Memories

On Friday, Mum and I had a trip to the South African shop in Redhill :)

 I had only been going for a few bits but ended up leaving with three bags full of goodies ;-)

Biltong

 As we walked round the shop we were both going "remember ....." or "remember when we had ....."   One chocolate bar in particular used to be my treat for the week, I'd buy a chocolate bar and the weekly magazine and eat the chocolate while reading it.  I just have to see it to remember that. 

 Needless to say, some chocolate managed to find it's way into the bag and the Cream Soda at the back is what Hugh and Claire used to drink when they were little. The Cream Soda they have here in the UK is quite different to our South African one so when I go I have to buy at least two bottles.

Funnily enough, peanut butter was never really something we had when I was growing up (I don't think Mum likes it) but I've always quite liked it and my children also do.  However, again, we like the South African Black Cat version (though can happily eat local brands when we don't have Black Cat). 

Are there any foods that have a strong memory for you?

xx

10 Random Facts about me

I was reading Crafty Pin Pin's blog today and saw her post about 10 things about herself and thought I'd give it a try.

1. I'm as blind as a bat without my glasses/contact lenses.
2. I was born in Scotland, moved to South Africa when I was 3 then came to England 20 years ago.
3. Next year I'll have been married half my life.
4. I'm the fourth of five children (I have 2 sisters and 2 brothers).
5. I haven't worked since Hugh was born but used to be a secretary.
6. I used to crochet baby matinee jackets for the teachers at school when I was about 10.
7. I love reading magazines.
8. I never thought I'd enjoy reading books on Kindle on my iPad but I'm now hooked!
9. I don't watch much TV but do enjoy Doc Martin, Greys Anatomy and Extreme Makeover Home.
10. I enjoy listening to music and a few of my favourites at the moment are Christina Perri, Joshua Radin, Lady Antebellum and Ben's Brother.

Not as difficult as I thought it might be.
xx

So Happy :)

I haven't been able to get this for ages!!

 but today it was back on the shelf at Waitrose - which makes me so happy!! Nothing nicer than a cup of Turkish Delight Hot Chocolate on a cold night, mmmmm :)

And a couple of photos of Jon opening cards and presents yesterday.

He had a good birthday and we had a lovely meal out with Emily and my Mum and Dad (but I forgot to take my camera).

Quieter day today - coffee with friends this morning; a quick visit to Claire and Alice to see how Alice is - she's not been 100%, has been very clingy and has a runny nose. We think she may be teething again but she's definitely not her normal happy self :(   Now to go and make a start on the last six months filing!

xx

Don't faint ...

I've actually completed a layout this morning!! Last night I was looking at Amy's page on Simple Aussie Girls and thought it was really time I tried to do some more layouts for Alice's album.  This morning I chose a couple of photos, matched the cardstock with the shoes and this is the result.  Unfortunately I can't get the colour to show as it is in real life, which is more of a raspberry pink, but you get the idea anyway.  As usual it's a very simple layout, which is what I like.
xx

Happy Birthday, Jon!

Happy Birthday to my husband, Jon

(Photo was taken a couple of weeks ago when he was working from home, in the garden. I'm happy to say that the beard has now gone again ;-)  )

Luckily Jon is working from home again this week and so gets to spend his birthday with us.  We will be going out for dinner tonight to celebrate.

xx

Alyssa's Two :)

As I mentioned earlier, this afternoon we went to Theresa's house to celebrate Alyssa's 2nd birthday. The birthday girl was in her party dress which was obviously a huge hit as she came to show me the pretty flowers on it a number of times during the afternoon :)  She was also excited to open her presents

 The pink kettle she had been wanting which Great Grandma and Great Grandpa gave her.

 Luckily Nanny (my sister, Kay) was on hand to help with getting things out of the packaging.

 Claire has this week off work so she and Alice were there to join in with the fun

 A happy birthday girl with her new pink kettle and her baby doll car seat (which I had been told she had been wanting for ages ;-) )

 Big brother, Tyler, who was looking very cool with his hair gelled for the occasion.

 Great Grandma (my Mum) and Alyssa

 Time for birthday cake!

