Cake Time!!

For the past few weeks at work we have been lucky, lucky because Barb makes cakes and Lauren has decided to join in as well. 

Barb had to make a coffee cake, but she doesn't like coffee so she tested it on us, being a bunch of honest people we kept telling her it wasn't quite right so off she went and and made another and another. We eventually had to own up and tell her they were all perfectly acceptable!!

This week its my turn and Beth has kindly made us a rainbow cake.

So here we have the cakes.

Next the icing,

and finally....

The finished cake, all I have to do is work out how I am going to get it to work now!

Its been a great week, Beth had a little Halloween disco party for the neighbours children, it certainly bought back memories of the house full of screaming excited children !

They all dressed up and played Halloween games, judging by the noise they made they had a great time. Next week we are all going trick or treating on Monday. I can't believe it was this time last year that we were all in Florida at Mickeys not so scary Halloween party. 

This was Beth on Halloween at a party for all the kids at the Port Orleans Resort .

Can't wait until Monday and Trick and treating!!

Very Bright Lights!!!

When we were in Holland I decided to buy a chandelier for our bedroom. I had seen it years before and wished I had bought it then, so after thinking about it for years I finally made my purchase. 

I thought that I had posted all about it before, but it seems I haven't, so here it is in its full glory!! As you can see its very bright and fits right in with the rest of the room!!!

Happy Birthday Laura!

I am entering my busy birthday season, two down now and one to go!! On the 19th Laura turned 26. TWENTY SIX !! OMG where has all that time gone?? It really doesn't seem very long ago that she was a little girl who chatted non stop, who ran around organising everyone and everything. Now, in her own words, she is the wrong side of twenty five!!

So we asked her around for her birthday tea complete with caterpillar birthday cake. (that's what happens when you leave cake buying to the very last minute!)

We had a nice evening and looked back on how things had changed over the past year. Laura is now settled in her flat and has a job that she loves working with people as nutty as she is.

This year is really whizzing by I am starting to think of Christmas presents, I am going to try and get everything online or in one big hit on our regular shopping day in Watford. Last year it was quite slick, I knew what I wanted , knew where to get it and we did it all on the one day. I hope this year goes as well. 

I have lots to look forward to I have weekend away in November on a glass making course and then a weekend away with the 'girls' This year we are hitting Amsterdam apart from the expectation of rain once we arrive I am really looking forward to going there again.

Conference time.

One of the best things about my job is that I get to attend conferences all over the country, This time it was a conference at Chester. I drove up on Wednesday and arrived late afternoon. This hotel would have been perfect for Tom as it was right next to Chester Race course. 

Unfortunately on the down side it was also situated on a train line. The first night I had left the window open and was just nodding off to sleep when a train whizzed by, I was in shock!!! I had to keep the window closed after that. The Hotel (Holiday Inn) was fine apart from that!

We found a few places to eat in the evening and were lucky enough to find a nice little place that did two course meals for £11.95. One night was ladies night so we also had a free cocktail with that with the added bonus of buy one get one free, it would have been rude not to !! So Barb and I took full advantage of this fantastic offer. Luckily the bar was half way home even so, a chap we bumped into on the way back was concerned enough to ask if he could call us a taxi!!!

The conference was very good and we had some good debates and better than that there was even a card vote and as I was a teller I got to do my first ever count!! What amazed me was that the vote was very simple, you have a set number of votes to cast for or against, you have to fill in vote paper number one, you can not vote with more votes than have been allocated to you (so if you have ten votes you can't cast 12 votes!!)  When it came to the count there were 4 spoilt papers !! not signed, not used the right paper and not the right number of votes amazing really. 

We wrapped up Saturday morning 

Having made some new friends, found out what is going on in other parts of the country and feeling invigorated to go forward and to try and change things. Happy Days!!!

Happy Birthday Carl, 21 years old!!!

Where does the time go???Can it really be twenty one years ago that Carl was born??? I can still clearly remember the morning that it all started off and the speed it happened. Labour started around 8am I was already in hospital as my blood pressure was up. They decided that he was showing signs of distress so cranked things up, Carl was born at 11.43am. I was shocked it was a boy I had expected another girl and had planned to call her Chloe!!! It took a while to get used to having a boy and it was hard to call him Carl after I had been used to having Laura!!

