365/271-4 Catch up: Haphazard-bridge-stripes-reflection.

Writing day(s) late here, lacking the wordy photo mojo and still unable to upload pics within blogger on my tablet.. bah!  Poor Col, he got me the tablet so I could blog and browse while we are watching TV  and now I will have to go back to kitchen blogging, but at least I am more prolific then, the keyboard on a tablet makes my shoulders ache!

It's been a busy few days but not in a very interesting bloggy way, so this may be short and sweet... or protracted and boring, you just necer know!!  We have been interviewing for a new design guy in the office and for once have a few young guns to choose from. It is a draining process as you spend a lot of time before, during and after, thinking about the possible outcomes of your decisions! 

Yesterday late afternoon Col came with me over to take flowers for Mum, it is four years today since she died and I have had a not too sad time, more reflective if you pardon the connection. 

I was fussing about cutting the flowers and tidying the grass around the flower pot and Colin make me smile, telling my Mum just how I am still bossing him about, telling everyone how it's done..I just loved him so much at that point. I'm not quite sure what we both think about the future, life beyond here, but even if we disagree I knew then that he understands why I so love to go three, to the churchyard, a special special corner of my world, which amazingly and perhaps significantly for me, being the nostalgia freak for my past that I am, hasn't changed in all my life.  It's almost like there has to be a place for me which hasn't changed, a place to go so you can forget the rest of the world and just be at whatever point in your life you want.. standing still..perhaps that's what churches in general hold for lots of people..

I took a few pictures and I think they work for all the prompts, it was nice to make a series and of the same trip out.. they may not be in prompt order but they make most sense this way..

Bridge: this little bridge just close to the church is where I used to get water for the flowers if I forgot to take some. I varies in its overgrown-ness (!) but I always go look at it, sometimes you can stand on a stone right in the stream.  I remember my best friend Teddy having his head washed off in there when he fell as he rushed into church late and bashed his head on the pew..

Haphazard - stripes: the gravestones were shrouded in evening summer sun, just the way I like it and cast untidy stripes of shadow, some of the very oldest headstones are crooked and still seem to slope more depending on how the rain and weather have affected the earth..

 

It's amazing, some of the graves, can you imagine if we wanted to erect this kind of thing today?

Reflection: at first I thought there had been harvest services but soon I realised there had been a wedding. Lovely that they had been allowed to have paper confetti without someone moaning about clearing up, an arched garland of leaves around the doorway and on the pillars inside... it was truly a place where there had been a celebration... inside I saw these lovely words on a card..nuff said..xx

After that I went to spend the evening (hic!) with two of my scrapbook pals who are staying down this way for the weekend, I even took two bags of tools and papers, that's just where they stayed.. in the bags. we ate, drank, chewed large amounts of familt fat and had a lovely time.. Ross picked me up and has today kept his promise to set me up on Fbk at last, but in a very limited sense so i can chat with them easier during the times we don't get to meet up!  Thanks you two.. hope you made the journey to my homeland and got some great photos..xx!

Today the girls came by and I just have to end with this fab little pic of our baby one.. aka Boo from Monsters Inc when she wears those bunches!  It was nice, dad played paintball (but it's just not the same without Zac!) and Mum and us even managed half an hour of adult chat while the babe slept and Jb took Lilly to wash the car!  I remember those days, when conversation was held aver the heads of toddlers and their activities!

365/270 Muted

I know I am repeating myself here, using this picture from a layout a couple of years old.. but I fell upon it whilst looking through some images I have on my office PC.

I think the tones are muted enough and I know most of you won't have seen this before. It is a layout I did at one of Linda's scrap weekends, at Mullion I think, the idea was to use beads and stuff and maybe have an autumn theme.. well Zac and his paintball antics fell right into that criteria, though not quite what Linda or the other autumn layouts brought to mind methinks!

I think Zac is hoping to get some paintball in whilst he is in S'hampton, I am sure being there til May will make him realise even more how remote we are here and just how great it is to be in easy reach of London Oxford and Exeter all in an hour or so!

365/269 Vivid

Playing from behind the game today.. I had a lovely morning out in Truro with Karen.. but I wasn't much use to anyone when I got back to the office! Then things got busy and an early finish ended up being 6.15!

