My Month in Numbers - August 2013

Hello again welcome, welcome  - so nice to have you drop in - - I have been wondering you know - how has the end of another month come round so quickly??? It was only the beginning of August just yesterday - - - and it was still summer, whereas now the year is definitely on the turn.

It has been the most glorious of summers - and I am hoping to prolong it a little as we take our first holiday abroad since our world fell apart in June 2012 - we are off to Sicily very soon - another step forward anyway on this long road we travel. However - on to some numbers - alongside the lovely Julie of Notes on Paper, who invites us to join her in summing up our month with numbers as the starting point. She also has a shared Communal Count - so hop over to her blog for full details.

So - for this month I have noted that I needed - -
1 - new suitcase for the above mentioned holiday - and I have to admit to more than a little excitement about going since the BBC showed Montalbano on Saturday nights last year - it looked just so beautiful!

Have received - -
1 - unexpected gift - from the Artisan, which links in so well with the above. He knows that I only read on holidays really - (there is a story there I guess - but one that is hard for me still) and that I love a book set in the area/country we are visiting - - and he picked this up for me whilst on a climbing trip in Belfast last Bank Holiday weekend.

Have taken - -
1 - trip to our lovely Theatre - this time to catch a local production of Cats - - Our island is blessed with considerable talent musically - - and their productions are semi professional in my opinion, so my outing with my friends was a delightful evening.

Been a part of - -
2 - days slipping back in time as our village - and vintage transport system, celebrated the 1940's and our island's involvement with that period in our history.

I have already made - -
3 - blackberry crumbles! Unheard of to have our blackberries ripe so early! This of course led to 3 lovely half hours on the beach picking them, with the ensuing purple stained fingers and minor scratches. I just hope there are some left after my return from holiday.

And now to Julie's Communal Count - -

I had [a]
14 - visitors - including Mum & Dad, my sister, our eldest daughter, 5 friends, 1 Market Researcher   - - and 3 baby sparrows who ran around our garden for a whole day, recently fledged we thought therefore still gaining their "wings" and really needing to improve their flying skills - they spent much of the day hiding in the undergrowth of our tree and fluttering a few inches above the gravel - - (I was very glad that last month's cats didn't visit us on the same day!! though have been back again since).  Usually we are 3 - me, the Artisan and our youngest daughter. Only one of our visitors actually stayed with us.

Leading to
8 - days with my "fledglings" back under my roof as L---- spent a weeks holiday with us, and therefore requiring a very early start to get to the airport -

5.35am - - the earliest I got out of bed, which is very unusual - my days usually begin about 7.30am - I'm definitely a creature of habit!
Which I think rounds off my numbers quite nicely for this month.

Thanks so much for dropping in. Don't forget to hop over to Julie - she will have more "number crunchers" joining her, and she will give you a warm welcome.

'til later,

Bannaghtyn, J x