Washout Weekend

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Life

So us over here on our little island of the United Kingdom had one of the wettest weekends in history. Just lovely. Do the weather gods not know it’s meant to be July? As in summer. As in, no rain and lots of sun?

There were some vague plans for my weekend. I wanted to get the garden sorted and looked semi presentable ready for my annual BBQ this coming weekend. Or as it’s also known, the day we all eat far beyond our ability. Thanks to the rain I didn’t get he lawn done nor clean up the patio. Though, this sodding awful weather’s likely to continue for a while, so I might not even get to cook various meats over charcoal on the weekend.

Prepared for the inevitable

Hunters Wellies

My brand new wellington boots. I can’t remember the last time I called them ‘wellington’ boots.

Tried to get prepared for the weather and bought myself my first pair of wellies in years. I honestly can’t remember wearing wellies. I remember seeing photos of me in Rainbow Brite wellies. But those are just distant memories. I am now the owner of a pair of ridiculously expensive, but surprisingly comfy, Hunters wellies. Bring on the rain!

Apart from bemoaning the weather, I made an effort to get productive. Finally had some time to work on my website. Though I learnt a valuable lesson. See, I’ve been struggling with one part of my website and I’ve just realised what it was. The theme. It’s purpose is to sell my web design services. The colour scheme is set. But it had no theme! I’ve now shoehorned a theme in. I’m not sure it works, but I can’t sit on my hands and wait for one to come to me. I need to get moving with it!

Saturday afternoon I went out to my local Dogs Trust to do some dog walking. I haven’t been in a while, but need to get back into the routine. See, this is the reason I made a rash decision with buying some expensive wellies. I was sure the weather was going to turn. The first time I did dog walking it was so wet, my feet were squelching in my trainers within 15 minutes. 2 hours later, it wasn’t a nice feeling. This time… I would be ready.

Except, I didn’t need them. Thank you English weather!

I did walk a couple of lovely dogs. One dog in particular really tugged at my heartstrings. A beautiful little dog called Lily. I just wanted to bundle her into my car and take her home. So cute!

Lily Lily's POV

It’s the little things…

Saturday had another reason to be exciting and fun-filled. I made sweet popcorn! Home made sweet popcorn. Well, sweet and salty (my preferred flavour). I just didn’t think it was that easy to make sweet popcorn without a popcorn maker. Turns out it is. The popcorn was needed. I was sitting down to watch We Need to Talk About Kevin and I had a feeling I’d need something to crunch on to make my way through that one.

Wimbledon Time

Sunday was a wash out. But I had plans. Morning, got all the chores out-of-the-way and made sure I had an early lunch. Settled onto the sofa from 1:30pm. I was ready for the Wimbledon mens’ final. Andy Murray vs. Roger Federer. It was an excellent match to watch. Much more exciting than I was anticipating. I’m usually bored by Federer’s matches as he’s just too clinical and rarely shows much passion.

Poor Murray. He had the hopes of a nation riding on him. A lot of people seem to forget that, yes, he’s not won a grand slam yet. BUT he is ranked world #4! That is not to be sniffed at!

The weather conspired to stop me from watching the tennis. It rained so hard at one point that my Sky reception was knocked out! Only for a few minutes, thankfully.

Roger Federer vs. Andy Murray

I do not like that smug look on Roger’s face… (Photo from here.)

Really enjoyed the match and I was gutted that Murray just couldn’t keep fighting back. And yes, I did have tears in my eyes when Murray was speaking his final speech. I defy any human being to not.

Getting in the blogs… on a Monday morning

I’ve spent a little bit of my Monday catching up on all the blogs. Makes slipping into the working week a lot easier. Here’s a round-up of what I’ve read:

So how were your weekends? Hope they were a tad more exciting than mine was!

27 Comments

  1. Thanks for the link love!

    Luckily the weather gods were happy on Saturday during the day, meaning we were able to enjoy a birthday BBQ over at a friends house. In the evening though that rain arrived here, but by then I was already home (although my girlfriend was less lucky, going home with her daughter got caught up in the middle of it).

    • Oh noes! 🙁 But hey, least you got a day of lovely bbq weather! Here’s hoping I can get the same!

  2. It’s because we’ve got the Olympics, I bet as soon as it’s all finished we’ll get some decent weather before the cold comes. I escaped from the rain on Saturday by diving into one of the greenhouses at Oxford Uni’s botanic garden with a bunch of other photographers. I almost came out in hives as I held a Nikon Full Frame DSLR.

