Tagged and Suffolk - A weekend break

I hope that your sitting comfortably and with refreshments - this is a big blog session.

A few months back I found this pretty little cottage in Suffolk while I was scouring cottages on the Internet. I decided along with my cousin that we should book it for a weekend break for ourselves and our men.

The Wisteria - sinens alba - had a wonderful perfume.

We opened the front door and felt at home instantly.A very cosy lounge with a working stove that we used every evening. A tiny little kitchen but very sweet. I loved the Pea tiles around the sink - they were from Laura Ashley.

We took turns to cook a full English breakfast everyday before we set off on our explorations.

Both the bedrooms have very comfortable beds and nice crisp bed linen.

Just what we needed at the end of the day.

The antique bath was found and fitted by the owners. The whole cottage had been renovated and completed in 2005.

The dining area with a table ready laid for afternoon tea and cake to greet us.

Southwold beach

This charming little seaside town is very trendy and a popular place but still it has managed to make you feel as though you had stepped back in time...but with all the mod cons that we expect! There are some beautiful properties in Southwold, some so close to the sea - but for how long with coastal erosion as it is?
We walked for miles along the coastal road to the little harbour, just to buy our freshly caught Sea Bass for the BBQ and have a well deserved lunch consisting of Shrimps, Whelks, Cockles and a huge bag of chips!!!

Famous for its Beach Huts. One was priced at £70,000.00 or near offer! The one above called 'Costa Plenty' said it all.

Coastal erosion has been a huge challenge for the East of England for thousands of years.

Upto £7m of work has been carried out along the coast in Southwold, so I read, to try and prevent further erosion.

Aldeburgh

Another lovely seaside town.This strip of land leads out from the mainland at Aldeburgh. The sea is on one side and the marshes on the other. We drove along this strip of land which leads to the Martello Tower.

29 were built between Aldeburgh and St Osyth Stone between 1808 and 1812 to protect Essex and Suffolk. They were built of brick, 13 foot thick on the seaward side, stood about 30 foot high.
The largest tower is CC at Aldeburgh, which is four towers joined together. They are monuments to a time when Britain was threatened by invasion by Napoleonic France.

An old building in Aldburgh on the green.
It is an interesting and enjoyable walk along the beach which stretches for miles.


A weekend is not enough time to really see all that Suffolk has to offer.

Below are the little treasures that I found while visiting and Antique Market and the shops at Aldeburgh.

And a very enjoyable weekend break in Suffolk was had by all......

Tagged
I have been tagged by two lovely girls, Vanessa @ Just Originals and Sarah @ Miss Sew n Sew.
Here goes.....

1) What was I doing ten years ago?
Well we had just moved into a wreck of a house. It was unliveable really, but we had to move in and suffer as the renovations were made! I should tell the terrible tale one day.
It was a very large detached Vicotrian house - complete with ghosts and Maids living quarters !…we completed the renovations and them moved out.

2) What are 5 things in your to do list today?
Today I have to complete this Tag and do a Blog on Suffolk.
I have to unpack and cook a nice comforting casserole as winter has returned! Clean the house – just a bit. .Read my Country Living Magazine and finish my Susan Hill book The Lady In Black – great ghost story! As the book has to go back to library tomorrow.


3) Snacks I enjoy
I love warm milk chocolate bars – I never like my chocolate from the fridge!
Crisps.
Bowls of soup.
Fruit….or anything that is handy that I rustle up a mouth wateringly delicious snack with. I do love preparing food and cooking.


4 )Things I would do if I was a Millionaire

Pay off the mortgage.
Buy a house by the coast in Sussex and another in Dorset to rent out as beautiful holiday cottages.
And like Miss Sew n Sew... spend huge amounts of money at Cath Kidston, Greengate and Kate Forman! and also Antique Markets!
Give some money to friends and family.
Give more money Cancer Research…..I do this every month already.

5) Places I have lived
I grew up in London. Moved to north Kent – a London suberb really - when I was 5, met my Hub here - still live here! but I also have a cottage in the North Cotswolds where we go to chill-out from the stress of life - being far too close to London…and I rent it out as a holiday cottage to keep my busy.


