A miracle has happened....

It gives me the greatest pleasure to announce to the whole world that Daniel and Lula are PREGNANT!!
This small miracle has occurred against all the odds and is due to make an appearance around the 10th December 2012.

Nugget our little miracle

Dan is insisting it is a boy and will tolerate no girl thoughts...he'll have what he's given and I know he'll love it either way. He was so ecstatic during the Ultra sound scan..the baby was waving it's little hands and he was in total awe!
Lula has had a bit of morning sickness but that has now passed  for the most part and her little bump, affectionately called 'nugget' is now very visible and causing all sorts of wardrobe problems....so pleased and excited, we are truly blessed and so very very grateful.

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!

Welcome Wenny & Kev's little Peanut!!

What excitement over the weekend!! My dear friend Anne in USA has been awaiting the arrival of her newest Grandbaby...affectionately referred to by his Mamma, Wenny and Papa Kev as 'Peanut' !

Nine days overdue and wanting a home birth of course things were a little near the wire. Sunday was Wenny's Birthday and lots of Happy Birthday wishes were sent in many forms both paper, electronic and verbal...and many wished it to be a happy BIRTH  DAY too. It seems those wishes were heard and in the early hours of Sunday morning Wenny was in slow labour and by 10.00 am things were happening....the result of all her labours (to coin a phrase) was the safe arrival of little 'Peanut' who weighs in at a whopping 10lbs!!

Look at these very special and beautiful pictures of baby peanut and this loving family.....so lovely..I cried

Wenny's Mum Anne has been my friend for over 30years and when the kids were little they all spent loads of time together. Anne has two gorgeous Grandsons, Dylan & Dawson, from her elder daughter Massie,  and this was the first child for Wenny. Massie, Wenny and Maya are all strong, resourceful women, thanks in no small part to the example and guidance of their truly amazing Mama.

Wenny is a firecracker, full of light and life, love and laughter with a deep sense of social and political awareness. Straight talking and sometimes controversial with strong principles, Wenny has shown she has 'True Grit' on many occasions....not least this wonderful accomplishment to bring her beautiful baby boy into the world.

She and her husband Kevin are a loved up couple who are going to be such fab parents, that little peanut sure is a lucky little guy!!

I want to congratulate the whole of their family on the addition to it...the ever growing circle within which they are all bound by blood and love is a shared blessing and I know that each addition enriches them all.

My only regret is that they are all the way across the pond....we are with them in spirit, miss them keenly and can't wait to see them all again as soon as circumstances allow.

More blessings in my life and I am grateful.

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

 

Oh no not another burglary on Sandy Lane!

I cannot say how angry I am about the latest burglary on Sandy Lane. It seems that Dai & Helena's shed had the door kicked in and a chainsaw was stolen. Cartref is being rebuilt and the chainsaw is one of Dave's tools that he uses frequently. This awful situation has to stop! Can everybody be extra vigilant and maybe go for more frequent strolls around the lane to keep an eye on things. I hope the culprit is found soon as this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. For those that have been the victims of these dreadful crimes the impact is obviously much worse and must shake your sense of security and safety when your home has been violated and that's what it is, a violation of people's personal, private space by someone who is uncaring or unmoved by the distress that is being caused. Whatever the reasoning behind this, whether it is someone who is just greedy, desperate or just too stoned and lazy to do it for themselves or too proud to ask for help, the resulting distress is not to be trivialized. 

Watch out, watch out...there's STILL a thief about.....

A weekend walk on Pobbles Bay with Andy & Tink

Today we had a lie in after seeing The Journeymen at The Tav last night in Swansea with Sal & Law,Mark & JJ plus about 100 others!! The band were awesome, great classic blues and the lead singer has an amazing voice...could have been Robert Plant himself singing the Led Zep covers! Had a lovely brunch then decided to blow the cobwebs away with a walk onto Pobbles. It was blowy but not raining and not too cold. We rounded the bend and were a bit shocked to see some brave/mad soul running into the frothing waves.....nutter we both said simultaneously as he dipped in quick and ran back out!

