Ooooo Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

..it's been a fine weekend!

I've just come back from an afternoon's saunter along Penzance prom with Colin.. and they had 8,000 plus pirates in attendance, beating the Hastings world record by about 2,000. It was amazing, kids, parents, teens, oldies, babies, everyone..some with full pirate regalia and some with justthe obligatory bandana, striped top and cutlass.. lots of drawn on scars and moustaches and  more than a fair share of guy-liner.. old Johnny Depp has a lot to answer for!  Mind you, if Penzance can't get the record for numbers of Pirates who can!

Mazey Day yesterday was busy, too busy for me to be honest and I just enjoyed a lazy lunch with Linda and then we holed up for an hour in an old book shop..there were plenty of Pirates about then too, but some of the stalls were positioned so that getting around and getting a good view was a bit hard, so I didn't stress, the parades will come again next year!
(I think I'm getting that I don't like  crowds much, the idea of going to say a festival or GP and getting the buzz is well outweighed by the travelling or the encountering of thousands of people.)

Today was good though, the people spread from Newlyn almost across to the harbour..and everyone enjoying our first proper sunny day for ages.

Karen set a friendly 'Shadows' challenge and I had it in mind when I took a few pics at the harbour today..  the first is a true shadow, Colin with beers in hands but I really wanted the great reflection off the Scillonian, but I think the second shot is a little nicer..

Oh.. and I just made my first e-bay purchases!!! Everyone is afraid, very afraid...

One day in summer..

 This is a layout I just realised I hadn't blogged. I always liked this batch of photos and they eventually gave me an idea for a layout using the CosnmoCricket waves papers. .  I cut waves out of two sheets and then swapped a piece to mix the blue waves with the coloured ones and give it a double layout which kind of matched.

The Shore card was a bingo card I had from Linda, not sure what Bingo cards are all about really as scrapbooking goes, so I covered the numbers with the photo. 

Lisa laughed when she saw the pictures.. 'look at Dad's shoes, he hasn't done much beaching in those'.... and look at how he's attacking the sandcastle making.. not much relaxing on the beach for this construction engineeer! Yes, we never did go beaching much and it was always off season and pretty much us on a mission when we did!

Nice little spot for my beach stamp, coloured with my ProMarkers.  And hey, who'd have thought it then that Ross would become such an avid bodyboarder..

  

Nice walk.

Jordan needed some fresh air, she has her last exam tomorrow and is finding it hard to get revision done for this last one after a break of over a week. And I was feeling in need of my weekly one night doing something a little out of the norm, so we took the dogs down the lane.

Dear things they are about 10 and 12 now and we put their continued longevity down to the company they are for each other and not being fed titbits, living a proper doggy life.  Rob is getting quite deaf, and adaft too really, or he has selective hearing.. isn't that an elderly thing..

He jumped into the little stream but couldn't get out and Jordan had to wade in and help him out, then hold on so he didn't go back in... whilst  he decided to shake right beside her!

Joey the amazing rabbit catcher plodded along behind us, he can walk all the way there and back and still have very white feet. Small question.. is it that the hind legs of a rabbit taste different or has Joey just eaten enough by the time he gets to that part... we have had a yard littered with his accomplished rabbit stalking remnants.. life in the country eh! And hats off to Zac & Pops for cleaning them up most times!

It's amazing how grown over everywhere is, it was a quiet shady walk under the trees, lovely. And amongst the shadows this tall stretching foxglove shone out pink against the greys and greens. Not a great picture (duskish and on my phone) but worth remembering.

It's Mazey day this Saturday and the promise of some nice weather, so we should all perk up.. Colin will relax lying under the boat, but if he's happy we're all happy!

Sail training.

 

Well I'm pretty pleased, I managed to do this double page layout to remember Jordan's trip with the Rona Sail Training group last summer. It may be obvious but I used some of the Ocean papers I have had for about 3 years, a bit like pasta on a plate, there still seems to be some left even when you have had your fill!

Some new Core papers and my Distress Inks and all my favourites were employed. Not a hugely original layout but it did give me chance to show off lots of her photos and her favourite all on its own on the second page.

Not much news!

.. and not much happening..I know it's Father's Day but as we all see each other lots anyway it's not like we have to take a special day to show people we love them.

Been catching up round here, would be outside trying to repair the weed damage on my little patch, but true to form the English weather is giving us all something to grumble about!  Even when it's a nice hour you are still doing the thing you were doing 'cos it was raining / miserable, so you don't even appreciate that. .. Hey, just a thought, do you think they'll call and ask me to be on 'Grumpy Old Women'..!

