The wonderful Aunty 'D' is 85years young!

Any excuse for a gathering these days, but last weekend was a real event for the maternal side of the family. My truly wonderful Aunty 'D' reached the grand age of 85years old! As my mother Joyce's younger sister she is the last one standing from her generation...The Matriach of a very large family. My sister Sharon and I travelled down to Bexhill-on Sea for the celebrations. My cousin Ro's children were there (well most of them) with their families and the 'do' was arranged by cousin Janice at The Mermaid on the seafront. Bubbly, balloons, disco, karaoke, buffet and cake   what more could you ask for. The kids had a great time and we all got to meet the latest arrivals to the ever growing family circle, 13week old Max born to Julia and Anthony and 3 week old Joshua, born to Jason and Vicky. Joshua is Janice's first Grandchild and of course she is besotted! We are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of Gemma's first baby who will be the first KIWI in the family.

The wonderful Birthday Girl

Sharon and Janice

The wonderful Will Sullivan did a turn for us on Karoake after much poking and torment by Sharon and myself (not to mention some throat lubrication from the bar) He did an admirable rendition of Tom Jones's SEX BOMB complete with hip wiggling gesticulations. He got screams of delight and applause but sadly no underwear for his efforts. Good thing too as most of the undies worn that day were support wear and would have caused serious injury if thrown!!! His two daughters Sophie and Megan watched in open mouthed amazement at their superstar Daddy....what a great thing to do, they will remember that forever.

Will...Sex Bomb ! Video to follow soon..

We sang Happy Birthday and Janice lit the candles on the cake...they were erupting jets of sparkling flame and went on for quite a while. No hope of blowing them out and it smelt like bonfire night for a little bit but what a fabulous effect.

The DJ was an interesting chap, stage name Dan The Man he was complete with fake tan, dyed hair and bright green jacket. He was a bit scary really and loved the sound of his own, often discordant voice. I know it's cruel but Sharon and I couldn't help but laugh at the spectacle...especially when he grabbed Janice to dance!! Sharon decided to torment poor Anthony and made him dance with her, his discomfort was obvious and gave me great delight to watch and I was not alone in this. The Williams girls have all been blessed with the wicked Woodhouse genes for tormenting and they all enjoyed the menfolks squirming. They are a credit to their Mum Ro and Dad John who would have been so proud of them all. They all seem to have stuck together after the dreadful loss of their parents and such courage and fortitude in the face of adversity is a rare thing nowadays. Aunty 'D' had a bit of a bop and made a very touching thank you speech, reinforcing how special the bonds of family and friends are.
We headed off to our hotel for a late supper with Ro's kids and their families and stayed up till late in the bar having a whale of a time reminiscing and laughing.
Up next morning and got together for breakfast before a few sad goodbyes to the kids and off to meet Janice for coffee. Had a look around her lovely flat in Bexhill and went to the Italian downstairs for a super latte.
We had a little time to spare so on the spur of the moment popped up to say Bye bye to Aunty D who was delighted to see us. She was looking really well surrounded by loads of cards,gifts and flowers and we sat and had a lovely chat for half an hour. She is fantastic in every way, always with a smile and never a hint of self pity, refreshing in an elderly person. She attributes her longevity to her bad habits which these days are mainly Gin and Cigarettes!!
She was telling us that when she was a teenager she envied our Mum Joyce (her elder sister) because she had auburn hair and dimples....she especially wanted dimples and would go to sleep with her fingers deeply pressed into her cheeks to try to get some! It wasn't until she started her first job when someone said how beautiful her hair was that she realised she was a real flaxen blonde...without the bottle. I always envied my cousins for their bubbly, warm and loving Mum and it's lovely to still have my special aunty around. I reminded her that she incurred my mum's displeasure when she bought me my first Bra, knickers and suspender belt (no tights invented then) I remember them well, white cotton with little pink rosebuds on and I thought I was so grown up. It's a real milestone for a girl and I have my Aunty 'D' to thank for that and for so much more throughout my life.
Hopefully we will all get together next year for her 86th birthday and the way things are looking we'll do it for many more than that, I truly hope so.To spend time with my wonderful sister is one of my life's real treasures, we are so in tune it is spooky, I don't have to explain my jokes or witty remarks and we often say the same thing at the same time! We bounce off each other and become a real double act when in company and it is just wonderful. I love her like I love no-one else, she is my beautiful, sparkling, sister and I know she loves me right back!
These are special gifts that no amount of money could buy and oh my,  I am so grateful to be so blessed.

