Brooke Alexis (our newest family member)

A week ago today we welcomed the latest member of our family.  My niece, Theresa, gave birth to Brooke Alexis - a little sister for Tyler and Alyssa.

 Unfortunately, she was taken into the Special Care Baby Unit but, I'm happy to say, she is fine and is now home with her family.

 On Sunday afternoon Norma and I were able to go round and meet her for the first time.  She is tiny and one of the most alert babies I've seen for her age!

She looks intently at whoever is holding her - almost like she's trying to work out who is who ;-)

 Theresa is glad to be home and Tyler and Alyssa are happy to have their Mummy and baby sister back.

Getting a cuddle from Great Aunty Norma

and me :)

xx

Hello Monday

My brother, Robin, going for a walk down Forest Way last week

Hello to Emily writing her last GCSE exam this morning.

Hello to no more revision or school for her - until the next school year.
Hello to getting my car's MOT done.

Hello to coffee with a friend.

Hello to spending time with my granddaughters at some stage during the week :).

Hello to Hugh's 25th birthday on Thursday.

Hello to Emily's Prom on Friday.

Hello to a quieter weekend (perhaps). 

xx

Hello Monday

Hello to another 3 GCSE exams for Emily.
Hello to looking after Alice and Megan so Claire can pack.
Hello to trips to the tip.
Hello to Norma going to Brighton with Caelen.
Hello to Caelen's birthday on Wednesday.
Hello to a visit from Social Services to discuss a ramp for Dad.
Hello to Claire and the girls moving into their new house on Saturday (yes it has all happened very quickly).
Hello to my birthday on Sunday.

What's your week looking like?

xx

Our walk down Forest Way

 Norma and I have started Weight Watchers this week and are going to attempt to walk more regularly for exercise.

 We were about to go for a walk down Forest Way and got Emily to take a photo of us before we left. And yes, believe it or not, we are in the middle of May all bundled up for the cold!

The Forest Way path is really close to where we live and a popular walk for people in the area. This particular day this dog was ambling along and quite happy to walk with us a lot of the time.  That's her owner up ahead on the left :)

 We really are so lucky to have this walk nearby as it feels like you're in the countryside. Anyway, as we carried on down the path, the dog's owner was waiting for her and had obviously seen us stopping to take photos. He asked if we'd seen the bluebells in the woods just off the path and explained where he was talking about. As we neared the spot he had stopped to point it out to us and we're so grateful he did.

 We had to go down a little path off the main path to get into the woods where there was a carpet of bluebells. Absolutely stunning!

 And the deeper in we went, the more bluebells there were.  Standing in the middle of them the scent was beautiful.

On this walk I took about 100 photos. Each way you turned was as pretty or prettier than what you'd been looking at. Here are a few more ...

We also saw a badger set - this was just one of the many holes in the area.  There were also, what we presume were, deer hoof prints where the ground was quite soft and a tree which had been gnawed by something. All signs of the wildlife so close to where we live.

As we left the area we were on a high. One to tick off the bucket list ;o)

Homeward bound again.

xx