Weekly update from the Henderson-Scott family.
After last weeks growth spurt and 2 hourly feeding sessions Emily has settled back into her 4 hour feeding routine. Now our nights are more settled with feeding between 1 or 2 am and again at 5 and 7 am. This feels so much better and we are enjoying the extra sleep.

And now onto ears, I was discussing how much Emily looks like her dad and i felt they had the same ears

Emily has been learning to suck her thumb.

Once again I wake up to find my car damaged. Yet again the wing mirror has been kicked off the car - so far this week the total amount of damage done has come to £200. Twice the wing mirror was smashed off and someone decided they couldn't drive and hit my car - scraping the driver door and wing mirror. Gee wizz and on my birthday too. I think we have decided that living on this street sucks, the Police don't are that we and our neighbours cars are constantly vandalised, and reporting these incidents via their website seems to provoke little or no response for them.

We are looking to move.

On a lighter note, Phoebe and I went to see a "light show" in Cambourne, part of some art event. It wasn't too interesting but we did manage some groovy pics

This week has been a bit of a blur, we've had lots of friends visit us!
First the final lot of midwives came on monday to "sign" us off. They were happy that things were going well. Next we had my friends from work visit us for lunch - slightly bad timing of the next visitor who turned out to be the health visitor - more on her later. It was good to see some friends from the office. I'm also glad to say I dont miss the office one bit at the moment - I'm pretty content being at home and being a mum to Emily. The guys popped over to check emily out and bring us some food and pressies from the office. Oh and I do love pressies! The office gave kindly organised a collection and we received a fair amount of money to purchase any needed items and goodies for our new little bundle.

Now onto irritating Health Visitors. Our one turned up right in the middle of my friend visit, and being direct as I am I asked if we could speed things up so I could get back to my visitors. Not a rude request I thought I mean all she had to do was give us our little red book, hand over some leaflets and weigh Emily. Oh no she had to launch into her patronising speach all about health visitors and their professional backgrounds - to be honest I really dont care, I had to point it out to her that I already had a 9 year old and therefore have already been through their system and I knew all about what they did and their training. Then onto the next thing - for the 5th time I've been asked "and how are you feeding her bottle or breast?" - I have to admit I have no patience for fools - something of a gift sometimes as I find it really easy to tell people who annoy me to leave me alone and sharpish! Drew appreciates this when we get cold callers trying to sell him new mobile phones or double glazing - we've come up with several ploys such as "oh yeah I'm actually dead please leave your message after the tone - beep", or my new tactic as we've had 2 companies call us within the space of 2 minutes is to be nice in their first call and tell them "sorry not interested in your offer" and then when they call again I tell them how annoying they are and they are to remove my number from their database and never call again otherwise I'll start charging them for my time.

Anyway I digress from the Health Visitor scene earlier. Maybe I should point out to all these health professionals that they should make a note of my answers and share their info with each other - surely it would make sense and they could cut down on the amount of time they spend repeating banal questions. She duly noted that I wasn't impressed with her bedside manner and then tried the tactic of using her psychology training to ask "if I had a bad experience with a previous health visitor" - I pondered this for a while, to be honest I couldn't remember my last health visitor. So I just said "yes" to lull her into a false sense that she was right. Next banal question "so do you think you'll pop down to the clinic before your 6 week check up?" - I answer "no". I resist the urge to add in "not if I can help it!". What the heck do I want to pop down for - I have no questions to ask, I have no problems that need resolving and if I did I would ask, I would seek advice. I would speak to my lovely team of midwives who have taken the time and care to get to know both Drew and me over the last 9 months. I would speak to the team of Doctors and consultants who have understood our concerns and have been straight talking with us and treated us like adults with brains. Pfffft - hissy fit!

When I spoke to Tosha this week it became clear why the HV would want me to visit the clinic - they want to ask more stupid questions such as "is your partner beating you, or are you a victim of domestic abuse?". I also understand from Tosha that they want me to play child psychology like games and fill in questionnaires about my happiness - sheesh! Are you A) happy, B) very happy or C) very sad? I find these things tedious.

We'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been kind enough to send us gifts for Emily and Phoebe. We have been blessed with a beautiful daughter and lots of loving friends. I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has helped over the last 9 months - giving us baby items like car seats, moses basket, bottles, toys and lots and lots of baby clothes. We truely appreciate everyone's kindness.

A big thank you to Lisa who not only hand knitted a lovely blanket and hat for Emily, but for also being my standby birthing partner and confidant throughout my pregnancy. You are a dear friend who I shall cherish in my heart. I hope Jack and Emily will have many play dates together.

Another thank you to Tosha who has given us so much baby items from breast pumps to baby clothes and baby books. Emily also looks forward to play dates with Kalila in the near future.

Big thank you to Beckie who helped plan the baby shower/pamper party with me.

a big thank you to everyone :)

Amanda and Steve - how to totally Oz out a baby!

Of course Emily doing what she does best

Just a quick blog today as only got home last evening.

Just wanted to say a big congratulations to Rob and Suzy who were married this weekend in the very lovely Prestonfield Hotel in Edinburgh.

Phoebe was a beautiful bridesmaid, we all had a very very good time and the hotel room was wonderful.

some new photos!
http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Emily/week2/?action=view&slideshow=true

Well last night Emily decided to be kind to us and have 3 hours sleep in between her feeds. Long may it continue.

Anyway I promise to blog more soon but we are really busy at the moment with endless washing and getting ready for Rob and Suzy's wedding this weekend. I hope to have some video clip of Emily on the blog soon.

Too cute for words and we love her to bits. We've now established a feeding pattern where every 2 hours she has a feed, followed by a nappy change and then another feed. It seems to work and she's more settled at night now - giving us some extra needed sleep.

Saying goodbye to old friends.

I had to say goodbye to my nipple piercing this week. I've only had it for a couple of years and it was a symbolic piercing that Wendy and I had done in London before she left for Baku. Instead of being blood brothers we were booby sisters. I'm sad to see it go but at the moment my boobs have another grand function to perform in feeding our new baby Emily.

So I duly removed my piercing, placed it next to my alter of worship (the television in our bedroom) and I said goodbye.

The boob fairy visited that night and left me with a couple of "things" that now resemble something from a porn film! Holy cow! I thought I was going to be able to get to sleep on my sides, front and back - but it's not to be! These boobies are too huge to even sleep with. I shall be calling in for some reinforcements :)

Day 2 in the New Baby House

Got some more pics http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Emily/week%201/?action=view&slideshow=true

Day 1 in the Baby Sister Household.

