Had a Busy week

I have no idea where this week has gone, part of it was due to a busy time at work and part of it due to lots going on with the kids at home. Carl is at Cub Camp and although he sorted most stuff out himself, the place was awash with kit. Washing up bowls, blow up bed, sleeping bag, you name it it was all over the place.
Beth is turning into the typical year six child with all the dramas that seem to go on at school in this last term. They really do get to the age where they need to move on!!
Tom has been trying to paint the garden fence for the past week in between rain and working. We are nearly done 5 panels left.
Hunny has been running around taking all the mayhem in her stride.yesterday she took a bold step and jumped onto the trampoline!! Once she had done it the once, she kept on doing it!!
Here she is preparing to launch herself onto the boing boing!!



Beth still loves the trampoline and she talked me into playing on there with her, even got a couple of poses from her!



During the week we have had some heavy rain, I tried to get some action rain shots without much success, it was simply too heavy to get anything worth keeping. While we were replacing the fence I rediscovered the wind ornament that had been hanging on the fence years ago. I washed it and put it back. I love the way it looks shiny and wet against my beautiful new fence!!

My Town Monday - Coat of Arms

Well us British are into our history and it seems that just about every town in Hertfordshire (the County where I live ) has a coat of arms. I suppose its very useful for making your headed note paper look official, but I am not sure that the general public in this day and age would have any idea what it was about apart from sometimes looking pretty.
On looking into our towns coat of arms, I have found out what the various 'bits' mean, so here is the official description of the Coat of Arms, this enables it to be drawn by someone who has never seen the crest providing they understand the terms mentioned!!

ARMS: Or a Fess wavy between in chief a Bar wavy Azure surmounted of two Willow Trees couped and in base an Oak Tree couped fructed proper.CREST: On a Wreath of the Colours within a Circlet of eight Roses Gules each charged with another Argent barbed and seeded proper a Garb Or between two Wings displayed Azure.SUPPORTERS: On either side a Hart Royal proper that on the dexter charged on the shoulder with two Pairs of Dividers in fess inverted and extended the interior points contiguous Argent and that on the sinister with a representation of a Roman Wine Jar Or within a Cage Sable.BADGE: On a Bezant environed of a Torse Or and Azure two Pallets Azure surmounted of a Bar dancetty of two points downward counter-changed.
Motto 'BY WISDOM AND DESIGN'.Granted 11th February 1976.
There, that was fully understandable wasn't it????

The more interesting bit though is how the various 'parts' were included in the design and what they represent.

The blue wave on a gold background represents the River Lea, with the narrower parallel wave for the River Mimram. The two willows from the crest of the Welwyn Garden City UDC and the device of the Welwyn RDC are in reference to the origin of the name Welwyn - meaning 'willow'. The oak tree is from from the crest of the Hatfield RDC. The shield thus suggests in a simple visual pattern the River Mimram flowing through Welwyn and Welwyn Garden City, and the Hatfield area south of the River Lea.The eight Tudor roses (five visible), from the arms of the Hatfield RDC, refer to the many associations of that period with Hatfield Palace, including the sojourn of the young Elizabeth and her presence at Hatfield on learning of her accession. The gold wheatsheaf, represents the agricultural pursuits of the area, flanked by two blue wings alluding to the local aircraft industry. The wheatsheaf is also a feature of the crest of the ancestors of the Cecils of Hatfield, particularly Lord Burghley, Queen Elizabeth's famous minister and father of Robert Cecil, the first of the family to reside at Hatfield.The harts, like those of the County Council, are a reference to Hertfordshire. The two dividers shaped like a letter W are from the arms of the Welwyn Garden City UDC, emphasizing its character as a planned development. The Roman urn from the device of the Welwyn RDC, typifies the historic antiquities of that area.The motto is that used by the Welwyn Garden City UDC.

So there you have it, you can now look on coats of arms with a knowledge you never had before!!

One Busy Day!!!!

We had been planning for a while to replace our garden fence this weekend. Our neighbours had bought all the panels, posts and post mix all we really had to do was supply the labour. Yesterday I was up bright and early to take dad to the hospital for his hernia op, so when I came home I made the most of it and cracked on in the garden.
First of all I had to trim the rose bushes right back as I didn't want the workers getting shredded by the thorns. Once I had started I could stop and ended up taking one bush out entirely. We also had a very rampant ivy growing up the fence, and that took me a fair while to strip off and dig up. Some of it is still hanging around but I'll finish it tomorrow.
Anyway the 'men' have replaced 9 panels of fence plus the posts. I was sent out to buy a new gate but bought the wrong sort so I need to swap that tomorrow. The garden looks so much better and for the first time in a long time I am going to be able to go out and buy some new flowers for my patch of green. (plus I want a nice table and chairs set, a smart bistro set would do!!) The final bonus is that I put the old panels, which weren't broken but were mismatched and tired looking, on free cycle and they are being collected in the morning!!
In between all that mum and I went to collect dad from hospital, his hernia all fixed, now he is getting ready for his hip replacement!! (getting his money worth out of the National Health Service!!!)

Well would you believe it???

Today I received a 'red letter' from a catalogue company that I bought some T Shirts from at the end of last year. My account has been fully paid up since February, so to get a red letter was a bit of a surprise!!

It said ;-
Dear Mrs Dee,
Having tried to contact you on several occasions you have failed to maintain repayment of your account. We are prepared to help you, but you must take responsibility for clearing this debt. The debt will not go away on its own. You must pay the arrears within 48 hours to avoid action being taken to recover the debt via the courts.
Please make the minimum payment of £0.00 within 48 hours to avoid court involvement.