So here is the little cutie aged three months, slobbering all over the photographers nice satin sheet!!

And here he is fully grown opening his birthday cards!! He has had a real year of adventure, travelling to Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya to climb Kilimanjaro and Holland . He is in his final year at Middlesex University and will qualify next year as a Primary school teacher.

The cake was fantastic, a really rich chocolate made by our lovely neighbour Karen. Its delish!!!

To complete the day one of our other neighbours gave birth to her second little boy, Kavian, in a pre planned C section, its so nice to have a new baby in the close again.

Last of the Summer Sun

This week has gone by in a bit of a blur, last weekend we were soaking up the last of the sunshine in the back garden and this weekend I couldn't get my washing dry!!

Again its been a bit of a roller coaster ride, Dad was taken ill during the week, I was just getting ready for bed when we had the call. We ended up down the hospital where they treated him for an obstructed bowel and transferred him immediately to The Lister because there is no night duty surgeon on at the QE2. The problem was that someone then had to stay with Mum as she can't be left through the night by herself. I won that job which was a shame as Beth was poorly as well and she wanted me at home with her. In the end I ended up staying a few nights and Dad was discharged without an operation, they sorted the problem with medicine and have put him on a waiting list. It has made me realise just how difficult this is going to be if he does end up in hospital. Mum really needs to work at getting herself sorted at night time. She doesn't seem to be able to get her legs back into bed so someone has to do it for her, until she has sorted that out there is always going to be a problem.

So today was my first day off and we went into town to pick up a few bits, I made a lasagna for dinner and then spent the afternoon scrap booking . I am hoping tomorrow I will finally get some new beads made, I want to be able to make some jewellery for Christmas. I have a few breaks to look forward to, a weekend in Malvern to learn bead making at the next level!! Then I have a weekend away with the girls in Amsterdam in December. I am looking forward to them.

If I actually make any beads then I might have something to show you during the week!!

Been a long time since I posted!

Its been a while, I have no idea how life seems to take over and we end up with loads to do and not enough time to do it in. The main problem has been that Beth has wanted her room re done in a more adult style so that has involved getting rid of the high bed, which we have managed to do. That happened in a rush, I advertised it and then it was gone the same day. Tom steadily painted the room over the past week, but its not easy when you have to move stuff to do so. Beth and her friend Chelsea also had a hand in it. 

We ordered new furniture from Ikea which arrived Friday so I took the day off to help Tom construct it. It went together like a dream, none of the old MFI have as much left over when you you have finished style. This stuff was spot on and sturdy the bed went together in around 30 minutes with the added complication that we had to swing it around into a gap that's a tight fit!! we managed it though, so now she has a nice day bed. She needs a new mattress but that will have to wait until the sales. 

We also built three 'expedit' units, again very simple if you followed the instructions to the letter. On Saturday morning I paid for it, my hip was aching from all the extra bending and I spent most of the day trying to get over the Friday!  Now the room is nearly complete, we went to Dunelm Mills to buy some under bed boxes and some boxes for the shelves, Beth also bought some pretty cushions and some other bits to complete the look including a very nice (and half price) duvet cover set , mainly white but with a bit of silvery grey bling. 

The rest of the house is still suffering, bags of rubbish are piling up, our main bin is full and we have nearly a week before collection.Taking mixed bags to the dump is a no no they have you empty them and you find yourself  going round and round in circles with two or three pieces of the same thing, drives me nuts! Tom has a plan, we have already asked if we could take up spare spaces in neighbours bins, which they have agreed to so on Thursday evening he will do a run around the street and distribute under the cover of darkness as many of our extra bags as possible!!!

I am really looking forward to getting the house straight again. The weather has been fantastic for this time of year, October always reminds me of babies as Laura and Carl are October babies, I can't believe where the years go, Carl will be 21 on the 11th and Laura 26 on the 19th. The last time it was this warm in October I was expecting Carl and struggling in the last few weeks of pregnancy. Long may this fantastic weather last

I will try and get back into the blogging routine, I do miss doing it. 