A wedding in a seafront castle....

Wow what a weekend we have had...we sadly had to miss Sandy Lane Fete as we were invited to a family wedding. Andy's brother Gareth married his long time love, the beautiful Fran on Saturday. We drove down on Friday night and all met up for a meal and a chin wag.We unloaded the van at the best man's house as we had all the band gear and then spent a relaxing night in a very nice hotel in portsmouth. Next morning we set up the band in the marquee inside the keep of Southsea Castle. Had a bite to eat and then donned our finery for the wedding. It was truly lovely and Fran looked stunning in her white dress with black detailing...the whole theme was black and white and it looked chic and elegant.

 In the evening we danced our socks off to Joe Schmo veven 80years old Betty,Andy's Mum got up for a bit of a bop!! Gareth sang Sweet Home Alabama with his brother and fulfilled a lifelong dream! They were great together too.We had a late night and after a nice sleep we packed up next morning and headed home to Wales. Back to work on Monday for everyone(except of course the honeymooners). Great times and with every birth or union our family grows and that is indeed a blessing.

Scrumping apples!

This may be hard to believe but little Tink just loves fruit,but she especially loves apples. Recently if left to her own devices we come home to find bits of fruit, apples, peaches, banana, plums, pears etc all over the living room because she just can't resist them. We have to put them well out of her reach to stop her. She will beg and drool if I eat an apple in front of her and gets most upset if I don't share.We have a curving low branched apple tree in the garden over the steps that is laden with cooking apples....well it was! she Up until nowhasn't really eaten loads of fruit but over the last three days we have found the cooking apples all over the garden in various stages of consumption, Tink has also had a very upset tummy (not funny with a little fluffy bottom)....mmm I wonder why? After a few emergency trips to the shower, I watched her carefully yesterday from the bedroom window and to my astonishment she was taking a flying leap off the bank at the overhanging branch and snapping at the closest apples!!! She got three and was just carrying off the last prized one by the stalk in her mouth so it looked like a big green dummy, when I intervened and nicked them back. She yipped and yapped at me so much you'd have thought I had stolen her dinner. No more fruit for her...I harvested all the lowest apples and moved the fruit indoors even further out of reach. I gave her a very plain dinner,breakfast and supper tonight and I think we have solved the problem of the little scrumping Tinkerbell!!

A day for the girls...

I was off work on Tuesday and Karl asked if I could have Hannah and Megan for the day. I of course said yes as these days I don't get much time with them on my own. They popped down in the morning and we talked about what we should do with the day. By 11.00am it was getting warm but still overcast so we decided to go to Singleton Park with Tink first and then onto Blackpill if the sun came out.
We packed the bags and climbed aboard the trusty Gerty and drove to Singleton Park. We parked the car and went to the playground first, not Tink of course  she and I watched from the fence. We walked over to the boating lake and the girls were horrified that Tink did a poo and I picked it up with a poo bag. I showed them the doggy bins and explained that dog poo is not nice to tread in and can sometimes cause diseases especially for children. They nodded thoughtfully and agreed it was best to pick it up but both said they weren't going to do it!
We all decided it would be fun to paddle a dragon boat so we paid our money and climbed aboard..a photo opportunity if ever there was one. Thankfully no-one had a camera! Tink sat on my lap and Hannah and I paddled and Meg sat in the middle and steered. We paddled around in a bit of a zig zag pattern, I believe the correct term would be 'tacking' but there was nothing correct about it, we terrified a large swan boat full of an Indian family who had to take evasive action to avoid a collision. We got caught in the overhanging trees and had to stretch up and paddle backwards to disentangle ourselves. Tink wanted to chase the geese,ducks and anything else on the lake but I explained she was not related to anyone holy and it was unlikley  that she would actually be able to walk, let alone run, on water and I was going to keep a tight hold on her. She caused oohhs and aarghs from everyone who seemed to think it odd that my little dog was loving her first boat trip! We paddled on Meg screamed at a floating bit of wood....did she think it was a shark perhaps, who knows. Our ears were ringing and our legs were aching so we headed for the mooring point. Getting out was no more graceful for me than getting in but I made it without falling in.
We played a round of crazy golf, gave Tink a drink of water and then moved onto the bouncy slide and a roundabout ride. After all that we walked the perimeter of the lake and went to lunch in The Pub On The Pond and very nice it was too.

