Almost up to date....
So in the first half of March Mum & Dad came to stay for a weekend. We had thoughts of being very busy and almost boarded out the loft and replaced the vinyl in the kitchen but in the end we just replaced the toilet seat :)
Finally it came time for my holiday. I'd booked a hotel at Heathrow for the Friday night due to the early flight the next day and somewhere to leave the car for the two weeks but hadn't booked the Friday off work, which was a mistake. So I worked through til about 1.30pm and left early to get home swap my work bag for my suitcase and set off for Heathrow.
I knew that driving down to London on a Friday night was never going to be a good idea but there wasn't much that I could do about that. Thankfully most of the journey down, although the news reports were full of incidents on the M1 they were all on the northbound side so it was just the M25 to tackle. As expected it was bad and that last part of the journey took about 1.5 hours to get round to the hotel but I thought being in my room by 7.30pm wasn't too bad.
An early start the next morning and I was at the airport for 5.45pm, if I'd arrived half an hour later I wouldn't have had to queue up for most of that time but I managed to arrive at the same time as a lot of others, including a very large party of Japanese who took up all the space at the self check in machines so I managed to sneak onto when they weren't looking. As I was on the same flight as Helga's Mum, Rosa, I waited for them to arrive and check in before going through security and meeting her at the gate. I was a little concerned about the communications problems ( me not speaking Portuguese, Rosa not speaking English) but generally it seemed to go ok. Rosa kept talking to me and I kept saying I didn't understand before getting to the point where I just had to guess at what she was saying and try to give a response. This worked quite well for a while and we managed to pass the 3 hours together waiting for the connection in Lisbon. The problem was once we got to Belo Horizonte, Rosa was looking for the person collecting her and I was looking for Catherine, she went one direction, I stayed where I was and never saw her again. I did get in touch with Helga though and she assured me that Rosa got home safely!
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
Saturday, 20 March 2010
Sunday, 28 February 2010
February 10
Either not much happened in February or I didn't keep my calendar up to date. I'm hoping it's the latter and not that I didn't have anything to do.
I do remember going over to the Lavers after a Huddersfield work day mid week and finding out that we were all going to be up in Stockton at the weekend. Mum & I went to Northallerton Saturday morning to order picture frames and then met Dad for lunch at the lovely Roots Farm Shop. Saturday night Vicky, Charlie and I went out for drinks, in true old woman style we also had chips and were home by 10.30pm!
At the end of the month we went to see Beauty and the Beast in York. As always with York Light Opera it was well done, it's not one of my favourite on stage musicals but I did find myself singing along to a lot of it and the actor playing the Beast was really good.
And that was February.
I do remember going over to the Lavers after a Huddersfield work day mid week and finding out that we were all going to be up in Stockton at the weekend. Mum & I went to Northallerton Saturday morning to order picture frames and then met Dad for lunch at the lovely Roots Farm Shop. Saturday night Vicky, Charlie and I went out for drinks, in true old woman style we also had chips and were home by 10.30pm!
At the end of the month we went to see Beauty and the Beast in York. As always with York Light Opera it was well done, it's not one of my favourite on stage musicals but I did find myself singing along to a lot of it and the actor playing the Beast was really good.
And that was February.
Sunday, 31 January 2010
January 10
As there had been so much snow in December it stopped me visiting the Lavers to meet Isaac when he was born, despite my attempt to get there after 3 hours driving in the snow I decided the more sensible option was to turn back home. So I re-planned my visit for 2nd January and again the snow tried to thwart me! This time after a quick call from Charlie before setting off we changed plans and I went to get the train instead which was definitely a better idea than driving. It was a lovely day seeing Isaac, building snowmen and throwing snowballs up at the house.
Most of January was tied up with working, from December we had recruited someone temporarily to cover my day job for me so that I could work on the planning for the restructure, ready for announcing the first part at the end of January. It made it much easier for me to be able to pass everything else over and just work on the restructure.
At the end of the month I managed to get a day off to get down to Sal & Rob's for the weekend. I'd booked to fly down as it seemed probably the same cost as driving but a lot less hassle. By the time I was on the plane on the Thursday after a day at work I was again pleased not to be driving so much. It was a lovely relaxing weekend, we had some house things to do, wait for deliveries, view all the plans for the decorating and watch films in the cinema room downstairs.