Hope you all have a good week and enjoy the last of the summer sun

Thank You Mr Tesco!!!!

This week seems to have flown by, last night we took a trip to Ikea in Enfield/Tottenham to measure up some furniture for Beth's soon to be newly decorated bedroom. It was the first time we have visited Ikea in Enfield and we were surprised at how close it was. We were there in 45 minutes on the way up and going home only took 30 minutes. Beth has been working hard to empty her bedroom of all her bits that she has grown out of so that we can start again with new furniture.

Next year the Olympics come to Britain so I was expecting problems getting time off of work. I was sure that we wouldn't get time off with our friends as they were likely to have problems getting time off as well, so I decided to see if I could book a holiday using some of my Tesco vouchers which were due to expire. So after looking around the web site I managed to book us two weeks in Ireland. The best thing is I was able to use my vouchers !! I ended up paying £140 deposit, leaving me the grand total of £60 to pay 10 weeks before the  holiday next June. BARGAIN the vouchers covered the whole cost of rental for two cottages and the return ferry trip. I am looking forward to exploring Ireland. THANK YOU MR TESCO!!!!

After a rocky couple of weeks......

Things are starting to look up!!
Mum has now been out of hospital for a while but two weeks ago she hit a really sticky patch, a combination of the pain she was in plus a Doc who prescribed her drugs that were far too strong for the situation and that resulted in a dreadful down turn in her ability to do anything. In fact it was quite shocking to witness her decline.

Mums leg had been giving her some pain and the Doctor visited and prescribed an extra morphine patch plus a four hourly dose of oramorph. The more she took the less she could do, she was slurring her words and was incapable of getting out of her chair and getting on the the stair lift. I really thought she was behaving like she had had a stroke. So I called the GP back and luckily got another one from the practice who suggested that she went to hospital via ambulance for them to check her out. Once in the hospital they xrayed her leg and that was found to be in order so the addressed the drugs issue. They quite rightly identified that she was drugged to the eyeballs and had no idea what was going on. They talked to her and found out that the pain was only on standing and not the rest of the time, so heavy duty narcotics were not the answer. They took away the oramorph and swapped it for codeine that works well and she is now acting and sounding like the 'old' mum.

Today she has even managed to get out of the house and into the car, which is absolutely amazing !!! That is a huge step forward. I know that there is a place for oramorph, but it doesn't do mum any good and I hope that she comes to realise that.

Its been ages since I have been able to make anything bead wise, I did manage to snatch an evening last week, I am still practicing and now have a fair few boxes full of beads. I am experimenting with shapes and the interactions between the different colour glasses. I must try and make sure I can bead at least once a week so that I can build my skill and not have to start from scratch every time!!!

On Sunday we did a Car boot sale Beth is trying to get rid of some of her old toys and raise money to make some changes to her bedroom. We had a bad start at a sale that didn't attract many seller or buyers, so we had to move onto Birchwood where we set up again and sold well for a couple of hours before the rain stopped play!

Watch the Birdie!!!

While away on holiday in The Netherlands we go close to lots and lots of birds. There were the usual suspects at the beach - seagulls. They were bold birds coming right up to you and looking for food. The one above stood next to me for ages, not in the slightest put off by the bloke in the below picture!!!!

There seemed to be a constant show of bare bums on the beach and not just the usual little kids trying to change out of wet costumes!! This bloke hopped around for ages trying to get his pants on!!!

At the camp-site there were Jackdaws, seemingly by the hundred, they were also very bold coming right up to the door of the caravan for tit bits!

But the most unusual birds were not the native ones, First of all we became aware of some squawking that sounded suspiciously like our budgies at home. So we watched and eventually spotted some green parakeets in the top of the nearby trees. There seemed to be a fair few of them .

I have looked them up and they are described as feral parakeets, they are almost impossible to spot as they are the same colour as the trees!

Since we have come back we have finished off our back garden, planted up the borders and reseeded the bald lawn.  I have ordered a hopefully beautiful orange hybrid tea rose which is presently growing in the Orkney Islands. 

