My UK Towns and Cities Bucket List

Hello lovelies!

How are you all?  
These past few days have just wizzed by and I cant believe that we are on week two of the Easter half-term holidays already!  How did that happen?  We havent been particualy busy but the days have flown!  In just a few days time all the childrens easter eggs will be eaten and they will be back at school.  Where the parents may welcome the rest that comes from having the children back at school, We, as grandparents will miss dropping by the houses and just being able to have fun and spend time with them all.  

Mr PB and I are planning to take some time out this summer and going traveling round the UK,  We usually only get as far south as the midlands and no more north than skegness so we are hoping to go fuirther afield!  

We have been pondering on places we might like to visit and have made somewhat of a list.

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I will begin!

Cornwall

I have friends and family in Cornwall so have visited a few times, however Mr PB has never visited.  I love both the coastline and the countryside area and although it will be quite a long journey from where we live, Its a visit we look forward to.

Liverpool

I love big cities.  I love the hustle and bustle and the people.  The noise and the shopping, The Museums and the exhibitions.  Liverpool ticks all those boxes! 

Mr PB does not like cities or city life!  But I have a cunning plan!  He is a avid sports fan.  He has supported and followed Liverpool FC since being a boy and I think that if I combine our visit with a football fixture then there is a good chance he will agree to a visit!

Stonehenge

This is a place I have always wanted to visit but unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity.  I would absolutely love to visit on the summer solstice but I fail to see how that will be possible this year but I can hope! 

It must be a beautiful sight to see the sunrise over that beautiful monument, surrounded by all those people with thier own personal belief systems. Amazing!

Brighton

Who wouldn't want to visit Brighton!  I guess one of the most noisy, flamboyant and fun times of the year must be the gay pride festival.  Miss PB would be content to just wander around Brighton looking for Zoe Sugg or Gabriella Lindleys houses!

  But I would love all the ethical craft shops, the vegan food and the hippy tat shops!  But of course, the main reason Choccywoccydoodar!  No but seriously it is just a beautiful part of the UK coast.

Edinburgh

Mr PB has been to Scotland many times.  As a child he travelled there extensively with his family.  His Father was involved in the grain industry and he would travel the country with that work and had opportunity to take the family with him. 

Edinburgh is a city steeped in history and to visit the castle would be a huge box ticking exercise for me!  Mr PB has often spoken of returning and so this fine city is on our list.

Lastly We would like to go to Wales and to drive through the Chedder Gorge on route to the coast. 

The views are spectacular and I would love for us to do some hiking in the area.  Maybe I need to work on my fitness levels first!  


So that is our list!  We are hoping to do some of this at least!  Who knows what this year will bring but we know we will be having a staycation in the UK and not going abroad so all these places are stark possibilities!  I will keep you all updated and shall of course take lots of photos and document it all here!

Well that is all from me for today.  Please leave a comment below telling us where you will be holidaying this year, or are you having a staycation like we are and staying here in the UK?  Either way we would love to hear all about it!

Thank you for visiting and we hope to see you all here at our little space on the tinterweb sometimes soon!

Bye For Now

Hales xxx

Holy week Part 1 - Maundy Thursday - Passover

Hello Lovelies!

As our regular visitors are aware we are very committed Christians.  So of course Holy week is very special to us.  We rarely use this blog to speak of our faith as we write elsewhere on this but Holy week is extremely important for us.

Mr PB is serving in the leadership team at our home church at this present time and his term of office has recently been renewed.  This means he is very busy this week! On Monday he was reading at another local church as they put on a reading of the passion of Christ.  Our Church has been forging ahead making ties and building realationships with local churches after a few years of us being a stand alone church (there are reasons for this but I won't elaborate on here) and its great to see local churches coming together and Christians becoming friends and family.

So what is Maundy Thursday?  What is it all about?

Maundy Thursday is the Thursday of Holy Week. It represents the day that the Jewish Passover was celebrated in the Bible Story of Easter.