Super fast sliding!!

We packed up and headed for the Lido at Blackpill, parked Gerty in the shade and crossed the road. We found a shady spot right by the pool under the trees and the girls were straight in after slapping on lots of sun cream. I went to the shop and bought a big inflatable ring which the girls in the shop kindly inflated for me and a fresh bottle of water. The girls loved the ring and Tink loved the water!
I started to read my book but after a few minutes I noticed Tink was caught by the foot on the blanket, on closer inspection I found to my horror that she was attached by a fishing hook with 10inches of line still attached. I gently freed her from the blanket and inspected her little back foot....the hook had just nicked the skin but was totally embedded in her thick fur. I had visions of rushing to the vet but stopped panicking and went over to the shop who lent me a pair of scissors and I snipped the fur to remove the offending hook. How careless of the fisherman to leave that nasty thing lying around, thankfully no harm came to Tink thanks to her fluffy little feet but it could so easily have been a child and that would have been a different story.

Little Tink worn out after her day out!

After several hours of fun we were ready to go home and cook...the girls favourite pastime with Nanny.
We called into Mumbles and picked up some fresh strawberries and the ingredients for a nice stir fry for tea.
The girls chopped and sliced and diced and stirred and soon we were sat out on the patio eating with Gandy, Dan and Lyndsey. A nice bath and hair wash and then Gandy and I walked Tink and the girls back up Karl to put them to bed.....they both kised me goodnight and said thank you for a lovely day, Meg said I was the best Nanny in the whole world and Hannah said she thought so too. I thanked them both for being such good girls and making it such a fun day for me too.
My beautiful girls  make me very proud and I treasure our special times together...I am very blessed and I am thankful.

WATCH OUT WATCH OUT THERE'S A TEA LEAF ABOUT!

We are very lucky to live on Sandy Lane and for the most part it is a very safe place to be. Unfortunately every now and again we have a spate of thefts. I must warn you all of recent events, several thefts from cars and garden sheds have taken place on the lane recently. They even stole hoodies and fleeces from the cars, so please take your belongings inside, put a lock on your shed and be aware that there are some despicable b*****ds around who will think nothing of nicking your stuff.

As usual I have a message for these light fingered pond scum :

IF WE CATCH YOU STEALING, 

YOU'LL WISH YOU HAD BEEN ARRESTED!

The Fat is Fighting Back!!

Last night was Fat Fighters weighing night and it was Dan's first weigh after his holiday. He had been careful what he ate in Spain and it paid off with a further loss of 2lbs!! Andy also lost another 2lbs and is close to 11/2 stones loss now. I however have been a model of slimming world diligence and cooked all the meals gained 1lb!! Not fair, I am gutted, I felt so demoralised I wanted to run away and have a good cry with a bar of chocolate. I resisted the urge and this week I am going to keep a detailed food diary to see if I can pinpoint what is going wrong for me. I will not give up with it as I feel so much better already having lost 11lbs that I am determined to crack it!

Fat Fighting here I come..........

Blazing Paddles!

What a busy week we've had in our house...Kaye is here with gorgeous Sebastian who even wakes up smiling and gurgling, he's so laid back! This has entailed a bit more washing etc but baby clothes are sooo cute it's almost fun. We all got together on Wednesday night, by we I mean Andy and I, Kaye, Karl, Pip, Finn, Dan & Lyndsey. The table was full, we ate drank and chatted and it was lovely. Little Sebastian was the pass the parcel as everyone wanted a cuddle with him before he went to bed. A lovely night! On Thursday Kaye, Sebastian and I went to visit our bestest friends, Sue and Mike. Susie is now fully recovered from her carnival over indulgence and can now bend over with impunity!

Mike with the new improved access canoe!

Mike was very excited as he had launched his newest acquisition into the Neath canal that morning. The 1950's classic canoe that he recently bought and repainted with go faster stripes. Sue was there to take a pictorial record, she admitted she was waiting for it to sink but it didn't and Mike paddled around with abandon. Mike has never canoed before and had learnt his technique on the Internet. Sue was warned that she might struggle to capture the action of the paddles as they may move too quickly. I asked if he had got Sue wake boarding behind his speedy craft but he said no as Sue still has not conquered the art of swimming,even after several people have tried to teach her. After messing about in boats for a couple of hours Mike decided to get back onto Terra firma....more easily said than done! When Mike tried to vacate the canoe via the hole he had got into it through he found himself pretty much wedged. Sue had visions of cutting holes in the bottom so he could walk home wearing it, but, after much straining and maybe a bit of lubrication (don't ask) he did emerge from his tight fitting craft. Back at home we found him cutting his canoe to enlarge the hole. When asked why,  he replied, it wasn't safe in case of fire, he couldn't get out!!! I howled laughing and commented that his paddle stroke must've been quite something to worry about fire...blazing paddles came to mind and conjured up some disturbing images. We love Mike's super quirkiness and inventiveness but you never know what he's going to come up with next. Susie takes it all in her stride and smiles indulgently, most of the time anyway. Kaye and I laughed most of the way home even when we got wet with the rain, Good times!

