sunday snapshot

Sunflowers in September, My Sunday Snapshot

I won’t lie, it’s been a dreadful week. But today I can hold my head up and use a laptop. Improvement! Yesterday my brother and sister-in-law visited and brought me some lovely Sunflowers.

I still had a few roses which you can see, I think the pink of the roses and yellow of the sunflowers go well together. It’s like having some sunshine on my table, especially when it’s wet and miserable outside. I don’t think I’ve ever had a vase of sunflowers before, but now I see how lovely they look I’d definitely go for more.

I had an armchair delivered this week. We have two big settees but as there are seven of us there have still been arguments over who gets to sit where. We have two bean bags which come out when necessary. The girls were using one in the corner while charging their devices. Then I had an idea, I could get an armchair in the corner for them to sit on. I went to the same shop that I bought my settees from but they didn’t have an exact match. I did find something similar though and it swivels around so the they can get to the plug sockets easily. (we have had a few cases of having the facing the wall!)

Now we have another problem. We are a family of seven with two cats and Sabrina has decided that she no longer likes to sit next to me on the settee but has claimed the new chair for herself. You can’t argue with a cat! (well, you can, but she’s an old lady and you have to be gentle when you remove her.)

Would you disturb her to sit down yourself?

My Last Post – Word of the Week 38- It’s a Pain.

The Little and not So Little Man – My Sunday Snapshot

by Anne Sweet 10 Comments

My Little Man is growing up! He will always be my baby but it’s a hard thing to get my head around now my baby is going to Secondary School. He’ll still be the youngest with him only just turning eleven years old. To celebrate this milestone I’m sharing a photo of him at four years old starting Primary School and Last week starting Secondary School.

He’s changed a fair bit. His hair used to be so blonde when he young. I didn’t cut it for the first two and a half years and it grew long and curly. He is still the fairest in the family but he’s a lot darker.

I really do think he is need of a growth spurt though. I have photos of his sister’s starting secondary school and they are at least 3 inches higher up on that door frame! He won’t be short forever, no-one in our family is, so it wouldn’t make sense.

He really enjoyed his first week at school but I’ve warned him that it will get harder. They’ve done a really relaxed induction which is great, I just hope it’s not too much of a shock once the work really gets started. My wish is that he gets on really well and enjoys his time at secondary school. My Little Man is like the calm in a storm. He’s a boisterous, funny, clever amazing little boy who gives the most amazing hugs.

Join me for my weekly link up starting Friday until Monday. We have a lovely community of bloggers who love sharing their word of the week posts and commenting on others.

My Sunday Snapshot – Class of 2021

by Anne Sweet 14 Comments

And that’s it, my Little Man’s primary school days are over. He is from the class of 2021 and my last child of five to finish primary school. Here he is sporting his Class of 2021 t-shirt which his Dad had to pick up from the school. It has all the names of the year six children within the 2021 on the back.

class 2021, my little man with his special school tshirt celebrating the end of his time at primary school

It’s been a time like no other. When the schools broke up early last year and they spent the last term learning at home, we thought that come September all would be well again. But it wasn’t to be, Covid was still around and the school took extra special measures to keep the kids safe. I take my hats off to them because they did incredibly well and the Little Man only had to self isolate once. The very last week of school. It was heart breaking to have got so far and then miss out on all the fun stuff planned for him and his class mates, most of who he will not see again.

During lockdown the Little Man was the only one of my three children who worked really well at home, but even he got a little fed up of it towards the end. The last week of Primary was spent in online lessons and it was bitter sweet. The kids had their cameras on, whereas before they hadn’t bothered. They knew it was the only way they would see each other for the last time. The teacher was at home, also self-isolating but she made the lessons as fun as possible. They didn’t really work, they did quizzes and played games. The last day they spent telling each child what they thought about them. They were kind, considerate, caring and they made my Little Man weep when their time was over. It was the saddest end of term I’ve ever known.

I know we are not alone, so many other children missed their final weeks at school. My son’s school, which had done so well, went from 0 to 2 to 167 self isolating in a couple of weeks. The Little Man sat next the the boy who tested positive in his class and we worried when he started coughing. Then he developed a fever and I made him do a PCR test. It came back negative and we were so relieved.

It’s the end of the school year and the end of an era. In September my youngest child will be going to secondary school and Star will be starting college. I’m hoping this Covid situation gets better for their sakes.

It’s Summer!

A Rose By Any Other Name Would Smell As Sweet

by Anne Sweet 17 Comments

I had lots of rose bushes in my old home that had been there for many years. I’ve always had trouble growing things since we moved house but this year I’m having some success. I have two willow trees and a rose bush that are doing well. I’ll take photos when I can get up the garden. In the meantime I have some new plants on the patio and one is a small rose bush which I think might actually thrive in the garden now.

pink rose — *A rose by any other name would smell as sweet*

The weather has been so lovely lately, but I still haven’t managed to get a shade for my garden. I know the weather is due to change soon, but it would be nice to have a warm summer. And maybe I can see some more things blossom in my garden.

Another new plant is this one, can you guess what it is?

strawberry plant — *What plant is this?*

I’m hoping it will give me a lovely crop of delicious strawberries very soon!

My apple tree didn’t arrive, but I’m hoping to have at least three fruit trees next year. I have also bought a clematis to climb up an ugly fence. We are removing the children’s swings and slides from the garden and creating more of a flower haven. The Little Man wants to keep his trampoline a little longer, but I’m thinking of bribing him with a tent instead. He can’t use the trampoline for long anyway as he gets back pain. We suspect he has a connective tissue disorder like his big sister but we are still waiting on test results from February. When Star had hers done it took eight months.

Anyway, I’m digressing. Tell me about all the lovely things you are growing in your garden.

Also Linking to My Sunday Photo

Last weeks Sunday Snapshot – Tamagotchi

My Sunday Snapshot – The Opposite side of the Picture

by Anne Sweet 7 Comments

I often show you photos of the trees over the fence of the garden, and today they looked gorgeous under a blue sky. But, then I turned 180 degrees and took another photo to show you the opposite side of the picture.

First up, the lovely trees as they looked this morning.

They are not my trees, they line the canal that runs alongside my house. We live at the end of the street. We get lots of birds and in the evening you may even see a bat.

Then turn 180 degrees and you can see the rest of my view…..houses, a large block of flats, currently with scaffolding and even the sky was cloudy. I’m happy to say that the clouds have passed over now and we have sunshine. I’m less happy that this had brought out the neighbours and the noise is way louder and much less nicer than the bird song.

If you look at the windows you can see the trees reflected back. I know which side I prefer to look at, but it just goes to show that there are nearly always an opposite side of the picture. I long to live somewhere more isolated, with lots more trees and maybe even a beach nearby. Maybe one day.

Bank Holiday

It’s the bank holiday and half term and the weather is going to be nice for a few days at least. Graham has been out in the garden and we have a few more things to do that I’ve been dying to get done but the weather has been awful. Then on Tuesday we are having a BBQ for the kids and a couple of their friends. They don’t feel ready to go off out yet so meeting up in the garden seems a better option for now.

And just in case you read my Word of the Week post, I can confirm that my niece has given birth to a healthy little boy. My brother’s 7th grandchild.

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sunday snapshot

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