Five On Friday!

I am so thankful it is Friday!

The lurgy continues to linger in our house, thankfully it is only effecting the adults.

Thank you to everyone who left lovely comments last week about the youngest’s hair cut.

The response has been overwhelming and she has already  been inundated with sponsor money from her school friends.

People have shared some very touching stories and one, in particular, made us both very emotional earlier this week.

I am so very proud of her!

So on to the rest of our week.

One

It has been a funny old week when not much went to plan. However, I think it is becoming our norm and I am learning to roll with it.

Just as I was preparing the Christmas cake to go in the oven last Saturday, we received a phone call from the eldest telling us that her heating had broken.

I knew it had snowed in Manchester the night before and that it was bitterly cold.

So, we made an unexpected mercy dash to the wilds of Manchester with our little fan heater.

Of course, there was much recalculating involved because the cake needed nearly four hours in the oven and the youngest was going out for the afternoon.

The little one came home early and I turned the oven off before the end but left the cake in.

She was delighted to see her sister and the cake was absolutely fine.

The eldest was very grateful!

Two

The eldest works in a pizza restaurant and so we made a booking in  another name and surprised her.

She was shocked but delighted!

Three

As a bonus we got to explore the Manchester Christmas Market.

It was absolutely packed on Saturday night, there were so many lovely stalls and food vendors.

I think we will have to have another trip before Christmas to have a proper mooch around.

It definitely got us in the Christmas mood.

Four

I have spent a lot of time this week wrapping presents.

Himself is the youngest of 7, most of them have families of their own and some even have grandchildren.

We buy them all, so I have to start the shopping early or I would be panicking by now.

I really don’t like wrapping Christmas presents because there are so many in one go.

So I have tried to space it out a bit this week and whilst it was better, it is still not my favourite job!

Five

I think I bought this book intending to give it as a gift.

However, I love it and have decided to give it to myself as an early Christmas present ha!

It looks brilliant and there are a few things that I want to try this weekend.

So there it is,  my five for what it is worth this week.

We are planning a quiet weekend, himself is working, it is so busy for him at this time of year in the Post Office.

Thank you Amy for hosting.

Have a lovely day!

Five on Friday!

Hello my lovelies, I seem to have stumbled into Friday!

I missed last week because I was away for work in San Francisco.

I’ve no idea if it’s a great city or not because I barely stepped foot outside the hotel, it was pretty full on.

I have been fighting severe jet lag ever since, especially given that we got caught up in the fog delays at Heathrow airport.

Here are my Five on Friday in no particular order.

One

I did get to cross the Golden Gate Bridge on the only chilly, foggy day of my entire stay.

It was a beautiful sight as the fog descended before our very eyes.

There were some spectaculars photographs taken but obviously not by me ha! I was too cold cold to get my phone out again!

Two

On a spectacularly beautiful day, I got to the door of the Ferry Building to be called back to the hotel by my boss.

This picture is totally unfiltered, the sky was that beautiful shade for most of my visit.

I never did make it inside and for a bit of a foodie like me, I am afraid that it might end up being one of the biggest regrets of my life that I never got to see it.

Or maybe not, because we have just heard that the eldest may be going out that way to work next summer.

So maybe I will get to walk aimlessly around the ferry building one day!!

Three

I also didn’t get to ride the tram or trolley car.

But I did see them and they all looked fab.

There seemed to plenty of modes of transport in San Fran!

Four

The eldest requested that I purchased some make up for her and that was literally all I had time to run and buy.

This is the holiday edition packaging, isn’t it beautiful?

Five

Comfort food has definitely been needed since my return.

Himself has obliged and looked the Minestrone Soup Eastham style up on the blog yesterday.

He made it for a quick bonfire night dinner.

It was delicious and he was delighted with the results.

It really is so quick and easy, something magical happens to the ingredients when they are in the slow cooker.  It was perfect for bonfire night.

That’s my five for this week. We are planning a quiet weekend with plenty of down time after school mass on Saturday.

What have you been up to?

Thank you Amy for hosting!

Have a lovely weekend y’all x x x

Gabriella’s Five on Friday!

It’s been another ridiculously busy week this week, I’m glad to welcome both the weekend and half term.

Given that her sister shared her Five On Friday when it was her birthday, the eldest has insisted that she do the same ha!

Happy 20th Birthday Gabriella – not a teenager anymore. We are all looking forward to seeing you later twinkle x x x

So here are Gabriella’s Five On Friday;

One

I discovered a new favourite drink this week, Mango Daiquiri. Mum this is surely a healthy drink incorporating one of my five a day. It’s delicious!

