365 Days Of Gratitude. In May I was grateful for...

I have seen many people on social media list something every day that they are grateful for and thought I would join in. I have done this for the whole of the last few of years and it has really made me realise that even on bad days I have something to be grateful for.

Another month has flown over! May started off wet and chilly and ended with some ridiculously hot weather which I really enjoyed despite complaining that it was too hot at any given chance. Ellie had her last school holidays. She leaves education at the end of this month! Eek!

Day 121 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a nice time with my dad today. He made me lunch and spent a few hours chatting.

Day 122 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a night with my family! Watched a bit of F1, Britain's Got Talent and of course the wrestling!

Day 123 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a roast dinner out! It was so nice not have to cook!!

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Today I am grateful for a lazy Bank Holiday! I've done nothing productive and enjoyed every moment!

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Today I am grateful that Ellie is working hard at college. She stayed back today and did extra work.

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Today I am grateful it didn't rain! Just after I put the washing out it looked like it might.

Day 127 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful my flowers were substituted with my food shop. Sainsbury's sent better than I ordered!

Day 128 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a Chinese takeaway for tea.

Day 129 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful the wrestling starts at 11pm so I can stay up and watch at least some of it.

Day 130 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a day watching movies. Remarkably Bright Creatures, Care and Send Help! They were all brilliant in different ways!

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Today I am grateful for a day out with Stu. We just had a mooch around the retail park.

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Today I am grateful Becky made a good start on decluttering her bedroom!

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Today I am grateful for a jumper and fluffy socks! It was chilly today! Mother Nature needs to get the memo that it's May and start acting like it.

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Today I am grateful for fresh flowers! Well not that fresh they're a week old but they're still doing well!

Day 135 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for lunch at my dad's, we even got dessert! Rhubarb crumble and custard!

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Today I am grateful for fun tonight, watching Eurovision!

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Today I am grateful for a lovely lunch out with Stu.

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Today I am grateful we managed to get some gardening done before the rain came!

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Today I am grateful that Ellie picked up a few things we needed while she was in town.

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Today I am grateful that I could watch the 007 episode of Grey's Anatomy while I was by myself so I could have a good cry.

Day 141 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that Ellie feels like she did well in her English GCSE. She said she wrote more in this exam than she did in the previous two years.

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Today I am grateful I could spend some time sitting outside in the sunshine! What a lovely day it has been!

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Today I am grateful that I could watch the football this afternoon and see Hull move up to the Premier League!

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Today I am grateful for my fan! I am quite tempted to take it to bed with me as it's still so warm.

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Today I am grateful we got a lot of work done in the garden. The cold shower I had after was the best one ever!

Day 146 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a lovely day with my girls. Lunch out, a bit of shopping, a visit to an art gallery and finally tea out! What a treat!

Day 147 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a day home alone!

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Today I am grateful that Stu cooked our tea. He almost followed the Gousto recipe. lol

Day 149 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a fun night out!

Day 150 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a little lie in this morning. I needed it.

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Today I am grateful for help with the housework, for once the whole family helped!

What were you grateful for in May?

The Wednesday Hodgepodge #58

I hope you are all having a good week. It's Wednesday, which means it's time to join in with the Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce who blogs at From This Side of the Pond! Each week there are 6 questions, we answer and then link up. Simple!

1.What's something you find extremely difficult that most people would say is simple?

Ohh! I have a list. Folding fitted sheets, mine just get rolled into a ball and put in the cupboard. Getting out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off, I need at least 3 snoozes. Opening packaging that is supposedly easy to open, like the bit on bacon or ham which says peel here, it never peels or those childproof bottles, I always need help! Cooking the right amount of pasta or rice, I always cook far too much. Finishing a cup of tea while it's still hot, it never happens and understanding the instructions for flat-pack furniture, I am sure that it is made for geniuses!

2. "And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow fast in movies I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer." ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald. Does the season of summer make you feel this way? Elaborate.

I like that Fitzgerald quote, summer is a great reminder that the seasons and routines change and there are always new experiences ahead! This year feels like a fresh start for my family. There are some big changes coming over the next few months. My youngest finishes education at the end of this month, will leave college and at the moment is trying to find a full-time job, which feels strange after so many years of school runs, term dates and exam stress. My eldest is also getting ready to spread her wings. Nothing is happening yet but she has a viewing for her own place this week and could be moving out. The longer days, warmer weather and brighter skies in summer make everything feel a little easier. I think if all the changes in my family were happening in the winter it would be harder for me to deal with. When the sun is shining my mood is always lifted and I feel like I can take on the world.

