Mum's birthday

Saturday was mum's birthday party. Laura did all the arranging which she did superbly, only asking me to get some sparklers!

Ollie had never let fireworks off before and being the pyromaniac that he is asked if he could be in charge. After years of standing while other people let one firework off at a time we joined forces and attempted lighting more than one at a time.

I managed to get my rockets to spin which was impressive. Halfway through we were interupted by mum's friend's bloke playing happy birthday on the bagpipes on our driveway!

Dad nailed the catherine wheel to the fence which got stuck and wouldn't turn round.

We continued with the fireworks, not exactly sticking to the safety rules but being careful until the last 3 rockets when we only had enough lighting stick left for 1 light. So we twisted all the fuses together and set them off. One went off in the sky, one into next doors garden and one in the tree!

Then we moved onto the 3 million sparkers Ollie had got which ended up in some strange places (in the firework pot, in a beer bottle and in the cake!)

Halloween Pumpkins

Unfortunately my pumpkin was not ready for Halloween. I is starting to turn orange but according to the guide I read on the net, it's supposed to be harvested when i is fully orange and then mature for 10 days. Well this photo was taken last weekend so it had no chance of being ready for yesterday.
Ollie enjoyed carving pumpkins so much last time that he wanted to do it again, so we got some pumpkins in Sainsbury's and took them to mum's on Sunday for the carving. Here is the end result!

Last night I refused to stay in the house in the dark (so the trick or treaters wouldn't know we were home) and went to yoga with Helen.

Guitar Hero Really Rocks!

We bought our own guitar hero from ebay. It was delivered just before all the postmen went on strike on Friday, so we have had loads of fun today!

Last night was the cricket club dinner organised by Laura. It was a good evening, even though we didn't really know anyone there. The dinner was alright, but the caterers were a bit poor. They managed to spill every course on the table and one even knocked over a bottle of wine on the next table to us! We left early because we were a bit tired and we were taking nan and Grandad home and they had been up since 4am to get mum and dad to the airport. So we missed the band who were good apparently. Grandad won the raffle - again.

Today I have been incredibly busy. We went to the gym and to Sainsburys this morning and I have planted the rest of my bulbs, painted the pipes in the bathroom and made 6 (yes 6) apple pies!

Guitar Hero Rocks!

Last night we went to Helen and Alan's for a poker night. It was a proper married couples evening with 4 sets of married couples! We did feel a bit old! It was lots of fun though. Afterwards we had a go on guitar hero which they had borrowed from Helen's brother. It is fantastic! It gets some getting used to but once you get the hang of it it's highly addictive. Ollie managed to get a high score on Sweet Child of Mine which was really hard.

So that's another thing for my Christmas list!

I went out with mum yesterday afternoon down to the craft shop in Margate. I only got a few sheets of paper but mum stocked up. We stopped off at Laura and Wayne's on the way home as I haven't seen it since it was a shell. It's very nice, I love what they've done. It's impressive thinking that they've built their own house.

Ol and me both won the lotto last night. I got 4 numbers for the first time ever and he got 3! So we treated ourselves to the 8 in 1 remote that we had seen in currys last week. It's a really funky touch screen one which will replace the 3 that we've got for the tv, sky box and dvd/amp. It was half price in the sale and we got another 10% off as the box had been damaged! Ollie's set it all up and I'm going to have a lesson in how to use it later! I think he's going to set up special buttons for me for the PS2 and X Box so that I don't have to remember what buttons I have to press on the tv and amp for it to work.

Body Shop party

Last night Tiff had a Body Shop Party. It was the girl's first party and she did really really well. I had a great time.

She has got me to agree to holding one as well so that should be a laugh!

Tiff got me a huge sparkly diamond (I'm presuming not real!) for my birthday which is now sitting on my desk sparkling away. I'd take a photo but I left my phone at home today. I've ordered my new phone - for the second time as the PAC code to transfer my number didn't work yesterday. When I get it I will be able to take photos and upload them directly to my blog! How cool is that!

Another Exam pass!

