Christmas Photo Advent-ure!

Just in case you are peeking.. why not join in with out Christmas Photo Hunt over at our Lucky 7's challenge blog..

HERE!!!

Would be great to catch up with everyone and share our Christmas photographically!

Here are some of mine from last year.. I have my new room now, so hope it will ring the changes on the decorations front!

Putting a few things to bed?

Well it was Night 3 this week that I found myself laying awake in my bed. I know I am awake because both my eyes are open.. and focussing!  For two nights it was a case of waking after a few hours, but tonight I did not even settle down for the initial flourish of sleep.  

So I lay there, telling myself I am not worried about anything, that I am not stressed, (just hot and restless) and go through ridiculous relaxation techniques, counting things and trying to list things backwards in the hope I will bore myself asleep or just dive in whilst trying to think who came before who in my list of teachers / school friends or whatever!

So I have come downstairs and had my cup of tea and this time two slices of Jordan's lovely bread and Kernow Inferno's chilli marmalade (ahh, you should not be eating / drinking tea etc I hear you cry, but last time I tried not eating and that didn't work either!)
As the ironing was already done I browsed some friends blogs and Facebook and ordered some bits from Debenhams sale online and here I am.

One of the lists I had in my head... when I wasn't stressed / worried / relaxing (did I mention that!) ...was what I had done since I last blogged and why I wasn't in the habit of writing lately. ... and for sure I should be as Zac has been away about 5 weeks now and will be expecting something here pretty soon.

I decided that the problem is when I lose blog momentum (is that a thing?) I want to write it chronologically and if a lot has happened I don't want to write out of order.
We did some personality testing in our office and it came out that one of my main traits is a 'complete finisher' as I like to see a job done and the box ticked so to speak (sometimes just for the tick as much as for the completion I must confess.)  And in the context of blogging it seems I am a bit like a New Year diary writer; if I lose a week I find it hard to drop back in without infilling the weeks I missed..so I don't!.

(Colin, on the other hand was denoted mainly an innovator and apparently loses interest after the first flourish of creating something, they call it a butterfly syndrome .. but it is good because he has a complete finisher alongside to tick those empty boxes (though currently I am feeling like a complete nagger .. but if nagging the flitting butterfly is how you completely finish then I guess it's okay!)

So, as I lay there eyes wide open I decided I would put the wakefulness to good use and come downstairs to ramble away in cyberspace and try and resurrect my blogging habit.  I have also been feeling a bit neglectful of my Lucky 7's challenge which I have been setting but falling short of entering.. can you see a theme coming here?
In my defence I think I am doing okay at work though, we are busier than we have ever been and in anticipation of a ten day sojourn to the sun I am trying to be extra reactive and not leaving many stones to turn up forgotten promises while we are away. (That's the trouble really, when you and your husband are 'the sales team' and you quite like to holiday together.. no-one to cover up when the things you forgot to do come knocking!)

Okay, if you have hung in here this long I am going to (for posterity and the desire to be chronological) mention what's been happening here since I last wrote.. (refers to phone as it has my diary and pictures)..

Pops in 1997..

August 23rd.. Bank Holiday weekend.. mega 80th birthday for Col's Dad. Uncle Bill & Deborah came from Washington for the week and we had wonderful family times. Zac was here and also lots of other wisitors.. we were bushed by the end of it.. over 5 days we fed 10-20-50-26 and 12 people. It had been a big Tesco shop (and at 11pm and through self serve.. ouchie.. I thought I had forgotten THAT moment!)

August 30th ..we went with a bunch of our people from STS to the Moto GP at Silverstone. dropping Zac off at Heathrow for his next 4 months at sea  on the way was not fun, but we had a great time with him over the summer.