I love orange roses, my all time favourite rose colour. I decided to do a bit of research and see if I could combine the colour with a lovely fragrance . The rose that has it all, disease resistance, bright blooms and a strong fragrance the winner for me was the above rose called 'Simply The Best' I hope it is the best!!!

A Couple of Days Away.

On Friday Laura and I headed up to York for team building weekend. The good part was that it was Laura's team building and I was only there in a support capacity, so I could have a wander by myself .

We had dinner at Ask on Friday evening which was lovely, the restaurant was spectacular huge dining room, with glass chandeliers in a previous life it must have been a grand meeting room.

After breakfast on Saturday morning the team builders met up and started on a treasure hunt around the town. I went out for a morning shopping. I kept bumping into the 'team builders' all over the place!! They had to be back at the hotel by 12.30. I took a walk down The Shambles billed as one of the oldest roads in Britain, lots of lovely wonky houses and gift shops. I came across a market that sold lots of craft bits and I asked if I could take some photos, one stall in particular was lovely lots of hearts and wooden bits and pieces. 

One stall in particular I could have bought the lot!! It was a family run business, Dad cut out the wooden hearts, mum painted them and daughter did the finishing bits and pieces. It was lovely. 

I love Kath Kidston style bags and goodies, but they are very expensive. My friend Madeline has bought me a lovely stone rose patterned bag which is the perfect size for transporting my craft stuff on cruises and car holidays!! I would love some more particularly a handbag sized one and a holdall sized one, while looking around the market I came across a stall that had some 'Kath Kidston' look alike bags. So what was I to do??? I bought a couple and I am very pleased with them too. 

The original versions cost £69 each and these were two for £24!! They are not pretending to be made by Kath Kidston but they are in that style. I love them!!

I came across a church where they had a table top sale, I bought three books for a pound, one on growing vegetables for Beth, All about Clematis for Tom and a book of roses for me!!

I ended the day at York Minster a beautiful place with some great stained glass windows. I took some time to sit down and take in the atmosphere , it was calm and serene inside.

The last thing I found out about York was that the very famous Guy Fawkes was born there, in fact there was a pub purporting to be the place of his birth.

I never got around to walking the wall around the city, I just took a peek up there!

Its a compact city and there is still a lot to see!

Kilimanjaro - The evidence!!

Carl has been back from his adventure in Africa for a while now and up until now I have not had the time to blog about it, so here goes!! He carried out the climb in August and we are all very proud of him. 

He has said it was one of the hardest things that he has ever done and that it is unlikely to be something that he will repeat !! He said it was an eye opening experience a country of many contrasts but the enduring memory he has is of the poverty in some parts and the fantastic scenery from the top of the mountain.

View from the top!!!

Here he is at the top with his Scout Scarf!!!

At the top with his climb companion Grant who was climbing for his local hospice. Not all of the money is in yet as people have pledged a donation on completion of the task.

To the Beach for a 'SPECTACULAR' Firework display!!

One evening we all headed for the local beach, the talk of the camp was the spectacular firework display planned to start at 9.45pm. The couriers told us that we would have a good view from the local beach. So we trotted off down there to witness this spectacular. The sunset that night was outstanding.....

It seemed to take ages to get dark, by the time it had we had been nibbled by the midges and were full of anticipation. As it happens the display may well have been spectacular .....

Had we have been about 9 miles closer to them!!!! The picture above was taken on full telephoto lens and it is barely visible!!! So all in all a huge disappointment and the car park operators made themselves a fast buck by staying open until the 'display' started and then scarpered with all the excess dosh they made from the mugs who turned out!!! You live and learn.

Finally we collected Carl from the airport after we had been there a few days. He arrived late as he had been climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for Charity. (Thank you everyone who sponsored him!!!) On the way back from the airport we got took this photo, it disconcerting to see the air plane over the road , the bridge doesn't seem very high and the plane feels like its on the road!!

Back to work

I really can't believe that three weeks off of work have flown by and tomorrow I am back into the fray, I think its going take a while to catch up on everything I am sure by lunchtime I will have forgotten my holiday!!!