I passed my ACCA paper 1.2 on Wednesday! 74% this time. It was a really tough paper so I was really pleased with that.

To celebrate and to spend my bonus money for passing I bought Ollie a new PSP for the train. I went to Sainsbury's Maidstone but they didn't have any so they phoned Sittingbourne and reserved me one to pick up. So back to Sittingbourne and to Gamestation to get some games to go with it.

Ollie was really pleased with his suprise - until he realised I had been fobbed off with the old model for the same price as the new one! So I had to go back to Sainsbury's yesterday for a refund and we'll be going to Gamestation at the weekend for a new one! He felt really bad pointing out that I had got the wrong one - but I'd rather he had the better one and I didn't get conned!!!

He's not the Messiah he's a very naughty boy!

Yesterday Brian went missing for about 24 hours. Now we wouldn't have been worried if it had been Abby. She is always out and about and is more savvy and street wise.

Brian, however, rarely leaves the house for more than 5 minutes at a time as it tends to interfere with his sleeping and or eating. For him to miss 2 whole meals was unheard of! And let's face it, he can only be described as special needs and I'm not sure he's equipped with the necessary stuff to survive in the big wide world.

He finally turned up at 2.30 this morning minus yet another collar and cat flap magnet (I had unlocked the cat flap in case he had lost his key!) I had to get up (yes at 2.30am!) to find him a spare collar and door key.

So now we are quoting Monty Python at him as punishment.

Bored bored bored

I'm thoroughly bored of revising now. I've officially had enough!

I did have some time off last night to make some more cards...
And as promised a photo of my pumpkin...
And for those who are interested, Brian is actually sleeping in HIS bed today!

The life of Brian

It's such a hard life being a Brian. This is where he has been all day today...

I must point out that he tucked himself in all by himself with no help from me or Ol, Ol just found him like it!

And this is where he spent Friday afternoon...That bag by the way is what I use to put the recycling in from the spare room so he is sleeping in a bag with coke cans in!

I went outside earlier to take a photo of my pumpkin, got it all lined up. Turned the camera on and realised I'd left the memory card plugged into the computer! Doh! So I'll go out there again another time and take one.

Wow I did it!

I actually managed to grow something edible. Well I have done before but only mint and rhubarb! I even managed to kill of 3 lots of Basil! Last night we had the first crop of corn on the cob. It was really nice. It looked like corn on the cob, had the same texture and didn't taste too bad!

Considering all my other plants have died and the stinging nettles keep returning to invade my flowerbeds and lawn I was very pleased with myself.

Just in case you were wondering we had it with mash and chicken tonight hoy sin and balsamic vinegar sauce.

I even have a pumpkin growing! I'll have to take some photos for a pumpkin update diary!

Other than that I have found the challenge blog which gives you a word a day and you have to take a photo - I may give that a go when I'm not so busy with my studying.

Sunday Housework day

We've been busy again today. I went to Homebase this morning as we needed white spirit so Ollie could paint the other side of the door. They had some bulbs so I got some just because I was late planting them last year and they didn't come up.

I weeded one flowerbed and have planted some tulips and some other blue things that I can't remember the name of! And I planted some dwarf daffodils in a pot. But I've run out of compost for my other pots and the inclination to do any more weeding so the rest will wait until I get some (compost or inclination, whichever comes first!)

Ollie's busy doing his ironing. I've hoovered upstairs but have been banned from doing downstairs as it will throw dust onto Ollie's painted door.

Christmas Cards

Friday mum came to visit and bought her embossing powders to share with me which was really nice thank you!

So Saturday night to cheer me up after the football I made a few cards. (Needless to say my Magnolia stamps have all arrived! The photos are a bit rubbish, but it's the best I can do without going outside!

Football luck ran out

Saturday we had tickets for the biggest match of the season! The North London Derby, Tottenham v Arsenal. We caught an early train and got to the ground in time for lunch. Unfortunately the greasy spoon that I had gone in with Dad last time we went (4 years ago or so) had shut down, so we had to make do with a KFC type place. Which was OK, Ollie didn't go much on his but I thought the chips were nice.