September .. back to school still features here, even though all of ours are finished now. Lilly and Lyla come by on Mondays or Tuesdays and seeing everyone has to fit into school timetables.. also as Ross works at school and April started her teacher training this term.. yay!
I had a Spa Day with April and my 3 girls.. partly for my birthday and also as Kate was about to go off to seek her fortune in Oxfordshire the week after!  She has had itchy feet as mum would call it, for a good while and as her friends are all still at college she wanted to go stretch herself job and life-wise so she also has something to show for the year...she passed her driving test and within 3 weeks she drove 250 miles.. with a friend, but hey, I still balk at the idea of driving past Plymouth!
Jordan has been busy planning her big fairs for Christmas season and doing small markets. I go to Pendeen and run the Saturday stall some weeks and enjoy the trip out west!
Lisa has found a house she is hoping to buy but I am keeping quiet on that as it is surely a spell I don't want to break!

Not much boating this year, although the weather has been so lovely.. tides and work have not been as kind. We did have a couple of cod-heavy trips out to the east.. yes, east! It has not been known before for us to turn left out of the Mount, but the cod must have known that.. but we have them under surveillance now and know where they are lurking!

And we are building a building! Two buildings in fact.. in our field..after much planning and pacing to and fro for Colin and the guys, we are under way!

Anyhow.. it is late and maybe now I have put this list down I will rest easy and sleep. I promise (myself) to write more often.  I think it is because I Facebook pictures that the chat I had here gets missed out.. that and the fact that it is just so easy to keep all the pictures on my phone.. and not quite sure how to get them onto this darned Windows 8 laptop without emailing in bulk.. see, still finding some excuse!

Night all.. xx

Breezy!

The sky was busy this afternoon with clouds rushing past the sun and giving us cardigans on and off all the time!  Hoping it will settle a bit over next weekend so we can enjoy some outdoor time with everyone who is coming for Pop's 80th birthday party next Saturday.

It's been a busy weekend (again) .. Zac has gone back to Almere near Amsterdam for another course ..but he will be home in time for the party! He was toying with bringing Mr Bobby out again but has another good idea.. (our theme is going to be Travel so we hope it will inspire everyone!)..He did try Bobby out again last evening..somehow he just makes the person inside very Blobby- behavioured!

We had a little gathering for the actual day of Pop's birthday ..The family and his friend Peter.

I realised I had all my children in the same room..my phone is slow taking pictures..hence the moving arms and Kate's mock pained expression.

 Pops had to pose for his official pictures.. the cake was a spontaneous job when Lilly hung out with Jordan, the 'real' cake is for the party! 









The girls slept over with us on Saturday.. they were late to bed but slept through which makes life a lot easier!  The two young ones love my kitchen windows and the view across to Pops place!

Couldn't leave out this great pic of Lisa and Tom... (he still looks so proud of having her as his wife!)

....or this one of Lilly and Lyla's super duper sparkly Sketcher shoes!

The toe gems flash when you are walking!

Better skies...

Not easy to photograph the Super Moon that's out this week..
But here's the sky from Marazion last evening
Hoping the summer hasn't left us just yet!

Sky!

Well the sky has been everything today.. at 5pm this was the view across our yard..

.. grey sky and rain to beat the band!

      

Centenary of WW1

Over at Lucky 7s blog challenge I asked everyone about current or past connections with WW1 as we celebrate the 100 year anniversary of war breaking out. I have found it really interesting on TV etc as I have never done history to any level and stopped it soon after the dull Bronze & Iron age stuff they taught us!

My Mum's dad Joe Tommy Warren here  went away to war and I have a pencil written notebook of his diary thoughts.  The intention is to get it onto the computer but really I need to decipher his lovely hand and dictate to a willing typist, to allow some flow.

These are a few of the things I photographed last night.. he was in East Africa / Mombasa and Dar es Salaam..

Joe was a local school teacher, I sometimes think of him a bit like the character in Private Ryan, who had to be in charge but didn't want the guys to know he was 'just' a teacher...but it is so interesting to read his thoughts on war and the people he encountered abroad..