At the bottom of the letter was a useful payment slip which showed a minimum payment of £0.00 to clear the balance of £0.00 !!!

I am now worried that all the other companies out there that I don't owe any money to may also come calling demanding payment, will I need debt counselling?? will I need to consolidate my debts with one loan of £0.00 to reduce my monthly outgoings?? I am not sure what to do now !!!

Happy Blog-a-versery to me.

My blog is two today, I can't beleive that I have been doing this for that long. Its great to look back at the memories!!!

My Town Monday - A Famous Son.

Today I am going to tell you about one of Welwyn Garden City's famous son's, We don't have too many so I am going to pace myself!!

Nick Faldo - Local man and one time golfing champion.

Faldo was born in Welwyn Garden City, England. He borrowed some clubs from his neighbours after watching Jack Nicklaus play the 1971 Masters on television. While working as a carpet fitter, Faldo won the English Amateur Championship and the British Youths Championship in 1975. He turned professional in 1976 and quickly achieved success, finishing 8th on the European Tour Order of Merit in 1977 and 3rd in 1978 and winning a European Tour event in each of those seasons. In the former year he became the youngest player to appear in the Ryder Cup at the age of 21. Faldo was one of the leading players on the European Tour in the early 1980s, and he topped the Order of Merit in 1983.
However, feeling that he needed to refine his game in order to become a regular contender in major championships (British tabloids even dubbed him "Nick Foldo" after collapses at the 1983 Open Championship and the 1984 Masters), he spent the mid-1980s remodelling his swing under the tutelage of David Leadbetter. His performances dropped off for a couple of years as the changes occurred, but by 1987 he was playing at an even higher level, and he claimed his first major title at that year's Open Championship. He managed to beat American Paul Azinger by one shot even without getting a birdie in the final round (he parred all 18 holes), after Azinger bogeyed the final two holes of the tournament.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Faldo was considered the best golfer in the world. He was noted for being remarkably composed under pressure, intimidating to his opponents, and won more of the four professional major tournaments (Faldo won six) than any other player in the world from 1987 through 1996 (Nick Price was second with three major victories during this period; Seve Ballesteros, a contemporary of Faldo's from Spain, won five majors from 1979-1988). He won the Open Championship again in 1990 in St Andrews, Scotland by six shots, and claimed it for a third time in 1992, outplaying American John Cook. He also won two more majors when he won the Masters Tournament in 1989 and 1990. At the 1989 Masters, he shot a 65, the low round of the tournament, to get into a playoff with Scott Hoch. He won the playoff after holing a somewhat lengthy putt on the 2nd playoff hole (Hoch missed a 2 foot putt to win on the first playoff hole). At the 1990 Masters, he came from behind again to get into a playoff with Raymond Floyd, once again winning on the second playoff hole after Floyd pulled his approach shot into a pond left of the green. Faldo spent a total of 98 weeks altogether at the top of the Official World Golf Rankings, and claimed the European Tour Order of Merit a second time in 1992. During that time, Faldo said of his success: "The run doesn't have to end. If someone is going to beat me then I'm going to make sure they've worked for their victory. Let them come and get it from me." That year, he had worldwide earnings of £1,558,978, breaking the existing record.
Faldo was named the PGA Tour Player of the Year in 1990 and the European Tour Player of the Year in 1989, 1990 and 1992, and has won 29 European Tour titles. As Faldo entered his forties, his form gradually declined and he devoted more time to off-course activities. The last season that he played regularly on the PGA Tour was 2001. Afterwards, he refocused on the European Tour, but has consistently played less than a full schedule. His most recent top-10 finish in a major to date (and quite probably the final of his career) was a tie for eighth place at the 2003 Open Championship. As of July 2005, his career European Tour earnings are just under €8 million, and his PGA Tour earnings are over $5 million.

Faldo started his playing career at Welwyn Garden City Golf Club, and that is where my connection comes in. I have booked the golf club to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary in

June this year.

The tooth Fairy has officially retired,.

The tooth fairy has made her final visit to this house to carry away the very last baby tooth. Beth finally lost her last baby tooth yesterday, so now she will only visit if one of us loses a tooth by traumatic means!!
Quite sad really isn't it?

Pretty Little Birdie.

Its amazing the wild life that visits the back garden, all winter we have had a lovely fat hedgehog rumbling around spooking our dog!! I just hope that Mr hedgehog has eaten all the millions of slugs that we seem to have. Now its Bird time, I have spotted, in the last week, magpies, chaffinch,blue tits, sparrows, blackbirds, thrush and this morning a robin. It was singing loud from the top of my Jacobs Fir tree. I now realise that Robins sing loud and in scribble!! Their song seems to change as the feeling takes them.
This Robin was in the tree long enough for me to get a few shots of him, on full telephoto stretch .
I wonder if he'll be back tomorrow??

Flower Swap.

i have just hosted a 'flower swap' on a forum that I am a member of, and these are the lovely flowers that have been swapped between all of us!!

I think I'll leave them in the vase for a while and then I'll use them in my scrap books!! Thanks Ladies they are lovely.

My Town Monday - The Barn Theatre.

Today I want to tell you about our local Theatre, The Barn Theatre. My daughter goes there as
a member of the youth group and loves it. I have taken some of the history from their web site, so I can't claim ownership of it!! Its a great resource, literally a small 139 seater theatre that stages lots of traditional and popular modern productions, but it started life as a very different venue.

