Where has the week gone.........

Can't believe a week has gone by since I last blogged, where has it gone. This week I have -Worked 3 days, took middle son for a Sushi Lunch, bought this book

and made "Blondies", the alternative to "Brownies", made with Peanut Butter and White Chocolate, very Moorish. Sorry no photographs, but all eaten within a day. Speaks for itself...... Lucinda is still sitting in the nest, we have tried everything to get her out but she is having none of it, quite a stubborn girl..... the other two chicks have enjoyed a week of fine weather, lounging on the lawn taking in the rays.

We have nurtured our seedling and drunk lots of tea.


Both sons now back to University. And finally on Friday we celebrated youngest sons birthday.
Hopefully more time next week to blog and craft.

Happy Primrose Day........

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:-

PRIMROSE DAY
Upon the death of British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield), on 19 April 1881, Primrose Day was instituted in his honour, as the primrose was his favourite flower. Queen Victoria sent bouquets of primroses to his funeral. According to a contemporary account:
"The coffin lies on its bier in an alcove leading out of the modest hall of Hughenden Manor. But of its material, one might almost say of its dimensions, nothing can be seen. It is literally one mass of floral beauty. Here are wreaths from every member of the Royal Family in Britain bouquets of primroses sent by the Queen, with an inscription attached to them, saying that they came from Osborne Hill, and that they are of the sort which Lord Beaconsfield loved.
Two years later, a bronze statue of Disraeli, Lord Beaconsfield was erected at Parliament Square, and it became customary to decorate it with primroses every year on the anniversary of his death. Often at Easter the woodlands of Britain are seen carpeted with wild primroses.

Thus we have Primrose Day......

It is also DS2 Birthday, Happy 19th Birthday Dear Son........late morning we went for coffee to http://www.kirkharlecourtyard.net/ and had some yummy cakes.

.........Birthday Boy on the right...........

We then toddled off to Bolam Lake Country Park and had a lovely stroll around the lake in the afternoon sunshine.

Alnwick Spring Show........

The Alnwick Spring Show is on all weekend at Alnwick Gardens and the guild has a stand

I have been there this morning to take my turn doing an hour marshaling, it is a good show and worth a visit.

We eventually catch up........

A few months ago I had dinner with my neighbour and some old friends, one of the friends now lives in the states. She was over on Holiday and brought us all a present. When she handed the packages over to us we were confused as to what she had given us. It all became obvious very soon.

A HANDBAG HANGER, SAVES IT DANGLING ON THE DIRTY FLOOR

We were all so thrilled to receive such an interesting and useful present, we were commenting on the fact that we had not seen anything like it here in the UK, we were also wondering when we would see them for sale here. Well ,whilst visiting my local Garden Centre the other day I got my eye on these............

I suppose it was only a matter of time!!!!!!

When the Chickens are Naughty......

We have been installing some" Chicken Proof" edging around the lawns in order to prevent them scratching and covering the lawn in all sorts, this may not prevent it but it's worth a try.

I bought this Bamboo edging at Wilko and I rather like it, I think I may have to go and get some more.

This is Lucinda,remember last year she was surrogate mother to six babies, well she is broody again. It started about 4 days ago, she just wants to stay in the nest and gathers the eggs that the other two have laid. I am fighting a loosing battle as every time I pick her up and put her outside she just tries to get back in. I had to close the door of the coop today to stop her going back in. Luckily the other two had already laid. I think I shall just have to persevere!!!!!!

Team Work in the Primrose Patch.......

We all set off laden ed with..............

To tackle this........

As you can see a long overdue chore and a must now if we are to grow anything this year. I figured if we attack the job in numbers we could all dig it over in a matter of hours.

And this!!!!!!!


Horrible weeds............

And after 3 hours of back breaking digging we end up with this.................not bad. See more hands make light work.

A minor miracle........Thank You Family

It was very,very hard work but so, so satisfying. We have planted 2 types of early potatoes, and have a bed of strawberries .


I think we are all going to need Ralgex and a long hot soak in the bath tonight, just hope we can walk straight tomorrow.

