Memories are made of this...

So the reality of normality is with me again and that brief moment of time is locked away in my memory. Spending a last minute week away with my little family now feels a long way away and yet if I close my eyes I can imagine the wind blowing in my hair, the warmth of the fire that warmed us up and the fresh smell of a deserted beach. Yes it was a special week. So indulge me if you will a little walk through the memories, a little off the 'Suzie Sews' topic I know but, whilst no evidence of making was done the seeds of many ideas got planted and are just waiting to germinate... The cottage itself was so sweet, wooden floors and situated in the heart of Yorkshire surrounded by gently rolling hills, pretty floral furnishings gave it a homely feel, lots of animals, from the goats that lived at the bottom of the garden who would rush to fence as soon as we sat down to supper in the hope of a little tasty treat, to the many chickens roaming around leaving their little eggs of goodness for us and I must not forget the little bunnies that lived within the barns and would pop out when they thought no one was looking. Oh and the owls...yes the owls!!! I love owls but when they are screeching outside your window ALL night...well I might have to think again about how much I love them!!!
We had a few days with severe weather warnings so we would hunker down in front of the fire, read, play, draw or eat popcorn whilst watching a movie...the wind beating against the windows and howling through the fire place...cosy cosy cosy!!! When the weather improved we enjoyed a couple of outings...I have boys...what can I say - an inbuilt love of trains and you don't get much closer than this...We enjoyed a lovely trip through the hills and across stunning countryside and came away with the evocative smell of the steam engine on our clothes...
The funny thing was despite being on a farm we still went to visit a petting farm...as the schools are all open we had the place to ourselves and spent a few happy hours walking around, petting the babies-so much life truly does burst out at this time of year...calves, goats and lambs with the highlight of the trip being given a bottle each to feed the hungry little lambs, the children loved this treat...
As another storm blew in (landscape picture taken up the road from the cottage) we settled down for another night of poor weather...at least it kept the owls peaceful as they retreated to a less exposed place for the night...Then we awoke to the first of the two birthday DAYS...my children are born one day after the other (and a few years in between) We spent the morning in bed opening our pressies, eating Muffins for breakfast (with a candle in just to get the party feel going and of course singing Happy birthday...the first of many times) we had a swim and a birthday supper with a big cake and all my child's favourite party food. We even had our traditional birthday hat to wear...This is the part I shatter your illusions of my family, so many beautiful handmade crowns out there in blogland...what can I say...I meant to make them one each but resorted to a shop bought and rather cheesy white cake hat including ridiculously large candles on it...well its the thought matters....

When it was the second birthday day we had good weather, sadly my plans to hire a beach hut for the day fell through, not to be put off though we packed up the party people and hit the beach..the first visit of the year. If you have read my blog previously you will know that the beach and I...well we have a thing going!!! The beach is the place for me, I feel relaxed, happy and rejuvenated here so it was a big thing-the first visit of the year...to blow away the bleak winter moods and welcome in the birth of spring...Yep that's me in green...Scarborough Beach in Yorkshire on a dull but dry day...
What can I say...just fooling around...all the toys and fancy food of birthdays yet the highlight for all of us was walking along the beach with a piece of seaweed each...simple things for simple folk!!!
Making ripples...
and jumping the waves...
and you can not beat an ice cream on an English seaside with the wind blowing through your curls....

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Thank you for letting me share my memories...I have so many things running through my mind, lots of ideas and things to be finishing, I did manage lots of knitting whilst away and even finished a little bag, I have my Easter egg tree to put up tomorrow...so bare with me, the usual 'Suzie Sews' activities will resume soon, I am off for a little hospital stay on Thursday and depending on how I am feeling I will be back to share with you the delights of another swap, my bunny swap (See side bar for button) I came home to a great package from Kitty and I have finally broken into the package from Weirdbunny and started to decorate the house with all the goodies from that swap...