The picture above is a sketch of how the buildings look today, they are quite distinctive in what is now a residential area of the Garden City.

It is commonly stated that the present barn in Handside Lane was originally built closer to Handside hamlet, possibly in the late 1600's.
In accordance with tradition, it is believed that a 17th century barn was moved to Lower Handside from somewhere in the immediate area, but there is still have no firm evidence to confirm this. It is possible that an old barn had previously been taken down and stored for future use, or it might have come from non-estate land in the area. Another possibility is that the present building, with a distinct change in roof angle about halfway along the main structure, may be the result of combining two smaller barns. It is unlikely that a totally, or even partially, new structure would have been erected with this step in the roof, so maybe we should be looking for two previous sites, not one! It is likely that we may never know the age or origin of the barn.



Early Theatre in Welwyn Garden City.
Building of Welwyn Garden City started in 1920, and within a year, with the population less than 800, the first play was staged at Brickwall Barn (the Handside Barn was then full of cows!), when C.B. Purdom, a Director of Welwyn Garden City Ltd. (the company -formed to build and run the town), and an enthusiast for all forms of drama, directed local people in Shaw's 'The Showing Up of Blanco Posnet'. Drama proved to be a popular activity, and many groups were set up in the following years. Some key events with relevance to the subsequent opening of the Handside Barn as a theatre are listed below.
1921 Purdom founded the Welwyn Garden City Theatre Society, one of its objects being to seek a permanent theatre for amateur drama. Their first production was Shaw's 'Candida', in the Cherry Tree Restaurant, in December.
1924 The Labour Players was founded, by F.J. Osborn and others, to perform plays of social interest (the following year the name was changed to Welwyn Folk Players). Their first play was 'The White Lady', by H.B. Pointing, a local author, presented in the Parkway Hall [where the east end of Rosanne House now stands] in March.
1928 The Welwyn Theatre (later the Embassy cinema) opened in Parkway [where the Health Authority building now stands] for use as both cinema and theatre. Apart from the Welwyn Drama Festival, which was held there with great success annually from 1929 to 1973, it was not very suitable for amateur drama, so the need for a small amateur theatre remained.
1929 The Welwyn Thalians were formed from the W.G. City Barnstormers (founded in 1923) and the W.G. City Operatic Society (founded in 1927), with a strong emphasis on musical productions.
During the period 1921 to 1931 the above drama groups, and others, regularly staged about six to eight shows each year, mostly in the Parkway Hall, and later in the Welwyn Theatre. In 1930 the Welwyn Stores Staff Association performed 'Tilly of Bloomsbury', by Ian Hay, at the Handside Barn, which then housed their social club.
Growing dissatisfaction with the Welwyn Theatre led Dr L.T.M. Gray, a Director of the Welwyn Garden City Company (which owned the Handside Barn), who was also Chairman of the Theatre Society, to arrange, and to finance from his own resources, the conversion of part of the Barn to a theatre. All the local drama groups co-operated with the Theatre Society to carry out the necessary work, and the Barn Theatre was eventually inaugurated as a public theatre in January 1932, with Dr Gray as licensee, and responsible for its operation. It could seat 150 people on tip-up seats, with tickets at 1/3d [6 pence] and 2/6d [12 pence].

During the war years the premises were used to house soldiers and naval Cadets and took a bit of a battering, plans were put in place to renovate it and update the facilities.

On 1 October 1969, the new Barn Theatre Club opened its first season with a production of the musical show by Frank Norman (music by Lionel Bart), 'Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be' . A further six productions were staged by the Club in the season, and one by the ICI Dramatic Society, which had been unable to join the new organisation [the ICI club continued to put on shows at the Barn in most years until 1982, when ICI closed its main operation in the area. The Thalians also put on a couple of shows in 1970 and 1972].
In 1981 a second company, the Barn Theatre Trust Ltd., was set up as a Registered Charity, to be responsible for maintaining the building, and for staging the productions put on by Club members. Because a massive rent increase was expected soon, on renewal of the first 21 year lease, it was agreed to try to purchase the freehold of the building. After long negotiations, the Trust completed the purchase in 1984, following a major fund- raising campaign, so finally achieving the goal of an amateur theatre in the town, owned and controlled by its members. Since then many alterations have been, and continue to be, made to the facilities, dependent on the money and labour available, and on planning requirements for what is now a Grade II listed building.
A wide range of plays continues to he presented at the Barn Theatre. Displays of stage photographs and programmes from our archives are often used to illustrate the wide range of productions mounted during the life of the theatre - now approaching 70 years.
The Club also organises a variety of dramatic and social events, and is a member of The Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain. It regularly enters local and national drama festivals, in which it has won many awards.

Some more photos.

Our recent weekend in Newcastle was quite spectacular on the weather front. We had snow, gale force winds and sun. I took some photos of a lighthouse off the coast of Sunderland, The sea was so rough that the water reached the top of the light house!! It was amazing.

Good News- He's home!!!

Well after a battery of tests Dad is home, they are not really sure what happened but think it may be connected to his hernia. So although he is a bit washed out he is back!! Hurrah!!

Long Day

Today has not been a great one, dad is not well and is in hospital, it started early this morning after a call from mum to say he had taken a fall while on the stair lift. When we got there he did look very poorly.He had severe abdominal pain. The ambo got him to hospital and he then had a load of tests and a little morphine to ease things, he is still there now while they try and decide what is wrong with him. He looked better when we left tonight.

My Town Monday - The beast of Welwyn garden!!!