We had a bit of a scare on Tuesday evening when the doctor appeared at our door at 7pm, saying she came back to check Emily as her heart rate was low. This obviously scared us a lot, and the Doctor indicated that she was still concerned from her previous check that afternoon. The Doctor called the paediatrician and had a chat, whilst we were realing from shock not knowing what to do or say. Finally the doctor came off the phone and said the paediatrician was happy with Emily's heart rate and didn't think it was anything to be concerned about. The Doctor then went onto admit that she normally doesn't do these visits and it wasn't her "area" - we weren't feeling very confident with her. She then told us another doctor would come to visit Emily the next morning - in the meantime we were left to ponder what was going on, was there something wrong - needless to say I didn't sleep much that night as I constantly watched Emily to make sure she was breathing and that her fingers and toes were pink. I cried - I was scared.

The next day Dr Baxter arrived and checked Emily's heart rate - it was about 130 which was normal. He confirmed that heart rates ranged from 100-190 at this early stage and it wasn't anything to worry about. We were so relieved, and also relieved to hear from Lucy our midwife that Dr Baxter was very knowledgeable.

Glad to say we both slept more soundly last night - even though it was interrupted with lots of feeds and changing dirty nappies. But we were happy to see Emily feeding better and looking more awake than on her first day.

We did it!
Phew tired but happy - meet Emily who was born at 5.21 am weighing a massive 8lb 6oz.

The Postman Always Ring Twice!

pah humbugs he did this morning, once at 7.55 am and the next time at 9.15 am - trouble was it was me who was running down the stairs to get to the door in time. Why is it that during the week they are never here until after 10 am but at the weekend its always so bleeding early when they arrive? Most disgruntled person today. It's Drews 35th Birthday today, and we are supposed to be going out for a meal with a few friends tonight. I also have a Tae Kwon Do grading at 3.30 this afternoon and I can't remember my previous patterns - on top of this I've had a broken nights sleep, I snoozed from about 8 till 9 pm last night, then had a proper sleep from 11 till 4 am and then again I was awake for a couple of hours so I had to potter around and move to the spare room so I could read my book for a while in order to get to sleep again.

Pah - I'm looking forward to doing very little on Sunday!

Strange Shapes - this may be the last photo you see of my large belly. Emily thinks she's a contortionist!


Can you see the 2 bumps?

Baby Shower

Boozing Babes from the party - http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Pamper%20Party/?action=view&slideshow=true

No Sharks allowed!
Last night Drew decided to test out the birthing pool
here are the photos - http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Pool/?action=view&slideshow=true

It takes up more space than we thought - but the size is perfect just for me to lie in - but excuse the photo of me in the pool with the girl who looks like Wednesday from the Adams family - she was having a grumpy looking day!

How to max out on chocolate

Rich Chocolate Mousse (serves 4)

Ingredients
175g plain chocolate - coarsely chopped or grated
3 tbsp water
15g unsalted butter
3 yolks from medium eggs
225ml double cream
1 tbsp vanilla caster sugar
50g chocolate flakes to decorate

1. Put chocolate and water in a bowl and microwave on Defrost for 1-2 mins, until the mixture melts. Remove bowl and add butter. Stir until melted and cool for 5 minutes. Stir in egg yolks one at a time. Leave to cool for 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile whip the cream and sugar together until soft peaks form. Reserve one third and fold the reamining whipped cream into chocolate mixture.

3. Divide into individual serving bowls. Chill until set. Decorate with reserved cream and chocolate flakes

10 Things I Miss

1. Sleeping soundly for a full night
2. Sleeping on my front or back
3. Being able to walk (any distance and any speed)
4. Being Flexible
5. Being able to wax my legs
6. Enjoying chocolate
7. Drinking beer
8. Pate and soft cheeses
9. My figure
10. Drew

Larking around with the bits from the birthing pool and home delivery kit from the Midwife.

I've just had a midwife round to have a quick check-up (everything was fine - this time no protein in urine - which is good), and to have a chat about home birth. Well it's a bit of a shock to hear that if there are no midwives available that we have no option but to go to hospital, but then again saying that that would only be a very rare occurrence. Phew. The last thing I want to do is to go into hospital, last time I felt I was totally ignored and they were there just to do a job quickly. Even though I had a straight forward delivery with Phoebe, 12 hours no stitches etc, I still felt I didn't get what I wanted and that was ultimately the use of the birthing pool.

So today we are ordering our pool and I hope there are no delays in the postal service!

Talking about pools with my friend just yesterday and I was shocked to find that when she was in labour they allowed her into the birthing pool when she was only a few centimeters dilated! From the books I've been reading they advise not to get into the pool until you are about 5cm otherwise the pool will slow labour, and this is what happened to her!

I think we are pretty much prepared. Not only is the baby 4/5 engaged but thankfully Drew has a first aid certificate so not only will he be able to deal with any emergency we would also have 2 midwives around and Lisa for support. I know what to expect in labour, I know my rights, I know my pain relief too - surprising to find out that I can get meptid on prescription from the doctors if I feel I really need this for labour - well 'spose its better to have than not. But then again would I be more tempted to use it knowing it's around? I know that sometimes I give in too easily but I really think that only applies to chocolate!

Well here goes, only 3 and a bit weeks left to go.

Lets Make Some Honey!

Took Phoebe to Cambridge Uni Botanical Gardens as there was a Fairy Workshop, well when Isay work shop it consisted of a tent in the grounds of the gardens, and some worksheds used to house some events such as painting potion bottles and making potions. It was a good day out and didn't cost too much either, which makes a change.

Here's some pictures of my little busy bee.

http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Fairyland/?action=view&slideshow=true

Then we stopped at Pizza Hut to george ourselves stupid - eww I never want to see a pizza again.

CONGRATULATIONS

Karen & Andy

On the birth on their first son Scott Lewis

24th August, 5.59pm

Many thanks to people who have told me about Kiddicare.com who have a shop/warehouse in Peterborough. Drew, Phoebe and I spend Saturday afternoon there choosing our re-usable nappies, sterlisier and some other little supplies. It was quite funny watching Drew choose baby items, well rather heart warming than funny. His careful consideration over which steriliser to buy, discussions on which nappy offer was better value for money and baby wipes. I have to say even though it's a small store it's got everything you could possibly need at much cheaper prices than the high street shops. We bought our nappy system, which contains everything you need from birth to potty, for a mere £160 - but considering how much you spend on disposable nappies over a 3 year period, this price is such a saving - must also say that buying it in store was cheaper than buying it online! So Double Bargain!

