Smile it's The Weekend

It's been a strange old week here. I've  been busy crafting between bouts of feeling terrible, I've been struck down with "The Dreaded Lurgy" better known Tonsilitis which has now become a stinking cold.

It's taken a lot out of me energy wise, but I've woken up this morning feeling so much better now that the snot has solidified instead of my nose being a constant running tap.

Sorry, was that too much information?

To cheer myself up I went on a little shopping trip yesterday, not being well enough to drive to Hobbycraft in Woking, I popped into Lorimers in Godalming.

OMG Look what I found!!

I need a Bubble-Wrap fix

How I love Bubble Wrap 

POP POP POP POP POP POP POP

After my brief fling with the bubble wrap I headed into the craft section to buy myself some double sided sticky tape, not as exciting I grant you, but essential.

It's starting to get really cold here now, I've even had to start wearing my thick jumpers, soon I'll have to it'll be time to put the radiators on.

Even though Badger Boo has his own heat pad in his bed that stays warm for up to 8 hours, look what I found on the sofa when I arrived back from my trip out.

Zzzzzzzzzzz

Cheeky pup! 
He looked so comfy I left him there to sleep for a while.

Don't forget the link up below can be about anything, all are welcome and it stays open until midnight Sunday.
Full details here.

Hope you all have a great weekend.
xxx

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The Post That Nearly Wasn't

Apologies for the lateness of today's post. 

In fact I very nearly didn't add a post this week.

I hope you will understand when I tell you why.

On Tuesday I received some truly devastating news and it has totally knocked me for six.

A person I considered a good friend took their own life. I feel totally shell shocked and have so many unanswered questions.

It's so sad someone should feel so desperate, I truly hope they've found the peace they were searching for.

This week I'm unable to come up with a  happy smiley post, as a result I've decided to permanently change Smile it's Friday to:-

 Smile it's the Weekend 

From now on posts can be about anything you want as the weekend is approaching, more details can be found here.

I hope everyone has a good weekend.

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Smile it's Friday

A walk in the woods is always guaranteed to cheer me up, especially when accompanied by my best friend Badger Boo. 

We're very lucky to live in the Surrey Hills which is an area outstanding natural beauty, we have so many lovely areas to chose from to walk but my favorite by far is Witley Common.

Badger Boo just loves to charge around and around flushing out the Squirrels. 

Get otta ma way, I'm coming through!!!

Shhhhh I spy a pesky Squirre!!!

He also has a passion for sticks (even though he's not allowed to play with them for safety reasons) So he gets around the rules by always trying to pick up one that's far to big!

The noises he makes in frustration at not being able to pick it up always have me in stitches.

Come with me stick GRRRRR

Badger's favorite thing to annoy me make me smile, is to pop into pictures when I'm trying to capture "The Shot" I've lost count of how many times he's appeared in pictures he shouldn't LOL.

He's always doing something really daft and helps me find the joy in each day.

His sight has always been really poor because of PRA  but now its complicated by the appearance of Cataracts. He also seems to be going deaf, which we noticed recently because he hardly ever barks at the door now (thankfully) it was the one bad habit I was never able to break him of.

But at 12 years old he is still fit, healthy and active, living life to the full and bringing joy to all he meets.
You can't help but smile and fall in love with this cute little face.

Hope everyone has a great weekend xxxxx 

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Smile it's Friday

I stumbled across this video on facebook, it's brilliant!
I've lost count of how many times I've watched it in the last couple of days.

If you grew up in the 70's and 80's sit back and enjoy the memories.
If your too young to remember any of it, think of it as a history lesson.

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend xxx

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Smile it's Friday

Last week at the hospital I got the most amazing, fantastic news.
The Nurse Practitioner has recommended that new knees would be beneficial to me!!!
WHOOP WHOOP



I know it's chuffin' amazing news!

I still need to see my surgeon who will make the final decision as to a yes or no, but it's fingers crossed from now until I see him.
If he decides I can go ahead it will change my life in so many ways. Things I've not been able to do for years will be open to me again, like horse riding and running. 

Arthritis is so debilitating, the constant pain and side effects from the drugs I need everyday make life so restricted.

I'm scared at the prospect but OMG so excited too!!!

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend.

xxx

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Smile it's Friday

I just love to take pictures of just about anything.

I'm often asked where I find the time, but you don't have to travel very far to get a stunning picture.

It can be a simple as a quick step out of the door to check out a beautiful sunset.

Sunsets are my favorite, a beautiful red sky always makes me feel full of hope for something wonderful the next day.

What makes you smile? 

Join the link up, share your post below and lets get the whole world smiling

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend.

xxx

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It's Nice to Be Appreciated

Welcome to "Smile it's Friday" which I'm now hosting here every Friday instead of over at Badger Boo's. 

Himself  and I had a little trip into Guildford this week to attend a presentation for local St John members. Himself was being awarded a certificate for doing over 1000 hours volunteering as a Community First Responder, which is an outstanding number of hours considering his own medical problems in the past year. 

Such a selfless person, willing to do so much for others, even when I'm moaning at him to stop and take it easy.

You may remember we attended a presentation in Redhill for his 500 hour certificate last year, and if your maths is any good that's over 1500 hours of volunteering whilst working full time in London.

Where he finds the energy from I have no idea! 

