Well, that was summer . . .

It's been so long I thought a list might work best to fill in what's been happening over the summer:

1. My dear son got good grades in his A levels and got into his first choice University.  
2. My dear daughter got good grades in her foundation degree and got into her first choice university to complete the full degree next year.
3. Our second host for our trip to Munich cancelled our agreement a week before our arrival date. Fortunately we found a third host at very short notice and had a lovely time in Munich.
4. The Dortmund v Augsburg football match was amazing!  Dortmund fans are fantastic and everyone we met at the match was so friendly.  Thank you German football fans. 
5. While we were in Munich our much loved cat Annie passed away.  We miss her dreadfully and the house just doesn't seem right without her.
6. I have just returned from a week in North Wales, staying in a chalet while my dear daughter did the first week of one month's work experience at a local zoo.The sun shone and I enjoyed exploring with my weekly bus pass.  
7. My son leaves for uni this weekend and Mr NMDS and I will be alone with Alf - it's going to be very strange.

Rest in Peace Annie

We all miss you

xxxx

Football and foreign trips

Bit of a strange week this week.  

I am planning a trip to Munich later on in the summer - taking my son and daughter with me.  I had flights and accommodation all organised and my son decided he would like to attend a football match while we are there. He quickly learnt that the tickets sold out in a heartbeat after they were released online and we subsequently learnt that most tickets seem to get allocated to season ticket holders and then become available at marked up prices on the second hand market - great.

We steeled ourselves and bought a couple of tickets on a well known ticketing website which seems to be favoured by German football clubs.  The message came back 'Awaiting ticket allocation' after we entered my credit card details.  The following day the transaction disappeared from the website and on calling a customer services line I was told that no transaction was recorded. In some ways we were relieved as we weren't sure when they would be delivered and whether we should have them delivered to our Munich rental apartment or our UK address and if it was our Munich address we would have to hang around for delivery - all a bit complicated.

Then on Wednesday this week the person renting us an apartment in Munich cancelled our booking - so now we have no football tickets and no apartment.

I set about finding a new apartment and made some more enquiries and awaited replies.  After dropping my son at work yesterday in the early evening, I was debating whether to have a potter around our local village but decided to just return home and try and sort out the accommodation for our trip. No sooner had I returned home and sat down with a cup of tea than there was a knock at the door with a delivery from Germany - yes, you've guessed it, the German football tickets I hadn't bought!

I had to laugh as now I was the proud owner of a couple of tickets to the big game but no-where to stay.

Thankfully I now have a new arrangement for an apartment in Munich in the same area as we were staying before, so for the moment calm is restored.

I hope for no more dramas with this trip. . . 

To counteract all this carry on I think we need a photo or two of Alf:

He went under the kitchen units when we had the fridge out

Sleeping in the late afternoon sun

xx

Where does the time go . . .

Not sure where the time has gone since I got back from my trip to Yorkshire.  Before I know it, Patti's fortnightly Visible Monday has come round again and I don't want to miss out on joining in, so here is what I wore to work today

Light, unlined, jacket - jumble sale, best 20p I have ever spent

I can look work smart without feeling too formal or overheating

Great Plains high waisted trousers (like trousers used to be)  - Oxfam

T shirt - Asda

Shoes - Iain Rennie Hospice Shop

Necklace - borrowed from my daughter

When I get home from work I usually like to relax and catch the last of the sun 

before it leaves the garden by reclining on my swing seat,

 but today there have been some storms

and it still might rain so I have the cushions in storage

In other news I had a parcel through the post last week

all the way from America, very exciting.

It was from the lovely Carol at the cow jumped over the moon

Carol had knitted some gorgeous cabled boot cuffs which she 

had included in one of her posts

and which I was coveting madly.

So, when she admired a mandala I had crocheted, I wasted no time

in suggesting a swap - you've guessed it, a mandala for some boot cuffs.

Luckily she said 'Yes' - hurray!

Fabulously neat boot cuffs, a tin of soothing Sleep Balm

Burts Bees hand salve and some Wildflower Sprinkle Seeds

And those lovely little tins I can use when I have sprinkled, balmed and salved!

Thank you Carol, I love it all.

I don't cope well with the heat we have been experiencing here in the UK

It's okay if I don't have to go to work or cook tea

or do laundry, or cleaning or anything much at all really.

I did visit some nearby gardens the other day with Mr NMDS 

These cows looked even more hot and bothered than me

Stay Cool

xx