Did a nice bit of baking this morning, I wanted to have soemthing to see for the day at home, a clean floor and meals made and destryed isn't enough. I made a plain sponge, now half eaten and a coffee one too, and made my Mum's famous icing with a Mr Kipling type pattern.. I was pleased with it.

I really like fruit cake and had a nice recipe for a Dundee Cake so I set about making it.. oh, that is, minus the cherries, the almonds and one of the four eggs..yes, I know I should have checked the cupboard first but hey, improvise, innovate!

Busy week coming again, Col's on one of his epic trips to Newcastle and back, with all towns in between but it's all in a good cause. If we tip enough visits and quotes in the funnel then the jobs will trickle out the bottom, in about 3-15 months.. well that's the plan!  He has himself a new van so that'll keep him happy..

Me, I'm going to do some of the easy teas and hopefully get a nice layout or two done. And one of the light nice evenings maybe a little sortie over to St Levan with something for my Dad..x

Nice idea..

.. that one evening a week we'll take a change from routine and go out for a walk before tea and even maybe eat out. Last week I was crawling the wall after a day in front the computer so I took the 4 kids out, it was kind of odd at first all being out in the same place at the same time, but we had a wander around Penzance harbour and than ate at the Dolphin.  Ross took Kate and Zac to look at his pal's yacht which he lives on and Kate got a reality check about the size of shower on a small yacht!

Generally the kids are all doing their own thing at weekends so it seems like a good plan to do this one day in the week.  Tonight, with Colin home we went to Marazion, nice and sunny, warm even though quite windy.. and my favourite.. high tide. I made a mental note that as the weeks pass by maybe we'll go further, maybe even a surprise trip to the Minack... hah, that'd make me laugh and them cringe!

Some good news today too, our new baby (14 weeks old now) has had her hips sorted. Great news, just need to gradually wean her out of the harness, a few hours each day, time for lovely relaxing baths and lying on the floor time.  Just lucky it was spotted straight away as some little ones aren't diagnosed with problems til at least 6 weeks, often later and then it's a longer battle to teach the bones where to be..

Upgraded!

My office computer got upgraded this week and along with a unit which doesn't turn itself off every intermittently (but not often enough to make you click save all the times you should!) I got new Office / Mailing systems and even the font appearances are meeting me like strangers.  yes, I know it'll be a matter of days before I'm laughing at myself, but just like all those msn upgrades, you wonder why they improved a system you were quite happy with anyway!

Then Lisa came by to print some photos and we'd had to install new printer drivers for our house printer when that PC was replaced.. so why doesn't the printer give me all the old options now.. does it guess the type and quality of my paper? ..hence, perhaps the lines across all my printing efforts.... I can see a new printer on the horizon, esp as the print cartridges cost almost as much as a whole new unit!

My pal Karen almost organised us a scrapbook day on Saturday but it seems most people are in summer mode and doing this and that, weddings and holidays etc... I just want to know when the June weather is going to catch on as well. I can't believe mid-summer's day is just a week away and I'm still pulling on my boots several days a week. 

... love this little pic, you can feel the heat and warmth of the  the desert island sunshine , but hell I shouldn't complain, I could live in townville opposite a JJB Sports /MacDonalds complex!  I'm just waiting for the next time I can take an afternoon out and it's time for :

Large nudge..

.. from Karen and here I am again, unsure as to why the lull in my blogging, but back now just the same.  I was thinking back over the last week and wondering what was blog-worthy, but I guess maybe it's the mundane which is just as much worth a mention as the epic adventures.. cos if it's epic adventures she's waiting for Karen may be waiting a good while!

Col returned from Ireland after a good few days customer visits, cursing the lack of postcodes in the Emerald Isle. I spent several hours on Google Maps luring him to his destination with various landmarks and numerous parallel roads all called the same thing in Dublin.  Speaking with a guy from Belfast afterwards he said that's what makes it Ireland... maybe it is the place for a holiday.. stay put, relax and enjoy 'cos if you're looking to go anywhere you'll never find it!

Talking of relaxing and enjoying, Col's Uncle Bill may be over here on a flying visit late October.  'Definitely!' and 'I''ll be home for the weekend' were the cries from JB and Zac when I told them. It's so good the feeling he creates amongst us all, makes us celebrate family a bit more, rather than just living it. An autumn barbecue in the rain is even cool with UB as special guest!

Now, what did the weekend bring?  A couple of moochy days with Col trying to recover his stiff back, but that was good, it made me laze as well and it was kind of what we needed. A walk on Sennen beach, a wave to Ross teaching his young group of 'Grommets' to surf and then onward to town for a beautiful swordfish steak at Snapper. Just what the doctor ordered! And it was still only Saturday teatime.