April got some scrapbooking done, some great pics of her graduation last week and rumour has it that my JB says she won't let me know it but she IS a secret scrapper!  I knew it.. it's only a matter of time before my old kitchen space becomes a little studio area for us creative girlies.. or maybe my Mum's old annexe would double up as scrap studio and JB's home bakery.. ahh, we all have designs on the spare space.. meanwhile it doesn't get used much at all!

I am writing from the office so I have browsed a little folder of images I have saved here.. this is Lilly at a ball pool.. Vivid enough for me! (I did want to write about vivid memories and things that make you swoop back in time, but that will have to wait..xxx)

365/268 Favourite colours.

 

Well I asked JB and she said I wear lots of black, but she reckons as I do that it is RED. I have red carpets through the whole house and red walls in my kitchen / diner and in my bedroom..I buy all kinds of red things.. handbags, scarves and nail varnish!

Mr & Mrs
I have a great story about 'favourite colours' .. quite a few years back we played the Mr & Mrs game with Col's folks and the kids paired up as well.  The people who had been together the longest seemed to be the worst at scoring points, I think because things change and there are so many variables.   Well Col's dad was asked what his Mum's favourite colour was..
'Green', he was sure it was, quite positive. 

Later when Jean was asked her favourite colour she pronounced.. 'Red' ..

Ken was really surprised, he said 'I thought it was Green'

...'When did you last see me wear green? It was Green, when I had gingery hair, when I was young..years ago!?'

.. oh it was quite a debate.. and highly amusing for us bystanders!

Col and I didn't fare much better, he was asked my favourite sandwich and chose 'Prawn'
Of course when I was asked the true favourite I said 'Humous and salad'.. much to his amazement..
'When did you ever ask for a humous and salad sandwich?'

'Well I make them for myself, all the time'

'But when I ask you about which sandwich you want in a garage you always say prawn'

'Yes, but they don't make humous and salad and if they did it would be damp, so I choose prawn!'

Well I haven't lived it down! Funny though.. xx

Polish Dancing?

Little footnote here.. Ross' girlfriend and our Kate have just come in full of beans.. they went to a pole dancing class! Well it has been on the cards for a while and Kate used to be real good at dance, gym and acrobatics so had wanted to go for ages. 

As you may expect I was a little reluctant, not the chosen 'sport' for your teen, but as April had been before I was cool... turns out it is quite a class, lots of dance work and quite strenuous..in fact it was great to know they had been and had some fun and are getting some exercise... Ross made me laugh , muttering to himself...'yeah, my girlfriend and my baby sister have gone pole dancing.. you wanna go too Mum? Then I can say my mum, my girlfriend and my baby sister went pole dancing, that'd sound good...'

Apparently I have to write a note to say it's okay as Kate is still 15. The woman from school reception runs it so she clocked Kate was there. They asked her age and someone thought she was 23... she was worried then 'but I use that Time Delay moisturiser Mum, every day morning and night'

'Yeah, trouble is Kate, the only thing you are delaying is getting to school!'

Zac just called, settling into the new place and college, he has a gruesome cold butt everything else going okay.. apart from the lack of internet.. heavens, how does a child of the 21st century manage.. ah, with internet on phone no doubt!

And tomorrow JB starts her evening class in 'Start your own Small Bakery'.. hopefully it will live up to her expectations..

.. and lastly a little red layout from way back when..

365/267 on my desk

Oops almost forgot to post!
Not sure of the quality of this as it was done from my phone last eve (it is now Monday, but I will date this Sunday..;-$)

I have grouped some of the more funny things together.. my new Crop-a-Dile, two calendars I use for layouts, Betty Boop and Meerkats, my original first tool: a Stamping-Up tag maker and a note from when Lyla was born .. the midwife left this in the car so they wouldn't get towed away!!.. note that the curtains are shut Lynne.. oh for some opaque blinds! xx

365/266 Random item..and a Happy Scrapper.

Well I resorted to using the pc and my phne picyures, must get researching why Bloger and my Samsung tablet are not being very friendly towards each other..any thoughts would be appreciated.. Zac and the phone shop people say it is that they are not compatible but you would hope an update would improve things.  I can Blogger post pics from it but they are very low quality and usually use the internet site to do it.. blah blah Blogger!