Once we got home and opened the nappy-sack I have to say that the nappy folding instructions were somewhat more complicated than we had anticipated, you have to fold it one way for a newborn or girl, another way for a boy, and yet again another way for diarohea. mmm nice!

I'm sure we will get the hang of it fairly quickly.

Well today I might have finally given up the battle to carry on working till a week before my due date. I didn't sleep well last night and moving in bed causes so much groing and belly pain that it's near impossible to sleep at all. I had to give in and go home after lunchtoday, and after a 2 hour nap I felt a whole lot better. I was hoping to keep my annual leave for use either after my maternity leave finished or getting paid for the holidays instead. I still cant make up my mind - I might just end up using my annual leave for the days when I just can't face the office. After seeing the midwife yesterday I'm also concerned about swelling feet, protein in urine and the regularity of the braxton hicks, as the midwife advised that having so many braxton hicks was my bodies way of telling me to slow down. We shall see.

Anyway we've been busy this weekend doing a little gardening - as my tomato patch is now of monster proportions - I hope to get a good crop this year. As for the other seedlings well I have a few chilli pepper plants, a small crop of carrots and courgettes. Not bad but still disappointing considering how many seeds I've actually planted. Never mind I still have dreams of having the garden totally overhauled and redesigned next year where I could have a couple of veg boxes to play with instead. Maybe I should still put my name on the list for an allotment? Lisa will laugh at me for this as she's gonna say "yeah right" like I will have the time to do this along with a new baby. I'm glad I've chosen Lisa to be our extra birthing companion. I now feel totlly confident that I've done the right thing in choosing a home birth with a birthing pool. Lisa has some knowledge with aromatherapy oils, and I've done some research on using homeopathic medicines for labour - all that combined with my loving partner Drew this may even be the happiest birth I could wish for.

Lst note I've published some photos of our holiday in Strathconon! http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Strathconon2006/?action=view&slideshow=true

All I can say is it didn't wipe out enough of the little blood suckers http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/4799243.stm

At last all the video clips are online! Just click on the links on the previous posting

At last I've returned to the land of the living (after having 10 hours sleep!) . I want to say a special thanks to Do and Lorna helping me get from Inverness to Lauder so I could pick up Drews car, and to my brother David and his partner Julie for acting as standby in case I needed a lift from Edinburgh to Lauder. It's been a stressful time with flights being cancelled left right and centre - but at the end of the day maybe it worked out for the best as I was able to get Drew's car back home otherwise he would have been forced to make another trip to his brothers house to collect it!
Anyway on a lighter note I won a fab prize 2 weeks ago of a free Premier Plus 4D scan - we'd been deliberating over the last few months whether we could afford one, and this was just a wonderful gift. So yesterday we travelled to Trumpington to have the scan and it was amazing, I bubbled like I always do at these things, but it was such a surprise to see her face. Thankfully flumpy was in good form and was wide awake showing us her finger sucking skills, yawning and sticking out her tongue. Drew swears he saw her flicking us the "bird". I've managed to get all the photos and 1 cine film clip on line yesterday and today i'm going to try to get the other 2 video clips so you can all see our little cutie.

sorry for short post but here are some 4d baby pics
http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Baby/?action=view&slideshow=true

and here is a short cine clip
http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Baby/?action=view&current=BABYHENDERSON.flv&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch17

DVD clip 1
http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Baby/?action=view&current=test.flv&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch1

DVD clip 2
http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Baby/?action=view&current=largevid.flv&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch1

This week I received a special invite from Phoebe's school to attend a coffee morning to say thanks to the parents who have helped support the school over the last year. This has meant helping out at various school fayres and projects like the walking bus. Well I decided to attend despite the heat - and I must say I enjoyed it, but I'm beginning to think I'm mellowing in my old age as years ago I surely wouldn't have entertained the idea of drinking tea with a group of other mothers. I just felt that I didn't fit in as everyone else either seemed to be a full-time mum or worked part-time. I always felt that I didn't fit the norm of other mainstream parents. Anyway as I've grown older and I moved away from Aberdeen to St Neots I met a whole different group of people who like me work full time and still have the energy to raise a family. Maybe it's the support I get from Drew that enables me to feel differently about motherhood. Maybe it's the fact that now that I'm expecting a baby with someone who truly wants a baby and supports me, loves me etc that I feel I can relax about being a mum.

I also wanted to say that whilst attending the coffee morning - not one - NO NOT ONE mother offered me her seat! Pah women eh?

Ok I find it hard enough to walk, sleep or sit these days so how the heck did I sprain my neck?
I now have to do a set of exercises every hour to help sort out the pulled neck muscle, first I turn my head left 10 times, then right 10 times and for my finale I rotate my head clockwise 10 times and then anti-clockwise 10 times - whilst trying not to make myself dizzy.

Met the ever lovely Tosha for lunch yesterday, it was nice to get away from the office and speak to another mum. I had a rant on about how fed up I felt and how I wanted to be alone - moan moan moan. It was comforting to know that I wasn't the only one who had felt like this at this stage of pregnancy. I feel so damn tired and uncomfy sometimes that I find it really hard to be civilised to many people so I'd rather hide myself away. Maybe it's the hormones, maybe I realised that in less than 10 weeks any idea I had about having any ME time will be lost for ever, well lost for a long time anyway. Once this little arrives I wonder what it will be like, will it be endless nappies, crying and feeding? Will I have another dream baby like Phoebe was, she was such a good baby, ok the sleeping part was rough for a couple of years but in the end it all turned out all right. Will I cope, being an older mother and someone who wants to continue her career? Since Drew and I started going out I've felt like I've just began to live my life, I feel free and happy to say and do what I want (well most of the time). But he has given me something that I never thought I'd have and that was pure love. Maybe I'm just scared what effect having a baby will have on our relationship. Maybe it's just the hormones eh?

Geek Alert!
Yes I'm excited about it and can't wait to tell people about it! I've made an appointment to see my Doctor - why am I so excited I hear you say - well I did it online! Signed up to this new surgery booking system online and now I can sit at home and make an appointment for me or Phoebe (ha Drew wasn't too keen on signing up- he will change his mind sometime as it's a nightmare trying to call the Docs at 8 am to get an appointment). I can pick and choose which Doctor, day and time I wish to visit - I'm delighted.
Oh yeah and my neck still hurts and my pelvis is being pulverised by every step I take - yeah for the joys of motherhood - blerugh! I feel like an 90 year old woman with severe arthritis who needs a hip replacement.
I have 10 weeks left and boy am I counting the days. I just hope my labour goes as quickly as Two-Hour-Tosha's!