In January I also had my injections in preparation for my trip to Brazil. For all the travelling that I've done I've never had to have vaccinnations for anywhere that I've been, which meant that I had to have all the booster shots as well. So I went for most of them on one day Tetanus, Diptheria and Polio in one shot in one arm, Typhoid and Hepititus A in the other. Then a few days later Yellow Fever (for a price) that was the only one I was worried about but of course the actual injection was no worse than the others and I didn't feel too ill after it. Now just to get to March for the holiday!
Most of January was tied up with working, from December we had recruited someone temporarily to cover my day job for me so that I could work on the planning for the restructure, ready for announcing the first part at the end of January. It made it much easier for me to be able to pass everything else over and just work on the restructure.
At the end of the month I managed to get a day off to get down to Sal & Rob's for the weekend. I'd booked to fly down as it seemed probably the same cost as driving but a lot less hassle. By the time I was on the plane on the Thursday after a day at work I was again pleased not to be driving so much. It was a lovely relaxing weekend, we had some house things to do, wait for deliveries, view all the plans for the decorating and watch films in the cinema room downstairs.
In January I also had my injections in preparation for my trip to Brazil. For all the travelling that I've done I've never had to have vaccinnations for anywhere that I've been, which meant that I had to have all the booster shots as well. So I went for most of them on one day Tetanus, Diptheria and Polio in one shot in one arm, Typhoid and Hepititus A in the other. Then a few days later Yellow Fever (for a price) that was the only one I was worried about but of course the actual injection was no worse than the others and I didn't feel too ill after it. Now just to get to March for the holiday!
Friday, 1 January 2010
Christmas 09
I finished work on 23rd December this year and because of the snow decided to get straight up to Mum & Dad's that day rather than wait until Christmas Eve. It was definitely a good decision as it snowed again overnight and was much worse for travelling in.
Christmas Day was just going to be the three of us but with various visits to church, Sandra's and Joan & Albert's with all their family, there wasn't much time when it was just us. Boxing Day we went for another dinner at Bill and Margo's then Sal & Rob arrived on 27th from the Lakes. We had a visit from Sarah and Jon one afternoon before Sal & Rob headed back to Southampton to their new house, having owned it for 2 weeks they'd only spent less than 24 hours in there. I had another couple of days catching up with people, crashing Mark & Carlie's House Group Christmas Dinner and seeing Joanne and Catherine.
Robert and Laraine arrived to stay for a few days over New Year and I took until New Year's Eve to decide that I would stay another night and spend the evening at the Toops. Definitely my kind of New Year's, food, quiz, games and home by 12.45am.
Christmas Day was just going to be the three of us but with various visits to church, Sandra's and Joan & Albert's with all their family, there wasn't much time when it was just us. Boxing Day we went for another dinner at Bill and Margo's then Sal & Rob arrived on 27th from the Lakes. We had a visit from Sarah and Jon one afternoon before Sal & Rob headed back to Southampton to their new house, having owned it for 2 weeks they'd only spent less than 24 hours in there. I had another couple of days catching up with people, crashing Mark & Carlie's House Group Christmas Dinner and seeing Joanne and Catherine.
Robert and Laraine arrived to stay for a few days over New Year and I took until New Year's Eve to decide that I would stay another night and spend the evening at the Toops. Definitely my kind of New Year's, food, quiz, games and home by 12.45am.
Thursday, 24 December 2009
December 09
December as usual was generally filled with Christmas things starting with the Reflect Fundraisers of a Craft Fair and a Carol concert. I volunteered to help at the craft fair, which I thought would be helping in the kitchen but turned out to be standing in the middle of Stonegate with a very large sign and occasionally shouting 'craft fair, coffee and cakes'. I think I knew this before but it turns out I'm not very good at shouting, so I didn't do that bit so often but more gently persuaded people to go in for the cakes! One lady did come back out and say it had been a very good recommendation so I must have been doing a half decent sales pitch.
The same evening was the Carol Concert so after a quick change it was out to the URC to help set up. The concert was really good, Hannah had found some willing music student volunteers to make up the choir who were all fantastic. Definitely feeling more Christmassy now, although by this point I think my Christmas tree has been up for a week already.
A week before Christmas was the work Christmas Party. There isn't much to report from that, good meal at the Queen's Hotel in Leeds followed by a disco. It took me a long time to get my head around having all this from 1pm but then by 5pm I was back on the train to York :)
The last pre-Christmas event was the old peoples Christmas meal at church, I was there at 9.30am peeling sprouts, wrapping pigs in blankets, mixing stuffing ready for lunch at 1pm. I think we were 5 or 10 mins late but generally it all seemed to go quite smoothly and there were no complaints with the food.