6) Six peeps I want to know more about
This is an open invitation to anyone who reads my Tag and would like to join in.

Hoping that you all have a wonderful week, even if it does rain!

Carol xxx

Sorry this was a long one!

A Day In My Life

Before you start if you like to read your blogs in peace, turn off the speakers!

I was very angry today and when I feel like that I have to put on some happy music and loud!

Just like the piece I have chosen here by George M....if you like it turn it up and bounce away as you read!

~~~

Once I have finally manage to drag myself out of bed....not easy! and hobble downstairs to make that first great cup of breakfast tea to start my day, the very first thing I do is look out of the kitchen window to see what is happening with the weather!

I like to sit an enjoy my mug of tea with a book or magazine and most definitely NOT the letters that fall onto the doormat in huge pile every morning and never fail to annoy me in some way!

I confess to having a little spend-up on Amazon, but I did only buy from the New & Used section this time - great idea big savings can be made here. This is just two of the 5 books that I ordered.

'Falling Cloudberrys and Apples For Jam by Tessa Kiros. I have to say these are more than just cookery books they are full of beautiful pictures and both tell a little story about family and food.

My happiness was short lived !

I will not tell you about the 'horrific' Bank charges that I also received this morning. And all because the Amazon payments came out so fast from my Halifax account they were debited before a credit that was due in had arrived....isn't it funny how they always manage to take money out of our accounts in a flash yet money going in is sooo slow. Is it a scam! are we being robbed under our noses....yes I dare say.

Next job. Feed the dog's!

Upstairs to get myself ready for the day and make the bed.... my two bedside reads at the moment are a Ghost story and my most favorite of all the house mag's...even more so as they have sent me a gorgeous Emma Bridgewater spotty cup & saucer for my afternoon tea...

Back out into the garden to wash-up the dog's bowls and water the plants. This is an old Belfast sink that my son-in-law gave us. N. had the iron stand made to measure by a local Cotswold blacksmith. I am going to paint the iron stand but I have not yet decided on the shade of F&B I want. A big sink in the garden is a brilliant idea if you have room.

Back into the kitchen for a quick tidy here and then one of favorite 'hobbies' to paint my latest finds.
I have managed to get N. to help this time....I think he is fed up with all my projects blocking is garage space!

My F&B collection of oil eggshell paint and one of the little bird box's that I have asked N. to make for me. This one has a lead roof...removed for the painting and the other one has a grey slate roof. I wanted three all to be different, so far I have two ready for painting.
In between painting I do bit of dusting and hoovering, well it has to be done.....no order to my housework...as and when. I have to say Cath Kidston's pack of two pretty dusters do make it a bit more 'fun' ? is that the right word? or am I just sad!

A dash to the high street to have a big moan in the Bank!

Afterwards I found myself yet again in the charity shop spending money I should be saving to pay the Banks massive charges...and was rewarded with this!

I have been searching for weeks, no, months for a nice crochet throw for the camper van.

I had bid on several on EBay and lost or backed out as the price rockets.

There it was, perfect and only £3.99 !

All Cool Campers should have at least one of these to throw around your shoulders as you sit by the campfire, telling ghost stories !

Home again.

A little walk around my garden to inspect how little I have left of my Hosta's after last nights feast by the slugs and snails!

Finally pop the kettle on before lunch.

Katie and Jude arrive just as lunch is served...

I did manage to buy one crochet squares blanket on EBay.

But silly me, in my haste I did not get the tape measure out to check the size. It is a bit small but so beautifully made. Guy likes it too.And lastly my Cath Kidston expensive crochet throw. The colours go perfectly with the camper interior which is mainly pale blue and bright pinks.I will have to show you the camper interior one day.

After lunch or brunch, more painting. Then on goes the kettle again as Katie and Jude sleep on the sofa!

Nothing like a nice cup of tea in the afternoon! Gosh there is a lot tea drinking in this house. And two of my litttle 'boys' enjoying the afternoon with me in the garden.

Next I dash to the allotment to water and a spot of weeding.