Thanks to Lisa I found a rather nice maternity wear website http://www.funmum.com


Well this week has been exhausting to say the least, as they say the last trimester is the hardest and I have to agree. I've pulled a muscle in my neck which is now giving me headaches, and my hips are still causing a lot of pain - so much that I've had to stop doing any kicking lessons at my Tae Kwon Do class. I'm not too heart broken about that as I can still go to my lessons and practice my patterns, oh and I made Green Belt last week too! Phoebe has now reached a Blue tag belt (she is one Kup ahead of me now). And she rocks!
It's been hard for Phoebe and Drew this week as I've been working loads and have come home every night totally exhausted and well lets face it a complete grumpy cow! Sorry guys - I know it's hard being around me just now but it's not because I don't love you all it's because I'm just so freaking exhausted. It will soon pass in another 10 weeks (hehe).

Baby flump is making lots of movement these days, I'm constantly being kicked in the ribs and punched in the bladder (this also links into why I'm grumpy). Sometimes s/he is moving around so much that I think s/he has been sipping some stimulants and dancing the River Dance!

WARNING!For viewers of a nervous disposition please look away now.

For those who don't know I promised to publish pictures of Drew's insides! I've never seen so much of my boyfriend before!

Wow I've been working so hard over the past few weeks, despite being ill for 2 and a half days with a chest infection I've still managed to do a heck of a lot. I've managed to get all my tomato seedlings into grow bags last thursday, and with me putting down bug killer pellets all over the grow bags I've managed to create a kind of pet cemetary for slugs and snails. Where did they all come from, do snails and slugs smell fresh seedlings? Each morning I go out to check on my precious tomato plants and I find masses of dead and dying slugs. It's kinda sad too, here I am trying to grow some veg for the family and be enviornmentally friendly and kapow I end up having a mass cull of the little critters. Oh well maybe it will be different next year. Drews lovely sister Lorna has kindly offered to come down and help design and create a new garden for us! Yep Lorna I'm gonna hold you to that offer too!

We hope to incorporate some large veg box type areas so i can grow some stuff rather than having pots of seedling hanging all over the place, level out the lawn which will probably involve re-turfing it all, some new fencing - I'm sure it's all going to look terrific when Lorna has finished.

Thanks to the lovely James too, for inviting us to his BBQ this weekend - we had a brilliant time chatting to folk from work, eating lots of gourmet sausages and lovely mainated meat - very yummy guys. I met the lovely Bertie and Paul - they seem like our kinda people - NUTS! Hehe. They've invited us to theirs next saturday for another BBQ and the other good thing is they live in Milton Keynes! And as my friends know, god knows I keep telling them, that this is a bonus because when we go to visit them I'll also get the chance to visit the new Krispy Kreme store they have opened. Trust me you have never tasted a good donut until you taste one of these dreamy sugar loaded sweet bakes. I'm sure they have trillions of flavours I haven't trued yet and I can't wait to visit to purchase some more!

Extreme close up- meet Elvis (aka Evil One, Smelvis or Satan)

Ya gotta love him really! no honestly :)

Oh yeah and he loves the Banjo - check him out.

What can I say - she takes after her barmy mother!

I just had to show you this from Two Fat Lumps - (see my list of links for more cartoons) this just made my day!

As promised I've added a link to the BBQ photos (at the right hand side of this page) - Enjoy!

I've spent most of today lounging in my new pool! Finally purchased a 6ft wide plastic pool and it took us an hour to fill it with water from the garden hose - but boy was it worth it. For once I've actually stopped running around doing stuff and had a chillin afternoon in the pool, eating cherries - pure bliss!

Happy Canadian Day! Exhausting day today - had to get up and drive to Luton to complete our Tae Kwon Do grading, in the heat! Then drive back home - getting stuck on the road due to the never ending road works on the A1 - that sucks. Quick shower and then off to Lisa and Pauls for a BBQ - yummy - lots of fab food to eat and people to hang out with all afternoon.

Followed by some beaver bashing (fnar) - meet bertie the beaver pinata! Got smashed to bits though the poor thing - but he was full of yummy sweets!
Yawn got to go to bed as I'm exhausted.

Ok had to go back to the docs this morning, got another prescription but I'm puzzled by the warning!

More sleep please! It's getting more and more difficult to get a good nights sleep at the moment. With a wobbly pelvis that causes me constant pain and irritation when walking or lying for too long, it's sure making sleep really really difficult. Thanks to Lisa's mammoth sized pillow which takes up the space of a whole person in bed, I've been finding it slightly easier sometimes. Last night wasn't great though, maybe it was my own fault by going to bed at 9.30, but i got up at 1.30 and thought heck I'm not sleepy I'll go and do something like sewing brownie badges onto Phoebes sash and sewing a toggle that had come off her cardigan. Then I decided well since I'm up I might as well iron! Oh and then go and munch on pineapple - brilliant I though at least I'm being healthy. Next I decided to watch TV, usually the early morning drivel and OU programmes put me right to sleep but damn did I find that Designing Technology program interesting, followed by a film about Hilary and Jackie Du Pre the musically talented sisters. This ended in me finally making my way to bed at 5 am!

I'm a fool I know, I should have gone to bed earlier but I got hooked on the TV, well maybe the chocolate cake that was left over from Wendy's birthday and the packet of already opened bacon crunchy crisps (haha Drew caught you eating junk food).

Wow what a weekend we've all had. First of all Drew's sister Lorna arrived on friday, so we all went to the local indian restaurant and georged ourselves silly on lots of lovely food. Being 27 weeks pregnant I found it difficult to eat lots and decided to retire to bed at 9pm (oh yes that late!) whilst Dude, sprog and Lorna went to the pub for a cheeky wee half.

On Saturday we started to get ready for our BBQ, first I had to pick Wendy up from the train station and then we shopping (hehe it was shopping for the BBQ honest - even though I did bag a bargain in Dorothy Perkins and New look). Arriving back at the house Drew and Lorna had purchased some more meat products and our fridge now resembled a butchers counter - I have never seen to much meat before - did I ever tell you I was a strict Vegan at one point in my life?