The same evening was the Carol Concert so after a quick change it was out to the URC to help set up. The concert was really good, Hannah had found some willing music student volunteers to make up the choir who were all fantastic. Definitely feeling more Christmassy now, although by this point I think my Christmas tree has been up for a week already.
A week before Christmas was the work Christmas Party. There isn't much to report from that, good meal at the Queen's Hotel in Leeds followed by a disco. It took me a long time to get my head around having all this from 1pm but then by 5pm I was back on the train to York :)
The last pre-Christmas event was the old peoples Christmas meal at church, I was there at 9.30am peeling sprouts, wrapping pigs in blankets, mixing stuffing ready for lunch at 1pm. I think we were 5 or 10 mins late but generally it all seemed to go quite smoothly and there were no complaints with the food.
Monday, 30 November 2009
November 09
November seems like it was pretty quiet. The usual work and travelling, Saturday nights critiquing Strictly Come Dancing with Gillian and Naomi, a catch up dinner with Susie and Emily from my old work - although I don't think I was so well at this one and ended up being sick at the restaurant and going home early. Went to see High Society, done by an amateur group in York. I also had someone come do a valuation on my house and I went to view another house, having had the idea put in my head that I might think about moving I decided to look into it a bit. I decided not to do anything more about it then but haven't completely dismissed the idea. That seems to sum up November.
Saturday, 31 October 2009
October 09
October started with Dad's 65th Birthday. I met Mum, Dad, Sandra, Joan and Albert in Richmond after work on the Friday, having been in Huddersfield that day and we had a lovely dinner before going to the theatre. It was a West Country Theatre production called Home on the Range and the three actresses in it were very good and as seems to be common with their productions, very good use of very few props.
Saturday was the Amazing Praise concert, this year foolishly, I didn't start practicing until a week before and had a crisis of confidence and almost pulled out of it. Mum and I spent some time on the morning clearly marking the notes that I was going to play and which I was going to ignore. I think it worked quite well and I managed to get through it without too much embarrassment, thankfully there were two other cellists there so I managed to hide behind them. Next year must learn to say no, or have something already booked in for that weekend....
I finally had a week off work in October, having been the only one not to take much time off work over summer this was the first opportunity to take more than a day off at once. After I'd booked it in I needed to decide what to do with it so I of course, looked at who I could go visit and decided that Madrid in October would be nice so I set off to stay with Vicky for 3 nights. After arriving on the Saturday we went out for Ice Cream and cinema. Sunday was mainly sightseeing, trip on the funicular railway. There was a birthday party that Vicky wanted to go to for twins of a girl who had been helped by the pregnancy crisis service in Madrid that she volunteers as so we spent a couple of hours there. My main conversation was with a 5 month old girl as no one else spoke English but we were fine until someone else came for a cuddle with her and then I was left to play toys on my own. Monday Vicky was working for some of the time so I wandered round the gardens, read my book in the sun and then Tuesday morning we went to the cathedral and the royal palace.
I spent the rest of the week at Mum and Dad's, getting to catch up with quite a few people - dinner with Vicky and Ben and lunch with Carlie and Noah before joining them for Helen and Paul's Wedding. I think officially that makes me a wedding crasher but no one seemed to mind!
Saturday was the Amazing Praise concert, this year foolishly, I didn't start practicing until a week before and had a crisis of confidence and almost pulled out of it. Mum and I spent some time on the morning clearly marking the notes that I was going to play and which I was going to ignore. I think it worked quite well and I managed to get through it without too much embarrassment, thankfully there were two other cellists there so I managed to hide behind them. Next year must learn to say no, or have something already booked in for that weekend....
I finally had a week off work in October, having been the only one not to take much time off work over summer this was the first opportunity to take more than a day off at once. After I'd booked it in I needed to decide what to do with it so I of course, looked at who I could go visit and decided that Madrid in October would be nice so I set off to stay with Vicky for 3 nights. After arriving on the Saturday we went out for Ice Cream and cinema. Sunday was mainly sightseeing, trip on the funicular railway. There was a birthday party that Vicky wanted to go to for twins of a girl who had been helped by the pregnancy crisis service in Madrid that she volunteers as so we spent a couple of hours there. My main conversation was with a 5 month old girl as no one else spoke English but we were fine until someone else came for a cuddle with her and then I was left to play toys on my own. Monday Vicky was working for some of the time so I wandered round the gardens, read my book in the sun and then Tuesday morning we went to the cathedral and the royal palace.
