18

Today my "baby" turned 18!! How did that happen so quickly?

 

I hadn't had a chance to decorate last night so came down early this morning to get the balloons blown up and the banners put up.

Fortunately, this year Emily doesn't have any lessons on a Monday so she was able to get up in her own time.  I popped out to Waitrose for some baking supplies and to drop a car seat off at Claire's and told her not to come downstairs until I got back.

I don't think she was expecting quite so many balloons ;-)

 

 

She had had most of her presents before her birthday but there were still a few for her to open on the day.

This afternoon Claire, Alice and Megan came round once Alice finished playgroup and my Mum, my niece Theresa, Tyler, Alyssa and Brooke came round after school for a birthday tea. 

When it came to blowing out the candles, only Alyssa wanted to help.  Good job!!

I can't believe Emily is in her final year of school and will be voting in the general election next year.  All my children are now adults! I must be getting old ;-)

xx

At Simon & Liz's

Before going out each morning, we would watch the little hummingbirds at the bird feeder. Simon was saying they were bulking up ready for their flight south.  There were three that came regularly to the feeders, sometimes chasing each other off but as there were three feeders out it wasn't such a problem.  The bees were more of a problem as they'd dive bomb the birds and then go to the feeder themselves.

One of the things Emily had been looking forward to was making smores so, after dinner one night, the fire was lit in the firepit and the preparations began.

 

One happy young lady :)

 

Yup, they were just as good as we remembered.  I was just glad that two were enough for me!

The next morning while I was making a cup of tea Richard called me to see the deer in the garden. 

 To begin with we saw two walking down the side fence but they'd disappeared by the time I got my camera and I thought I'd missed my chance. A little later though, I saw a movement down at the bottom of the garden and we realised the deer were still around.

There were three this time, a mother and her two young ones.  The youngsters were having a wonderful time chasing each other and bouncing around.  I had to zoom right in to be able to capture them and fortunately the photos turned out quite well.

 

Finally, one of the chipmunks that could be seen in the garden. While Liz and Simon consider them pests, we thought it was quite cute to see them running around.  I guess that's because the only time we've seen them before, they've been in a cage.  I never realised how noisy they are - we could hear them cheep cheeping from early in the morning and all through the day.

xx