My Poor Abandoned Blog!!

Happy Christmas!!!

The trouble with Christmas is that its a long time coming and every year we all fall for the hype. I was concerned that we would not have 'enough stuff' for guests over the festivities, in the end we have plenty and some!! 

We have had a good Christmas season, it kicked off for me with a surprise visit to a mini Christmas  market in WGC, followed by a beauty evening in John Lewis, where I won second prize in the raffle and Karen won top prize!! Made it a good night when you add to it a nice glass of Mulled Wine.

Next we met up with Mums Brother and his wife, Uncle Roy and Auntie Peggy. We met at Ayletts Garden Centre in St Albans .We agreed to meet at 12, when we arrived they were already there. Walking through to the cafe, we nearly passed a stall serving free mulled wine, we only 'nearly' passed it, I stopped and got a glass for each of us, fortunately although the others all tried it, not one of them liked it, so as I hate waste I had no alternative but to drink it all.

Tom drove home!!!

We added to our collection of Christmas decorations, this little fella was made by pupils at Lakeside School in Welwyn Garden City so the proceeds are going to a worthy cause. 

Next dad treated us all out for Christmas Dinner at the Beehive in WGC.

Carl and Tom accidentally wore matching tops!!!

Next it was girls night out , we went back to our usual haunt The Crooked Chimney. We usually have the same waitress every time we go, she had been there for the past 12 years. This year she asked for Christmas day off, she has three children and gave them plenty of notice, they said no :(  so she decided to call it a day. Its a real shame, she has been there through loads of different and somewhat odd managers,such as the one who said that even if we booked Christmas meal we could not have crackers or decorations as they couldn't afford them!! Ever since then we have taken a selection of our own cracked and table decorations!!!

So it was a sad farewell to Amanda, what a huge loss she is to their business. 

In the mean time the prodigal son returned and moved back in. It was really fantastic to see him again.

Next night out was with our best Holiday Friends (mark 1) Rick and Dina, they did us a fantastic evening meal a lovely Chinese, followed by 'some' cider, resulting in the below photo!!!

Next we had Sunday tea with our other holiday friends Malc and Debs, another great evening featuring the saucepan game and lots of laughs!!!!

Christmas eve and we had the Reeves over, the usual combination of loudness and fun was had by all including Bobbie who was excited for Santa to arrive!!!

Finally the big day arrived and we opened our presents with Dad and Harry in attendance, Beth and Harry headed off to Stevenage for dinner leaving lunch time for the rest of us!!!

So that's our action packed holiday season........ so far!!! Looking forward to new years eve now !

Happy New Year!!!!

A life time ago!

I am sorry to say that our holiday now feels like a lifetime ago. We have been back for a little over a month and the whole experience is like a dream. We have had our usual mix of issues over the past weeks, with both Laura and Dad being unwell. Both are now on the mend. 

I can hardly believe that Mum passed away two years ago tomorrow, where has that time gone. On the one hand it seems like an age ago and on the other two minutes ago. One of the good things about having an IPhone is that it allows you to save your text and Whats app messages. I was looking through the other night and found the last few from Mum which was a big bit of a tear jerker. We are lucky to have such great friends and relatives who all have helped everyone over these past few years. We will never forget her  and think about her every day .

It was nice to be able to hang one of my Remember Me Angels to keep Mum close at hand all over Christmas. This morning we went to Mass, which was said for her. I was very impressed with Father Norbert who did most of the mass in speech and sign language. I am in awe of anyone who can do that, its like rubbing your tummy and patting your head as far as I am concerned!!

So what else has been happening? I have been sorting out Christmas presents, I had a marathon wrapping spree yesterday and we put the decs up so I was able to store the presents under the tree. I am trying to get the spare room sorted out so that it is all set for the return of the Hong Kong wanderer. We mainly use the spare room to store clothes so I need to get the bed in to position where it can be slept in. I am just about there. We are all looking forward to him coming home for a few weeks. I am looking froward to the school Christmas dinner and the Christingle service, I really feel that Christmas has arrived once I have been to those two things!!

I would like to wish two of my friends Happy Birthday, Karen and Fran, I hope you both had a lovely day.  Sorry that this was a quick update, I will have more time now that I'm a celebrity is over for another year!!! Have a great week.

Hamburg at Christmas.

After what seems like a few hectic weeks we finally arrived at Thursday and out weekend break to Hamburg. This time we were prepared having been there before. We had a plan of action!!

Tom dropped us off at the airport around 11.30 am, we had asked for special assistance because walking the huge airport distances is difficult for one of the party. As usual Luton can up to scratch and just inside the main doors we registered with the special assistance counter and our bags were whisked away . We went through security, two of us set off the alarms with our metal hips (we are so edgy, no drugs or guns for us just good old NHS replacement hip joints!!!)