I spent the rest of the week at Mum and Dad's, getting to catch up with quite a few people - dinner with Vicky and Ben and lunch with Carlie and Noah before joining them for Helen and Paul's Wedding. I think officially that makes me a wedding crasher but no one seemed to mind!
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
September 09
So in trying to get my blog back up to date I've decided just to have a look at my diary and see what I did each month and try and remember the highlights. Probably won't be all that interesting but we'll give it a go for now.
So September, I went for a weekend to Sal's. Always a good weekend, this time we went up to London for a day on the Saturday to see Les Mis, my fourth time, Sal's sixth I think. Of the six of us that were there I think we'd seen it 22 times between us by the time it was finished. Great show as ever.
The following weekend we had a girls evening out to Harewood House to see Grease as a drive in movie. We did the same 2 years before at York Racecourse (much more convenient for getting to but Harewood wasn't too far). After a slight rearranging of cars when we first got there and ignoring the stewards waving us in so that we could get all three cars together and not park behind the tallest 4x4 there, we settled in for some food first. It was a good evening for the film and as always involved a lot of singing along - still surprised at how much of it I can quote only watching it every few years!
The rest of the month seems to have been filled with the usual work, travelling around Yorkshire, fitting in a visit to the Lavers when on a Huddersfield work day, and the start of Strictly Come Dancing seems to have marked the start of many Saturday evenings with Naomi and Gillian passing commentary on the dances - in my no so expert opinion.
Now onto October....
So September, I went for a weekend to Sal's. Always a good weekend, this time we went up to London for a day on the Saturday to see Les Mis, my fourth time, Sal's sixth I think. Of the six of us that were there I think we'd seen it 22 times between us by the time it was finished. Great show as ever.
The following weekend we had a girls evening out to Harewood House to see Grease as a drive in movie. We did the same 2 years before at York Racecourse (much more convenient for getting to but Harewood wasn't too far). After a slight rearranging of cars when we first got there and ignoring the stewards waving us in so that we could get all three cars together and not park behind the tallest 4x4 there, we settled in for some food first. It was a good evening for the film and as always involved a lot of singing along - still surprised at how much of it I can quote only watching it every few years!
The rest of the month seems to have been filled with the usual work, travelling around Yorkshire, fitting in a visit to the Lavers when on a Huddersfield work day, and the start of Strictly Come Dancing seems to have marked the start of many Saturday evenings with Naomi and Gillian passing commentary on the dances - in my no so expert opinion.
Now onto October....
Sunday, 30 August 2009
No Wellies!
After a very muddy weekend last year at North 08, we were back for another year at North 09. I once again took advantage of Mum and Dad living close by to the event and drove the 10 mins from the house to Coul Beck Farm for Saturday and Sunday rather than pitching a tent for the weekend.
I started off the bank holiday weekend with a lovely evening on Friday with Mark, Carlie and Noah, who I haven't seen enough of over the past year so it was great to spend the whole evening with them. Then it was off to the farm for two days. The weather was fine so there was no need for the wellies that had been so essential last year. This year I was just a visitor and not a helper so after doing children's work for the last three years I was looking forward to break and just being in the adult meetings. The morning meetings David Stroud leader of Christ Church London spoke and in the evening Jeremy Simpkins from Jubilee Church, Teesside, both following the theme of the weekend of Transformation of our lives, our churches and our cities and towns. These were also supported by the afternoon seminars of which I went to hear Arnold Bell speaking on being transformed through the Word on Sunday afternoon.
It's been a great weekend, listening to some really good speakers who are so passionate about seeing the churches grow in the UK and across the world, and it's been a great chance to spend time with some friends from church and get to know people better.
I started off the bank holiday weekend with a lovely evening on Friday with Mark, Carlie and Noah, who I haven't seen enough of over the past year so it was great to spend the whole evening with them. Then it was off to the farm for two days. The weather was fine so there was no need for the wellies that had been so essential last year. This year I was just a visitor and not a helper so after doing children's work for the last three years I was looking forward to break and just being in the adult meetings. The morning meetings David Stroud leader of Christ Church London spoke and in the evening Jeremy Simpkins from Jubilee Church, Teesside, both following the theme of the weekend of Transformation of our lives, our churches and our cities and towns. These were also supported by the afternoon seminars of which I went to hear Arnold Bell speaking on being transformed through the Word on Sunday afternoon.