Two

I’m at uni in Manchester and this week I discovered a new cake shop.

Ice Stone Gelato is on Oxford Road and after a long day in Uni, myself and some friends on my course found ourselves in there.

I had a peanut butter creation, it was gorgeous. I’m looking forward to taking my family there, they would love it.

Three

The temperature has dropped in Manchester this week.

We were so cold one evening that my housemate Ivy made this fabulous hot chocolate.

Four

My friends on my course gave me this beautiful Pandora ring for my birthday. It’s so pretty and I am delighted.

I can’t wait to see what the parentals have treated me to, Mum has been going on about it for weeks.

Five

My friends.

This picture is of some if my friends on my course. I have lovely housemates too and regularly see/go out with my housemates from last year.

I appreciate how very lucky I am that I have such great friends in Manchester. They make all the difference.

This evening I am popping over to Liverpool for an early dinner with the fam.

Then I’m straight back on the train to Manchester for a celebratory night out, to say goodbye to my teens in style.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Elle xx

Thank you Amy for hosting.

Have a lovely weekend!!

 

My Captured Moment! Happy Birthday Gabriella

October 2005 :Gabriella Anastasia Maria

Dear Daughter,

This week sees you celebrating your 20th birthday, no longer a teenager.

I remember your first birthday so clearly.

Himself and I were amazed that we had managed to keep you alive for a whole year.

Until your sister came along, we thought we such good parents, then we realised that actually you were such a good girl!

We are so proud of you.

We know that Uni isn’t always easy but you have persevered.

It will be worth it in the end.

You are a lovely daughter, sister and friend. You are sassy, unique, special 🙂 and always try your best.

Happy Birthday Twinkle, we love you very much.

x x x x x x x x x x

Have a lovely day!

My Captured Moment – A surprise visitor!

October 2013

This week My Captured Moment was taken in Blue Spring State Park, Florida.

It is a fuzzy image of our girls but that doesn’t really matter, actually it’s probably better, given that they are in their swimsuits.

However, I think you can make out  the image of the MANATEE that is next to them.

We had been enjoying a quiet day of down time after the madness that is Orlando,.

The girls were swimming in the spring, when this Manatee appeared and joined them.

Word must have spread like wild-fire around the park because the landing, where I was standing to take the picture, became very crowded, very quickly.

There must be many pictures of them in cameras all over the world and they were relentlessly questioned from the sidelines.

The Manatee was in no rush to leave, the amazing encounter only came to an end when the eldest eventually tired, and had to get out.

It was such a magical day, in beautiful, natural surroundings in the peaceful Floridan countryside.

Such a lovely change from the manic, materialistic whirl of the theme parks.

There is so much more to Florida if you get out of Orlando and explore.

It still rates as one of the best days of that holiday and it cost the princely sum of $6 to park!!

Have a lovely day!

Five on Friday

It’s been a funny week, I can’t believe it’s Friday but we are ready for the weekend.

I feel like I have not done a Five On Friday for ages.

Here are this week’s offerings;

One

We have been enjoying the fabulous late summer weather.

We had the huge moon at the beginning of the week and glorious sunrises and sunsets.

The River Mersey has been looking magnificent too.

This picture is of the tide being in on one side and out on the opposite.

I love living so near to the river and watching the changing seascape .

Two

I have been sorting through some of my pictures from Dubai.

There is a post in the pipeline but here is a sneaky peak at the stunning marina where we were lucky enough to stay.

Three

Himself and I have spent some time this week in the car park of this church.

It is the church opposite the youngest’s school.

She has a speaking part in the school production.

As the performance date is drawing nearer, she has a heavy rehearsal schedule.

The school is a good 25 minutes drive from our house, hence the busy week.

Three

Well despite my protests it seems that you can’t stop nature.

The Glade is definitely looking more and more autumnal as each day passes.

I did think I would have to start preparing my garden for what comes after autumn, I find it easier not to say the W word ha!,

However, it seems to have sprung back into life this week. The geraniums, fuchsias and hydrangea are all going strong.

Five

It’s October, the eldest’s birthday month.

. I  am struggle to believe that she is almost done with her teenage years.

Her present is safety stowed in my special hiding place.

I am wondering whether we will even see her on the day, nevertheless I will be celebrating my 20th year of mothering ha!

 That is it for this week, I will pop over and comment after work x

Have a lovely day!

My Captured Moment! #22

August 2008

I am taking full advantage of the eldest being away in Rome by popping this picture of her onto my post today.

We had a great week in London in the summer of 2008. We did all the tourist attractions and were really lucky with the weather.

