It's a long way.....

.....from Orkney to Norfolk ~ and a marked difference in temperature, too 😬

We travelled down last Monday, with our lovely friend Phil getting up at what seemed like the crack of dawn to drive us to the airport, collecting Beverly en route.  It was a long day, with a good few hours between our arrival from Kirkwall and the onward flight to Norwich.  We deposited our suitcases in the left luggage section at Aberdeen Airport and took ourselves off into the city for a couple of hours to kill some time.  The flights themselves were quite short, to be fair, but it was the hours between the two that was a tad mind-numbing and tiring 😖

The heat hit us when we stepped off the plane at Norwich Airport, with the temperature well over 10℃ higher than when we had left Kirkwall earlier that morning 😧  Thankfully we haven't been hit with the heatwaves that England has seen in recent weeks, so it came as something of a shock to our systems to find ourselves in temperatures so much higher than we'd had up here!  We had booked a minibus to collect us from the airport to drive us to the Potters Resort at Hopton-on-Sea, where we were staying to celebrate Dad's 90th birthday, and it was waiting for us when we arrived.

Dad, Amanda and Liz, and Adrian and I all had penthouse suites, whilst Sam and Beverly had deluxe rooms.  The suites in particular were very nice but all the accommodation was extremely hot, despite having balconies with patio doors.  Personally I think that Potters could do with installing air-conditioning in the penthouse suites at least, as they were up on the top floor of the hotel and the difference in temperature on the different floors was quite extreme!

The resort is ideal for families as virtually everything is inclusive, but with it being August there were of course an awful lot of children running about.  To be honest, it's not somewhere that Adrian and I would have chosen to stay had we been just going on holiday ourselves, but it was a good choice for us as a family group.  The main thing was that Dad had a lovely birthday, and was very happy to have us all together on his special day 😊

Dad's birthday was on Thursday, so the table was decorated all day 😊

Birthday breakfast...

the "birthday boy" opening his gifts...

and the birthday cake 😋

And finally, a little photo of Beverly and I sitting in the shade near the prosecco bar ~ you can see how hot I look 😄

Happy 90th Birthday!

Happy 90th Birthday, Dad...

 your two favourite daughters are looking forward to sharing the big day with you 😍

Happy New Year!

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Happy New year, my lovelies ~ sending wishes for good things in 2026 for you all 😊

 

Christmas Every Day: Days 22-25

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And just like that, Christmas is over!  It always seems such a lot of build-up to a day that goes so very quickly ~ almost blink-and-you'll-miss-it 😄  It's been just the two of us this year, so very quiet.  Here's the last few days of this year's CED:

 

This little glass cactus came from the same shop in Leeds as the cat on Day 2...

just a little book with some seasonings to add to Beverly's collection...

she's rather partial to a glass of Baileys 😉...

and finally a jigsaw ~ and a rather sweet little terracotta Christmas tree decoration that I attached to the parcel 😊

I'm going to try to get a bit more organised for next year and perhaps make a few things for the 2026 CED.  Mind you, I say that every year and haven't managed it yet but I can live in hope, eh 😏

Merry Christmas!

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Sending you all my warmest wishes, my lovelies ~ hope you all have a lovely Christmas 😊

 

Snow, snow, snow

 

Christmas Every Day: Days 17-21

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Well, that's the shortest day over and done with ~ now we can look forward to the days very gradually getting longer 😉  Only a few days left now of Beverly's CED:

 

a second hot chocolate melt and Christmassy glass mug, to match Day 8...