I expect that you must be wondering what I am going to be talking about this week. Here in England we really don't have a huge range of dangerous wild beasts, no wild bears or boars to talk of, BUT we do have numerous sightings of 'Huge Black Cats' . Now I am not sure if any of these cats actually exist but there is hardly a month goes by where there isn't a report of a sighting in the local paper or on the radio.
Last year for Herts and in particular Welwyn Garden City was a very busy one for sightings. These large cats are usually described as black and at three or four times the size of a regular cat. There are no wild cats native to the UK but I think that if these sightings are real that they could be cats that have escaped from captivity.
Last year a sighting of a big cat resulted in a full scale police operation, as reported by Herts News 24
'POLICE marksmen were deployed and a 21-officer search was carried out after two policemen spotted a big cat near to their Hertford station on Saturday.The duo reported seeing a large feline type animal on a building site just before 7am and a three-hour search for the beast followed.Insp Paul Burnage from the intervention and response unit at Hertford led the investigation. He said: "It was our priority to ensure public safety. We called an expert from a local wildlife park to stun the animal if it was seen. "However, our firearms unit, including officers with rifles, surrounded the site as a back up in case the animal got out of the building site."The animal was not seen again.This is by no means the first such sighting in East Herts. Just last August we reported how a similar creature was seen in the Mangrove Road area of Hertford, and then received further claims of sightings in Hoddesdon and Goffs Oak. Wildlife crime officer Det Insp David Laming said: "There are no confirmed records of anyone ever being attacked by these animals. The reason being there is no shortage of small natural prey available to them for food, and they have a natural fear of man."All previous recorded sightings have only been brief as the animals always run from humans.Det Insp Laming offered this advice if you do come face to face with such a creature. "Under no circumstances should members of the public attempt to shoot or injure such an animal. This would create an unpredictable situation whereby the animal would feel threatened and would be more likely to act in an aggressive manner."

So what do you think??

Take a look...........

I was asked to submit some photographs for this site - Its a Creative World. This is a fabulous blog run by some very talented ladies who post articles on a whole range of creative things. I was honoured to be asked to submit photos on the theme of spring!! Pop over and take a look.

My Town Monday - The scent of Welwyn Garden City

I have been a resident of Welwyn Garden City for the past 25 years. As a town, it is many things, but one of the most enduring things that people remember about the town is the aroma of Shredded Wheat!

The original company opened a factory in Welwyn Garden City (UK) in 1926, which became part of Nabisco in 1928. The tall concrete cereal silos that form part of the factory are a local landmark and are listed structures, built by Peter Lind & Company of London. In 1988 Nabisco sold the UK site to Rank Hovis McDougall (who made own-label cereals for supermarkets), whose breakfast cereals division briefly became The Shredded Wheat Company. In 1990 RHM sold the site to Cereal Partners. Some Shredded Wheat is made at Staverton near Bath, where all Shredded Wheat will be produced from 2008.

In the last few months the factory has closed down and all the jobs have been lost.

Before the closure the factory went into production every night, cooking the malted wheat. On a still night on the way home from work on the late shift, I could smell shredded wheat all over the town.It was particularly pungent if you had to stop at the traffic lights close by!! If the wind was blowing you could catch the whiff of it for miles about! It was not an unpleasant smell and it reminds me of home!!

Big Surprise!!

Well we woke up this morning to piles of 'Silly Soft Stuff' - The words of Thomas the Tank Engine!!! They had forecast some snow, but I was shocked to find a couple of inches of it !! Its started to snow now and the temperature has dropped again. How odd is this weather?? I can only remember snow in April once before and that was when I was about 11 and I had gone around to my friend Christine Campbells house for her Birthday party. That was on the 5th of April thirty odd years ago. It started to snow mid afternoon and hung around until the next morning!

Today I woke up to the muffled sounds of a world covered in snow, then the panic set in, has Carl driven to work in the snow?? Well his car is missing, but to be fair the main roads see to be pretty well clear, I am not sure they would have been at 7am!!

Well its snowing heavily now, I hope we get a few feet and I get snowed in before work tomorrow!

Thank You Katie!!

This week I received a nice surprise in the mail, a package of bits and pieces, all craft related from Katie from Stamping Sisterhood 9. Thank you very much Katie, I will try and sort out something to pass on to someone else!!

Great Day.

Yesterday was a great day, first he passes his driving test, then last night we went up to London to see a show. For my birthday in February Carl bought me 4 tickets to see Willy Russells Blood Brothers. It was a fantastic show at the Phoenix theatre, it was funny, well acted and quite emotional and sad all at the same time. Its certainly the best show I have seen at the theatre ever and one I would see again.
We left the car at Cockfosters and got the Piccadilly line straight to Leicester Square, we had dinner before the show and then walked up to the Theatre. As always seems to happen, you go all that way and when I took Beth to the loo, I bumped into someone I knew from Welwyn Garden City!! Seems there was a coach trip from Monks Walk school there as well!! (its a play studied for GCSE, which is how Carl had seen it before!)
By the time we got back it was midnight and although I am now on the way t work everyone else is still in bed!!!

Well, he did it!!!

Congratulations to Carl passed with flying colours, now a driver in his own right.
I am pleased there will be no more getting up early to take him to work at 7am on a weekend, no more collecting him from swimming/scouts/trips. I have also saved £180 on school bus fares for next term.
Brilliant!!!

Its Happening NOW!!

Carl should be in the middle of his driving test. He left home at 7.20am so that they could have a last minute warm up around the route in Stevenage. His test started at 8.20am and should take around 30 minutes. I have everything crossed!!

Panic Stations!!!!