It's been a great weekend, listening to some really good speakers who are so passionate about seeing the churches grow in the UK and across the world, and it's been a great chance to spend time with some friends from church and get to know people better.
Monday, 17 August 2009
Birthday things
I've had another lovely birthday weekend. Similar to last year, Sally arrived on Thursday evening and we had a lot planned. Friday morning was the most relaxing couple of hours at Harrogate Turkish Baths. I think we undid any good detoxing that had been done by going to Betty's for lunch and over-indulging in an Afternoon Tea, if only I'd not eaten the last little cake...
Saturday lunchtime followed the same indulgence with a visit to Cafe Concerto before Sarah arrived (early amazingly!) from Stockton. It was another afternoon at the pottery painting studio, Sal again taking twice as long as I do, making sure her design is perfectly placed and painted. You can tell in the finished items that I should have spent a bit more time in making sure that I'd put enough paint on my mug! I was pleased though when Ruth came round after I'd collected the glazed finished products and asked where I'd bought my new mug from! Only spoilt by showing her the gold blob in the bottom where the star went wrong so I just painted the whole circle on the bottom leaving it looking like something has died in the bottom of the mug.
Saturday night I had some of the girls around, after my usual panic about having people in my house it was a lovely evening of food, drink and chatting. The whole weekend was then finished off with a visit from Mum & Dad on Sunday for my birthday, another lovely lunch out at The White Swan at Deighton (will start diet again soon...) and a lazy afternoon watching the athletics, a great birthday again!
Saturday lunchtime followed the same indulgence with a visit to Cafe Concerto before Sarah arrived (early amazingly!) from Stockton. It was another afternoon at the pottery painting studio, Sal again taking twice as long as I do, making sure her design is perfectly placed and painted. You can tell in the finished items that I should have spent a bit more time in making sure that I'd put enough paint on my mug! I was pleased though when Ruth came round after I'd collected the glazed finished products and asked where I'd bought my new mug from! Only spoilt by showing her the gold blob in the bottom where the star went wrong so I just painted the whole circle on the bottom leaving it looking like something has died in the bottom of the mug.
Saturday night I had some of the girls around, after my usual panic about having people in my house it was a lovely evening of food, drink and chatting. The whole weekend was then finished off with a visit from Mum & Dad on Sunday for my birthday, another lovely lunch out at The White Swan at Deighton (will start diet again soon...) and a lazy afternoon watching the athletics, a great birthday again!
Saturday, 8 August 2009
A little early
I've sent my first Christmas card of the year today. When Sal and Rob decided to have World Vision Wish List for their wedding list, I decided that as I've said for years that I would sponsor a child, then it was about time I did it. So I've sponsored a little girl called Tiange Modu from Sierra Leone. She's 4 years old and she likes toys. That was all I knew about her at first, then a few weeks ago I got a letter written by one of the World Vision volunteers and with a print of her hand and some information about the development where she lives which has mango, orange and coconut trees and most of the people are farmers. 
Today I was sent through a Christmas card to send her, because some of the developments that they work in are so remote then it can take a long time to get cards to them for Christmas that they need them back by September to start sending them out. I can't say I would have picked it myself - a cartoon camel doesn't usually feature on the cards that I choose for Christmas. But I've written it and sent it off already, now I just need to be as organised with sending the rest of them before Christmas.
Today I was sent through a Christmas card to send her, because some of the developments that they work in are so remote then it can take a long time to get cards to them for Christmas that they need them back by September to start sending them out. I can't say I would have picked it myself - a cartoon camel doesn't usually feature on the cards that I choose for Christmas. But I've written it and sent it off already, now I just need to be as organised with sending the rest of them before Christmas.
Sunday, 17 May 2009
Eurovision
Tonight was the annual Eurovision evening at Gillian's. I'm always amazed at how much Eurovision history Gillian can remember, if you asked her which country won in 2003 she'd be able to sing the song and probably recall most of the outfits that were worn that year as well.
I had pointed out to her earlier in the week that the semi-finals were on TV so by the final on Saturday she could give a description of each of the country's singers, outfits, dance routines and songs. As always there were badges, scoring, whistles and a box of chocolates to win in the sweep stake. As there were 5 of us then we had 5 countries each, so as each one performed we cheered for our countries.