Beverly really likes jigsaw puzzles and Lego, so I bought another of these wooden 3-D puzzles to match the sunflower one I got for her last year...

an "edible" treat ~ peanut butter and chocolate, what's not to love 😄...

very much a "practical" gift in the "kitchen paraphernalia" box ~ a pair of tea towels to match the oven gloves on Day 5...

yummy "edibles" ~ I confess I was very tempted to keep these to munch myself 😉

Our early Christmas dinner went without a hitch on Saturday, although as usual I completely missed the planned 1pm serving time 😄 Needless to say I also completely forgot to take photos of the Larkin Christmas Turkey, so I'll have to try to remember next year...but please don't hold your breath 😏

Christmas Every Day: Days 13-16

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Good grief, 16th December ~ how can we be halfway through December already 😯  The days are racing away and soon it will be the shortest day, then comes the slow climb back up to more hours of daylight 😊  In the meantime, here's the next batch of Beverly's CED gifts:

she really loves Twiglets and told me that she was relieved to see them, as she would have been disappointed if there hadn't been any this year 😄

More "fancy toiletries" ~ another hessian lavender sachet along with a different scented soap...

both practical and decorative, I guess 😏

Another "edible".  I debated whether or not to get this bread mix as Beverly doesn't like olives ~ in the end I decided that she could just leave them out.  She told me that she might use sundried tomatoes instead which, to be honest, I think I would prefer to olives too.

I'm on the countdown to Christmas dinner ~ I think I told you that we were having it early with Beverly as she is working over Christmas.  I like to get most of the dinner prepared the day before, so I shall have to get the turkey joints and the accompaniments out of the freezer on Thursday.  If I remember, I'll take some photos to show you what I always make for Christmas dinner ~ I think I'd have a very disappointed family if I made something different!  

Christmas Every Day: Days 6 - 12

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Here we are then, the next batch of little gifts for Beverly's CED:

"fancy toiletries" ~ the little hessian bag contains a lavender sachet...

"simply decorative" ~ I think that these little tealights are cherry scented but I couldn't swear to it as I've had them since last year 😄...

this one ticks three boxes, really: definitely "edible" and "practical", plus "simply decorative" as I should imagine the glass mug would only be used at Christmas-time really...

more "fancy toiletries"...

"edibles"...

very much a "practical" gift ~ Beverly was very pleased with this one as she said that she usually just uses a cotton bud...

and for Day 12 another "practical" gift 😊

I've had these socks since last year, too, as I got a bit ahead of myself and bought a few too many gifts ~ I've done the same again this year, but I suppose it does at least put me slightly ahead of the game for 2026 😄

Christmas Every Day: Days 2, 3, 4 & 5

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As promised here are the gifts for days 2, 3, 4 and 5 of Beverly's CED:

She has two cats, so virtually anything cat-themed is a safe bet!  This was one of the little gifts I bought when we were in Leeds visiting Sam in September, and it sits squarely in the "simply decorative" box...

the first of the "fancy toiletries"...

some more "edibles"...

and a piece of "kitchen paraphernalia" that ticks the "practical" box, too 😉

More to come next week!

I woke up at stupid-o'clock yesterday and just couldn't get back to sleep, not least because my nose decided to be very annoying by sneezing and running in never-ending copious amounts 😒 Being the lovely wife that I am (😄) I decided to get up so that I didn't keep Adrian awake.  It's not often that I'm up early enough to see the start of the sunrise, even at this time of year, so thought I'd better take a photo to commemorate this unusual occurrence 😉  

Christmas Every Day: Day 1

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I was extremely organised over the weekend and got all our Christmas cards written, plus a gift parcelled up ~ I know, right, it's hard to believe I can be so organised, eh 😏

Anyhoo, whilst I was parcelling up said gift it occurred to me that over all the years that I've been doing this "Christmas-every-day" malarky (hereinafter known simply as CED 😉) for Beverly, I've never actually shown you the little bits and pieces that I gather together over the year that make up the CED.  Obviously I can't show you the gifts before they are wrapped, just on the off-chance that Beverly might take it into her head to actually read her mother's blog for once 😄  I can, though, share them with you once she has opened the gift-of-the-day, so that's what I'm going to do during this month.  Luckily I'll be able to purloin photos of said gifts from Beverly's Facebook page as she posts them each day ~ I'll probably post two or three days of the gifts at a time, though, so that I don't swamp the blog 😉

To be quite honest, I've been surprised by just how much her friends enjoy this rod-for-my-back tradition, and really seem to look forward to it each December!  Some of them have commented about how they really like the idea, but I confess that I've tried to discourage them from starting the tradition themselves unless they really love trying to think of 24 little things to buy each year 😄  Not quite so hard buying for a small child, I suppose, but definitely not quite so easy for an adult ~ especially trying to find little things that are reasonably priced, considering there will be 24 of them!