We had a look in the club shop which was having a sale and I was going to get a t-shirt and a scarf, but the queue was too long!

We found our seats, conveniently in front of a gangway so that we could climb over to get out. The ground seemed very small when you have been to Wembley twice in the same week!

We played alright in the first half, going in 1-0 up. But we went to pot second half and lost 1-3. The last goal was unforgivable really, we were dead on our feet. We had 3 strikers on at the end, but they were all trying to stand on the penalty spot!

We made our way home very disheartened. We had never seen so many armed riot policemen. There were a row of them in the ground between the Spurs fans and the Arsenal fans. Then there was a row of vans with dogs, police horses and riot traffic police all along the High Road! The Arsenal fans were kept in the ground and then escorted to the tube! We didn't see any trouble though. We did see at the tube station a little boy of about 6 with his dad and he was wearing a white England shirt. When he bent over you could see that he was wearing an Arsenal shirt underneath! Silly dad letting him do it if you ask me!

I had another disappointing week at the fantasy football as well and James has pulled further into the lead.

Dinner at Helen's

We went to dinner at Helen's on Friday night. It was as usual lovely. Helen tried out a recipe from her baby food book and it was very nice!

Ethan is at that just learned to walk really cute stage. He can turn on the charm when he wants. Alan says he goes from strop to cute in 2 seconds flat! He had been finger painting that afternoon so I came home with a picture for my fridge.We gave up watching the rugby and turned the Wii on. They went out and got one after borrowing ours for a while. I came a close second at bowling and last at golf!

Some birthday photos

Tuesday night we had my birthday meal at mums so I took my new filters and had a play. I think these are quite funky. I wasn't too sure about the soft focus when I unwrapped it (it hadn't been on my list so was a bonus one!) but at the moment I think it's my favourite!
And some with the star filter. A little odd, but ok!

Finally a wedding album

I'm ignoring the fact that we've been married more than 6th months because I've finally ordered the wedding album! It's just a photo book from Pixmania. I have no idea what it's going to be like but at £30 it better be good! I want something to show people and it's going to take me forever to get the scrapbook one done.

Ollie did suggest getting 15 and giving them out for Christmas but I wasn't too sure about that!

Other exciting news, my Magnolia stamps have been dispatched!!!! I can't wait to have a play. I still can't find my embossing powders but I think Magnolia stamps will more than make up for it!!! I'm very tempted by another 3, but shouldn't really this month. Maybe if I pass my exam...

There's a sink in my bathroom!

While I have been studying this week, Ollie has been very busy working on the bathroom. He has run all the pipework for the sink, installed the sink, put the cabinet back up, put the hand towel holder and the loo roll holder up and even put the blind up.

I am really proud of him for doing such a fantastic job. We still have one minor leak on one of the corner bends for the pipework, but I've just put on the 6th lot of epoxy resin and hope that this lot finally plugs it!!!!!

So just the painting and the wall tiling left to go and we're finished!

Come on England!

Another match at Wembley last night. As we have the week off and it was an evening game we decided to make a day of it and go to London early and go to the Science museum.

I packed a picnic which we ate on the train. Ollie joked that he had taken me out for a picnic on the train and we were only going to the car park of the museum and then coming home again! (Long standing joke as that's mainly all Grandad did when we were small!)

I can only remember going to the Science Museum once before and we only got a quarter of the way around before we got tired and went home. Well I can quite understand that as we didn't see everything yesterday either! We did see the really real Stephenson's rocket and some other cool stuff. I did far too much learning and Ollie even explained the developed theory's of the atom (has something to do with raisins in puddings!) It was a little disappointing as they had closed a lot (I suppose for the after holidays gig about) and were redoing the bit where you get to be all hands on with Science. I was well chuffed that I managed to make a 3D pyramid with 4 3D tetrawotsits all by myself!!!

So then it was off to have a cup of tea and a rest before dinner at Garfunkels again. Which was just as nice in Piccadilly circus as it was at Victoria.

