Project 365 2021 Week 14

Project 365 2021 Week 14 Day 94 – 100  A week of sunshine, a fluttering of snow and an early birthday present surprise and a wedding in New Zealand.

Sunday 4th April – Day 94

Easter Sunday and we have decided that now it’s ‘stay local’ then we can go as far as Stowe so I stayed up until stupid o’clock last Friday morning to get our tickets.  We’ve not been to Stowe, and therefore not made use of our National Trust membership, for at least five months. The sun shone and it was just the most beautiful way to spend a few hours.  We were visiting an old friend if that makes sense, and it was just so very much appreciated by all three of us.  I managed to persuade my son to have his photo taken in ‘his tree’ as we’ve done for so many years now.  How much longer I’ll be able to persuade him to go along with this tradition I’m not sure. The weather was so lovely we even had a picnic on the grass, coats off, basking in the sunshine.  Bliss.

Afterwards, we headed over to my SIL’s for a garden catch up.  We’ve not spent any time with her of my BIL for months, and my BIL has a number of medical issues so it was good to see them both.  Our planned roast dinner and Easter Egg hunt were postponed until tomorrow as it seemed silly not to make the most of the beautiful weather.

Monday 5th April – Day 95

Easter Monday and it was forecast to snow.  We had a flurry but it didn’t settle.  The sun came out instead but it wasn’t quite as warm as yesterday.

I woke up to a message to say I’d won a giveaway won by local artist Sally Stern, a lovely surprise and an early birthday present! Pop over to my Facebook page and you can see it for yourself.

My son got his Easter Egg hunt and he completed it in record time.  I need to make it more of a challenge next year if he still wants to do one I think!

We had a family zoom call to ‘see’ my Auntie in her care home.  There was a bit of a technical glitch but we got there in the end, and more good news – Mum has her Covid jab on Wednesday.  Strange that they’ve contacted her ahead of Dad who’s older but at least we are now finally heading in the right direction in Spain.

Tuesday 6th April – Day 96

Back to work for me and my son spent time at the unit with his Dad.  It tried snowing a few times today, but never came to anything.

I had a few chores to do around the house in the afternoon and as soon as I sat down to chill out with my son, Brewster decided to get in on the action as well.

Wednesday 7th April – Day 97

My day off, so time for another adventure. We’ve not been to Kirtlington Quarry for ages, and now we can broaden our horizons slightly I was happy to revisit an old haunt. We went early so we could park easily and avoid the busiest time for visitors.  We bumped into one of my NCT group and another friend with their kids as we were heading back.

Once home we ticked another thing off my son’s holiday list and baked a cake – always a Victoria Sponge cake with only strawberry jam filling.

My Auntie was taken to A&E this morning and then admitted to a ward, CT scan was done and now we all await the results of that and hope she will go along with whatever the doctors suggest.

My Mum had her Covid vaccination in Spain this morning, the Pfizer one.  Now just to get Dad done and that everyone aged over 40 done on both sides of the family.

Thursday 8th April – Day 98

I went shopping after work and then picked my son up.  He soon got busy with his Hot Wires set which my boss gave him ages ago.  By bedtime, he’d wired it up so he could listen to the radio which blew his mind and kept him quiet for a while.

My niece messaged me to let me know her wedding card and my letter had arrived safely and just in time.  Unfortunately, their present isn’t ready yet, I think I need another month to finalise that.

I had a quick zoom catch up with my NCT group before trying to get an early night myself.  Then remembered that if I wanted any chance of getting tickets for Stowe for Monday I’d need to be awake past midnight.  The joy. Tickets secured but then I couldn’t get to sleep.  2.30 am and still awake.  So much for me getting some sleep reserves ahead of my niece’s wedding in New Zealand in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Friday 9th April – Day 99

End of an era with the death of Prince Philip two months off his 100th birthday.

We’ve enjoyed rearing our Painted Lady butterflies again this year, but for the first year in ages, we haven’t seen any of them mating.  Perhaps we’ve ended up with all males or females this time around.  Anyway, it was time to let them go.  Two flew off straight away, one flew onto our garage wall and sat there in the sun for ages before starting its journey.  My son carried the last one on his finger and let it walk onto one of Paddington’s memorial tulips.  Again, it stated there for ages.

Saturday 10th April – Day 100

I’ve not been to sleep yet.  I did try to close my eyes before the build-up to my niece’s wedding in Auckland, New Zealand started but gave up in the end.  So spent a few hours zooming with her older sister and my SIL before the menfolk joined us to start the celebrations.  Even my son has been awake since just after 2 am.  It was clear to see that my niece and her husband were having a lovely day, and even with a few technical glitches, it was wonderful to be there in some way to enjoy their day.  We’re back online shortly for their first dance and then I need to persuade my son to go back to bed so I can too!