 

 So through the week I finished this layout of the dolphins we saw a few weeks back. Some of the images are even stills from the videos, good old Picasa eh!

My plan was for a double layout with colour pics as well and I had used some B&W papers and green but JB looked at it and we agreed it wasn't working,.  Then I picked out this great sky sheet and dropped the pics on it, perfect.. and used the Papermania B&W ribbons, bows and buttons Pops gave me for my birthday... 

I am entering the Happy Scrappers monthly challenge , and in good time this month, though if I had been clip to time I would have missed it with the Blogger vs Samsung fiasco.

Oh and I also loved using my Crop-a-Dile..eyelet heaven!

 

This is my random item .. Zac packed and left by mid-day, TV, X-box, de-humidifier, clothes, a tuck shop of food condiments and odds and sods, bedding, paintball kit.. his Laguna is a veritable tardis!

I photographed his parallel rule before he added it to the pile!

365/265 Fruit

Busy blog today.. a few things to cover.. questions to answer...

1. What do we do?

Lynne asked me what our business is.. well we design & make handling equipment. It is probably dreary unless it is your 'thing' but we have been doing it twelve years and it is treating up pretty well (now). We started when Col was looking for a 'not-influenced-by-the-weather' alternative to civil engineering dive works. We met a super guy who held a patent on a trolley mechanism, and to cut a long story very short, we created a company with him and developed the patent application to apply to lifting heavy drums. 

At first Colin was chief sales / development / promo, everything and I was the paperwork behind the scenes girl!  Our first outing was at the Tomorrow's World Live show and we won a prize for innovation to avoid back injury.  The following year we had taken the product further and Colin won their Inventor of the Year show award.. awwwhh. Henry, the original patent holder was at this point 85 and was delighted to see the growth of his idea and evolution of the ideas. He died just last year and we still have letters from him saying how much he enjoyed being part of it with us, though to be fair it was quite an arduos expensive journey at times!

12 years later we now have a designer partner who is also one of our oldest friends, employ 14 people and manufacture a whole range of handling solutions for rolls, drums, doors, all kind of things.. and because we supply kit which meets all the awful H&S regs we sell to big food, drug, chemical companies, hardly anyone close to home really.  Hence Colin's draining trips up country, it is not easy being based in Cornwall, not really the centre of the world for manufacturing but hey, we get boat and dolphin days and all our family is here. 

You can see more stuff at www.sts-trolleys.co.uk It is a bit of a 'we-job', our daughters do the video editing, the website and stuff and our sons get involved with some of the workshoop stuff when time allows. Oh and I make lots of tea!  It really suits us as you can be home and at work at the same time, I even have a washing machine in the office kitchen (for overalls of course) and so can be found folding shirts thgouh the day just after I have answered the phone to someone in the MOD!

Hopefully that gives you a little taste of our lives and Lynne you can see how amazing it must have been for Zac to find one of our trolleys in the engine room of a cruise ship in Oz xx

2.  22.45 update.. (yes, teen taxi again tonight, but everyone is chatting with Zac, his last night so he will be up late playing X box later with our SiL too!..)

 ..well my Samsung tablet updated yesterday and now I can't do a thing with it! (remember the washed my hair and can't do a thing with it phrase!)  I feel like Anne now.. I have had to change the keyboard properties and now I am trying to upload some pics to this blog and it is on standstill!  It won't even upload a picture I know it uploaded before..bah!
I had some nice pics of the new layout I have done for the latest Happy Scrapper challenge, but no luck.. tomorrow I will transfer to this pc and do it the old way.. I still prefer a keyboard to tablet etc but it is great technology!

3. And so to fruit.. I should have photographed the girls today. I had Lyla come food shopping and then we got Lilly from school.   Lyla loves food and fruit especially.. in the few hours I had her she ate grapes, strawberries, raspberries and banana!  Lilly is doing great at school but it's long days. She does the mornings for academic stuff and it seems a shame to bring her home to miss cooking or playing activities..

Well my picture may have been here before it was taken in France, I love their pastries..

365/264 Backlit.