As there was a change in voting rules this year then it made it so much more exciting to watch the scoring and when the UK gets points it's even better! A respectable 5th place for the UK and I'm pleased to say that for the second year running I won the chocolates - Go Norway!
I had pointed out to her earlier in the week that the semi-finals were on TV so by the final on Saturday she could give a description of each of the country's singers, outfits, dance routines and songs. As always there were badges, scoring, whistles and a box of chocolates to win in the sweep stake. As there were 5 of us then we had 5 countries each, so as each one performed we cheered for our countries.
As there was a change in voting rules this year then it made it so much more exciting to watch the scoring and when the UK gets points it's even better! A respectable 5th place for the UK and I'm pleased to say that for the second year running I won the chocolates - Go Norway!
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Fruit Salad Berthdays
It was my friend's birthday on Wednesday and as she's a school teacher and spends the day with 6 year olds she planned a Fruit Salad Day. Now why don't I get to do things like this during the day! The day before they had to draw their fruit bowls and plan what fruit they were going to put in them and so that she knew what fruit to buy so that on Wednesday they spent the whole day cutting up fruit arranging it in their bowls and then eating it! I'm going to suggest this at work!
For the time in between making fruit salad they had some free time so they sat at the craft table and knowing that it was her birthday most of them made her a card. Some of them were so cute! As they are still in the early years of school they've been taught different word sounds and how there are different spellings for the same sounds. They've not really got as far as knowing exactly which ones to use yet so my favourite card read "Happy Berthday Miss Larner, I hoap you have a good berthday"!
I think that was better than the letter I had in at work on the same day, from someone a lot older than 6 years old, which I will give full marks for consistency but was amazed at the spelling of Cud and Cuddent (for Could and Couldn't in case you hadn't guessed!).
For the time in between making fruit salad they had some free time so they sat at the craft table and knowing that it was her birthday most of them made her a card. Some of them were so cute! As they are still in the early years of school they've been taught different word sounds and how there are different spellings for the same sounds. They've not really got as far as knowing exactly which ones to use yet so my favourite card read "Happy Berthday Miss Larner, I hoap you have a good berthday"!
I think that was better than the letter I had in at work on the same day, from someone a lot older than 6 years old, which I will give full marks for consistency but was amazed at the spelling of Cud and Cuddent (for Could and Couldn't in case you hadn't guessed!).
Sunday, 17 August 2008
The Big 3-0 (part 2)
So after a lovely day on Friday, then official Birthday arrived on Saturday. So many people obviously thought I'd forgotten how old I was going to be so they kindly gave me lots of cards with a big 30 on the front to remind me.
Matthew, Charlie and Abi came round after breakfast and we started to get ready for my BBQ in the evening which involved putting up the gazebo that next door had kindly lent me in anticipation that the great English weather in the middle of August is not as good as you might expect. Auntie's Pauline and Sandra arrived after lunch which was lovely and then it was back to preparations. I think we would have planned to be a little bit further on in the preparation by 4pm but we weren't! So there was a lot of hard work put in by Mum, Dad and Sal - Big Thanks!
Then it was party time! Mum & Dad had brought with them some (not too) embarrassing photos of me spanning my 30 years, which were generally quite amusing - I still think the Noddy fancy dress costume was the best! I had a lovely evening so thank you to everyone that made it on the evening and to those who couldn't make it thank you for the messages, cards and presents.
Sunday was a fairly quiet affair, more fun with Abi who decided that at 23 months she is old enough to swig out of the wine bottle (don't worry it had been finished and washed out!) and to try on all of my shoes again, it was obviously so much fun when she'd done it on Saturday that they all got pulled out again!
So this is it, I'm now officially out of my 20s, no major lightening bolts, sudden aching bones, loss of memory...so maybe I'll survive my 30s after all :)
Matthew, Charlie and Abi came round after breakfast and we started to get ready for my BBQ in the evening which involved putting up the gazebo that next door had kindly lent me in anticipation that the great English weather in the middle of August is not as good as you might expect. Auntie's Pauline and Sandra arrived after lunch which was lovely and then it was back to preparations. I think we would have planned to be a little bit further on in the preparation by 4pm but we weren't! So there was a lot of hard work put in by Mum, Dad and Sal - Big Thanks!
Then it was party time! Mum & Dad had brought with them some (not too) embarrassing photos of me spanning my 30 years, which were generally quite amusing - I still think the Noddy fancy dress costume was the best! I had a lovely evening so thank you to everyone that made it on the evening and to those who couldn't make it thank you for the messages, cards and presents.
