Video of Alice

I think I mentioned in a previous post that I'd taken some video of Alice using my Canon 60D but didn't know how to edit and upload it. Well, this afternoon I've been playing in ZoomBrowser EX and it looks like I may have managed to change it to an acceptable file format and hopefully you'll be able to see this.  Video is a whole new ball game for me so they are likely to be very basic but at least they'll add something a bit different to my blog.

xx

Kittens

This afternoon Emily and I popped round to (my niece) Theresa's house to see the new kittens. Minnie, the Mum, was really relaxed about us being there and let Emily put her hand in to stroke her and then one of the kittens. They're not a week old yet and their little eyes are still closed.  I wasn't sure how much detail I'd get because they were lying at the back of the box but you can make them out :)

Minnie with the kittens

While they were asleep Minnie was happy to come out of the box and have a break

 Love this one with the feet up in the air!

 I think all three have little white tummies and feet. At this stage two of the kittens appear slightly grey-er than the third one. We'll have to see what happens.

Too cute!

 Alyssa was happy to sit with us while we watched the kittens (nearly as big time wasters as babies ;o)  )

 And Tyler managed to add sprinkles to his yoghurt while we weren't looking  (sorry about the shadows in these photos, I had my camera on Auto to try and get clearer pictures of the kittens and didn't switch back to manual)

Claire had got home with Alice just before we got back. Alice was very happy and had been smiling away - until I put a big camera in front of my face.  I have also got some video on my camera from a little later but I'm going to have to work out how to a) edit it and b) put it on the blog. Eventually it may go up here :o)

Have a good weekend.
xx

Oh my goodness!!

This week is half term and Emily and I are making the most of not having to get up at 6am!  I have been reading again (something I don't do too often because once I start on a book I don't want to do anything else until I've finished it - and I'm not that fast a reader!), getting up a bit later and have met up with friends and taken Emily out to dinner. We're just relaxing, (in between homework and essential housework eg. washing and cooking) and making the most of this week off.

I realised today that I haven't mentioned on my blog that Jon is now working away from home. He leaves early on Monday mornings and gets back on Friday evenings - the reason for this being that he's taken a contract which is a fair distance from our home and it's not practical for him to commute. He's done his fair share of commuting in the past but this one is just too far. He started the contract 6 weeks ago and has another 8 months to go. I was saying to Mel earlier, it's worse for Jon than it is for me as he is there on his own while I still have all the family at home and plenty to keep me occupied. One of the positives that has come out of it is that Jon and I now have a weekly "date" on Friday evenings when we go out for dinner and catch up on what's been going on. That's our silver lining ;o)

Little Miss Alice is one of the family members who keeps me occupied and this morning when Claire brought her downstairs she was so cute I had to take a photo. But how is it they know when you point a camera at them and it doesn't take long for her to go from this (above) to this (below). It's almost like she's hiding from the camera already!! I'm having to be much quicker at getting my shots otherwise I get the back of her head!

I'm hoping as she gets a little bit older she'll be more responsive again :o).  Maybe I need to put a slightly shorter lens on the camera too??

xx

Today we met ....

The newest addition to our extended family ...

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This is Beth - she is my sister-in-law, Debbie's little bundle of fun :)  She's a miniature Schnauzer and is 10 weeks old.  Deb and Dave drove up to Cambridge on Thursday to pick her up but we haven't had a chance to go and meet her until today.

 Emily has declared that she's fallen in love!!

 Beth seemed to think Emily was quite tasty also ;o)

Her fingers and her hair were particular favourites!  

Unfortunately the photos aren't great because a) the lighting wasn't good and b) Beth wouldn't keep still!!  

And because these days I have to have at least one photo of my gorgeous Granddaughter (biased .... me???)

Alice Rose in the little outfit I bought her on Saturday. I couldn't resist it - look at the flower and the little bird, does this not say scrapbooking? Too cute! (yes, the outfit and Alice :o)  ).  Hope you've had a good weekend.
xx

Kay's birthday

Yesterday was my sister Kay's birthday and the birthday tea was held at her daughter, Theresa's house. I was looking after one of Hugh's friend's son, George for the afternoon so he came with us.

George is 8.5 months and was so good. He doesn't know me very well but was happy to come to me and we had no problems.  The photo hasn't turned out well at all but I'll add it in anyway because one thing it does show is George's foot moving ;o).  His little feet hardly kept still - he'd sit playing with the toys with his feet going round and round. Too cute! He enjoyed a little bit of chocolate cake and the snacks his Mummy had packed for him but I think he was happy to see his Daddy when he arrived to pick him up.