We took a few trips into a nearby town called Leiden, as always it was raining so we took a look around and then found the main street for a spot of retail therapy. Even though there was rain it was also very muggy so it was very unpleasant continually taking coats on and off. We found a shop that we had been to a few years ago, a junk come antique shop, loads of hidden treasures in there. Laura picked up a couple of brand new t shirts still in their bags for a Euro each - Bargain!! I found a lovely really old enamel strainer/steamer in a mottled shade of blue and grey. I now have that cleaned up and hanging in the kitchen, there is something special about 'old' kitchen equipment, always makes me wonder who has used it before and what they did.

To prove that we were in Holland, a photo of a windmill with Laura and Beth, please note the ever present puddles, in this rare photo it wasn't actually raining , so that was an improvement!!!

On one of the fine mornings we headed to try out another beach, Malcolm suggested a beach just outside The Hague, called Scheveningen. We were happy to take a look at a different place and after all it wasn't raining so the best time to head to the beach. Tom even pushed the boat out and took our little tiny stunt kite with us and gave that a go. (The truth is it doesn't matter how big a stunt kite is, it instantly becomes useless in the hands of our family, we simply can't get any of them to fly!!) So while wandering down to the beach we became aware of loads and loads of people, planes in formation flying overhead and loads of bright TV lights and vans. It appears that we had 'accidentally' walked into the first day of the Women's International Beach Volleyball tournament. Tom and Malc wanted to stop and learn the rules to this instantly fascinating sport. Deb and I couldn't see the attraction.....

More from the wet holiday tomorrow!!!

Its hotter here!!!

Since getting back the weather has been brilliant, once the washing was done we got out in the garden and started to get that into shape. Carl and Tom worked really hard putting in a border of bricks, digging up some roots that were left over and generally doing manual work. I helped by giving clear and concise directions and supplying the occasional glass of water!! I am very please with the result and I have started to plant it up with bulbs from our Dutch trip and plants (being sold off in Morrison's for bargain prices!!)

So back to the holiday, here we have Beth on day two looking cool on the beach playing Frisbee with Sam.

This next shot is the one that I took after my precious camera was hit by the said Frisbee!!!

It was a nice day on the beach, breezy and warm. So hot in fact that Tom managed to burn both of his knees and his left calf !!! a fact that troubled him for the rest of the holiday. (Not that he had to make any effort to keep his burnt knees out of the sun following this very brief exposure to it)

We booked with Canvas Holidays, we have been customers for the past 25 years so we know the ropes. They will never promise to put people travelling together in neighbouring caravans in case there  is a last minute change of plan so this year Beth and I wrote begging letters to them and offered to supply the couriers with food items they were missing from home. Turns out our couriers were missing bacon, so I supplied the bacon and they provided caravans next to each other!!!

More to report over the coming days......

Home Again and Sinking.....

I am sinking under a pile of washing that has taken over my kitchen,Its daunting at the moment as there is so much to do, We have emptied two of the cases and to add to that there is washing from Carl's Africa trip. He had made a start but there were only a couple of days between that and flying onto Amsterdam so I have a bit of a back log. I am at the stage this morning of not knowing what to do next, everything is piled up everywhere and we have suitcases and the likes all over the place. I just need a magic washing fairy to swoop in and sort it out.

The holiday was nice, I have never heard so much thunder or seen so much lightening, perhaps it was because we were in a  caravan and it was more obvious, but one morning we had thunder for an hour non stop, one rumble run into another and it just kept going, the sky was lit  up with lightening and then an hour in the rain started.

I will be back later with some photos, I found some great craft finds, not that I can see a time when I will be able to use them!!!!!

The eagle has landed!!!

For the first time in an absolute age all three kids have arrived on holiday together stand by for non stop entertainment !! We collected carl from the airport after a 30 minute flight now preparing to watch the third re enactment of 'grease' the Duinrell version!!!

The goodness for mcdonalds!!!

Free wifi is a blessing !!! We have had a good first few days with glorious sunshine today back to form with rain!!! We have shopped in Leiden and are now heading back soaked!! Fingers crossed the weather improves . Planning on hitting Amsterdam later this week x

Lots to do......