 Alyssa and Mummy/Theresa

At one stage the older children had asked Theresa to put on Justin's House (I'm sure Mums of young children in the UK will know this programme). Alice loves Mr Tumble and Justin and plonked herself down with the other children to watch too :)

xx

Thank you

Thank you for the comments on yesterday's post :) 

 I have to admit this is one of my favourite quilts so far, I love that the colours are bright but still very girly and look forward to seeing Lily playing on it.

Fortunately, Michelle likes it too :) :)  She said she had wondered if she would get a quilt for Lily but didn't want to ask because she knows I've been quite busy. No need to worry, I couldn't have not made one :)

Emily and I made it home this morning but I had one eye on my dashboard virtually the whole way home as the engine warning light came on just before we got to Eastleigh yesterday and has stayed on ever since :(   The car had a major service last week and I had really hoped that the couple of issues I had had with it had been sorted but unfortunately the jerking it had been doing was still there and now the new engine warning!  I've been in touch with the garage and it's going back in again tomorrow so let's hope it will come back a happy car after that!

For today though, we're looking forward to going round to Theresa's for Alyssa's second birthday tea. Normally I say I can't believe ***** is ** years old but in this case I think, is she really only turning two!! Looking forward to a fun afternoon and I'm sure I'll have more photos to share soon.

xx

Monday

Today Emily and I are in Eastleigh (between Winchester and Southampton) visiting Jon's daughter, Michelle, and her family. As you may remember, Michelle is expecting her second child in November and now has less than 5 weeks to go :).  Part of the reason for our trip, other than to see them, is to take down some baby clothes from Claire, which Alice has outgrown. With them both born in November (all going well) the ages and seasons will tie in perfectly.

However, what Michelle didn't know is that I've been sewing every chance I get for the last week or so to get this little quilt finished for Lily.  I've found over time that there are no guarantees when looking for fabric for baby quilts. On some occassions I have battled to find anything I like but, fortunately, that wasn't the case this time.  I look for my border fabric first and then choose the other fabrics from the colours used in the border. This quilt has turned out to be lovely and bright and I really hope both Michelle and Lily will like it.

 The back of the quilt is made of polka dot fabric which is so cute!

All boxed up and ready to take :)

xx

Just a few photos

It's been a fairly busy week but I have remembered to take a few photos (even if some were only with my iPhone).

This is what our lounge tends to look like when Alice is coming round :)

If Alice is awake when Aunty Em gets home from school, they've started having a biscuit together  

 A cheeky, chocolatey face :)

This last one makes me laugh.  I'd taken the fleece blanket from the top of the cage (which Tom normally lies on) to put in the car while I took Cloud to the dog parlour.  Tom wasn't very impressed and decided to go in Cloud's cage instead!

xx

5 minutes with Alice

I know it's been a while and there has been a lot going on but, to be honest, I've lost my blogging mojo. I mean to sit down and post something but life is busy and often gets in the way ;-). I'm going to try and improve (but then I also need to remember to take my camera with me and take photos). For now though, here are a few photos taken in 5 minutes while Alice was here. She is on the go all the time and is the sweetest little girl :)

 She finally started crawling properly a few weeks ago and has got really fast at it too!

 Walkers come in handy for pulling yourself up on and then walking while pushing them ;)

 Back down and what to do next?

 A quick game on the iPad

 Not so happy when she closes the cover and the game disappears though!  At this stage she realised I was taking photos and crawled over to see what shots I'd managed to capture - she loves looking at the photos on the screen on the back of the camera, especially when there's a baby she can wave to :)

And finally a couple of photos from the garden.

 Our rose has a few blooms on it again. I love this yellow rose and the scent is wonderful.

This was taken just before the strong winds blew most of the leaves off the acer. We've had such a beautiful display of colour on it this year.

In the evenings I have been doing some of my log cabin quilt. I think I have about another 14 squares to go and then the joining up begins. Once I get to this stage it will look more interesting and I'll be able to post some photos.

But now, I'm off to get ready to go and pick Alice up for our next day of fun together.
xx