I try to remember to look out for suitable gifts over the course of the year, especially when we travel south.  This year, for instance, I was able to get a few bits 'n' bobs when we visited Sam in Leeds.  I try to aim for a mixture of things: practical, edible, and just simply decorative.  The "practical" stuff tends to be fancy toiletries, little items of kitchen paraphernalia, and just plain useful things.  The edible and decorative stuff varies from year-to-year, although I do try not to get too many purely decorative things if possible.  Of course the edibles can't be bought too far in advance!  By the time November rolls around, though, I usually know how many days I don't have anything for, so edibles fill those gaps very nicely.

Oh, and just in case you're wondering what we do for Sam, he gets two parcels of "edibles" every year 😏

One is a hamper of Orkney foodstuffs from Jollys of Orkney ~ I go for the make-your-own option.  This year I chose Orkney coffee (Jolly's blend), Orkney smoked cheddar (one cracked pepper, one sweet chilli, and the third red onion), smoked garlic bulbs, Orkney caramelised onion biscuits, Orkney butter shortbread, extra mature Orkney cheddar, Westray Chutney (spiced pepper), Orkney butter, Westray flakey biscuits, Stockan's mini oatcakes (one cracked black pepper, the other cheese), and finally Orkney Isles Preserves spicy tomato and onion relish.  As you can see, there's a LOT of cheeses in there ~ my son certainly does love a bit of cheese 😄  He loves Orkney butter, too, so I included three packs this year!

We also get him a selection of beers, sent down from the Orkney Brewery.  I'm afraid I can't tell you what he's had this year as Adrian arranged it and I can't remember now what he said he'd ordered!  Oh, and by the way, it's perfectly okay for me to tell you about the hamper and beer for Sam as firstly I don't think he's ever read my blog in his life, and secondly we arranged for them to be sent early this year (so that things weren't sold out, like the butter was last year by the time I'd got round to making up the hamper!) so he's already received them 😉

So, back to Christmas-Every-Day for Beverly.....she hasn't posted today's little gift yet but here's what she unwrapped yesterday:

Happy New Year!

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Happy New Year, my lovelies!  Wishing you all good things for 2025

😊

 

Living in the twilight zone...

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Well, that's another Christmas under our belts ~ I do hope you all had a super time, my lovelies, and that Santa brought you lovely things 😊  Now we are in that weird twilight zone between Christmas and New Year, where the days seem to have no definition ~ they just meld into one continuous stream of hours whilst we plough our way through the leftovers, and make vague plans for "Big Changes" in the upcoming shiny and bright new year, whilst vegging out in front of the TV 😄

We had a rather lovely, albeit somewhat bittersweet, Christmas ~ another of those "firsts" since Mum passed away back in April.  Amanda and Liz brought Dad up here on the 23rd, and they all travelled home again on the 27th.  Beverly's shift pattern meant that she wasn't working on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day this year, so she was here too, as was our friend, Phil.  The only person missing was Sam, who didn't have enough annual leave left after his move to Leeds in October, but we video-called with him on Christmas Day 😊  As you know, we only have two bedrooms, so Dad stayed here with us whilst Amanda and Liz booked a holiday cottage just up behind where we live.  Beverly had been going to stay with them in the cottage, too, but in the end decided it was too hot in there so made herself comfy on our sofa for a couple of nights instead 😄

It's been a few years (well, since we moved up here actually) since I've catered for more than three or four folk at a time so I was a little bit anxious.....which was then compounded by our oven conking out on the big day 😯 Thankfully the turkey was actually cooked through when the oven decided it had had enough, and only needed to be browned off (which was rather how I felt at that point 😉).  Luckily we have a double oven, and the top oven was still working fine, plus we've recently bought ourselves an air-fryer, so everything was perfectly cooked and Christmas dinner was only a little later than I had planned!  Next week we'll get in touch with the guy who replaced the element for us last year to see if it's a simple fix ~ we think if may be the thermostat that's gone wrong, so fingers crossed it can be replaced without too much bother.