 My Mum and Dad were there - Mum's camera out and ready :)

Kay, holding Alyssa, Tyler and Theresa ready for the candles to be blown out. Tyler was ready to help his Nanny and had also helped his Mummy with the baking the day before. Well done Tyler! :)

Emily is always ready to relax after getting home from school and yesterday took a book with her to read. I didn't take as many photos as I would normally and missed getting my brother Iain and Claire. :(

Not well :(

Poor little Alice hasn't been very well since yesterday. She's got a cold which has resulted in a stuffy nose, coughing and sneezing and when she tries to "talk" her little voice is quite hoarse.  

 Today hasn't been much better and for a while she lay on one of the quilts while Claire was sitting on the floor and despite obviously not feeling herself, she was still giving us little smiles.

We're not sure if she might be teething as she's dribbling a lot more and chewing on her fists. When I rubbed her gums they do feel quite hard and there are a few little bumps. I guess only time will tell!

Hope you're feeling better soon little one xx

Chicken Cannelloni

Just a recipe for today.  Last night Craig made "Chicken" Cannelloni for dinner and it was really tasty.  We couldn't get minced chicken so we used minced turkey but I don't think it made much difference. Next time I would probably have two Cannelloni tubes and some salad because it was very filling.

Chicken Cannelloni  (Serves 4)

1 tbsp  Olive Oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 small garlic clove, crushed
40g (1.5 oz.) mushrooms, chopped
0.5 tsp dried mixed herbs
225g (8 oz) minced chicken
1 x 200g (7 oz) can tomatoes
0.5 tbsp tomato ketchup

Cheese Sauce

30g (1.5 oz) butter

30g (1.5 oz) flour

0.5 tsp paprika

400ml (14 fl oz) milk

100g (3.5 oz)cheddar, grated

8 no pre-cook cannelloni tubes

Heat oil in a saucepan and sauté the onion and garlic for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms, herbs and chicken and sauté for 3 minutes. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and ketchup and simmer for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4, then make the cheese sauce. Melt the butter, then stir in the flour and paprika and cook for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk. Bring to the boil and then simmer, stirring until thickened. Stir in 50g (2oz) of the grated Cheddar.

Stuff the cannelloni tubes with the chicken filling and arrange them in a shallow oven proof dish. Pour over the cheese sauce, sprinkle with the remaining Cheddar cheese and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

Don't fall over ;o) ....

Last week I made an explosion book following Deb's tutorial over at Paper Turtle. As soon as I saw it I thought it looked fun and quite quick to make so I was keen to give it a go. I used 12 x 12 sheets of card for mine and once I got my diagonal fold in's right, it all went smoothly.  I haven't added any text to it yet but it's virtually finished and I thought I'd share.

To show a bit more of the detail

 All the papers used were scraps or paper I had in my stash and the photos are from the first three months of Alice's life.

 The first month

 Second month

The third month at the bottom.  I'm considering adding the next three months to the back of the book, so long as it doesn't make it too thick.   Thanks Deb for a great tutorial and for getting me doing some scrapping again :-)

And because I can't post without some photos of Alice, here are a few from the past week.  Alice went into a cot last weekend as her Moses basket was getting too small and she couldn't move in it very well.  After Craig built the cot we lay her in it to see what she thought.

 She loved looking at all the new toys around the cot and at her Humphrey's Corner mobile.

 And she LOVED it when Claire wound the mobile up and it played a tune :-)

Alice also got to sit in her Bumbo for the first time this week. She stayed in it for a little while but I think her head needs to be a bit steadier before she stays in it for any length of time. She's getting so big and now weighs 15 pounds. She's had her second lot of jabs and once she's had the third ones at 16 weeks, Claire'll be able to take her swimming. She loves her bath so I have a feeling she'll love the swimming too.

And a final photo of her (watching TV) sitting on Mummy's lap. I love the lighting in this photo!

Happy Valentine's Day :)
xx

I am still around :)

I know I'm not posting regularly and I do apologise for that. I've been keeping busy recently with the decluttering I mentioned in previous posts. I had been going to order a skip for the rubbish but after seeing how much the cost of hiring one has gone up, I changed my mind.  As a result, I have been doing trips to the tip with rubbish, trips to the charity shops and in between those, getting on with sorting out more stuff! Nearly all the kitchen cupboards have been cleared - anything that was past it's best before date has been thrown out and anything that hasn't been used for ages (and isn't likely to be used any time soon) has also had its marching orders. Each time I make a trip to the tip and throw the bags into the huge skips it's like another weight has been lifted off my shoulders. However, coming up this week is my craft area!! I know I'm not good at getting rid of craft stuff but, realistically, I also know I have a lot of stuff I'm not likely to use which was bought years ago when I first started scrapbooking. I'm not looking forward to this part of the decluttering but it's got to be done!!

I did, however, manage to take some photos of the beautiful Miss Alice. I have too many to share but the ones below are some of my favourites and every post needs photos :)

And one to make you smile :).  As I came down the stairs yesterday I spotted Mac sitting in the bay window like this - he's such a funny cat and has such personality!  Too cute.

Have a great week and I'll be back when I can.
xx