Another Busy Weekend

Recovering from another busy weekend.  On Saturday we travelled up to Leeds to watch the football.  Setting out from Chester it was a glorious sunny day, but just the other side of Manchester and it felt like we had entered into another world with lots of sleet and snow.  Fortunately we were prepared with thermals, hats, scarves and gloves and my new coat which comes down to my knees and resembles a sleeping bag was definitely the order of the day.

We stayed over at the Crowne Plaza hotel which is a lovely hotel with swimming pool and where the staff are so nice that’s it’s an absolute pleasure to stay there.

We got absolutely drenched going into the stadium, which wasn’t a good start but fortunately the sun soon came out and it was dry for the rest of the game.

It was a very tense game.  Leeds started out well, but then an early penalty given to Birmingham resulted in a goal and for the rest of the game they were desperately trying to equalise.  They had plenty of chances but couldn’t quite seem to hit the target.  The referee wasn’t doing them any favours either and he seemed very biased towards Birmingham, much to the displeasure of the majority of fans who made their feelings quite clear.

Fortunately about ten minutes before the end of the match Leeds scored to equalise and then seemed to get a second wind. We ended up with a draw but it was a good result considering.

In the evening we went to an Italian restaurant close to the hotel and the boys were delighted to find that two of the players, Bellusci and Antenucci were dining there.  After a discrete enquiry with the waiter, they very kindly agreed to have a photo taken with the boys.  It really made their weekend!

They Boys with Antenucci

The next morning we went for a swim, had breakfast and then went to the Leeds Superstore on the way home where the boys bought some new kits with their Christmas money.

All in all a lovely way to spend the weekend.

Egg Gate

Last week's homework from school was to design and paint an egg.

I hate these arty homeworks because not one of us in this family has an arty bone in our bodies, so its always a bit of a trauma.

Unfortunately for us, we forgot all about it until Thursday morning, so I dashed to Hobbycraft to buy paints and things to stick on the egg should it all go pear-shaped.

Unsurprisingly, my youngest wanted to paint the Leeds logo on his egg (he's nothing if not predictable).  So we sketched out the logo on the egg and he began to paint.  But the paint wouldn't dry and it looked a mess.

We rubbed off the paint and searched out the felt tips, and this was marginally better. It was only the front of the egg though and it looked a bit sparse so we tried to stick on some football shapes I had bought.  Have you ever tried to glue things onto eggs?  The glue I had bought didn't work and even UHU didn't produced the required effect.

Fortunately my husband had some quick drying white paint so we painted the rest of the egg with that. Sometimes its useful to have a painter and decorator as a husband - even if he didn't have the right colours for the Leeds Badge.

This is the end result.

Lets just say it didn't win any prizes but at least he had something to take into school with him.

A Lovely Weekend

Last weekend we went to Leeds, which is a usual tradition for the boys' birthdays, as they love to watch their favourite team play and we stay over in a nice hotel.

The one we chose this time was the Crowne Plaza, complete with swimming pool and spa, and a couple we are friends with decided to join us, as the husband is also a Leeds supporter.  (There’s more than you think, you know!).

As it was an early kick off we set off straight after breakfast.  My youngest should have been playing football that morning, so we’d had to excuse him, but luckily for us all, that game was cancelled.

The match against Leicester was a good game, very edge of the seat, but sadly Leeds lost 1-0.  As Leicester is at the top of the league, we had expected to lose, but it was a bit disappointing because on the day it could have gone either way.

Afterwards, we checked into the hotel and then went for a swim.  I’d organised some treatments at the spa, and while my friend went for a back massage I had a facial.

It was absolute bliss.  So relaxing to lie in a darkened room with soft music while someone smoothed cream over my face.  It made me realise how we spend so much time tensed up and its made we want to have one more often.  Certainly an incentive to work harder and earn the money to afford them! Even now my skin feels and looks so much better, I feel years younger!

Later we all went out to an Italian restaurant.  After a luxurious sleep we all got up for another swim before breakfast and then went to the Leeds FC Superstore to buy the birthday boy some goodies.  As it was such a nice day we even managed a walk when we got home.

Its so wonderful to go away and be waited on.  The only downside is that for most of this week I’ve been playing catch up, where the chief cook, cleaner and bottlewasher is once again good old me

Falling At The First Fence

One of my New Year's resoloutions was to blog more regularly.  Seeing as its now the 17th and this is my first blog of 2013, I'm not doing very well am I?

It's been a bit of a unusual start to the year though. It's a poor excuse, but the only one I have. Before Christmas I scratched my eye. That healed up but then it became infected, so I've been on antibiotics and now all is well again.  For a while though, I couldn't even open my eyes, let alone read or face a computer screen. Thank goodness for my Ipod, I think its the only thing that kept me sane.

At the start of the year, when everyone else is getting back to normal, we start with another celebration which is my youngest son's birthday on 5 Jan.  Poor thing having a birthday so soon after Christmas, but he was due on Christmas Eve, so it could have been worse!

This year was the first year he didn't have to go back to school after the holidays on his birthday and, as it was a Saturday, and like the rest of the males in my family, he loves Leeds United, we paid another trip to Eland Road, stayed at a hotel and had a meal out in the evening.

Although I'm not a footie fan, I must admit it is beginning to grow on me.  It's a great atmosphere walking towards the ground with the fellow fans, and the family stand is full of different generations, grandads, dads, mums and offspring, all united in a common cause.

As it was his birthday, I was a bit worried that the score might not go the right way, especially by the way Leeds were playing (1-0 down at half time) and the fact that it was a knock out round of the FA Cup.  In the end, after a valiant effort by both teams, it was a 1-1 draw, resulting a replay. Thank goodness that didn't spoil the celebrations!

The reply was on Tuesday, and again, after being 1-0 down at half time, Leeds pulled it off winning by 2 goals to 1.  The next round, against Tottenham, is at home on 26th Jan and there are mumblings in the house about getting tickets. I'm not sure my nerves can stand it!

The boys only went back to school the following Tuesday and then on Thursday we took them out for two days (naughty, naughty) to pay a visit to the Emerald Isle.  My other half has a lot of Irish reletives so we vist regularly, and this was a 50th birthday celebration.

I'm not entirely sure that it's a good thing to go to Ireland in early January, it just adds to the excesses of Christmas, but a good time was had by all.

This week I thought it would be back to normal, but on Monday was struck down with a heavy cold. It's not man flu, so I can keep going, but as you can imagine, not much writing has been done recently.

I have, though, been catching up on some work and general paperwork, and am determined to get into a good routine soon, both with working from home and with the writing.  Wish me luck.

I hope you all have had a good start to the New Year, and now I would like to wish you, rather shamefaced, a belated happy New Year.

I'll be back again soon, I promise!

Linda