Playing Hooky

Callum and I did take half a day off on Tuesday and he decided he wanted to visit Tracy, my friend, his Godmother and the very lady who is getting married soon. On an earlier post I asked for ideas for her Wedding Hymns & Reading and whilst they are still making the Hymn choices the reading is to be Apache Wedding Prayer.

Tracy has just moved and is in the process of knocking down walls as well as organising her wedding, when we arrived she had just posted my wedding invitation which arrived yesterday and she has spent a lot of time on it.

It was sealed with wax!

She has then made each invitation

And inside included along with the invite details, all the RSVP info including e-mail, snail mail & phone numbers, a timeline of the day's events and just to top it all off in her very effective and organised way a full set of directions, where to stays(including prices) and best places to park.

If the day goes according to plan it is going to be fab!

On the way home we went to Barton Grange Garden Centre and we had an afternoon tea. As a child this was a favourite treat for both myself and my younger brother John.

I can remember the cakes, scones, cream and jam all being brought out on a cake stand and plates of sandwiches, bread and butter and crumpets and of course as much tea as we wanted.

As soon as I saw it on the menu I thought that was going to be my treat, I then found out to my parenting horror that Callum has not only not EVER had an afternoon tea but didn't even KNOW what one was!

Oh Shame on me I am not a good mother.

I of course insisted on him also having one. Out came 2 tiered cake stands with our goodies on and his eyes almost popped out of his head. We had a lovely time, we laughed quite a bit and indeed drew admiring glances from other diners(Callum said they were staring because we were laughing so loud) I choose to believe they were envious of the giggles.

Even with a dairy allergy we had a delicious afternoon tea and I have righted a wrong. Never let it be said my boy does not know what an afternoon tea is.

He now understands why I was so excited about the holiday we are due to go on soon. We are going on a cruise and they serve afternoon tea each day. We enjoy cruising and have been on a few but this is the first one that does a proper afternoon tea.

Before heading home we used the facilities and they were very impressive. If you live close to Barton Grange and haven't been pop in, the wash basins were lovely and the hand-dryers were fab. Callum was also impressed with the gents facilities as they had the most stunning urinals(I kid you not) I did not take my camera, but luckily he has one on his phone so went back in and took a photo, when I work it out I will get the pictures from his phone on to the PC and on the blog.

We had a lovely afternoon and something we will repeat again. All the things we could have done and he wanted to see his Godmother how cute is that?

Yesterday I managed some card making.

I made this card for my RSVP for Tracy and Mark

And its true we really can't wait I am soooooo looking forward to seeing her get married as well as catching up with some very special people that I haven't seen for far too long.

The next cards are for my nieces who all have birthdays coming up 2 on the same day!

Chloe's is first, followed by Charlotte and Coral

Let's hope the weather cheers up, have a lovely weekend Keely x

My Baby's almost a Man

It really doesn't feel 2 mins ago that my baby was just that a tiny(well 8lb 5oz) baby. After years of trying and a few miscarriages, both before and after, our son is almost into adulthood.

What's brought all this on I hear you ask( I know it's only in my head!) I went to see Mama Mia the movie at the weekend. I thought it was hilarious in parts particularly Pierce Brosnan's singing and Julie Walters version of Take a Chance on me should be seen to be appreciated.

The main reason that I felt the need to put pen to paper so to speak was one particular scene where Meryl Streep's character is helping her daughter prepare for her wedding and they sing slipping through my fingers or you can watch the download http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv8z-RRucso. Now if I were to say that this brought a tear to my eye I would be telling a big fat lie, I did in fact bawl my eyes out, there were streams, nay rivers coming forth. Why it should have provoked such a reaction I have no idea, I am even crying as I type so emotional am I.

I suppose it just brought home how quickly Callum has grown up and whilst he is still relatively young and unlikely to be leaving home for a number of years my role as "mother" seems somewhat redundant(I'm off again!)

One of the things it has made me do is re-assess the time we do spend together which is not really that much. So tomorrow I am taking half a day off as is he and we are playing Hooky yeah :-). The only rule is that we must do something fun and together and the best bit he chooses and drives! I will have no control and for me this is very strange. It has been commented on before that I am a little controlling the words control freak have also been levelled at me. Whilst I wouldn't disagree totally I do feel someone needs to be in control and in the absence of my dad I make a perfect candidate. Of course when dad's around he is without doubt the person in charge(when I let him).

So tomorrow should be a great day and I am really starting to look forward to whatever "it" may be.

