Two weekends

Hello there - last weekend was the last day of the football season so hubby, myself and H went off to Southampton to watch the last game which was Saints v Crystal Palace.

First of all I needed to get some new trainers for running because

 

I had the bad

 

 

and I needed the good

Can you see the difference?

 

 

We went to St Mary's and found our seats in the stands as they 

were beginning to fill up ready for the start of the game

 

 

 

The grass was getting a last minute water before the teams came out

 

 

 

The teams are announced so the fans know who are in the squad

and who will be playing on the day

 

 

 

The whistle goes and the game is underway

 

 

 

Just before half time - Southampton scored!

 

There was a free kick awarded to Saints

 

The game went on and the final score was

Southampton 4 - 1 Crystal Palace

What a great way for us to finish the season and we ended

up finishing in 6th position and will be playing European football

next season.

 

*    *    *    *    *    *

 

I had a busy week ahead of me as I was going away with Bridget and Georgie for the weekend.  We were going to Buxton in Derbyshire to meet with some other crochet addicts who we knew from an online crochet group.  We set off on Friday afternoon and after a couple of hours driving we stopped at Lichfield for something to eat during the evening to break up the journey

 

 

Cheers

 

 

Quarnford Lodge, Buxton

We arrived about 10 pm and said hi to everyone before heading

off to bed as we had had a long trip.

 

We were up and out bright and early and heading off to Lyme Park for

our weekly Saturday morning fix of parkrun (unfortunately Bridget

wasn't feeling very well) so she didn't run, but of course came with

us to cheer us on and take some photos

These beauties were wandering around as we drove through the park

 

 

Georgie stopped the car and I got out to take this photo

 

 

and of course there was some reindeer poo

 

This little chap climbed out of the steam and wandered around on the grass

 



 

 

We arrived quite early and there were only a few runners around.

We saw the start was over in the background by the sign and then the 5k run

was to go straight uphill for the first 800 metres - I could hardly breathe once

the run started - there were 69 runners taking part 19 running the course for the first time.

The course then became flatter as we ran through the wood and then

there was a marshal at the end of the cobbled path who turned us left up yet

another hill - on we went and the runners were stretching out in single file in front

of us and behind - on we went until we came out on the moors and climbed

up again but more gradually this time to the summit.

 

 

Here we come

 

 

The Cage which was built around 1580 as a hunting lodge.  The ladies of British

nobility could admire the prowess of their menfolk as they hunted stag on the slopes

below and it overlooks the nearby moors and 1,300 acres of parkland.  The marshal

in position at The Cage then sent us down over the other side to the bottom of the park

where another marshal pointed us back up and on we went up again towards the finish.

 

 

And there we go

 

 



 

AAAAAAAaaaaaahh the finish

 

 

A gentle walk back down to the park in search of a well earned cuppa

 

 

OOOOOoooo the café

 

 

 

Due to unforeseen circumstances we had to cut our weekend short.

We drove back to the Lodge where we told the ladies we would have to leave early

 

 

The ladies had arranged to do a gift exchange - Bridget crocheted

everyone a little coaster and I had been to the beach and collected some

stones and crocheted little covers for them as a memento from the

Isle of Wight - so when we got back we handed them out to the ladies.

We were sorry to leave and are sure the ladies enjoyed their crochet weekend.

I had this book for Christmas and Christine was one of the ladies staying for

the weekend so I took my sock book with me and Christine very kindly

signed it for me

 

Green - District Line

Black - Northern Line

Purple - Metropolitan Line

Orange - London Overground

Silver - Jubilee Line

Red - Central Line

Yellow - Circle Line

Brown - Bakerloo Line

Aqua - Waterloo and City Line

Turquoise - Victoria Line

Royal - Piccadilly Line

Pink - Hammersmith and City Line

 

I can knit socks because of the very simple precise way the book is written

 and I love doing them. I finished these during the week, this wool is called

Mind the Gap by Trailing Clouds

which is based on the London underground

 

 

These short trainer socks are on my needles now.

You cannot beat the beautiful feel of homemade socks on your feet.

 

 

Christine kindly brought me some wool to make some scanner

pockets for parkruns

 

 

I got a few made and started whilst travelling at the weekend

 

 

I knitted some sleeve of my jumper as well

 

 

I managed some baby bits too and there will be more baby things

in the coming months as my friend is expecting a baby

How exciting!

 

 

Last week I had this beautiful view of the tree in my garden

 

 

Today the blossom has all blown off and looks like pink snow!

 

Thanks for popping by

 

Xx Joy xX

Osborne House and bluebells

Hello there - The sun was shining and it was Sunday so we packed a picnic and set off in the car to Osborne House as we had the boys for the day.  We got our entrance tickets and started to walk down the path heading to the beach.

 



 

I spotted this bit of trimming that had been done in the garden

 

 

Walking on and seeing this stunning rhododendron

 



 

Round the corner to see the scaffold up around the house

 as there is some renovation going on, even on a Sunday

 

 

 

Before

 

 

And after

 

 

Looking quite calm when we got down to the beach

 

 

Some waves

 

 

Really quite choppy

 

 

The boys ventured in

 

 

 

Ships passing through down the Solent

 

 

 

Paradise here on the Isle of Wight

 

 

We wandered back up towards the house and this is what

is growing alongside the path as you walk - wild garlic 

 

Four different flowers in that one little patch

primroses, daisies, milk maids and a dandelion

 

 

 

An old branch has fallen with fir cones still attached

 

 

A long eared bat wood carving along the path

 

 

Red squirrel wood carving

 

 

 

A peek over the gate once I had read the sign

 

 

 

 

 

A quick walk around Swiss Cottage and a look

at the kitchen with this original recipe

(I've not made it yet, but will do one day)

 



 

A walk around the royal children's gardens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A rickety old bench - you daren't sit on it!!

 

 

A beautiful bluebell walk through the woods

 

 

Carrying on up the main path towards the house

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One last look back at the sea

 

 

Nearly at the house and gardens

 

 

 

 

Around the gardens

 

 

Up the steps

 

 

Down over the wall - oooohhh look - shadows

 

 

 

 

OOOOooohhh - the gardens, the colours, the flowers

the neatness of them all - is just stunning

 

One last path to walk along to the walled garden

 

 

 

 

 

Tulips

 

 

Getting the plots ready for planting

 

 

 

 

Can you see the V and A intertwined

on the back of the bench?

Victoria and Albert

 

 

V and A also on the flower pots

 

 

Back out of the walled garden heading towards

the exit and our afternnon at Osborne House is nearly over

 

 

 

I've never spotted this statue before

I see something different ever time I visit

 

This time the inscription is VR

Victoria Regina on the post box

 

 

The post box is situated in the entrance/exit area to post your

cards back home telling all what a fantastic day you have had at

Osborne House

 

We will be back soon

 

Thanks for popping by

 

Xx Joy xX

 

PS

 

 

I made a few little notelets and mini envelopes

 

 

We had a 118 fun run at our parkrun

so I made some moustaches

 

 

Something interesting on the needles

 

 

 

 

Something interesting on the crochet hook

 

 

More on the crochet hook - Guess what?

 

 

You remember the knit n natter ladies made a blanket to raffle at

our local parkrun?  The draw took place last weekend and our resident

photographer Peter won it - we sold tickets at £1 each and raised

£595.80 and a friend of parkrun gave us £4.20 which made our total £600

for Medina IOW parkrun funds!

 

A W E S O M E - we have started another project - so

Watch This Space

 

 

What a lovely sight to wake up to out of your bedroom window

 

ttfn

 

Xx Joy xX