I'd like you to meet...

...MOLLY!
She's 5 months old and a bit of a Heinz 57, although I think she could have a bit of lurcher or wolf hound in her. We picked her up from the dog shelter on Saturday afternoon, where she had been for a couple of days. We have all her previous medical/vet history and a voucher to get her spayed for free. She is already microchipped, we just need to ring the chipping place up and get the details changed. She's really friendly and very bouncy. LOL. Isn't she cute?

Winter Hanging Baskets

Our local council's housing department runs a gardening club where every month or so people meet up at a nearby garden centre and they get a talk or something. Well today it was about winter hanging baskets. Craig and I decided to go along to it and we came away with two lovely baskets that we made up ourselves. We got two free plants each but we had to pay for the rest of them, and the baskets themselves, though not the potting compost. They are now hanging at the front of the house and if I get round to it I will take a photo tomorrow.

Someone is coming round tomorrow to see about us getting a dog. We went to the Dog & Cat shelters but there wasn't really anything we fancied, so I rang an animal rescue charity up before we went on holiday and found out some of the details. The animals they have for rehoming aren't kept in kennels like they are in the shelter, they're farmed out to carers, fosterers if you like, and they look after them till they can be rehomed. That way, the charity knows all their medical history, whether they're good with kids, etc etc. Someone comes out to do a home visit and to see what we require, then they go away, look at what they have and bring round a dog that they think is suitable for us. It's left with us for a couple of hours and we can take it for a walk and see how everyone gets on with it. If everything is ok, then that's it, the dog is ours, if not it's taken away and they look for something else. There is a small fee to pay every week for a year, a sort of contract, I suppose to ensure that we're serious about keeping the dog, and after the year the donation is optional. Now the only problem is which kind of dog to have - Craig likes labradors, and Dene likes border collies. Wonder who is going to win.

A couple of HDs

Since I got back from my holiday I have managed to finish off a couple of things. First of all I finished off Hyacinth House with the charms that I had to wait for from Australia. They arrived while I was away. There should be a couple of butterfly charms on there too, just above the blue flowers, but I could only get one and it was too big so I decided not to bother. I also didn't bother with the outside border and just did a simple line border instead. Once it's framed it'll look ok.

The second thing to finish was this Merry Hearts design called Garden 9 Patch. This was started as a RR last year on Jayne's message board but it came home with two squares left to do and the words around the border. Yesterday I decided to finish it off and I stitched the flower in the top middle square and the beehive to the right of that, finishing the words off last night while I was watching TV. I know Sheila and Jayne stitched on this but I can't remember who else, so if you're reading this, THANK YOU!

I have a couple more RR's to work on now, and my Nutty Stitchers RR to finish off too. Will post piccies when they're done (and if I remember).

Happy Holiday!

Well we made it back from Scarborough. After picking up my parents on Monday (4th) we set off at about 9:15am and arrived at the guest house just after noon. Not bad going considering I drove some of the way. We unpacked our cases then went for a bit of a walk - thankfully downhill - through Peasholme Park. We were hoping to see a naval battle that they have on there, but we'd missed the last one by a day, and they were finished for the season. We had a snack to eat as we were all starving.

We got the bus from the North Bay along to the South Bay, where all the action is. Not that there's much of that in Scarborough these days. There wasn't even anything on at the theatre, all the shows had finished the week before. There were only 4 donkeys on the beach. I can remember when I was little, and even when I took my three kids when they were younger, how Scarborough was always a hive of activity. But now it's looking a bit sad and neglected and could do with a huge boost. There is apparently going to be a big complex built at the North Bay, to replace the Corner Cafe and the swimming pool (where Dene will tell you I tried to drown him when he was little and I took him on one of the big slides!) but goodness knows if that will help.

Anyway, I digress. We walked along the promenade, slowly, with frequent stops. After a couple of hours Dad was shattered so we got the bus back to the North Bay and walked back to the guest house, The Tamarind. We had a relaxing hour in our rooms before venturing out to find somewhere to eat. We had passed a nice looking pub on our way into Scarborough called the Ivanhoe so that's where we went. According to the menu they did a buffet, but when we tried to order it the barmaid said that it wasn't available on a Monday. The food we did eventually end up with was quite nice and there was plenty of it on the plate, very good value for money. Afterwards we went back along to the South Bay and had an hour in the arcades, before heading back to the GH and getting some well deserved sleep - we were knackered!