Crazy person on Pobbles Bay

Little Tink loves the beach and ran like a crazy thing, in and out of the waves which were quite impressive.....

Andy & Tink rock climbing

 She loves to scramble over the rocks and doesn't care about the rock pools, just skids to a halt every now and then for a quick spot of furious digging, she never digs anything up but she loves it.

Tink loves her daddy

Digging!!

White horses

 We watched as a lone surfer tried to catch some waves but he totally missed everything and we didn't see him get up at all. Andy and the kids used to surf a lot when they were younger, Karl still does whenever he can get down to the water. He was such an adrenalin junkie he would go night surfing with his mates and worry me to death.Poor Andy has spent many an hour walking the bay with a torch to get him home. I bought him flares and waterproof torches to strap to his arms and he promised to use them, but I have a sneaky feeling he never really did! That wasn't the only dangerous thing he did in the water, he terrified his older sister Danielle one summer when he let her into his secret pastime...CLIFF JUMPING off a ledge by Hunts Bay. She cried in terror, sure he would be killed, when he miraculously survived she made him promise never to do it again. I think it lasted about a week before he was up to his old dare devil tricks and she grassed him up to me! KIDS, no wonder the years fly by, there's never a dull moment.
There were lots of folks out and about all enjoying the fresh air and Tink met lots of new doggy friends, so many dogs just want to say hello and play but every now and then one is unexpectedly aggressive and this has made her a little more cautious than she was. I think if you know your dog can be unpredictable it is sensible to keep it under control while you are out, but it's obvious that there are some dog owners who do not share my opinion. They then can't understand my scathing fury when their rabid mutt turns on my little girl....get 'em on a lead I say and then No Problem!

View through the rock from Three Cliffs

A pensive moment for Andy

We decided to head for home as the weather started to turn a little more grey, heading up off the beach I was fascinated by the huge lumps of wood washed up by the power of the high tide, it is a marvel what the water does to it....

As we climbed up the bank on our way home I turned and the sun was streaking through the clouds and reflecting onto the water....truly magical

As we climbed the hill home we noticed that the gorse was starting to flower, along with other things that seem a bit early again this year. I love the gorse it's happy yellow flowers always make me smile and we reminisced about the years when we collected the flowers and got lots of scratches so that we could make wine. It was delicate and delicious with an almost coconut hint to it....note to self, must do it again soon!

The sunny yellow gorse

We rambled on home  and snuggled up tired but content in front of the fire with a mug of hot chocolate and an alpen light bar (very slimming world) and waited for Dan and Lyndsey to join us for dinner after returning from their snowboarding holiday in Austria...life is good and we are blessed to live in such a beautiful place.

A wonderful weekend in the midlands

I have returned home tonight after spending a lovely weekend in the Midlands. I travelled up in the trusty Gert to my Sister Sharon's on Friday night and Gert was not quite as trusty as she has previously been. I just got to Ross and she started to splutter and cut out....argh! Freezing cold and pitch black I kangaroo jumped to a lay by and thought about what I had in the car to sort the problem. It felt like fuel starvation so I thought a quick look under the bonnet might give me some idea...oh no, no torch in the car. Then I remembered a small torch I keep in my handbag for emergencies (I am a Virgoan after all). Donning scarf, coat and gloves I braved the cold and had a look, it was very obvious not much fuel was getting through and the problem was a blocked fuel filter. I needed to clean it out but it was firmly held by 2 hose clips and I didn't have any tools in the car (so unlike me) back to the handbag with everything in it and I found a flip out screwdriver on a keyring..hooray, 5 minutes JOB DONE! Gert now sloshing with fuel and running fine I carried on to Kidderminster to a very welcome cup of tea and gorgeous meal with my wonderful sister. We then sat and chatted until the early hours about all manner of things both past and present and rolled off to bed happy and content in each other's company. Next morning I took off to meet my Granddaughter Erin in Worcester for a bit of shopping as an early Birthday treat as she is off to Rome next month with St. Mary's Choir to sing in 2 concerts in The Vatican. No young lady should go to Rome without a few fab new additions to her wardrobe and so we hit the shops! We had a great time and bought shoes, jeggings, tops,skirts,tights,leggings,dresses and a scarf and gloves! Erin was delighted and I was delighted at her obvious pleasure. 

