Still busy

Life seems to have been busy, we had parties at the weekend, Henry went to his friend Zain's party in Stowmarket on Saturday afternoon, then Nana had the children whilst Jonathan & I headed off to the Langran's house in Cambridge for a lovely Barbecue with a group known as the 04's!- as always seeing these friends is great fun, always so pleased that we all keep in touch and make the effort.

Sunday we made a cous cous salad I found the recipe on this website, flap jacks, snickerdoodles and lemon drizzle cake all to take to Deans 4th birthday party. Another Barbecue and a bouncy castle - great fun, only downer was that Jonathan was at a wedding fair selling his wares and couldn't join us. Was really good to catch up with Anna and her family and she managed to grab this photograph of me and the children - not easy as Evie was NOT playing ball. But I love it so much and am hoping to scrap it very soon.

Yesterday I attended a service to celebrate Maxine's life, was a wonderful uplifting service at the church which Maxine attended regularly, lots of lovely stories told about her to make us all smile and remember the fabulous and amazing person she was. And of course I cried all the way through it :(

My friend Annie is back home to America this weekend for 3 weeks, I will miss her very much - but her husband Spike is very keen for me to come over and help move her scrap room whilst she is away - how exciting is that!! I LOVE clearing out and sorting - not so sure that Annie wants me in there without her to supervise though!

No making this week, only a couple of cards, so nothing to show off.

My brother David and my sister in law Rox with my niece Daisy have all moved in to town again, they are taking on a new business venture - The One Bull pub in town, really looking forward to it opening at the end of July.

My Mum has managed to sprain her ankle and is supposed to be resting it for a few days, those of you who know her will realise how impossible it is for my mum to sit for more than a few minutes at a time!

As I said, busy, busy. Have a good Hump day

xx

Impromptu

Had the most fantastic impromptu day today, just love it when that happens. This morning was Henry's sports day, check him out and look at that tongue stuck out in concentration, just like his great Grandad! But why oh why do we have to have 'non competitive' sports day activities?


Anyway after that four of us plus a very well behaved Evie went to town for lunch at The Angel Hotel, which was delicious and even better, my friends husband treated us ! - how lovely is that.
Evie and I decided not to get a lift home but to stroll around town and then into the Abbey Gardens and a play in the park before our walk back to get Henry from school (takes about 20 minutes - all uphill, with Evie in the buggy)



The sun shone and all was okay with the world!



Some more making:



Must start writing down some of the funny things Evie is saying at the moment, she manages to annoy Henry by saying 'stop copying me' even when he is not and another is 'boring' which she totally gets from Henry. And she is always telling me to 'Be careful Mummy, mind your fingers' when I am cutting food in the kitchen. She does make us laugh.
Jonathan has spent the day at the National Association of Goldsmiths AGM which has been held at Old Trafford in Manchester -does nothing for him as he is NOT into football, but Henry was quite impressed! He should be home soon from his very long day out.
Well off to watch BB and do the ironing.

Family visits

We spent Father's day in Margate visiting Jonathans parents, as you can see, the sun shone and we all enjoyed a stroll along the promenade !

Unfortunately Henry was sick about 1 minute from home, he had been complaining of a stomach ache and headache since Saturday night, luckily we caught it in a towel as we were in Jonathans new car ! So he has spent today with his Nana whilst I went to work and he is fine now - definately back to school tomorrow :)

Henry helped me to make the card

and I made him this album from a Scrapping Angels kit I brought at the retreat and have been dying to use!
Now the scrapbook stuff has been put away and I have the sewing machine out again, I made a load of these luggage labels


(thanks Annies mum for the idea!) and a one off bag which I am selling - anyone interested please leave me a comment or e-mail me.

Tragic Loss

My friend Maxine died this morning after a long battle with cancer. She leaves behind a loving husband and two beautiful little girls aged 5 and 8. She was such an awesome person, always laughing and joking and touched so many peoples lives. I just feel so lucky to have know her. God bless Max.

Phew

All our accounts are with our accountant at last ! I have spent the last few days getting everything up to date and filed (hate filing) and it is such a relief to have it done. Also, the first three days of the week I feel like I am running around trying to chase my tail with work, grocery shopping, washing, clubs and classes, it's always a relief when Thursday dawns - although then I have to think about the ironing and housework !!

Even with all that going on I have managed to fit in some scrapping.........

and have made a card for my father in law

and I am now off to make a little accordian album for him with some photos of his grandchildren in ! and to watch .....................Big Brother!! I know, I know, but I cannot help myself, I LOVE IT! I know your watching it too Kelz & Lou Lou - I so miss our morning chats and catch ups on the BB news - happy days :)

Creating

Have been getting on with layouts from the BPS class I am taking, can't do anymore for a while as I don't have the right size photos, how annoying is that !

Visited Capture the Magic in Soham for the first time yesterday - wow, it's so fab, I will definately be going again. Was quite reserved and didn't spend too much, mainly just picked up a couple of magazines.

Today my friends Simon & Tina popped over with their daughter Elise who goes to school with Henry and whilst the children played Simon managed to sort some 'issues' out with my laptop, which means I can now use photobox again (although everytime I upload something to my basket it chucks me out !) so fantastic to have friends to call on - thanks guys xx

Let's hope the sun shines for a lovely Sunday.

Uber Organised !

I am feeling very organised, have nearly finished my 'Home File'. I covered a file about 18 months ago aka Donna Downey, but then it just sat there with a few take away menus in. Then last year Jonathan brought me this Anthea Turner book and she gives instructions for a home file. I have emergency numbers, tradespeople, family contacts, car details plus lots more and I love it !!! I am available to hire if you want me to do this for you !(at a cost of course ;) )

Also made a couple of cards:

AND......Jonathan was on TV last night !! He was representing the National Association of Goldsmiths, talking about the recent spate of armed robberies in jewellers in London recently, anyone interested it was ITV London tonight.

and for dinner tonight I made 'Italian Style Pork Tenderloin'

Recipe: serves 4

2 pork tenderloin (about 500g each)

4 tsp dried fennel seeds

1tsp maldon sea salt

2tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1tsp dried chilli flakes

1 tsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp dried sage

olive oil

1. Heat the oven to 220c

2.Dry the pork fillets with a kitchen towel and place them on a baking tray. With a sharp knife, make a few slashes in each piece.

3.Make a spice paste by grinding the fennel seeds with a pestle and mortar. Combine the ground fennel with the salt, pepper, garlic, chilli flakes, sugar and sage. Add enough olive oil to make a thick spreadable paste.

4. Drizzle the paste over both the pork fillets, then drizzle each with a little more olive oil. Roast the pork in the top of the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until cooked and coloured. To test, insert a skewer into the thickest part of the meat; the juice should run clear when cooked.

5. Rest the meat in a warm place for 10 minutes then slice and serve.

Enjoy !!!

Quiet weekend

Nothing much to report, had a very quiet weekend, catching up on housework, doing a little scrapping etc. We were supposed to go to Annies for dinner on Saturday night, but they have 'the bug' poor family - hope you are all okay now x So we stayed in to watch the final of Britains got Talent, bit disapointed with the result, really thought Escala should have won - could watch them for hours !

Evie seems to have cracked the potty training (don't want to speak too soon) three days of no accidents :)

Have downloaded all my May photographs from the camera, here are a few for you.... Henrys Beaver promise

My gorgeous Evie

My gorgeous niece Daisy and her

favorite cousin

Evie dressed up and ready to

go out to celebrate her Uncle

Davids birthday

and Henry enjoying lunch & sunshine

on the same day.

Oh where, oh where has that sunshine gone to???