I'm still here

In case you thought I'd disappeared again, I haven't. Things have been pretty busy the last couple of days and then I couldn't find my camera cable.  I'm still here though and back in business :)

 On Friday I met up with Claire and Alice. I picked them up just before 9am and we headed to Starbucks for breakfast.  Alice loves the lemon and poppy seed muffins and the chocolate coins!  I hadn't seen them since Tuesday and it was lovely to see how happy Alice was to see me again.  I love that little girl so much!!

 We were trying for a photo of the two of us but, as you can see, my phone was far more important than a photo.

 After Starbucks we headed to Mary's for Claire to have her highlights topped up before Christmas and baby's arrival. Alice always enjoys going to Mary's because Mary has a little girl too and Alice gets to play with all her toys.  However, after a while I could tell Alice was tired and she was quite happy to come and sit on my lap for a cuddle. It didn't take too long before she was asleep. And yes, this was a self portrait because I want to capture these precious times with Alice.

On Saturday Claire and I went round to the flat to do a final clean and make sure everything was out of it before she had to meet the landlord and hand over the keys today.  Alice was spending the day with her Daddy (in case some of you haven't realised, Claire and Craig split up not long after Claire found out she was expecting the baby. And although this isn't what she had wanted, she is now a much happier person and is doing a wonderful job with Alice and I know she's going to be a great Mum to her two girls) so we were planning to just keep going until we'd finished.

We'd only been there about an hour when I got a call from Hugh to tell me he'd just been in an accident on his way to work and had hit a tree. I'm not going to go into details but am very thankful that he is alright and that he only suffered a cut to the head and a bruised hand. It could have been so much worse!

I hope your weekend has been a good one.

xx

Coffee Ladies

Our Coffee Ladies group started when our children moved up to Secondary School five years ago. We used to see each other in the playground and chat when they were at Junior School but once they went to Secondary School we weren't taking or picking up from school any more. We missed our chats and decided to meet for a coffee instead and we now try and meet once a fortnight. It doesn't always work out and there are times when one or more of us won't make it but when we do all get together it's good to catch up.

We go for a Christmas lunch each year and today we had our lunch at the local Arts Centre, Chequer Mead.

 L-R: Carol, Sarah, Karen and Carol.

 Sarah and Karen

 Carol and Carol 

And finally, a group photo of all of us. Unfortunately it's turned out blurred but I'll still be using it in Project Life :)   Unfortunately, Kathy couldn't make it today as she was unwell and Pam works at the school and wasn't able to make it either.

xx

First snow this winter

This morning felt really chilly when we got up and when I mentioned this to Emily once we were downstairs, she checked her phone and said "There's a 30% chance of snow this morning!".

 Looking outside it didn't look like this was likely but I thought it would make a good shot to put in my Project Life so I took a screen shot.  A little while later, as I was talking to Claire on the phone, I looked up and saw snow flakes falling.  Claire picked Alice up to see and I could hear Alice saying "It's snowing Mummy, it's snowing!"

 The snow started to fall more and the flakes were getting bigger. Alice wanted to go outside but Claire had been going to wait until after breakfast.  I suggested it might be better to take Alice out then and there because we didn't know how long the snow would last and she could come in and get dried and have something to eat after.

Although the snow continued to fall for a little while longer and did settle briefly on the road, it wasn't going to be anything that was going to cause a problem.  By 10am it was all over and I headed in to town.  First snow fall this Winter - I wonder how much more snow we'll see over the coming months!

xx

PS  Claire has just started a blog and is doing well posting.  If you'd like to drop in and see what she and Alice are up to, the link is in my "Blogs I Read" bar - Our Daily Life

Safe trip, Max.

 

 My nephew, Max, has been staying with us since March this year but yesterday he flew to Australia to spend a year over there with his Dad (my brother, Iain who featured in my catch up post).  As Sunday was his last night with us we decided to have a kebab take away before he left.

I have to admit, this morning I was downstairs and I heard an upstairs door open and thought Max was up early ;o) - it was Jon coming out of the study to get a coffee. I think it's going to take a little while before it sinks in that he's no longer here.

And, as all three of our children were here, I thought a photo of them with their cousin before he leaves would be a good idea for Project Life ;o)   (I have to take my photos where I can at the moment!)

Safe trip Max and we hope you have a fantastic time in Australia and that everything works out the way you'd like it to.

xx