This and That

Argh! I am a day late with this post after promising myself I would stick to Tuesday and Friday posts oh well it is done now.  Last night we went out for tea with family to a place we haven't tried before and it was fabulous.  They offer small servings as well as full meals so you can have tapas style dishes instead of choosing one big meal. We don't go out often but try to meet up with my mother in law and her partner every few months and go out. We will definitely be going there again as they had a choice for vegetarians and vegans which is rare.  If you are from the Sheffield area it is called The Pheasant and well worth a visit the website is here if you want a peak.

I got this image from the website as it was pouring with rain when we went out, I am sure it is good to sit out front in finer weather. There was also live music on and they were good, acoustic guitar and singing a variety of music.

Today was supposed to be when my tiles went down on the hall floor, unfortunately after another layer of old tiles were pulled up an large crack has been found underneath.  So not wanting to lay expensive tiles on this even if it was filled we made the decision to take them back and choose a floor that would withstand possible future movement.  We chose a grey herringbone effect vinyl and a grey stair carpet, I am a bit sad  about returning the tiles but it would have been worse if they were down and then later cracked.  It is a bit worrying about how much movement is going on with the house but I suppose any house of a certain age will have some of these problems.. My husband has put down insulating material and now says he will board it over before they come to lay the vinyl, I have to wait until the 27th for that.  I think one of the reasons I like painting and wallpapering is that I can do that myself,  so if it needs doing I can just think right I will do it on these days and then it will be done.  Waiting for people to come out and sort things I am not great at!

I have just finished reading Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid, I really enjoyed it but I must say this was in the general category of new books but I would class it as YA due to the central characters and the teen speak used throughout.  Set around the Edinburgh fringe festival rather than Bath I thought it was cleverly done and also quite amusing that Cat the main character keeps mentioning the Twilight series throughout.    It is part of the Austin project and this has made me want to try some of the other adaptations, I had a look around and a few people are being quite negative about some of these works including the one I have just read.  It is full of the language of young adults (I don't mean bad language) and if this bothers you I can see how that would put you off.  However it is also witty, engaging and mostly good fun, so if people are horrified by the differences they need to consider how much times have moved on.  If you have read any of the other works in the Austin project let me know what you thought, they are Sense and Sensibility by Joanna Trollope, Emma by Alexander McCall Smith, Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld ( Pride and Prejudice  updated) and the one above I have just mentioned. There is to be a Mansfield Park but that has not come about yet and possibly one other I think.  I think it is an interesting idea to do this but I am sure there will be purist fans who are just appalled.

What are you all reading this week?

Practical Stuff

I have had a busy few days decorating so no new makes to show at the moment. The hall, stairs and landing have been painted and today I did the ceilings. It all needed a good few coats as I changed the colour. The next job is doing all the doors cupboards and frames tomorrow, then I will need to choose a new stair carpet.  We have pulled up the laminate in the hall downstairs and bought tiles, my husband is going to lay those.  I am glad I got this started as I have always kept on top of the decorating of all the other rooms but the hallway has been left because I always feel we just pass through it. That said is also the first thing you see as you enter the house so a makeover was well over due.  This is a peak of the floor tiles...

I like the busyness of them as the rest of the décor is  plain, I will post some update photographs when it is all finished.  When I was working on the stairs my husband made me a platform that stretched between the ladder and the decorating bench at the top, it even had notches so that it fit into the rungs on the ladder and wouldn't move.  He was not thrilled about me working on it while he was at work but I really didn't want to get anyone in to do painting that I an do myself.  I also feel that it is a good use of my time when I have the summer off school so I always fit decorating jobs into school holidays.

Our water pump to the shower has decided to pack up, we have only had that one three years and now we are having to put up with slow trickle showers until a new one is sourced and fitted.  It turns out it may have been the wrong sort originally so that is why it didn't last, we replaced like for like with the original from when we moved in.  So who ever did the job in the first place must have installed the wrong pump.   There is always something around the house that needs replacing and that makes me think what hard work it must be for the people who own the holiday rentals like the one we just stayed in.  To keep things looking good with a constant stream of families passing through surely must mean a never ending list of repairs  and replacement items.

To keep me entertained while I have been busy I have been listening to more podcasts, the time just passes so easily. Maybe that makes decorating a flow activity though I am not sure I would want to do it five days a week,  just a thought.

My latest book is Other Words for Smoke by Sarah Maria Griffin, it was on the new books shelf at the library.  It is a YA book but I'll give it a go, I was drawn in by the bright cover.

Bye for now.

August...ing

I thought I would do a post like this early on in the month instead of leaving it until the last minute so here goes.

Making mainly bags at the moment, I have decided to set a certain amount to stock on each online shop then stop, leave them on for a fixed time then if nothing is really happening after a reasonable amount of time they will be used or gifted.  Here is yesterdays bag, which is more of a revamp as I made this one a while ago but it has been improved.

Baking gluten free, vegan scones for the second time this week, I just know they would taste so much better with regular flour as the GF stuff has a certain taste to it but I have to look after my tummy.

Watching  Keeping Faith, I have pretty much binge watched this, this week and I have really enjoyed it. The scenery is lovely and I found the story very engaging even if I did wonder what the hell she was doing standing by her sad husband, if you have been watching you will understand!

Reading currently Night Road by Kristin Hannah, now I am half way through this and it is not really my thing but a friend passed it on and said it was amazing.  Well I am not feeling it and my husband keeps on saying why are you still reading that book you don't like? Well I feel I should see it through as she enjoyed it and books are a very personal thing.  Who knows the last few chapters  may blow me away, fingers crossed.

Growing  more lovely flowers in the garden, quite a few of what have come up have been a surprise as I planted some mixed colour seeds.  It would be nice if they had specified what they all were as I am now finding I like certain ones but have no idea of the names.

Enjoying the summer break but wondering why it always leaves me uncertain if I am in the right job. Maybe it is having more time to think but I am just not sure if I want to do the same thing for the rest of my working years but have no clear plan what path to take. 

Listening to  more Rich Roll podcasts, the latest one was an interview with Dan Buettner founder of Blue zones you can have a look at the website here . He has travelled the world studying the longest lived citizens of various communities and what they have in common, it is really interesting and of course a lot of common sense.  Both the website and the podcast are worth look/listen.

Wondering what to grow next in my greenhouse or garden for late summer, any tips for autumn colour as I would really love to keep the colours going for as long as possible.  Budget plants being the theme, I have no time for expensive plants that give a week of colour and then they are gone, especially with our British weather.  A week of bad weather could see us inside all week with blooms been and gone, no I want to grow or plant value giving varieties to keep the garden looking well a little longer.

That's all for now have a good weekend.