2013 Unwrapped!

What an eventful Christmas!  We were joined this year by SIL from Cornwall, who took us up on an open invitation issued several years ago.  When FIL died, SIL decided to 'share' Christmas with her next door neighbour, and this has continued for several years.  This year NDN was whisked away by her daughters to spend Christmas in Bournmouth, so SIL availed herself of our hospitality.  Getting her from Cornwall to Notttingham meant a little organisation, involving my BIL and family, but it worked out well in the end.  SIL got herself up to Taunton, spent the night there, then she was driven up to a half way point just off the M5 where we met up with them, had coffee and cake, then returned to Nottingham with our houseguest. It worked very well.
We picked SIL up on Sunday, and the next day, being Christmas Eve, we all travelled the hour's journey to pick up DM!  It being SIL's first visit to DM's new abode, she was given the conducted tour and was very impressed.
Before we left Barnsley, we went over to say 'Merry Christmas' to my other SIL, stayed with her long enough for the Cornish contingent to be shown over that newly decorated abode!  Nevertheless, we arrived back in Nottingham in plenty of time to prepare the evening meal, then prepare the vegetables for Christmas dinner.

More haste.....

In February, I was so pleased with myself that the holidays in Cornwall were organised and booked, and now everything is up in the air!  Our 16 year old grandson, who has been the focus of our summer holidays since he was 2 and a half years old, now has a girlfriend!  This has now caused chaos as he no longer wants to be away from his lovely lady for such a long time.  Now we are trying to work out which will be the best way of arranging time with us and getting him home to be with his lady, and maybe back to us again. 
I can just remember when I was his age, and in the throes of a major crush, so I empathise with his dilemma!
Tomorrow is a big day for our youngest granddaughter, as she reaches her 5th birthday.  Bless her, she's been at school since last September!  Her party is on Saturday, when she is taking a select few to a 'salon' for a 'nail painting' pamper session.  Her older sister is not going, this is not her scene at all, so she will stay with Granddad and me, along with the younger of her male cousins, while his twin goes to have her nails done!  If she's having a 'nails session' now, what will she have when she celebrates her 13th birthday?

A New Year, but same old stuff!

As usual, we are well into another year in the blink of an eye. No sooner have we finished singing Auld Lang Syne than it's Pancake Day (notice that Valentine's Day doesn't feature on my calendar's list of memorable dates lol). However, something positive has been achieved - our holiday in Cornwall has been booked! We are making it a two-site break this year, in recognition of the fact that our grandson is leaving school this summer. (So where did those 16 years go??)

At the moment, big upheaval is taking place at his home - think Bunny Fluff's Moving Day, without leaving the house! When his new siblings arrived 6 years ago, two for the price of one, he knew that it would mean giving up his large bedroom for the littlies to share when they got to the age they are now. Give him his due, he has never (to my knowledge) moaned about this. He is moving into a room which is probably half the size of his old one, and he is a strapping 5'9" lad, probably end up 6' tall! But, who knows, after 2 years in college he may well be ready to fly the nest to some university or other.

Where has the year gone?

I haven't posted since April, I have had lots happening both happy and sad. Suffice it to say that 3 funerals, particularly that of one of my younger brothers, have left a cloud hanging over the rest of the year's events.

Before the funerals,in May we had a wonderful month in France, visiting the War Cemeteries in the Somme area before moving on to the Vendee area. We found the Vendee to be re-inventing itself and it was lovely to experience cycling on the many dedicated routes through forest and on sea front. The weather was really good overall, and we will probably visit at this time of year again. Talking only recently to other AS owners who visited France in June, we discovered that June was not good weather-wise!

In July, we took our GS to Cornwall because he had a work experience placement at the Eden project,in the Mediterranean Biome. He had a lovely week and was well received by the gardeners there, who gave him lots of contact information.