Anyway it was a good day, and we all had a good laugh - there were some norty going ons with people climbing the neighbours trees and ahem fences. Some rough and tumble in the summer house where people were doing backclips on the exercise ball and trying out our various gym equipment. I shall link some photos in sometime soon.

Loonies! Haha - yes I'm feeling better, finally got some antibiotics and already they have stopped the sore throat and nasty chesty cough. Still got boogers but hey you can't have everything.

Now you see them, now you don't!

Still feeling ill today, stuffy nose has turned into chest infection and making me feel miserable.

Normal service to resume soon I hope. :)

still feeling crappy today - would much rather be doing what Elvis is doing here - snoozing in the sun on the summer house!

Today has been postponed as we are all suffering from sore throats and boogers. Thanks Phoebe for passing your bugs onto us - as they say it's great to share!
oh another note - keep a careful eye on those bag packers who are supposed to help when you are at the checkout. Today for once i decided to let the kind lady help pack my shopping whilst i stood there and blew my nose and looked miserable. Turned out after packing my stuff and putting it in the trolley she had left all my new underwear sitting at the checkout whilst i paid for it.
Most annoyed when I got home to find this out, and then I had to call tesco whilst mildly mad and explain at being 6 months pregnant, suffering from a cold and hip joint pain that it wasn't my fault that she didn't put the items in my trolley, and therefore would they please deliver it. Well after much hoo-aaahing they did and the delivery guy had a nerve to say that it wasn't company policy to deliver these things! So i reminded him that it was also company policy that the people who help pack your shopping bags don't leave your things at the checkout!!!!

Sweet weekends...this weekend i planned to visit my old old friend (she wont thank me for saying old here!) in Tonbridge, I was told off for calling it Tonbridge Wells. To my amazement it was one of the easiest places to drive too, even though i spent some time sitting in traffic at the toll booth and traffic jams in the hot hot sunshine! i was welcomed into her house by their teenage son Connor (just remember Connor I babysat you when you were a little 3 year old blonde haired toddler!), who despite being a teenager (hormones and girls - know what I mean?) is still a pleasure to shoot the shit with! Diane arrived soon after with her two brilliant daughters (sorry Connor you are brilliant too - but don't let that go to your head.) Rhiannon (who is a flagpole with long flowing hair) and Caitlin (who is such a cute little pixie). Diane, I am glad to say, was looking well despite running around after 3 busy kids (2 of them black belts in Wing Chun - how kick ass is that?) still retains her wicked sense of humor and "normality" - Diane if you are reading this you will know what I mean! Her hubby you see works in some god-forsaken shit hole for the oil industry and spends lots of weeks away from family. Hats off to you guys. I really couldn't do without Drew being here to help fix the house, sort out kids, shopping, housework, blah blah and whatever else my handy "man friend with extras" does here.

Thanks Diane for looking after Phoebe and I, taking us out to Si for some lovely calamari (this time i didn't feel queasy after eating it) and a lovely artichoke salad. Sorry I couldn't eat more but I have a naughty baby playing volleyball with my small intestine and football with my bladder. Does make eating lots of lovely food tricky. I'm looking forward to cooking a full English breakfast complete with butteries for you when you drop by in August.
ciao for now everyone xxx

Phoebe's ode to the King, Elvis of course!

Dear Inland Revenue Wankers!

I am writing to complain about the inland revenues complete incompetence and inability to resolve the issues with my partners and my tax credits.

I wrote to you several months ago outlining the reasons why I thought it was unreasonable of you to try and recover overpayments made by you to us. You then replied with a letter from P. Enishead, saying you were going to go ahead and we had no right to appeal.

Firstly, can you explain how you came to the conclusion that I should have been aware that the payments were wrong, as I have never claimed them in the past and had no prior knowledge of what I could expect? Secondly, your statement that I have no right to appeal I find quite insulting. You clearly think you are above reproach and infallible. How you came to this conclusion when the Press reports that you have made approximately £1.8 Billion worth of overpayments Nationwide is incredible!

Further on in the letter you claim to have checked our employment information and say it is correct. What did you check this against? After several fruitless attempts to clear up the problems using your laughably titled “Helpline”, I then discovered that our employment information is wrong! P. Enishead is obviously not up to their job or they just didn’t bother to check!

From the 9th of June ’04 up to the 22nd of Feb ’05 you claim to have paid £10.10 per day into my wages. These 259 days total £2615.93. Neither my partner or I have ever received these payments so we DO NOT wish to pay this money back to you! The PAYE Ref. No. You had for me was incorrect and so was her employers name. We have now corrected another of your mistakes for you.

In fact as you have been recovering these imaginary overpayments from our current Child Tax Credits, we believe that you owe us backdated credits.

Further to these problems, the ability of your call centre staff must be brought into question. On Wednesday the 7th of June 06 I called to complain about your service as your complaints leaflet says I can do this. I was told someone from your Preston office would call me back within 48 hours. This did not happen. I called again and asked to talk to a supervisor hoping they may be more thorough. I was advised that someone would call me back within 24 hours. This did not happen. Today I called again. This time I was put strait through to a manager. She then claimed that without a written complaint as well as a verbal one, no one would be in touch. If this is the case, why does your complaints leaflet state that it is possible to complain by phone?
The manager then checked my details and told me my mobile phone number had been written incorrectly. If your employees are unable to take down a phone number, how can they be expected to correctly type in a PAYE Ref. No.?

As you can understand this whole process has been extremely stressful for myself and especially my partner who is now 5 months pregnant. She does not need the stress of you trying to collect a substantial amount of money, which we do not owe you.
I request that you review our whole claim from the first day it was made in early ’04 and correct any mistake. Please contact me in person, as I would be happy to give you any information you need.
We believe we deserve a written apology and a thorough explanation as to why, after 2 years of dealing with you, that this matter has still not been resolved.

If this matter is not resolved very soon, I will be contacting the local Press and my MP, as at the minute you seem unwilling to help individuals. Perhaps the intervention of someone with a bit more “muscle” will give you a suitable incentive to get you going.

I look forward to hearing from you VERY soon, (you bunch of thick twats)

The surface of the moon never looked so smooth...
25 weeks and counting

Project Beaver turned into project Brain! What can i say - oh well onto project beaver attempt 2!

Project Beaver !