Poop scooping!

Walking Tink around our beautiful area I always have a roll of poop bags with me to clear up after her,it's a neat little red bone shape holder that dispenses the bags from a roll and is refillable. It cost under a pound in a cheap shop in town and refills are 2 for 99p. There is also an added benefit that I have discovered these bags can be used for any kind of rubbish that I come across. Sadly I always come back home with some to dispose of. Why can't people take their cr*p home with them...I guess they are not blind to the beauty of the surroundings they find themselves in ..so why do the morons leave litter everywhere?  It's the glass I hate most due to the injuries it causes both humans and animals and it is difficult to transport home without getting a nick yourself as it slices through litter bags.
My message to these amoeba brained idiots is.. 
IF YOU BRING IT...TAKE IT HOME WITH YOU!!

I collected this within 30minutes of leaving the house!

I have also noticed that the art of bush, stone and tree decorating is growing at an exponential rate...everywhere we go we see the multi coloured little plastic bags of doggy poop festooning the surrounding foliage and landscape! What the hell is the point of picking up the poop, which although unpleasant is at least biodegradeable, wrapping it tightly in a plastic bag and then throwing it willy nilly over everything...are these people real?
In my usual forthright way I tackled a chap who was gently depositing his bright green, plastic, poop filled bag by the signpost on the golf course. I asked him who did he think would clear it up? He replied quite seriously "Oh sorry, I don't come from around here so I don't know where to take it" I politely told him where he could put it and even offered to deposit it for him if he couldn't manage...he picked up his bag and scuttled off, back under the bloody stone he crawled out from I suspect.
GRRRRR....I get very angry and each time I encounter litter dropping I AM going to say something, maybe it really is just total ignorance or maybe it's just no fear of consequences...now where did I put my Shillelagh stick?

NEW PAGE ADDED...Sandy Lane Fete 2010 Pics

Have a look at the new page on the right hand links for Sandy Lane Fete pictures 2010 courtesy of Holly. If anyone has anymore they would like to share please let me have them via email at penny@harris-john.co.uk or I can scan them in and let you have them back.......enjoy!

It's Carnival Time!

Kaye and Simon arrived on Friday night with Sebastian who is now smiling and giggling at everyone and is chubby and scrumptious. Dan & Lula are back from Spain having had a lovely relaxing week of sun and sea. Andy and I got up on Saturday and went to put the stage together and the P.A. system for the carnival on the playing fields. I entered little Tink into the dog show but although she wore her bestest Tinkerbell wings and wowed the crowd with her cuteness the judges did not give her a prize....stewards enquiry I say!

Tink with her wings on ready for the carnival

In the evening we all got together as Andy was playing the evening bash, we had a great laugh and got very hot and sticky dancing our socks off, my friend Susan got a little squiffy and was very entertaining as was Dan who amazed us all with his 'moves'..surprisingly light on his feet for a big guy, he had us in gales of laughter. The Schmo's were AWESOME, my new improved, slimline hubby was super gorgeous and in great voice, the tent was packed and the crowd were fantastic. At the end of the night Mike steered Susie homewards and we packed up and eventually rolled into bed at 03.15am.

We arose late and were joined for a late roast lunch by Mr and Mrs Po who brought their little dog Tilly with them. Mrs Po headed off home with Tilly and Simon caught the train back to London at 5.20pm, Kaye and Sebastian are staying until Friday and Mr Po is staying over to go to work in Cardiff for a couple of days. I am back in work on Monday and I am quite looking forward to seeing the girls for a catch up...it will be a nice break for me to be back in work!!

Mr Po & Sebastian

What a weekend,fast and furious and super fun with family and friends, what more can I ask for. I am blessed with a life that is full of music,laughter,fun and most of all love and I think I must be the luckiest woman in the world!