Day 745

Day 745...

It's a little late in the day as I write this so this may be a quick post!

My day was spent in work and it was another day of taking my staff through various aspects of my job as I get ready to completely stand down from my role as manager. We are still on track for my last day at pre-school to be at the end of May and we are gradually making our way through all the different tasks that my job entails.

I arrived home to a freshly brewed pot of coffee thanks to Simon and a small pile of post which included some lovely flowers sent by Simon's boss (and good friend) and his wife. Although I did have to search for something suitable to put the flowers in as the only proper vase that I'd owned had been thrown out when we'd had a clear out a few months back. It's not very often I have flowers in the house as they will normally set Simon's hayfever off! But thankfully I found a suitably large glass that was a souvenir from a vacation many, many years ago but works wonderfully as a vase!

I attempted to phone the local register office to discuss how to get a reference number for my dad's death so that we can make use of a government service called 'Tell Us Once'. This is a great service as by simply registering online a number of various government departments are advised of a person's death in one go rather than each department having to be contacted separately. Because my dad's passing has been referred to the coroner we have been issued with an 'interim death certificate' as opposed to a full death certificate and therefore getting this reference number is a little different to 'normal'. But unfortunately I discovered that the register office only opens between 9am and 4pm as I was phoning at a few minutes after 4pm and couldn't get through! Finally I was able to leave my details and hope that someone will get back to me on Monday so we can start getting things sorted.

Then this evening we popped out for an hour or so to support my sister-in-law as she has expanded her business into more of an art venture and has a small exhibit happening within the complex where she has her studio. Her business, China Petals, makes mosaics from broken china and pieces of glass and she has now taken this skill into a more bespoke form making unique pieces of art.

And that was Friday and I am looking forward to the weekend and stopping for a few hours, see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 536

Day 536...

So today was Sunday and my last day before returning to work after the summer break. And typical of the British weather after a couple of weeks of grey and, on occasion, damp weather the sun decided to show its face and bless us with a warm and sunny day...on the last day of my holidays!!

But no matter what the weather the first job this Sunday morning was, as has become the norm, to fetch the weekly grocery shop...whoop! Next on the agenda was to remove all the masking tape from the bathroom following yesterday's decorating along with some touch-ups where we'd missed a couple of places.

Then we headed off out to Derby for a couple of hours. Our main reason was to pop in and see my sister-in-law who was taking part in a craft fair event in the city centre with her venture, China Petals. A relatively small event with about a dozen or so small art and craft businesses run by a non-profit organisation helping small business to promote their wears. It was lovely to see Diane and have a chat as well as have a look at the other stalls and speak with other artists and makers. We were then able to report back to Molly as it maybe something that she will be looking into doing in the future as part of her Shutter Crafts business.

We then enjoyed a walk around the city centre, stopped for a couple of coffees and had the obligatory nip into Primark to see if there was any new Disney merchandise to be had. Although they had a few bits there was nothing, unfortunately, that took my fancy today.

Back home we decided to enjoy the sunshine in our own back garden with a coffee before setting about laying some weed membrane in our courtyard garden that we are currently in the process of tidying up. And then it was time for our Disney Dream Girls Disney quiz which we have not held for a few weeks due to holidays and more, so it was lovely to see some faces that I've not had chance to chat with for a while.

And that was our Sunday done and dusted.

See you tomorrow.
xx

A Photoshoot by Shutter Studios

Day 221...

So as we turned back the clocks one hour last night and can now fully embrace the autumnal season I thought I would change my little icon at the top of these posts to something more appropriate.

The day started with the usual Sunday online grocery shop ready for collection tomorrow, and then we got ready for an afternoon out!

Molly had been asked by my sister-in-law if she could take some photos for her and so our afternoon out was to help Molly with this photoshoot. My sister-in-law runs a small business called China Petals where she makes mosiacs from fine china. She has a small studio space and had asked Molly if she could take some photographs to be used in publicity; some shots of the studio, of her at work and some headshots.

So armed with camera and lightboxes we spent a few hours this afternoon as photographers assistant and driver. Molly did a great job and took over 350 photos which she now needs to go through and edit

Once home we had time for a coffee before jumping online to join in with the weekly Disney Dream Girls podcast Disney quiz. This week I had come up with questions all about the movie Hocus Pocus and my partner in crime, Michelle, had done the same all about the film The Nightmare Before Christmas. Another fun hour chatting with Disney loving friends from around the world.

Simon has been working on an art commission for a contact in the US and some digital drawing for himself as well as a little VR time travelling around an art gallery! All in all, today has turned out to be quite a creative sort of day.

Until tomorrow, take care out there; wash your hands, keep your distance and wear a mask.

xx