Colin is home, he has driven about seven hours each day and done client visits, but all good and productive and I've got some nice orders in to add to the pile. Poor thing, he likes to see the order boards full but then it is stressful telling people that maybe their order is delayed.. such a balancing act, especially when on one hand you are selling and on the other making explanations of the delays.. not easy to be everybody's friend!

Talking of friends, Zac had  pal over from school days and they caught up on all the news..the Uni students, the skilled workers, the losers, the lucky ones and the pregnant ones!  Seems that catching up is the same whatever your age!

I was browsing back on my phone, it takes some real nice pictures out of doors, but inside it is a big fail really.  This was taken in the hotel in France, it was beautiful and sunny outside and I think it was breakfast time..

I am weary this evening and Kate is working so not sure if I'll get to 11.30 without a doze!  Zac leaves here Saturday for his new accomodation in Southampton and two terms of learning in classrooms.. at least he is hoping to go sailing and do paintball to keep him busy at weekends..

365/262-3 Bug...Negative space

 Slightly different angle today (and yesterday). I wasn't able to find a true bug picture and Jb has been about all day but out now, so I missed the chance to grab one of her bee pics from her macro flower photography... so I thought of hermit crabs on holiday or .. ahh yes, this.. one of JB's innovative little pics.. Love Bug..>>>

Didn't you just love LoveHearts!

And Refreshers.. oh and sherbert lemons, pineapple chunks and pear drops!

JB is putting some of her designed sunglasses in a craft fair over the weekend and has spent a lot of today prepping.. lovely boxes, tags, business cards. She is running a little competition to win a pair, so if ou are on Fbk and would like to enter or have a look, she would appreciate it..
http://t.co/ldbrJRYl WWe could surprise her if you pass it on and lots of people she doesn't know vote and enter!

Her lovely boyfriend has spent the day here too, getting his photos made into cards and postcards, it was like a little craft industry, the kitchen full of photos, the new Crop-a-dile getting an outing and JB baking to complete the rustic picture!

I fell in love with a number of his pictures and he gave me this one in A4, I'm not sure just what to do with it, scrap it in a simple layout, or just frame it..

.. and it's no coincidence there is some negative space there I think (as Jo so kindly defined early today) .. is it? the sky? or do the clouds make it not count?... not that there is much negative about the picture at all...  I just love the balance of it, reminds me of the Scilly Isles..

365/261 Ground level.

Well Col is away for three days tomorrow so we've been trying to catch up on e-mails and quotes today, but Ben is back from honeymoon and it was a kind of new term feeling, quite autumnal outside too.  Everyone is getting on with stuff, Ross enjoying his new job, it is so good to see him come home happy and confident, really does remind you how bad it is to be placed in a job which doesn't work for you.

We're all a bit sad that Zac has to go off to college next weekend, he is taking lots of stuff with him as it is a long let-in an annexe of a house so he has plenty of space for TV, paintball kit and almost everything you need for nine months living.  He has been clearing out old stuff, boxes from all his technology which he stored when he bought the stuff, school books too. I guess his theory is if he isn't taking it to use in nine months then he doesn't really need it much.. ahhh but he will still keep the archery kit under his bed, from that phase, you know, when archery was his 'thing'!  At least it 'doesn't eat any meat' as mum would say!

Jordan seems to be settled back into college. She is working on some macro photography and this is a shot of something ( a banana boat!) she has made to photograph... and it is taken on my phone and more or less from ground level.... I did mean to take some pics outside but suddenly the day was closing in.

365/260 Leaves.

Really another pretty unremarkable Sunday, but it is the day of rest isn't it and time to get ready for the new week. Last night Zac showed us a film about various conspiracy theories, looking at the origin of religions , the 9/11 events and the activities of international banks. It was an odd film, quite surreal in parts but very clever and thought provoking, though if you took it all too seriously it would make life hard to tolerate...has anyone else come across it?.. it was called Zeitgist and was released in 2007.