Then we went to Wembley, via Wembley central this time. We're not doing that again as it's about 3 miles from the stadium. We had a much closer view of the pitch this time see...
Well we were 2 rows in front of where we were on Saturday!

It was a fantastic game and I managed to rattle my brain cheering so hard when we scored (all three times!!!) Ollie had remembered his scarf and I was annoying people (well Ollie anyway) with my flag. We are going to see Spurs play Arsenal on Saturday so we are hoping for a hat trick of 3 - 0 scorelines!

Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday was my birthday!

I had a really fantastic day. Ol got me a load of stuff for my wedding album. I had said that I wanted some Bazzill and Basic Grey. So I put a load of stuff in a basket on the Internet and left the laptop open in the hope that someone would come along and pay for it and they did! My teddies, however, did not get the plan and went out and got me 2 Sainsbury's packs of fresh Basil and would have got some basic grey school socks if they had them in stock!

I had pancakes for breakfast. Although I am not as good as Alan at doing funky faces and shapes. I spent the morning playing and reorganising my stash. Not having scrapped in a while I didn't feel ready to start the wedding album so did a photo that I had printed last week with my free photobox credits. It's basic grey Scarlet's letter repose and some Bazzill with Scarlett's letter fibres.

Then nan and Grandad came over. They brought mum's gift as she was in bed with a migraine after looking after Laura's dog all night. Mum got me some snazzy fine liner pens in lots of colours and some filters for my camera, so look out for some funky photos coming up in the future! Nan and Grandad got me Singstar 90s for the PlayStation. That's almost a complete set now!

After lunch (cheese on toast) Helen and Alan came over. They got me the nicest new handbag. Although you do know you're old when your friend gets you a present from Marks and Spencer's and you like it! We cannot believe how much Ethan has grown up in the 4 weeks or so since we saw him last. He's now running all over the place but he's not very good at steps at the moment. He's so cute as well. They went home with their tile cutter and a lot of apples and pears for Ethan's dinner! Just as Gemma and her gang turned up! They had got me Pirates of the Caribbean for the Wii and brought Ol's dad's present of Harry Potter for the Wii. Harvey spent the whole time getting all our DVDs off the shelf and laying them out on the floor!

We had Chinese takeaway for dinner and played Harry Potter, then watched Garden State. The day was finished off with some Singstar which even Ol had a turn at. He was good at Crash Test Dummies, but not so good at Achey Breaky Heart!

All in all it was a fantastic day and I did so well with presents and cards and happy birthday texts and messages on Facebook. I'm going to have to write a whole new list for Christmas and I thought that I would have enough on there to last me until next Birthday!

We saw England win at Wembley!!!!!

Saturday afternoon saw us off to Wembley to watch England v Israel. Although I have been to live football matches before, I have never been to an international. Ollie however is an old pro, having even travelled to Portugal to see the Euros in 2004.
I remembered my flag! Ollie forgot his scarf and didn't want to be seen with a flag (as they get in the way!)
The tube was packed and we were squished up against the most drunk, loud, northern supporters. I was so scared! There were so many people there it was amazing and the atmosphere was incredible inside the ground which had been missing when we went to see Muse in June.
We got to our seats and - yes they were in the upper tier in the very back row! So our view would have been enhanced by some binoculars! But it was still very good and our view for Owen's goal was even better than the camera angles that they showed on TV. The boys did good and we finally fought our way to Wembley station afterwards in the millions of people!
Dinner was at Garunkels at Victoria station and we got home very hoarse and tired!For the benefit of those watching on TV all these people had to hold coloured hankies over their heads during the national anthem!

Exam Pass!

I PASSED MY EXAM!!!!!!! Wooooooooooooo! I got 80%

I took my ACCA 1.1 exam this morning. It was a computer based one at the BPP centre in Maidstone. I was the only one there doing an exam! They have changed the syllabus so I have to pass the 2 modules I have been studying by the end of September. That's the first one done I have to do the second one on the 26th.