We visited attractions such as the Tower of London, the London Eye, the Museum of Childhood.

We took tea on Oxford Street and saw The Sound Of Music in the West End.

We watched the ‘Changing of the Guard’ outside Buckingham Palace and picnicked in most of the Royal Parks.

This picture was taken in The Diana Memorial Playground, Kensington Palace Gardens.

‘Inspired by the stories of Peter Pan, the playground encourages children to explore and follow their imaginations, learning whilst they play’.

This was supposed to be a pit stop, but it was quite early in the morning and not nearly as busy as we expected –  so we lingered!

The eldest helped the youngest with ladders, swings and climbing frames.

It is a brilliant place to visit.

This picture always makes me smile at the memories we made that week.

Have a lovely day!

Bounce Below……in a cave in North Wales!

It was suggested that we might enjoy a family trip to Bounce Below in North Wales.

It is such a popular spot that they only had pre booked placed available on the day that we went.

Himself had booked our tickets in advance,  the only slot they had left was more than a week away at 10am.

Therefore, we left the house at 7.45am on Sunday morning!

We arrived in plenty of time to be fitted for our safety helmets.

The website had been checked before hand and so we all wore long sleeves and long trousers.

The reviews on line suggested that you couldn’t take your phone in to take pictures.

However, lots of people had their phones but there wasn’t anyone available, in time, to walk me out to get mine.

So I don’t have any pictures from inside 😦

When you arrive you are part of a big group with the same time slot.

The whole group is led into the mouth of a cave where there is a circuit of nets with tunnels and slides linking them together.

There is a very strict protocol about which way you go and there were plenty of members of staff on hand to police it.

Other than that, it is for you to explore.

The nets give a trampolining effect which is great fun.

The tunnels/slides are not as bad as they seem and even the youngest, who was initial hesitant, found her confidence.

This picture was taken after we emerged from the cave an hour later.

There was a lot of crawling involved and if I was to go again, I wouldn’t wear jeans, my knees were chaffed.

I would also take my phone!

It was a great experience, it was very funny at times and we all really enjoyed it.

Most of the staff were great, but lets not discuss the service in the cafe!!!

However, every cloud has a silver lining and, if the staff in the cafe had been better, we would have missed this lovely riverside walk to Llanrwst town centre from the carpark.

There we enjoyed a lovely lunch and we were able to sit outside in the square.   A great finish to the morning.

Have a lovely day!

 

 

 

My Captured Moment #20

 

Disneyland Paris : August 2005

It is 10 years, almost to the day,  since this picture was taken.

The eldest was ten, she had been before and was very excited.

The youngest was two and quite bemused.

In fact, she didn’t mind meeting Goofy.

The eldest loved it.

However, the next night while the eldest bungee jumped!

The youngest was very pleased indeed to receive a Mini Mouse balloon!!

We had such a fantastic few days in Paris 10 years ago, it was lovely looking back through the photographs.

Thank you for hosting Heledd.

Have a lovely day!

‘Discover’ – Geocaching, Patience and the Beach!

 I have been wanting to join in with the fabulous Word Of the Week run by Jocelyn who writes at The Reading Residence,  for ages but have not been organised enough!

But this week I am and my word of the week has been `Discover’!

  

 It is no secret that we like a bit of geocaching.

In my opinion, it is good healthy fun for all the family.

However, our eldest has never enjoyed the delights with us before. She is usually at work, uni or nursing a hangover, whenever we go.

On Sunday, she advised that she would be free to come out with us for the day and asked what would we be doing.

When we decided on geocaching, her face remained unchanged and she asked would food be involved. Knowledge of a picnic and ice cream at the end secured her participation.

 So you see there were no expectations.

She imagined she would be walking the dog with food being an added bonus.

So off we set, suitably attired for a rummage through brambles.

 Then this happened!

The youngest discovered the first cache on our list.

 

 She filled in the log and the eldest discovered:

The caches are there.

The clues are accurate.

The logs revealed that tons of people do it.

It is really exciting!

When it came to locating the next one, she was in the lead.

There was a water trough involved and she was straight in.

I had to remind her that the youngest needed to look too and to wait her turn to sign the log ha!

 She was delighted by the whole thing and was talking about how she could incorporate into her lesson plans – she is studying primary teaching!

 This is a picture of them as they rushed to the next cache, they are both bouncing along, even the dog is bewildered. 

They were well away, racing to their next discovery!

 Then I discovered this view of the beach that I have never seen before.

It was beautiful!

This is the added joy of geocaching for me, I always see something I would have missed.

Have a lovely day!