Sunday was a fairly quiet affair, more fun with Abi who decided that at 23 months she is old enough to swig out of the wine bottle (don't worry it had been finished and washed out!) and to try on all of my shoes again, it was obviously so much fun when she'd done it on Saturday that they all got pulled out again!
So this is it, I'm now officially out of my 20s, no major lightening bolts, sudden aching bones, loss of memory...so maybe I'll survive my 30s after all :)
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
A lovely weekend
As Mum has pointed out I also had a lovely weekend after leaving Keswick on the Saturday. On my way home I realised that I was driving past Catherine & Chris's house so I popped in to drop off the baby carrier that they had left with us for the remainder of the week. Having not seen or spoken to Catherine since last year at Keswick it was lovely to be able to spend a little bit of time with them this week.
It was then onto home to see Mum & Dad. After lunch I quickly sorted out two loads of washing and left them with Mum while I went to see Mark and Carlie. It was lovely to see them both but more exciting was meeting Noah who arrived about 6 weeks before. They were trying to get him into a bit of a routine which didn't go quite to plan as he fell asleep on me when he was supposed to be awake, but he was just so cute I couldn't wake him up! When I got back home a few hours later the washing was washed, dried and ironed - thanks Mum!
One of the reasons for going to Mum & Dad's from Keswick was because I was going to Katherine's in Dalton on Sunday afternoon so rather than driving back to York then back up to Dalton it made sense to stay in Stockton and go there on the way home. Katherine was having a baby shower with her bump due at the end of August and having just finished work it was a good excuse to have all the girls round. It was great to see her looking so well and it was a good chance to catch up with people linked to ASD that I haven't see for at least a year, particularly Louise who was there with her 8 month old Jack, and Becky and Jenny from Eversheds. Jenny's little girl Lucy was particularly useful when it came to present time, delivering the next present for opening to Katherine and of course helping to open them as well.
After that it was back home to get ready for a week back at work, now to plan the next holiday...
It was then onto home to see Mum & Dad. After lunch I quickly sorted out two loads of washing and left them with Mum while I went to see Mark and Carlie. It was lovely to see them both but more exciting was meeting Noah who arrived about 6 weeks before. They were trying to get him into a bit of a routine which didn't go quite to plan as he fell asleep on me when he was supposed to be awake, but he was just so cute I couldn't wake him up! When I got back home a few hours later the washing was washed, dried and ironed - thanks Mum!
One of the reasons for going to Mum & Dad's from Keswick was because I was going to Katherine's in Dalton on Sunday afternoon so rather than driving back to York then back up to Dalton it made sense to stay in Stockton and go there on the way home. Katherine was having a baby shower with her bump due at the end of August and having just finished work it was a good excuse to have all the girls round. It was great to see her looking so well and it was a good chance to catch up with people linked to ASD that I haven't see for at least a year, particularly Louise who was there with her 8 month old Jack, and Becky and Jenny from Eversheds. Jenny's little girl Lucy was particularly useful when it came to present time, delivering the next present for opening to Katherine and of course helping to open them as well.
After that it was back home to get ready for a week back at work, now to plan the next holiday...
Sunday, 8 June 2008
Lovely weekend
Apart from hearing that both Sally and Ben had accidents on their bikes this weekend (but not too serious thankfully), I've had a lovely weekend as Abi and Charlie came to visit. We found the Farmer's Cart farm shop on Saturday which provided a few hours of entertainment and a lovely lunch. As well as the shop and cafe they have rabbits, guinea pigs, pigs - and piglets, pony, goats, sheep and chickens.
It was the day of the sheep shearing so that provided some more entertainment as we watched the sheep being made bald! It's amazing how quickly they can get one sheep done, and more amazingly I learned that you can have quite a jet setting lifestyle travelling the world as a sheep shearer. One of the men there was from New Zealand and he was telling us that he's travelled to Europe, America, Australia but hasn't been to Norway or Iceland yet. We also learned that they wear funny shoes while they are shearing the sheep made out of wool, I thought it would be so that if they stood on the sheep it wouldn't hurt the sheep as much as big heavy boots but that wasn't it, the wool creates better friction when they are standing on a wooden board shearing and stops them from slipping when the sheep is trying to push away.