I was waiting in the common room as I was there a bit early when I heard a scream and the door flew open. It was a lady that worked there and she had got the bloke in reception to rescue her from a huge spider. Obviously he hadn't wanted to kill it so he had it on a tissue and threw it out the window. Unfortunately the centre is on the High Street and he went pale white turned away from the window quick and gasped "there was someone walking underneath!" This lady and I couldn't stop laughing, his face was a picture!

Work give me some money for passing an exam, so I'm just waiting for mum and then I'm off out to the Paper Mill in Chatham for some cardstock for Christmas cards. I will probably get Ollie a present (but not from the paper mill!)

Final Wedding of the year...

Last night was our final wedding of the year. Kelly (whose hen party was last week) who I worked with at Whitstable got married at the Little Hermatige in Higham (near Rochester). We were only evening guests so I didn't take my camera especially as we planned to arrive an hour after the invite said for evening guests knowing how these things generally overrun! My camera does not do good dark and action shots (except for fireworks - weird!) So I've stolen a photo from Kelly's sister who had posted it on Facebook. We were right as we arrived about 10 minutes before the cake cutting and first dance (which was not on the dance floor but in the hall where the buffet was) and was very well lit so I could have got some shots after all. This is another lesson for me to carry the camera with me in case of all eventualities!
We didn't stay that long. Kelly has an aversion to Cheesy music so we didn't really dance and I kept getting the names of the other girlies that were on the hen night wrong! Sorry Emma! And Ollie didn't know anyone at all. Plus I had to be up early to start more revising for my exam on Wednesday.
Still it seems to be paying off. I did a mock test Friday night and got 39% and today I was allowed to go to mum's BBQ if I got a pass mark on another mock and I got 59%. That's nearly a distinction!!! Well, it's a pass and a huge improvement anyway. If I keep improving like that tomorrow and Tuesday then I'll have no problems.

Some photos of Abby!

I finally got some nice photos of Abby. Brian is asleep inside all day so he is easy to capture (always asleep mind) See...

But Abby is normally out all day and when she gets home the light is never good enough for any decent photos.

Charlton 4 Stockport County 3

Last night Ollie and I had a school trip out with my work to the Charlton v Stockport game. My boss is a huge Charlton fan and Bobbie had never been to a football match so we got tickets for last nights game.
We had dinner in a greasy spoon, sat in the pub before the game and then watched an absolute thriller. Goals galore, some good shots, the opposition fans being escorted off the ground as well as a retake of a penalty! We went to get the train after but when we checked our connection at Gillingham was not for another 40 minutes, so we went to find a drink only to bump into my boss and her husband again so we went to the pub with them for a half an hour.
It was a very good night but we didn't get home until 12:20 so we are both a bit tired today.

A finished floor!

We finished the floor in the bathroom! Finally got some good weather that we could cut the tiles in the garden. I grouted all the middle and all that's left is the grouting next to the woodwork but I need to paint that first. Ollie took the door off and sanded it and I sanded the rest of the woodwork.
Ollie had also taken the trampoline down and I had installed the new compost bin.
Mum and Nan and Granddad also came over for a cup of tea in the afternoon on Monday.

Another trip to the cinema

Sunday we went to give blood, had a trip around Sainsbury's and watched Spurs' absymol performance on the telly. We have been back on the Weight Watchers this week and I lost 2 pounds! Ollie isn't weighing himself as he is going on the I'll diet until my trousers fit principle.
I put lots of stash in a shopping basket and left the laptop in the open hoping someone would come along and pay for it as I have a birthday coming up!
We also had a trip to the cinema to see the new Bourne film. It was very good. It was strange as it's still the newest film out so was quite busy, we normally wait a few weeks and see it when it's quiet. There were only 3 of us watching the Simpsons when we went last week.

