I was able to find a vase!

Nick also brought me roses.  I have been spoilt!

I've also got some plants from the garden from friends.

4.  I managed to cut the grass on Tuesday.  The previous owners of our house moved out over a month ago so the grass was very long.  Tuesday looked like it was going to be dry and although it had rained in the morning it brightened up in the afternoon and I got the mower out and cut the grass.  Just as well I did because we were out all day yesterday babysitting Grandson Nathan and today it has rained non-stop!  It will need doing again as soon as we get another dry spell as I didn't cut it very short but it looks better than before.

5.  Better sleep.  In the run up to the move I wasn't sleeping well at all but since we've been here I've been sleeping better.  I still tend to wake at some point during the night but it's been much easier getting back to sleep.  Consequently I don't feel quite as exhausted as I did although all the unpacking is pretty tiring lol!

So that's my catch up.  It's beginning to feel like home here.  We've done a lot of unpacking but still quite a bit to do but no rush. 

Have a good weekend all.

 

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 30/9/20

Wednesday's Hodgepodge is hosted by Joyce over at "From this side of the Pond".  Pop over there to see who is playing and how to join in.  If you do join in, remember to visit your neighbour on the Linky List.  Have fun.  

1. When is the last time you experienced nostalgia? 

Well it's been a few weeks since I've taken part here as we've been busy preparing to move house.  Packing up certainly brought on nostalgia - I still had some things of my Mum's, including lots of old photos.  We've been in our new house just over a week now and it's beginning to feel like home.

 2. September 29th is National Coffee Day. Do we need this? Ha! So are you a coffee drinker? If so how many cups per day, and tell us how you like it. Is there a recipe you enjoy that calls for coffee as one of the ingredients? 

As a non-coffee drinker (yes shock horror it's true!) we definitely do not need it although I'd absolutely vote for a National Tea Day.  But give me coffee flavoured cakes, sweets etc any time.

3. Do you find praise or criticism to be more motivating? Explain.

 

Definitely praise.  When we feel good about ourselves it's much easier to be positive and motivated.  I do feel that negative things can be pointed out though, just not in a totally negative way - criticism should be constructive - suggestions should be forthcoming on how changes could be made.

 4.  What's a television series you keep coming back to and re-watching? 

 

Ha, at the moment I don't have much time for watching television, let alone watching something I've already seen!

5. As the month of September draws to a close give us three words to describe your mood. 

 

Over the moon!   See below

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

 

In my post yesterday (here) I commented on finally completing the move to our new house and the birth of Grandson #4 who arrived just over 4 weeks early.  Well it seems the babies in this family are impatient to say hello because today we welcomed Grandson #5, Miles Walter, to the family at 13.49 pm weighing in at 7lb 15 oz just over 3 weeks early.  Mum and baby doing well and hoping to be home today but at this late stage of the day it could end up being tomorrow.

 

 We are so blessed.

We're here!

 

Not the best photo - I took it quickly in the rain just to give you a view of our new house.

Yes we're here, finally!  We moved in on the 22nd September but the period from when we exchanged contracts, (10th September) until now, feels like one big blur.  

Having refused to pack until we knew we were definitely moving from the date of exchange we packed, and packed.  Cleaned.  And ....repeat!

I ought to have been sleeping like a log but of course the stress of all the things to think about kept me awake during the nights, a lot!

But we're in and gradually getting ourselves straight.  The removal guys were excellent and the actual moving day went really smoothly.  They had us packed up and ready to leave our house by 11.30 am.  The financial transactions were done soon after midday so we were able to pick up our new keys, meet the removal guys here and they had everything unloaded by 4.30 pm ish.

I'd like to say I kicked off my shoes and sat and had a nice glass of wine but ...... look who couldn't wait to be here too!

 

 

Say hello to Vincent Thomas (aka Vinny) born at 9.35 pm on the day we moved, weighing in at 5lb 15oz despite being over 4 weeks early.  So while Mummy & Daddy were occupied with the new baby, Nanny was looking after his big brother Rory.

Mummy is home now but, as I write this, Vinny is still in the hospital.  He had to have a course of antibiotics for an infection which meant a canula in place plus he was also quite jaundiced so he had to be under a lamp for several days.  He's spent the time in the NICU but Mummy and Daddy have been able to visit despite COVID restrictions although individually not together.  He's doing well though and hopefully will be home on Wednesday provided the hospital are happy with the amount he is feeding.  We're looking forward to meeting him and having our first cuddles!

So it's been a very hectic few weeks and we are now taking our time unpacking all those boxes and helping out with Rory when needed.  

Hopefully I'll be back in the swing of blogging again soon and will be able to show more of our house.  We're loving being here even if it is taking us a while to work out where everything should go, how everything works etc.  

Now I'm not quite so exhausted and the pressure of the move deadline is gone I might even have time to read your posts although commenting might still lag a little way behind.  I'm sure you'll understand and won't be offended.

And it's Monday again..17/8/20

And..... it's Monday again.

Despite the pandemic and restrictions which means we are able to do less and sometimes the days do drag, it also seems that time is also flying by.