I tried to get some scrapbooking done this teatime, with some of the dolphin images, in black and white and using some of the new papers I had for my birthday but it took me half an hour to tidy the room to a scrapable state, then I found not much inspiration.. so it is on my desk for popping in and thinking about over the week, just like when you have a jogsaw which needs a fresh eye and gets left on the table overnight... my mum used to stay up late but always left me the last few pieces, she was so generous that way.. xx

I just had a great sirprise, Col's Uncle Bill left me a message on Google+ and he has seen my dolphin pics Zac uploaded fromPicasa last week. We also heard from his daughter Michele today, she is Colin's first cousin but they have only met a few times, and only twice in the last twenty years.. she has just had twins and we would so love to visit.... maybe we could fly over and get one of Zac's clever cruises back from New York.. who knows..

We had everyone's favourite.. tuna.. for tea.. and everyone has different things with it.. potatoes / veg but I always have salad and rice.. oh and lime pickle.. yummmm..this is a leafy salad, not today's but hey who's counting!!

Zac made me smile today, we were talking about him cooking whenhe goes back to Maritime College for nine months, he laughed, suggesting he blog his culinary habits whilst away so I know he is eating well.. I so wish he would, and Ross also said he wishes he could blog a picture a day.. wouldn't it be great to get them blogging too.. after all they are kids of the Facebook age and should be much faster at it than us!!

365/258-9 Fall & Tree revisited.

Fall.. I don't use the term for autumn really but it is what came to mind when I read the prompt yesterday.

In the front garden the sycamores are startuing to curl and go brown.. and when stinging nettles grow through the hydrangea bushes, does that mean autumn too?!!

Well this was my original 'tree' image back in April and I didn't expect it to change much, but the growth of spring and summer have given us much fuller hedgerow behind.. I hate the bareness of winter when everyone can see into our garden!

365/257 Nails.

I have never been very good at growing my nails, not so much biting as nervous or distracted nibbling.. see the picture!   But I find that having gellish nails, a kind of easier-to-remove-than-acrylic nail polish really helps. I always go for something pink or red or most often a burgundy, but my girls like blues and greens and sometimes black.  The other week Kate had animal stripe tips on hers.. !

The picture is of one of several boxes of nails and nail paraphernalia  which Kate has around the house, she is such a girlie girl, loves nails, hair extensions and all the props... I wonder if come adulthood for real she will go au naturel on us..? 

It's been a busy day, Ross' girlfriend had an interview and I took her along and later I had Lilly after school, which was just lovely. so it was just as well the phones were quiet today but tomorrow I have lots of email stuff to reply to.

365/256 Arms.

I went for a hair cut (well roots and a trim..!) and then did the ironing this evening so it's a quickie again tonight, Work has been busy and I haven't had much chance to catch up on emails or blog comments either so if you can bear with me..

Arms.. mmm.. a couple of images spring to mind, so many of our pictures show a child or other person loved one being held in our arms, isn't a hug just the most wonderful thing, especially from someone you see a lot and sometimes don't always take time to enjoy the moment with..

Jordan has a birthmark on her upper arm, sometimes people think it is a burn scar. She is quite attached to it and teases me that she should get it tattooed so it stands out more or to make a feature of it, not just a strange dirty looking mark!  Zac has a similar mark on his back and I think Kate has one on her leg.

Thought I'd indulge myself with the picture of me with Ross in my arms, all gorgeous 8 months of him in 1987... xx

...and Zac hanging off the lianas of a hige banyan tree on holiday, we do this for a picture every time we go there, but the kids are getting taller now so it isn't so high up!

365/255 Hair

Well like Anne I have featured 'hair' several times before, especially Kate's which has many guises and is very photogenic, so I will need to be inventive for this prompt.

First I will tell (at Janice's request) a bit more about the laser hair removal treatment I mentioned last week. I may delete this later as it is quite personal but as I have only about 20 views per blog entry maybe I won't, you either know me or you don't..and you can't see me cringing can you??

So....having been a long time spender (and by long time I mean over twenty years) of money on the disguise and removal of tedious facial hair I have put off looking into laser treatment for ages. Bleaching, waxing and also years of electrolysis, on and off.. which I became expert at tolerating, so much so that the repitition of the needle has been known to relax me almost to sleep!...I gave up electrolysis when my fortnightly treatment lady decided to go away for six weeks without supplying cover..enter the hairy women of the village !!!

.. so back in April I was at the point of having waxing treatments costing about £20 a time every fortnight, enough was enough.. this was nowhere near a permanent fix, sometimes it seemed to reduce the effect but being very dark haired I have always found it hard to face(!) the waiting days between treatments and the awful varied cycles of growth which can be quite unpredictable.

