Welcome to my 8th Sunday Sevens, which was the wonderful idea of Natalie of Threads and Bobbins. This week has been a real game of two halves, with a couple of small successes and a rather tiring working week thanks to a visit from OfSTED.

1) I’m going to start with George (see last week’s Sunday Sevens to read his full story). Much to our surprise, his photo featured on our allotment Facebook page, along with a note to say we had a prize to collect (it was a tub of haribos, which we’ve left in the allotment shed for when we need to bribe the kids to stop being grumpy so we can  stay longer and do jobs).  At this point Dave and I were practically hysterical with laughter as we couldn’t believe he’d won anything. It really was a lovely surprise! 

2) Continuing with the allotment theme, we had our first mini harvest this week.  We pulled up a few of the rogue potatoes that had grown randomly from potatoes left by the previous tenant, and had enough for two teas, as well as thinning out the beetroot and the red onions where I’d hedged my bets with planting. We ended up with some long thin ones like red spring onions, and they went beautifully with some baby carrots (that I pulled up accidentally) and a cabbage to make coleslaw. It was a great way to persuade the children to eat some veg too!

3) We have some peppers growing! They are in the conservatory at the moment and they have really thrived. I’m actually beginning to think we may have too many peppers now! It is amazing how quickly it can change from being a flower to being the tiniest little pepper. Because they’re at home we can watch them carefully and all of us have learned something from observing them change and develop.

4) I’ve been a guinea pig this week! One of my lovely friends has started selling Tropic Skincare products and offered me a free 2 day trial. I said yes because I had nothing to lose and it’s fab to get the chance to try before you buy. I tested the Walk on the Beach Collection and I was amazed by how well it worked. It smelled lovely and minty fresh  I started by soaking my feet for ages in the ocean foot fizz (nearly an hour on fact-I was crocheting at the same time!) and then used the exfoliating foot pebble. It felt lovely to use and it got rid of the tiny dry patches I get on the top of my feet from kneeling on school carpets, which are anything but soft. I followed it all up with the silky smooth moisturiser, which soaked in well and was not greasy like some moisturisers can be. I was so impressed after two days that I decided other to treat myself to the set. Crocheting and caring for my feet-multitasking me time at its best! Here’s a link to her facebook page.

5) I finally finished my Sophie’s Garden crochet project. Just under 4 weeks of crocheting, and it was such fun to make. Next steps turning it into a cushion cover.

6) Another win! It was William’s preschool sports day on Friday and we bought raffle tickets, as we always do on such occasions. We never win (ever, literally) so I was a bit shocked when we actually won a prize. I picked out this candle as the rest of family were too busy eating cakes to be bothered about what prize we should have. It says it has a reiki charged quartz inside, I have no idea what that means so I should maybe do some research. If nothing else it smells beautiful…

7) Now for this week’s biggest event-we bought a larger caravan! The old 2 berth one had already been sold and Dave found this one fairly locally. It looks quite well kept inside and William is ridiculously excited about the prospect of sleeping in a bunk bed! We are now counting down the days until our first family holding in it. You can’t beat a good caravan holiday. (Apart from the bit where the kids get up stupidly early, but we just don’t mention that!)

Thanks for reading my latest Sunday Sevens!

Karen