Cocktails and Karaoke

Saturday was my friend who I worked with at Whitstable’s (Kelly) hen party. We went to Frevd’s in London for very nice but a bit pricy cocktails. I had a wine cooler, which was basically a wine spritzer with coconut and pineapple, then I had a cosmopolitan and finished off with a Mojito. All very yummy. We had dinner at Soba noodle bar. We were the only ones there when we arrived and although the menu was similar to Wagamamas it wasn’t nearly as tasty. Then on to Lucky Voice. It’s a karaoke place that has individual soundproof rooms for your group of friends that have their own karaoke machines in. Lots of singing but no more alcohol for me as I had an appointment to give blood on Sunday morning.

New goodies and Singing practice

My new goodies arrived from Jillybeans yesterday. I got 2 packets of Basic Grey fibres, a set of alphabet stamps and some alphabet buttons to go with the stash that Ollie is going to get me for my birthday. I might get round to posting a piccie at some point.We went to see the Simpons movie last night. It was so funny! Ollie was a bit disappointed with the animation as when 2 characters were facing each other the shadow was drawn down the back of both of their heads making the light source look odd. I can't say that I noticed!

I am off to a hen party tomorrow and we have booked a private room in a karaoke bar. So I had the Singstar out before we left for the cinema to practice! I managed to scare the cat into a hiding place singing Madonna's "Papa don't preach"!

Come on England!

What a dismal performance from our national team on Wednesday! We were wondering afterwards why we have bought tickets for the next 3 qualifying matches. Still we are in the ballot for the last game but can’t afford tickets now as some very nice person drive through our wing mirror on Wednesday and smashed the glass and the plastic surround. So we have to get a new one which will cost a fortune as they are heated wing mirrors.

Bounce bounce

I went to trampoline class last night. It seemed like a good idea. It’s good for keeping fit and was great fun when I did it at school. I was teamed up with a bloke who is training to be a stunt man and has to be able to do all this stuff to pass a trampoline exam. He was really good, doing somersaults and back flips with twists and stuff but had no style or finesse at all. He is going away to see if he needs to look neat or just be safe. He figured that if he needs to do it flying out a burning building then his way is fine until I pointed out that he might be in a Billy Elliot esc type film where he might need to be able to trampoline properly!
Anyway I had great fun except the fact that all the skin has gone off my elbows from front drops, I can’t move my arms because they ache so much. I did a rather enthusiastic straddle jump and pulled a load of leg muscles. And (mum turn away and stop reading now) my nail on my big toe is attached with only a plaster!
So I’ve not had any sleep because I couldn’t find a way to sleep without either my elbows or my foot touching the bed!

Old friends

Saturday morning I met up with Tiffany, a friend of mine from Primary school. We haven’t seen each other for almost 8 years. We lost touch when we went to Uni and only recently ‘found’ each other again on Facebook.
We met up for a cup of tea and chatted for a while and then she came over to see mum and Nan and Grandad with me and chatted some more. It was so fantastic to meet up after all this time. I was so excited Saturday morning it felt like Christmas day!
I was then inspired to go home and I laid the last 2 whole tiles in the bathroom and grouted all the floor that we’ve done so far. I also put up 2 clocks that had been sitting in the spare room for a couple of months. So progress with the decorating has finally been made! The floor looks really good and we’re hoping to do the last 4 floor tiles at the weekend. Then we will be able to put the bath panel on!

I'm no mug...

We had a trip to Lakeside last night. I wanted to get a case for my ipod and Ollie wanted a mug for work for his tea as the ones provided by Sainsbury’s are too small. Plus there’s a D & A opticians so I could get my glasses mended. We went in a lot of shops! But I didn’t get an ipod case and Ollie didn’t get a mug. But I did! And it’s huge! Granted I have been ridiculed in work this morning. But I’ve had enough tea to last me at least until lunchtime.
We finished off yesterday evening with a very nice Wagamamas. I did get my glasses and my sunglasses fixed and have seen another pair that look very nice on me. Maybe next month…

Lots of stick

I didn't want to come into work this morning. Not only did I manage to break the nose rest on my glasses so I am having to wear my contacts, but Spurs dismal performance last night has guaranteed me some ribbing.