Erin in one of her outfits

The fab shoes from Office!

Back to Danie's for a short visit before meeting my brother Graham and his wife Dorothy with my sister Sharon at The Fox Inn at Chaddesley Corbett for a wonderful meal before going back to Gra & Dorothy's for coffee and much hilarity as we reminisced together  and played with their little Jack Russel Max.

Sharon and I had a very late night and got up late this morning. We had lunch in Worcester at The Perdiswell which was more like purgatory with all the screaming children in there! We went our seperate ways and I arrived home to a very enthusiastic welcome from my little Tink who almost wagged herself in half! My wonderful Hubby had cooked a lovely curry and rice for tea and after a nice cuppa and a cuddle I was totally snuggly back home.

A wonderful weekend with family that as usual makes me count my blessings......

THE THIEVING B*****DS HAVE BEEN AT IT AGAIN!!

The low life scum are at it again!! Tower field has been the target this time and poor Tony from Jubilee had the door forced and a wallet and 'phone stolen.

This happened on a Tuesday the same day as the other recent theft...could this be a coincidence or is there someone around on a Tuesday that isn't normally about? Be vigilant folks, lock up and put valuables away..if you see anything suspicious report it straight away to the police,  then come and round up some Laners to dish out some instant Karma to the thieving s**tbags or of course that could be in the opposite order if the mood takes you!

Let the bells ring out....for Christmas...

          I would like to wish you all a very 

                        Merry  Christmas 

                                 and a 

               Happy & Healthy New Year

Yeahhh...it really is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas....decorations are going up all over the lane,in our house we are nearly finished putting the decs up, just a bit more on the outside to do.Sadly gale force winds,rain and hail have hampered this, but hopefully all finished by the weekend. Our tree this year has coloured lights and is festooned with hundreds of crystals and coloured glass ornaments and is totally over the top as usual. Tink has her stocking hung up in readiness for Santa!! 

The Pretty Suns, 2011 Tree......understated chic!!

Twinkle twinkle,Pretty Suns

It has been so cold out walking little Tink, she has to have her winter coat on with the collar turned up. The waves are rough and you can hear them roaring and crashing before you can see them. The sky has been a menacing grey and of course that is reflected in the colour of the sea....a chilling and wintery sight indeed. The wind whips around us over on the golf course and along the cliffs and my lips are getting chapped from the drying,bitter wind. We get in shivering and damp and spend ages with towels and cuddles in front of the fire to thaw out!!

Cards are all sent and present shopping is pretty much done, finish the last bits on the weekend as well as doing an online food order.

Lots to do at the weekend then.

Our old ash tree that is directly behind the house has become unsafe and needs to be felled....this will now take place after Xmas when the weather permits, the lovely Lyndon and his assistant will be doing the deed and I hope to get some action shots of the shannanigans! I am however very sad about it as we have lived with the tree for over 30years, I know I will shed a few tears when it comes down. Karl is having the wood for his woodburner so it will not be wasted and I am going to keep a couple of pieces for the wonderful Mike Prankerd to make something out of to commemorate the mighty old tree. 

We are going to plant a few more trees to replace it, native varieties and more suitable for the area.

We are also now looking for a second little chonzer as a companion for little Tink and it is proving to be harder than we thought,but we don't want one until next summer really so plenty of time. 

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.

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..........

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!