Going Away

It's half term and we're off to Germany to visit C's family in an hour. I thought I'd just pop on to say I'll be away for a few days. Looking forward to seeing the new baby born since our last visit to C's sister.

Apparently it's cold out there so we've packed lots of  woollies, hats and gloves. We're only allowed 3 cases between us but as we're only out there a few days we managed to get all our bulky winter clothing in alright. Hope all the rules and regulations aren't going to bother any of our packing, there are so many now and don't they keep changing?!

The girls are sad at saying goodbye to their pets but they'll be in good hands as a friend will be coming every day to feed and water them.

Here are the suitcases, all packed and ready to go, C and A are sharing, C is the closed tidy half, and A is the muddled half, of course.

                              
                                                                      Mine

                                                            E has her own.

                                                        All finished and ready to go

Ok, all packed -check
House tidied and cleaned - check
Everyone hair tidy and travel clothes on - check
That's it - we're off!

Firemen in the House

Lucky us! We had a fire check last evening which meant a couple of burly firemen came in and had a little check around to see if we have the right safety measures in case of fire. They were impressed with our extinguisher by the front door, the fire blanket in a kitchen cupboard and two smoke alarms exactly where they should be. They asked when we last checked them, to which we were able to say frequently, meaning every time I burn the toast.

As our house is on a corner it got used as a meeting point so we had several more burly firemen squeezed into our narrow corridor discussing their evening so far. Lovely!!

They left us (far too soon in my opinion) with a booklet, and some new alarms to replace ours when the batteries run out with new ones which should last us 10 years, or possibly a lot less with my record of toast burning.

I didn't get a chance to photograph them as their visit was all too short (for me), so I leave you with a couple of pics of the firemen from the St Marks Rd fair the other week

                                                             A fire engine, taken by A

An Old Fashioned Evening

Last night we had a slide evening, yes you read it right, we looked at slides - with a projector, slide screen and all. C had brought back from his mother's, not only a table to decoupage and the grandmother clock but his mother's slides, screen and the projector from the 1970's.

A helped set it all up with her dad, getting the height right and the projector facing correctly, remember all that?? Once all set up we settled down to watch, 'Look how long that skirt is' cried the girls at the maxi skirts on view, 'Look at your collar, Dad, they're so long' they laughed, 'And your haircut' 'and your shorts are so short'. C and I marvelled 'Where are the cars?' at the almost empty roads.

We looked at Vienna, Versailles, views from the Eiffel Tower, Amsterdam, a little cottage in on the border between Holland and Germany where in the grounds one foot was in the the one country and the other in, well, the other. Neat and tidy public gardens in Bath in the UK with regimented flowers, mountainsides with sheer drops, caves full of stalactites and boats floating beneath, an Austrian friend of C's mother wearing a traditional cap replete with feather, restaurants in the air- so many wonders.

                                                  Here's us watching

                                                             One of the slides

Grandmother Clock

If you remember C was away the other night. The reason being he went to buy a new old clock. This time and for the first time, a huge one, not as huge as a Grandfather clock but next best, a Grandmother Clock. And here it is posing alongside it's new owner, C himself.

It was made in 1760, the face isn't inside yet as it needs a bit of tweaking to bring it up to perfection, though it's been well looked after by it's most recent owner, a nice old lady from the small town of Ottery St Mary - hence C staying away at his mother's the night who lives close by.

It's slightly unusual being highly carved, but we love it. Only trouble is - where do we put it?? Any suggestions please post in the comments box.

Strictly Come Dancing

My two favourite dances from last week were the terrific Ann Widdicome - love her! And she has created a first, a smile from that nasty judge, (Craig Revellhord - is that his name? A says that's what it sounds like). Here she is




The other from the bloke from Eastenders, who knew he had a dance rhythm (and cute wiggle!)? Here he is



A is watching it with me now while E gets on with her science assignment on the laptop, wish my homework had been so much fun, I might have actually done it then! The fires lit, lamp on, cosy here and lovely dancing and pretty dresses to watch, aah.

