♥ This Week... ♥

This week I have been....

♥♥ Stitching hundreds of badges onto my camp blanket, a little at a time. It's incredible how my badge collection builds up! I stitched on over 50 badges in August/September last year and already I have a similar amount to sew on again. It's an obsession I must try to learn to curb...at least for a little while longer!

♥♥ Making Gooseberry & Apple crumble!! A lady at work has a rampant Gooseberry bush and brought in a bagful of Gooseberries for me. There weren't quite enough to fill the bottom of my dish so I added some apples as well and the crumble was absolutely delicious!

♥♥ Watching the flowers growing in the garden. The Lilies are now starting to pop open, and the Bee's are going absolutely mad for the Borage!

♥♥ Gazing at the gorgeous pink Roses that grow outside the kitchen door. Every year these lovely, brilliant pink flowers blossom and last for ages! It's a real summertime treat. We've got lots of hot pink flowers growing in the garden at the moment. I especially love the raggedy Poppy that's appeared in one of our pots.

♥♥ Treating the family to a trip to Spa Valley Railway in Tunbridge Wells. It is a belated Father's Day present for Dad as I missed the actual day last weekend when I was in London for the Discover event with the Guides. We all went, my Grandmother and Travel Hamsters included.

♥♥ Admiring the authentic looking train ticket given out at the railway. It is very substantial, made with hefty card and with the date punched onto the back. The Travel Hams were mightily impressed by it too- it's the little things.

♥♥ Pulled along by a steam engine- a very different experience to being pulled along by a diesel engine we've decided. The steam engine, whilst giving out those lovely little puffa chuffa chuffas and hooting like an over excited owl,  pulls the carriages along with a little, almost non-existent jerking that you don't get with a gliding diesel engine. I think I prefer the steam train.

♥♥ Eating a quiet little lunch at the High Rocks pub. It was very peaceful there watching the trains go by. We managed to time our return train quite well too as the Spa Valley train goes from Tunbridge Wells West to High Rocks, then Groombridge and turns back at Eridge, so we had about 40 minutes to finish our lunch before the steam engine returned once it had passed us toward Eridge. An excellent day out!