3. Pickles. Love 'em or no thank you? What's your favorite type of pickle? What's something you eat that definitely needs a pickle added?

No, thank you! I don’t think I’ve ever actually liked pickles. My family love them though! Last week at McDonald’s, I removed the pickle from my burger and I passed it over to my eldest, who was very happy about it. The only reason my youngest didn't grab it first was because she hit the pickle jackpot with three on her burger. lol

I remember a few years ago the kids bought a pickle kit from the TikTok shop when it was a big thing. You wrapped the giant pickle in the sweet fruit roll-ups, stick Taki crisps in the pickle and cover it all in the spicy candy sauce. To me it was disgusting but they loved it and thought it was the best thing ever!

4. Tis the season...do you know any June brides? Are there any weddings on your summer calendar? What's your favorite movie wedding?

Nope, there are no weddings happening here. The last time we went to a wedding was for Stu's niece and we had a little breakaway to go to the wedding. It was a fantastic few days and brilliant to get all dressed up.

As for favourite movie wedding my first thought was Four Weddings and a Funeral. It’s such a classic but I thought about it properly and came up with Father of the Bride. It just feels the most real. It’s not only about the bride and groom, it’s about the dad realising his little girl is growing up and there’s nothing he can do to stop it. I can 100% picture Stu being that dad with our girls. Then there’s the comedy side of it too because I can just see my own dad being exactly like George Banks, stressing over every penny, the house in total chaos, trying to keep control while everything around him goes crazy. Side note, I asked my fella his favourite movie wedding and instead of something romantic, he went straight for Game of Thrones and said The Red Wedding. That is such a man's answer. lol

5. June 1st is/was National Say Something Nice Day...say something nice here.

I don't think I have ever said this but thank you Joyce for coming up with the questions every week. It really is one of the highlights of my week. First thing I do every Sunday morning is look at the questions as I am so excited to see what they are about. Also, thank you to everyone who reads and comments on my Hodgepodge post. I do love a Wednesday reading all of your answers.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I went out on Friday night and while I was getting ready I thought my legs were looking a little pale, so I put some fake tan on. I thought it was an instant tan and with it being a couple of years old I just assumed it hadn't worked. Later that night, I noticed the tan had worked and my legs looked amazing, it must have been a gradual tan. Then I slept in it and the next morning I didn't look so great, it all went patchy! I've had 2 showers as of writing this on Sunday afternoon and it still hasn't all gone. It's a good job it has cooled down here and I won't be showing my legs off anytime soon. lol

My June goals & plans!

I’m carrying on with my monthly goals and plans because writing things down really gives me that little kick up the bum to actually get things done. I always feel more motivated when I have a list to look at instead of just thinking I should probably do that at some point. When it’s written down it feels more official, like I’ve made a little promise to myself.

I did pretty well with my goals in May and ticked a lot off my list.

Move the plants outside - Yes and they are doing so well despite the weather not being so great. The plants are living full time outside now, well in their little greenhouses.

Get Becky to declutter her bedroom - Yes! She made a good start on it. She would have done more last week on her normal Tuesday off work but I dragged her out with her sister shopping.

Write a day in my life post - Yes! I wrote one about my busiest day at home during the week and another about a day when I was out and about. You will be able to read them soon.

Read more audiobooks - Yes, I read 5 and I have a post scheduled all about the coming soon.

Watch four more movies that are new to me - Yes, Remarkably Bright Creatures, War Machine, Wuthering Heights, and Jurassic World Rebirth!

Do some baking - I did a little. I made some cookies and apple crumble. Not as much as I would have liked though.

Spend more time outside - Yes but again, not as much as I would have liked. The weather hasn't been playing ball!

Make some plans for the summer - Yes, we have lots planned and are still making plans.

Paint the doors in the living room! - Nope, not yet! I am going to stop putting it on my list and then I will probably get them done!

In June I want to:

Find Ellie a full time job!

