I am a new fan...

of PG Wodehouse...well that is not exactly true, I have always enjoyed the televised series of "Jeeves and Wooster" and I've appreciated the few plays I have seen but I had never read one of his books until now. Over the last week I have been going to bed with "Leave it to Psmith" which is part of the Blandings series and can't wait to get my hands on another one. It is not often I read fiction these days and I certainly don't usually finish a book in less than a week of bedtimes so I guess I am hooked. the man is a genius...there was not one page that failed to hold my interest...he was obviously a great people/relationship watcher and translates his observations to the page with perfection. His use of language is a delight and oddly does not seem old fashioned...you just feel you are taking a glimpse into another world.

The same day I bought Wodehouse I got an Agatha Christie too, I have only read one AC and that was years ago so I am going to discipline myself to read that before I rush into my next visit to Blandings castle.

My first real driving manoeuvre

Today My instructor had me doing 3 point turns, although apparently that isn't the correct name for that manoeuvre???? The roads were quieter being a bank holiday weekend and everything went really well ( in my eyes ). The garden walls locally are still intact and so are my nerves. My instructor did a lot of humming of Beatles tunes today...I am assuming that means he is fairly relaxed with my driving at the mo... or is trying to make me think he is, so I relax lol, he's very good at the psychology of teaching...or maybe he just had the Beatles in his head! I over complicate things usually.

We also did a little mystery tour of some new roads which ended up in a drive by of where a "famous" person used to live...okay big deal you think...well it was to me seeing as our Dobermanns were related, and I got to see where that doggy lived...never mind the famous person... I wanted to imagine that dog staring through the gates. :o)

My instructor makes the lessons very enjoyable which I am so thankful for...after waiting so long to learn I really wanted this to be a fun experience and I am not disappointed one bit... he usually has me giggling, even if it is just to myself.

I LOVE driving. It gives me a real high. Thankfully I don't have to wait long until my next lesson.

Doxie

An exciting day

He did it! Woohoo! DS got his GCSE English, passed this year's French and his latest IT exam...my phone has been going all morning with home-ed friends's passing on their news...it is turning out to be a very exciting day...so far nobody has failed and they are all top grades in their levels. It is on days like this that I am reassured that we did what was best for our son, I am so glad I took him out of school... So to all the people that doubted us out there, a big fat raspberry to you!!!

Doxie the delighted

Odd things make me giggle but...

I never thought learning to reverse would! I just can't explain it, maybe it was just sheer delight that I could actually do something I thought would be difficult... Goodness knows...but every time I went to do the manoeuvre I just dissolved into fits of giggles and had to keep stopping to compose myself. My instructor has agreed to up my lessons to twice a week so hopefully that means he doesn't think I am certifiable...although he did mention needing to get inside my brain!

So far so good anyway and I can't wait until my next lesson.

Doxie :o)

modifying skirts

I thought I was done with the sewing lark for a while but when I was going through my wardrobe to get rid of even more clothes I found 3 skirts which I won't be wearing as they are, but I just love the colours and prints...So.. hey ho, it seems I am doomed to sew.

One is a skirt I made a year or so ago that started life as a pair of jeans but it was really an experiment and is a little too Boho for my liking so I will probably shorten it and make it into a fiesta style skirt.

The other two are skirts I bought for my holiday but wouldn't wear here so they have served their purpose and need attacking and made into something more suitable for our up and coming Autumn. They are identical in colour but different weight fabrics so I am not sure how exactly I will morph them into one but I enjoy a challenge.

Will take photos of the before and after. :o)

Doxie

I was so brave!

The man with the patience of a saint aka my driving instructor pushed me a little harder this week and we went for a jolly little ride by the sea and beyond. The only downside was that I was concentrating so hard on not killing us or anyone else that I couldn't look and take in the delightful scene on the water he was relaying to me as we drove along. It was sooo hot and I went prepared with 2 bottles of frozen spring water.

He informed me that I didn't do too badly and I got the feeling I coped better than he thought I would. I made a conscious effort to drive at the speed limit seeing as I was out in the big wide world. I do have a habit of slowing down at EVERY perceived danger but I guess I will grow out of that as I feel more in control.

I had to negotiate lots of new roundabouts, roadworks and crossings but it didn't really worry me too much. I just need to remember not to rush and choose a gap suitable for ME and not try to do things at the same speed as all those well seasoned drivers.

I am getting the doxie-mobile very soon so I have asked for an extra lesson each week when he gets another block free.

I have far to go yet but I can't believe that I have come this far in this short time, I thought it would be an age until I was driving the kind of places he took me...or should I say I took us the other day.

Doxie, loving all my life is throwing at me! :o)

End of an Era

One of my best friends is moving today. She lived close enough for us to cook each other family meals, deliver them on foot and they'd still be piping hot. If one of us ran out of onions or chillies we could rely on each other to nip around with the required ingredients. We have spent a good few Christmas Eve's ( which is also her birthday, so a double celebration! ) in each other's company knowing home was within crawling distance if we stayed till the wee hours. Still we've had almost 2 decades of this convenient set up so we can't complain. The timing is not bad really seeing as I am learning to drive and where she is moving to is close enough for me to drive and the dinner will still be pretty hot...so all in all it will be different and we will miss seeing each other on the hop,but we will still see each other and have a laugh, things will just have to be planned and not so spontaneous in future.

Doxie (who would have had a tear in her eye if she wasn't learning to drive!)

Picnic Time

We went down to the woods today and we had a big surprise! A few feet from the entrance my friend went right over on her ankle...youch!



She decided to try and walk it off but it didn't really work...so we spent 5 hours sat on a picnic blanket stuffing our faces with food and putting the world to rights whilst our teenage darlings larked about in the woods and around the lakes. It really was quite lovely listening to them laughing and mucking around. At one point we could hear wood on wood, this was them having a sword fight with large sticks they found lying around...oh to be young and carefree :o)

Life is good ( and would be better if L had not hurt her ankle! )

Doxie feeling chilled

Emery Board keepers

I have made a few for myself, they are such a good idea...they stop things from getting scratched up AND you can find them easily in your bag. I am sure friends would appreciate one as a little token gift. :o) I plan to make half a dozen tonight to put in my "gifts in waiting" basket.You can find instructions on this site, but you don't really need a pattern a such.

Doxie