Jesus had his last meal with his friends and followers before he was killed. This meal is now know as 'The Last Supper'. 

Jesus and his friends would have followed the Jewish Passover custom of eating roast lamb and unleavened bread  and drinking red wine.

At the meal that Jesus had with this followers, he said to them: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13:34.

Also at the same meal, Jesus told/commanded his followers to think of him when they ate bread and drank wine. This is very important to Christians and is now remembered in the Christian service known as Communion.

Jesus washed his disciples feet before the meal to show that is important to be helpful and serve others. Here in the UK the queen distributes Maundy Money instead of washing peoples feet as priests in other countries still do!  This is a practice carried out for hundreds of years!

After the meal, Jesus and some of his friends went to a nearby garden called Gethsemene to pray. Later in the evening he was betrayed by one of His disciples called Judas. Jesus was arrested and taken to trial.

So Tonight we shall go as a family to our church and eat with our church family to remember both the Passover , the last supper and the sacrifice of Jesus.

Tomorrow I shall tell you about why we remember Good Friday

Bye for now 

Hales xxx

Half term - Easter holidays 2019

Hi Lovelies!

Well here in sunny Suffolk we have started the Easter holidays.  I love this time of being with the children.  So far we have had a couple of days with the grand children.  We spent a few hours in the park close to their home today.  It was lovely and sunny but we underestimated how cold it was out there!  The worst thing was the wind.  There is a saying here, "the wind goes straight through you not round you!" and that is so true.  It was that cutting biting wind that stings.  The children were content to just play and run around and I guess they don't feel the cold as badly as my old bones!  Granddad stayed huddled in the car!  Clever move Granddad!

The three eldest Grandchildren

Just spending time with the grandchildren is such a blessing.  They are small for such a short time and we cherish every moment.  It doesn't seem so long ago that their dads were their age!  Time truly flies!  Now that Princess is 13 years old she doesn't always want to hang out with us so its good that we can get the dogs on their leads and just go walking and adventuring with the Grandbabies.  They are still at the age where they think Grandma and Granddad are cool!

I will most probably be photo spamming the blog with day out photos during these holidays but looking back over the blog I can see that we have documented a lot of our lives here.  There have been special moments and sad moments.  Births, deaths and marriages.  Birthdays and Christmases.  This blog has become in essence the online diary of our lives.  I am considering starting a new blog to link the Youtube channel and post non family stuff.  This is and always will be primarily a family blog and I've realised the importance of that.  I will update you all on what I do decide to do but right now I feel like the best thing to do is to start a new blog for all non family guff! 

Well once again, thank you for dropping in to visit us and we hope to see you all here again very soon!

Bye for now
Hales xxx

Paying for the royals

Hi lovelies!

Well very soon we will be hearing the news that another royal baby has been born.

Baby Sussex will be seventh in line to the throne.  I am unashamedly a royalist and believe in the monarchy.  It is a institution that we as a country, should be immensely proud of.  Many countries do not have a Queen or a King so we are blessed.  They do a fantastic job (well some of them)

Although I am a royalist I do believe there should be a restriction on how many we are required to pay for as a country.  The monarch, Next in line to the throne and their families should be our responsibility to pay for and support.  After that they should be on their own and expected to find employment as would any other person.  By this I mean HRH Queen Elizabeth, Husband and her children, and then Charles' children should be on the royal payroll.  The others should support themselves. whether this is by charging for royal engagements or getting a job would be entirely up to them.  (If I ruled the world!).  This means that royal such as Princess Beatrice etc would support themselves.

Its not a popular idea among royalists but its a opinion I have and stick to.  After all cutbacks should effect everyone not just the working man.

Let me know your thoughts, do you agree or not?
Either way its food for thought!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you here again real soon.
Bye for now

Hales xx

Game Of Thrones - The Return!

Hi Everyone!

