dEAr diary ~ teamwork…many hands make light work

Yesterday certainly lifted my spirits.  Thank you to everyone for the good wishes.  It was such a busy day and a pleasure to see my friends and family.

Today it was back to work – no not the office – my daughter’s garden.  DH spent his time this week putting the first stabilising coat of paint onto the hallway and staircase walls.  We are using the Polyfilla paint that prevents cracking – we have used it before with great results.

But today, for a change from sanding and painting, DH gave me a hand with the preparation of the gravel patch in the garden.  His job was to put the edging boards in place which involved hammering wooden pegs into the ground and screwing sawn planks of wood to them, whilst I raked over the ground.  The weather was slightly cooler thank goodness.

With both of us focused on this area we managed to get a lot more done and our SIL arrived home at lunchtime to help – he was going to dig out a row of old raspberries but then it started to rain and so we had to down tools and pack away.

After lunch it was still raining so we decided to come home and I went up the road to visit my friend and neighbour to wish her well with her operation on Monday.  After a quick natter and a cup of tea it was time to pop down to town to Sainsbury’s for a few groceries and fresh veg ready for my mum coming tomorrow.  She loves Cauliflower Cheese so I bought some ready prepared broccoli and cauliflower and a tub of cheese sauce – normally I would make my own but I know if we have been out for the day we will need something quick to make.  We will have new potatoes with it, button mushrooms and grilled cherry tomatoes.

I desperately needed to buy a retirement card and a small gift for a friend – it was her last day at work today (she is/was a teacher) and has taken early retirement to be at home with her husband.  Both are much younger than me, still in their 50’s but have enough put by now to be able to stop working.  There was only one suitable card so I added a bit of my own decoration with some stamps and ink to personalise it.  I should really have bought a card long before this so it wasn’t such a last-minute dash.  Hopefully, when I finish work I can get myself more organised.

We pick mum up tomorrow morning in Derbyshire and will treat her to lunch somewhere – there are always plenty of tea shops out there.  Afterwards we might visit the well dressing at Stoney Middleton and I am hoping that the church there (St Martins) will be open.  Built in the early 15th century it is quite a special little place with an octagonal shaped nave and last time I went it had been beautifully decorated with flowers.  It is a few years since I have been to this particular village but I remember it as having some rather nice little nooks and crannies to photograph.

It may be a day or two before I get to write a post about our adventures over the weekend – it is always a busy time when mum comes to stay  – at 92 she still has more energy than me!

Have a lovely weekend, back soon x