Today Carl's friend Robert passed his driving test, first time!! Congratulations to him. So when I got home from work I asked Carl if he had everything that he needed for his test. It was at this point that he realised that he hadn't got the confirmation letter for the test. Its a long story, but the test centre changed the date of his test and sent along a replacement for the 3rd of April, Brian his instructor could not do that date. So Carl phoned them up and changed the date to the 7th of April, it was this test that he hadn't got the confirmation for.
So we checked up online only to find that his test was back on the original date of the 3rd at 8.20am!!!
Panic stations!! The problem was that the instructor originally couldn't do the 3rd which was why it had been cancelled, so we were sure that he would not be able to do the same date at such short notice.We spent an hour phoning him up and he has had to make a few last minute adjustments to allow Carl to use his car for the test. So now he is taking his test on Thursday the 3rd and not on the 7th. So fingers crossed that all goes well, phew it makes me all nervous inside!!

My Town Monday - Hatfield House.

Its amazing the history that is on your doorstep and just how little you really know about it!! I had my education broadened last year when we travelled the 4 miles from Beth's school to the great house. I was impressed, its a beautiful place and one I intend to revisit this summer.

Hatfield House was completed in 1611. It was built by Robert Cecil, first Earl of Salisbury and son of Lord Burghley, the chief minister of Elizabeth I. The deer park surrounding the house and the older building of the Old Palace had been owned by Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, who had used it as a home for his children, Edward, Elizabeth and Mary. It was while she was living in the Old Palace, in 1558, that Elizabeth learned of her accession to the throne.

The Cecils’ former home was at Theobalds, also in Hertfordshire. In 1607, Elizabeth’s heir, James I offered to exchange Theobalds for the Old Palace and manor of Hatfield. A draft Parliamentary Act of exchange survives in the Cecil Papers at Hatfield, dated May 1607. Salisbury began building work immediately. The main architect of the house was Robert Lemynge but Simon Basil, the Surveyor of the King’s Works and Inigo Jones also contributed to the design.

Salisbury had been appointed Lord Treasurer in April 1607 as well as Chief Secretary, but, he became ill and died, aged only 48, in April 1612. Although he was buried in Hatfield, he didn’t live to enjoy the house that was to become the home of his descendants for the next 400 years.

The Old Palace is beautiful and just how imagined Elizabethan England to be.( a very romantic view!!) On a school visit they re-enact the life and times of an Elizabeth worker, we tasted food from the era, we had a go at archery, as all the Kings men were proficient archers, we had an audience with Henry VIII, and even got to sing him a song!!

Cadburys World.

Yesterday we took an amble up the M1 to sunny Birmingham and the gorgeous, creamy, scrummy, sweeet, chocolate world of Mr Cadbury!!

The journey was fine although I am sure that Birmingham was closer than the 116 miles Stella said it was on previous visits!! We went with Karen and Megan from over the road and Hannah who was sleeping over. The girls were very happy in the back singing and playing games all the way there. Karen was super organised and had a bag with drinks and food.

When we got there we had trouble finding a space to park. Once we got in we were an hour ahead of our 'tour' time but they said it wasn't too busy so we could start the tour straight away. We were in the first theatre with our little bag of goodies when I realised that I had left Stella in full view in the car, so I had to go back the way I came and rescue her. It was not an easy thing to do as there were no escape routes like they have in Disney. When I eventually joined them again they were in the next theatre, the one with the wobbly seats!! We continued around to the Cadabra ride where the attendant took great pains to tell us that we would be photographed half way around and that we could see the photos when we got off, well we stuffed that up as we were all looking the wrong way and there were two lovely shots of the back of our heads, Karen,the only one looking the right way, looked dazed, so not a successful photo shoot!!

The girls had a go at piping with chocolate and we decided to have a bite to eat. We walked into the cafe and were immediately attracted by the scones, jam and cream with a pot of tea deal. The girls had hot dogs and chips. (slimming world starts today again!!!)

Since my last visit they have converted an area outside into another attraction called 'Essence' in here we were able to choose some sweets which they they covered in melted Dairy milk. It was very yummy and very sickly!!

We had a great day out, I am glad we had free tickets or it would have been a very very expensive day!!!

On a day trip.

Today We are going to Cadburys World with my neighbour Karen, Megan and Hannah. This is one of the bonus' of having a Personal Assistant who has a husband who works for Cadbury!!
I have my camera and will report back later.

Laura...... Is back online!!!

After a very long time off line, Laura and Scott are now finally back online. Welcome back Laura!!!!

My Town Monday - Sir Ebenezer Howard

After thinking long and hard about what I can tell you about my town, I have decided to do some research and tell you all about the original founder and how our town came about.

Welwyn Garden City is the second 'Garden City' The first one being a few miles away, Letchworth Garden City. The concept of the town was bought about by the work of a prominent urban planner, Sir Ebenezer Howard.



Howard read widely, including Edward Bellamy's 1888 Utopian novel Looking Backward and thought deeply about social issues.
One result was his book (1898) titled To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real reform which was reprinted in 1902 as Garden Cities of To-Morrow. This book offered a vision of towns free of slums and enjoying the benefits of both town (such as opportunity, amusement and high wages) and country (such as beauty, fresh air and low rents). He illustrated the idea with his famous Three Magnets diagram (pictured), which addressed the question 'Where will the people go?', the choices being 'Town', 'Country' or 'Town-Country' - the Three Magnets.






