A few more photos

I popped round to Theresa's this morning to take Debbie to meet Alyssa as she wasn't sure which house they lived in. Deb got to have a lovely cuddle while Theresa opened the present and Tyler had some strawberries for "breakfast". I also got to have a cuddle while we all chatted and it was just as we were leaving that I remembered I had my point and shoot in my bag and could take a couple of photos. In this first one the flash went off and Tyler didn't like the bright light in his eyes. Alyssa wasn't going to stay sitting with him for me to take any more ;o)

Back in Mummy's arms and she soon settled down and was happy to suck on Theresa's finger.

I still can't get over how tiny she is! Kay and Theresa were saying when they were in Sainsbury's today people were stopping to look at the tiny baby! She really is beautiful - and I don't think I'm just being biased :)

xx

And her name is ......

Alyssa Morgan Pedersen

:)

xx

Jon's birthday/more baby photos :)

There are a lot of photos again tonight, so I will try and keep the writing to a minimum. Today is Jon's birthday. He's had a busy day starting with an interview up in London. He seems happy with the way it went and we now have to wait to find out if he got the job or not. Crossing of fingers and prayers are very welcome! Back from his interview, he went to meet up with his brother Mike for a drink before coming round to meet the girls and me at Will and Theresa's. From there on to a Doctor's appointment and then home for present opening and a visit from Deb and Dave before we went to Nizam for a curry. I think he's had a good day and we're hoping that the coming year will be a better one than the year we've just had.

Happy Birthday, Jon! Emily's card (any guess how old he was today?)

At the Nizam

In age order, Hugh

Claire

Emily

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As I mentioned above, we went round to Will and Theresa's this afternoon so that Claire and Emily could meet their new second cousin. Mum and Dad were also there and Tyler received a couple of presents. The remote control car from Mum and Dad was a great hit and it didn't take him too long to work out how to make it go.

I think both Tyler and Will/Daddy will have fun with this one :)

Tyler had said they needed a birthday cake because it was his little sister's birthday. I love that idea and think all babies should have a birthday cake when they go home! Tyler was on hand to blow out the candle

A few more of baby (who, I'm told, will have a name before her mummy and daddy go to bed tonight. I'll find out what it is tomorrow)

Eyes still open and having a look around :)

With Great Grandpa

and Emily

and Claire

I got to have a lovely long cuddle (sorry to all the family members who aren't near enough to have one!)

Finally, a couple of black and white conversions because the colour wasn't so good.

Back with the name tomorrow

xx

The latest addition to our family

This morning at 8.24am, Theresa and Will welcomed their new daughter into the family. Baby doesn't have a name yet, but she weighed in at 6lb10oz and is so cute! This afternoon her grandma (Kay), big brother Tyler and big sister Michaela went to visit her and this evening it was Mum (Great Grandma), Jon and myself who were lucky enough to go and visit. We couldn't help thinking of Renee and Shane (Theresa's sister and brother) who aren't able to pop round and I hope these photos will help. Baby becomes my 2nd great niece ;o) . Theresa and baby will be going home tomorrow and I'll be taking the girls round to meet their new cousin and there may even be a few more photos!

Theresa, Will and baby This little girl had her eyes open most of the time we were there :)

Look at how little her foot is (aaahhh!!!)

With Great Grandma

Grandma, Baby and Jon in the background

Great Uncle Jon's turn to hold (we fight over who gets to hold babies ;o) )

Proud Mummy

Falling asleep just before we left

Congratulations once again to Theresa and Will. We're so happy baby is now here and are looking forward to spending more time with her. I'm sure Tyler will be a loving big brother and can't wait to see him with his sister tomorrow

xx

A visitor on the green and Emily's new look

Yesterday, as I was sitting watching Loose Women and having a toasted sandwich for lunch, I noticed that Tom cat was staring rather intently out the bay window towards the green. I thought maybe the squirrel was out and about but couldn't see him. I was just about to turn my attention back to Loose Women when I saw a movement on the green. It looked almost like a large (very large) hamster! Those of you who know me well, also know I have pretty rotten eyesight! I kept watching and it suddenly struck me that it could be a hedgehog. I dived into the kitchen to grab my camera, slipped on my flip flops and dashed out the door. I didn't want to frighten it so to begin with I kept my distance and took a few photos from further away. The hedgehog seemed to look up at me and decide I wasn't a threat but then he turned around to walk away from me. I went on to the green and got a bit closer to get another couple of photos but that seemed to startle him a bit and he started to curl up. He didn't go into a ball, just tucked his head down and waited for me to finish. I've never seen a hedgehog like that before, I've seen one at the wildlife centre but not wandering around outside. I was so excited and he was so cute! Here are some of the photos I took.

I never realised that hedgehogs actually have quite long noses!

Isn't he cute!

Next up is the fact that my younger daughter has decided she needs to change her look! Today she went dark haired - what do you think?? I think I prefer her natural colour ;o)

And to finish off, she decided she needed to photoshop her eyebrows (haha!)

Have a lovely weekend!

xx

Rachel Allen book signing in Alfriston, East Sussex

What a fun day today has been. It all started on Saturday when Claire came home with the latest Rachel Allen cookery book, Home Cooking, for me. I thoroughly enjoy watching Rachel's cookery series on TV and have got all her other cookery books as well. Her style is simple and delicious and it's got me interested in cooking again! No mean feat in our household where we have a number of picky eaters. I've been trying out new recipes and am enjoying cooking things from scratch. . . Long story short, Claire had gone on to Rachel's website and had been telling me about it. Yesterday afternoon I decided to have a look at the website myself and that's when I noticed Rachel was having a book signing in Alfriston today. Alfriston is not that far from us (though with my little detour to the South Africa shop in Newhaven it was an hour or so there) so I phoned Mum and asked if she fancied going. . . I knew of Alfriston and had heard that it was a lovely village - sounded like a good place to visit and we'd get to meet Rachel at the same time. I took two of my cookery books with me and off we went. . . The bookshop holding the event was Much Ado Bookshop (seen below). Rachel's books on display in the window We hadn't decided whether to go get the books signed first or go for lunch first. Looking in the shop we saw that there was a queue, but it wasn't too long, and decided to go to the signing first.

Rachel was as lovely in person as she comes across on TV. We had a chat and she signed our books. Emily and Claire were most put out that I was going to meet her and they couldn't, so I asked if she would mind signing her autograph for them. Her message to them was to enjoy cooking and I'm hoping they will now start participating in the cooking ;o) Rachel Allen, me and Mum

The owners of Much Ado Bookshop were very friendly and helpful and the lady had put a lot of effort into making some of the recipes from Rachel's books for the customers to sample. I have to say one of my favourite recipes from her Bake book is the Quiche Lorraine - it is simply delicious!!! That was one of the recipes for people to sample today and I had a bite of Mum's slice which made me realise I really need to make it again soon!

The two books Rachel signed for me.

What a great experience!

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While in the bookshop we mentioned we were going to have some lunch before heading home and were directed down the road to Wingrove House where, we were told, Rachel had had brunch that morning - certainly seemed worth a try and it didn't disappoint. Lovely decor and friendly staff plus delicious food was a winning combination.

Walking down the road (above) to Wingrove House (below)

The outside of Wingrove House

And finally, this house caught my eye as we walked back to the carpark. It's such a quaint village and I know already that I want to go back to explore more.

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What a great day!

xx

PS. I must apologise for the lack of paragraphs in this post. No matter what I do, blogger seems to remove the space between paragraphs. If anyone knows how to sort this out, I would love to hear! Thank you!!