In a short while Game of thrones will start on our TV screens here in the UK.  To say Mr PB and I are excited is a understatement!  We are big fans of the show and cant wait to sit down nd see what Mr Martin has in store for us.  We really like to watch this kind of genre of shows and films.  Things like GOT, Harry Potter, Lord of the rings and The Hobbit really float our boat!  I (Hales) have my own theory on the plots.

I think that Tyrion Lanister is actully a Targaryen.  Remember when the dragons were locked away in the underground tunnels by Daenerys? Tyrion went into the tunnels and touched the dragons to free them.  You can't just walk up to a dragon and stroke them! they aren't next doors cat!. There have been other things pointing to this also.  It was said that the mad king was infatuated by Johanna (Tyrions Mother) and Tywin Lanister said multiple times that Tyrion wasnt his son. There are three dragons, The prophecy said the dragon had three heads, Daenerys, Jon Snow and Tyrion?
Hes a Targaryen! I know it!

Another theory I (Hales) has is that Samwell Tarly has a big part to play in the conclusion of the shows.  he has so far really been seen as a weak and somewhat simple kind of man but I think that he will come in to his own in this season. Who knows I could be wrong!

Everyone that we speak to has some kind of theory on GOT and thats mine!  We find that we have a divided group of friends, Throners and Non-Throners!  We know some scenes can be quite racey but the storyline is brilliant!  The twists and turns keep us guessing and its so unpriedctable. 

The big question is,  Who will ultimately win "The Game of Thrones" and get to sit on the Iron throne and rule the seven kingdoms?

So we will be settled down with a Large Mug of coffee, Snacks and the opening episode with bated breath!
Do you have any theories about the show? Are you a fan?  Please comment below and let us know!

Bye for now

The PB's!

March Favourites!

Hi Lovelies!

So lets jump straight in with what I've been loving this month!

Spring!
I'm totally loving the sunny weather.  Sometimes in the UK the lines between Winter and spring are somewhat blurred!  We often don't know what season it is because of the awful weather.  Not so this year!  We have had some lovely sunny days which have been so warm we have been able to go out without coats or woollies on.  I love spring!  Its one of my favourite times of the year.  The little flowers and blossoms on the trees is a sure sign of new starts and that the darkness of winter is over!

Learning sign language

One of my friends is partially deaf and communicates partly by using sign language.  It is something that I've always wanted to learn but never really had the opportunity.  So my friend and I meet up each Monday and she teaches me a new sign each week.  So far I know all the important signs like Coffee, Cake, Biscuits and of course "I need the bathroom!"  

I believe very strongly that sign language should be taught in all schools as its so important that deaf people can communicate with anyone they need to.  

I did notice that after the horrible events at the Mosque in New Zealand when the Prime Minister was giving a press conference, there was someone signing what she was saying to the country.  Apparently this is something that is common place in both New Zealand and Australia.  Why does it not happen here?  I will personally be writing to our Prime Minister and asking the question why?   

Dirty John
I'm loving the Netflix show dirty John.   Its not really the kind of thing I would really usually watch but my brother talked me in to it!  Before watching I thought "would anyone ever really be taken in that easily?"  But having watched it I realise how clever these con-men are.  Although I still think the lady in question was a little naive.  I don't want to say too much in case anyone wants to watch it!

Cadbury Creme Egg!  Well you just cannot not include these can you!  To quote the advert "how do you eat yours?!"  I always bite the top off and scoop out the centre!  Yum Yum YUM!

Now this may seem a strange one but,  I'm really enjoying getting together with the women in my life!  Chatting, having a cuppa, laughing and just enjoying each others company.  A wise lady once told me that we choose our family and I have to say it is so true!  I have such great friends of both genders and of every age.  My oldest friend is in her 80's and the youngest around 20 years old but in friendship age doesn't matter!    
If you haven't connected with your ladies in a while then why not arrange to meet for coffee, invite one round for tea, or just telephone and have a long chat!

Well that's my favourites for this month!  Why not leave a comment below and let me know yours!

Bye for now 

Hales xxxx