Morning - up early again! Our ongoing saga with the garage next door still hasn't ended. Last year the garage at the end of our street bought the all the connecting neighbours gardens and proceeded to turn it into a car valeting area much to our annoyance as there is now a car mat vacummn, car vacuum and jet wash literary just feet away from our back garden. The ever caring and obliging council went ahead with this guys planning permission despite our concerns over flooding (yes we live on a flood plane), noise contamination and problems with opening hours etc etc. Seemed like the council couldn't give a hoot about the residents and proceeded to grant him permission. Since then he's opened his oh so amazing car wash and proceeded to flaunt the regulated opening hours - which were restricted to mon-fri 8a,-6pm, saturdary 9-1 and not at all on sunday. He's got the damn thing open from 7am till 9pm every fucking day of the week. So in the meantime whilst waiting for the council to complete their useless and time wasting procedures to tell him to stop or otherwise face fines/court etc, we've had to put up with jet washes at 7am, loud music - yes i can even name the tunes! People shouting, horns going off and the best of all car alarms!
Whilst watching a documentary one night about being happy I found out that the council have to ensure that their "people" - which means us lot - are happy. Makes me wonder why the heck we've been having to endure their slow procedures to enforce the enfored operating hours on this garage! We've been living with this for 7 months now and not without much pain and stress to ourselves.

I'm beginning to think the only option we have is to continually embarrass the council like I did last time (yes i managed to get the press involved and the reported rediculed the council planning board in her report) or take out some private action at great cost to us.
Have any of you had similar problems - and how did you get it sorted out? I would love to know. oh if you want to know where this annoying garage is - its in St Neots on Cambridge Street - please avoid at all costs - as its ruining our use of our garden.

Well its been well over a year since I blogged. Well it wasnt suprising by the fact that stats these days say at least 75% of bloggs die within the first 6 months of their creation.

Anyway good news - more babies have arrived in the world today and I wish Tosha and Nik a happy baby day - they announced the arrival of Kalila at 2.09am this morning.

Oh the picture? thats Elvis the evil one. He's cute, no really honest he is -when he's not chasing other cats out of the garden, eating like a pig and drooling cat spit across me.

Just some unusual facts to while away the day with!
10 unusual accidents

Figures published by the Department of Health have revealed a huge range of unusual accidents which put people in hospital in England in 2004. Here is just a small sample.

1. Two people were admitted after being in contact with venomous spiders. Both stayed in hospital for five days.
2. 22 people suffered from exposure to ignition or melting of nightwear, most of them men.
3. 1,481 people, most of them children, were injured by hot drinks, and most needing an overnight stay in hospital.
4. Two people needed five days' treatment after contact with centipedes or venomous millipedes.
5. 15 people were admitted after contact with a marine animal, needing an average of two days in hospital.
6. Four people had an average of two days' treatment after exposure to vibrations.
7. 1,839 people - 78% of them children - fell out of trees.
8. 4,533 people fell when using ice-skates, skis, roller-skates or skateboards. 57% of them were under 15.
9. One girl needed an overnight stay after being "bitten or struck" by an alligator. (By comparison, 3,508 people were bitten or struck by dogs.)
10. One child was admitted to hospital after "prolonged stay in a weightless environment". He or she did not stay overnight. There are no further details about who this person was or how they had come to need treatment.

Nik Newark - is a big liar - he stuffed my Tiggr into a small plastic box then blamed it on someone else!

Nik - you'd better watch out! Revenge is sweet! muwahahhaahhaa

Hello I'm back.
I do apologise for being offline for a long time, but I have been very busy moving house and with work.

anyway a big congratulations to my friend Carol and Craig - who have just announced that they are having a baby. This seems to be the year for babies, firstly Tosha gave birth to the beautifully cute Indigo on New Years Day! Welldone Tosha and Nic. Secondly Conchita is expected to pop this week - we've heard nothing so far! and Finally Lisa and Paul are expecting their first baby too!

looks like I may be busy popping round for baby cuddles this year.
Me on the other hand or should I say arm, have decided to re-new my implant in my arm - so I have no worries for another 3 years in that department.

I must also say congratulations to Karen and Andy who are getting married in March this year, they have asked Phoebe to be a bridesmaid! I'll post photos when I have them.

So what is everybodies plans for this year?

Told ya so!
My time of need came and I was rewarded with a Knight in Shining Armour, the good Karma came and helped me as I stupidly left my headlights on and ran down the car battery! Aforementioned Knight came to my rescue and jump-started the car.
today is a good day - I feel a bit goofy though, like my brain is surrounded by marshmallow.
Strange....

Good Karma/Bad Karma
I firmly believe in Karma - do something really bad and life will bite you in the ass. I've seen this on many occassions for it not to be false.

So to make sure that my ass doesn't take any more kickings I try to do at least one good dead a day (what a goody two shoes I am- but I cant help it I used to be a Brownie and that good dead thing has been firmly implanted in my mind). So today my good dead was a huge one, I went to the recycling centre (had a bit of a wild party at the weekend - so had load of stuff to recycle). And there I deposited my bottles, cans and plastics. But what did I find there - a neat clean recycling centre? Hell no I found a disgusting area that was overflowing with bags, I got mad, I got so mad I wanted to scream and walk away - what have you people done? You are so fecking lazy you are unbelievable - you make all that effort to recycle your shit at home but when you get to the recycling centre - you think "Oh hell the bank is full I'll just leave my stuff on the ground" . What the hell do you think happens to it? Some little pixie comes along and empties all your containers into the correct bin? Do they hell! - no the wind comes along and proceeds to fling your crap all around the place. You creatures disgust me. (rant finished - now find that calm place in my head)

No I didn't talk away - today I made it my goal to tidy up after you - you ungrateful pigs. I started to open your fly infested stinking bags of plastic bottles and empty them into the correct banks for you. Then help appeared - the guy from Morrisons came along and started to help, then another recycling lovvie appeared and she too started to help, and then another Morrisons person popped along - such sweet angels appeared and helped me!

Now my bad Karma has been equalled out by all the good Karma I've put into my bank!

Results are in: in a 24 hour period I burned 90 calories (not sure if this is extra calories compared to a normal heart rate) . I learnt something though - my heart rate is higher than the norm - 75bpm at rest. Is this normal?
I also conducted another survey in underwear - I asked all my male friends if they would spend £45 on a pair of boxer shorts - 78% said yes - so I reckon that they have more cash than sense or are gay! - you go figure!

Experiments! no I'm not talking about animals one but human ones. I've had a Heart Rate monitor for some time and have always wanted to do a test with it to see how many calories I burned in a 24 hour period - so today i'm strapped up and ready to go! The test started at 11.57 am today and I shall post the results tomorrow morning!

