Messing about on the river ........

Happy Tuesday .........

It seems like such a long time since I've blogged .......... that's probably because it is!!!! 

I did have good intentions over the last couple of weeks but, nothing seemed to come out. 

We've been away on holiday ..... again! 

Not in the van this time.   Instead we've had a lovely week on a boat, on the beautiful Norfolk Broads ....... it was fantastic!!!!

The weather was glorious, apart from one day when it rained a little in the morning, but as you can see the rest of the week was mainly blue skies and sunshine.

  

This was our home for the week ...... Explorer 1 from Broom Boats ....... she was lovely!!!   A nice big boat, with loads of room inside, three good sized cabins and a nice sun deck 

Here she is moored up on one of my favourite spots ....... Ranworth Broad.  

It was a bit of a new adventure this time.  We've only ever been on the Northern Broads before but this time we picked the boat up in Brundall, down in the South.  The Southern Broads are very different to the North, very quiet, but I suppose that could have been because of the time of year.  It was still fun to explore though.  

We sailed from Brundall down to Reedham, and then up to Great Yarmouth over the weekend, and we crossed Breydon Water for the first time onto the Northern Broads ...... that was a bit scary!  

It's all tidal, so to cross it you have to time things just right.  We had to work out our journey time to get to Great Yarmouth.  There's no real mooring points so you need to be able to go straight through.  We had to check the tide times and work out when it was low and slack water,  there are bridges to go under and we had quite a tall boat!  

We did it though ..... twice in fact!  Once up to the Northern Broads, which was a little choppy, and we were the only ones on there!!!  That was the morning when the weather wasn't great, which didn't help 

We survived ....... and the trip back to the South at the end of the week was a lot better.   Again we were virtually the only ones on there, but at least the sun was shining this time and it wasn't bumpy at all!

It really was a lovely week, very relaxing and the weather was fab.  The locals were friendly enough, 

 and I could definitely get used to evenings like this ........ 

and this ......... cheers!

I think we may just do it all again next year.

 Maybe we should try one of these next time ........ hmmmm  maybe not!!

We're now back on the island, for a few weeks anyway, and we've got the Isle of Man TT Races to look forward to, and of course the Jubilee celebrations.

For the first time since 2019 the island is going to be buzzing with the sound of motorbikes.  It's already starting to get busy.  We're so looking forward to it ..... I just hope the weather is kind to us.

    

It all gets underway this weekend and then it's Practice Week next week, followed by Race Week with Senior Race Day on Friday June 10th!  I'm so excited!!!!!  It's going to be a busy two weeks!

Thanks for popping by ....... enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time ......

Phew! ....... that was a busy few days

Happy Sunday ..........

And breathe!
What a week that was.

We've had the Uniko new release, which seems to be going down amazingly well (no surprise there!).
Lucy and Sweet Poppy Stencils are back on the TV this next week so I've been busy creating for that (get ready to feel a little festive!).
The school holidays are in full swing, so we've had the little man for a couple of days (always fun).
We went to the cinema on Thursday to watch The Lion King and he loved it! He sat on the edge of his seat most of the time, bless him.  Mind you, his mum was the same when she went to watch the original ...... she cried back then, and there were tears again this time!!

Life also threw us a little curve ball this week too.  We had a bit of a scare with hubby but, he's fine.  The local hospital did a thorough check .... blood tests, x-rays etc.  Had me worried for a couple of hours I can tell you, but as I said, he's all good.

Anyway ........ as things have calmed down a little in the craft room I thought I'd share a few photos from our recent family holiday.  It seems like such a long time ago now.

I would thoroughly recommend a week on a boat, on the Norfolk Broads.  It's so relaxing .... well unless you're with my lot!!  Only joking .... we had a great time messing about on the river

The weather was a little wet when we set off but ....... hubby still insisted on steering from outside .....

The rain didn't last long though.  The sun came out, and it was gorgeous!

It wasn't as busy as we expected either.  Quite a few times we had the river virtually to ourselves

One little stop was to visit the ruins of St Benet's Abbey ......

We also made new friends along the way ......

And of course we had to sample the local food and drink .....

The New Inn at Horning 

The Maltsters at Ranworth 

The Lion at Thurne

The Ferry Inn - Alex's first game of pool

It was also hubby's birthday whilst we were away ......
Start as you mean to go on ...... pink champagne and a special lunch on the boat

Then off to a very nice seafood restaurant in the evening ...... someone enjoyed his smoked salmon!

As always, it was over far too quickly ........

Lots of happy memories though ........ and a few souvenirs

A rather nice cowboy hat that Chris 'bought' off a guy in a bar for a tenner (£10) ....... turned out the guy's wife wasn't too impressed.  They were on the boat moored behind us and she saw Chris coming home with it.  Lets just say the husband got a talking to when he got home!!

I found a pretty gin glass .... perfect for my Mermaid Gin .....

And remember this little guy from last year ......

well .... he now has some friends ......

The lady that makes these beauties Tracy Whinray is from Feltwell in Norfolk.  Hubby always said that if we were in the area I could add one of the large hares my collection so, I'd been in touch and Tracy invited me to her home and studio.
I was so excited ..... her studio was amazing. Tracy and her husband were so welcoming and of course I couldn't resist adding to my collection ....... the little grey ones are gorgeous!

I think he likes his new home!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your weekend.
It should have been a workshop weekend for me but, with everything else that was going on I re-scheduled.  Instead I had a lovely day yesterday down in the south of the island, with my crafty buddies, just playing around with stuff!
There was cheescake too ..... yum!
Anyhow ...... I'd better go and unpack my craft bags now, and get ready for a new week. I wonder what's on the To Do list?!

Cheerio until next time ......

I'm on the Uniko Blog today .......

Good morning ......... Happy Friday!

Just a quick post this morning, to let you know you can find me over on the Uniko Blog today with a little more inspiration using the gorgeous new Mehndi Mandala stencil ...... white on Kraft card, always a favourite.

I can't believe it's the weekend again, and ....... we're almost in July!!  It's hubby's birthday coming up, and then our wedding anniversary at the end of the month ..... 30 years this time!!!  Doesn't time fly when you're having fun.

This time last week our little family break was coming to an end.  We were saying goodbye to Bourton-on-the-Water again for another year.
We had a fab time as always.  A whole week of doing nothing, well almost ..... in one of our favourite parts of the UK.
This was home for the week ..... the beautiful Welcome Cottage.  A real home from home ......

Lots of time was spent down by the river, where we met the locals ......

and even got in there on occasion!

We did go out and about too.  We had a fab day at the Cheltenham Food & Drink Festival ..... well it would have been a shame not to go, seeing as it was on the weekend we arrived. I found another new Gin .... cheers!

We went to the Snowshill Lavender Farm for afternoon tea ........ I brought some lavender plants home with me .... now I just have to keep them alive.  I'm not green fingered at all!!

We had a picnic lunch up at Broadway Tower ........

We stopped off in Stow on the Wold for a little retail therapy .......

And we had a day at the Cotswold Wildlife Park ...... and got up close and personal with the cute little pygmy goats

We do love Bourton ...... and now Chris's girlfriend and the kids love it too ......

We'll be back there again soon no doubt

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day and have a lovely, sunny weekend.

Cheerio until next time .....