''Declaration of war may have been accompanied with the ringing of bells and expressions of hilarity but deep in the hearts of thousands there was the greatest anxiety.'' August 1914

Christmas Card from the Desert

January 1916 from Mombasa to his wife-to-be
They married in July 1916

Staged note to say he was still alive

Christmas message with hint of who would know where he was..

Birthday note  22-march-1915 .. No recognition of it being a special day.

see the note above this date.. Fighting 12 miles from here.. One attempt to round up about 4 to 6 thousand of the enemy.

Summer Sunday..

Summer View Feet.. a little late but hey!

Light & Shade!

Kids playing at Marazion in the Sun ..and Sea!!

So, yesterday Zac, Colin & I grabbed a few hours on the boat.. picked up Col's Dad at Penzance which saved him getting a wet backside like we did in the chop on the way out on the inflatable!

Summer water!

Not completely fitting with the Summer Colours prompts but a good try! Look at that grey cloud behind Zac, luckily it came to nothing and the sun shone (on my feet)!

Summer food and shopping..

Summer Lunch.. thanks April!

April made us a tasty summer lunch using Jordan's bread..

And today I am at Pendeen Market ..x

Making the most of Summer!

The summer weather has made us all try to take advantage of the still light evenings and the warmth. This evening April and I had the 3 girls so Lisa and Tom could go for a kayak and then a swim and have some supper .. just the two of them. I still appreciate that Cols Mum and mine did so much for us that I am always happy to do it for them..

Annabelle is just about walking and Little Pops (Col's Dad) was playing hide and seek with her watching from our kitchen window.. you can just see him peeping from behind the curtain!

Summer Children:  Ross & Lilly.

We joked that History is repeating itself, Ross got the 50cc quad out which we bought when Lisa was about 7, it's been welded up and rebuilt a fair few times in the last 19 years, and still creates joy in a child.. and a grown up!

Linking up with my challenge over at Lucky 7s here is a summer sunset.. we have had the most glorious shows of sun and light this year.. and if I wake early tomorrow I will give you the sunrise too!

Summer views!

Well it's been one of those weeks .. again! All week I have been counting down to one thing or another, and it isn't any better next week!

Thursday Zac took his final oral exam and passed! He is now an Officer of the Watch and can navigate a ship of unlimited tonnage.. it was actually not so bad as the time approached as he realised he had prepped quite well, lots of group learning and sessions with a port pilot, not quite the repeat learning we used to do for maths and geography in our day!

On Friday Pops travelled down from Col's brothers where he was staying a few days and Zac gave him a look round Southampton port.  They travelled home.. a long hot journey amidst all the holiday makers on the south coast road.

Summer Foods: salady stuff .. outside!

We are having the loveliest of weather, although in the office we see it more than feel it, but it is lovely to have evenings to sit out and eat.. so that's what we did with all the family on Friday evening.. quite satisfying too as Kate passed her driving theory test the same day.

Add to that April passing her Teaching skills exams and we have 4 out of 4 so far!

I have failed on some summer views (feet..and sky today) but have covered these other weeks!

Big Sisters.. Lilly not happy as her burger was cold! Age 3y 4m and 6 years

Baby Annabelle..being like the big girls..age 18 months and just about walking.

Marazion

From my window

Frequently visited.. the building works down the field.. 

Footings!

Zac's home.. cue the family barbecue 

7 plus 1 plus 99...maybe!

My weekend:

7 kinds of bread at the Pendeen Market (Saturday)

So we took advantage of some fab weather and a favourable tide and got a few hours 'out West' yesterday.. only ONE place to head when you are in the boat and the weather is fine!

Zoomed in : Penberth (Rowe family?!

I am kind of trying to think of a tenuous link to why this should be a picture for 99!    Maybe there are a number of captions available:

'What do you mean a taxi to Hayle will be 99 pounds?'

'Do you know how many spots are on my dress?'

'How many different ways are there to wear hair extensions?'

'What is an ice cream with a chocolate flake in it usually called.. and why!?'