It called for the creation of new suburban towns of limited size, planned in advance, and surrounded by a permanent belt of agricultural land. These Garden cities were used as a role model for many suburbs. Howard believed that such Garden Cities were the perfect blend of city and nature. The towns would be largely independent, and managed and financed by the citizens who had an economic interest in them.



His ideas attracted enough attention and financial backing to begin Letchworth Garden City, a suburban garden city north of London A second garden city, Welwyn Garden City, was started after World War I. The creation of Letchworth Garden City and Welwyn Garden City were influential in the development of "New Towns" after World War II by the British government.







NOW HERE IS THE REALLY EXCITING BIT THAT I HAD NO IDEA ABOUT........





Walt Disney used elements of Howards's concepts in his original design for EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow).



If only I had known, may have saved me a few trips to Disney over the years!!! (Mind you he wasn't responsible for Tower of Terror and Space Mountain though!!)



This is what is so exciting about doing my town Monday, I now know that Vincent Van Gogh came to town AND Ebenezer Howard was influential in some of the design of EPCOT - Brilliant!!

Back from 'Oop North'

We are back from the frozen wastes of Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Except we actually saw very little snow. Back home it seems that they had more than we did!! On Friday I met up with some of my scrapping padders buddies. I was a pleasure to meet for the first time Andrea, Jean and Gail. (I have photos of Jean and Gail but they wouldn't thank me for displaying them !!) Friday morning at 11.30am we met up at the Metro centre and headed for the Pizza Hut. The weather was terrible, blowing a gale, freezing cold and raining, apart from that it was fine. When we arrived at 'The Hut' we found that on every other day it opened at 11.30, but Good Friday they made an exception and opened at 12!! We had thirty minutes to endure the weather. Once Andrea and Jaffers arrived we went in and waited for Ginger to arrive for lunch. Its strange how you know someone having only previously spoken to them online. Gail was the only one who I really didn't know too much about, but we soon got chatting!!

After lunch Andrea went home as her poor back was starting to play up.The rest of us went back to the Metro Centre and hit Papermill, I bought a pad of the new Laura Ashley paper, which is rather nice! We took Jen back to our hotel room, (just so that we could freshen up don't you know!!)and then down to the coast where we all played at being kites in the strong wind!!

I don't think I have experienced such strong gusts, it just about blew us off of our feet!!We took Jen back to Central Station (that was a nightmare, in the past 10 years someone must have moved it!!) We eventually got her there and we were only 30 minutes late for our dinner date with Tom's sisters!! By this time it was snowing hard, great big fluffy lumps which were settling on the cars. We had dinner at The Bluebell Inn and eventually arrived back at the hotel for 11pm.

We're Off.

Today we are heading for the frozen north of the country. I started to look on line for a place to stay and came across a 4 star hotel offering Bed and Breakfast for £49 for the three of us. It sounds good. So once we have collected Beth we will be off.
Carl had a sleep over at school last night, under the guise of raising money for one of the school projects in The Gambia. He thought he was going to get some sleep, but he didn't he was up all night and I expect he will be like a bear with a sore head when he gets home. He has swimming training tonight (if he manages to get up in time!!)
This weekend Dad is going to be the chief taxi driver!!
So I am off to finish packing my wet weather and snow gear!!!

Run Beth Run...

We were quite shocked when Beth came home from school to say that she had been picked to run in the schools B cross country team. She had never shown the slightest interest in running before and we were so surprised. She practiced at school for three whole weeks before the event, running on flat ground. I really don't think she had the slightest idea what she had let herself in for!!

On the day of the race we went along with hundreds of other kids. Beth's race, for the girls B teams was run first. She set off well on a circuit that took them into the woods and included a VERY steep hill that they all had to clamber up using their hands.

She ran very well for the first round but the hill sorted out the runners from the rest. We were very proud of Beth for finishing her first ever Cross Country race. We think this is likely to be be her last race as well!!

My Town Monday - An odd fact!!!!

I was out and about taking in the local scenery when I came across the below plaque, so I photographed it with the intention of doing a bit of research on it. Its an informational Historic event kind of plaque, but it struck me as funny to celebrate such a minor event!!!

To start with it was a piece of 'History' that I have never heard talk of before, so I went off in search of further information. Well it has been very hard to come by and I did wonder at one point if the present cottage owners had decided to have the plaque made to 'big up' the history of their humble abode. The more I thought about it the more I thought that this was unlikely. If I had been trying to improve the history of my house (which I think in my case would be hard as we have lived here for 50% of the time it has been in existence, all the previous owners can claim is that they left us with the effects of numerous County Court judgements recorded against our address!!!) I would have chosen something more exciting!!

So Rose Cottages' claim to fame...... Anne Van Gogh lived in the cottage for a whole year between 1875 and 1876 and on AT LEAST a couple of occasions it is BELIEVED that her, at the time ordinary brother, Vincent Van Gogh, walked from London to visit her. It was reputed that at the time he was living in Ramsgate, he somehow managed to get to London whilst being penniless and then completed his journey on foot. We are around 22 miles North of London, so it was a reasonable trek for him. On checking on the history of the great artist, I can confirm that he was in England at the time, I can confirm that he has a brother called Theo, but info on Anne is not available!!

The fact is so unimpressive that of you do a Google search you will find only two references to this amazing fact!! (possibly three soon if enough people read this blog!!!)

So there you have it, you are now party to a very secret fact about my town, should I inform the Tourist Board????

I have made a couple of Cards.

This week Beth's Teacher gave birth to her first baby, a baby boy they have named Alex!! how exciting. She actually went into labour on Wednesday which is the day that Beth has her extra maths lesson from her husband, so we saved the tutoring fee this week!!! So in preparation I made a boy card, a girl card and an emergency either sex card!! I love this little baby grow stamp its so versatile!!