In the evening we went to see the ballet of Sleeping Beauty as Matthew and Charlie's friend Amber was in the production which was by the English Youth Ballet. I've never been to a ballet before and I can't say that I'd rush to see another one but it was a really good and professional performance. Having never met Amber I had to wait until Charlie spotted her which took until just after the interval as a group of girls all with their hair pulled back in a bun and wearing identical outfits all look pretty much the same!
Sunday was a really hot sunny day so we had a wander around York, chasing squirrels in museum gardens, Matthew was with us by this point as well having arrived to babysit on Saturday night. As usual though a visit from Abi and I'm shattered and recovered by having a little afternoon nap on Sunday!
It was the day of the sheep shearing so that provided some more entertainment as we watched the sheep being made bald! It's amazing how quickly they can get one sheep done, and more amazingly I learned that you can have quite a jet setting lifestyle travelling the world as a sheep shearer. One of the men there was from New Zealand and he was telling us that he's travelled to Europe, America, Australia but hasn't been to Norway or Iceland yet. We also learned that they wear funny shoes while they are shearing the sheep made out of wool, I thought it would be so that if they stood on the sheep it wouldn't hurt the sheep as much as big heavy boots but that wasn't it, the wool creates better friction when they are standing on a wooden board shearing and stops them from slipping when the sheep is trying to push away.
In the evening we went to see the ballet of Sleeping Beauty as Matthew and Charlie's friend Amber was in the production which was by the English Youth Ballet. I've never been to a ballet before and I can't say that I'd rush to see another one but it was a really good and professional performance. Having never met Amber I had to wait until Charlie spotted her which took until just after the interval as a group of girls all with their hair pulled back in a bun and wearing identical outfits all look pretty much the same!
Sunday was a really hot sunny day so we had a wander around York, chasing squirrels in museum gardens, Matthew was with us by this point as well having arrived to babysit on Saturday night. As usual though a visit from Abi and I'm shattered and recovered by having a little afternoon nap on Sunday!
Sunday, 1 June 2008
A weekend of eating out
I had a lovely day in Scarborough on Saturday visiting my old housemate Kate. Usually we end up meeting somewhere half way between York and Scarborough (last time was Castle Howard) but I decided it was about time I made the effort to go over there for the day. It turned out it was a lovely sunny day although I did doubt that for a while as I left York in warm sunshine and drove into some greyer clouds but it soon cleared up.
We had a lovely lunch in Scarborough, had a little wander round the shops before popping back to the house. We then went to Redcliffe farm shop nearby and sat out in the sunshine with a pot of tea and cake and a lovely view to look at including the chickens and the rabbits in the garden. A wander round the shop and I managed to resist buying any more cakes or biscuits to bring home.
On the way home I called in at Naomi's to give her a break from Maths planning and managed to stay for dinner as well which was lovely and nice end to the day. Sunday I went to the gym in the morning in preparation for another lunch out, this time at Gillian's with lovely chocolate pudding. I think I'm going to need to increase the number of visits to the gym or follow Sal's lead and get a bike to start cycling for some extra exercise.
The only annoying part of the weekend has been that next door have bought a bigger surround sound type thing for their TV which has quite a load bass on it so where I didn't really hear a lot of noise from the neighbours I've now got a more constant bass line trying to make itself heard over whatever I'm watching. Either I'll get used to it or I'll end up mentioning it at some point, at least it's only during 'sociable' hours so it doesn't keep me awake at all.
We had a lovely lunch in Scarborough, had a little wander round the shops before popping back to the house. We then went to Redcliffe farm shop nearby and sat out in the sunshine with a pot of tea and cake and a lovely view to look at including the chickens and the rabbits in the garden. A wander round the shop and I managed to resist buying any more cakes or biscuits to bring home.
On the way home I called in at Naomi's to give her a break from Maths planning and managed to stay for dinner as well which was lovely and nice end to the day. Sunday I went to the gym in the morning in preparation for another lunch out, this time at Gillian's with lovely chocolate pudding. I think I'm going to need to increase the number of visits to the gym or follow Sal's lead and get a bike to start cycling for some extra exercise.
The only annoying part of the weekend has been that next door have bought a bigger surround sound type thing for their TV which has quite a load bass on it so where I didn't really hear a lot of noise from the neighbours I've now got a more constant bass line trying to make itself heard over whatever I'm watching. Either I'll get used to it or I'll end up mentioning it at some point, at least it's only during 'sociable' hours so it doesn't keep me awake at all.
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