On Saturday we saw Grandson Nathan and his Mummies briefly as they'd been house hunting not too far from us.  They's managed to get Nathan's hair cut and he still has some curls!

 

Yesterday we had Grandson Rory and his parents here for dinner.  Rory loves coming here to play and reading Nanny's books!

I also found time to start making some more face masks:

Today we inched a bit nearer to moving - we've tentatively agreed a completion date of the 10th or 11th September.  Hopefully the solicitors can make that happen and our removal company will be able to move us on that date.

I'll feel happier once contracts are exchanged but apparently there are still a couple of queries to resolve but we're still waiting to hear what they are.

Two steps forward one back!

 

 

 

Fave Five of the Week - 15/8/20

Well this should have been a Friday's Fave Five post but it's now Saturday.  Yesterday seemed to disappear on me but it's still good to look back on the week and think of (at least) 5 things to be grateful for, especially in these difficult times.

To see posts from others (who were on time!) the links can be found on Susanne's blog: Living to Tell the Story.

1)    Rain!  We have had a heatwave here and it has been unbearable at times.  Especially at night.  But then on Thursday the rain came - lots of it plus thunder and lightening.  Now we're back down to the mid 20s and it is so much more comfortable.  It will also have reduced the risk of more fires on our open spaces.

2)    A quick reacting Fire Service - we had several fires on the open space opposite our house this week but the Fire Service were there quickly each time and dealt with the outbreaks.  It's a shame that often these fires start because of carelessness and people selfishly ignoring simple rules, such as no BBQs but at least they are usually put out quickly even if they have spread quickly.

3)    Some progress on the house front.  Our buyers came for another look last Saturday and they still seem really keen and eager for things to move to exchange and completion.  I'm not sure their solicitor is quite as proactive as ours but hopefully things shouldn't take too much longer.

4)    A catch up with some friends briefly plus visits with Grandsons Nathan  & Rory.

5)    And saving the best for last:

Finally getting to see Grandson Noah and my son and his wife.  

He loved "Chillin' with Grandpa"!  He's grown so much since we saw him in February and he's become a real chatterbox.  His younger sibling is also coming along nicely as are all of the future Grandkids.  I think all the pregnant DILs will be glad of the cooler temps though.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

A bit of News!

Well we finally got some feedback on the survey done on our house today.

Our buyers got the report back last Wednesday but didn't e-mail the agent until late on Saturday so we didn't get to hear about it until today.

Apparently there was nothing "devastating" in the report but it did throw up a few things they weren't expecting relating to gas, electrics and the roof.

As far as I can tell the issues with the gas and electrics was about having safety certificates for them.  Which we had already forwarded to our solicitors who I'm sure will have forwarded to their solicitors.  Left hand talking to right hand????

Anyway they've now also been sent to the agent to send to the buyers direct.

We've no idea what the roof issue is but hopefully we'll know more in a day or two and then we can see what needs to be done to resolve the problem. 🙏

Feels like two steps forward one back!  But at least we've had some feedback at last.

On a brighter note we drove over to visit one of hubby's sisters today and were surprised when 2 more sisters turned up with their husbands.  We sat socially distanced in the garden.  It was lovely to catch up with them.  First time we've seen any of them since we were locked down in March.

And here's a pic of Rory from yesterday - he does love playing with cars - he spends ages just lining them up them rearranging them!

20 in 20 - Photo of the Week #9 - 1/3/20

Four for the price of one!  We managed to catch up with Grandson Noah and his Mummy and Daddy at the weekend.  We hadn't seen them since the beginning of January so we just managed to hit my target of seeing him at least once a month!  We didn't have a long time with them, driving up Saturday afternoon and then returning home on Sunday afternoon but we did manage to fit in a visit to their nearby City Farm.  We braved a sudden hail shower but then it brightened up and as you can see Noah was enjoying himself!

Waffle on Thursday - 14/11/19

Life can be strange at times.  

My daughter bought me this book a while ago.  I probably should look at it more considering I'm often a glass half empty kind of person.

I decided to look at it Tuesday night and this was the page I opened.  (I tend to open it at random pages rather than read it from start to finish.)

It has some odd things in it although some of them would make me happy but one of those would have had me confused (Sadie Hawkins dances) if it wasn't for one of the questions in this week's Wednesday Medley which I'd just done and scheduled to post the next day!

"Sadie Hawkins' Day. Also known as Turn-About Day. On this date in Dogpatch, Judge Hawkins declared a race between the town's eligible bachelors and the spinsters (including his daughter, Sadie) with the prize being matrimony. Nowadays celebrated as a day on which the girl asks the boy to the big sock hop."

Being in the UK I had never heard of such a thing.  The only "Turn-About Day" I was aware of was leap day - 29th February.  You live and learn!

Here's something that makes me happy:

Rory

Not sure how impressed he is with his new hat!  He managed to lose his other one while his Mummy had him out at the shops at the weekend.

 
And how cute is this?

Wedding guest Noah

And this:

Pirate Nathan

I'm blessed.