This week was our first week on holiday - yahoo ! I had loads of jobs lined up around the house (still lots more for next week too !) and, even with confinement, we had lots of fun.
Sunday 12th April - Today was Easter Sunday and I'd originally bought a few eggs that I planned on just giving to the Madhouse kids. Pierre asked if we could do an egg hunt though. Well, OK then ! I hid them all over the patio and he had fun running around finding them all. (Juliette didn't want to join in, she just wanted to eat them !) The kids had asked for an "apéro" - drinks and snacks before lunch, so think crisps, peanuts, cheese, salami, etc. Well, after all that, they weren't hungry any more, so we finished off with a quick pizza and switched our main meal to the evening ! In the afternoon, me and Pierre set out on a mission to sort out the patio, as it's our only outdoor area. We moved things around and put them back in place after they had all been blown around by the wind.
Monday - Our patio revival continued. Pierre was having great fun using the secateurs for pruning all the dead bits off the plants, mainly because they used to belong to his dad and he likes anything that makes him feel close to his memory. I was a bit worried about his fingers at first, but he was being careful - phew ! After cutting back all the dead bushy bits, it all looked much better already. We then went through the seed collection and Pierre started planting lots of things in pots - peas, salad, tomatoes and flowers mainly, I think.
Tuesday - The final day of Project Patio ! I went round sweeping up, emptied out all the leaves and twigs from the drain and found more things for Pierre to plant. We put cushions out on the seat for a nice rest and Pierre played with all the snails we'd uncovered - ewwww!
To finish off, the patio needed a good wash (for once, it would have been good to have some rain !) so Pierre opted for the water fight version - I got to throw buckets of water at him as he brushed it all down ! I was nice and opted for hot water, so he loved it !
Wednesday - Pierre has been checking on his seeds every day but, unsurprisingly, nothing has grown yet ! I did warn him that they may not grow, as they are very old seeds, from the collection I found in the garage. Madhouse Daddy died two years ago, so I think they must be at least five years old, if not more ! I decided that, as I needed some bin bags (for an upcoming dejunk), I would head to Lidl and see if they still had some plants on offer - they did, so I managed to buy a big tomato plant, some roses and six other random flowering plants.
Now the patio looks complete ! Pierre chilled out under the parasol for a while, while I had a tidy up in the bedroom and folded loads of laundry.
Thursday - A quiet day. I caught up with my marking (teachers are never really on holiday !), while Pierre spent some time playing Fortnite and Juliette watched more Netflix ! We finished off with a game of Scrabble, which we haven't played for ages. I think this is one of the first times we've used our Scrabble Deluxe from an old review - I'd forgotten it had a board that you can twist around for each player and proper wooden letter tiles. Very posh !
Friday - This week I was using up lots of cooking kits and seasoning sachets from the kitchen cupboards. Our favourite was Blue Dragon Street Food Teriyaki Skewers. Pierre helped threading the chicken on the skewers and smothering them in sauce and sesame seeds. They were deliciously sticky.
Saturday - A quiet day today, catching up with my blog, the laundry and reading. I started Harlan Coben's The Woods yesterday and loved it so I raced through the whole thing in two days ! I had a moment of madness while serving dinner - I think I may have laughed more than the kids ! Tee hee hee !
Scrabble Deluxe is brilliant - we have one although haven't played in ages - having seen yours, I'm tempted to dig it out again! I love that Pierre enjoys pruning with his dad's secateurs and that it helps him feel close to him and glad that he enjoyed the Easter egg hunt and playing with the snails (although my reaction would have been ewww! as well!) #project366
ReplyDeleteI thought Scrabble could be counted as educational - it helps with spelling , so it can count towards his schoolwork too ! lol. It was lovely to sort the patio out and spend some time with Pierre, working together in the sun :)
DeleteIt sounds like you had a fab Easter.
ReplyDeleteGreat work on the patio. Our seeds aren't growing yet either which is really annoying the kids. I keep telling them to be patient.
Those Teriyaki Skewers look so tasty and I like what you did with the alphabet potato shapes. hehehe x
LOL A little moment of madness in the kitchen !!
DeleteSounds like it's been a productive week with the gardening. It looks good and nice that Pierre got involved.
ReplyDeleteI get a feeling he won't be as keen to join in next week - tidying up the bedrooms and bathroom ! lol
DeleteHow sweet that Pierre wants to work with his Dad's secateurs. He looks so grown up in the first photo. Your patio is spacious. Love how you two played with warm water and did the cleaning job at the same time. My tomato plants are tiny. I usually buy small plants from the garden centre, this year growing them from seeds, and oh boy, they're taking ages. The snails and slugs give me the heebie jeebies.
ReplyDeleteThose Treiyaki skewers are great, we had that pack with the tofu, so tasty. Lol @ alphabet messages on the plates.
Good luck with the tomato plant seeds - I have grown them from seed before but you're right, they take ages! We normally buy tiny plants from the market, but this year, we cheated ! lol
DeleteWow Pierre has really shot up. I have tons of seeds I really must plant, they are also ancient. I hope yours grow
ReplyDeleteHe has, you're right ! I don't really notice it, as I see him every day, but he's off to secondary school in September. Where did my little boy go ?! lol
DeleteGoodness Pierre is really grown up looking isn't he? Glad he enjoyed the Easter egg hunt and playing with the snails. It is nice to do things where they feel close to their dad. Scrabble Deluxe sounds fab, not played it yet. xx
ReplyDeleteLOL It's funny, I don't notice him growing up ! But he hasn't wanted to be on my blog for the last year or so, I guess, so you don't see much of him any more !
DeleteLove the kids dinner, that's the sort of thing I'd do and laugh more than the kids at. How lovely for Pierre to find his dad's sceatures and old seeds, who knows, something may germinate. The patio looks a lovely spot to relax in
ReplyDeleteI was trying to serve it up all serious and couldn't help myself. The kids, on the other hand, just rolled their eyes at me ! lol
DeleteOoOo egg hunt and food sounds delicious. Wow those snails are huge and outside their shell. OoO Scrabble! I had a Scrabble in which the squares were sockets to insert the letters so they wouldn't slide over each other. The teriyaki skewers look delicious. Cute meals
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good idea for the Scrabble game. We hadn't played for ages !
Deletelaughed at the alphabite words
ReplyDeleteThe patio sounds like he worked very hard, well done Pierre. Nice this helps him feel closer to his dad.
We used to find this issue with our children, the older children had outgrown traditions that the younger ones still want to do as it is part of their growing up.
Yep, they're definitely growing up and turning into mini adults - making me feel old! lol
DeleteI hope some of the seeds come up in the end - I'm sure a few will. I planted some from a drawer in my mum's desk (I found them after she died too) and a fair few did germinate.
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed - not much happening yet, but it's only been a week. :)
DeleteYour tomatoes are coming on well, our seedlings are only just starting to appear. Loving the alphabite dinner
ReplyDeleteAhh I cheated - I bought this one in the shop "ready made" lol
DeleteI hope some of the seeds come out for you. That is a lot of snails. We get them in our garden too! Project 365
ReplyDeletePierre used to keep snails in a big jar with water and fresh leaves every day - glad we're not going back there ! lol
DeleteYou have tomatoes growing already?! Our patio plants have been dreadfully slow this year despite the warm weather #project366
ReplyDeleteWe do but it's a total cheat - they were bought like that !
DeleteI am so going to put alphabets on our shopping list for this week now... can imagine the insults lol. Sounds like a lovely relaxing week off. Looks like you did a great job with the patio and that tomato plant was a great buy!
ReplyDeleteLOL Have fun with the insults !!
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