This weekend I seem to have been non stop busy but I have not very much to show for it. This morning we hit Stevenage and bought bits from Poundland, home bargains and Dunelm Mill. I have put it all away and now have tomorrow to pack everything up in preparation to our few days break.

I have finished the washing and tomorrow it will be go go go!!!

We are still having summery weather so Beth has been down the pool again. Its like having her own personal pool !! She loves it there!!

Yesterday we went to see mum, she was very happy and upbeat, she is going home on Thursday and is really looking forward to that. While she has been in hospital she has made friends with the lady in the next bed, Shirley. She is a lovely lady who had a stroke. Her family are lovely as well and Mum and Shirley have been good for each other. Sadly during the week Shirley was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, which was a terrible shock for everyone. There have been lots of tears all around. Shirley is going home tomorrow, she wants to go home even though she is not really well enough to go. She lives with her son who has got things sorted for her. I wish her well. 

During the day I have been trying to book up our girls weekend away in December. Its proving to be very difficult!!! We wanted to go to one of the Christmas markets. The one in Jersey sounded brilliant, so I found a nice hotel which was reasonable, the ferry was a non starter as they only do overnight crossings in December. So I looked at the flights, Luton would have been perfect and Stansted good, but they reduce the flights to three times a week in the winter. So I looked at Gatwick they have the flights but as always the prices quoted are nothing like the final price. The price looked like it was going to be £60 each but by the time you added on all the different 'additions' we were looking at £97 each!!!So that priced it out of the market, so Madeline if you are reading this, we are having a big rethink and may return to plan A, which is Lille. We just need to decide which hotel!!!!

Carl is down the mountain and we have had a few text messages from him. He will be chilling out now in Nairobi recovering from his climb. He is obviously missing my home cooking as he has asked me to make him some of 'specials' strawberry jelly's!!! That's what its like when you are a first class chef like me!!!!

Home Visit and Reaching the Summit!

Yesterday Mum visited home for the first time since March this year!! It was a major arrangement by the Hospital. I was there when she got there in the ambulance. It took two drivers, two physios and a social worker! Once they had got her over the thresh hold in a wheel chair she was able to walk to the arm chair in the front room. She sat and had a cuppa while the physios went upstairs and arranged the bedroom furniture.

Next she had to walk to the stair lift and get on it. That was a little harder but not impossible. With a bit of a shuffle she got on and got upstairs. Getting off at the top was easy and she walked into the bedroom.

The bed is a fully adjustable hospital bed so they put it down as low as it would go and Mum sat on it after a bit of a struggle she managed to get both legs on and lie back. She was also able to get back up again afterwards. So all in all it was a very sucessful day. All we need to wait for now is for Social Services to arrange the carers and she will get a home date. There is light appearing at the end of this very long tunnel!!!!

Carl has been out of contact for three days now, we had expected this as it was very unlikely that there would be a signal up Kilimanjaro!!!! According to my calculations he should have carried out the climb to the peak this morning at dawn and is likely now to be on the way back down again. I hope he has taken loads of photos!!!! His fund raising is going well and I know that there are pledges that he will collect once he is back.

He has now raised £1210 !!

Please check out his Just Giving Page

HERE

Silver Wedding Anniversary!! Madeline and John.

I can't believe it was twenty five years ago that my friends Madeline and John got married. I can so clearly remember the day, I was one of the bridesmaids sporting a trendy perm, Laura was ten months old and we all had a fantastic day. Madeline wore a beautiful dress, lace and very demure. We wore jade green.I have found a few of the earlier photos.

The celebrations started on the Hen Night which was a week before the big day we got her all decked out in the usual hen night garb.  In those days we would end a night out with a KFC (although back then it was still known as Kentucky Fried Chicken!!!) It was also usual for us to finish our chicken, drive home through the more affluent areas of Watford and chuck our rubbish up the drives of the big houses!!!

You can just see four of us bridesmaids at the centre of the photo, look at my lovely perm!!!

Madeline and John the happy couple!!

So here we are twenty five years later, where does the time go???

Here's to the next twenty five!!