So I booked in for some laser treatment at the (private) Duchy Hospital, I thought it would be the best option, thinking they would have the most up-to-date equipment and be a more proven solution than at a beauty salon. It's called Soprano.. the first day they did a trial patch and as it was okay the next we went for broke, the whole lip and chin.  The put gel on you like for an ultrasound , to keep your skin cool, it is kiind of tingley but not painful, I do feel a bit tense but I think that is more about the idea of it being 'a laser'

The most worrying bit of the consultation was when they said to shave, not wax or pluck during the treatment period, but to be fair the growth is much slower and I can live with this.. they reckon 4-8 treatments will pretty much sort it...well, they mention hormones and no promises are made about the success but it has helped me and I reckon I am quite a 'bad' case!   

The cost was always an issue to me too, but I thought it would be a big one-off payment, but not so, I pay per visit , now less than once a month. So far it has worked out twice the cost of the waxing in the same period but I feel so much better and over time it will definitely pay off. The cost was about the same as six waxings but I have had treatments every 4 then 6 weeks and I can eek it to 8, the cycle of growth varies but I reckon I am 500% happier and do not have the grim waiting time in between.

Best of all now I can get my nails done and enjoy the trip to the beauty place!

So.. ask if you want to know more!! I know I have blabbed on, but I kind of do that when there is something I feel passionate about.

.. and here's my hair pic for the day..South of France? nah, St Michael's Mount..

365/254 Legs.

I am writing a day adrift here.. with good reason.. it was a busy day yesterday and no time to email or blog.. (sorry Karen, I know I owe you a reply x) but we had a lot on!

It was my birthday and Col's brother was down in the afternoon as he had a showing of his film 'Last Shop Standing' about the rise, fall and resurgence of the record shop, at the St Ives Festival, so we all turned out and had tea at the Hub where JB and Ross have been working, then on to the show and out afterwards for a few drinks..

.. so where 'legs' fit into the day I'm not sure.. mine were a little light once I had downed the third Summer Berry Daquiri.. a double shot of rum and a shot of our new favourite Chambord in each one, but to be fair it tasted fantastic!   But that was about it, after the film my plan was to go on to the Comedy night at the Western Hotel but on arrival it was £12 a ticket and having had some not-that-funny nights there for Comedy before, we decided it wasn't the best spend of £60 we could think of!!  

So quick drink and home, by then Andy Murray was settling into his match and what great news he won that match overnight!

I had some great presents, loads of scrapping stuff, papers and tools (Tom my SIL likes the idea of proper tools for a present.. he doesn't get the paper thing!.. Lilly bought me sour sweets and the blingiest stash items you can imagine, all her favourites!), necklace, spa stuff, a picture and more! 

Unexpectedly mid morning I just took my phone out of my bag and saw it was ringing... my brother called  to wish me HB and I was so made up.. he told me not to talk as much as usual (!) as he was on Ship to Shore radio and would call again when in from sea!  It's his Wedding Anniversary the day after, on Sept 11th, two disaster anniversaries on one day he laughs!  We catch up on our birthdays and Christmas and despite it not being often I still feel deeply for him, maybe even more so now it is just us.. kind of acknowledging we are the only two 'alike' in our world.. yet so so different in more ways, if I am honest!

So.. legs.. a picture.. Ross and April cuddled up this eve on sofa (11th)>>

365/253 Feet.

Well it's been a proper Sunday, playing catch up on the washing and ironing, feeding those who come and go and watching some TV, mainly the F1 though it doesn't have the same buzz for me as in the days of Damon Hill! Zac and Col enjoy it though, Zac follows the technology much more than we do now, for me I think it has become rules for the sake of rules.  Love MotoGP bike racing though, so unpredictable and it seems less of a business than the F1 where you never know if it real rules or Bernie's latest plan to get viewers!

Not sure where to go with the feet prompt, apart from the fact I have had my feet up today a good bit more than yesterday! And I think I have used quite a few feet images before..so here are my favourites from previous pics..

... and Janice.. okay I will tell more about the lasering in a day or two...!