Once on the other side we could relax and start our holiday!

Well, it would have been rude not to have had a quick Christmassy drink or two!!

We returned to the pre-arranged place and were loaded onto our special assistance 'truck' or as Gracie likes to call it 'The Pussy Wagon' in honour of the great show 'Come Fly with Me' 

The flight was a quick 75 minutes with just enough time for a drink and a pop to the loo, before we arrived in Hamburg. We were met at the other end by a very fit 'Red Cross; man with a wheelchair who loaded Madeline in and then set off at a heck of a pace while the three of us run along behind!! We retrieved our luggage and went outside to find a taxi. Sandra this time won the prize for the lightest suitcase, weighing in at a very skinny 9 kgms. She wanted to leave room for all her shopping!!

We arrived at our hotel and checked in. Sandra and Sue had exactly the same room as before, we had one around the corner!

We decided to drop our bags and head straight to the supermarket and stock up on essentials for the next few days (mainly wine and amaretto!!)

We went out for dinner at a nearby restaurant and had a warming mulled wine to protect us from the cold ! We planned the following day, we decided to head for the markets around 10am after breakfast and make a day of it. We also decided to take things as easy as possible so that we didn't over do things. We planned to build in lots of Mulled wine breaks!!!

Hamburg main square.

One of the many beautiful stalls

At one point we were so cold that we had to give in and go inside for a mulled wine, it was bitter. Most of the weekend the temperature was 0 on in the minus, if you added the wind in it was freezing. 

We had a fabulous time, I will share a few more photos and stories tomorrow.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!

This year is really flying by, its nearly December already! I haven't written my cards yet so I was very surprised to receive a card from the Royal household, I have gone up in the world, I hope she is not expecting one in return!!!

This week has seen Beth reach a milestone birthday, it seems minutes since she was born after a long night in labour.

She weighed in at 7 lbs 13 ozs at 5.50am on a cold Sunday morning in November.

As she was our third child we were more experienced, she was quite laid back and easy. She slept well and fed well. She had a big brother and sister who both ran around after her from the word go! Carl used to love to give her a bottle which was a great help .

Now she is a young adult.

This year she was lucky to have two birthday cakes, both made by friends! She likes Stitch so Nicky made her a Stitch cake.

Barb made her a beautiful purple 18 cake.

On the evening of her birthday we went out for a Chinese meal with some friends and family.

Beth was excited to come of age, she got some beautiful presents and lots of money! Thank you to everyone who was so generous, letters are being crafted this weekend, but I know a lot of you this blog!! We managed to keep her surprise present a surprise right up until she opened it. I had wrapped a bag of little gifts, some of them were a clue to the surprise present, the penny didn't drop at all!! so she was shocked when she opened tickets to a long weekend away in Amsterdam (she knows it as well as I do!!) with her friend Hannah. (Thanks Wendy xxx)

Happy Days!!!

I have packed and I am ready to jet off on my winter trip to the Christmas markets. We fly from Luton (International Airport!!!) at lunchtime tomorrow. I think we will get there early enough to have a festive cider in the bar before flying to Hamburg. I can't wait!!

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas.......

Take care

xxx

Good Job!!!

Yesterday I ventured out to try and do a bit of Christmas Shopping, Once I was in Stevenage I realised it was the wrong decision for many reasons!! I had really wanted to go to the new Range shop, until now I had to travel to Norfolk or Harlow, neither very close to home!! I knew they had some great stuff in there from previous visits. What I had forgotten about was the fact that Stevenage were playing at home and the place was gridlocked. It too ages to get in and once in the car park it was heaving, every man for himself on the parking front. When we finally found a space, the shop was as bad full to over flowing not my idea of a good afternoon out. Anyway I did pick up a few presents but I found this cute Santa cake stand which I treated myself to, made the day seem worth while!

This morning we had to drop Carl in town as he was leading his cubs at Remembrance Sunday parade. Due to a bit of a mess up with practices, we had to pick Beth up at the last minute missing the parade. My friend Sue spotted Carl and took photos on my behalf!! He did say he was worried she was a stalker, but afterwards one of the cubs mums told him that she knew me!!

I have been making some necklaces with my American bead haul. I have plans to make some from Christmas presents. I think I need to get my eyes tested though as its getting harder and harder to see the holes!!!! Obviously my age.

Yesterday saw the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from Home arrest in Burma. I was not aware of this lady until last year when her situation was reported on at UNISON National conference. She is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and has spent the past 20 under house arrest. She is a remarkable lady who has fought for democracy in her country and has suffered the loss of her British husband while she has been in captivity. I hope that she stays free and is able to achieve democracy for her country.