Although on the bright side, my fantasy team did ok, I had the Everton defender that scored which got me 8 points and 2 points for Bent for being on the field (I'm not going to say for playing because I'm not sure he did) Ollie has got really annoyed with me because everytime someone scored that wasn't in my team I got huffy. He says that might get a bit tiresome.

But I'm now third in the Chaucer league!

Poppy

I brought a new ipod! I've wanted one ever since I started commuting and have had to make do with a shuffle. But I've finally saved up enough and ordered one yesterday lunchtime. Being the really impatient person that I am I paid for the next day before 1 super delivery and took posession of my new toy at about 11:30!

She is called Poppy and is currently sitting on my desk charging.

Tides and picnic in the park

Sunday morning we went to Tides (a leisure park) for Ollie’s nephew Sebastian’s birthday. We had to meet in Deal (an hours drive) at 10am. And we were to bring our own picnic. Having not gone to bed particularly early as we were up playing monster trucks on the Wii with mum and dad that’s very early for a Sunday! So we forwent the packing of the picnic and just headed off to Deal. I’d wrapped Sebastian’s birthday presents that morning and left on the side. When Ollie asked me if I had it I said “no, it’s on the side” thinking he would pick it up. The thought I was going to pick it up, so it got left behind!

We arrived just before 10, everyone else got there about a quarter past! Anthony had been to a stag party the night before and had a monster hangover. He didn’t make it inside, electing to sleep in the field outside instead.

I think a great time was had by all. It was very tiring though with an 8 year old and 3 under 4s. We worked out a system of how to go really fast down the flume… until Ollie lost his glasses coming down the last time and found them again with a few scratches!

We had to pop to Sainsbury’s for some picnic food but then had a nice afternoon in the park. Ollie played football and I managed to catch up with Jenny’s gossip.

It was a bit windy and cold which belied the heat of the sun and I ended up w bit sunburnt!

BBQ time!

I had a plan of having a huge family BBQ and inviting both sets of families. Unfortunately Ollie’s sister Gemma was going to see Dirty Dancing and so it would only be Ollie’s dad, Paul and his girlfriend, Anna. Ollie was really worried about them being ‘outnumbered’ by my family (Nan, Granddad, Laura and Wayne) that we decided to keep it just the parents. Now I know how upset that Granddad would be if he wasn’t invited but on speaking to mum we agreed just to keep it quiet and he wouldn’t know. Well that was all well and good until Laura blew that plan clean out the water!

Anyway, I spent Saturday morning tidying and going to Sainsbury’s for food and then missed the football in the afternoon to weed my garden path. Saturday morning you couldn’t even walk down it – now it is weed free. Combined with all the weeding I did the weekend before it looks really nice out there now. Ollie mowed the lawn as well.

Then I made a load of stuff for the BBQ. Anna is one of the most fussy eaters so I made sure I did loads of different stuff that she might like – asparagus, mushrooms, turkey burgers, prawns, mum made the salad and I made cheesy dough balls, home made bread and roast potatoes.

I think the evening went ok. Anna didn't look very happy, but she was fairly pleasant and joined in some of the conversation. She even said thank you so I suppose that’s promising. Still there’s no way that she could say that we did not make an effort. They brought me a lily plant. Now I thought that’s what you gave dead people but it’s bright orange and really pretty. Not wanting to kill it within 5 minutes like all the other plants I’ve ever had I went on line for a looking after guide. Turns out lilies are highly toxic to cats causing liver failure and death within 24 hours of eating! So it’s gone somewhere high out the way of the stupid animals! It was a really nice thought and I don’t want to be ungrateful but it wasn’t really a present with the receiver in mind.

Saving Private Ryan...

...was the film we watched last night. Ollie had Sky+ it last September! Man I'd forgotten how long that film was! Ollie hadn't seen it before but I'd seen it in the cinema when it was released and didn't think that much of it. But I couldn't really remember it so agreed to watch it. My head still wasn't with it enough to cope with something new. Most of the films we watch (Die Hard 1 and 2 excluded) involve a certain amount of thinking!

