freddie's baptism

yesterday:
what a fabulous day!! the baptism went like a dream - fr. paul made it very special and freddie was so-o-o good: no crying and, like clara at hers, was only curious as to where the water was actually coming from!!
here are imy, freddie, david, cat and james in front of the beautiful holy rood altar:













then we all went back to cat and david's house for the party. they had borrowed jackie's big marquee and decorated the inside with voile panels, ribbons and balloons and it looked magnificent. we had wonderful food: lots of curries, samosas, salads and tasty things i don't know the names of - but it was all delicious!! it was warm and sunny and all my family and lots of my friends, too, were there - who could ask for more?

here is a photo of me with freddie and peter - my fellow god-parent and also, of course, freddie's uncle:

most people had gone by around eight so a select few: cat, david and family, eric, jane, lizzie, bronnie, graham, claire and i sat round a sort of wok-type fire on the patio and chatted and laughed - and drank wine!
because o and g were there we decided to try for a photo of them and all 5 of the great grand-children - this was not an unqualified success as none of them were prepared to sit still long enough - and some of them were decidedly unhappy about the process!! but i think they results are very funny:

everyone just wants to escape!!
















the 3 littlest ones:that's frankie, lucia on g's lap, o, stella holding clara and cat with freddie
then stella decided she would like a photo with 'oldest siblings': mum, stella, kezia and i are all eldest in our families - so all of us are 'big sisters' and consequently all of us are very bossy!! lol!!










and finally:
cat and david gave me this lovely mug for being freddie's god-mother. it is a lovely spotty design:







and

not only is it specially for me:











but:
look at this:




how clever is that??

a walk in whippendell woods

wednesday evening: we are very lucky to have these beautiful woods right on our doorstep - and the bluebells look magical every year. this year was no exception! anne, jennie, tassa, jan and i went for a walk early in the evening and then stopped for a 'light bite' at the essex arms.

it's been a busy week alright . . .

i don't really function terribly well if i don't have time on my own at home and this week has been busier than i would have liked. trouble is, of course, all the evening things i went to were events i just didn't want to miss!!

monday: i met pauline for one of our regular chats and drinks in the essex - always very pleasant

tuesday: women's group had a 'pamper evening' at katrina's house - we all had a foot soak, drink and chat - and some of us had either a manicure or a pedicure (i had neither - too busy chatting!!

wednesday: book group at jean's. we had read 'dreams of sleeping' by gail jones (an australian author). i thought this book was wonderful - loved her turn of phrase, the images she presented and the little pieces of biography dotted through the novel. i would recommend this book and would love to read more of her work

thursday: tutorial - took me an hour and a half to drive the 20 miles to luton!! grr!! that m1 just gets worse!! it was well worth the effort though

friday: was going to have quiet evening at home = then frankie and lucia came round about 7.30 (this of course is a GOOD THING!!) and then we zoomed over to uxbridge to collect alex sister from her flat (alex was at the rugby club dinner - 'nuff said!!)

today: day school at hitchin on our current block which is 'the sixties' - fantastic day which i thoroughly enjoyed - and lots of help for our next tma!

so i have had a good week this week - but i am glad that i'm not doing quite so much next!!

here's . . . tully!!

i herewith present my lovely cat, catullus, or 'tully' as we call him
he has been resident for 3 years now, arriving as a tiny bundle of fluff one bank holiday week-end - and i can't imagine my home without him now

he is, admittedly, not the brightest cat in the world and despite having had one of those magnetic cat-flap openers attached to his collar since he was a kitten, still hasn't really got the hang of it!! i hear him scrabbling about each time he wants to come in having presumably forgotten since last time how to make his entrance. he usually gets in eventually (more by luck than judgement!) but when i do hear him i go and let him in.
he gets rather skinny during the summertime as all the other cats in the neighbourhood come and eat his food (i always have all the doors open) so i have to stand over him a bit to make sure he gets enough and then he fattens up during the winter
what he likes to do best is sit on the arm of the sofa and look out the window and keep a supervisory eye on proceedings in the road - that's what he is doing in these photos
hmm! i see it is a quarter to ten - better go and give him his supper!

this time last week . . .

. . . i was in sheffield visiting stella, rich and the pies and i had a lovely lovely time!

thursday: stella kezia and i went to see the new house - it was very exciting! the roof is on now and all the windows are in - yay!! - hopefully it won't be long before it is finished and they can move in

friday: we all went for a walk (scramble more like!!) to the top of win hill in the peak district - it was very enjoyable and the view from the top was fantastic - both kezia and jago walked all the way up and all the way down (clara hitched a ride in the sling!!) and then we went to 'aunt sally's' to celebrate

saturday: in the morning stella, kezia, jago and i went to the weston park museum - which is wonderful!! it is a fantastic place to visit with littles as there are heaps of interesting activities for them - well worth a visit!! and in the afternoon stella jago and i went for another walk - very short this time though - it has been a good couple of weeks for walks!!

ruda 2007!

. . . was good - even though i was only there for just over 48 hours

friday: arrived around 5 - and joined janey, eric, lizzie, peter, cat david, james, imy and freddie for dinner 'chez awks' - then everyone else turned up soon after nine for chat and drinks - and a toast to jude and john on the birth of their grand-daughter, catherine eve, - hoorah!!

saturday: janey, eric, lizzie and i walked 'up baggy', over the fields and down into croyde for drinks and cheesy chips at billy budds. walk back to ruda and then dinner at my van before nipping round to the de braux for the rest of the evening.

here we are after finishing dinner:

david and cat

imy, eric and janey

peter and james (freddie was fast asleep in his buggy and i don't know where lizzie had gone!!)

sunday: awks, elliotts and self went over to mortenhoe and walked to the lighthouse (i was very ill unfortunately - though no one else affected so at least it wasn't my cooking - lol!) - round to cat and david's in evening for 'sunday dinner' - jackie arrived around 7.30 so there were 10 of us round the table - we were very noisy!! it was 'all round at the whitmore's' that night but i left to come home at 10 - and made in the door by just after 2 - so good going

i was having a great time and would have liked to stay for the week, but it was strange not having either of the daughters or families there - so i came home only to find that frankie has gone down to portsmouth with alex!! - never mind she is back tomorrow - so will see her and lucia then