Here's Strictly. By the way, do you like our new bit of Ikea under the TV? We've stained in an attempt to posh it up a bit

                                                    And here's the fire

Quiet Evening

Just E and myself in tonight, A is having tea at my friends to keep her son company and C has chauffeured himself off to Devizes, a town around an hour from here to visit his friend and his girlfriend in their new cottage. He'll most likely stay the night as they'll probably go for a pint (or 3) and meet up with lots of people he's not seen in a while.

A is lovely to be going to tea and spending time with my friends son. Sadly being autistic and children his own age not quite knowing how to be with him, he doesn't have any other friends and regards A as his favourite. He's so exited she's coming over this evening.

The types of activities they'll get up to may involve going out for a while with one of his teachers on bikes or scooters, then back home to eat, afterwards making jigsaws, followed by the boy's favourite activity of computer games - just like most other kids, including A, so she'll be happy. Then winding down with some unsuitable film from what H tells me, her husband R let her start to watch it last time she went for tea and she didn't get to see it all. I'm not sure it's something she should see but R loves to indulge my girls, hmm.

What'll I do with E tonight? Perhaps I could get her to help me organise some cupboards in my room, something I hate and she adores. Sorting out my jewellery, necklaces here, bracelets there, all neat and tidy and easy for me to find when I want it. Or clothes - 'Can I have this Mum?' 'You can't wear that, Mum!' 'This is so old fashioned, Mum!' Most of it will be gone by the end. That'll solve my space problem. And then we'll have a nice bung-in-the-oven ready meal for our tea, easy.

Images of Italy

Here are a few images of Italy I like

Got to have a classic fiat here

Cafe at Nemi

Recognise this?

And this?

Sneaky Video of A

Sssh, keep this quiet - if A knew about this being here she'd not be happy. So catch it while you can. 

It's actually 3 vids in one, and don't forget you can enlarge it by clicking on the black square.

Slideshow of the St Marks Rd fair

In case anyone was interested in a few more pics of the fair last weekend, here's a slideshow. The quality isn't great after being uploaded onto here, unfortunately, but it helps if you click the black square to make it fullscreen.

Decoupage

C's mother has been gradually de-cluttering over the last few years. After C visited a few days ago he returned with, among other items, this small coffee table. Nice, and useful. I've decided it would look even nicer after decoupaging. For anyone not familiar with the term it basically means sticking pictures on and varnishing. 

To this end I've bought myself a book on how to decoupage - a bargain at £2! 

Here is the table with the book which is going to help with the transformation

                           Here is a close up of my new book.

                          When it's done, I'll post up a picture.

Wrinkled Ladies

Here's a bit of fun to watch, the original is in the post below.

Beyoncé - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)

The real deal. Fab, isn't it?

St Marks Rd Festival

Last weekend it was St Marks Rd festival where the scouts always have a stall to raise the profile of the 128th scout group. The leaders go in their uniforms and scouts turn up to help in theirs. A tombola is always one of the highlights of the stall. It's expected that the parents help out here. I don't have a uniform so I get to wear a pinny instead to collect the money - the height of fashion.

This year the festival was held later in the year than usual and due to the organiser of this and the organiser of the community centre not communicating there was another festival for the 20th anniversay of the Community Centre being held on the same day, thus we needed to compete, which I do with gusto shouting out for all to hear 'Tombola! 4 tickets for a pound!'

A enjoyed herself wandering around with her friend R, another scout, coming back occasionally to help find prizes for the winners, but mostly just spending her and my money on the goodies from other stalls. That's her, 9th picture down eating a dhall and curried vegetables given away free from the local Morroccan. Tables were laid from end to end on the street for everyone to eat the free food.

My pictures are still not up to much while I still get used to the new camera, but you get the idea. Note the diverseness of the people who live here.

Sad Sunset

It's been absolutely pouring down all day. C chauffeured us to pick the girls up from their school bus and offered to take us all out to Pizza Hut for tea. But as poor E was almost soaked to the skin from having to wait in the rain for the bus, she declined the offer - much to the chagrin of A who was most put out, pizza being one of her favourite foods, well, anything made by someone other than me is preferable, really. E told us we could go and she'd sit in the car but how could we do that? So home we went and E was able to take off her shoes which had puddles in them, she said.

We did get a sunset, though, but a very sad looking one. I had to snap it fast, it was gone a minute later.