Finally ....

Finally ... finished Alice's cot quilt. This has been on the go for a little while but it was finally finished yesterday afternoon.

 Front

 Back (red gingham)

Close up of some of the materials 

.

Finally ... means I've been able to put away my sewing machine which has left my desk fairly tidy

It's been a long time since you could actually see desk!  Who knows, perhaps one day soon there could even be some scrapbook pages made here!

.

Finally ... getting round to posting some photos from last week!

 Jon made the most of the lovely weather when he was home last weekend. The grass was cut and we were able to sit outside until late afternoon.

 Jon's sister Deb, and her husband Dave, came round on Saturday afternoon with their puppy Beth. Emily was quite happy to look after Beth and I think Beth was quite happy sitting on Emily's lap.

 Cloud wasn't 100% sure what to make of another dog in the house but we reassured her that we weren't replacing her.

Great Aunty Debbie got to have cuddles with Alice.

 This particular afternoon Alice spent some time sitting on Mummy's lap chewing Mummy's finger

We're trying to encourage her with her sitting ;o)

.

Finally ... starting on my log cabin quilt. 

I've been wanting to make one for some time and last week went round to see a friend who showed me how to sew them so that you quilt and back the squares as you go and then join the squares together at the end. I'm hand sewing this quilt and using all the scraps of material I have in my stash. Although it all looks a total mismatch at the moment, it doesn't seem to matter once the quilt is complete and sewn together.  I like the idea of hand sewing it as it then becomes portable - I can sit at the kitchen table to sew, or in the lounge watching TV or even in bed in the evening if I want to. I'm not sure how long it's going to take me but I'm looking forward the challenge.

And finally ... I think that's it for this post. No special plans for this weekend so hopefully I'll get some sewing or scrapbooking done. Check back soon to see if I make anything ;o)
xx

London (Photo heavy!)

On Sunday Simon and I took the boys up to London to do the touristy bit. Emily had been going to come with us but woke up full of cold and decided to stay at home :o( . We opted to go on the open top buses as that gives you an overall view of London and you can hop on and off as you want. As it was, we stayed on the bus most of the time getting off where we wanted to walk the rest of the way. Richard and Simon on the bus with Trafalgar Square behind them.

They were just about to change the guards over but the bus couldn't stop long enough for us to see it.

The London Eye

Big Ben

Simon taking a photo of Big Ben seen through the London Eye

The London sky line

Top of St Pauls Cathedral

St Pauls

Tower Bridge

Close up of one of the towers

The Tower of London

Henry, Richard and Simon with the Tower of London in the background

Henry standing next to one of the lions in Trafalgar Square

Henry and Richard at one of the fountains in Trafalgar Square with the National Gallery behind them

Walking towards Admiralty Arch at the entrance to The Mall, leading to Buckingham Palace

This statue of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother is about half way down The Mall

Looking down The Mall towards Buckingham Palace

One of the guards at the entrance to Stable Yard Road

Walking towards The Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace

Simon and the boys in front of the gates of Buckingham Palace

In front of Buckingham Palace. The Union Flag was flying at the Palace which meant that the Royal Family was not in residence. When the Royal Family are in residence the Royal Standard flies.

From Buckingham Palace we walked back to Victoria Station to catch the train home. Richard took the opportunity to do some drawing on the train, while Henry was happy to listen to his music and watch the passing scenery.

.

After our day in London, we arranged to order pizza in for the children while Simon, Jon, Deb and I went out for a meal at the local Thai restaurant. A more relaxing way to end the day :o)

Jon, Deb and Simon

xx

Second visitors

Our second visitors arrived on Good Friday. Jon's brother, Simon and his two boys, Richard and Henry, were over from Chicago and came to spend the last few days of their holiday with us. Liz and I were pregnant at the same time for part of each pregnancy with our children. Helen is 4.5 months older than Hugh, Richard is 6 months younger than Claire and Henry is 9 weeks older than Emily :). They all get on well when we get together and this time was no exception (though there was more laptop interference this time - in the evenings there were laptops all round the lounge!).

.

They arrived early Friday morning and after having some hot cross buns and tea, the boys, Emily and I went to have a walk around town while Simon had a nap. (They'd been up since 4am and Simon had driven down from Yorkshire which had taken about 4 hours). It was really cold on Friday so, after a quick walk round town, we ended up at Caffe Nero

Henry had a hot chocolate and chocolate brownie (though after having hot chocolate at home later that evening he told me Liz and I make better hot chocolate!)

Richard had water, a caramel slice and a croissant

.

Jon suggested we head up to The Broadway for lunch so that we could meet up with his other brother, Mike. Their sister, Deb, also came.

Emily, Henry, Richard and Simon

Hugh and Jon

Hugh caused a bit of a stir with Richard who hadn't expected him to look quite like he does ;o).

Family photo

From left : Deb, Simon, Hugh, Mike, Jon, Emily, Henry and Richard

.

A good start to the weekend.

xx