Things are good here I'm slowly but surely getting into a routine, I have a few Craft Fairs booked and a couple of commissions I'm working on at the moment, this blog isn't about my crafts so if you want to know more then follow this link.

 It's time to head to the allotment and pick the apples that are still left on the tree after yesterdays wind and checking the windfalls for damage, I may well have some spare apples soon for people local enough to collect them from me.

I've linked this post to:-

 Welcome to the Weekend 

Photo of The Week

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend.

xxx

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I Never Expected That!

Driving along in Surrey you just don't expect to see a windmill, soon as I saw this I just had to turn the car around to get a picture. 

I'm not sure if it's a working one or somebodies house as it looks fully restored, but I intend to do some research on it and find out.

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Smile it's Friday

To be honest I've not got a lot to smile about today, I'm absolutely shattered. 

I don't sleep well at the best of times and usually average approx 3 to 4 hours a night, but between my usual sleep pattern and being constantly disturbed by Himself in pain, I feel like I've not slept in weeks.

That's enough moaning from me for one day.

From now on "Smile it's Friday" will be hosted here and NOT over at Badger Boo's Daft Adventures  

My reasons for doing this:-

1)  I've been neglecting this blog.
2)  The number of link ups have dropped off over at Badger Boo's.
3)  I would love "Smile it's Friday" to become a roaring success.

All are welcome to join in, there are no rules, it just has to make you and others smile.

Join in the link up with a story or picture that has made you smile, it can be about anything.

I love Fridays because it's so nearly the weekend and that always makes me want to smile now I'm no longer a shift worker, I used to work so many weekends and nights it ruined my social life.
But now my weekends are mine to do with as I please, and that always makes me want to smile.




 

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How Big?????

Badger Boo really knows his Onions.

Can you think of a funny Saturday Caption?

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Smile it's Friday

I love the smell of fresh bread, don't you?

It's a smell that reigns pretty much supreme in this house as I always bake my own bread, can't stand the plastic stuff from the supermarket plus mine has no additives.

I do it properly, no cheating and using a bread maker, I use that for making the cakes.

OK so it takes longer kneading by hand, but the bread is so much better, how can you say you've made your bread if the bread maker does all the work?

First I mix it all up and knead on top of my cooker, it has a ceramic top and over the years has become my preferred food prep area, I then put it into a big glass bowel, cover with a tea-towel and into the airing cupboard it goes for 90 mins.

It has usually more than doubled in size depending on the amount of yeast I've added, every batch is different as I never measure anything, it's the way I was trained.

(oops I forgot to photograph this stage)

I then divide into two, knead again and shape put into greased and floured tins and off to the airing cupboard it goes again for the yeast to work it's magic for another 90 mins.

Ready for second rising in airing cupboard.

Yet again it rises to more than double it's size, if it's not big enough I will leave it in there for another 30 mins.

One time I forgot all about it and left it in the cupboard overnight, it looked ok although a little dry and luckily it didn't grow to triffid proportions.
Not being one to waste food it went into the oven, it cooked up ok, but when you cut into it there were massive air pockets making it useless for sandwiches or toast. 
We had Bread and Butter Pudding every night that week to use one of them up, the other is still in the freezer.

Pretty huge when they come out of the airing cupboard!

I digress, after all that proving into the oven they go for 30ish mins on 170ᵒC, the way to tell if they are properly cooked is to tap on the bottom, if it sounds hollow they're done, if not, stick them back in the oven for approx 5 more mins, that's usually enough time but as I said before every batch is different.

Yummy, now where's that butter **drools**

I can never resist cutting a huge slice off whilst it's still hot and smothering it with Butter.
Complete bliss, with butter running down my chin. 

By the way, that's real butter, none of that so called pretend stuff!
A little of what you fancy won't do you any harm.
Just so long as you eat it in moderation.

I wonder who else is smiling this weekend :o)

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Smile it's Friday

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I'm one very proud mum this week

My son has passed all his exams and will be going to Winchester University in September as a mature student.

Some of you may not know I have a son, I don't write about him for privacy reasons, but sorry James I had to shout this one from the rooftops.

Congratulations and Well Done.

You've overcome a lot to get to this point, I'm very very proud of you and all you have achieved in the last 18 months, I knew you could do it, I never doubted it.
Every step forward is a step closer to your goal.

Now lets see who else is smiling this weekend :o)

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Smile it's Friday

I love apples and when I took my new allotment over was very pleased to see we had our own little apple tree.

I've not been able to get to the allotment much lately. 

Himself has been unwell and had to have another operation on his kidney this week, so we are pretty much housebound at the moment due to his severe pain which is difficult to manage.

So imagine my delight, that when I found 10 mins to pop to the allotment on Wednesday, I found the tree was heavily laden with tiny little apples all ready to grow into nice big juicy ones

I have no idea what type of apples they are? 

Looking at the colour of them I'd say they're not Cooking Apples, which is lucky as I eat more apples than I cook. 

So I'm off now to do some research on how I can make jams, jellies and anything else out of all these lovely chaps when ready to harvest. As much as I love Apple Crumble and Custard I think with this many apples I would soon get bored of it, I'm going to really enjoy tying out new recipes with these little beauties.

Now lets see who else is smiling this weekend :o)

If you have a funny tale or picture, feel free to join in the blog hop by adding your link below, there's even a nice badge you can add if you want too as well.

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