On Boxing Day we left Adrian at home, pottering about making the lasagne for dinner and watching the sport on TV 😄  Amanda had hired a lovely big people carrier for the few days they were up here, so we went for a little drive around the island and for a walk on Evie beach to blow away the cobwebs.  All in all, it was a lovely few days with (almost) all of us together 😊

As for my new year resolutions.....

😉

Merry Christmas!

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Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas, my lovelies, I hope you have a wonderful day!

😊

 

Christmas-Every-Day

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I trundled over to Kirkwall yesterday to pay my annual "Mother Christmas" visit to Beverly, where I then spend time hanging the fruits of my gift-wrapping endeavours for her to open one each day during December.  It's a rod I made for my own back tradition that I started a good number of years ago, before Adrian and I moved up to Orkney.  Beverly very rarely came south for Christmas, a combination of her working shift patterns and the unpredictability of the weather for travelling at that time of year.  I came across the idea when I was idly surfing Pinterest one day, and thought it would be a lovely idea to do for Beverly to remind her that we were thinking of her even if we couldn't be together 😊

I can't show you all the little gifts laid out ready for wrapping, just in case Beverly takes it into her head to read my blog for once 😉  Suffice to say, the two bags above were stuffed with all the little goodies I came across for this years Christmas-Every-Day.  I keep wondering when she will grow out of it but she shows no sign of doing so thus far ~ and she'll be 34 at the end of this coming January 😏

Ta-daa ~ everything hung up ready for this year's tradition to begin!  It didn't take too long to get the job done, despite the "assistance" of Belle, one of my grandkitties 😉  The cats are also the reason why the little parcels are rather bunched up, rather than dangling more elegantly 😄

Adrian and I had both planned on going to see Beverly but unfortunately he wasn't feeling too well.  He had the first of the two shingles vaccinations on Wednesday and it's left him feeling very tired and "flu-ey".  He would normally have carried the stash of little gifts for me, of course, but I was able to get everything packed into my trusty shopping trolley.  There was plenty of room on the bus over to Kirkwall, so I had a seat near the front and tucked my trolley in beside me 😊

I had a lovely couple of hours with Beverly, and got the 12.26pm bus home again.  I get on and off the bus at Tesco in Kirkwall, and I suppose it takes me about 10 minutes or so to walk from there to her flat.  By the time I'd got home and had some lunch, I didn't really feel like doing much else so had a lazy afternoon.

I did finally get something done with my little air plants, though.  I bought them when we were down south back in September, and managed to get them home unscathed!  I propped them up in a pot with one of my succulents until I'd decided how to display them ~ and there they sat for three months 😏  As you know I'm currently sorting out my craft room (aka the dumping ground 😉), and in one of the boxes I was emptying out I found the perfect little vintage container for them.  It was something I came across when I was sorting through stuff at Mum and Dad's earlier in the year.  Dad had no use for it and said I was welcome to take it 😊

It's stamped on the base "Hillstonia" and although I haven't been able to find much information online, it would appear to have been made by a company called Moira Pottery.  I was a little confused when I read the Wikipedia article as it said that the Hillstonia range was for forcing bulbs and containing plants ~ I couldn't quite see how you could get bulbs into the very slender opening along the top of the container!  However after I did a general search for Hillstonia pottery, I came across an identical container to the one I have on Etsy.  The seller there describes it as a posy vase, which makes much more sense 😄

I don't know where my Mum got it from but I suspect it came from my Great Aunt Mary, who had some interesting items.  I now have a number of things that were both hers and my Grandma's (Mary's older sister), none of which are worth very much monetarily but are nevertheless a lovely link to that older generation.

My little air plants sit in the posy vase beautifully, with that narrow opening firmly holding them upright.  I've placed it on the kitchen windowsill, which should hopefully remind me to check them regularly to see if they need spraying/soaking!