If you have any ideas on other experiments I could conduct with the heart rate monitor - leave a comment .....

Tee He He - just got an email that made me giggle. It was one of those emails where you have to enter in names of male and female friends, along with various other things such as animals, body parts - you know the ones I mean? Well This is the result of my inputs:

Big Brother!
Day 1 - Gary admits straight away that he doesn't like the look of Tosha. He says she looks like a lesbian. As it turns out, Lisa is in fact the only lesbian in the house, although Chris later admits that he is unsure of his true sexuality.

2 - The house sit down for a discussion of how to organise simple chores. Neil creates tension by stating that the kitchen is where the women belong. Conchita hits him with a spoon.

3 - The housemates are set their first task by Big Brother - they must make a model of Taj Mahal out of grapes. After much persuasion by Neil, they gamble 50% of next week's food budget on completing the task.

4 - Training for the Taj Mahal task is well under way. However havoc ensues when Chris, who is rapidly developing a reputation as the laziest fat bastard in the house, eats half the grapes. Conchita is furious.

5 - Today is the day when the Taj Mahal task must be completed. Things are going well until shortly before the end when Chris farts and blows Taj Mahal over. Big Brother announces that the task has been a failure. Tosha cries.

6 - Neil gets pecked on the arm by one of the Big Brother chickens. Not a very exciting day.

7 - Big Brother is worried that things are getting dull, so he summons the housemates to have a mass debate about sex. After far too many cans of cider, Tosha admits that she likes to be spanked on the arse with a spoon. Gary says he never wears condoms because they make his willy sore and Neil agrees. Lisa goes into a rant about how none of the other housemates have ever enjoyed a true orgasm because they're all boring heterosexual bastards. Chris sits in the corner, quietly eyeing up Neil.

8 - Today is the first day that the housemates must nominate someone to leave. Gary goes round everyone one by one, telling them he really likes them because they're the only one in the house that he can really relate to. Conchita and Tosha are voted as the two candidates to leave. Nobody votes for Gary .

9 - Conchita and Tosha are told of their nominations and burst into tears, before hugging everyone and telling them they love them. Lisa sings them a song - The Birdie Song - to make them feel better.

10 - The public vote Tosha out of the house. She pretends not to be bothered but then breaks down and sobs that she should never have admitted about enjoying being spanked. Tosha leaves.

11 - Relationships are strained in the house as the housemates come to terms with Tosha's departure. The food budget is low due to the failure of last week's failed task. Lisa has to make do without the cucumber she requested. Conchita is visibly depressed and is comforted by Neil, who tries to touch her on her bottom.

12 - The Big Brother pyschologist replays the footage of Neil touching Conchita's bottom over and over again. This is because it shows an interesting psychological incident, of course, not because it will increase the viewing figures. Big Brother sets the housemates the task of jogging on a running machine for twice the circumferance of the globe. They gamble 40% of the food budget on completing it.

13 - The running machine task is on target, despite the fact that Chris refuses to run because his willy hurts a bit.

14 - Much jubilation in the house as the running machine task is completed. Chris finally manages to run the last 10 metres of the task and claims that without him they'd never have done it. Conchita calls Chris a lazy willy.

15 - Once again it is the day when nominations are due. Gary tells everyone individually that he thinks Conchita is a whore. He also points out that anyone who wants to stay at his flat when the show is finished is welcome to come and visit. Conchita and Neil are nominated by the housemates to leave. Nobody votes for Gary .

16 - The nominations are announced. Conchita can't believe she's been voted out two weeks in a row. Neil is equally stunned and turns to Conchita for comfort. Chris is distraught and confesses to Lisa that he thinks he is in love with Neil. Lisa says she doesn't fancy any of the housemates because they're all just too heterosexual and she's a lesbian, you know

17 - The public vote Neil out of the house. Conchita says she is gutted and even gives Neil a clipping of hair from her bottom to prove how much she cares. Chris is also devastated but keeps his hair to himself. Neil leaves.

18 - The Big Brother psychologist shows repeated clips of Conchita clipping the hair from her bottom. Apparently this is an important psychological incident. The public obviously agree as viewing figures soar.

19 - Big Brother sets the housemates the task of burping the National Anthem of Wales in 60 seconds. They gamble 50% of the food budget on completing it.

20 - Nobody has a clue what the National Anthem of Wales sounds like but Chris says it's a bit like Dancing Queen. The housemates choose Gary as the one who must complete the task.

21 - Gary successfully burps not only the National Anthem of Wales but also God Save The Queen, The Birdie Song and the theme tune to Location Location. He is proclaimed as a hero, despite the fact that a vote in a tabloid newspaper shows that 98% of the public want to kill him.

22 - Nominations are due and Gary tells everyone that he has a Villa in the South of France and they can all come and stay for a holiday. Chris and Lisa are nominated.

23 - Chris and Lisa take their nominations well and sit down with Gary and Conchita to discuss why they voted for them. Gary keeps quiet but Conchita accuses Chris of being an arrogant, lazy, self-centred willy before bursting into tears.

24 - The public vote Lisa out of the house and nobody really gives a shit. Lisa leaves.

25 - Gary becomes the first housemate to have a wank. This footage goes down well with the Big Brother pschologist who proclaims that it gives us a true insight into the working of Gary 's mind and brings out his true personality. In other words, he's a wanker.

26 - Big Brother sets the remaining three housemates the task of shifting 5000 tons of elephant dung using only a spoon. Gary is unsure but Chris is confident, claiming to have done something very similar when he was younger. They gamble 50% of the food budget.

27 - Completely out of the blue, Chris breaks down in tears and announces that he is leaving. He claims that it is because the dung-shifting task has brought back the painful memories of the elephant incident from his childhood. Conchita tries to persuade him to stay but Gary sits in a corner, rubbing his hands slyly. Chris decides to leave.

28 - With only two housemates remaining, the elephant dung task proves impossible. They fail miserably and resort to getting extremely pissed on some vegetable wine, made by Conchita from a couple of mouldy carrots she found in the Big Brother garden.

29 - Nominations are due for the final time. Gary asks Conchita to marry him and she accepts. Unsurprisingly Gary nominates Conchita to leave. Rather more surprisingly, so does Conchita.

