Monday, April 25, 2011

The Demise of the Original Frappucino (sob)

We spent Easter at home in Yorkshire. Its been a busy time, visiting family and friends and writing essays. I haven't had much time for creating except to begin the May page in my 365 art calendar which I will show you in another post.
April 17th was Andy's 12th transplant anniversary - I cannot believe how the years are flying by... its always a thankful day for us and a day of reflection...we take off and go walking, but that was a bit difficult this year as I had sprained my ankle 3 weeks previously, so we packed a picnic and went to Rufford Country Park




Andy set up the picnic spot...



We chatted, read our books, had a lovely picnic lunch courtesy of Marks and Spencer (they have some fabulous ready made salads - I had lochmuir salmon, Andy had feta cheese and falafel) then we went for a gentle stroll around the park and up to the abbey...



The weather has been exceptional lately hasn't it, and people were out in droves... ususally we like to be alone and quiet, but this day it just felt right to be among crowds - strangely enough, we had all the 'space' we needed for our reflective moments :)

Later on, we called in to see Marilyn....



And we rounded the day off with a BBQ with our dear friends, Stan and Shelley...



The rest of our 'holiday' has been a round of visits, being visited, reading (for essay purposes!) shopping for wedding shoes (achy achy achy feet!) and Andy was a guest speaker at St Helen's Church for three nights during Easter week.

Easter day arrived and with it, my last original Coffee Light Frappucino (double blended of course) at our favourite Starbucks - Xscape, Castleford.

Now you might not think much about it, but I only drink water, hot or cold, and the Starbucks Frappucino mentioned above.... oh, and the occasional glass of wine...

So its a big deal to me... I have written and pleaded with Starbucks to bring back the original, because the NEW way of making a coffee light frappucino is nowhere near as good .... is that because its the lighter version? it actually tasted like water - when I told them this they put in two extra shots of coffee but that made it taste smoky... it wasn't nice at all!




Having said that, Joanne, one of the Barista's at the Xscape branch, spent some time yesterday, trying to make a frap that I could drink, she was so helpful because she knows that I have drunk this drink for nearly 8 years ( I am a creature of habit.... plus it tastes nice!)



I was definitely 'all frapped out' after this tasting session! (Our three children will find this hard to believe and I'm sure after they read this they will ring me with some jokey comments!)

I hope you all have had good Easter holidays and didn't eat too many eggs... of the chocolatey kind :)

It's just over three weeks till our youngest daughter's wedding so there's an atmosphere of excitement building in our house. It means I won't be in creating mode for a while longer yet, except for some much anticipated painty, inky respite at AFTH for the Dina workshops in a couple of weeks :D that will give me a whole two weeks to get my hands nice and clean for the wedding....

10 comments:

  1. Hi Sandra, I've been missing from blogland for quite a while so it is lovely to see you again. You both look really well and happy. Hope your ankle is repaired soon and that your daughter's wedding goes off a treat. Hope the sunny weather sticks around for it. Pen x

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  2. You and Andy look fabulous! Its lovely to see the sun isnt it x Take care x Janet

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  3. What a wonderful anniversary to celebrate. Bet you're going to be busy pre-wedding - don't forget to put your feet up occasionally!

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  4. Love your Starbucks tale...what fab service though!!!! Hope your ankle gets better soon and doesn't hinder your wedding celebrations!! Looking forward to seeing some photos!! xx

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  5. Wondered where you were - glad you managed to celebrate the 12th anniversary of transplant - I was thinking about you on the day as it's the day before our wedding anniversary. Glad you've managed to catch up with friends and family and sorry for the demise of your favourite drink! Keep us informed on the run up to the wedding and enjoy your Dina classes - sending you hugs!

    Virginia

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  6. Congrats on the 12th anniversary of the transplant - what a wonderful anniversary. Looks like you celebrated in style! Hey, I'll be at Dina's too - can't wait! See you there ;-)

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  7. So very much to be thankful for at this special time of year and you celebrated so well and have very happy memories I'm sure.

    More memories in the making in three weeks.....such a joyful time. Hope your ankle is better soon.

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  8. What a wonderful anniversary to celebrated. Thanks for dropping by to say hi and all the best for your daughters wedding.

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  9. What a fantastic anni to celebrate. Looks like you had a good day and lovely weekend. Hope to see you soon. Take care. Love and hugs Lynne xx

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  10. Oh what a happy post... apart from the unfortunate demise of the Frappuc...thingy. (I'm one of those that goes in to a coffee house, go all a fluster at the long menu's and ask: er... do you just do normal coffee?)

    Thank you for stopping by my blog the other day :) I've jogged you know! Twice! I can barely walk now but I jogged!

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