I will leave you with some photos of Callum's first driving lesson which was on his birthday to say he was eager to drive really would be an understatement. By the way he is the taller one, I don't make many but I make them big and strong.

I'm a Snapdragon. What are you?

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

Have a go my husband thinks there is a certain irony to my flower but I really don't know what he is talking about.

Warning but don't be too ALARMED

Hi I just wanted to let you know about an experience that has recently unsettled us and thought I would share it with you all.

Craig had a call the other evening asking if we had an alarm fitted in our house. The guy calling explained that he was calling from an alarm company and they were looking for a house in our area to give a free alarm to.

Any way the guy then asked a number of questions including do we both work full time? Are we away from the House all day?

Craig agreed to an appointment for an advisor to call to the house and discuss the alarm and of course promptly gave him the house details.

To say that I was concerned would under play the conversation we had when I found out what had happened. I felt it was some sort of scam and could not believe the amount of detail my husband was prepared to go into with a complete stranger.

It came as no surprise to me that no one actually turned up to the house for the appointment.

I think that we were targeted by someone to establish if it was worth them visiting us whilst we were out, Craig disagrees and thinks they are just not a very good company and have lost the details(bless him sometimes his naivety is painful).

Either way in case it is a scam I thought I would share it with you so you can be vigilant. If it isn't then there is no problems for anyone and if it is you may just avoid a nasty visit.

Be safe out there!

Keely x

Home at Last

Hooray I am home for 2 whole weeks, I will still have to travel but I will be able to sleep in my very own non hotel bed every night for 14 nights.

How cool is that. Only one downside I have to get used to sharing again!

I was reading TillyBoo's blog and she was commenting on how Boo seems to have grown before her eyes so to speak and then I found this video about some of the naughty things our Kids can do!

Pretty Shabby has received her cards now so I can post some photos.

She is expecting a niece or nephew soon and asked for a card to welcome the new arrival so here's what I sent

Over the last week I have been in a hotel so have been knitting!

This is something I haven't done in an awful long time as I am not very good or well practiced at it.

I thought I would make some knitted brooches/corsages will decide when they are finished what to call them.

At the moment I just have strips of knitting which look like they couldn't be anything, so tomorrow I am off to the car boot to find some vintage buttons to add to the centre then I can make them up and show you.

Did I tell you I am home for 2 weeks I am so pleased.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend

Keely

Giveaway Cards complete

I have had a hard week, I feel sure I am not alone.

I work as a trainer and last week I delivered a new workshop, had an observation and had my monthly development meeting(at the end of the working day) so I feel shattered.

I normally get up about 6.30-7.00 every morning and may have a lie in on a Saturday until 8.00-8.30 but this morning I slept until 10.30!

I have since spent a very happy morning to early afternoon in my craft room and made my giveaway for Pretty Shabby.

I have had a lovely time and really hope that Pretty Shabby is happy with her package.

I have included some out takes to wet the taste buds so to speak.

So a whole half a weekend at home before setting off for work on Sunday(another new workshop) and another week away from home :-(

If anyone is going to be in around or near Preston tomorrow pop along to the Farmer's and Craft market which will be held in the outdoor(but covered) market place.

If you do go out keep your eyes peeled for Kath aka Juicy Fig she will be there selling some of her wonderful creations and if she has run out and you just want to chat I am sure she will be more than happy to say hello.

Have a great day Kath and let us know how you get on.

To all good bloggers everywhere have a wonderful weekend - I suppose I can extended that to all the bad bloggers as well.

This reminded me of how I felt at 7pm yesterday!

Keely x

The Results are in and the Winner is...........

So the deadline has gone and I prepared for my 1st ever giveaway.

Being the sort of person who is incredibly organised I collated the names and printed up labels to write them on.

I then retrieved the camcorder to record it on video and the battery was flat! So I have fallen back to old faithful and taken photos.

Firstly to show it's a fair draw all of the names prior to folding and putting in the hat.

Next they all went in the bowl must point out this is a huge washstand bowl(wasn't sure how many people would enter so thought I'd better be safe than sorry!

Then pick the one that "felt right"

And the winner is prettyshabby

Well done! All you have to do now is decide which of the cards below you would like along with deciding on your custom card.

Drop me a line and let me know.

I am away this week so may not be able to complete your custom card before I go so it could be next weekend before I get to it.

Thanks to the other ladies that joined in I do appreciate your comments and thank you for reading my ramblings.

Keely x