It is so peaceful here...the thought of actually going is not one that pleases me, but once I am through the padlocked gates I am happy, it is the quietness that I love and seeing my vegetables growing before my eyes.

Home again, whacked out....cook the dinner and finally I collapse on the sofa until Hub says,

time for bed Carol...wake up!

Where do the hours go? I never achieve all that I hope to at the start of the day.
XXX

Herbaceous Perennials and Palms of the attached to your hands variety!

I have in my garden two plants I treasure. The first one is Smilacina racemosa, common name False Spikenard. The second is, Solomens's Seal, both love shade, as do I! and are wonderful for cut flower displays. The perfume from Smilacina fills the room with a wonderful fresh clean scent.

This is the Solomens Seal and as you can see the tiny flowers hang under the leaves like little bell's. Both will become very large, but look so beautiful if you have a the right spot for them. To lie under a tree in the glorious sunshine is where I want to be. I love the variegated leaves of my young Maple tree. I will be so sad to leave it behind. I have a habit of doing this. I plant lots of trees and just as they start to look really special...I move.

My pond has dirty green water, but, I like it that way. My fish can hide! I have planted Baby Tears on the rocks around the pond, it spreads very quickly and adds wonderful lushness to the pond.

Now, I have a question for anyone who knows anything about

Palmistry!

I had not noticed that I had and extra line on my left hand until I went to a Medium. After the reading she wanted to read my palm. On inspecting it she commented on the additional line that I had and told me that it was rare and lucky or something, can't remember now as it was a long time ago. My youngest daughter has the same extra line on her left hand and I have just checked Jude's left hand and well and behold he too has this extra line! The line that I am talking about is the little one on the side of my hand opposite my thumb, just a little line that runs from that fleshy side of my hand. Does anyone know what it means?

Update sorry to confuse!

I mean the short line under the little finger that runs from the edge or side of my hand towards the middle and then ends!!!The very little but deep line.

Update:- I have searched the Internet and found some very useful sites, but not one has been able to show in a diagram or describe what this extra very prominent line means!

A very laid back Jude and looking so much fuller in the face don't you think!

Back soon...

Snaps & Snails & Puppy Dogs Tails

Garden Snaps....Yesterday was a really warm and I could not wait to get in my garden and have a little tidy up.

The Hosta's are now up...some more than others, but the blooming Snails have devoured one Lupin and some tiny little baby snails had managed to by-pass the Slug & Snail killer and started to tuck into one my potted Hosta's. I am on a mission now!
Here is Nigella the camper......still waiting for that first camping trip with the new awning.

This picture is taken from the back of the garden where the pond is situated and the new patio has been recently laid.....almost finished!

A little fence that we needed to keep the dogs off the garden and my little boy's away from the pond.

Another yellow Acer of the very slow growing type.
I did have this in a pot but when we moved here I did think that this would be the last move...so I planted all my beloved Acer's in the ground and said that I had finally put down roots....
I changed my mind.
One more move is planned.
I will be very sad to leave my plants.

Puppy Dog's Tails......
This little munchkin decided that he would have an adventure.
He squeezed between our house side wall and next doors wall, it is a very small gap of about
4 inches!
Guy was stuck!
Bottom facing out.
We thought that we had not heard him for a while then N heard a whimper.
Talking calmly to him was not working, he could not work out reverse!
N had to drag him out by his Tail.....

The Belfast sink was the perfect place to bath Jude.
Here he is in his bath seat.
Mummy does not have to bend over....stitches still a little sore!

Bathed, dressed smelling gorgeous.
Fed and so content.
This is what little Boy's are made of!

A trip to Tunbridge Wells to shop was
heaven for me.
Guy got a new little red bed, all soft and covered with Stanley print from Cath Kidston.
And....
Jude got a pair of very soft white leather pram booties.
They look quite big in this picture but infact are tiny but still a wee bit too big for him now.
Can't wait to see his little chunky little legs in them!
Well that is another week gone!
I am now off to see what you have all been up to!
xcx