Birds and a trip out

Well the birdwatch was a wash out - we have had heavy rain all weekend so not a bird to be seen in our garden! We still made ourselves go out yesterday and today for a walk to get some fresh air and exercise but we got very wet.

The great excitement this morning was a trip to our nearby market town.  I do a weekly shop in Aldi but there are a few things that they don't stock so I have a list going and  every couple of weeks we have a trip to Asda. You would have thought we were going on a major shopping trip by the girls excitement! They all had lists of bits they needed - school stuff, toiletries etc. I got all the things on my Asda list then got water filters and bird food in Wilko and a take away coffee from Greggs. What a treat! The downside was that we got drenched.

This is my latest read which I'm really enjoying.  I'm sure a blogger I follow recommended it by I cant remember which one.  D has a couple of books to collect from the Library so I shall probably book a slot to collect towards the end of the week so that will be another chance to leave our village and combine it with a walk/scooter around a different park.

Well there is a dinner to cook so bye for now.

 Bird Feeders

It was a lovely and sunny  here in South Devon today, and we all really enjoyed our walk around our Village.  We tend to do the same route everyday as it is scooter friendly and half way around we stop in our main park, which is a lovely big area of grassland with a small play park.

  When we got back L and K, with the help of hubby, made some bird feeders for the garden.  They melted some lard and added oats, dried fruit and grated cheese and then filled some empty yoghurt pots with the mixture.  Before filling Hubby had made a hole in each yoghurt pot and tied some string through so that tomorrow they can be hung from some tree branches.

Tomorrow L and K are planning to take part in the big garden birdwatch so hopefully these will entice some little feathered creatures into our back garden.  Will let you know how they get on x

 Another Day

Nothing to report yesterday, it was wet here most of the day so we didn't make it out for our daily walk, just got on with home schooling.

Today is overcast but at least its dry. The home schooling was straight forward which is always good. For lunch I made some soup with some broccoli stalks, a leek and a couple of potatoes.  I dished up L's then added a lump of stilton to the rest to melt for me and K. With it we had veggie swirls which L made a couple of weekends ago and I had put in the freezer. L had this Nadiya book for Christmas which has some nice recipes for children to try as well as stories. The swirls are basically a scone mix spread with a vegetable and onion mix which has been flavoured with some curry powder.

After lunch we went for our usual walk around the village, bumping into a former work colleague, who we had a distanced catch up with.  This afternoon I've managed to finish off the Louise Penny book so later I shall look through my mountain of reading material to see whats next.

Tonight it will be Death in Paradise with a glass of wine x

 Wet Day

Miserable here today after the sunshine of yesterday. Home schooling was straightforward today and over by lunch time.

  This morning I phoned my Dad to check he was ok. I ring him every few days to check how he is and so that hes had a conversation with someone.  His life is very lonely since my Mum passed away. He is fine with the practical side of things but lockdown means no meeting friends for a coffee or a meal which is hard.  My sister lives nearby and is his support bubble but is only free to visit for a couple of hours on a Friday so he spends a lot of time on his own. Ideally I would love him to move down here but I don't think at 80 he will want the upheaval.

After lunch, even though it was drizzly we still went for a walk around the village and the girls posted a letter to their sister S who is at university in Bristol doing a midwifery degree.  I'm currently reading this book by Louise Penny which I know a few other bloggers have read recently.  I do enjoy the occasional crime book.  I love reading as do my Daughters - Hubby never reads a book!.  My worst nightmare would be to run out of something to read.  Our library usually charges 75p to reserve a book but back in November they suddenly announced reservations would be free until the end of March so I quickly picked out about a dozen books from my Amazon basket to reserve.  Then back in the Summer when I worried about more lockdowns and running out of reading material I bought some books from Amazon and The Works which are sat on my dresser still to be read and then finally on Christmas Eve when I briefly saw my sister she gave me a carrier bag of books she had finished with. She is also a big reader and I hadn't already read any of the books she gave me so I think I safely have enough books to last the year!

Well Hubby has just walked in from work so I shall go and have a coffee with him and then it will be on to preparing dinner.

 Another week of home learning

Well here we are at the start of another week with three of my Daughters remote learning from home.  At times I have to say I find it all very testing.  The youngest needs me sat with her which stops me getting on with things Id like to be doing. K sorts herself out but is being set loads of work which more often than not takes her longer than the usual school day to complete. D has just started A Levels in sixth form and finds it hard at times not having the teacher on hand to check shes going about assignments in the right way etc. So at times things can get heated and on those evenings I need a glass of wine to recover!

For lunch I made stuffed peppers for myself and the youngest two having seen the recipe posted on Margaret's blog - Devon Dreaming. They were really tasty and we have enough for tomorrows lunch as well which is a blessing.  With everyone home we are getting through lots more food and its tiring having to think of interesting things to have at lunch time as well as the evening meal.  Although the girls would normally take a packed lunch to school when home it seems boring to have a sandwich day after day.

Sorry about the quality of the photo which I took on my phone but my technical wizard, K, couldn't get it to load so had to take a photo of my photo on her phone. All far too technical for me! I am determined to learn how to do all this stuff though.

Its been lovely and sunny here in South Devon so straight after lunch we had a break and had a nice walk, or scooter in the youngest twos case, around our village.  It really has been a glorious day weather wise but all set to change tomorrow unfortunately.

Well that's it for today, got about 40 minutes to myself before I need to think about dinner.

 The Start Of A New Blog

Well, having spent many years following other peoples blogs I have decided to have a go at writing one myself.  I am a full time Mum of four Daughters - S 20, D 16, K 12 and L who is 10.  I have been living in Devon for the last 16 years with my lovely Hubby of 30 years, M.  Up until the first lockdown I was working part time but then I lost my lovely Mum to cancer last May and that has been very hard to come to terms with.  I took the decision to give up work and concentrate on my family for the moment until I feel stronger.  My Dad is managing very well but he lives 100 miles away and with lockdown and all the various rules we have had I have only been able to see him sporadically since last summer which isn't easy. With more time on my hands I thought this would be the perfect time to start a blog and record memories of life with my family.  I have to confess my computer skills are very limited so the technical side of things has been done by Daughter K!.  Hopefully, as time goes on my skills will improve.  My blog will be a mix of all things connected to family life - cooking, crafts, walks, holidays etc