That was the week (and weekend) that was!

Haven't been blogging for about 10 days, so getting caught up.

It has now been a week since we had THE MOST GLORIOUS WEEK of warm sunny weather - it will probably be remembered for many years to come as "THAT week in June of 2013"!

It illustrates how poor our weather usually is that we all got so excited about a spot of sun!

Anyway, last weekend, during the glorious weather, we spend a wonderful weekend up at the north coast. I took more than a few photos, but here are the edited highlights:

On Friday evening we headed out for an icecream and a wander on the wee beach at Portballintrae.

 Beautiful calm evening.

Just after lunch on Saturday we headed out to the beach - however there was a very heavy sea mist hugging the coast - literally - the car parks were sunny, but you couldn't see the sea just about 50 yards away! 

 It was decidely chilly too in the mist, so we headed by to a very warm and sunny garden at the cottage instead.


On late Saturday afternoon we headed out again, this was the view just at the end of the lane from the cottage.

We headed east along the coast towards Ballycastle - one of my favourite drives.

 
After some delicious fish and chips from the takeaway at Ballycastle harbour, we went down to the beach for a walk (or a paddle for one!)

The sea was amazingly still and blue, and the weather was still incredibly warm. 

Loved this wee bridge we discovered on the way back to the car - played pooh sticks of course!

Then on to our wee private spot near Dunseverick, for our hot chocolate and toasting marshmallows over a fire on the shore.

Perfect.

Sunday - another glorious day. I had to make a jewellery delivery over to the Raddison Resort and Spa, so we came home the "scenic" route via Downhill Strand and Mussenden Temple.

 We arrived at the beach from the Limavady direction, which is a change for us.

We drove down along the beach, and someone again made the most of the opportunity for a paddle.

It really was a shame to have to leave the north coast, especially as we knew the weather was coming to an end too.




So there you have it - that week (and weekend) that was!

Please note we do have THREE children - just the other too not so keen to appear on the blog.

For more photos from the glorious sunshine, you can check out my daily iphone photos HERE

A picnic and a walk (parade) in the park

We have a Church Family Picnic each June,  and we usually head to Delamont Country Park. This year, as there was a Celebation of 60 Years since the Coronation happening in our local park, we relocated to Wallace Park instead.

It stayed dry (hurrah!) and it was lovely to relax and chat to our church friends.

After the picnic, there was a parade of local youth organisations and bands through the park and town, and followed with an open-air service in the park.

Here are a few photos from the parade.

Enjoying the lovely weather this week - it reached 21 degrees today! (Practically a heatwave!!!)

Guest Post - Setting Up Your Home Office

Every home needs an office space—the space in which you pay bills, take care of household finances and correspondence, where your kids can do homework, etc (it might even be the place from which you run your own business if you are self employed). In your home it might be a corner of your living room or dining room. If you’re lucky it can be its own room entirely!

Where ever it is, setting it up can be an expensive endeavor—especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. Here are some tips that you can use to help you save some money.


1. Membership Deals
Set up memberships at office supply stores. These membership programs are great because you can get credit for things like returning ink and toner cartridges for recycling. Plus, every dollar/pound you spend adds points to your account—which can be traded in for gift certificates on future purchases. You’ll also get members-only discounts and deals, Office Depot coupons being my most recent acquisition. These deals come in handy when you run abruptly run out of supplies or need to stock up for the upcoming school year.

2. Stock Up

Speaking of stocking up, buying in bulk is a fantastic money saver when it comes to office supplies. Printer paper, pens, pencils, highlighters, post-it notes, paperclips, staples, etc—these are all things that you can buy in bulk for much cheaper than you could buy in individual packages. You can buy these from office supply catalogs or bulk suppliers or you can simply take a trip to Costco.
TIP: Make sure you have space to store the supplies you aren’t actually using.
EXTRA TIP: Go “extra bulk” on things your kids will use during the school year like notebook paper, art supplies, etc. This way you don’t have to worry about running out mid-homework project.

  by  coco+kelley 

3. Update Your Equipment


Is your computer up to date? If it’s a few years old, it’s probably time to replace it. But don’t rush out and buy whatever is on sale just yet. Instead take some time and do your research. Consult consumer reports to find out which computer (and other major equipment like cameras, printers, etc) is best for what you need. Then, take some time to find a good deal. For example, you can take advantage of one of the Black Friday specials 2013 specials to get a fantastic piece of equipment for a tiny fraction of its typical retail price.

4. Personalize It

Keep things from walking away (from you and your kids) by having them personalized. Get pencils, notepads, pens, etc emblazoned with your name and your kids’ names. Personalized office supplies are way less likely to magically appear in someone else’s desk or locker at school (or even at home). It costs a couple of bucks extra now but it can save you hundreds of bucks later on.

There are lots of ways to set up a basic home office without having to dump thousands of dollars into the project. These are just a few hints that you can use to help you get started. What are some of the things that worked for you and your family?

Guest post written by Amanda Green.