Garden Playtime, Driveway Makeover and Nottingham Tennis!

Some more big garden improvements and more family time at the Nottingham Open Tennis Championships. 

Click here to watch the vlog or see below. 

I had my last shift before 2 weeks annual leave which I was very much looking forward to. My sister and niece came to visit me in Nottingham. It was just for the day, but it was so lovely to see them and have them in my home, to show them around and share the space I'm trying to make a home. 

We ended up heading to West Bridgford, where we had a lovely afternoon tea style lunch as a little cafe, and then went to a park for a little walk and to play. It was very hot, so we didn't stay too long before heading back to the house but it was lovely to just play in the garden now that it's feeling pretty and put together. We had a paddling pool, sunbathing, balls and bubbles. It was so much fun and I was so sad to see them both go. 

I've been so excited to have exterior cleaned and I cannot wait to share the final results. I think I'm going to do an entire post on it at some point but for now, here's a little sneak peak! 

The start of my birthday week, I headed to the Nottingham Open tennis championships with my aunt and cousin. We had a full day from breakfast, lunch and tea together. I've been a few times over the years, but this was a first for both of them. It was a wonderful day, but the extremes of weather was crazy. It was bloody hot the majority of the day, then ended with the biggest lightening and thunderstorm I have seen in years! 

We arrived just as the doors were opening, but in all honesty, it was a quiet event compared to previous years. I personally love the smaller more community feel nature. We saw some great matches with Shang vs Parker, Vekic vs Bucsa and Sakkari vs Wang. The day came to an early close, with an amazing match between Fery and Johnson. I was so glad to see he won the next day when play resumed!

Before the rain came, I did nip and watch Andy Murray practice. It was funny as he was the only played with any security and the crowd around him was quadruple the size of anyone else. Of course, he was actually playing on the Tuesday, but nevertheless, it was nice to see him on the court again. 

I ended up showing some of the patio and driveway progress pictures, but the patio still needs the rust removed and the driveway still needs to be sanded so stay tuned!