The above card is a bit of a cheat, I have made it using a 'cupcake' post it note!! Just before Christmas I spied these notes in Tesco's they came in a pack of two different designs for 99p. So I bought a pack and finally got around to using one. I stuck the post it note to some sparkly brown paper, I added the sentiment around the outside in white souffle pen. I then mounted it on green paper and then on the card. I added some 'stickles bling', which is more obvious in real life!!

This week I received a small package that I ordered from an Etsy seller in USA. I had been looking through and spotted some hand made silver and pearl rings, they are beautiful and so reasonable in price. Look Here! The lady was lovely to deal with and included an extra ring free of charge. They are made out of sterling silver wire wound around to make the ring. The stones are thread on to the wire and the wire ends are wrapped around to form a shank. I am so impressed with them, I think I may well have a go at making one, I have lots of beautiful beads!!

My Town Monday - Mill Green Mill

This week I was undecided about what to comment on, so I eventually decided to tell the story of our local Water mill - Mill Green Mill.





There has probably been a mill on this site since Saxon times, for the Doomsday survey of 1086 records that the manor of "Hetfelle", held by the Abbot of Ely, included four mills. With the dissolution of the monasteries during the reign of Henry VIII the manor of Hatfield, and thus Mill Green Watermill, came under the control of the crown. The crown maintained control until the Cecil Family took over the Hatfield estate in the early part of the 17th Century.
Mill Green Watermill remained a part of The Cecil Family estate until its purchase by Hatfield Rural District Council in the 1950s.







Down through the centuries the mill has seen many alterations and repairs. The date and initials "17 IB 62", which are still visible on a front wall brick, suggests a major rebuild was undertaken during the latter part of the 18th Century. This was probably connected with the need to increase milling capacity as the medieval system - "soke" - fell into disuse. The initials "IB" are most likely those of Joseph Biggs, a prominent entrepreneur in the area at that time. A signature dating from 1824, visible on the first floor Hurst frame, may indicate further structural work.
Modernisation of the milling industry meant that by the early 1900s the local grocer was able to supply flour much cheaper than the local mill, and so traditional milling, and, inevitably, millers themselves, began to disappear.

In 1911 the miller at Mill Green, Sydney Christmas Lawrence, dropped the sluice gate and closed the front door for the very last time. After his emigration to Australia both the building and machinery were left to fall into disrepair.

Plans to restore the mill were first formulated in the early 1970s.
The Mill Green Watermill Restoration Trust, set up in 1979, pooled the resources of a large number of interested groups and individuals.
A new staircase and first floor were installed, and the pit wheel and Hurst frame were both repaired.
The work was concluded in 1986 with the replacement of the waterwheel and millstones.
Following a break of 75 years the wheels and gears roared back into life, the millstones began to grind and Mill Green Flour was once again being made.

Now the Mill is open to the public and produces its own brand of flour. There is an education centre and a range of different exhibits. During the year there are many different interactive activities. If watching the water mill in action become too much, there is a great pub, The Green man, right next door!!!

Blogger is behaving tonight and allowing more than one photo at a time to be uploaded. Here is Dad blowing out his candles and Beth hiding in the balloons!!

The weather today has been awful heavy rain and strong wind Plus its really quite chilly. Tomorrow I have a meeting in Bury St Edmunds so I hope the weather is better!

Suprise!!!!!!!

Today we finally managed to pull off a surprise 70th Birthday Party for Dad. It has taken a bit of organising and again Beth has done us proud, not once letting slip what the plans were!!

We arranged for people to go to the Conservative Club in North Watford for 2.30pm Mum and Dad were arriving around 3. By the time we arrived the food was laid out. We put the balloons and banners up. We put the cake on the table and arranged the candles and waited for the arrival of the victim.

When they arrived dad was surprised, he was pleased to see his friends from work, some had travelled from Norfolk to be there.A lot of us had travelled from Welwyn Garden City!! Our cousins and dads brother and sister in law were there. Unfortunately we had a few people unable to make it, Uncle Roy and Auntie peg. Roy is in hospital and Auntie Peg has been struck down with the sickness bug. Karen and Graham, Andy and Pete, all struck down by the same bug!!

We had a very nice afternoon with lots more photos, but because Blogger is playing silly bloggers I can only upload one photo per post!!

SBS-9 Card Challenge.

This weekend I have had quite a good one craft wise. I have made a lot of cards and managed 5 layouts! This is my one for the March Card Challenge. Trouble is I can't actually remember what is what, or who makes what!! I used a stamp, stazon ink, a rescued ribbon and a scrap of flowery paper. I am quite pleased with the result considering its been made from scraps!!

Feeling sad.....

It has just dawned on me that I have watched the last netball match that Beth will ever play competitively for Panshanger school. I can't believe that this is her last year. What will I do? I will really miss going there and I feel that its the end of such a long and happy era.

What does it for you???

I was sitting here blog hopping and listening to the music player on my own blog, when 'How deep is your love?' by the Bee Gees came on. I knew it was there, I had chosen it, but just listening to those first few bars instantly transported me back to my youth, to the time when Saturday Night Fever was the hit of the year. I was just starting out on my career. I can clearly remember going to see the film in Watford, (when there used to be three independent cinemas!) I can remember who I went with (Debbie Roberts) I can remember watching the film and being totally in love with John Travolta.
I can remember coming out of the film and getting into Debs car only to realise that someone had broken into her car and nicked my cassette tape of the film tracks!!
Its funny how music is the signature tune of our lives, it allows us to pinpoint exactly what was going on at that time. I have other songs that take me back.