  3. Cute pup is CUTE! I never thought of volunteering at somewhere like the Dog’s Trust as a dog walker. T’is something I could do pretty easily with my wheelchair, providing the chair doesn’t frighten the dog in question; I’ve noticed that some dogs get skittish around wheelchairs, whilst others just want to jump into my lap. (Usually big dogs too.)

    Making popcorn is ridiculously easy. Getting the kernels to make it is far more challenging – I don’t remember the last time I saw any for sale, aside for in those nukeable popcorn packs. (Ugh!)

    Every time someone mentions Federer, all I can think of is this advert – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R1Ds3PvFcY – he did for Gillette with Derek Jeter and Tiger Woods set to ‘Staying Alive’ by the Bee Gees… XD On a serious note though, Andy Murray is a great player – you have to be good to be #4 in the world. So what if he hasn’t gotten a grand slam yet.

    • There was one dog I was walking with another volunteer who seemed to have a fear of men! Didn’t really like him, but didn’t mind me at all. They all have their little “quirks” there, but it’s hugely rewarding.

      I used to always make salted popcorn, but never knew how to make sweet. Whenever I just sprinkled sugar on them ,it was just so uneven! I did manage to burn myself on the popcorn as it was popping though. Opened the lid, popcorn flew out with a nice bit of caramalised sugar on it!

      That ad is hilarious! Federer just looks like he’s lost his passion for the game. Murray’s an excellent player. Always get behind him in a match.

  4. Thanks for the linkage, Jaina! Oh what a bummer Murray lost, my Glaswegian blog friend Mark told me about the match and as I’m into all things Scottish, I naturally root for him. Seems like a nice bloke too, ah well he’s still only 25, hopefully next year he’ll finally get that Grand Slam title!

    • His hometown in Scotland were all sorts of proud of him. Made me smile! He’s done great and I don’t think anyone should think any less of him for not winning.

  5. My weekend..I saw Amazing Spider-Man..twice. I care about it because it’s the second film by Marc Webb (since I adore 500 days of summer). I did have a little walk in the morning, need a little sport. That’s a nice dog and nice that you have a lovely weekend!

    • Twice?! Already! Wow, you must have loved it! It’s hard not to though. I loved 500 Days of Summer. It’s up there as one of my favourite films too!

  6. Thanks for the link-up, Jaina! Sorry to hear the weather spoiled your plans… living in western Oregon, I know that story all too well (we get about 4.5 months a year without rain, and one of those is perpetual fog; you’d feel right at home.)

  7. Spent most of my weekend writing. Groom speech Saturday then thesis Sunday! Not time for much else at all. Would love to go dog walking! Gorgeous dog in the picture! Was that Lily?

    • That is one weekend packed full of writing! Hope the wedding’s all going to plan!

      That is Lily. She was a bit camera shy. Or rather, didn’t like having a camera in her face! Incredibly affectionate little pup!

  8. I was rooting for Murray, even though I expected Federer to win. Well, maybe 74 years from now another Brit will make it to the Wimbledon finals again.

  9. I used to hate Fed when he was the only one winning trophies. Now I kind of respect him and I’m glad he won on Sunday

  10. Saturday was so sunny in the North that I actually got a little bit burnt! Which was great since I was at a wedding. Everybody was so relieved the weather was nice enough to take the photos outside!

  11. Ahh, Hunters wellies. These are worth every penny. I’ve bought cheap ones before which either hurt my feet or perished quickly. Hunters are the best! And I swear they are not paying me commissions.

    • Haha! I have a pair of ill fitting, cheap garden centre wellies in the shed. But I just can’t wear them. Even for gardening. Just not comfortable at all. Like any pair of shoes, need to pay a bit more to get something that’ll keep for a long time and keep your feet nice and comfy.

  12. Sorry about the rain! At least it wasn’t hot and humid. We had that in DC and it was disgusting. Stuck at home in the AC. Though one day we did go to the splash park with our son. That was fun! So nice that you walk the dogs at the Dogs Trust!

    • I saw the photo – looked like he enjoyed himself!

      Usually, ok with humid. Well, I guess not ridiculously sticky sort of humid. The weather is just so miserable here. Really want to get away!

  13. Actually, for a wash out weekend, yours sounds pretty cool! Mine was full of Mum stuff. Went to an open day at Southampton Uni with my son on Sat and took my daughter up to Barons Court for her acting exam on Sunday. The dog looks nice. I like border collies.

    • I visited Southampton Uni when I was in Sixth Form. Really liked it too. Didn’t end up going, but it was definitely a contender. I’ve got a cousin down there at the moment and he’s really enjoying it.

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