It's time ...

for me to update my blog again :) Thought I'd do a quick recap of what's been going on since Friday. We had a good weekend, nothing too hectic. I hadn't seen my sister, Kay, for a couple of weeks so we decided to meet up at Nero's on Saturday morning. I picked Mum up on the way and we were there just before 9am. (I was taking Claire in to work so there wasn't much point in going home and coming back again). Neither Mum or I had had breakfast so we decided to get something while we waited for Kay, Theresa and Tyler to arrive. I had looked in the Weight Watchers Eating Out book to see what was lower in points and settled on a Bacon Breakfast Panini and a capaccino. When we'd been there for a while, Tyler started getting restless and I was drawing pictures. It's been a long time since I've drawn helicopters, trains and diggers but he didn't seem to mind my attempts ;o)

He's certainly growing up fast and at the end of the month it'll be his 2nd birthday - not a baby anymore, that's for sure.

Sunday morning was another frosty one and as I was going out, I noticed the frost on this spider's web. Unfortunately you can't see it that clearly but when I zoom in and see the crystals hanging to the threads, it reminds me how wonderful nature is. It also reminds me to sometimes stop and look around me and actually SEE what there is. Yesterday was a wet and windy day. Didn't start out too badly but slowly and surely got worse! We had our usual weekly shopping trip and coffee and I had time to get home and unpack before heading off to the dentists. Half my tooth broke off when I was eating ice cream (SOFT ice cream!) about 10 days ago. My dentist wasn't back until this week, hence the wait. I'm relieved to have it sorted and to be able to eat normally again. I had to wait till 3 o'clock before I could eat again and prepared dinner while I passed the time. This was the scene from the kitchen window - after the dry, clear weather we'd been having, it was a bit of a shock to go back to miserable rain.

Jon has taken this week off work and last night informed me that he would like to go for breakfast today. It's been a while since we went out for breakfast - about 6 years I guess because he suggested a restaurant that closed down that long ago ;o). He was up and ready to go by 8.30am and we walked into town with Claire - who had to walk to work seeing as I wasn't going to be driving. Breakfast was good and we went to get the paper and a new battery for Jon's watch before heading home again. We bumped into Dad at the top of town and had a quick chat before carrying on. There's a stretch of road we walk down to get down home that has a pub and some offices. We'd passed the pub and were walking past offices when I glanced down and in a basement, seen from the road, this is what I saw. I had to take a photo because it certainly wasn't what I expecting.

Row upon row of wine bottles. Jon's idea of heaven ;o)

All for now.

xx

This morning

It was so cold and frosty this morning as I drove Claire to work. As we were driving towards the High Street, it looked so pretty. We were tight on time so I dropped Claire off and then went back the way I'd come, and faced back into town again so that I could pull over and take some photos. I don't know if they do the scene justice but you'll get an idea of what it was like.

St Swithun's church tower

I was going to take the dogs for a walk when I got home (part of my trying to do some exercise every day!) and decided to take my little camera out with me.

Walking up towards Mum & Dad's house you can see St Swithun's church tower again. I love this tower and you can see it from so many places in East Grinstead. Our local bus drove by and picked up a passenger, who was probably very glad to be getting out of the cold for a while. A close up showing the frost on the branches. By the time we were virtually home it had cleared a little more but was still cold. I don't mind walking when it's cold and crisp but when it's dull and miserable I prefer to stay home. At least this has given me some photos for my Photo A Day project :)

Hope you all have a good weekend.

xx

Happy New Year

Wishing you all a happy New Year, let's hope that 2009 is a good one for everyone. We had a very quiet New Year's Eve, just family, but it was good. Quiet time with my youngest catching up on programmes recorded and DVDs given for Christmas. Jon was in bed before midnight (way before!), Hugh was here with Sarah and Claire and Graham went to a friend's for the night. I hope 2009 continues to be as peaceful and not too stressful.

We've had contact again with Jon's daughter Michelle over the festive period and are now looking forward to having her and her son, Josh, come to stay with us this weekend. It's been a while and there will be some catching up to do. This morning, I got my first layout of 2009 completed - one that shows some of the pictures from summer 2006 with Michelle and Josh in them.

I'm looking forward to seeing how much Josh has grown and I've no doubt they'll see a difference with Emily - who has grown loads over the last year or so.

The girls and I are going to attempt to take a photo a day this year. I know a number of scrapbookers are doing this and I thought I'd join in. As the girls both got cameras for Christmas they have decided to play along too. Let's see how we get on. It's not looking good at the moment as I haven't even decided on the photo for today yet ;o)

I'm off to have a look around. I'll try and get into the habit of posting more regularly again this year so keep checking back.

xx

Monday

Today is Jon's daughter's birthday. Happy Birthday, Michelle - hope you have a lovely day and that your card arrived on time.

Christmas is receding into the past but, before I revert back to posts of our everyday life, a few pictures from Saturday. Kyle, my nephew, and his partner, Emma came round to exchange gifts and Mum and Dad joined us. Unfortunately, Hugh and Claire were both at work. A glimpse of our Christmas tree between Mum and Dad. Emily got a number of books for Christmas and is working her way through them. The new furry slippers are getting used daily ;o)

Kyle Emma

Dad

Jon

A rare one of me :oP

Mum (Sorry you've gone into Black and White Mum!! The colour one just wasn't working!)

Emma and Kyle open their presents

We had a lovely afternoon catching up (and eating too much food - again!). In the evening Jon's sister Debbie and her husband, Dave popped round on their evening walk. It was freezing outside and they were all bundled up. I admire them for walking, I would have got the car out ;o)

By yesterday I was ready to start tidying the house again and doing a bit of a clean up. The kitchen got the brunt of it. I don't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing that Kim & Aggie's "How Clean is Your House" was on TV all day yesterday! I'm taking it as a good thing because the kitchen looks great now. I'm also beginning to think I need to give Flylady a try again in 2009 to keep on top of things.

Today I went into WHSmiths and they and they had some cute storage boxes and magazine holders on sale. I bought a couple of magazine holders (pink with white polka dots) and a 3 tray storage unit (black with pink drawers) so I can start a system of post that needs action, post for filing and the third tray has take away menus (not that we have many but they're handy to have to hand when we do!) and odd papers I want to keep.

Tomorrow I think I need to get some more boxes to help organise the clutter around my computer. Makes me feel better when it looks tidier. I may even take some photos when I've finished...

I'm now ready to wind down for the night and tomorrow is another day.

xx