30 - When the nomination is announced, Conchita graciously accepts defeat and proclaims that Gary is a worthy winner. As they are soon to marry, she also agrees to shag him. The event is broadcast live to the nation and is preceded by a speech from the Queen. Everyone in the Big Brother production crew breathe a huge sigh of relief as viewing figures go through the roof. Gary takes his £70,000 and runs away to Wales. Nobody, including Conchita, ever sees him again.

Today I decided to share with you my dinner - well not my actual dinner but the recipe I found that made a very yummy meal last night :http://www.salmonoftheamericas.com/fav_silver.html

enjoy (I know we did)

Another amazing fact which I rather liked :

On this day in 1869 the Waffle Iron was invented - Hurrah for Waffles! mmmm must go eat some now.

Good Afternoon fellow human beans! What a lovely day, first of all I surfaced this morning with one hella hangover and only got 5 hours sleep as had nagging back pains (Tosha/Lisa - this is similar to what you will experience in a few months time - take the drugs! ok?) . I'm pooped - but I still managed to get to work and completed the origami beaver (boy I've heard endless puns about this!) -which was a pressie for Lisa (Lisa - so glad you liked it as he was pretty funny) . Then I met with Tosha for some lunch which did me the power of good - just to eat some carbs and sit in the shade and watch the kitties play in the garden. After a relaxing lunch I bimbled back to the office where I'm now sitting watching a fantastic thunder and lightening show kindly provided by the Almighty One! There is so much power in these things it always impresses me that this is a part of nature- boy it's amazing what's next on TV to watch?

I've got a fun packed weekend waiting for me - I'm taking my first and hopefully wont be the last snowboarding lesson tomorrow morning. I'm really looking forward to this, this is another one of those things I can tick off my list of things to do before I croak. Does anyone else have one of these lists. In fact I'll add it to my blog - To Do B4 I Die list. Whats next on the list - not sure - ride a motorbike again, fly an aeroplane (again - ok I had to put that one in as I was very lucky one to get a free quick lesson on how to fly - and I've got the bug) oh yes I remember what it is I want to go travelling. I've just found out that I have a relative in Tokyo which is fab. BTW Tokyo looks like a mad place to live in. I would like to combine this with The Dudes Challenge Boat Race which will take him away from me for 10 months in 2008. One of his longest stops will be in Wellington, New Zealand, and I'd like to visit him there first and then hop round the world for a little bit, and of course I'd be taking along my wee clone for the trip (Phoebe).

well ta ta for now folks - enjoy the weather!

Just a short blog today - with one amazing fact
Today marks the anniversary of the First National Fire Service set up in Britain on this day in 1941.

Hurrah for our fireservice!

Some snaps of my holiday in Strathconon.
http://www.byphotos.com/album/831742

Wow - I have just returned from 9 days of extensive driving and extreme swimming!
And I fell in Love again! - but I'll tell you about that part later.
First I travelled from St Neots to my parents lovely home in Rattray in Perthshire. We were delayed by a few minor roadworks but nothing serious - and we stopped in Edinburgh to do some "school" shopping - oh Phoebe has grown so much this year that hardly any of her old school stuff fits - in fact it doesn't fit - everything is too short!
So I decided to treat her to some new and updated and more trendy school wear - when did school uniforms get so trendy by the way? God did we miss everything in the 80's?
Anyway - finally we reached my parents place, had some dinner and promptly fell asleep early in the evening. The next day Phoebe and I drove over to Creiff where my Grandmother stays - we had a nice time catching up on the news and we did a little bit of shopping where I managed to get a quick visit to my favourite sweet shop to stock up on some macaroon bars - very yummy - shame there is not much left!
On Tuesday morning we had to wait until the thunder and lightening storms had passed before we dared to venture onto our next location - Strathconon.
We reached there early evening - and settled down to a lovely dinner of mince and tatties. The following day we spent cycling up beside the loch and playing around in the country side - only to return in the afternoon exhausted. We feasted on another great dinner - I forgot how lovely it was to have someone else cook for you. And retired early again to bed!
On Wednesday we made our way to Inverness - not only to look at the new shopping centre - which really wasn't that great - same shops different location - only wetter. Then we made our way to the outskirts of Inverness to meet up with our friends who were driving up from Aberdeen. I managed to fit in a 10 minute back and shoulder massage with an on-site massage therapist - pure heaven.
Finally we drove back and had some lunch before Phoebe took everyone rambling up the loch side. That evening us older girlies relaxed with some wine exchanging gossip and giggles.
My friend is from Columbia and is currently studying astrology part-time - a very interesting person who has become one of my most cherished friends. Both our daughters where in the same class at the same school and that is how we met over a year ago.
We spent 3 great days together - visiting Strathpeffer - where I spent some of my childhood - wandering up the loch side, and visiting Loch Achility where as I a child I would cycle to in the summer time and play. We decided to put on our bathing suits and brave the cold water everyday - and it was fantastic - Adriana and I even managed to swim to a little island about 500 meters from the shore. The water was very refreshing!
The only down side to that area is the darn midges and nasty biting horse-flys oh and the blood sucking ticks! Now I remember why I left :)
I'm now covered in little red bumps that I have to itch every few hours - grrr.
We had fun applying henna to give ourselves tattoos, and making bead necklaces. I even managed to knit another scarf - and I've already started the 2nd one which I hope to complete this week.
But my most wonderful part of my holiday was when "The Dude" finally arrived, we only had 24 hours together before I had to head home to sunny St Neots - so we made the most of our time, "The Dude" took me to the gorge where he went swimming as a kid, a difficult area to get to but not only did we manage but so did Phoebe! We will make a rock climber of her yet.
I was amazed at the beauty and the freezing water, but I took the plunge and swam in the fresh cold water that came rushing down the rocks. There is a lot of peat in the water so when you are swimming around your skin takes on the hue of a really bad fake tan if you look at it from the water!
This was a really romantic part of the holiday, where I fell in Love again, I was deeply touched by The Dudes words as we were swimming - those moments are little gifts from heaven - for someone to say that they love you and want to spend the rest of their lives with you - I will cherish for a long long time to come.
To my Dude whom I love with my heart and soul....

I dont say this often - so this is a very rare occassion - I'm feeling blue! I don't know why it just kinda happens and thats it. So what do I do to get over my blue phase - eat chocolate - no! Lavish myself in nice smelly bath products and goo - no (I've been told off for spending too much money - he he oops!), what then - well I spent money and booked a snowboarding lesson! The sense of achievement always snaps me right out of it (but I must say I hope nothing else snaps during my lesson!). Post your comments on how you get out of your blues. x