A Family Easter Day.........

Good Morning and Happy Easter. We have woken to a bright and sunny day, I feel a spring in my step and warmth in my heart. I have decided after all these years that Easter is one of my favourite times of the year, I much prefer it to Christmas. It has a more relaxed feel to it, I have sent cards, shopped for a turkey and the trimmings, bought Easter eggs for friends and family.

I even had time to crochet a few Cherry Blossom Flowers for my Easter Tree

We were going to stay at home today and catch up with a few household chores, but our youngest son asked if we could go out to the beach. The roads around here are a nightmare on a bank holiday, snagged up with the the day trippers. We decided to go to our nearest beach a 20min drive away.

This is the view that greeted us......gorgeous isn't it

The sand is so fine and silvery........

We took a picnic and a big flask full of tea.......purrrfect

DH and middle son braving the North Sea, they had a competition to see who could stay in the longest, DH won.

Look at this fantastic weather

::Greetings from a happy Primrose Patch::

The afternoon was complete with a traditional ice cream..........heavenly

Hope your day was as good as mine. x

Happy Good Friday........

Wishing you all a Happy Good Friday

We started off the day with making these::

Chocolate Brioche

Out of the oven, a little burnt but tasted delicious....... Off now for a little retail therapy.

Have a great day.

New Books.........

These books arrived last week but I have been so busy lately to look at them.

We have a long holiday weekend coming up and I am hoping to sit down and enjoy them.

The Party >>>> Part Two......

Finally some photos of our guests, hoping they had a good time.......we certainly did. DH received some lovely gifts and he thanks everyone.

The Party >>>> Part one............

What a great weekend we have had, it started early on Friday morning when I went to pick up these little beauties. 50 in total, don't they look sooooooo delicious, the smell is just divine all sweet and sugary, wondering where to buy them, well here http://www.lottiemcphees.co.uk/


DS2 arrived from Uni later in the afternoon, lovely to have him home. We worked so hard all day to get things ready for tomorrow.

This is the fruits of our labour by 4pm on Saturday afternoon, nearly there.
I am especially pleased with the cupcakes and stand, it takes pride of place in the middle of the table.

We seem to be very relaxed and orderly waiting for people to arrive, phew we made it.........

Working hard in the Kitchen.......

What have we been up to today.........

Baking,Preparing and Collecting........boy this is hard work. Still lots to do tomorrow. A sneak preview of some of the goodies for the party. I think you can guess what sort of Birthday Cake we are having!!

Dear Hubby 50 Years Old Today........

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
Well you know what they say, the sun shines on the righteous. It has been the most gorgeous day you could have imagined. We started quite early with fruit juice and tea in bed, then card and present opening. There was a fab present from a very dear friend, a DVD boxed set "Best of the Old Grey Whistle Test". If you are of a certain age you will remember this programme with fond memories, it was hosted by the late great John Peel, Bob Harris and Annie Nightingale. It was on BBC2 on a Tuesday evening. Oh the memories!!!!!!!!!!

We got ourselves sorted and drove 30minute into the Northumberland hills. A steep walk along the edge of the forest and we arrive at a Nature Reserve, look at the colour of the sky. We were in t-shirts, incredible for this time of year.

Snapshots from our day...........

DH recons we walked about 4miles, not bad for a couple of oldies. It was followed by a pint of Guinness and a packet of crisps at a nearby pub. This evening it is just the three of us, going out for a meal. Saturday however, is the big day, we are having a party here at the house. Preparations begin in the morning......... you will find me in the kitchen for the next two days. By the way, the Truffles are delicious.

New Book and Truffles.......

This book was the No1 bestseller last year selling more copies than Harry Potter, it is written by two women from New Zealand, and each recipe uses 4 ingredients or less. In preparation for the "Big Celebration" tomorrow I thought I would try these Cookie and Cream Truffles. As I am short of time these were ideal and took seconds to prepare, stage one .......

Oreo biscuits and cream cheese blended together, rolled into balls, here ready to chill in the fridge for an hour....
Stage two,roll in hot melted chocolate and drizzle with melted white chocolate.