Spring has definitely sprung !!

Well the smell of spring is in the air and the temperature on the whole is warmer. Been a very busy month for the Pretty Suns crew. Working, gigging with Joe Schmo, having Grandchildren to stay, weddings and parties....whew I'm worn out again just recalling it. 
I'm now working on Labour Ward/Triage 2 days a week for 9 hours a time and I have to say it is exhausting. I have however re-discovered the pure joy and privilege of helping a new little person come into the world and yes, I am still moved to tears. 
Joe Schmo are busy as ever and I have spent several nights dancing my socks off, great exercise and such fun. 
Grace and Tom (Danie's youngest two) came to stay for a few days. Danie and Charlie brought them down with Will and Kate and it was lovely to see them. Tom and Grace settled in straight away and got very excited about the coming Easter egg hunt we had planned. 

Fun with Gandy

All too much for Tommy!

We were joined by Megan and played lots of games, cooked super food and generally had fun. We went to the beach with Tink and fished in rock pools for crabs and then had an ice cream before heading home...Karl came with us and we all squished into Gertie, with Tink on Karl's lap in the front. We sang songs all the way home and made up silly verses when we couldn't remember the proper ones! 
On Sunday little Tink had a doggy Easter Egg and she loved it! 

Tink with her Easter egg...mmmmm

Andy had asked if he could have an Easter egg this year even though we are fatfighting..he specified that he just wanted a BIG chocolate egg..no sweets or chocolates in it, just the chocolate egg.....so this is what I gave him..

The HUGE egg!

It weighed a Kilo and he ate it all!!
Sunday afternoon the kids went out in the garden to hunt for the eggs that the Easter Bunny's little helpers (Andy & Karl)  had hidden....bags full of fun and chocolate, it was great....We all had a meal at The Gower Inn in the evening with Dan & Lyndsey and we let the kids watch Gandy doin' his thing with the band...Grace and Tom's faces were a treat to see and they haven't stopped talking about it since!

 The evidence of Tom's sneaky egg eating!

Watching Gandy!

We didn't realise at the time but little Tom had smuggled contraband into the gig..he was caught out when Karl picked him up and felt something soft in his pocket, when asked what it was he replied, "it's just goo" Karl had a tentative peek in the squidgy pocket and there was indeed a lot of goo...cadbury cream eggs that had been squished and melted over the course of the evening and were now a sticky mess!! Kids!
Karl drove up to Aberystwyth on Monday to collect Hannah and got back in really good time...we decided it was too good an opportunity to miss so planned a BIG Easter dinner, Danie and Charlie joined us as did Mike and Sue and Sam and Rhian..turkey with all the trimmings for 15...siiimples, it was a breeze and everybody had a great time..best of all was playing chinese whispers at the end of the meal, made very interesting by the fact that both Mike and Andy don't have the most acute hearing in normal circumstances let alone when the hubbub of noise reaches over 70decibels(Feels like it anyway).What starts off as "Lyndsey is very pretty" ends up as "Lyndsey smells of putty" and that's one of the kinder ones!!
Meg and Hannah and Karl stayed the rest of the week and it was lovely to go and get all the bits and bobs we needed for our upcoming holiday to Majorca later in May. We are all very excited and the girls were worried about the first time on a plane. Then something incredible happened and their very special Uncle Ashley took them flying over Gower in his plane...he even let them have a go on the controls...two super excited and delighted girlies really had a tale to top all tales of 'What we did in the holidays'. Wow... so much and I've only covered the first two weeks!  more in a little while!

A sad,sad day for us....

Today has been a very sad day for us at home. Our quirky, funny cat Felix,aka Stinky Pinkerton has died. She had not been well for a while with repeated bladder problems and she rapidly deteriorated today and had some sort of stroke/fit and I took her straight to the vet this afternoon. I brought her home and this evening we buried her in the little garden patch where our beloved dog Blue is buried,under the Lilac tree.

We don't know exactly how old she was as she was a feral cat that Dan rescued......he was the manager of a scrap dealers yard in Clydach quite a few years ago and there were a lot of feral cats. It took him nearly a year to make friends with her, first throwing her a bit of ham and gradually getting her to come closer until she came into the office. Once a trust had been forged she would let him pet her and she even sat on his lap. He left the yard to work elsewhere and after a couple of weeks was told by a friend that the new owners were having the feral cats exterminated the following week. He was anguished about the little cat and drove up there on the Sunday morning with a cat carrier to bring her home. To his utter dismay the yard was shut,metal gates padlocked and no way in. He took the cat carrier out and put it on the roof of the car while he walked the perimeter to see if he could see her and get her to come to him, but with no luck. He walked across to the workshops opposite to say hello to the guys who were working there and had a chat for a little while. On returning to the car he saw, sat as bold as brass in the cat carrier the little cat!! He closed the flap and brought her home and we all thought she was grey and black but after a while in a clean environment she turned black and white!

He named her Felix as she was the image of a cat on the TV of that name and equally as mischievous. Our dog Blue learnt to love her and they were very close, the cat went into a real period of mourning when Blue died and was never really the same again. She hated the new puppy little Tink and left home for a bit in protest (only to Dan in the cabin).

She came home eventually after a couple of weeks and an uneasy truce ensued. 

She was a real independent character and was really only ever Dan's cat, she kind of tolerated the rest of us but she adored him, rolling on her back and purring to have her tummy tickled. He is very upset at her passing and will miss her greatly. We will all miss the sassy madam too, she made us laugh so very often, even if it was tripping Andy up first thing in the morning as she demanded her breakfast!

The end of an era....sleep tight Felix. XX

 

Risk Assessment at Pretty Suns !

Everyone that knows my lovely husband Andy will tell you that he is a little accident prone at times. Always has been, the source of much hilarity to the children as they grew up when he would trip,fall,stumble or bump into things. He was so busy talking to Kaye in Swansea one afternoon that he completely failed to see the signpost in front of him and walked into it with a very large bang! Staggering around dazed in the street while the kids were helpless with laughter.....bless him. One very memorable moment and also very public one, was while we were shopping in Boots store in Swansea about 6 years ago, we went upstairs and turned to the left towards the baby things, there was a central display console with fitness equipment on it and I noticed that someone had taken a step machine off the shelf and placed it on the floor to try it out, I avoided it easily, but Andy, blithely unaware of his surroundings tripped over it. I saw him falling out of the corner of my eye and shot out a hand to steady him. How fantastically quick were my reactions I hear you say, sadly the only effect was for me to punch him in the side of the head as he fell, he reacted by doing a commando roll whilst covering his head and shouting loudly "don't hit me again"  The shop came to a halt, as all eyes were trained on us and I tried to tell him through tears of laughter, (I can't help my sick sense of humour) that I was trying to save him and not hit him! He has never forgiven me and this story comes up regularly around the family dinner table, much to his discomfort. 
Today he came home from work and went to plug in his lap top, bending forward to reach the socket he caught his nose on the hook for the tiebacks. He stood up holding his nose as I asked if he was O.K. and what had he done, he explained and with a bemused smile I said that we needed to risk assess the house and remove all sharp objects. Without blinking an eye he said that would be great but what would we do with my tongue!!!! I couldn't help but laugh and did see his point. 
That's why I love him, he makes me laugh in every way, every day and doesn't take himself too seriously. I am truly blessed.

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.