Busy! Busy! Busy!

It has been a busy few days here in my cosy little corner of the world. The weekend was so crammed packed that it went by in a real blur (the blur could also be attributed to late nights and early mornings!).

Friday
The evening was spent with some American friends. Aine's dad is originally from my hometown but has been living in Massachusetts for over twenty years. Now, his daughter, Aine, has returned to Northern Ireland. She came to study at University of Ulster for her Masters Degree and has now found a job and is staying on. Her mum, Anne, was here for the last two weeks for a visit. We had a lovely evening chatting, eating, laughing and generally putting the world to rights! It was late when my head hit the pillow!

Saturday
Up early and off to my favourite place in Belfast...St.George's Market. I have written and raved about it many times before and probably will again. Aine had been before but her mum had not had the pleasure so we picked them up and took them with us.

Beautiful, beautiful stalls assaulted us as we entered, laden with the most DELICIOUS food. I don't really like sweet cakes anymore but I was severely tempted when I saw this...

The kids as usual went to the lovely French man who sells the most FABULOUS crepes and acquired very chocolatey smiles! ☺

I, on the other hand, wandered around coffee in hand, and purchased some lovely fresh veg and my favourite thing of all from here...HUGE bunches of DAHLIAS.

There are also quite a few craft stalls and second-hand stalls. One such stall was selling second-hand craft books, mainly knitting (I resisted..just!), wool and used hand-made bags. I saw one hanging that caught my eye. I liked the shape and remembered I had made one that was similar. I decided to take a closer look....the material was familiar.....I looked inside and there sitting out quite nicely was a little label proudly boasting....my name!! Hee Hee! Not what I expected to see but a lovely surprise! I sold it a couple of years ago so I am glad to see it is still making the rounds!


The rest of the day was spent tidying up the house a little. My friend Liz had kindly offered to keep the kids for the night. Peter and I thought about going out (his birthday was a few days later) but felt quite lazy. Too much effort would have to be put into dressing up, deciding where to go, etc, etc...The decision was made to stay put. I cooked a meal. We took our time eating it..no children to rush us and we spent the rest of the evening, cosy, in front of the fire watching a DVD! (I do believe we are getting old!! LOL!). It was lovely!

Sunday
After a lie in to 9am (unheard of I tell you!) we collected the kids, headed to church and then back for a quick lunch before going to see Peter's parents. His dad is in a nursing home so every week we collect his mum, go and collect his dad and bring them out together. We usually end up somewhere nice having coffee and scones! It's lovely to see the joy in his dad's face when he sees Peter's mum. His memory is poor but there is no doubt what he thinks of her!

The rest of the evening was spent finishing off Amy's copious amount of homework and test preparation. Yuck!

Monday
Back to the grindstone. Catching up on all the little jobs around the house. The builders finished completely last Friday so the clearing and tidying can begin properly. It may take a while!!

I did get the chance though to finish the cardigan that I began in Scotland. In general I am happy with it as it is only my second large piece of knitting. There are a few tweaks I would make if I were to make it again, but on the whole I am pleased. You can find the details on Ravelry.



Tuesday
Errands were run and mother-in-law was brought to the dentist. Much more important though, it was Peter's birthday. Cards were made and given and presents presented. He was thrilled with his new screwdrivers (?!). The cake was baked. He is a man of simple pleasures...a Victoria Sponge with melted chocolate (no fancy icing here!!) and sprinkles was requested....what age is he anyway?!! Happy to oblige!
Now maybe the rest of the week can slow down a little...not likely though!!