After breakfast on Tuesday Craig and I went to the Sealife Centre at the extreme end of the North Bay. We spent a couple of hours in there before meeting Mam and Dad in the town centre where they had been browsing round the shops. After a snack for lunch we browsed a few more shops then went down to the promenade and had a short walk followed by a sit down so we could people watch - and believe me, there are some strange people about! By mid afternoon we were worn out so it was back to the GH for a rest. For dinner that evening we decided to try the Ivanhoe again so we could have the buffet. However, this time when we tried to order it we were told that it was only available during the holidays. BUGGER! We decided not to bother with a meal there and went to the Old Scalby Mill instead. The food on their menu was pretty basic so after a quick drink we went to another pub. They didn't have food available so we tried the Ramshill Hotel. This used to be a really plush pub, but it's gone downhill since I was younger, and it's more like an old man's pub (no offence to old men), smoky and not nice at all. We came out of there - the food menu was crap too - and ended up at the Coffee Bean cafe at the bottom of Columbus Ravine. We'd had a sandwich there the previous day and it was quite nice, however, I didn't think much of the haddock and chips that I was served with this time. The fish wasn't very big, just a tiddler, and it was watery too. And I only had a few chips on the plate. Mam's gammon steak was quite big, but it looked anaemic and undercooked. By the time we were finished it was getting quite late so Mam and Dad went back to the GH for a drink in the bar, while Craig and I went along to the South Bay and went in the arcades on the 2p machines.

Wednesday was bright and sunny so after breakfast we drove to Bridlington. Like Scarborough it's in a bit of a decline these days and has changed even since we were there for Mam and Dad's 40th wedding anniversary celebrations in 2004. We wandered round the shops and along the promenade but there was nothing inspiring there to see or do. We had some lunch then went back to Scarborough. After a rest in the afternoon we went out for dinner to the Scarborough pub which is a Hungry Horse establishment. The meals were all lovely, on huge 17" plates and good value for money. YUMMY! We were all stuffed by the time we were finished and although we'd walked our little leggies off all day we had a walk along the promenade at South Bay before heading back to the GH for a drink in the bar.

On Thursday it was another nice day, although a tad windy. We decided to go to Goathland, which is the setting for the TV series 'Heartbeat'. There are photos in Webshots of our visit to this lovely little village. If Mam and Dad hadn't been there we would have probably taken a trip on the North York Moors Railway. Maybe next time! We went back to the GH mid afternoon and had another rest for an hour, well I rested and Craig started packing our case. For dinner that evening we went back to the Scarborough pub and ate another delicious meal. We spent an hour in the arcades before heading back to the GH and having a few drinks in the bar.

After breakfast on Friday we loaded the car up and headed for home. Dene had rang me at 8am to tell me that we wouldn't be able to get back in the house when we got back as the handle was broken. It's been working loose for a few months now, ever since we had the lock replaced, and it finally went on Friday morning while Dene was locking the door on his way out to work. I had to phone my brother Kevin and get him to ring the council so that someone would come out and fix it. We arranged to meet the workman at the house at 2pm, giving us plenty of time to get home. After a quick sortie into Asda for bread and milk we dropped Mam and Dad off at their place, had a quick cuppa then came round here to sit in the car. We came early just in case the workman was early and read our books while we waited. A locksmith eventually turned up at 2.30pm and it took him about 15 minutes to drill and hammer his way through the lock/handle. He had to go away again to get the right bits to replace it but once he came back it didn't take him long.

We had a great time on holiday, though I wasn't all that impressed with Scarborough. Roll on 1st October when Craig and I are going to Prague...can't wait! The furthest Craig has been is France and he's never ever been on a plane so it's going to be a totally new experience for him.

PLEASE NOTE THERE ARE NEW PHOTOS IN WEBSHOTS!