A Blast From The Past - Efteling

 

I am back safe and sound from a wonderful holiday to Center Parks in Zandvoort Holland, a wonderful place, a wonderful Country and wonderful company.  It was a lovely location and with so many activities available not necessary to go off site.  We however wanted to re-live some of our youth and share with Wilbur some of the places we had taken his Mummy as a little girl.  We had stayed at the same site when it was owned by Gran Dorado at least 20 years ago perhaps longer so a day trip to Efteling Theme Park was arranged.  We were amazed how much we remembered, the essence of the park remaining the same around childhood story books.  A truly wonderful experience one that I would love to do with our other Grandchildren.

 

 

We were fortunate to watch the Raveleijn Park show which was amazing and included Ravens that were trained to food, a truly incredible experience that Wilbur is still talking about he enjoyed it so much.  A definite highlight of the holiday.

 

 

Some of the rides were a true blast from the past, the Carousels were a delight and brought back some lovely memories.

 

 

The toddler park was a feast for the eyes with the bright colours of the play equipment, Wilbur was enchanted by the strawberry.

 

 

Another old time favourite was the Carnival Festival ride which is a little like Its a Small World in Disney, a delight for young and old.

 

 

 The Efteling Museum was also a must see another blast from the past.

 Some of the artefacts did look familiar...

The Fairytale Forest remained the firm favourite with a lovely stroll, reflecting on times gone by and the stunning characters bringing the story to life.

 A truly memorable park to visit should you ever have the opportunity, a day that I will remember for a long time to come and I one that I feel honoured to have shared with my eldest daughter and her family.  Some beautiful memories to treasure.

As always thank you so much for all your lovely comments on my last post, sending me birthday and holiday wishes.  Also a warm welcome to new followers, I wish I could offer you a nice pot of tea and some cake.  I will catch up with everyone over the next few days.

See you soon.

Garden Update

We have had a busy few days, catching up with jobs in the garden and ensuring the house is spotless before we go off on holiday.  The dogs have gone to the kennels for their holidays and so the carpets have been cleaned and all the soft furnishings have been washed, ironed and put back.  The last of the washing is hanging outside to dry, there is nothing nicer than the sweet smell of bedding that has hung outside.

 

The grass has been cut both at the front and the back of the house and progress has been made on the furniture.  The set is now finished and was used over the weekend when we had a barbeque, the first of the season.

 

 

The rocking bench is still a work in progress has it needs some new struts, the old ones been rotten.  That will be finished when we get back from holiday.

 

 

The mini greenhouse has now been put up ready for use, hopefully the stormy weather and winds are over so it should be alright.

 

 

The seedlings are still going strong, we are hopeful that they will survive whilst we are away, fingers crossed.  The rhubarb has gone from strength to strength I am really pleased with it.

 

 

Mother nature has performed her duty and we have been rewarded with some beautiful flowers and the awakening of buds.  As the beauty of the season unfurls I am always hearted by the beauty and of the bounty to follow.

 

 

The weather really is picking up and has been a pleasure so I am hopeful that we will have good weather for the holiday.  The ferry crossing takes about 5 hours so I am hoping for a calm sea my daughter does not have very good sea legs and is usually sea sick.  The new regulations for travel came into force at the beginning of April on ferry and euro tunnel travel so we are not sure how this is going to impact on the journey.  Has anyone encountered the new system yet?  Reading an article on google it appears to be time consuming and delays are expected.  All we can do is wait and see.

 

See you soon.

 

 



 

 

 

Easter Weekend

A wonderful weekend celebrating Easter with my daughter and Bertie, quality time spent catching up with each other.  Baking and chatting.

 

We also made bread and biscuits but no photo I don't know why...maybe because it was eaten so fast.  We had lost of fun teaching Bertie some new games and playing the old and familiar which he loves.

 

 

The horse had to be checked out and ridden again and again, something familiar that has been around all his life.

 

 

The soft play centre was visited on more than one occasion, even Granny had a go on the slides.

 

 

It wouldn't be a visit to Granny and Grandads without a visit to the fairground.

 

 

We managed to capture a glimpse of an owl sitting on the post at the end of the garden, which delighted us all.  We have seen him several times but never manage to get a photo.

 

 

I did manage to get a little bit of crafting done, a little work on Wilbur's quilt.  I have now assembled it using the vintage ironing board as a base.  I knew it would be useful for something.

 

 

I have, since the photo was taken pinned it all in place, I am now ready to start stitching once I have done the washing, made up fresh beds and sorted out the suitcases again.  Our trip to Holland planned so long ago is fast approaching.  We travel down to our daughters on Thursday who lives in Norwich and get the ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland on Friday.   Exciting times, more so as it is my birthday on Thursday as well.  Family is so precious and I value the time spent with them.  I now need to spend some time on my scrapbooks recording the wonderful things I have done , beautiful moments to treasure and reflect upon.

 

See you soon.

Easter Blessings

 

 

Easter Blessings.

Pootling About

Its been a funny couple of days, lots of jobs getting done but nothing really to show for the hours spent pootling about.  The weather has stopped a lot of the jobs getting done outside but I am hopeful we might get out this weekend, the forecast looks promising.  We have my daughter, her husband and Bertie for the weekend and he loves to play outside.  They are arriving tomorrow lunchtime so I intend to do the bulk of the baking in the morning and make extra for the freezer.  My sister is visiting Mum and Dad which enables me to get out and about a little more.  We have had a trip to town and a trip to Boston so that I could get the wadding for Wilbur's quilt and picked up some pansies to give the garden a lift.

The seeds and trays are all over the house on window sills and are just starting to sprout, a little later than normal but we were still having frosts.

 

Slow but steady, the shoots are starting to push through the soil.  Isn't Mother Nature amazing?  Soon these tiny shoots will become, lettuce, tomatoes or a variety of herbs.

 

I have managed to fit in a little crafting and made the girls Lily and Daisy a headband.  It took a while but now they love to have things in their hair.

 

I am looking forward to seeing them on their sweet little heads.

 

I have also managed to make a scarf that I want as a gift.

 

I am rather pleased with the end result. I used some vintage lace that I found at a craft fair some time ago on a whim with no specific project in mind.  There is enough left for another one which makes me smile, I have another gift.  I like to have a few gifts in my cupboard ready, made with love.

 

See you soon.

Easter Vintage Pattern

April is here and came in with a bang, the winds have been terrible.  Spring is here and there are signs of that all around and yet it feels like a winters day with cold winds and intermittent rain.  The weather has definitely stopped work outside so the bench is still not finished and the garden is in need of some care and attention.

The postman arrived yesterday and certainly warmed my heart, I received a package from Eileen at frugalvintagehome.blogspot.co.uk/ she had sent me a vintage pattern.

 

How cute is that and perfect for this time of year.  I have had a quick browse through and am unfamiliar with the loop stitch but there does seem to be quite comprehensive instructions so I will give it a go when I can find some time.

 

 

Thank you so much Eileen you brightened my whole day.

 

It is a pattern from 1971 and also has a membership application to join the Lucky Lister Lamb Club, apparently there were 10 winning prizes to be won each month throughout 1971.  The only catch was you had to enclose 7 ball bands of Lister Lavenda double knitting wool and complete a slogan in no less than 8 words...I love Lucky Lister Lamb because.....

 

In keeping with the time of year I thought I would share another rabbit pattern which I love, it was bought off a wonderful lady at  Mount Dora for 50 cents, a real bargain.

 

 

A beautiful and comprehensive pattern that I intend to use, maybe next year....I keep adding things to my list to do and not getting a whole lot done.  Do you have a to do list that never gets any shorter?

 

See you soon.