On Saturday evening our church hosted a guest supper, an annual event at which I did my usual quiz spot and some of the YP waited on. Although there seemed to be fewer guests this year, it was a really good evening and we enjoyed getting to know some of the people from the YM. The YP did a grand job, and look how cheerfully they went about it:
Anni is blessed with some lovely friends at school and every now and then we have a mums and daughters get-together. On Friday night, Sophie's mum, Jane, threw a chocolate party for her birthday. Beth's mum, Gill is a chocolatier and makes the most amazing chocolates I have ever tasted. She gave us a demonstration and we got to have a go at making our own, which proved to be far more difficult than it looks.
She had even made a gorgeous chocolate shoe for each of the girls. Shoes made out of chocolate!! What more could a girl want?
Wow! I have been neglecting my blog. This is largely due to the death of our home computer. I now have to queue up for Annabel or Peter's laptop. However, it also has something to do with being ridicuously busy. Hey ho~ here I am at last, fresh back from a perfect weekend away, staying with our lovely friends Dave and Davina. On account of the fact that Davina, like Peter, is nocturnal, we didn't get to bed until 4.30am on Friday night/Saturday morning. There's always so much to catch up on! So Saturday was one of those lovely slow start mornings. And how nice to saunter out of bed mid morning to be greeted by the offer of scrambled eggs and toasted muffins!
In the afternoon we visited Guildford Cathedral, where we were treated to an orchestral rehearsal of Haydn's Creation quite by chance. The music sounded so beautiful as it resonated through the cathedral. It was also where this was filmed. (Which, I hasten to add I have never, nor ever want to see.) From there we had a mooch around the shops, splitting off from the boys, who came back like this:
The next stop was a huge bonfire and fireworks display in the park, which was quite spectacular. I love the way our girls just pick up where they left off. Anni made me laugh by announcing, "Mum, Gemma and I were just reminiscing about when..." as if they were a trio of old ladies. They have known eachother all their lives though. Their plan was to stay awake all night on Saturday but they felt a bit tired, so they planned half an hour's sleep and set their phone alarms. They ended up sleeping all night.
We've had a great time catching up, faring sumptuously and sleeping very little. I love visiting them and watching the kids grow up. We saw a landmark for Nathan, who actually has the right to sing All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth this year.
All in all a great weekend, ruined only by Simon Cowell putting out the lovely Lucie, who I felt deserved to come at least in the top three. Lost some respect for old Mr C after that!
Although many of my Dad's side of the family live about 45 minutes away, I must confess that I rarely see them. This week my Dad's youngest sister, my Aunty Joan, is over from Canada with her son, my cousin Grant, whom I had never met before. So I took the opportunity to take Mum, Tom and Anni over to my Aunty Edie's house to see them. These three ladies on the sofa are my Dad's eldest sister Edie (looking good at 85!), his youngest sister Joan and his sister Janet. It was my Aunty Janet who worked at the mill with Mum and introduced her to Dad. Mum was delighted to see them all again.
It was lovely to meet my cousin Grant. He and Tom shared some very similar mannerisms, which was fascinating. Here we are along with my cousin Carol. Carol was so cool when I was growing up, she worked for air traffic control and invited me over to work with her for a day when I was about 16. She even organised for a pilot to take me on a short flight in a little plane. From there we headed further north to Haslingden to visit my Dad's younger brother, my Uncle Brian. Uncle Brian has really been through the mill lately. He had a heart bypass and half a lung removed within a month and starts chemotherapy tomorrow.
Uncle Brian is such a sweetheart and the kids love him. When my Dad died, he really took care of us, ringing every day to make sure we were ok. Even now he rings to let us know that he's ok. It was lovely to see him and to see how well he was doing under the circumstances. Our final pitstop (one short shopping trip and parking ticket later) was for dinner with my sil Dee and my enchanting niece Erin, who charmed the socks off my Mum.
Hooray and hoorah for half term! Peter had the day off and we decided to go to Manchester. Anni had gone there on the train with some friends and Tom was originally heading into Crewe but decided to come with us instead. He hadn't registered that we were planning to visit Urbis; he was too busy asking 20 questions about the time, nature and priority of lunch. Lunch in Chiquitos was nice, Urbis turned out to be incredibly disappointing. The most interesting feature was a height chart in the shop which informed us that Peter was the same height as George Dubbleya, I was the same height as Vladimir Putin and Tom measured up to Samuel L Jackson, narrowly missing Fidel Castro. We then had an impromptu ride on the Manchester Eye.
It was a pleasant surprise to actually go round on it 4 times. It looked very impressive too, adorned with giant poppies. I photographed our own little blossom in front of it. (We met up with her when her friends left for home.)
On the spur of the moment we decided to go and see Up, which just so happened to be starting in 10 minutes. It was excellent, and all the more so for being in 3D even if that did involve me wearing 2 pairs of glasses. I have conjunctivitis (which explains why everyone was telling me I looked so tired yesterday) so can't wear my lenses. Had to get a pic of the nerd glasses.
My big bro Rob has been doing a stand up tour, which brought him to the frozen north last night, to Runcorn to be precise. Peter and I went along in support with Peter's sister, Judith. What a great start to half term it was! First of all, Rob was great and we had a much needed laugh. In fact my cheeks hurt afterwards, always a sign of a good chuckle. But as if that wasn't enough fun to be had for one evening, we went back to the hotel where Rob, Kath and Lily were staying only to find an Abba tribute band in full swing, to a dance floor largely occupied by women of a certain age, many of whom were wearing pink cowboy hats.
After having something to eat, we decided to join the party. By this time, aforementioned (and may I add dreadful?) Abba triute band had departed and in their place was a DJ of a certain age, who seemed to be playing his way through my ipod. We couldn't resist hitting that dance floor. In fact we danced our little shoes off until the party ended. It was toooooo much fun. Where else would I get to listen to Abba, the Bee Gees and other such delights unchecked for an evening? Peter and Rob looked on with cameras and a mixture of amusement and despair most of the time. But I had the time of my life (and yes, they played that and just about every other song from Dirty Dancing too). Must visit Runcorn again!
20 years ago today I donned a meringue, dripping with sequins and pearls and married my best friend. I'd post a picture of him on that day if only my pc hadn't died and I had access to my scanner. I have to say that I woke up with mixed emotions today; delighted for the day but really really sad because he has to be away tonight and it feels all wrong because we should be doing something special to celebrate. But he did buy me this beautiful necklace and matching earrings, which I love.
Looking forward to celebrating when he gets home...