'Puppy Love' - Donny Osmond. Memories of listening to this 45 record over and over again on my portable record player. I knew/know all the words!!
'Now that we've found love' by Third World and 'Shame' by Evelyn Champagne King- takes me back to training school and the fun I had there.
'A message to you Rudy' - Specials - A great night out at Hatfield Polytechnic!
'Hit me with your rhythm stick' Ian Dury and the Blockheads 1978 absolutely classic!
'Vindaloo' Fat Les - Memories of driving to Whitby in the sun with the windows down!
'Avalon'- Roxy music (Bryan Ferry, I married the wrong Geordie!!!)

These are just a few of the memories that spring to mind, what music brings back memories for you??

Hello Buzz and Woody!!

Hello Woody!!


Hello Buzz!

Last week Beth's hamster, Fudge, passed away. He was old for a hamster, he was over three years old. He had been looking quite elderly and slow of late. Beth was still very upset to find that he had gone when she went to feed him. We buried in the garden.
She had asked us ages ago if she could have a bird if anything happened to Fudge and we had said yes. So last Saturday we chose these two little flappers to live with us!!
Woody is green and yellow and is around 3 months old. He is a little boy, you can tell this by the colour of the cere which is the small blue/purple patch above his nose.
Buzz is Turquoise and yellow, he is younger by a month he is not fully grown as yet. The other problem is that we are not fully sure what sex Buzz is, the cere is still quite pink in colour. If it turns brown it would mean Buzz is a lady. If that turns out to be the case we will have to rename him Jessie!! They are pretty little birds who have settled in really well.

School Allocation!!

Well this time everything has gone according to plan!! Beth will be going to Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School and Sports college, our first choice, Megs over the road got her first choice of Bishops Hatfield girls school and Sam got his first choice of St Marys Catholic and Performing Arts School Bishops Stortford,(Waves to their mums, Karen and Debbie!!!)
Phew, thank goodness that's the last time we ever have to go through that!!

Netball - An Explanation !!!

I had no idea that Netball wasn't an international sport until one of my readers said they thought it was like Basket ball, so although there are some similarities, it is a completely different sport.

Netball is played on a court which is divided into thirds with a semi circle in each of the end thirds. The posts with the nets stand just outside the court in the middle of the semi circles.
Its a team sport with 7 players, when it is played at primary school the teams can be mixed boys and girls, although it is mainly played by girls. Once the game is played competitively out of school teams are all female.

Each player is only allowed in designated parts of the court, only 4 designated players are allowed in the semi circles, two goal shooters and two defenders. It is a non contact sport, once you have possession of the ball you can not run or walk with it, if you do you commit a foul. If you drop the ball and pick it up again, you commit a foul, If you step into an area you are not allowed in you commit a foul, if you get too close to your 'partner' you commit a foul, With all those restrictions it is still a fast game and tactics help players know which space to throw the ball into! (or not sometimes !!)

My Town Monday - Welwyn Viaduct.

The Welwyn Viaduct, also called Digswell Viaduct is a famous viaduct over the River Mimram and a locally important landmark. It is located between Welwyn Garden City and Digswell. It is just to the south of Welwyn North railway station.The viaduct is around 1,560ft (475m) long and comprises forty arches of 30ft (9.1m) span, and is 100ft (30m) high from ground level to trackbed. It is built of brick fired from brick clay quarried on site during construction, and took two years to build, including the construction of embankments at both ends which required the movement of around one million tons of earth by human and horse power. Local history says that for every arch built a man died during the construction of it.

It was designed by William Cubitt and styled after a Roman aqueduct.It was originally opened by Queen Victoria on 6 August 1850, and remains in use today, carrying the East Coast Main Line, which has to narrow from four tracks to two to cross the viaduct, making it a bottleneck restraining capacity over this strategic transport route. Several ideas to overcome this limitation without damaging its essential historic character and design are periodically discussed. The line was electrified in the 1970s.

There is a story that the Queen herself was anxious about taking the train over the 100 foot high viaduct, and preferred to disembark before reaching it, travelling by road to the next station on the other side.

Saturday Morning Entertainment.

A toss up between Beth and a player from Peartree.

Beth and David practicing !!!

The Runners Up - Minus Tears!!

Saturday Morning was Welwyn Garden City Primary Schools Netball Tournament which is held at Stanborough School. We (Panshanger Primary) had two teams entered, the A team and the B team!! There were two competitions in one, the B team played in a round robin with other B teams and the A team played in a knock out competition. The B team played well and won their competition.
Beth plays for the A team , they have been unbeaten for around the last 18 months and have won the last two tournaments. The first match of the tournament was against Peartree JMI, It was a really rough match with a lot of physical contact, which was odd as its not a contact sport!! After a hard slog the match ended a draw, which was a fair result as we had chances which we were not able to convert into goals. (it was incredibly windy and freezing cold!!)
We won the rest of the games in our section and went through to the semi-finals against Applecroft. Again we beat Applecroft and went into the final. We were in the final playing Peartree again. It was a very scrappy match which was very physical, this seemed to bring out the worse in our team and we struggled from the very beginning. Eventually after a very hard fought match Panshanger lost 3-2. There were lots of tears. The problem was they felt as if they had not lost fair and square. Our players were knocked over, elbowed and scratched, it seemed that every single penalty pass and shot went against us. None the less they received runners up medals and certificates and played a very good tournament!!