365 Days Of Gratitude. In April 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.

April flew over, it was another blink and you miss it months. I think it was because things were so higgledy piggledy with Ellie having two weeks off college for her Easter break, Stu taking some time of work and Becky being all over the place with concerts, theatre shows and city breaks. It was been a fun month for us all. We've had nights out, lots of family time and lots of laughs.

Day 91 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that Stu's holidays for the year have been accepted at work! Well, for now they have. They have been known to backtrack on days off when things are busy!

Day 92 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for the moments in life that help me slow down and appreciate the people and time I have right now.

Day 93 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for fish & chips from the chippy for tea! I'd like to say it was because it was Good Friday but we get chippy tea most Friday's.

Day 94 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a quiet night in front of the TV with my family!

Day 95 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for Easter eggs!

Day 96 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that I had time this afternoon to catch up with Grey's Anatomy!

Day 97 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that an appointment I had today went well. I have stressed about it for days but the man I spoke with was lovely and made the whole ordeal almost fun!

Day 98 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for tea out at the all you can eat place in Hull!

Day 99 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful Stu didn't ask me to help him out while he was tidying the garage. Ellie made the mistake of going out there and got roped into helping. I hate the garage, it's full of spiders!

Day 100 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a full day! Went to my dad's, ran some errands and had a meal out with Stu.

Day 101 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that Stu did the cooking tonight! Food always tastes better when someone else makes it!

Day 102 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a day in front of the TV watching movies!

Day 103 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that Ellie and Stu had a nice day out. I stayed home and caught up on some things here.

Day 104 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a Chocolate Fudge Frappe from Costa! Yum!

Day 105 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a good catch up and chat with a friend.

Day 106 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a fab delivery driver from Morrisons. He was very helpful and chatty.

Day 107 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful McDonalds for tea! I wasn't even that bothered about the food, all I wanted was a milkshake!

Day 108 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful I was dosed up on cold and flu tablets so I could stay up and watch night one of Wrestlemania!

Day 109 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful a little lie in this morning after going to bed at 3am after the wrestling. I'm doing it again tonight. Eek!

Day 110 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that the water company finally figured out what keeps blocking our drains! Limescale! There's a build up in the pipes and drains! 

Day 111 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for an extra mouth to feed tonight. Of course I made too much sausage casserole.

Day 112 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful she said yes! Becky got engaged to her girlfriend earlier tonight.

Day 113 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a bowl full of strawberries and cream after tea!

Day 114 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that Becky got back from her travels and brought me 2 tubs of Pease Pudding.

Day 115 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that I am the cold I had has gone!

Day 116 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that Stu cut the grass.

Day 117 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful to get loads done in the garden. My back is aching now though.

Day 118 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful to spend the day with Becky. We have had some giggles.

Day 119 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that my plants seem to be doing well after I moved them into bigger pots. Phew!

Day 120 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that everything was delivered with the food shop! That rarely happens!

What were you grateful for in April?

Our weekly meal plan! 4th - 10th May #MealPlanningMonday

Happy Monday! I hope you have all had a good weekend. Ours was nice. It was a family weekend with us all home. I spent the weekend keeping an eye on the sport. It was the last day of the EFL Championship football league and I was interested as Hull is our local team, Middlesbrough was my local team when I was a child and Wrexham because the actor Ryan Reynolds owns them were all trying to get promoted into the Premiership League. Wrexham missed out but Middlesbrough and Hull are through to the playoffs but only one will go up to the Premier League. Eek!

Last week's meal plan went OK. Well, we ate 4 of the 7 meals that I had planned but not on the right night. Oops. We are back on the Gousto meals this week and I am so happy about it. I always feel my meal planning goes more to plan when I know I have to use the ingredients up from the Gousto boxes.

On the menu this week we have:

Monday - Gousto Meal - Baked Chicken Thigh & Almond Curry With Rice And Naan!

This one is a new one for us and Stu will be happy! Every time we get a curry from Gosuto he always asks if it comes with Naan bread and it never has, until now! Made with juicy thighs in a rich, nutty almond and garam masala sauce. Finished with creamy yoghurt and served with fluffy rice and warm mini naan.

Tuesday - Gousto Meal - Lamb Mince, Crushed Potatoes And Minty Peas!

This is proper comfort food! Lamb mince cooked with a bit of thyme and Henderson’s relish for flavour. Served with buttery crushed potatoes and minty peas on the side. Usually I won't eat peas as a side dish but minty peas are different. I love them!

Wednesday - Gousto Meal - Sausage Meatball & Tomato Sauce With Fresh Orecchiette!

This is one of our favourites from Gousto. My family would eat this every week given the chance. This one is sausage meatballs cooked in a rich, herby tomato sauce, served with fresh orecchiette. Those little bits of pasta are brilliant at holding onto sauce. Every time I tell the girls we're having this they look puzzled until I say the pasta, which is like the Skips crisps. lol

Thursday - Something and chips!

It will be something out of the freezer on Thursday with chips. We have the option of sausages, battered chicken, pies, turkey burgers and goodness knows what else. I will let my family choose what they want.

