365 Days Of Gratitude. In June 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.

Another month has flown over and what a month it was! We had a lot going on, I've watched a lot of football with the World Cup being on, we survived another heatwave, celebrated the dad's with Father's Day and my youngest left college and full time education!

Day 152 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that it's the first of the month and all the bills were paid!

Day 153 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for an exciting little trip out this afternoon, viewing a house! Not for me but for Becky and her partner! Eek!

Day 154 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for spaghetti Bolognese for tea and leftover Bolognese for tomorrow.

Day 155 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful Ellie has found something new to watch on TV. New to her anyway. She came in and said she found a show on BBC iPlayer which is like Grey's Anatomy and The Pitt but it's English! It's Casualty!! I couldn't help but laugh, that show has been on TV for most of my life!

Day 156 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for lunch at my dad's. It was just Becky and I visiting as Ellie was sitting her last English exam.

Day 157 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful Ellie reminded me that the F1 qualifiers were on TV. I had forgotten it was a Grand Prix weekend.

Day 158 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for an afternoon in front of the TV watching F1! What a race!

Day 159 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that all the washing is done, all sorted and folded too. Putting it away is a job for tomorrow!

Day 160 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for Costa Coffee and my favourite Chocolate Fudge Frappe!

Day 161 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a nice tea! Sesame Pork & Mushroom Udon Noodle Stir Fry!

Day 162 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful the World Cup has started! Almost 40 days of football! Yay!

Day 163 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a lift home from my dad's when it started chucking it down!

Day 164 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a huge prawn salad for tea. (I did want to say football but I can't say that every day during the World Cup)

Day 165 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a nice lunch out with family.

Day 166 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that Stu did the cooking tonight.

Day 167 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful Stu had an early finish from work today. I knew he was finishing early but the girls didn't, they were so confused.

Day 168 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that England won their match! Phew!

Day 169 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful Stu got a bonus at work! It's enough to pay for the girls birthday presents so that's fantastic!

Day 170 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that my dad was very happy with his father's day gift.

Day 171 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that Becky tried to let me have a lie in. She was as quiet as a mouse sneaking around but I was awake anyway.

Day 172 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that Stu had a fantastic Father's Day. The girls did spoil him!

Day 173 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for help with the weeding. I am not grateful for all the weeds!

Day 174 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a trip to the cinema to see Toy Story 5! It was brilliant!

Day 175 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that Ellie a fantastic last day at college!

Day 176 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that my dad gave us a lift home from his. I might have melted on the walk back.

Day 177 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful Stu could email me from work because the silly so and so left his phone at home.

Day 178 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for rain! It has just chucked it down and watered the garden for me. Shame it hasn't cooled down any.

Day 179 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful my plants in the garden survived the latest heat wave! They were looking a bit unwell on Friday but they've perked back up now!

Day 180 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that Becky is home and we could watch some wrestling and the football together!

Day 181 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for an extra mouth to feed tonight. Becky's partner was here for tea!

What were you grateful for in June?

Our weekly meal plan! 6th - 12th July!! #MealPlanningMonday

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a good weekend. Ours was a busy one, well compared to most of our weekends. We went to a country show. We wandered around looking at all the animals, stalls, displays and of course, there was all the yummy food! I'll be writing all about it soon because I took loads of photos and there was so much going on that it deserves its own blog post. We spent Sunday watching sport. I am writing this yesterday afternoon and hopefully, by the time you're reading this, England will have made it through to the next round of the World Cup. Eek!

Last week's meal plan did not go to plan. We swapped quite a few meals around and didn't eat them on the day I had planned but I suppose they were at least eaten. The only meals we didn't have were a freezer dive on Wednesday as we ate out at the bike meet-up that we went to and the Sunday roast dinner. I just couldn't be bothered after being out all day on Saturday. We ended up having ham and pickle sandwiches, which are pretty basic and boring but it was ham I cooked myself, so there was some effort involved. lol

This week should be much more of a normal one. Becky and Stu are both back at work, so the house will be a little quieter during the day. Ellie has a couple of appointments to go to but apart from that, we don't really have anything big planned. I like weeks like this that give me a chance to catch up with jobs around the house, spend some time in the garden and get on with writing blog posts. It's supposed to warm up again later this week, not as hot as it was a few weeks ago but hotter than last week. I'm not complaining. I do love the sunshine and want to make the most of it. Our meal plan feels so simple this week, with very little cooking. Lessons were learned by me during the last couple of hot spells. I am a happier person when I don't have to spend much time in the hot kitchen!

On the menu this week we have:

Monday - Ham salad!

When it's warm outside, there's nothing better than a big salad! We'll be having slices of ham with lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, beetroot, sweetcorn and some new potatoes. I'll probably end up adding anything else I find in the fridge too.

Tuesday - Hot dogs!

Hot Dog Hot Dog Hot Diggidy Dog! Thanks to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, I don't think I'll ever be able to hear the words without that tune popping into my head. My girls watched it when they were little and hot dogs make me think of it! Tuesday's tea is hot dogs in buns with fried onions, mustard and plenty of ketchup.

Wednesday - Omelettes!

We're having omelettes to use up whatever is in the fridge. If we've got some leftover ham, that'll definitely be going in. Cheese is a must and then whatever vegetables need using up. We never make plain omelettes in this house, we pile them full of fillings until they feel like a proper meal!

Thursday - Chicken dippers with curly fries and baked beans!

Sometimes you just fancy a meal that reminds you of being a kid and this is one of those meals. Curly fries always seem more exciting than ordinary chips, I don't know why. lol

Friday - Fish finger wraps!

