Tuesday 29 June 2010

Rounding Up June

What a fleeting month June has been. I wish it had lingered a little longer. I love the long hours of daylight and this year we've been lucky with the weather - lots of dry sunny days, a couple of hot ones but mostly just warm which for me is just fine.

Today was A's last day at nursery and after the summer holidays she will be starting school. In Scotland the summer holidays run from the end of June till the middle of August and you start school in the year you turn 5 (with a couple of months leeway for those born at the start/end of the year for advancement/deferment), prior to this children are entitled to 12.5 hours per week at nursery from the age of 3. She has been very happy at the nursery and today was tinged with a little sadness as it was the last tme she'd be there.

Anyway, I've some catching up to do for the past week...


I went charity shopping, haven't been for a while. I didn't see any bargains at first, then I spotted this little tea set. I took a closer look - it's a complete, undamaged 6 place set with serving plate, sugar bowl, and cream jug, all for just £6.

Just a shame that I don't actually like tea! But I have friends who do, so perhaps one day we'll play at afternoon tea - a good excuse for some more cake baking if nothing else.

I also found a wool shop I hadn't been in before and succumbed to some more yarn for the blanket.

We went to Finlaystone for our toddler group day out. I've been here several times but have still to fully explore the estate. The children always love the pirate ship though it's starting to look a little worn out and bits are starting to fall off. There are quite a few different play areas throught the woods.

There are also some more formal gardens with some beautiful plants. We always tend to zoom through these though, on the way to other areas which are more interesting to children.

The celtic knot maze was popular. We spent about 5 hours at Finlaystone (the good weather helped) and will probably be back for another visit over the summer. Next time we'll go with hubby as he's still never been, what a treat!

Last year I was lucky enough to be given a bottle of a friend's elderflower champagne. I was so impressed with it I though I'd have a go myself. We even have an elderflower bush growing right alongside the garden so the only effort involved was buying the lemons. However, though I started it off on Friday it still hasn't started to ferment. I've added a little yeast and still no action. I fear it may end up down the sink/on the compost pile, sadly.

I've still not been able to manage a Saturday morning cycle, but we did get out on a little Sunday morning family cycle along the cycle path to our usual destination. There has been a new addition to the cycle path art work since I was last along this way.

We had been hoping to see a model boat racing event, but I think it must have been cancelled due to the windy weather. There were plenty of real boats out on the loch instead.

I liked the dramatic skies in the above photo. We have had some rain in the past few days, just as well as the garden was starting to get a bit parched, we'd even had to buy a hose to water the veggies.

I also took a little break from the blanket and made this owl as a graduation present for my niece, no idea as to whether or not she'll like it but I enjoyed making it and was pleased with the result. It's based on this pattern.
I also managed to clear enough space at my desk to work on another pair of tealight holders. The robin is a gift for A's nursery teacher...

...as is this badge, the design for which A drew herself. I also picked a bunch of flowers from the garden, I wish I'd taken a photo as they did look quite nice despite our garden somehow being a little sparse for flowers at this time of year.

So now it's summer holiday time, and tomorrow it's my birthday. Hubby has taken this book into work with him to plan a cake, lucky me!

I've been a little remiss in my blog following recently due to lack of spare time but hope to manage to visit my usual blogs very soon and I'm very much looking forward to catching up with everyone's news...

12 comments:

Diane said...

Youve been busy!! Don't give up on the elderflower champers,it never "looks" right. Love the cups n saucers - i'll be round for a cuppa! xxx

kirsty said...

Sorry I haven't visited for a while - I've missed your lovely photos! Have a fantastic birthday tomorrow xx

topchelseagirl said...

Happy Birthday! Looks like your day out was fun.

Julie said...

Finlaystone looks fun, I hadn't heard of it. Your little owl is very sweet and the new wool colours for the blanket are lovely.
It is sad when the children finish one stage and move onto another. Angus was lucky enought to have two years at nursery too, and loved it, and it set him up really well for p1.
Have a lovely birthday and enjoy your cake. Juliex

Dawn said...

Happy Birthday!
Love that little owl - just had a looke at the pattern and think it looks manageable.
Lucky you to have started the holidays.

...Nina Nixon... said...

Happy Birthday!!

Gosh that tea set is mighty adorable and a superb excuse for tea and friends though sorry that the champers hasn't fermented - we had trouble with at least two batches last year!

Have a grand day,

Nina xxx

rockinloubylou said...

Hope you have a good day for your birthday. Nice of hubby to take time off for it AND to plan a cake - it must be love love love :)

Cathy said...

Wow, the cake on the cover of that book could be responsible for breaking my diet Anne. Luckily I cannot get to it...lol. I enjoyed catching up with all your family things. That pirate ship is amazing. What a great find for kids. Good luck with the brew too. I hope it starts to improve. Anything elderflower gets my vote.

periwinkle said...

your little owl is so cute -- I cried like a baby when my eldest left nursery and my youngest will be starting in September so the teacher had better get the hankies ready for me lol.... fingers crossed it won't be so bad this time though as I'm doing classroom assistant training in the next room. Oh and in answer to your question the beach is about 3 miles ish away from where we live ..

Simone said...

Lovely photos! The nursery teacher is very lucky to receive such a pretty tealight holder. I hope she knows that you made it especially! The owl is very sweet and I am sure it will be well received. I hope your elderflower drink turned out in the end! x

Simone said...

I forgot to say - I hope you had a lovely Birthday!!! x

Funkymonkey said...

What a busy June you've had. Love the photos and the new tea set. I'm sure you'll have lots of people popping in for a cuppa now, especially if there's cake on offer too.

Tracey

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