Friday - A takeaway of some sort!

Friday night is an easy night for me. I don't cook and we order takeaway. For the past few months it has been from the chip shop mostly but we fancy something different. The chip shop doesn't feel like a treat any more, we have overdone it. Hmmf. It could be pizza depending on what we have had for lunch.

Saturday - Burgers in buns with fries!

Simple beef burgers in brioche buns with fries and probably some salad. Burgers for us is such a Saturday meal.

Sunday - A help yourself evening!

I have no plan for today and everyone can just help themselves to whatever they fancy.

What are you eating this week?

A photo every day for a year! 26th April - 2nd May! Week 18 of #Project365

The new month started with some gorgeous weather and the hottest day of the year so far and today it's supposed to rain all day. Hmmf. I am not happy as we had plans which are not going to happen if the rain is as bad as it's predicted. I am writing this yesterday afternoon, so it's a case of wait and see. It's just typical that the weather is rubbish, it always is over a Bank Holiday weekend. Hopefully the weather will be better when we have another Bank Holiday at the end of the month.

I didn't get up to much yesterday, just the usual housework. It was nice to have all my family home last night. We plonked ourselves in front of the TV and watched Britain's Got Talent and of course caught up on the wrestling.

Now for a photo every day!

116/365 26th April

I didn't really think it through, painting my nails on Sunday when I knew I was going to be doing some gardening on Monday but the polish held up well and didn't chip or peel at all. It wasn't even a decent branded one, it was just one from the pound shop. It goes to show you don’t always need to spend a fortune on beauty bits.

117/365 27th April

I planted some more seeds. I found a packet of sunflower seeds from last year and popped them in some compost, not hoping for much but there are already shoots coming through. It is the magic of the kitchen windowsill, the plants love it there! I also have Brussels sprouts, more tomatoes and strawberries hopefully growing.

118/365 28th April

Once a fortnight when Becky is off work we treat ourselves to something nice for lunch and on Tuesday it was Costa Coffee again. I didn't get any coffee, just the chocolate fudge frappe, bacon bap and a chocolate twist pastry.

119/365 29th April

I finally got around to making the Thai-style pork patties. They had been planned for Monday but after gardening I just couldn't be bothered to stand in the kitchen. These went down a treat and we also had sweet potato fries and homemade coleslaw, well almost home made. I bought a bag of coleslaw mix and just added the mayonnaise.

120/365 30th April

I went outside just before 9am and I could just tell it was going to be a gorgeous day! The sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was starting to warm up. By lunch time I had 2 loads of washing already out on the line and dried!

121/365 1st May

I didn't know Reese's Ice cream sticks were a thing until Friday. I bought a box with three in and had planned on keeping them for myself until the girls spotted them. I've not tried them yet, I am saving it as a treat for this afternoon.

122/365 2nd May

I was short of something to take a photo of, so you have me. Just a selfie in the bathroom mirror which I've now noticed needs a good clean. When I take selfies, I always wish I could take them as well as my girls. They are experts!

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This week my Word of the Week is: Sunshiny!! WotW

This week my Word of the Week is:

Hasn't the weather been lovely! Every day this week the sun has been shining. Even on Tuesday when it was grey for part of the day, the sun still made an appearance. I'd like to think this is the start of the good weather but after today it's going to get a little cooler than it has been and we're expecting some rain which of course isn't a bad thing for the garden.

On Monday, Stu and I made the most of the good weather and spent a few hours outside in the garden. Stu mowed the grass while I repotted some plants into bigger pots and then we both tackled the weeding. Why do weeds have to grow so quickly and why does there have to be so many? It was nice to be outside just pottering around. The garden is looking great at the moment and so far, so good with my repotted plants, they all survived the move.

Ellie loves going to college at this time of year when the sun is shining. She gets to wear all her summer clothes and has been surprising people. Since she got her tattoo in October, it has pretty much been hidden under hoodies and jumpers. This week, people saw her tattoo and have been shocked that someone, so sweet looking has such a big tattoo. hehehe One thing I never expected was Ellie being obsessed with putting sunscreen on. She read somewhere that it protects tattoos from fading and now she is the sunscreen queen. This is the same girl that a few years ago I had to practically pin her down to get sun cream on her. lol

As the week went on, each day got warmer and warmer and it was a nice kind of warm with heat from the sun but still a cool breeze. I saw it get up to 23C yesterday. I said to Ellie if it could stay at this temperature all summer I would be happy. I read online that parts of the UK yesterday were hotter than the proper hot places that you think of, like Hawaii and Egypt!

It has been nice to get the washing out drying on the line, having the windows open with a nice breeze coming inside and a freezer stocked with ice lollies and ice cream! The only downside to this lovely weather is the bugs and creatures which come inside, which definitely don't belong here. We had our first wasp of the year come in but thankfully it was when Stu was here so he could remove it. I had flashbacks from when we had the wasps nest in the bathroom a few years ago. One wasp and I convinced myself there's a nest somewhere. There isn't that I know of and I hope it stays that way!

How has your week been? I hope you have had a good one! I am of course linking up with Anne who blogs at Raisie Bay to join in with her Word of the Week linky!