Crispy fish fingers with lettuce and tartare sauce wrapped in a tortilla! They're easy to make and perfect for a Friday evening when nobody can be bothered.

Saturday - A Ploughman's plate!

I keep seeing this on a local pub's Facebook page and it looks like such a great idea! A grown up picky tea! Cheese, ham, pork pie, pickled onions, crusty bread, pickle, salad, grapes and crisps. No cooking needed at all!

Sunday - Something with mashed potato!

All I know for certain is that we're having mashed potatoes. For some reason, Sundays and mash just belong together in my mind. I don't know what it'll be served with yet. It might be sausages and gravy, chicken, pork chops or something else.

What are you eating this week?

A photo every day for a year! 28th June - 4th July Week 27 of #Project365

Happy Sunday!! I hope you've all had a lovely week and are enjoying your weekend, especially if you are in the US and were celebrating America's 250th birthday! Our week was a good one, you can read all about it in my Friday Favourites post and my Word of the Week yesterday!

We've had quite a busy weekend so far. We went to a country show yesterday, the one we go to every year. Nothing much had changed apart from there were tons more vintage cars and horses but I do love it and it's always a good day out! I made the mistake of not putting any sun cream on as I was rushing about and it didn't look that bright out. The sun came out a little but it was breezy and I think I got more windburn than sunburn. I have slathered myself in after sun lotion and it has helped, I am very red looking. Eek!

I am looking forward to today, we're not up to much apart from watching sport. It's the British Grand Prix this afternoon, the Norway v Brazil World Cup match later on, which I will be watching and the England v Mexico match at 1am which I will not be staying up to watch. There were a few hours on Friday evening when FIFA changed the start time because of the storms being forecast but they changed it back to 1am. Hmmf.

Now for a photo every day!

179/365 28th June

A new flower appeared in my garden, a California poppy! It is so bright and the bees and hover flies love it! I always have a little panic when one of the hover flies come near me as they look like small wasps but they're thankfully harmless.

180/365 29th June

Another photo from my garden, this time of a Cinnabar moth caterpillar. From Googling it, I found out it feeds on Ragwort plants, which makes it poisonous to anything that might try to eat it and from what I have read, it won't eat any of my other plants. Phew! They really are something to look at!

181/365 30th June

It's been a while since there has been a photo of Becky here on my blog and here she is. There is a funny story about this one. She took it to send to her partner but only after she got AI to mess with it and shave all her hair off. Her partner was at work but rang as soon as they saw it in such a panic. Becky lasted about 30 seconds before she admitted to them that it was fake.

182/365 1st July

We were at a local bike meet-up on Wednesday and as pretty as this bike looked, it was the helmet which caught my attention. It was the baddie off Predator, it even had the dreadlock-type hair at the back! There were so many amazing bikes, I do wish I had taken more photos!

183/365 2nd July

I mentioned on Friday how my garden was growing well and especially my sweetcorn. This is the best I have ever done with it. I learned this week the bits growing out of the top are called tassels and I can see the corn on the cob growing on the plant! Yay!

184/365 3rd July

My dad finally got his vintage truck painted. On last week's Project 365 post, it looked nothing like it does now. My brother did most of the paint work and I think he did a fantastic job. My first thought was it's very orange and it really is! I am glad he got it finished so he could take it to the country show yesterday. It might have needed a push to get it started and the passenger seat isn't fixed properly, but people were very interested in it. It's a Reliant Ant in case you were wondering. He loves his Reliant cars and has a Scimitar, Robin and Kitten!

185/365 4th July

We were at a country show and had a great day! There was a good turn out of agricultural show horses. They were huge, much bigger than they look in the photo!

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This week my Word of the Week is: Well!! #WotW

This week my Word of the Week is:

I always think I like to be busy but when I have a busy week I want a quiet life again. lol This past week has been a busy one. Last Saturday seems such a long time ago and it feels like we have been non-stop with life things, trips out and all the normal stuff! I can't complain though, because everything has gone really well, which is why I chose Well as my Word of the Week.

The week started with Ellie filling in a load of forms. It turns out that leaving college and being a fully-fledged adult means there is admin to do and she wasn't impressed. Thankfully, all the forms were all online, which made things easier but some were not easy to fill in. I helped her out a little. We would have been lost without Google explaining some of the questions to us. That's all done and it's another thing ticked off her to-do list. She had an appointment yesterday for the forms and it went well too.

My garden is doing really well considering last week was so hot. I kept on top of the watering and everything has survived. Phew! There were a couple of evenings where I was out there watering everything thinking I couldn't really be bothered but I'm glad I made the effort because it has paid off. My sweetcorn is doing especially well. I've tried growing it for the past few years and this is the best it has ever done. It's taller than it's ever been and looks so healthy. Every year something has gone wrong. Either the bugs have got to it, the weather hasn't been just right for it or I haven't watered it enough. Fingers crossed this is finally the year that I get to enjoy some homegrown corn on the cob!

On Wednesday evening we had a fun time. We went to a pub to watch the England match, which was rather stressful but we got the win and then went to the bike night. It is a big meeting where people turn up on their motorbikes, show them off, there are displays, food stalls and lots of fun things going on. I was so happy smelling all the petrol, it's one of my favourite smells.

This week has felt strange. Ellie is home more now that she has finished college. Becky took a couple of days off work at the start of the week, meaning she has been off work the whole week and Stu had yesterday and today off work. I feel all out of sorts with them home. I'm not used to it but I am not complaining. I have enjoyed all the family time we have had. We're all together over the weekend too and have some fun things planned which I will write about at a later date.

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!