Sunday was wet and dreary but we had a great motor racing day. We slept while a lot of the world watched Le Mans, but we woke to watch Moto GP races from Silverstone (Yvonne tells me: 'wet but lots of fun') and then some chores before the Canadian F1 Grand Prix. Rain played a role there too, and a lead role at that... caused a two hour interval (time for making tea) but the last 30 laps were epic.. Jenson did the business, 6 pit stops, 2 accidents, a drive-through penalty and raced from the back to win first place! 

We thought Vettel had it in the bag but a forced error gave Jenson the much deserved win... we roared and cheered, it was reminiscent of the halcyon days when we were huge Damon Hill fans...

... I commented as we went to bed that we'd spent almost all day watching motor racing and Col said that's cool, we spent the day enjoying one of our hobbies!

That reminds me, I have lots of pics of our trips to Silverstone back in the 90's, I can see a scrapbook page coming on.. especially as we managed to get in on the 'Jordan party' before they moved its location and began charging for it... Chris de Burgh was there and loads of the drivers and our mate Frans took some great photos which deserve the scrapbook treatment!

What nannie's are supposed to do..

.. what a day!  I've just made nice curry for our tea, a veggie one and a Thai green with swordfish... eaten hungrily and all gone, faster than I took to throw them together!  It's all been a bit of a haze.. (well it is now) I really enjoyed the bottle of Brothers Ginger Cider before tea, I guess the troops are lucky we didn't make do with bread and cheese which I would if they weren't about!

Anyways... what do Nannies do? Well they take grand-daughters to Tesco for some shopping, but fearful of losing the child's 'four little 'friends'..aka two Timmy the Sheep toys and two yellow 'loves' blanket scraps around the store, they go to great lengths to encourage tear-free leaving of said friends in the car... let's leave them to be safe in the car, so they are not lost etc etc...thus keeping them safe involves seat belts and many farewells..and the odd photo or so..


The day has been good in other ways too, Col's had his stff back kind of sorted and we had a customer visit with tender documents and it all seemed to go well.

Add to that a few nice cuddles with the new baby and a few good emails from more eager customers and it's been a good day...

...only downside was booking hotels for Col's trip to Ireland.. all way too nice to enjoy under single occupancy. If there wasn't a staff shortage here due to our local agricultural show I'd probably book myself a last minute ticket to go too!
It was nice though, not many Premier Inns and he has a car to consider so I've booked one out of town and right by the sea, hopefully it will make the days away more palatable..

All things aviation!

Unusually Colin had some free time the other week when he was out on visits and found himself two days in a row watching motor racing practice at Snetterton, then the next day a visit to the Air Museum at Duxford. You know how you get all things in your head sometimes, we'd just watched The DamBusters with the kids that week too so it all seemed so much more real and he was full of it when he came home.

Well, yesterday I was out shopping (last minute as ever.. just when does that organised Virgo thing ever kick in I wonder??).. and I couldn't get quite what I wanted for Col. But as I left the town, thinking it might be just another navy tee-shirt or a box of chocolates, this little guy called to me....Bader is his name and he is just so cool.. from a range of Meerkats ala comparethemeerkat site, but also reflecting Col's love of all things aviation..

.. sometimes you just have to have him!

Where's the time gone..

.. a gentle nudge from Karen and I realised it's two weeks since the last blog! I've been aware of the time lapse but I guess we've been busy and there's not been too much of note to tell. 

Half-term was nice, great weather and the kids took time out as well as doing some revision. Jb has GCSE's and Zac his 'A' levels.  I took a day out to do some appointments but also took myself off to meet with friends.. it was an odd (but nice) feeling to get out of the car, alone, just me and my handbag (!) and have no-one else to ask where they wanted to go, meet up, or anything.  I think I could get used to it.. maybe one day a week just for me.. it's quite an alien thought after so many years of having to tick the boxes in my head of where the kids were/ when they may need me / what other promises I have made to be somewhere or work to do.

Work ,well there's another story.. it's still real busy and we have had some nice orders, in multiples and from previous customers, so that's kind ofwhere you've always been heading isn't it.  And now we have more people who knows, those long weekends and trips may actually come to fruition.

It's Colin's birthday today. I kind of set him up to have a 'Pirate Party', well it was for our little one really and she enjoyed the Treasure Chest cake, the things to find and the wooden sppon pirates to make!  I think I've also booked myself to take her to the Pirate World Record attempt during Golowan on 26th June in Penzance.. well if Penzance can't sort 6500 pirates who can..

Jordan did her usual brilliant effort and made the cake and also fresh meringues for the Eton Mess dessert which is Dad's favourite...x