Peas Forever with Love...

We have had a lovely few days...

Evangel planted this pea a few weeks ago, she loves to go out into the yard and see how much it has grown since the day before...

I bought this T-shirt for a pound, it's way too big but I love it so much... Peace Forever with Love... or in Angel's eye's it's Peas Forever with Love!

@ home...

After coming home from "home"

I've felt really relaxed about the present and the future and I've had a genuine smile on my face,

I think I've even laughed quite a lot!

Our Plans...

We have decided to go back to India now for 11 weeks, from November to January, so I'm very excited about it all.  My best friend Rachel, who I don't get to see much and her daughter Lily, who is Evangel's best friend (from the photo in the pool in Home Matters Most), are also thinking about coming with us.  Rachel is a single mum and very unhappy at work, so she thinks a break would be good for the both of them.  I think it will be an amazing trip to take together and I am praying that everything goes to plan.

Saying that, myself and Rachel are the most useless people there are with regards to planning, punctuality and organisation!! 

C is planning on handing in his notice as soon as he gets his visa in September, so we are hoping to leave at the start of November, perfect timing for the weather in India and perfect timing to miss all the "hoo haa" of Christmas! I'm a bit of a Scrooge when it comes to Christmas... 

We are hoping that we might find ourselves a nice piece of land around Vagamon. C's brother is there at the moment checking it out. We await news...

In the "Yard"...

I have once again been stunned by the beauty of nature, this is one of my cucumber plants... need I say more!?

Little Yellow Flower Part II...

Wild strawberry plant given to me by my Mum a few months ago, the berries are about the size of a fingernail, very sweet and juicy.  Evangel has loved them since she was tiny and awaits eagerly for the next ones to grow.

The strawberry plant I planted has now sent out it's tentacles and set up satellite babies, all around there is new life (and new future fruit!)...

An old weed my Mum told me to pull up has now creeped up over the wall and flowered into this wonderful deep purple... Some so called weeds are still so pretty...

Busy visitors...

@ the park...

The explorer...

Picking Daisies in the wind...

Abbey Park has been our "Garden" since we came to Leicester.  We spend quite a few evenings there. It's huge and beautiful and divided into different sections so you can never get bored of going time and time again.  

There's a pets corner with rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, ducks, peacocks, goats and birds, children's play areas, a boating lake, a mini train, a river, a vegetable garden, all set within a beautifully landscaped Abbey grounds.

We are so lucky to have this amazing place right in the centre of the city...

and finally..

They call me 'The Obliterator' at home, because I'm very bossy when it comes to de-cluttering my Mothers house. I managed to relax for a few days and with the help of some deep breathing I was able to control the innate desire to 'cleanse' her of junk.  I did however, to compensate for this, have to bring home a box of groceries from her ever growing supply of wholesale food supplies and once again reassess my priorities, needs and don't needs in the flat.    

* I have emptied over the last few weeks, 3 large wooden storage boxes of supplies, which included rice, tea, coffee, tins, sugar etc and stopped buying ridiculous amounts of 'back ups' that I don't need because the nearest shop is only 2 minutes walk away and I AM NOT MY MOTHER!

(Don't worry Nikki, I don't think you're my Mother, you have a valid reason keeping your emergency stores, my Mum would however be very proud of you!  I will start on my emergency food storage once I have a long term place to store it. Oh and BTW, if ever there is a food shortage or impending need for chemical cleaning products, please feel free to muster at my Mums house, there should be enough to feed a small gathering of us 'unprepared ones' for a few months!)

* The boxes are now in our storage cupboard (with no doors) instead of the ugly cardboard boxes I was 'making do' with. 

* I have somehow managed to gather 2 bin bags of bits and pieces from throughout the flat and taken them down to the local charity shop.

* I have taken a bag of Angels hand me downs from Lily she has grown out of, back to Rachel.

* We have eaten all our fresh food and the fridge is bare, in preparation for our last few months here which will be weekly planned... Ha Ha, I hear myself say!  I'm going to give it my best shot, I won't shop weekly because I've decided I hate supermarket shopping with a passion.  I'm going to use the local shops, at a cost, but in the long run I should save money because I won't be tempted by the silly supermarket 'buy one get one' mentality.  

* We have given up the weekly organic veg box because I was disappointed every Thursday with the poor quality veg we were getting. I'm sure half of it ended up in the bin.  We just can't afford organic these days and I can only dream of the days of self sufficiency more...