21st July - 4th August 2017
Well, I can't believe it's quite so long since I've let my fingers dance across the key board to keep whoever's reading this up to date with what we've been doing. And now I have set about this task it's quite hard to recall how we've spent our time.
I think mostly it's been shopping, tinkering and visiting! If you read our last blog post you may recall the story about our new lithium ion battery - well it's all fitted and in full working order now! John and John (Hubby and Brother-in-Law) had a few tussles with it, but in the end it submitted and now we have all the power we need courtesy of Mrs Sun and our solar panel (even though she has spent a good bit of time hiding behind thick clouds recently).
The other thing that was high on my agenda was getting my wedding outfit for Ben and Louise's (son and daughter-in-law to be) nuptials 💒 on the 10th of this month. And I'm quite happy to report 😌 that my mission has been achieved in 2 very enjoyable shopping trips - one with Val and her Mum (Sister and Mother in law) and the other with Sarah (daughter) - however, if you want to see the finished result you'll have to tune into my next Blog when the main event will have taken place. Suffice to say for now, I think John and I will be scrubbing up quite well 😂
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| Val cutting her birthday cake! |
Happy Birthday to Val on the 24th July
And very sorry we missed your Birthday Cath on the 31st - Hope you had a very special day xxx
Also, as usual when we're 'home', we're spending as much time as we can with our Grandchildren. Jack (the eldest one) even treated me to a soaking at the water play area in Crossley Park. Him and my great nephew Erik took great delight in 'getting' Grandma - but I don't think they'd quite bargained on Grandma being quick enough to be able to 'get' the little blighters back😂😂😂. We all ended up soaked through to the skin but it was good fun! And then we found some angry birds!
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| Lin Dale |
It was wet, muddy and wonky, and the site posed a real threat for us to get stuck on the soft ground. Also no matter how we tried we couldn't get T4rdis2 level so after one night of sleeping with the blood rushing to our brains we gave it up as a bad job and came back Swanwick. However, while we were there we did manage a walk that took us through the very pretty Lin Dale and down beside the River Dove at Dovedale.
So that more or less brings me to the last couple of days where we really haven't had much to do! Yesterday we just pottered around on the site dodging the showers, and then we went to share our tea with Sarah Paul and Thomas.
And today we decided to go for a little trip down memory lane - but to ensure we were well fed for our 20 mile bike ride we nipped down to Belper River Gardens where we indulged in Fish and Chips from George's - and delicious they were too! Then we cycled up the steep Ashbourne Road out of Belper and turned off towards Farnah Green - an area we used to visit regularly in our much younger days. We often popped into the Prospect Cafe (which is no longer there) for Sunday dinner and I used to go horse riding along The Chevin. We then proceeded on towards Duffield passing by Chevin Bank where I used to live when I was a nipper, but now the old house has gone and in it's place is a posh housing estate. Next we zoomed down King Street where we found the old church hall that used to double as a youth club - I think that was the place we first met many many moons ago! And then we continued on our way towards Eaton Bank were we paused in the village park area for coffee (but no cake), before we finished our ride off with a quick nip back up to Ripley and home.
So that more or less brings our story up to date for now, and for the next few days we'll be busy with a bit more child minding, visiting and socialising, but I just need to warn you that if you intend reading my next post it will be well padded out with lots of pictures - The Wedding will have taken place😁😁😁
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