War of the weeds

Having seen how nice our neighbours garden looked last night I was inspired to attempt to do something with ours. So at 10 o’clock this morning, slightly worse for wear I was waging war on some of the biggest nastiest most vicious stinging nettles I have ever seen! Most of them were bigger than me! So I’ve cleared the area next to my vegetable patch, the nettles under the trees and the whole of the area at the end of the garden where the BBQ goes. It took me until 1 to finish. Plus I also sprayed weed killer on the path and the patio having got fed up with keep pulling the weeds up. I have burnt my back where I was bending over to pull weeds in blazing hot sunshine. It’s no coincidence that the areas in the shade now have less weeds than the areas in the sun!

Mum's having a BBQ this evening, but we elected not to go. 3 BBQs in 2 days is a bit much, even for us, our car is still abandoned at Helen's and we need a rest! Ollie is now downstairs watching football and we're going to have a nice evening watching our film.

Saturday night

We got home from the party ready to collapse in front of a film but we went in the garden and next door asked us round for a BBQ. Having refused the last 4 invitations as we were off to mum’s for a BBQ we accepted. 2 BBQs in one day – no problem!

So I hurriedly made some burgers and found a bottle of wine in the fridge. We polished off the first bottle of wine before they started cooking! So I fetched another. Time passed really quickly as we heard stories from our neighbours and her sister and sister’s husband about when they lived in Zimbabwe of being chased by Elephants, standing on crocodiles and being scared of hippos. We had some traditional Zimbabwean food of maize meal and pork and of course my burgers! Followed by strawberries and cream with mini meringues. At half 11 we stumbled into bed having eaten and drunk far too much.

We were surprised as to how nice a time we had, not really having spoken to our neighbours for long before other than a how-do, the weathers been awful sort of exchange over the fence. So we’ll definitely be accepting more invitations and handing out some of our own I expect.

Here comes the sun!

I got up early on Saturday to go to the gym and to pick up Ethan’s present that I had reserved at Argos. It’s a paddling pool/ball pool in the shape of a Mini! Complete with Union Jack roof. The party was fantastic. I think the birthday boy had a good time. There were loads of smiles all round. Helen outdid herself with the home made burgers, home made Spongebob cake, fruit salad in the shape of a pig and jelly in the shape of little boats. All the food was great, the weather was gorgeous and the company was very nice too. We went home very tired and with about half a pound of sand in my pocket from 9 month old Mia who took offence to the sand actually being IN the sandpit and obviously thought a better place for it was on my lap!

Friday nights are alright

Friday evening we had contacted Ian to see if he wanted to meet for a drink after work. We wanted to go to T M Lewin for shirts as it was the last day I could use my corporate discount voucher. So I volunteered to walk to Ollie’s office. It’s a longer way than I thought! I passed where dad used to work which was nice. They didn’t have any shirts in my size that I liked but Ollie got a couple.

We then made our way (on foot) across to Covent Garden to meet Ian. It was great now the smoking ban is in full force, everyone was outside the pub frazzling in the heat while we got a table inside a nice cool non-smoky bar! We had a few cocktails and a pizza and then decided it was time to make our way home. We didn’t want to be hung over for Ethan’s first birthday party.

So we were all tucked up in bed by 10:30 which is not what could be said of Ian, who met up with Nigel…

Happy Birthday Kittys

Happy Birthday to my cats, Brian and Abby who are 1 year old today!

Wii

Saturday we went to a BBQ at Helen’s and Alan’s. We raided Sainsbury’s for their BBQ food and buying lots of Cider (it was on offer). Helen had made home made lamb and beef burgers which were fabulous and some spicy cous cous.

After dinner we retired to the lounge to play Wii. We had a great time playing tennis, bowling and boxing, finishing off with a very long round of golf and some cow racing and duck shooting!

I got some really great photos of Ethan (who is 1 today!) which I’ll put on here when they’ve made it off the camera and onto the PC. I was playing about with my new filters so we’ll see how they come out. Photos now here...