Ellie leaves college at the end of the month and at the moment she doesn't know what she is going to do with her life. She has hopes and dreams but nothing actually to do after the end of this month when she leaves college. She's looking into Apprenticeships and is waiting to hear back from a couple but at the moment everything is up in the air. I am not stressing at the moment. She has a part-time job, so I am going to take things easy on her until the end of the summer, then I might start stressing a little.

Plant the plants in the ground!

The plants I have been growing from seeds are doing well, too well. They need to be moved before they start crushing themselves in my little greenhouses. I will spend an afternoon planting them in the ground and hope for the best.

Go and see the new Toy Story movie!

Toy Story 5 is released in the cinema later this month and I will be going to the cinema to see it. It may be strange for a 40 something year old to go and see it but I have seen all the previous movies at the cinema, so I need to carry on the tradition.

Have a family Sunday lunch out!

Stu and I have been out a couple of times to a local pub for a Sunday lunch and I think it's about time the girls came along to join in the fun! They have been warned that if they don't clear their plates they will be paying for it themselves.

Watch the World Cup!

I love watching the football World Cup and I am planning to watch all the matches that I can. Some of them are on quite late here and I definitely won't be stopping up to watch the ones shown at 2 or 3am. I will of course be cheering for England but I also want the underdogs to win all of their matches too, especially against the top-rated teams.

Sit in the pubs beer garden!

It's beer garden weather as I am writing this and I could just drink a pint of something really cold. It is always nice to sit outside and enjoy a few drinks and if the sun is shining, even better.

Buy some new sandals!

My old ones are past their best and I am on the hunt for some that look good and are extra comfy. I have my eyes on a couple of pairs already, I just need to decide on which ones to buy.

Have a date with Stu!

I don't know what we will do but it is nice to do something special together and this month we are celebrating 20 years of being together.

What do you have planned for June?

Our weekly meal plan! 1st - 7th June!! #MealPlanningMonday

Happy Monday and happy June! This is when things start to get busy for us and I am looking forward to the next couple of months. Ellie is back at college after her half-term break and it's crazy to think that in just over four weeks she will have left education.

Last week's meal plan happened but to be fair, it didn't go too badly, considering it was red-hot out and I did not want to cook. The One Pot Minty Lamb & Potato Stew was forgotten about and we ate out. Nothing went to waste as I put the mince in the freezer and used the fresh ingredients. Our favourite meal of the week was the Chicken Katsu Curry, I think I could actually drink the curry sauce as it's that good.

This week I have no big plans at all and I am glad for that after a busy week last week. I have some little things that I can get on with and there is of course, always the housework to catch up on. There is no Gousto box this week as I forgot to confirm the order, I picked the meals and then wanted to check them over with my family and forgot all about it. Oops.

On the menu this week we have:

Monday - Corned beef crisp bakes with chips and baked beans!

We’re starting the week with something easy and something that we all love. These corned beef crisp bakes are corned beef, potato and onion, all wrapped up in a breadcrumb coating. I’ll make homemade chips and baked beans to go with them.

Tuesday - Jacket potatoes!

Another easy meal for me to make. I cook the potatoes and then everyone can add whatever they want. It will most likely be either baked beans and cheese or tuna mayo.

Wednesday - Spaghetti Bolognese and garlic bread!

You can’t go wrong with a good spaghetti Bolognese. It’s a classic and one of those family teas where everyone clears their plate and goes back for seconds. I always make sure to make plenty, plus I will be using it for Thursday too!

Thursday - Leftover Bolognese in tortilla wraps!

This is where the batch cooking pays off. Instead of having the same meal again, I turn the leftover Bolognese into something a bit different. I’ll warm it up and spoon it into tortilla wraps, my family will add grated cheese and wrap them up and eat! They're messy but they taste so good!

Friday - A takeaway of some sort!

Friday night is an easy night for me. I don't cook and we order takeaway. Last week we ended up going out to eat, just a pub meal. I had an All Day Breakfast with bacon, sausages, fried eggs, chips, grilled tomato and baked beans with toast! Who knows what we will have this week?

Saturday - Home made pizza!

It seems like it has been a while since we made our own pizzas. I will buy the bases ready-made and we can add our own toppings. I will be going for BBQ sauce, smoky sausage, onions, mushroom and a little sprinkling of cheese.

Sunday - A help yourself evening!

I have no plan for today and everyone can just help themselves to whatever they fancy, there will probably be left over pizza.

What are you eating this week?