Happy Birthday, Iain

Today is my brother's birthday and we were going round there this afternoon for coffee and cake. I made this banana loaf for him (not for us to eat today ;) ). I know it doesn't look terribly fancy or pretty but it is really yummy! Hope you enjoy it Iain!

As I said, we went round to Iain and Louise's this afternoon for coffee - Mum and Dad, Kay, Theresa, Tyler and Alyssa were also there. Nice to just sit and chat. Emily with her cousin, Faith (Iain & Louise's daughter - who I've just realised will be 17 next month!!)

I love this photo of Mum (well her hand anyway) and Alyssa. Look at how little Alyssa's hand is against Mum's finger! Too cute

Great Grandma (Mum) and Alyssa

Jon taking the opportunity to talk to Alyssa while she's looking his way ;)

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Now, before I go any further, if anyone out there can offer some help or an explanation, I would be most grateful. Please note in the next two photos how the candles are "reflected" again in the photo. The first one I thought was because Iain was wearing his glasses but the second one? How do you explain that and why has it happened? I was using my Canon 50mm 1.8 lens, does that have anything to do with it? I have noticed it once before with the Christmas tree lights but didn't think about it too much but in these photos it's more obvious. Any advice anyone?

The catepillar cake is a favourite in our family :)

Tyler was quite funny today; he kept his jacket and his wellies on the whole time we were there. Would not take them off! Maybe he wanted to know he would be going home again? Who knows. We just know he was happier keeping them on. His foot is a little bit better but if he does too much on it he tells Theresa (his Mum) that his foot is tired and he needs to rest. He goes back to hospital tomorrow afternoon for a check up (on his birthday!).

Final photo of Alyssa and Theresa/mummy. She was so good and got passed around the room without any complaint until she was ready for her bottle. I'm going to have her again tomorrow while Kay, Theresa and Tyler go to the hospital :)

Have a good evening.

xx

PS. The snow has stopped and we've had a bit of rain so hopefully that's it for now! Still a bit lying on the ground but with luck that will be gone tomorrow too!

Guess what we got today

More snow!!!! I thought it was going to miss our part of the country because on the weather report they'd said north and west of London and we're south and east. I've since been told other reports warned of heavy snow here and I guess they were right! This is the most recent photo. I went to my friend Alison's this morning for coffee and while we were sitting catching up (we had plenty to talk about as I haven't seen her since before Christmas) the snow started coming down heavier and heavier. I didn't think it would lie because the ground is still quite damp from the last snow melting - guess I was wrong!

I have to admit that, despite not wanting more snow, it is so pretty to watch it come down - especially when you get the big flakes. Can you tell this is still quite a novelty for me?? Living in South Africa for 26 years while growing up, in a climate where it never got cold enough for you to need a coat, it was quite a change coming to live in the UK. Even now, 19 years later, I am still in awe of the changing seasons and they still fascinate me, year after year. I don't know if I'll ever take them for granted.

xx

My day

Up until last night I thought today was going to be a quiet, uneventful day. It wasn't that I ended up doing anything very exciting but it was fairly busy. Claire was hoping her makeup was going to arrive because she had rescheduled the delivery after they couldn't deliver it yesterday. This always means that someone has to be at home all day until it acutally arrives so it becomes a bit of a juggling act.

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This was our day today

First I had to drop the dogs at the Dog Parlour around 8.30am for their 6 weekly wash and trim. Claire came with me so that I could then go straight in to town and she could be at work by 9. I needed to go to SpecSavers to sort out my contact lens prescription. I wasn't over impressed when I ended up waiting nearly 3/4 hour only for it to be suggested that I go in for another contact lens assessment next week. Until I get the lenses sorted out I can't do anything about my glasses either!

Back from town and it was time to catch up on the never ending ironing. Fortunately I could watch an episode of ER while I was doing it which makes it go much quicker.

I had to take Hugh for a Physio appointment at Queen Victoria hospital at 12 and pick him up again at 1 - which gave me enough time to come home and make lunch for when he got back.

After lunch I made some lemon cupcakes from a recipe I hadn't tried before. They turned out well but I resisted trying one until tea time this afternoon ;)

Back to pick up the, now clean, dogs from the Dog Parlour. Cloud was getting frustrated in this photo because I told her to sit while I took it and she just wanted to come and see me ;) - Wallace is sitting at the back in his own little world!

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Soon after we got back, Emily arrived home from school. I'd made one cupcake into a butterfly cake (with the wings made from the top of the sponge - I'm sure you know what I'm talking about!) One of those was enough so I let Emily have that one and the rest are iced normally ;).

I did a quick vacuum and tidy up before sitting down to have a cup of tea and, the aforementioned, cupcake. Even if I say so myself, they are very tasty - but then I LOVE lemon cupcakes :)

I had time to edit some photos before making dinner. Short order chef tonight ;)

I've also written up my daily tag and printed the photo for it (can you guess which one I used?). I can't believe I'm still up to date with this. I love the format, makes it seem so much more manageable.

Time to dish up dinner and if I can hog the TV, I might even be able to watch another episode (or 2) of ER

Enjoy your evening.

xx

Claire's room

Claire had a 3 day weekend last weekend and decided to get stuck in and tidy her room. Believe me, it needed it!! She now has 3 bags of clothes outside her door - I'm not sure if these were just what she picked up from the floor or if they're clothes she's cleared out of her cupboard as well - I don't really want to know details. The downside of this clearing out process is that she sorts out stuff she no longer wants (or needs) and then brings them downstairs for me ;o)

A basket full of hangers (probably because the clothes are all in those black bags)

And things to go to the Charity shop. I will now need to bag these up and take them to the shop otherwise they are likely to lie around the house for a while yet.

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I'm not actually complaining, I am extemely grateful she's sorting it out - for her sake and mine! She feels so much better when her room is tidy, which I can totally understand. Now to keep it nice and tidy - please!!

xx