August saw us back in Cornwall for our traditional holiday with GS, 'enjoying' the usual August weather. This year, our DD came down to Cornwall at the same time as us, but brought a tent for their holiday. Complete with twins and dog, they made the most of their time down in St Blazey Gate, not allowing the weather to cast a damper on their 12 day break. At the beginning of our stay, our DS and his family joined us for a long weekend, - our caravan and awning were bulging at the seams ;)

Needless to say, after a damp August, my DH and I needed a holiday! Luckily, we had booked a cruise for September earlier in the year. So the 17th saw us waved off by DD and GS at the local services on the motorway, and later that day we sailed away to enjoy glorious weather in the Mediterranean! We had visited this area in April 2009, but this trip included stops at a few new places, so there was plenty to discover, including Alhambra, Rome and Florence. But the Sagrada Familia holds a special place in our hearts - the interior is now complete and is spectacular. We are seriously thinking of driving down into Spain with our motorhome, so that we can have some 'quality' time there, instead of being rushed through.

Now we are in November, and the heat is on for Christmas. The cake was finally made yesterday, only two weeks late! But I'm sure we won't notice the difference, by the time I've fed it a little more alcohol ;)

Anniversary

No, not out wedding anniversary, or the anniversary of when we met, but the 30th anniversary of us moving into our home! It was the first Tuesday of the school Easter holiday in 1981 and it was a lovely day. Our new neighbour, Jean, made a cup of tea for us all during the move, which we were able to have outside. The move was accomplished without any major mishap as we had hired a removal firm to do the bulk of the hauling. DH made a couple of trips with the trailer, and also brought the caravan over - but we did only move a mile or so! One notable thing about the Easter holiday was the contrast in weather - rather like this year, where we have had some lovely warm days, but then it has become cold again, we had snow by the end of the holiday in 1981!

We are in the middle of sorting out our muddle in the bedrooms, because we have DD's 3 children coming to stay over the weekend while she and SIL fly to Scotland for a wedding. We need to have visitors more often, then the bedrooms won't get in such a mess.....artist's materials and textiles all over the place!! Either that or we extend to have a dedicated craft workshop......

Last Sewing Session this term

I was late arriving at my social sewing group today, despite my best efforts! I was so busy this morning, cutting more 9" squares of cream fabric, turning a tiny hem on each side and pressing them, that I forgot how time was ticking on, so lunch was late and so was I! My DH kindly acted as taxi driver and so I arrived some ten minutes late, late enough for my absence to be put down to me enjoying another holiday!

The squares are for my cathedral window patchwork, which is proving to be a challenge. No matter how careful I am when cutting out, and pressing the hems, the squares turn out to be not quite square, they refuse to tesselate exactly, and generally cause a headache! Fellow members of the group sympathise with me. They did cathedral windows patchwork round about Christmas, so know exactly what problems I'm experiencing.

This was our last session before Easter, and as DH and I are going to France in May it will be some time before I attend my sewing session again.

Our new car was fitted with a tow-bar today! Now we are back to normal. Until now I feel as if I have been deprived by not having the option of going off in the caravan! We have had the car since the end of November, over four months, DH putting off calling the specialist fitter until the weather was 'suitable'! Now we just need the opportunity to try the outfit out.

April, but no showers!

The weather is being incredibly kind to us this spring. We, that is my DH, DS, DD and their respective offspring, have spent most of the day in our orchard, with the children enjoying the space our bigger garden gives them. And yesterday was a similar day, and the day before, and the ...you catch my drift! It's only two weeks since we came back from our two week break in Cornwall, but already I miss the sound of the sea. We were so lucky that the sun shone (though there was a stiff breeze quite a bit of the time). We were down in Cornwall to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the opening of the Eden Project. Even though the official source I contacted at Eden stated that there was no one event planned for the 17th March, I had decided some time ago that we should be down there on the exact date anyway. We were there bright and early on the 17th, which was a bright but chilly morning, and who should be in the Tropical Biome but Tim Smit (Sir) being interviewed by a couple of young journalists from Sky News. Naturally, I stopped and waited for the interview to finish so that I could get Tim's autograph (again!) and in the conversation mentioned that we had come down from Nottingham for the opening day. Tim, with a nod to the journalists and towards us, indicated that we would be prime choice to be interviewed! So we gave an interview, but no one could find it on the Sky News or the internet, so probably the news editor decided that he had better things to do with his air-time!