Yes Steven eventually got fed up of stirfry, slow cooker meals or takeaways that he decided that perhaps it was time he did something about the kitchen. So he said I could choose a new cooker for my birthday pressie.
Here it is -Rangemaster Toledo 110 - I have only had it for 2 days but it is so lovely to be able to cook again! I have made jacket potatoes - lovely & crisp and they did not take 3 hours to cook - like the old one and tonight have just made a lovely pasta bake. I am going to christen it with some cakes and buns tomorrow.
It has 2 full size ovens, separate grill, 4 hobs, 1 wok pan and one of my favourite features is the hot plate - I did not choose the cooker for this but it is really useful. It warmed the plates for tea up really nicely and kept Liam's tea warm for when he came in from his Volunteer session at the Hive.
With some decent food inside his belly Steven has been motivated, so he came home from work early this afternoon to take me to Magnet to order the kitchen units!
We have been on holiday for 2 weeks, just sitting by the pool & swimming in the sea in 
We stayed (as usual) at the 
We had a very lazy holiday and did not do very much at all. Partook of a fresh orange juice and latte at our favourite cafe - the Sirroco by the harbour.
We thought this one was a rather non descript shed until beady-eyed Steven noticed the natural light cover in the ground at the back of it - so on further investigation we found a beautiful wooden floor complete with trap door which lifted so show living accommodation below ground.
We could not get close to this one - but it looks like somewhere Fred Flintstone may have lived in.
In celebration of the English apple - the orchards were open for the public to eat any of the apples on the trees. All the apples had gone from the lower reachable branches so Steven had to throw some windfalls into the trees to get some from high up. They were gorgeous and makes you never want to eat a crappy supermarket apple ever again.
Wandering from the orchard we found a traditional walled garden - just like the secret garden. The produce was mostly finished now but you could see it had been very productive over the summer.
Shrewsbury was defended by some strong town walls in Medieval times, but this tower and short bit of wall are all that remain of it now. We are surrounded by a river -the Severn which does a very good job of keeping people out of town when it floods!
This beautiful building is Abbots house and used to be the grand home of my GP - but the surgery moved into purpose built out of town building a few years ago - which is ideal, but I do miss walking up the old creaky stairs in this place.
There are many little passages and 'shuts' in and around town. This view is at the top of 'Grope Lane' - not sure if I want to know how it got its name!
Shrewsburys famous son - Charles Darwin. He was born here and went to school here as his father was the local Doctor. His house is owned by the tax collecting department and despite many battles by the Council they have not been able to get the tax people to part with it to allow it to be opened up as a Darwin Museum. We have this fancy sign in front of a shopping arcade though! 
This is the library where Darwin went to school - it has been very well restored. Shrewsbury School is no longer housed here but in large grounds overlooking the Quarry (our park)
This house at the entrance to the Quarry houses the Horticultural Society which puts on the famous flower show in the park in August each year.
St Chads church overlooks the quarry and is rather lovely and is famous for being one of just a few round churches built.
This is the dingle inside the quarry and a delightful garden it is. The world famous Percy Thrower 9he made the blue peter garden) was head Gardner here for many years and my not so famous dad was one of the gardner's who worked here!