365/252 Eyes

This is a quickie, the morning after a very busy day before.. I forgot to take photos of a lovely family afternoon and evening, but  Lisa says it means I must have been enjoying myself instead of taking photos!

So.. Saturday..yesterady.. potted herb history.. trip to town, got my nails done (this has become the new fad for me, just a tidy look with gellish nails, not a big glam effect, honest, it stops me biting and is a nicer way to spend a few quid looking nice than the previous waxing which is not needed now I resorted to some laser treatment...(at long last, after much consideration and 'go on, you should's from Col)...

well, there I met an old, old pal (as in years ago, not age) I spent five years very close with from sixth form til the end of college days, we swapped letters in the days before mobile and shared lagers in the sun during 'A' Levels.. well she still lives near me and we swap ducks now and then, usually when I am a watcher and she is a proceeder (!?) in the Mazey Day schools processions...well it turns out she actually found my blog one day by accident! And she wants to come scrapbooking../ it was so exciting, so much to say and tell but I tried not to overwhelm her and hope we see her at Newlyn soon.. I know she will be so good, she did Art at school and Teacher Training and is so naturally talented..

.. then got myself some new sunglasses.. yeah I know, summer is over almost, but mine broke and I only have reading sunnies which makes looking across the sea pretty hard!.. and off to a big food shop, about the third in ten days.. barbecue and salads and lots of drinks, mainly soda and juices, but proper summery stuff.  Home, then prep for couple of hours til Lisa and crew arrived, followed closely by my ex-niece-in-law... you know how you inherit people after other peoples marriages finish, and actually it's the non relations you get on with best and are the nicest people.. well Al is one of them, she was one of the very few people who helped me with Mum, she and her kids came even when it was hard and not a particularly easy social call and helped me out when I needed to have a moment or two's respite from caring...  Well she bought her new guy and his kids, they all got on great and he and Col had loads in common, so altogether there were about 18 of us and best of all Lilly and Lyla had kids to amuse / harrass and everyone had a great time. I can't remember sitting down much but hope that means everyone was well looked after!

The only pic I took was of a cake Kate bought Zac for his birthday, we ate it yesterday.. I think the eyes are still here though!

.. oh and this morning an amazing moment, Kate and Jordan discussing eye make up,.. no animosity, no teasing or flouncing involved..a gorgeous moment I hope we get more of as the years progress.. thanks huns x

..and if I recall some sharing of a calculator and Zac helping with some Maths homework.. has the world jolted from its axis.. nah, I am just (b)logging the moments for when I feel the need to moan next time!

(and what was it I said about a quickie blog.. well it's what Sundays are for... ironing, catching up and a bitabloggin')

365/251 Hands.

I knew I would like getting the pictures for this prompt. I was heading off out in the boat with my three generations of Jones men! It reminds me of Colin's mum who used to work in a biscuit factory and even though the women were of all different ages and styles they all agreed that their hands showed their true ages.. the young 16 year old, the mum, the grandmother etc... and when I notice a person's hands I always think of that..and wonder where they would fit in the factory hands line up!

..there were so many nice shots, I had to include them all!!

  

 

So, this morning.. a quick trip into the office and pleaded our case that we haven't had anywhere near a proper amount of holidays, (who does when they run their own business) so today was one of our holidays!  Of course I still had to make the sandwiches!

We headed off and got the boat from the Mount in good time after high tide, while there was still enough water.. the sea was like a millpond, gorgeous!  

Col and Zac swapped the prop over and got everything ready, Col is just so competant with all things boating and engines, and it is nice to see Zac so comfortable at sea.. just as well mind!  The little inflatable outboard had a cough or two so Col had to play with that when we anchored up for lunch.. he just loves to tinker with engines and I have other pictures of him many years ago looking just as happy on a boat in the Maldives when working there!

Pops did some fishing and loves messing about in the boats.. the highlight of the day was spotting a basking shark alonside just beneath the Minack, and then a pod of dolphins.. they came real close and seemed to play with us, they were really good size and kept rushing up in the wake of the boat and then as if in finale one did a big somersault just in front of us.. I was so so excited, it was fantastic to see then following the noise of our engine and then soaring around in the water..and especially as our boat in not too big it even beat seeing them from a dhoni when we were on holiday.